Tied Together

Chapter 19: Prince?

Silence.

A moment of darkness and silence. It is almost peaceful—until it isn't.

My eyes open and the sound is deafening. Is unbearable. I instantly clutch my ears groaning as I curl more into myself. This is too much. I need this stop, anything to stop this. I can't take this anymore.

Someone is near me but my vision is too blurry and unfocused to make much out. I am barely aware they are trying to speak to me, trying to help me up, half carrying me across the graveyard.

I notice we are moving, but I can barely walk, the pain is too intense. All I feel is these people's pain. Their pain and grief. Their sadness and loss. I feel myself being lifted up, someone is carrying me in their arms. My head lolls back onto the person's shoulder and the world fades in and out.

I faintly noticed Jeremy is the one carrying me. His face is scrunched up in concern and his mouth moving frantically but can't hear anything with the screams in my ear, I can barely respond, I just clutch my head in agony taking the waves of pain.

After who knows how long I start to gain an awareness of my surround. After I am not falling unconscious every few minutes. My vision starts to clear after a while, I can't tell how long my sense of time is so muddled. I let out heavy breaths of relief as the pain lessens, my head not feeling like it is going to explode into a million pieces.

I distantly notice we are out of the graveyard, in the bush now. I groan slumping further into Jeremy's arms. The pain has significantly decreased and my head is thumping and my body twitching.

I weakly look up at Jeremy. "Thanks," I mutter.

He looks down at me eyebrows drawn together. "Why are you thanking me? What the fuck happened out there?" He lets out a breath before speaking again. "Are you okay?"

I nod as I lay my head back on his chest; truly drained. I let my eyes drift closed listening to the sound of birds and crickets. "Probably just dehydration and a migraine." I lie.

He frown but looks like he believes it enough.

"Can you just put me down for a sec?" I rasp.

He gently leans me against a tree and I slump against it. My legs are so wobbly that I slide down it. I bury my head in my knees trying to take deep breaths.

In and out.

In and out.

In and out.

"What's wrong? What happened back there?" Jeremy asks in a voice so gentle I am surprised it came from him.

"Just... gimme a sec," I rasp.

The pain is not as intense, but now I am away it is slowly easing. But I feel exhausted, like I have run a marathon and now the race is catching up on me.

I look up when I have enough strength to. "Can you help me walk to camp?" I ask, my voice dry and raw.

After a minute or two when I feel enough strength we start to walk again. We walk in silence and he helps half hold me up when my legs wobble or I become unbalanced. He helps carry a lot of my weight as I struggleg to do simple tasks like walking in a straight line. It isn't long until I am stable enough to walk by myself.

After a while walking in silence, he speaks up. "You were mumbling Ray's name...You were calling for him..."

"Oh..." I say distantly, not sure how to respond to that.

"Be careful." He warns glancing at me. "People like Ray ... they don't understand. They are not like us, we are the same. We are dark. I can tell you have been through a lot. You have seen a lot. The world hardened you up and left you with scars. I'm like you. We have more issues than just school and sports and about being popular. He wouldn't understand."