Page 8 of Darkness Falls

"You're going to do that regardless. You have no power here. The sooner you come to terms with that, the easier this will be for you. I like it when you put up a fight, though."

Who is this guy, and why is he being so forceful with my girl? Is this some kind of dream? The blurred figure of the man begins to take more shape, and my entire body becomes rigid. It’s the guy who shot me.

He grabs her by the throat, pinning her to the back of the couch as she tries her best to not react. She keeps her eyes on him in a silent challenge. He squeezes tighter, causing the color in her cheeks to change. I’ll kill him for putting his hands on her.

His grip finally loosens, and she grinds out a defiant "fuck you.”

He releases his hand, slapping her across the face. Coughing, she tries her best to catch her breath as her hand comes up to rub her cheek. I lunge forward to attack him, but my body goes through him again. I need to wake up from this dream and make sure she’s okay. The last thing she needs is for someone to treat her with less than shedeserves. I’m supposed to keep her safe from everyone who makes her feel unworthy.

I tell myself over and over to snap out of it, pinching and slapping myself. Wake up, Kyler. This is a nightmare. She will be right next to you in bed when you open your eyes.

My heart aches for her. My soul calls out to her. Lights flash around me, and before I can figure out what’s happening, I’m pulled away from the scene in front of me. It feels like I’m being yanked through some type of vortex. A moment later, I hear a soft beeping sound.

My eyes blink open, and I take in the scene around me. At first, it's blurry, but then it all starts to come into focus. I'm in a hospital bed in someone's home. I look to my left and see Seb sitting in a chair next to me. His arms are crossed over his chest, and his head hangs down like he's sleeping.

I shift my body, and his eyes pop open, sensing my movement. It's just the two of us in the room, which gives me a sick feeling. Memories come back to me. The last time I was with her, she was being pulled out of the room after I was shot.

"Where is she?" I whisper. The words come out choppy and hoarse in a voice I hardly recognize. It hurts to talk, and pain courses through my body, but I don't care.

"Dr. X, get in here! He's awake!" Seb calls out, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Where the fuck is Callie?" I try yelling, my voice rasping out as I find it a little bit more.

"You wereshot, Ky. You've been in a coma for five days," he chokes out, a mixture of fear, relief, and grief in his eyes as a tear slips free. I haven't seen him cry since Ms. Monroe's funeral.

"I don't care about any of that Seb. Where is my girl?" He better answer this time. I wince, sitting up to try and pull the cords off of me. There are bandages wrapped around my chest, and my body feels weak, but I'll find her myself if I have to.

Dr. X jogs into the room with his hands waving in the air. "Stop that; you need to keep those on."

"If someone doesn't tell me what the hell is going on, I'm ripping every single one of these off. I need to get to her."

"Give us a few minutes, doc, and I'll come grab you," Sebastian tells him.

"Fine, but I need to check him over. Everything stays attached." The doctor looks directly at me when he says that, so I nod to pacify him.

"Tell me she's here and that she’s just in the other room," I beg.

Seb's head drops in shame. I've never seen him look so fragile before. There are giant black circles under his eyes like he hasn't slept in days. His dark brown hair is messy, and he has thicker stubble on his face as if he hasn't taken the time to trim it in days. He looks like he's aged well beyond his 25 years.

"Tell me what happened now," I urge.

Chapter 4

Sebastian

Iwasn't expecting him to wake up. I thought life found another way to fuck with me, and I would lose another person I consider family. Dr. X told us that with all the complications from the surgery, he could be in a coma for a few days or forever. He lost so much blood on top of the risk of infection. Here he is, though, looking me dead in the eyes and expecting me to explain everything.

How am I supposed to tell him that I failed to protect our family? How am I going to find the words to tell him the woman he is in love with isn’t here? I haven't had the strength to leave his side. The guilt from everything has been eating me alive by the minute. He’s here because I let feelings cloud my judgment.

I knew better than to let Callie leave the house to go on that job with us. I led those assholes right to the home we worked so hard to secure. They walked right up to our fucking front door; they shot my brother and took Callie. It's a fucking miracle that Kyler woke up. Seeing his blue eyes meet mine for the first time in days has my mind in a frenzy. I've been a shit brother to him and Barrett.

Barrett filledme in on the string of text messages he had this morning and how he made the executive decision to trust Rogue’s hacker. He’s been the sole person holding everything together the past few days while all I’ve been able to do is feel sorry for myself. He made the choice without me because I'm a mess. Given the circumstances, it was the right choice, but we are a team, and we should have made that decision together. I need to be stronger.

I couldn't even think about Callie or what they were doing to her. I was too terrified that if I left Kyler’s side, he would decide he didn't need to fight anymore and leave us. Now that he's awake, I'm more worried he will hate me.

"Seb,” he warns with a chill tone in his voice.

I stand up and pace the room, running a hand through my hair. Where do I even begin with all this shit?

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