Page 36 of The Order

The Officials continue fumbling, listening to the pleas of students begging them to grab their guns. Another body stumbles from the bush, the boy that the girl had snuck off with. He clutches his side, bleeding just as profusely as her. He runs toward the closest Official he sees. Hunter stays back, trying his best to pull Fallan toward him. I help apply pressure to the woman's neck, watching her wince in pain. The twins stand still, trying their best to get at least one Official to back away from their trance on the devices they all now hold.

They are Re-Regulation devices meant to stop Unfortunates in aggravated states.

A foreign warmth radiates beside me, filling the space around me in a mere few seconds with equal feelings of uncertainty and security. Only a few moments pass before the clarity of who has made their way over to the mess sprawled in front of me finally settles.

Fallan kneels, moving my hands to help the woman breathe. He grasps a corner of his shirt, tearing away the bottom, helping me raise her head before tightening the thin piece of material now around her neck.

“What the hell are you guys waiting for?” Kai yells toward the Officials, joining in on the confusion clouding the area.

I feel my heart race. Fallan continues his hold, looking around at the numerous men inputting code into their devices.

“Fuck,” Fallan whispers, looking up at me in pure terror.

The girl's hand grabs my front, pulling me down closer to her. As she drags me down, her blood streaks along the light material of my shirt. Her voice is filled with fluid, barely understandable, even though I’m only a few inches away from her mouth. Her lips press to the side of my face. The groan of pain in her voice is miserably hard to listen to.

“I saw it,” she says, gasping in between breaths. I look up at Fallan and Kai, trying to decipher her words.

“Saw what?” I question, watching her consciousness slowly leave her.

A few Officials work their way over, relieving Fallan and I from the pressure we’ve been applying to her bloody neck.

“Did she say what attacked her?” one of them questions, looking to me for an answer. Her voice is still cracking. She is unable to get a word out. They focus their attention back on her, their pockets blinking as the screens of their devices flash white. I move around a bit, feeling Fallan’s hand drag me away from my kneeled position next to one of the Officials.

They crowd her, letting the others aid the boy, who’s now unconscious. I move back with Fallan, staying on my knees as Kai tries his best to ease the crowd.

A pain passes over my head once more. It makes me slump forward, pressing my head into the ground. I claw at the Earth, trying my best to stop a scream from escaping my throat.

“Get up before they notice,” Fallan whispers, yanking the back of my shirt, forcing me back up.

He acts like he isn't speaking to me. His eyes are only on the Officials.

“What’s happening to me?” I question silently toward him. He offers me no answer.

“Shif-” she tries to say. Her cough that follows paints the grass in red.

“Shif?” Kai questions. Fallan’s eyes are wide, watching the Officials all dial in on her words.

“Shifter,” she screams in a voice nothing short of a nightmare.

“That’s not possible,” I whisper. Feeling my voice shake, I look up at Fallan for confirmation.

Fallan’s eyes grow dark at the statement, finally filling with the one expression I have yet to see on him.

Fear.

Chapter eleven

Forest

Myfeetdigintothe ground, kicking me farther away from the group of Officials now swarming the girl in a ring-like formation. Fallan moves with me, scanning the area repeatedly. My head is filled with an indescribable pain. Clutching my mark, I feel its burn grow with each passing second. I grab a fistful of Kai’s shirt, doing my best to pull him back with me. Kai looks dazed, as if he has no idea where he is. The group begins whispering, all stagnant, waiting for someone to ease their worries.

Some try to leave, only to be stopped by the wave of new Officials beginning to fill the area. Fallan’s hand still lingers on me, grabbing the back of my collar to stop me from slumping forward in a pain-filled scream. Rae and Max observe the girl, both wide-eyed and nervous, not even batting an eye in our direction.

“S-Shifter!” the girl on the ground yells again in a groggy voice, escalating the whispers into a full-blown panic.

“God damn it,” Fallan whispers, grasping his head. He begins grinding his teeth with a look of pain. His hand retracts, holding his chest while his other fist bangs to the ground.

Kai turns toward me, barely acknowledging Fallan’s proximity to the both of us. Hunter stays back by the booth, hiding behind the structure. Kai grabs my face, letting his panic overcome him in shallow breaths. I feel his pulse work against the side of my face from his wrist.

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