Burdened (A Burdened Novel) (43 page)

Two shots ring out
, along with two different sets of screams. I leap forward. Rose catches me in midair. She shakes her head as she lets me down to the ground. She mouths ‘wait.’

I can’t wait
; my body is reacting to the scream. I’ve never heard Nathan scream before, but my body is confirming that it was him. I need to see him
now
, save him from whatever is hurting him—and hurting me. Taylor turns to me, putting up a finger to say ‘one moment.’

I give her a look that says
‘hurry up.’ She looks at Rose. Rose nods and turns into a rat, right by my foot. That freaks—me—out.

I watch the
‘rat Rose’ corner the wall. We wait and wait, and I grow impatient.

Taylor turns to me
, motioning me with her hand to follow her. Her other hand grabs mine that is nearest her.

We walk into the opening
. My legs go weak and my knees hit the floor at the sight. Taylor screams so loudly I only hear the beginning of her scream. My ears ring out over the remainder of her scream, and I can hear nothing else. Everything is moving in slow motion as I raise my hands to my open mouth.

Rose
—no longer a rat—is standing by her father, and a smile is plastered across his face in satisfaction as he looks from Taylor to me, then up near the ceiling.

Justin and Nathan hang from the ceiling by their feet
, wrapped in glistening chains. I don’t recognize his face, but I know he’s my Nathan.

They have on pants
, but no shoes, socks, or shirts. They hang there, looking…lifeless. Not moving, just dripping black liquid, like blood. My heart stops beating.

Taylor’s scream finally fades and I look
at her. She becomes enraged and shoots up towards Justin’s hanging body. Before she can make it, Rose shoots up, knocking her against a wall and they fall to the floor. I stare at them in disbelief.

Rose
…no stories from her, no death threats, no evil looks, nothing. She—

“Tracey, nice of you to join my family affair
,” Nathan Sr. articulates, pulling me from my realization of Rose being a part of a setup, allied with their psycho father. “Nathan looks better this way, doesn’t he?” He seems happy.

I can’t speak, only stare. I’m in aw
e as my headache fades and is replaced with rage. My heart stops aching and now desires revenge. It’s powerful. My hands burn—both of them—and I clasp them behind my back. I can feel a light film cover my eyes. I look away from him so that he doesn’t notice. I’m not sure if it shows.

“No need to shy away
, Tracey. You
were
going to be a part of our family.” I look back at Taylor, who is resisting the urge to kick her sister’s ass.

Nathan Sr. steps
up to me. “So how have you been?” he asks, as if we are friends who haven’t seen each other in while. “We haven’t seen you in a few days.” He reaches his hand out to me.

I look at it
, making the most disgusted face I possess. I look away and gaze around the room. The little cottage does this place no justice. It is too much space. I didn’t even realize how low in the ground we had come, until looking at those two, hanging high above the rest of us.

It hurts beyond all measures
, seeing Nathan this way. I need to find a way to get him down and get us out of here. I have to work from my mind. If my heart is involved, nothing will work.

Nathan’s dad has taken this way too far. Rose is going to get it too
, for playing a part in this.

I no longer ache as I lift myself from the ground
, keeping my arms behind my back. I look back at Nathan.
I’m going to get you out of here. I promise. Just don’t be dead
. I think I said it more to reassure myself.

“Tracey, don’t let seeing him like this get you down. Believe me
, he didn’t deserve to have a mate anyway. They are evil—including Justin. But, to be honest, I mostly tortured him because I hate Taylor. Although, he is just as revolting—a hybrid Sephlem, turning into god-knows-what that is.” He rambles on, talking more to himself than to me.

All I need is for him to look away
. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but my body does.

I look over to Rose and Taylor; they are still going at it. Taylor blocks every attack but doesn’t attack back.

Nathan Sr. follows my gaze, and I feel the snake slither out of my hand. “Yes, I know, sisters fighting. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” A proud smile forms on his face. This man is sick.

“Why?” I ask
, wanting him to look at me as the snake slithers behind him.

“Why not
?” He does. “They deserve nothing that we have the honor of, or anything that we are blessed with. They are filled with the devil himself—a demon courses through them and lives among them.” His voice rises. “They need to die and go back to hell—where they came from. The only reason you don’t see it is because he’s your mate.” He’s filled with hostility.

“I don’t believe that
,” I say, shaking my head. “They didn’t request this. They were born this way. And neither Nathan nor Taylor show demon ways, unlike your precious
Rose
—selling out her sister and brother to a murderer like yourself. It seems like you two are the ones filled with the devil—for killing your own flesh and blood,” I respond with irritation, violence lying within my words.

He gives me a devilish
, hateful look that says ‘you shouldn’t have said that.’ I smirk my cocky ‘Nathan smile’ the best I can. His whole body turns to face me and he points a finger, about to speak. The lights go out.

“Dad
, grab her. She did this,” Rose shouts from the other side of the room. But I’ve already moved.

The film that covers my eyes assists me in seeing things that do not
have heat. The only other light in the room is the fire snake, and it’s doing a good job going unnoticed, considering that no one says anything about it.

“Rose, I can’t find her. She has moved.” I stay as quiet as I can
, making my way to Nathan and Justin.

I hear
a body hit the floor. I look in the direction of the sound and it looks like Taylor finally hit Rose back.
Maybe
Taylor hit her—I can’t be sure, because they both have similar shapes. I don’t know them well enough to tell them apart.

Nathan is redder tha
n Justin. I know Justin needs to come down too, but I need to get to Nathan first. He has to be about three to five feet in the air above me. How am I supposed to get to him without making any noise?

My hand mindlessly reaches out for him
as I rise up on my tip-toes. I want to touch him, feel his warmth against me. I look around me. Nathan’s dad is still looking around, not coming up with anything. He curses, and calls out my name.

The other body
—Taylor or Rose—just stands there, not doing much of anything, besides looking back and forth as if they are trying to remember something.

“Dad, she’s going to try to go for Nathan
. Go back to where he hangs,” Rose’s voice rings out, but it doesn’t look like it’s coming from the standing body.

I search for the body
that I heard hit the floor. Now remembering that Rose can shift and reappear somewhere else, I see a red figure standing two feet from where the body once laid—that must be Rose. So the other body, standing mindlessly, a quarter of the way to the middle of the floor, is Taylor.

My plan needs a different approach.

I walk over to Taylor, not wanting to scare her in the dark. I grab her hand, knowing she can tell the difference in my touch from her relatives’. She squeezes it, and I pull her towards the wall.

I’m becoming desperate. I can’t
reach Nathan well-enough to get him down. I don’t know what to do. No abilities I possess give me stretch legs, and there is no ladder.

Our backs hit the wall. This would be a perfect time for me to be able to talk to them in my head. But I
hadn’t made it official that I would be a part of the family. I didn’t want to if it meant living with this dad of theirs, who is insistent on killing us. Who would want that?

At that thought, I make up my mind
that he is not going to live past tonight. And I’m pretty sure it is going to be because of me—especially if I make it to Nathan and he is not…don’t think it, Tracey. Just get him down.

As softly as I can, I whisper
, “What now?” near Taylor’s ear. I hope no one but her heard me.

She puts up one finger
, moving it in a ‘follow me’ motion. I do, following her towards Rose. Rose is going back and forth with their dad about the failure of a fool-proof plan, and how they can’t allow me to get to Nathan.

I
am
going to get to Nathan, and I am willing to go
through
them if needed.

Before we get too close,
Taylor says, “You will use her like a step to get to Nathan. Then move around him so that you’re facing him, wrap yourself around him, and hang there with him until you can feel his heartbeat. Just hold him. Everything is going to be okay. You can do this. Please, do this?” Desperation floods her voice as she whispers.

“What about Justin?”

“I’ll worry about him.”

“I
—”

“Dad
, they’re over here. I can hear them!” Rose needs a true beating. I look in his direction and he is carefully making his way towards us.

“Now
, Tracey!” I move behind Rose. Taylor grabs her, and Rose screams and tries to fight. With help from Taylor, I jump onto Rose’s shoulders, and the push that Rose gives to get me off her, is just enough for me to reach Nathan.

I grab
a hold, wrapping around him. His body is stiff. There’s no warmth, only cold.
Focus, Tracey
, I tell myself. The next challenge is to get my body turned around—without falling and hitting the floor.

I look around
. There is a tousle going on below me with Taylor and her family. She needs help—hell, I need help. They have Taylor around the neck, fighting her in the dark.

“
Tra-cey!” I hear through a gurgle.

Taylor really needs my help. Justin jerks next to me.
At least that means he is still alive. My hands heat up and I tell my snake of fire to help Taylor. It comes out of its hiding spot, quickly snaking around Rose and sending her stepping backwards quickly.

With Rose’s retreat
, Taylor loses it, glows full-red, and kicks their dad backwards. He flies into the wall behind them. He is not hurt or inconvenienced.

“Tracey! Help Nathan
. Now!” Taylor yells, looking all around the room, not knowing which direction one them would come from. I can see them, but I can’t do gymnastics with Nathan and look out for her at the same time. “Tracey, get Nathan!” she yells again.

Okay, get Nathan.

I need to get my body turned around so that I’m in the same position as him. I climb up to the chains, using Nathan’s legs. If I can get my legs wrapped around them, I can lean my body over to turn around.

I make it
—my arms and legs wrap around the cold, wet chains. With my legs gripping the chains tighter, I lean forward, grabbing a hold of Nathan’s lower legs. I slowly walk my body down Nathan’s.

His pants are wet
, making it hard to grip him. Once my legs reach his, I wrap them around him tightly, continuing to slowly lower myself. I make it to his waist, then his stomach. His body is cold to the touch and wet with a slimy feel. Even with his body freezing, he still shows red—as if he’s full of heat.

I take a moment
, praying he is okay and not dead. I can’t go too far up his body, because once my legs make it to his wet stomach, I know I will slide off. I can reach his shoulders, but I can’t make it to his face. I probably don’t want to look at it right now anyway.

Holding it together, I place my hand and my head against his chest.

Nothing.

No heartbeat, no breath. Tears fill my eyes as I wrap my
arms around his back. He is so
cold
. My eyes burn with tears as I place my head against his body. Nothing is happening. My heart starts to ache.

Nathan
, please
, I beg.
Come back to me
.
Just come back
.
Nathan, please
. My breath catches, causing me to softly sob.

I kiss over his chest as far as my neck will stretch. My tears
fall from my top lashes and I feel them drop against my forehead repeatedly. I touch every part of him that I can, hoping my touch and kisses will bring a beat to his heart, bring breath to his lungs.

Nothing
. Nothing happens. Nothing changes. He just hangs stiff—no movement, no warmth.