Page 6 of Prodigal Son

She clawed at the phantom attacker, unable to stop the assault. Choking on blood, she tore at her throat, her eyes dilated and glowing, her words garbled and hissing. The room spun into delirium as their frenzied aid did nothing to help poor Anna.

Cybil’s stomach knotted. Her affection for Anna now overshadowed by a desire for mercy. They had to make it stop. The torture of watching Anna’s pain grew unbearable, and Cybil had to look away, curving her shoulders into the wall and covering her face.

“We need a healer!” Adam screamed through the hysteria.

“I can’t leave you like this!” Gracie cradled Anna’s face in her hands, trying to still her shaking head. “Anna, let me in. Let me in so I can help you.”

The scent of blood overwhelmed the room as it spilled onto the floor. “My baby…”

“You need to let me in so I can reach the babe.”

Anna’s voice, now weak and ravaged, struggled to speak as she gasped and choked. Her fight was fading.

Cybil peeked through her fingers, watching as blood red tears welled in Anna’s eyes. The metallic stench of this room would stay with her forever.

“Give her your blood, Adam!”

Cybil’s hand clamped over her mouth as her stomach ruptured in repulsion as Adam bit open his wrist and pressed it to his wife’s mouth. Cybil’s mind screamed, but she could only watch in silent horror.

“She can’t swallow! Help her!”

“I’m doing my best! I don’t know what’s wrong!” The wound on Anna’s chest swelled and contracted as if healing and opening like a tear in the ocean floor. “Dear Lord… How is this possible?” Gracie snatched the bloodied sheets and pressed them to Anna’s chest. “Hold this here, Adam. She needs pressure. Her heart is losing too much blood too fast.”

Anna’s body tensed as a flood of crimson spewed from her lips. “Do something, Grace! Now!”

Gracie shut her eyes and gripped Anna’s temples. “Sleep!”

Anna lost consciousness as her body spasmed uncontrollably. Grace remained still and silent, her hands holding Anna’s head as Adam wept over his dying wife, begging her to stay with him.

Though there were four of them in the room, Cybil felt like an intruder. She shut her eyes, but could not block the sound of Adam’s words as he pledged his eternal heart to Anna and divulged every secret fear a man would never speak to anyone but his wife.

Anna’s body jerked as a seizure took hold. Her body pulled taught, rattling tighter than an earthquake’s tremors, and then her muscles went slack.

Grace jerked back, her body knocked to the floor. She gasped, as if coming awake. “I saw dark woods. Trees. Red eyes. I could feel her panic, and the incredible pressure and pain.” She panted. “Adam…I’ve never felt anything like it. I could feel the capillaries bursting in her brain.”

“What is it?” He swelled with uncontainable rage.

Sorrow and regret flooded Gracie’s eyes as she shook her head. “I don’t know. She pushed me out.”

“Well, get back in there. Tell me what’s hurting my wife!”

She gripped her brother’s bloodied fists as he shook her. “I’m sorry, Adam. Everything went black.”

CHAPTER 3

Destiny’s mind awoke from the jolt of what she hoped was the residual shock of a nightmare. As the pain in her back and skull registered, adrenaline chugged heavily through her veins sending a surge of dizziness that assured this was no dream. She was too cold and weak to move. Her body felt like she was kicked down several flights of stairs.

Where was she? Her mind struggled to fully awaken as the crackle of burning wood stirred a sense of nostalgia. Was she camping?

The recognizable scent of earth filled her lungs, but the air seemed thin. Flashes of irregular recollections danced through her memory, indistinguishable as dreams or reality.

The woods—claws—running for her life—the crossbow—no… What had she done? She focused on the now, and the pounding in her head intensified. Flashes of an attack had her tensing. She needed help. She was badly injured and unsure of the extent she’d suffered, afraid to take a full inventory of her body’s aches and discover what damage might have been done.

The piney scent of balsam filled the air, but it was still dark. Unsure if she was alone, she carefully kept her breathing calm and her body still as she listened for clues to her surroundings.

Sleep threatened to pull her back under. Her body was uncharacteristically heavy and weak, like a nightmare when she needed to run but her feet felt encased in cement. Maybe she was still dreaming.

Her eyes seemed the only part of her that didn’t hurt, though her vision was gritty and her head pounded. Carefully, she tried to look over her shoulder, but the angle twisted her muscles so painfully her stomach trembled and she swallowed back bile.

---