Chapter Seventeen

Sewl rushed through the room and over to Silver and Ivy when she spotted them. She had to admit they both looked like hell as they approached her. Ivy was bloody from cheek to toe, while Silver bled from his shoulder and side. Sewl shook her head, they must have had one hell of a time and she missed it. Stopping before them, she knew better than to offer either of them help and kept her hands at her sides.

“Marla and Celeste are right down the hall, Cardell. They’ve found a staircase leading down and figured that was where young Zachary is being held. Do you want me to lead you to them or is there something else you’d like me to do?”

“Sewl, take Ivy.” Silver quit leaning on Ivy and gently pushed her towards Sewl. “We’ll head down the staircase and see if he’s there. Stay with her up here.”

Silver didn’t mind Ivy or Sewl knowing he was badly injured and wasn’t up for a drawn out fight, neither of the two would betray him, but the others he wasn’t too certain of. Marla, he knew for a fact, wanted to train and deal with other Stalkers as he does. Celeste…well Celeste was just an odd member of his group. Both were ambitious enough to try something if they really wanted to and he just didn’t want to take the chance. Straightening to his full height, Silver hurried down the hall and to the stairs where his other Stalkers were waiting.

Zachary raised his head upon noticing the flaming torch heading his way and cursed vehemently. He really didn’t want another beating so soon, he was still trying to recover from the whipping he received not so long ago. Every time he shifted, even just slightly, the wounds would reopen and spill fresh blood down his body. Between the dirt, grime, and blood Zachary was quite glad he couldn’t actually see what he looked like, probably something out of a bad horror flick.

Zachary’s head tilted slightly to the left as a thud and cursing reached his ears. None of Amala’s guards, except for the girl he had hit to escape, had been female. A grin appeared as he remembered the loud, resonating bangs he had been hearing recently. Obviously Ivy had finally arrived and taught Amala who the real monsters in the night were. Zachary’s brow creased when the women appeared at the cell’s door, neither were his mother. He sighed deeply when Celeste shoved Marla out of the way and quickly unlocked the cell. He really would prefer Amala and her whip over Celeste and her obsession.

Zachary sighed again when Cardell appeared behind the two women grinning. It seemed Cardell liked making him suffer since he wasn’t as good at getting even like his mother was. Zachary smirked himself, after this he was going to get quite a few pointers from Ivy.

“Ivy?” Sewl asked when she realized Ivy was no longer trying to get out of her hold. “Ivy? Can you hear me?” She shook her slightly, but Ivy didn’t respond in the least. “Oh crap.”

Sewl gently placed her on the ground, before checking for a pulse. Ivy had one still, but it was quite shallow and slowing rapidly. Sewl cursed vehemently while looking around for something to slow Ivy’s bleeding before it was too late and they lost the poor girl. Not finding anything useful, she lifted Ivy once more and dragged her unconscious form out of the mansion and over to where her car sat hidden in the shadows. After opening the rear doors, she pushed Ivy’s smaller frame onto the backseat before running back into the mansion and down to where Cardell and the others were.

Silver leaned against the cell’s bars for support, while grinning at Zachary. Though the boy looked like hell, he had an admirer that was quite willing to nurse him back to health, whether he wanted her to or not. Silver’s smile widened when Zachary glanced at him with pleading eyes, he just couldn’t find it in himself to tell Celeste to back off. Celeste kept smacking away Marla’s hands whenever she would try helping with releasing Zachary.

Silver’s back stiffened and he twisted painfully around when he heard running footsteps down the stairs. He calmed slightly when he noticed Sewl heading straight for him, but wasn’t reassured. She was slightly winded when she stopped before him and covered in fresh blood. His right eyebrow rose, but she spoke before he could ask what happened.

“Cardell, we have a problem. If we don’t get Ivy out of here and patched up, I have a feeling we are going to lose her.”

After checking over his shoulder to see if the other three had heard, Silver moved a few steps away from the cell with Sewl.

“Take Ivy back to my house. I have all the supplies you’ll need to fix her up. If you can, wash her up some before Zachary sees her.”

Sewl nodded. “I’ll do what I can.” She then hurried back up the stairs as Silver turned around to glowing green eyes staring curiously at him.

“Where’s Ivy? I thought she would be the one to come here after me.”

“She had, however Ivy has already left back to my home.” When Zachary tried to comment, Silver shook his head. “I’ll explain later, let’s get you out of here first.”

NOTE: I'm not too happy with this chapter at all. Will probably change it at a later time or take it out and come up with something different.