Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (48 page)

Kara
felt the exact weight of Mark’s head
press down
on
her
chest
. “No, I can still hear her heart beating strongly and her breathing has calmed. I think she might
actually
make it.” T
hen
the pressure moved off her breast
.

Well duh I am fighting with everything
I’ve got
just to be with you.
You big dork!
Kara
shouldn’t have lost
her
focus
thinking that
because the torrent of pain came
rushing
back
with a vengeance
.
She
regained control
of
her
body
again
moments before she
shrieked in agony
.
She
went back to picturing Mark
’s smile and his chiseled face
.

T
he pain subsided slowly
again
and put back in its place
.

For the next
ten
hours
or so
complete silence
hung heavily
in the room.
The only thing that made noise in the room was the measured ticking of the wall mounted clock
in the kitchen
.
Kara
noticed that the pain
started
receding, but it was still
too
painful
to stop focusing on other things. She
remembered wh
at happened to her
brother’s when he received the tattoo on his chest.
So Brother
,
this is how much pain you went through for months after the accident…
I’m sorry I even wondered what it felt like to get it done.

Two
hours later she
made
herself to relax her
focusing
, testing what would happen
. This time
she
was able to feel
her
body.
T
ingling
and numb
ness ruled her
like when
her
legs went to sleep, but
the sensation
emanated from all over
. Her heart
rate began to beat more regularly and
her
lungs
felt like breathing in warm air
instead of molten lead
. M
uscles and organs were still
tender
and noticeable
, but they at least still felt attached.
It was a good sign on
her
end.
Knowing that the worst
seemed
over
, she
experimented and tried to open
her
eyes.

Allowing
in
the tiniest sliver of light in was a
blinding
mistake. It felt like someone who had their eyes adjusted to night
without a moon
and
then
suddenly
a sadistic
someone turn
s on the high beams of a car. Her trial didn’t go so well.

Then she decided to
attempt to speak.

It took
a few minutes to find
out
how to
use
her
voice
raw
again.
Her
throat
felt
not only dry, but strained
and severely weakened
.
Kara
remembered that
she
screamed way too much and this
i
s the side effect.
She
then
wondered
just
how terrible
she
looked on the outside if
she
felt the way
she did
on the inside.
Then she realized why it was too difficult to speak, she still had the piece of wood between her teeth. With her tongue she pushed and forced the bit wood from her lips.
Kara
managed to finally move
her
dry lips and tongue to
hoarsely and quietly asked “M
.
a
..
r
…
k?”

T
hree distinctive sets of feet rush up instantly.
It sounded like multiple air horns getting blasted in
her
ears.
She was too weak to cringe.
In his worried voice
Mark
said
“I’m right here
,
Sweetheart.” She
could hear someone strong ripping the ropes wit
h their bare hands with a loud
snap
. Kara
knew it could only be
her
big brother because Mark’s claws would sli
ce through the cords like air. She
felt warm hands take
hers
and
she
instantly
recognized Mark’s
specific
touch. “I’m here. What do you need?”

Horsley she
said “W
a…w
at
er.”

The authority of
Connor
’s voice suddenly rang in the silent room.
“Sarah
,
help her sit up slowly and give her
some
back
support
.
I can tell her muscles are fatigued
and weak
. I’ll get some warm water for you
to drink
,
Kara.” She
wanted to say
she
wanted it to be cold, but couldn’t say it and
she
knew
her b
rother had
one of
his reasons for
having
to
drink
warm water.

Kara
could feel that
her
dress was hanging at
her
midriff as someone pulled it back up and tied the shoulder straps together.
S
omeone light
ly
jump
ed on the table and she
knew Sarah was doing as Connor asked.
If it were
either
Mark or
her b
rother
,
their weight would destroy the table.
Mark didn’t let his
warm
hands
go of her
still bound hands as
she
felt Sarah’s hands come under her sweat soaked
back
,
slowly. S
ara
h
gently
lifted
Kara
up into a seati
ng position and didn’t jostle her
at all. She swiftly swung her legs behind
Kara’s
back and eased
her
down between her legs and pul
led her
head back
,
to rest it between
Sarah’s
breast
s
. “Is this comfortable? I can adjust
you.” She asked in little more than a whisper
.

Kara’s voice cracked as she
said “Fine…”

The sin
k
faucet
kick on
, making the sound of water
drum against the basin till the sound of a
glass
began filling with warm water
and
then
the watery sounds came to an end
.
Connor
opened a cabinet
and Kara
heard him quickly walk up to
her side
. He spoke as softly as Sarah did. “Kara
,
I’m afraid I can’t let you drink quickly. You have strained your throat and I’m afraid that if you can’t swallow properly
,
you’ll aspirate.
I don’t want you to drown while you drink.
Let’s start with a straw full first.”
He
t
ook
a
slow and
deep breath. “You’re going to feel something weird being so close to me, but I need to make sure that you don’t drown from
drinking.” He sighed. “Sarah,
use Sonar with me and see if she’s able to swallow
this
properly.” Kara
felt something plastic and
circular
press
on her
bottom lip. “Kara
,
take this and drink
…
slowly.”

As
Kara
felt the few drops of warm water hit
her
tongue it felt
absolutely
wonderful.
N
ew
, moist
life healed the hours of torture. As she
began to swallow the droplets
,
she
felt every part of
her
body almost unnoticeably be
gin to vibrate. Kara
knew this is what
her b
rother was talking about
‘feeling weird
.
’
He
began
looking into
her
. It was difficult to swallow the droplets
from all the strain
, but
she
managed.
From b
ehind
Sarah said in the same tone
“Very good
,
Kara. Let’s take
all this
slow
ly
.
Tell us how your throat feels.
”

They
did the straw drin
king twelve
more
times before everyone
felt
satisfied. Mark asked after
Kara
finally felt
her
throat
was
somewhat
damp
“Do you need anything else?”

She
was finally able to nod.
Her
voice sounded slightly better and less strained.
It
remained
difficult to
even
say
“Yes, can you cut the ropes off my wrists and close the curtains because it is very bright.”

A
hooked claw slice
d
through
the bindings
as if it weren’t there.
Mark said “It’s already dark out Kara, but we can turn off the kitchen lights.”

Instantly she
knew
Connor
flipped off the light switch be
cause she
felt M
ark
’
s hands on
hers as
his
claws
began
retracting. The bright orange of
her
eyelids
finally
went black.

The lights were turned off.

Even more carefully
than before, she
opened
her
eyes
again
. It was like the lights were still on
, but she
saw that they
weren’t. Mark’
s face was the first thing in h
er
sights. His expression
radiated
pure joy and relief. He said
softly
“Is that better?”
Kara
nodded and saw by
her
hip that the
clear plastic cup of
water with a straw
sat
within
reach.

Her
arm struggled with the dull pain to grab the
blissful
liquid. As
her
fingers touched the cup, big hands guided
her
hand
around
to g
rasp the container. Looking up she
saw
her b
rother holding
her
hand steadily on the
glass
. His tall and
massive build was foreboding yet
comforting
right now
. He guided her shaky hands and arm up to her mouth. As she
put the end of the straw
to her lips
he warned to sip slowly.
She
pulled the water into
her
mouth
.
H
is eyes
started glowing too bright and she
quickly closed
her
eyes.
She
forced
her
self to swallow the water
safely.