385A/N: Due to the overwhelming response of "Who got shot/what happened/oh em gee" this is going up a few days earlier than I was going to post it. What can I say, overwhelming responses overwhelm me. I am moved to writing more and thus posting more. Hope you enjoy! Title line courtesy Coldplay, "Lost".
.the deceiver
: the king is the cavalry
just because I'm hurting doesn't mean I'm hurt, doesn't mean I didn't get what I deserve
It was the loudest thing I had ever heard. The sound glanced off the alley walls, piercing into me just like a blade. Deaf, blind, mute. It took whole seconds for my hearing to return, and I hadn't realized my eyes were closed until they snapped open again. I still couldn't see.
Why can't I see?
My eyes began to focus on the thing that took up my entire view—the back of a tightly-fisted hand. As my vision cleared, a circle of blood began to appear under the skin, starting from the middle and slowly spidering outwards until it became a deep and livid bruise. Black blood slithered out through the fingers.
Shortly the hand withdrew, and I was again faced with the gunman. My head turned, and I found myself looking at Valin, who seemed the size of a towering monster with his back to me. It had been his hand that had stopped the bullet meant for my head. It had been Valin.
Looking again to the man who had just come an inch from killing me, I knew that he as well recognized what had happened. He seemed confused, at first, and then quickly rounded his weapon on Valin, barking like a cornered coyote. "Where the fuck did this guy come from?" He didn't wait for an answer.
Gunshot.
Gunshot.
Gunshot.
I was screaming.
The dark-eyed creature was propelled into the brick wall behind him, but did not slump to the ground as expected. Apparently unfazed, the other two assailants advanced on him. Steel glinted under the glow of the street lamps.
The larger man grabbed him and held him to the wall, while the other one drew his elbow back in order to put his blade through the monster's gut. Valin was laughing. He was laughing. He was still laughing as the knife slid into him, and he was laughing as he brought one clawed hand up to tear out the throat of the man who had stabbed him. Even still he continued as he tore the knife out of his stomach and turned it on the one who still had a grip on him. The only audible sound from the blade spearing his eye was the sharp smack from the bone in Valin's fist impacting the man's skull as the knife was driven into his head right up to the hilt.
I had managed to stand up, and Gemma looked as if she would pull off the same feat when the gunman kicked her in the head and she collapsed again. He then spun back on Valin and leveled the gun at him.
With a great roar Valin leapt upon him, and the gun went off a sixth time. The bullet missed its mark, taking out a window and ending up in one of the buildings whose walls made up the alley. Valin took the man's head in one hand and smashed it into the pavement once, and then a second time with a wet crack. It was done so swiftly and brutally that the man didn't even have the chance to cry out in pain. He was simply dead, the back of his skull a pulpy mess of brain matter and blood and powdered bone.
Valin stood, turning to me. I looked at his hands. One of them was still curled into a fist around the bullet he had stopped, and the second was simply resting at his side, covered in blood. A normal hand—a human hand. But it had been equipped with wicked talons during that fight, I was sure of it. Even in the panic of the moment that was admittedly still upon me, my eyes hadn't failed me. I was not entirely sure what else I had expected.
For an eternity we stood there, both panting, watching each other. Then he took a step forward.
It was shaky, uncertain. Weak.
I ran to meet him, slinging his arm over my shoulder to support him. He'd been shot thrice in the chest and stabbed once. Even being who or what he was, apparently invulnerability didn't rank among his impressive list of attributes. As he rapidly lost strength, I lay him down on the rough ground, trying to cradle his head to keep it from smacking into the pavement.
"Valin? Can you hear me?"
He grinned, but his face still showed a lot of pain. "Of course I can hear you," he said, his voice thin. "This isn't so bad. I'll be up in a minute."
"There are bullets in you, Valin," I said. "You're hurt. What do you need me to do?"
"I don't need anything from you."
"Oh, right, you're so bloody self-sufficient." I took off my jacket and put it under his head, and then glanced over at Gemma. She was breathing evenly, but she didn't seem all right by any measure. I wanted to go to her, but Valin was in a far worse state; I resolved to take care of him first, as he could probably fix Gemma up once he had recovered and as determined as the little brunette could be she couldn't claim the same skill. My attention turned back to the unlikely hero, whose eyes were now shut. His breathing was ragged. "Come on, come on. A few little bullet holes aren't going to take you down. Wake up, Valin. Tell me what to do. I…I don't know what to do."
His eyes fluttered open again, and it took a moment to register what I was seeing. Golden irises. Glittering, scintillating golden irises. His skin had maintained its light bronze coloring, but appeared to have become almost totally translucent. I could see his veins—could see them pumping blood that was dark, so dark, through him. He opened his mouth to speak, and his voice came out like a song. "You can leave me," he said lyrically. "I'd rather you not see me like this." There was a pause as he took in a great, shuddering breath. There was a wet, crackling sound as he did it—blood in his lungs, then?
"You might die if I don't do something to help."
"I might."
When he said it, I seemed to suddenly sober up—both from the alcohol and from the adrenaline. I laughed. "I could kill you right now, if I wanted to. Isn't that true? I could shove you in a fucking dumpster."
"You probably could," he confirmed, still in that strangely beautiful voice he was using. "Although it would be breaking one of our deals."
"You're wrong. Recall the wording on that second deal, for a moment. I'm never to attempt to hurt you. Helping you once someone else has hurt you isn't really part of it."
His golden eyes met mine, and for the first time I felt as if I were seeing the real Valin. He gritted his teeth. "That's true."
I regarded him evenly. Honestly. By the look he was giving me I knew he could practically see right into my mind at that moment, if he couldn't always. I smiled. "One might say I'm in the position to ask for a deal of my own. Your life for a request."
"No deal," he said.
So I stood up, snatching my jacket from under him as I went. His head lolled to the side just like a ragdoll's, but I refused to let the resulting pang of guilt stop me from walking away and making to pick up Gemma and carry her to find help—making to leave him. I checked her out carefully; she probably had a concussion but besides the head wound she'd sustained there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. The wound in her arm was still bleeding but it wasn't major. I didn't remember her getting hit other than that one kick to the skull, so I figured all I could do was hope there wasn't a neck injury and try to carry her somewhere until an ambulance or the police could arrive.
Don't be an idiot, I told myself. You can't call emergency services. 'Oh, officer, how did we manage to fight off those men? How did that one get his throat ripped out? Funny story…'
Alright. Call Adrian, get him to come get us, make him swear on his life not to say anything. I figured he could be trusted.
With that plan in mind, I left Gemma in search of one of our phones. Our bags had been thrown down near the mouth of the alley, so it didn't take me long to get out my phone and dial Adrian's number. My finger was literally descending toward the send button when Valin's voice interrupted.
"You realize once I get better, you have no way of enforcing this deal," he laughed, but it was a weak laugh, marred by pain and…something else. Worry? Disbelief?
I flipped my phone shut and put it back into my purse before turning around again. I took my time walking back over to Valin and kneeling beside him. His eyes were still asking a question. "I'll take you on honor," I said.
He coughed, and then cried out with the force of the agony that resulted. After a moment of catching his breath, he said, "Alright. You've played this well. What do you want?"
I held his eyes, licking my lips. I had to pick something I thought he might actually uphold on honor alone, as I was certain that if I asked for something he thought to be too much, he would simply break his promise. When his eyes darted to the bruise he'd left on my face earlier, I knew what to ask for. "You'll never raise a hand against me again," I said firmly. "If I help you to live now, you will never hit me, never shove me, never cause me any physical harm again. Do we have a deal?"
Valin looked almost remorseful, although I wasn't entirely sure of the cause. "Barring our first deal, of course?" When I nodded, he conceded. "Lucky I'm bleeding so much, it'll be easy for you to seal it."
"What?"
He strained to hold up the hand that he'd caught the bullet with, his right hand. The claws seemed to be returning. He forced his fingers open, and in the middle of his palm was the piece of metal that had been meant for my head. His otherworldly, musical voice instructed, "Take out the bullet. It will start to bleed again. Lick it up. Proper deals are sealed in blood."
The bullet was protruding out of his skin, and he winced heavily when I wrenched it all the way out. Blood pooled from the wound into his palm, and I held it up to my lips. My tongue darted out to lap a bit of it away, and I cringed at the taste. It seared the inside of my mouth and all the way down my throat as I washed it away with saliva.
"There," he said. "Deal made."
"Good. Now will you tell me what to do to help you? I'd prefer if you didn't die."
He looked at me skeptically. "Really?"
Actually, I'd surprised myself with that statement. What surprised me a great deal more was that on some level I meant it. "Well, yes, actually." Confusion was rather evident in my voice.
He smiled. His teeth were fangs. "Alright, then. First we'll have to get back to the hotel. Those gunshots were heard and people are on their way, you know? We've got to get moving. There's a bullet in my heart right now so you'll understand if I can't carry Gemma."
"I know she's small but carrying her more than a block or two is going to be incredibly difficult for me. You don't have any ideas?"
He was struggling to sit up, now, but when I reached out to help him he pushed my hands away. "I'm fine," he said. A pause. "I'll make it to the hotel." Another pause as he glanced down at his blood-soaked chest. "We're going to have to hotwire a car."
"Can't you just…magic it? You teleported three people off a plane, this can't possibly be that hard for you."
"Are you looking at me?" He snapped. "Do your eyes work? What do I look like to you right now?"
At his words, I took him in anew. Behind the blood that covered him—both his own and that of the three men he'd killed—he looked totally bizarre. His eyes were such a vivid shade of gold that they were almost glowing. His surface veins were visible and if I looked closely enough, I thought I could make out the pattern of his muscles where the skin stretched over them. As he panted, I got a look at his teeth—his outer incisors were sharpened and his canines were wicked fangs on both his top and bottom jaw.
"Well?"
He looked terrifying, that's what he looked like. I believed so wholly now the stories he'd told me after Adrian's party. I could just picture this creature, this thing hunched over a corpse, tearing strips of raw flesh from the body with its mouth. When I found that I was inwardly trying to stabilize myself by repeatedly noting that it was just Valin, I almost laughed. Since when had that become a comfort? "You look like a monster," I said. I took pride in the coolness of my voice, because in truth I was nearly petrified—not only because he was such a horrific thing but because in some way he was an object of unparalleled beauty.
He flashed his fangs in a wry grin, and his ethereal voice took on a sardonic ring. "So, I'm laying around in public halfway wearing my true skin, Alex, and although you're doing a brilliant job of looking unfazed, experience has taught me that you're probably terrified. What does that tell you?"
Sighing, I said, "It tells me that you don't have enough strength left to keep up the façade." When he nodded, my face became grim. "I hope you can talk me through it, then, because I don't have a chance in hell of doing it on my own."
"I will. Go get Gemma."
I first grabbed our bags, then walked over to the unconscious girl and hefted her up over my shoulder and into a fireman's carry. The amount of effort it took was staggering, but I managed to balance myself and walk slowly toward Valin. He was now on his feet, leaning heavily against the wall. He still gasped for breath.
Valin was waving toward the street with one hand. "Pick a vehicle. Preferably not something flashy, and not something that will have an alarm."
I quickly scanned the block in both directions, before forcing my burdened legs to move toward the nearest car in sight: a matte-red, 80's-era hatchback. "Nobody in the world is going to miss this thing. It's a total piece."
Staggering after me, Valin couldn't even manage a laugh. "Door," he said. "Get the door."
I knelt down and set Gemma on the ground as carefully as I could before trying the handle. "Locked," I said. "It's obviously fucking locked." I kicked the door in frustration.
"Give me a moment," he said. He fell to his knees facing the car, with both hands braced against the door. Heaving a great sigh, he pressed his forehead to the car just where the door met the frame. In a moment there was a clicking noise, and I could see the lock tab pop up through the window.
Valin slid away from the door and onto the ground beside Gemma as I wrenched the door open. Once inside I unlocked the other doors, and then turned back to the two on the sidewalk. "Well? Get in. I'll help Gemma."
"The cops are on their way," he said. Just as the words were past his lips, the sirens came.
Swearing, I opened the back door, threw in our bags, and dragged Gemma in as fast as I could while Valin clawed his way into the passenger seat. I moved around to the driver's side and got in, and then looked to Valin expectantly. He wasn't looking at me, however—he was rummaging around in the glove box.
"What are you doing?"
"Screwdriver," he said. "We need a screwdriver or something like it to pry off the cover." He pulled out a heavy switchblade and snapped it open, handing it to me hilt first. "This should do it. Quickly! There's a plastic panel under the steering wheel, I want you to crack it off. Got it?" I followed the directions as he gave them, prying off the panel with the blade and letting it fall by my feet. "Two red wires, you see them? Pull them out, strip the ends with your teeth. Don't worry, they won't be charged. Done? Good. Twist them together." The dashboard lit up, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "There should be another wire in that bunch that's brown or black. Pull that one out and strip it, too—wait! It's live, it's live. You'll electrocute yourself if you aren't careful. Don't bite all the way through it, just get a hold of the plastic and rip it off. Careful! Jesus, don't go so fast," he whispered, his voice weakening. "Just touch it to those two red ones, and the car should start."
I barked out an excited, "Yes!" as the car's engine revved to life, and then pushed the brown wire aside as Valin instructed. My instant of joy was crushed by the formerly distant sirens growing louder and louder.
My hands were shaking.
"There's still a lock on the wheel," he informed me. "Take the panel off the top of the steering wheel as well. There should be a little bar, about two inches long maybe? It'll be spring loaded. Pry that up with the knife. Good! Now drive."
Everything after he said that one word was a blur. Panicked heartbeat, sweaty palms. All I could think about was those fucking sirens as they tried to drown out the sound of Valin's crackling, liquid breathing. I don't remember the turns I made. I don't remember the streets I passed. I vaguely recall the sound of Valin's smooth, slithering voice as it whispered orders in my ear. Before I knew it we were stopped in the parking lot behind some dark and looming building two blocks from the hotel, and Valin was collapsing onto my half of the car.
"Valin? Valin, get up! You're scaring me," I said, my hands on his shoulder in an attempt to push him back into a sitting position. The second I applied a bit of force to move him he started to cough, spraying my arm and staining his lips with his dark, black-red blood. "Fuck."
Finally Valin's hand planted on the center console and he righted himself, his chest heaving. "I'm okay," he lied. "I need you to…I need you…" his head swayed a bit, and he slid sideways into the window.
"…Valin?"
No answer.
I hadn't realized how hard I'd been breathing until everything was so silent, and all I could hear was the sound of my own ragged breaths in and out. In and out.
In and out.
My cell was ringing.
I practically dove into the backseat for my purse, but when I got it in my hands they were shaking so badly I could barely get it open and retrieve the phone. I opened it without looking at the call display and almost threw up with joy when Adrian's voice came over the earpiece.
"Hello?"
"Alex, are you okay? Where are you?"
My eyes darted over to Valin, slumped against the passenger side door. Everything he'd touched was stained with blood. His hair was matted with it, his clothes were soaked in it, his skin was covered in it. His rasping breaths had become shallow and quiet.
You could just let him die and be done with it. Hang up the phone, say the call was dropped, wait for it to be done.
Blood snaked its way from the corner of his lips down over his jaw, onto his neck. His eyes were closed.
Tell them he made you steal the car. Look at him, he looks like a monster. They can't explain this! They'll believe any story you try to sell them.
I licked my lips.
"Alex? Answer me! Tell me where you are, I'll get the car and be right there."
The monster's right hand was on the door handle, as if he'd been gripping it before his whole body had gone limp. The back of his hand showed a massive, cruel-looking black bruise.
That decided it.
"Adrian, thank God. Look, things are really bad. Gemma's hurt, and I think Valin's dying."
"Valin? But he wasn't—"
"Listen! When you get here, I'll explain everything, so prepare yourself because this is pretty fucked up. Right now I just need you to get here as fast as you can." I gave him directions to the parking lot before adding, "And Adrian? Come by yourself. Tell everyone we're fine, we just need a ride."
"Jesus, Alex, but you said—"
"Shut up! You're with the others? Don't say it out loud. Pretend everything's fine, just tell them we need a ride, that's all. We're not being held hostage or anything, we're just sitting in a parking lot in a stolen car and…well, fuck, just come now. Swear to me you'll do what I asked you to."
There was a long pause.
"Adrian!"
"Alright, alright. I'll do it. I'll be there in a minute," he said. He hung up the phone.
I looked back to Gemma, who was bleeding from both her arm and a large scrape near her temple that covered a massive swelling in the place where the gunman had kicked her. Her eyes had rolled back in her head but her eyelids were still partly open. If it hadn't been for the steady rise and fall of her chest she would have looked exactly like a corpse.
Valin was as still as a statue. I couldn't even tell if he was breathing. I leaned over to press my fingers to his neck and was relieved to find a pulse there, however weak it was.
"You didn't even take anything for saving me," I told his unconscious body. "You might die for me right now and I wasted time I might have spent saving you trying to pull a deal out of you." I sighed. "But you understand, don't you? I had to get something back. You can't hold all the cards. It's just the way the game is played."
He didn't even stir.
"Please don't die," I whispered.
Valin was out cold. Apparently he wasn't making any promises.
D: x 2. I hope someone sees the point to all of those "character development" chapters, now, but if you don't at least you should be pleased with this scene.
Love to reviewers! You guys are the reason this is up so fast so give yourselves a pat on the back! (But thanks to everyone who reads/favorites this story as well. I can't identify lurkers but I do go check out the profiles & stories of people who put it on their favorites! Know that I am paying attention to you even if I don't always say it!)
Stahlut, CaveDwellers, teardrop, LovelyxXxDreams, shinaynay, autumnsprite, Lj, Ihaconch, IGNIS Elementi, SeraiRhifune, Dark Hime, lacy-9,
CaveDwellers: I like you, you notice stuff. It owwwnnss. You're majorly right about Valin getting at her, he does. Kind of shines a light on some of her more shady behavior as well. I'm really glad you tell me what I'm doing right and wrong with this story as I have come to respect your opinion!
SeraiRhifune: Haha yeah I'm trying to update regularly but it's hard when I have so much to do before I go away in the fall and so many of my friends to hang out with before I go. I'm trying to start a stockpile of chapters or something so that when I go away I can still update since, well, let's be honest, I'm going to be a drunk mess for the first month there and finding time to write in res is going to be hard. I'll do it, though!