Sebastian Bear (complete)

THIRTY-SEVEN

THIRTY-SEVEN

Madeline slammed into the sharp stone street with an alarming force and a sickening thud. She groaned into the wet ground, her forehead pressed painfully into the jagged stone. She wasn't sure where she was or how she got there. The only thing that was obvious was the pain that radiated through her entire body and the smell of what Madeline could only equate to as burning hair.

She needed to get up. She needed to gather her wits and figure out where she was. She struggled but managed to stand, bracing most of her weight against a nearby building. Her breath was returning to her chest. She looked around the darkened alley, her eyes reaching to adjust to the dim lighting. It was late. It was raining, thin sheets of mist-like rain kept a steady fall. She moved further, taking refuge under a small overhang that housed a plethora of cobwebs and flickering light with a sickly yellow tinge.

Where was she?

She looked around for any signs. She hadn't ever been one for a big city and that place was no exception. It was too quiet. There were no distant sounds of cars or trains. She struggled to hear anything over the soft patter of raindrops landing on the ground. She looked up at the sky where she took in not just one but two silver moons hanging loosely in the stormclouds.

Two moons.

Two.

Madeline shook her head, her breath coming out in uneven bursts of painful gasps. How had she gotten there... to that awful place that Sebastian refused to even speak about?

She searched her mind for the last thing she remembered. Waking in a panic, water... television... an open window. Blake. Her brain felt too full. She was dizzy. She tried to relax into the wall, hoping she'd wake up in her bed with Sebastian. She didn't. Another set of awful blood-soaked memories poured into her skull. She remembered running for her life, her hand on the doorknob. There had been so much blood but no pain. She couldn't remember anything hurting, just a blinding numbness and clouded vision. The memories were scattered after that. She had seen Sebastian's face looming over her, his hands touching her face.

"I didn't get anything from him," an unfamiliar voice boomed from down the alley. Madeline moved into the shadows, ignoring the icy prick of rain at her shoulders.

"You didn't try hard enough," another softer voice teased. "I would've gotten exactly what I went there for."

Madeline held her breath as two individuals made their way past her. They were two males with icy skin and black endless eyes. They looked to be related if not identical. Madeline took in their dark gray clothing. They were muted in color except for a red sash tied across their chests. She wasn't sure what they were talking about but could see a small silver pouch in one of their hands.

"Next time you string him up by his toes or she will do that to you," one said to the other. "Mercy deserves no mercy."

"Such a good boy," the other seemed annoyed by whatever the first had said, responding with a mocking tone. "I'm sure mother will be so proud."

"I got mine, little brother. You're the one that is showing up empty-handed."

Madeline pressed herself as hard as she could into the darkened corner. They were close then, walking past her with their endless onyx eyes. She held her breath. Everything in her screamed to run. They stopped just before they passed her, the one with the silver mystery bag sniffing the air like some sort of wild animal. She closed her eyes, willing them with her internal voice to move on.

"Do you smell that, little brother?" He whispered. Madeline was shaking. She had made fun of so many females on television that took violent quaking breaths when being pursued by a masked murdered and there she was losing control of her body.