Vince briskly walked through the halls of St. Joan Mayfair Hospital’s third floor, throwing a glance at each of the door numbers as he passed each room. It had been two days since the second theft attempt and all classes in the science block had been postponed for the time being, mostly due to the fact that the lobby looked as if a bomb had gone off inside. As soon as the D.S.I reinforcements had arrived, Miss Regal had gotten Dustin and Claire into her car and ran at least five red lights getting him to the hospital.
Finally arriving at room 106 Vince stopped at the door and looked in, finding Claire sitting in silence beside an unconscious Dustin as the heart monitor provided the only sound in the room. The white sheets of his hospital bed were drawn up to just below his shoulders, the right one heavily covered in bandages.
Sighing, Vince walked in and placed a hand on Claire’s shoulder. The second he did so, she looked up at him before standing and hugging him tight. For a few minutes neither of them said a thing. They didn’t have to. Untangling themselves, Vince sat down on the bed near Dustin’s legs, looking at his friend with regret and sorrow as unpleasant memories made themselves known.
“It wasn’t you fault Vince.” Claire broke the silence, picking up on Vince’s angst. “There was no way we could’ve known they’d try stealing the relics again.”
“But I should’ve gotten him to stop. It’s my fault that the two of you...” He never finished the sentence, and let his head lull downwards. Claire said nothing in reply and simply sat back down on her chair. Another couple of minutes passed, the sounds of the heart monitor and the conversations of nurses outside seemed almost amplified in the still room.
“How is he?” Vince asked, now looking at his best friend in a hospital bed for the second time in his life.
“He was lucky. One of the three bullets they took out of him barely missed his lung. His shoulder will take a while to heal, but they aren’t sure why he’s still comatose.”
“I believe I may know why.” Vince and Claire turned to see Skye Regal standing in the doorway, her face sombre as she held onto a small bundle of flowers in one hand and a small plastic bag in the other. Vince noticed inside said bag was a bullet.
“Skye,” Claire said, getting to her feet and walking over to the door with Vince slowly following.
“I came to check on Dustin, and the two of you as well. Are both of you alright?” Downcast looks and silence answered her question. Skye sighed, moving past them and placing the azaleas on the bedside table and looking at Dustin the same way that Vince had earlier; with mixed feelings of regret and guilt.
“Skye.” Claire spoke up, gaining the agent’s attention along with Vince’s. “You... You said you knew why Dusty hasn’t woken up yet.”
“Yes,” she sighed. Taking a moment to prepare herself, Skye turned to face the two teenagers. “I had the ballistics expert down at the D.S.I analyse one of the bullets that Dustin was shot with. Whoever manufactured this bullet did so outside the law, as underneath the casing is the smallest amount of space possible for a poison to be placed in.”
“Poison?” Both Claire and Vince asked in shock, to which the agent solemnly nodded.
“Yes. However, you need not worry. This hospital has some of the best doctors in the country, and the medications being used will take a while to fully rout the infection. He should wake up within the next few days.”
“Thank God.” Claire stated in relief.
“Miss,” Vince asked. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yes, and please call me Skye.”
This threw Vince for a second. “O-Okay. Well... why didn’t your back-up from the D.S.I get there sooner? From what I heard you said they were coming, but Dusty still got hurt.”
A sad look flashed across Skye’s face. “It seems that the three cars on their way to help were involved in a car crash. We believe it was another member of this terrorist group; placed there to stall us with his suicidal ram. Only one car avoided damage, and once the situation there was under control, they hurried to aid us, only...”
“Only it was too late.” Vince finished. Skye solemnly nodded, looking back at Dustin’s resting form. The three remained silent for quite some time; each of them thinking about the events of the past few days and hoping Dustin would recover. This silence was broken by a ringtone, blaring a rock song from Vince’s pocket.
“Hello... Well, I’m visiting Dustin in hospital... What? Oh come on... Can’t somebody else fill in?” Skye glanced at Claire, about to ask who it was before Vince sighed. “Fine, I’ll come in, but don’t expect me to cover someone else’s roster on a regular basis. Yeah, okay... bye.”
“Who was that?” Skye asked as Vince hung up, pocketing his phone.
“My uncle. He runs a warehouse further out in the suburbs and I sometimes help him out when he’s low on staff like today.”
“You’re leaving now?” Claire asked incredulously.
“Haven’t got much choice,” Vince stated sadly before moving next to the bed and placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry buddy. I’ll be back soon.” He then turned back to Claire. “Keep an eye on him for me?”
“I always do,” She replied before giving him a hug. As they broke the hug, Vince turned to Skye.
“Skye... Um, thank you. I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure if I could trust you, but you saved Dusty and Claire’s lives, so for that... Thank you.”
Skye smiled and shook her head. “I am sorry that Dustin was injured, but you are welcome. And you have my word that I will not let anything more happen to him.” Vince nodded with a smile and, with one last glance at Dustin’s prone form, left the room and made his way out of the hospital.
Once outside, the sun shone brightly in Vince’s eyes, forcing him to shield them and mumbling how he should’ve brought a hat along today. As he walking towards his jeep however, he didn’t notice the black van waiting further down the road. The two men inside waited and watched from behind their tinted glasses as Vince drove off. Once Vince had turned the corner, one of the men picked up the radio microphone of the van and dialled in the correct frequency.
“Sir, he’s left the hospital. Shall we proceed?”
“Yes,” the voice on the other side came back through the static. “The boy should be no problem, but be on your guard; there may be D.S.I agents inside. That brat is too much of a distraction, and he’s interfered with Vince’s progress long enough. Take care of him and anyone else that stand in your way.”
“Yes Sir.” Both men replied before getting out of the van. Adjusting their jackets despite the clear conditions, the two started towards the hospital.
~~~
“The three of you are very close, are you not?” Skye asked as she and Claire stood outside Dustin’s room, both of them holding plastic cups of water.
“Yeah, we are.” Claire replied as she smiled weakly. She waited until a nurse carrying medications passed before she continued. “We’ve been through a lot, the three of us.”
Skye’s puzzled looked urged her to explain. “Well, Dusty and I’ve known each other since we were small; our parents were friends. His parents are my godparents and mine are his. But both of our dads are in the army, so we’ve rarely gotten to see them much.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Skye said, but Claire shook her head.
“Don’t be. We both know why our dads can’t be around all the time, and we’re both proud of them, though it has made my mum a bit overprotective.
“Anyway, we met Vince during high school and he and Dusty just clicked. It was like they were made to be best friends. At first I wasn’t sure about him, since he was sort of a rebel. But after seeing how he started cleaning up his act around Dusty, I guess we became friends too.” This drew a smile on both her and Skye’s faces, the memories floating to the surface in Claire’s mind.
“If you do not mind me asking, was this before or after Dustin’s accident?”
The smile vanished. “After. It happened... Around six months ago now.”
There was a small silence between the two as their thoughts swept back to Dustin. As they stood there, the sounds and smells of the hospital seemed to drift away, as if the two were lost in their own little world.
It was Skye that finally broke the silence. “Do you mind if I ask... How did it happen?”
Claire had a feeling this question was coming. She knew she didn’t want to answer, since it involved one of the worst moments of her young life, and she especially didn’t want to bring the image of Dustin’s pain, his agony, back into focus. Yet when she turned to Skye, Claire saw nothing but concern and silent understanding. Looking into those sapphire eyes, she knew she could trust this woman with her story.
“Well,” Claire sighed, starting her tale. “Like I said, it happened about six months ago. It was our first trip up to the ruins in class. We were all excited; Dustin and Vince couldn’t wait to get in there. Back at that point, we couldn’t get past the gatehouse of the castle, since the bridge had long since collapsed, so instead we just focused on the surrounding buildings.
“I was away with some other students when it happened, but Vince told me everything. He said that he and Dusty were checking out this small house further out in the city, and he was outside while Dusty was inside. And... well, Vince said he had a ‘brain-slip’ and being bored banged against the wall. Then he heard a popping sound above him and saw a few stones tumble down. Then cracks began appearing from the roof down and Vince ran around to the door, seeing Dusty running towards him as the roof came down.
“Then...” Claire stopped, her emotions almost getting the best of her. She felt Skye place a reassuring hand on her shoulder, with the agent looking at her with worry etched onto her features.
“You do not have to go on,” Skye said softly. “If it is too much for you, then I under-”
“No,” Claire interrupted, putting her hand on top of Skye’s. “I can keep going.” Skye looked at her and nodded, squeezing her shoulder ever so slightly in a sign of support.
“We must’ve been at least a hundred metres away, but I could still hear the scream. When I did I... I-It felt like someone stabbed me in the heart for a second. Everyone rushed over but when we got there... Dusty...” Claire’s voiced now dropped to a whisper, fighting tears that were building behind her eyes. “He was... trapped in the wreckage from the ribs down...” Claire took a deep breath before continuing. Skye didn’t dare interrupt, and barely moved as she just waited to see if Claire was finished, but she went on.
“The collapse crushed his spine, as well as a few ribs. Doctors said he was lucky to be alive. When Dusty found out... I don’t blame him for throwing a fit. He was so devastated. And Vince didn’t pull up too well either. He keeps blaming himself for what he thinks he did, like how Dusty’s injury was his fault. Since then he’s been by Dusty’s side almost twenty four seven, trying to pay off a debt that doesn’t exist... Last Friday was the first time Dusty had been back to the ruins.”
Before Claire could continue, she was surprised as Skye gave her a reassuring hug. Claire blanked out for a moment before returning the hug and the two just stood there, ignorant of everything around them.
“The three of you are true friends,” Skye said as she pulled out of the hug. “And though Dustin may not feel that Vince has a debt to repay, it may just be Vince’s method of coming to terms with what happened. Give him time, and I am certain he will realise that.”
Claire looked back at Skye as a smile slowly started forming on her face, and she nodded to agree before noticing something; two men who had just walked past them had entered Dustin’s room.
“Who are they?” Claire asked. Skye turned to see what she meant. Once she saw them though, Skye’s eyes widened and her blood froze. Not waiting to explain to Claire, she rushed inside the room but stopped for two reasons; the first was she noticed a small yet powerful Silence Field had been activated inside the room, and the second reason was that one of the two had a pistol aimed at Skye’s head. Claire hurried in before wincing from entering the Silence Field, bringing a hand to her forehead before looking up and freezing from shock.
“Why are you here?” Skye almost hissed in anger. “Are you so cowardly that you would seek to kill a helpless boy?” The man without the gun ignored her, moving around the other side of the bed and pulling a small black case out from his jacket. Claire was about to rush forward but was stopped as Skye blocked her with an extended arm and a firm side-on glare.
“We shall ask but once more,” Skye growled, the tone of her voice sounding weird to Claire’s ears, almost as if someone was turning up the volume. “Why art thou here? What is thy purpose?”
The irregular speech caught the men’s attention. “It’s simple, witch.” The man with the case replied, spitting the last word like it was poison as he opened the case and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid. “This kid seems to get in the way of our boss’ plans a lot, so he wants him gone.”
Skye took one step forward, but the man with the gun swung his aim towards Claire. Skye countered this by stepping into the line of fire, but that was all the time the man with the syringe needed to inject whatever that fluid was into the IV drip. Within a few moments, Dustin’s eyebrows began furrowing. It was evident he was in pain, as the heart monitor began picking up speed. Claire gasped in fear, tentatively reaching for him.
“And now for you-”
Before the second man could finish, Skye’s eyes shone with a blinding light as the first man’s gun flew out of his hand in a blue aura and into Skye’s left, which she raised instantly and shot the second man. The first tried to rush her by throwing a left punch, but Skye merely caught it like a baseball.
Claire and the man looked on in awe and fear as Skye’s hair began floating, little pinpricks of light shining through each strand. Two lights on her back became precursors to two navy blue wings flaring out, stretched out in the small room. Intimidated, the man didn’t realise Skye wasn’t done until it was too late. She flexed her wrist, breaking the one she had in her grasp. Before he could even clutch at his now broken wrist, Skye pulled the man forward only to backhand him into the wall opposite the foot of the bed.
Grimacing in pain the man looked up and immediately regretted it, as the sight before him was more fear-inspiring than anything he had ever seen. Skye stood before him, wings outstretched, hair flowing in the nonexistent wind and eyes glowing a blinding white. Her fists were clenching so hard that the gun she held onto strained and she released it to reveal the handle had been squeezed like a toothpaste tube.
Skye reached down and grabbed the hem of the man’s shirt and lifted him up with only one hand before slamming him into the wall. Though her rage was overflowing at the moment, she still held back her full power, lest it overload the Silence Field and allow everyone to see what was happening. The man squirmed but his feet weren’t reaching the floor, and he looked once more at Skye terrifying eyes.
“Who sent thou?” Skye hissed, her hair beginning to flare more erratically as her voice boomed. The man just stared at her before sighing, almost resigning himself to something. That look soon turned into one of defiance.
“Go find him yourself, witch.”
Skye just stared at him for a moment before flicking her right wrist. With that motion, the four blades she used to remove Bunt’s arm extended from her sleeve and spread, resembling the wings she now displayed.
“Then rot in Tartarus.” With that, Skye released her hold on the man’s shirt before turning and bringing her blades to bear, all four of them creating a deep gash in the man’s neck.
As the man fell limply to the ground, his blood beginning to soak into the carpet, Skye glared at his corpse with an intense hatred before taking a series of deep breaths. With the first, her wings began receding into her back. The second saw her wings completely retract and her hair begin to obey gravity’s law. By the third breath, she opened her eyes to reveal the blue that was there before, and her transformation was complete.
“Dusty? Dusty!” Claire’s shouting brought Skye’s attention back to the present, as she was leaning over Dustin’s now sweating body. When Skye approached, however, Claire positioned herself over him, like as if she was shielding him from a monster.
“Stay back!” She yelled as Skye saw the tears streaming down Claire’s face. Whether they were tears of fear for Skye’s outburst or Dustin’s current state was uncertain, but those eyes now bore into Skye, not wanting her anywhere near her best friend.
“Please Claire,” Skye tried explaining. “I apologise for that but-”
“But what?! For letting those two put that... stuff in Dustin? For having me watch that?!” She pointed at the corpses now painting the carpet red. “I thought I was hallucinating the other night, but now..? You stay the hell away from Dusty, you got that?!”
“Claire!” Skye replied, exerting a little frustration and authority. “I know you are afraid of what I am, but right now I am the only chance Dustin has for survival. If you wish to save your friend, you must trust me.” Claire just glared at her, but the groans of pain from below her were getting louder and the heart monitor was going faster and faster. Sighing, she hopped off the bed and stood up, determination clear to see on her features.
“What do we do?”
Skye quickly but carefully began slicing off the left sleeve of her jacket with her blades. “I need you to find another syringe, and a swab and medicinal alcohol. I am going to give Dustin some of my blood.”
“What?” Claire asked as she stopped searching, but the look Skye gave her told her to keep looking.
“As you have seen, I have a large amount of magic at my disposal.” Skye explained as she took hold of the syringe and swab Claire held out with her magic. She drew her blood through the syringe, taking nearly as much as it could before stopping. As Claire followed her around the bed, she saw the blood looked as red as any human’s blood, but there were small, twinkling blue lights within it.
“Since I am a being of magic, my blood has heavy concentrations of it, and it is my hope that this should be enough to stave off the poison long enough for me to find a cure.”
“It won’t cure him?”
“Though magical, my blood is not a miracle elixir.” Before Claire could ask another question, Skye injected her blood into the IV drip. Almost instantly Dustin relaxed, and his heart rate dropped, though it was still at above normal levels.
“Now what?” Claire asked, a tiny bit relieved Dustin wasn’t suffering as much.
“Now we find out what poison these fools used.” Skye stated as she knelt next to the corpse of the man with the case. Picking it up, Skye saw there were four more needles full of the liquid. Placing a palm over the poison, her hand began glowing blue as she used her magic to identify the poison down to its molecular structure. When she recognised it though, her eyes opened in shock as she dropped the case, which startled Claire.
“Skye, what is it?” She asked, but Skye simply stood up and looked at Dustin while running every possibility through her mind.
That is impossible! It has been eons since that poison has even existed. How in Mother’s name did they find enough to recreate it?
“Skye!” Claire shouted to get her attention. It succeeded in snapping Skye out her little daydream, but she quickly picked the case up and pocketed it.
“We have to leave. There is only one cure for this poison, and no hospital in the world has the antidote.”
That statement was like a sledgehammer to Claire’s heart. “What? We can’t move Dusty, not like this.”
“There is only one person that can help us now,” Skye continued as she moved around the bed and removed the leads for the heart monitor one by one. The droning flat line sound lasted a second before Skye glared at it and it shut down. “I can teleport us there, but you must trust me and do exactly as I say. Dustin’s life depends on it.”
Claire looked down at Dustin and placed a hand on his forehead; even though he showed no visible signs of pain, he was still running a fever. She had almost lost her best friend twice in the last week. No matter what Skye would do, Claire knew she couldn’t let the third time be the charm. She looked back to Skye, her determination once again coming to the fore.
“Alright, but please save him.”
Skye nodded. “I shall do my best. Now close your eyes and hold onto Dustin tight. This may be disorienting.”
Nodding, Claire placed her hands on Dustin’s arm and shoulder while Skye placed one hand on Dustin’s other shoulder, and the other hand on Claire’s. Closing her eyes and concentrating, Skye called on her magic and allowed it envelop the two teenagers. Once that was done, she focused her mind’s eye on a familiar sight; her home for the longest time imaginable.
Once the location was targeted, Skye opened her eyes to reveal them to be glowing once more and, in a flash of light, the three of them were gone.