Thirty Five.

Eren

Awareness began hitting me as I struggled to determine what was the dream I had just been in and what was real. I woke up to unfamiliar smells and sounds. Whatever it was that I laying on felt more like a table than a bed.

When my eyes fully opened, it still took a moment for my vision to focus. Lying on my back, all I saw was a bare ceiling with a small white fan that was spinning in a slow counter clockwise direction.

For a moment, all I could do was watch the blades from the fan as they continued their rotation. As smoothly as they cut through the air, I could swear that I heard a soft whooshing sound as it completed each full rotation.

In the distance I had started to pick up some odd metallic like clicking noises and what sounded like hushed voices, but they were not as clear as I'd like.

Even though my senses were functioning, my brain seemed to be fighting some type of fog or haze. My thoughts were coming slowly and I felt as if I was wading through water.

I was trying hard to try to remember how I ended up here, and where here even was. Still lying on my back, I slowly turned my head from right to left to see if there was anything near me that could help me figure this out.

As I looked around, I saw that I was in a small room with one door and no windows. There was a chair in one corner facing the direction in which I was laying. In addition to the chair and my makeshift bed. The room was completely bare.

White walls, white floor, white ceiling, and the white fan. If the door hadn't been open slightly, I would have thought I was in some kind of cell, or medical facility.

Since I've been in the cells that we have hidden below the barracks, I had to admit this room looked nothing like them, so I chose the later. I knew that there were still places in these lands that even I haven't been and I'm sure that this was one of those.

Before letting who ever may be here with me know that I was awake, I tried to reach out to Dane. For a moment there was nothing and fear sparked inside me. 

I forced myself to try to reach deeper for him, "Dane, where are you?" The words felt odd even thinking them. I mean there's no way that he could disappear right?

Closing my eyes, I imagined searching for a light or a sign or something. I really had no idea what it felt like before he appeared anymore. He was such a significant part of not just my life, but of who I truly am.

I begged for any sign of him and suddenly, as if he had been asleep I felt a soft stirring inside my head. If I hadn't been worried about being heard by someone, I probably would have cried out.

"Dane, are you okay," I asked him anxiously. His presence inside my head always felt easy and comfortable, but right now I felt like I was pulling him out of slumber, but I didn't care as long as I could finally reach him.

"Yes," was all he grumbled. 

Now that I knew that he was okay, I decided to see how much of my body I could move. Images were coming back to me of what had happened before I woke up here.

Flashes of being strapped down to that chair were mixed in with images of Noel, and the cafeteria. Pain hit me as I slowly lifted my arms and legs. Not as intense as the pain I've felt before, but significant enough to know that I was not fully healed.

Sitting up was harder than I would have liked to admit, and I felt my head swim a bit as if I moved too fast I might fall over. Thankfully, I was able to make it to a sitting position before that happened. 

My first impression of what I was lying on was correct. I was on some type of exam table and when I looked down at myself, I saw that my clothes were full of spots that had dried blood and what looked like a dark red sauce.

The second that thought filled my mind, images of Dylan standing in the cafeteria full of pasta sauce dripping off of her filled my head.

Gods, what the f*ck had I done? 

Dane didn't say anything, but he didn't have to, I could feel his anger, shame, and resentment. He knew that all this was to keep Dylan safe, but I knew that he hated it just as much as I did.

There had been so many times that I had contemplated going against my uncle's wishes, but he made sure to drill it into me what would happen not only to me, but her if I did that.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize that someone had walked over to the room and I realized it only when the door started to swing open wider.

Surprise filled Marq's face as he walked into the room and saw me sitting up on the table.

"I'm surprised to see you conscious this soon," he uttered as he walked over to a small tray table near the head of the table I hadn't seen.

There were a couple small syringes and when I saw him walk over to them, I jumped off the table.

"What are those," I yelled at him as I walked backwards towards the door he had just come through. My body ached all over, but hid it well. If Marq was here then that meant that my uncle had either brought me himself, or had someone else do it.

"Calm down Eren, I'm not going to hurt you," he said as he grabbed up the tray. "These were already here before they brought you in."

Even though Marq has only ever helped heal me, I knew that he was completely loyal to my uncle and if he instructed him to incapacitate me in any way, he would do it.

Marq's purple eyes were focused on the vials in his hand and when he looked over at me, I had to admit that they were as breathtaking as they were unsettling.

The look on his face was a mixture of annoyance and concern and when he spoke to me, it took a moment for me to register what he was saying,

"Look I healed you as best as I could, until your wolf regains strength, there is nothing else I can do for your physical body."

While I tried to make sense of his words, I kept staring at his face and I noticed that he looked a bit haggard. His dark hair fell limply on his forehead and I saw bluish circles under his eyes.

All of the times I've been around Marq, I never really had the opportunity to find out anything about him like his age, or how he came to be living in our pack. My uncle kept close watch on him more than almost any other.

Unsure if I was able to leave or if I had to stay here with him until further instruction, I asked, "can you tell me how long I've been here?"

Marq rolled his eyes, but shifted the small metal tray from one hand to the other so he could look at the watch on his wrist. "It's been about four hours or so, but I honestly didn't think you'd wake up after all that sh*t he let them inject you with."

I was still trying to grasp everything that he was saying and for some reason his words were not helpful in the way that they should be. The frustration was now radiating from him as I continued to look at him in utter confusion.

My mind was still working on trying to remember everything from the past few hours, but I did not recall being injected with anything. Could my uncle really have used some kind of drug on me? 

I considered it for a moment, but as my thoughts sifted through all of the years I have lived here with him, it didn't surprise me in the slightest. If there was a way for him to torture me, he would use any and all means.

If not for my aunt or the fact that he had no true heir, I'm sure that he would have killed me off by now, or turned me into one of his puppet guards. 

Marq looked as if he could see the wheels spinning in my brain and took pity on me, "is it my words that cause you pain, or the fact that you now realized what was done to you, or is there something else that troubles you so?"

I needed to get out of here and I didn't just mean out of this room or building. I need to get out of these lands, out of this pack and away from him. But honestly, I had no idea how to do any of it.

Dane, finally spoke, "get out of this room first, and we can figure out the rest later," he gargled out huskily.

He was right. I needed to get out of this room first, that would be my main priority, but was it as easy as just walking out of this room and essentially the building.

"Can I just leave then,"I asked Marq in earnest. If there was nothing that he could do for me, was there anything that he could do to stop me?

The look he gave me almost made me laugh, "he just said to heal you, he didn't say I had to keep you once I did." At that he walked past me and out the door, but to my surprise, he held it open for me.

Unsure of whether it was a trap or not, I moved slowly towards the door and finally walked through it, facing him the entire time.

Once I was out the door, Marq pointed to the left, "go down that hall and the door on the right will get you out of the building."

I watched him walk away and through another set of doors to his right. When the door opened I saw quite a lot of chaos on the other side, but I had no idea what any of it was at first glance, nor did I care at the moment. 

Once he was inside and the door closed behind him, I sprinted for the door as quickly as I could and I had to admit to myself, that it was more of a rather awkward trot.

For a split second I was almost sure that the door was going to lead me to another room, or even a barred door, but thankfully, I stumbled out onto grass.

"Thank God," I muttered as I careened towards the trees. Looking around I wasn't sure exactly where I was, but sniffing the air, and looking around, I realized that we were close to the old barracks, and that also meant that we were near Dylan's house.

The moment I was in the trees, I leaned against the largest one I could find and breathed in the fresh air.

If there were Gods, then I wished that one of them would strike me down right here and just end this all. End all the pain. Not just the pain I must endure, but the pain I must inflict.

As I waited for one of those mysterious Gods to, for once, do as I wished, I heard voices coming towards where I was. 

Would this day never end? I just wanted to get home and sleep in my own bed until Dane was able to help my body heal. Even the little bit of energy that I used to get here seemed to tire me to the core.

Deciding that hiding and letting whoever it was just pass me by, I sunk down until I was now sitting against the tree instead of standing and closed my eyes to listen.

The voices still sounded far enough off that I couldn't tell who it was, but after a few minutes I could make out that there were four in the little group that was walking this way.

My thoughts were all over the place and the longer I sat here waiting for the right opportunity to get away, the further my mind pushed for me to start remembering what happened.

Dylan's laugh when we sat at the table talking, her soft smile when she first walked into the cafeteria, and the pure rage on her beautiful wolf's face when she rushed into the hallway of the school.

Had they gotten her home without anyone finding out what happened?

Were they still there with her?

Did she hate me more than ever now?

Those were just a few of the questions that were running parallel in my mind with the images I had stored of her.

Tears filled my eyes at the thought of having to hurt her again and again. What would he make me do next if this didn't work to keep others away from her?

Lost in thought as I was I hadn't noticed that the voices were now extremely close to where I was sitting in the grass. It was late afternoon and the sun was setting so when I recognized the voices, my heart stopped.

What were they thinking? After everything that happened today why would they be out here of all places? 

I strained to make out all of the voices, hoping, no praying, that it was just the twins with their sister and not with anyone else. Not with the one person who would loathe the sight of me.

If I could shrink down into the ground, I would. I would climb up this tree and never come back down. If I could escape this moment, this life, if that is the only way that I could stop this I would.

Once they were within a few feet of me, I dared take a peek from around the tree. As quietly as I could, I moved to glance around the tree and to my horror, I saw all three of the Silvera's along with Dylan.

Gods, I wish the ground would swallow me hole right now. Once I saw her, my eyes couldn't leave her. She looked beautiful and happy and if I wouldn't have been there earlier, I wouldn't believe that something awful had even happened to her today.

She was walking arm in arm with Lecia and even though I could acknowledge that Lecia was nice to look at, she was nothing compared to Dylan. Odd , that even like this, my body reacted to the sight of her immediately.

Dane, even pushed himself to the fore front of my mind and growled, "fix this and keep her safe," before he was gone again. 

I wasn't sure what she, what they might do if they were to see me right now, so I decided to play it safe and link with Cruz to see what they were doing, but not let him know I was nearby just yet.

"Cruz," I called out to him and watched as he completely stopped walking. He didn't respond to me immediately, and I think I held my breath the entire time he stood there waiting.

What is it," Nico asked him quietly while still trailing Lecia and Dylan, but pausing for a moment to check on his brother. Cruz looked around quickly, as if searching for me, then responded, "it's nothing brother. Nothing at all."

Ouch, that hurt, but I had it coming I guess. They kept walking and I waited for him to finally say something, and for a moment I thought he wouldn't. That they would just walk by and I would just be stuck here wondering what they were up to.

But, finally, he showed me just a sliver of mercy and said, "I know you are near, but you need to leave. She is not ready to see you or forgive you, and neither am I."

His words hurt, but not as much as I would have imagined that they would because there was hope that maybe one day she could forgive me if I was ever able to leave this place and get away from my uncle. 

One day I would explain everything to her. I would beg for her to forgive me and try to make her understand that it was all for her, for her safety, to keep him from doing much worse to her.

They were moving away from me, away from where I hid, and I wished that I could follow, join them, join her. But, as I heard her soft laughter flutter through the trees I knew that it would only cause her pain.

I was about to get up and head to the pack house, but I suddenly smelled it. A scent that didn't belong. Not the same as the last intruder, but definitely not someone from this pack. 

They were near, and they were coming closer. I didn't have Dane and there was nothing that I could do to protect them, only to let them know. I linked with Cruz, but it was too late.

The moment I said the words, "someone is coming, you need to get out of here," a giant mahogany wolf lept into the clearing they had just walked into and there was nothing I could do, but run to get help.