17. A VAGUE CONNECTION
1507 Words
{VANCE}
The motherfucker ended the call on me!
Who does he think he is?
I didn’t care about the cost. Whatever it took, I had to find him. He’d pay for messing with my sister…for messing with us.
"f*****g piece of s**t!" Kyro cussed in annoyance, throwing the phone aside.
"No, Kyro. We need to keep the phone to track him."
Kyro scowled but went for the phone.
"There's something wet on my dress," Mirabel said. She inched away from me and peered down, and a sudden gasp tore from her lips. "Vance!"
My gaze followed hers. That was when I noticed the blood that had soiled my white shirt and her yellow floral dress.
Fear gripped me, thinking she was the one bleeding. I reached for her, but she shook her head, “Y-you are bleeding, Vance."
Then it hit me—the bullets. They’d pierced my skin when I climbed the windshield.
"Are you okay?" Mirabel cupped my chin.
I tried to speak, but dizziness swept over me. Pain exploded through my abdomen, bone-deep, and I fell backward with a hiss.
"f*****g hell!" Kyro yelled as he reached into the car. He lifted my shirt and muttered under his breath.
I wheezed in pain, "Is it bad?"
He slowly shook his head. "No," but I could see the denial in his eyes.
It must be bad. It must be so bad.
The pain intensified, stabbing through my stomach, burning as if my flesh were melting.
Kyro peeled off his leather jacket and handed his phone to Mirabel. "Call emergency service."
"I don't want to go to the hospital,” I refused.
I have always hated the smell of aspirin and antiseptics. I only took Lumira because the urge to save her life was far greater than my hospital aversion.
"But you need to, Vance," Kyro interjected.
"G-Get..." I stammered through the pain, each breath a laborious struggle. "Get Doctor Gaius to come treat me at home then."
"Call Jett now," Kyro commanded Mirabel who immediately began to punch in some numbers on his phone, while he slipped his leather jacket around my back and tied my stomach to curtail the bleeding.
"You're going to be alright, Vance. You are going to be just fine. You're a tiger... You know right?"
I let out a soft chuckle amid my suffering. He chuckled back, but I could not help but notice the unmistakable hint of sadness hidden in the rumble of his laugh.
Kyro pressed his hands against the jacket, holding it down on my stomach.
"Tiny silver bullets can't stop you, right?" He teased, forcing lightness into the chaos.
I nodded, "Right."
Sweats dripped down my forehead. My skin felt icy as if I had been thrown into snow.
Meanwhile, Mirabel frantically continued to dial numbers on the phone.
The line rang again...no answer, but when she tried it the umpteenth time, Jett's voice connected from the other end.
"Wassup, Kyro?"
"It's me, Mirabel."
"Oh—"
Kyro snatched the phone from Mirabel with his bloodied hand. "Jett, there's no time for explanation. Please bring a car to the Eastern Railway, we are on the road to the left."
"Right away," Jett said and the line disconnected.
"Is he going to die?" Mirabel suddenly blurted, and I could feel the intensity of the glare Kyro tossed at her. "Please don't die, Vance. I'm sorry for everything. I know this is my fault."
"No, baby." I cooed softly, trying to reassure her and ignore my own pain. "None of this is your fault. You didn't ask to get kidnapped."
Tears had gathered in her eyes as she nodded remorsefully.
"This big brother is going nowhere."
She took my hand and gave it a soft, comforting squeeze. "I'm so sorry, Vance. I'm really sorry."
The warmth from her palm somehow strengthened my resolve. I held onto her hand tightly while my breathing was starting to short-circuit from the burning torture on my chest.
"Hello, Doctor Gaius?" Kyro's voice tore through the emotional atmosphere. "I need you at the mansion. Vance has been shot, so you can come with all the assistance you need."
"Right, Beta Kyro." the frail voice tendered from the other end.
"Be there in ten minutes," Kyro said before ending the call.
Within minutes, I heard the roar of an engine approaching from a distance.
Kyro inched up, looking through the rear windshield. "Great, Jett is here," he murmured, though his voice seemed distant.
I felt my eyelids growing heavier with each passing second.
As Kyro looked from the window to my face, he began to mumble something. I could only make out the movement of his lips but it was as if my ears had lost their function.
A soft tap brushed my cheek before everything went dark as my eyes closed.
•••{SEVERAL HOURS LATER}•••
My eyelids fluttered open, and white light stabbed my iris.
"f**k!" I grunted weakly and shut them back momentarily.
A sigh escaped my lips and my mind was foggy, but then memories of the event that occurred before I passed out, suddenly rushed to the forefront of my brain.
My lower abdomen seemed as if it were caged in something. I opened my eyes and tried to peer down.
That was when I saw her sitting on the edge of my bed, staring back at me.
Lumira.
Goodness, she was so beautiful.
There was something about her that had swept me in from the onset.
"Come with me, Vance." She stretched out her slender hand to me.
"I don't think I can walk for now." I pointed at my bandaged chest.
"Why can't you walk?" She asked softly.
"Because of the bandages on my chest."
Lumira tilted her head, confused. “What bandages?"
I frowned at the question then peered down only to find nothing but a bare chest with no trace of gunshot wounds.
That was not possible.
I was shot with silver bullets.
Even if I were to heal, it wouldn't be that quick.
"How is that—"
She placed a finger on my lips, silencing me. "Just come with me, Vance."
I pulled to a sitting position while she slipped a shirt over my head. Once she was done, she reached for my footwear and placed them at the foot of the bed.
I slipped into them, and rose to my feet, feeling as energetic as ever.
Her lips stretched into a smile as she led me out of my room, past the living room to the garden at the annex of the mansion. "Isn't it a beautiful night, Vance?"
"It is," I muttered, beholding the beautiful scenery of butterflies flapping their wings on colourful flowers, and fireflies floating through the air.
I shifted my gaze to Lumira who was distracted by a pink butterfly on a sunflower. She looked extremely attractive with her long flowing hair cascading down her back.
I could not believe this was the same girl my brothers called ugly and undesirable. Were they blind? Or just oblivious to her beauty?
"Such a beautiful creature." She muttered as her fingers gently grazed the butterfly's wing.
I looked from the butterfly to her, admiring the view of her side features. "Indeed, it is such a beautiful creature."
She giggled softly and then turned to me. "You know I've not really thanked you for saving my life, Vance. Without you, I'd be suffering endlessly."
"You don't have to thank me for that, Lumira," I said, my voice calm and controlled. "You don't deserve what you went through with that bastard."
She nodded, "Right. But do I deserve it from your brothers?"
I slipped my arm around her waist, pulling her to me. Our gaze was fixed on each other as I spoke. "My brothers were on edge because of Mirabel. You have to forgive them for that."
Her eyes darkened. "What is forgiveness in your own terms, Vance?"
I pondered for a minute before answering. "Letting go. Not holding back the pain, the anger, the hatred you feel inside of you."
"And have you ever forgiven the people who had hurt you even if you did nothing wrong to them?"
Her question made me think for another minute. "I forgave myself for what I did to my father."
Her eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"
I turned away, not wanting to revisit my dark past. Some of the atrocities I had committed before now, were buried inside of me, and I had promised myself not to ever open my can of worms.
But when I brought my eyes back, she was gone.
I scanned across the garden, searching for her. "Lumira? Lumira? Lumira?!"
I jolted to a sitting position, roaring her name like a deserted husband. Sweat covered my forehead and my heart was racing.
Wondering what just happened, I looked around my dark room.
Suddenly, my wolf, Tavrin stirred inside me. He growled, restless— a single message clear as daylight.
"You have to save her!"
- Writer
