Chapter Fourteen

She was frozen. Was she even breathing? This had to be a dream, surely. A nightmare. Things like this didn't happen in real life.

Of course it's real oh God he's here he's really here –

She waited for what felt like a lifetime. Waited to disappear, to wake up.

Hailey wanted to turn back to Alex, to ask for help, but she couldn't because, as far as she was concerned, she didn't want Alex to even exist on Sebastian's radar –

Except she could see Sebastian looking over her shoulder, see the curiosity in his eyes, watched as it mingled with suspicion and, ultimately, jealousy. This was the way she'd looked at Emma and – now that she thought about it – the way Emma had looked at her.

She was wearing his goddamn shirt. He was half-naked. Oh God, oh God, oh –

"Hailey," Sebastian said again, only his tone was different now, far from welcoming. It was sterner but – she was going to be sick – mockingly so. "Who's this?"

It was a miracle the room wasn't exploding.

She felt a hand wrap around her wrist, and Alex was pulling her out of the room, murmuring let's go, and then they were running down the hallway, and she felt thankful, disgustingly thankful, that at least he'd had to pull her from the room. Later, if Sebastian asked, she could say that she hadn't wanted to leave.

She stopped and retched, horrified at how she was thinking. I'm not going with him.

What choice did she have? Who was going to stop him? Erik was

(dead)

unconscious, Charles – Charles was a mess, and oh God Moira, where's Moira –

"Hailey, come on!" Alex's voice sounded hoarse with panic, and that was what made her stumble along after him down the stairs, his hand still tightly clasped over her wrist.

"Moira," Hailey said through numb lips, "we need to get to Moira –"

She felt something in the air change, as though it had become charged and dangerous; she shoved Alex away from her and he yelped, clattering down the stairs as she fell on her ass, her tailbone smarting, as Azazel appeared, a twisting red blur between them, snatching at someone who was no longer there –

"Don't take him!" Hailey screeched and a grandfather clock came flying out of nowhere, zooming straight at the teleporter – and splintering against the staircase as he disappeared.

"Jesus, Hailey!" Alex cried as she staggered over the remains, tumbling down to meet him. What did Sebastian want?

Her – she knew that. But he probably also wanted to hurt her. The question was – did he want to hurt Alex as well?

With a sinking feeling, she had a shrewd idea that Sebastian would probably hurt Alex either way –

The pair of them hobbled into the kitchen – something had happened to Alex's ankle when she'd pushed him, and the fear bubbled up in her throat like bile – when somebody ran into them.

"It's me!" Raven gasped. There was a cut on her temple. "It's me –"

"Where are the others?" Hailey demanded. "Where's Moira?"

"That red thing, he –"

There was a crack, an acrid smell – and Alex's hand wasn't gripping hers anymore.

Hailey whipped around, heart pounding, desperately searching for him, as though he was just hiding, as if he would pop up at any moment.

She wanted to scream his name but if I do, and Sebastian hears me, Alex is worse off, oh God, I can't do this –

Her mind and her body, however, were at two separate ends. Even as she was thinking, I can't, oh God, I can't do this, her legs were pushing her towards the stairs, ready to run up and get Alex, even as Raven yelled after her.

She was halfway up the staircase when Angel flew into her, slamming them both through the bannister and against a wall. They slid to the floor in a tangled heap.

Hailey heard Raven scream, felt her ribs pop back into place. She struggled to rise to her feet, ready to fight off whatever was making Raven scream, when Angel clambered on top of her, digging a hand roughly into her hair and yanking hard enough to pull it out –

"He won't like that you've hurt me," Hailey spat, and she could taste copper in her mouth.

Angel shrugged. "It's not like he'll see the damage."

If she spits on me, I will make her brains exit out the top of her skull.

She heard another cry, this one far away, but full of pain. Alex, Moira, Raven?

Angel heard it too, fear briefly creeping over her face.

"Is it just like you imagined, Angel?" Hailey goaded, her body shaking with rage, she found, not fear. How DARE you do this to us? Bring him to us? Let him hurt us? "Does he tell you that you're perfect together?"

She saw the answer in the other girl's hesitation, and it gave her an oddly triumphant pleasure.

"Too bad. I guess that was just with me," Hailey said, grinning with a spiteful joy that bordered on hysteria. She felt her lip split with the effort, felt it immediately reseal itself; until Angel backhanded her with enough force to make her dizzy.

Anger. That's all it was. A snap, a break, a simple flash of hatred. But the result felt like a shockwave. Angel went flying, smashing through the staircase again, landing high up near the ceiling and Hailey sat up, one hand raised, fingers gripping the air as if it were a throat, and Angel stayed up there, gagging, struggling, eyes wide as everything that wasn't stuck down began to rise –

"You can keep him," Hailey breathed, but the sound seemed to travel, almost thunderous as she rose, and the wind was whipping through her hair, the colour of it pledging a tie to a sister she'd only had for a short time, Moira – Alex –

Hailey let Angel go, ignoring her. The wind died; she landed on her feet as a bookcase, two vases and the remains of the grandfather clock hit the ground. Raven, holding onto a banister, took a shaky step as her legs found the floor again.

"Jesus," Raven muttered and Hailey wrapped an arm around her waist, moving them up the staircase.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah –"

"Change into Angel."

Raven did so. Hailey tightened her arm around the new shape.

"The others?"

"Where's Charles?"

Hailey's stomach somersaulted. "Upstairs. We'll get him. When we get in that room with Shaw, treat me like I am dirt –"

"What are you gonna do?"

"Go back."

"With him?"

"It's the only way," Hailey said impatiently. "Now, when we –"

Hailey didn't get to finish her sentence. She didn't see the hit coming. Raven cracked her fist into Hailey's temple, and the next thing she knew, she was staggering into an empty bedroom, one hand clasped to her forehead, while her reflection closed the door.

She only needed a few minutes to lose the muzzy feeling that Raven had brought on, but that was time that she didn't have. As if it could have gotten any worse – Raven was now running around, looking like her. Didn't she have any idea what Sebastian would do to her?

Panic was bleeding into her veins. He has Alex. He maybe has Moira. He maybe has Raven. Charles. All of them. Jesus, fuck, this is all my fault. How did he find me?

She opened the door, unable to walk straight. She half crawled to Erik's room, taking decades, maybe centuries to reach it, an eon with her heart in her mouth, finally twisting the knob –

The room was empty, save Erik's – breathing – body, and Charles, curled up in the corner, his eyes unfocused.

"Charles," Hailey whimpered, crawling towards him, "Charles, are you –?"

He coughed. I'm still here, he told her, but his voice seemed quieter.

"I'm sorry," Hailey whispered, clutching at his hands. She felt the tears start to spill over. She didn't want to leave. "Charles, I am so sorry." She pressed her forehead against his knuckles. "Where did they go? Can you find them?"

Charles swallowed. The helmet – I can't get to him –

"I don't need you to get to him. I just need to know where he is."

He gave her a sideways look, one that she could read without his voice in her head. Don't you dare go back with him, Hailey. Then, helplessly, Oh, fuck, I can't get up.

"Just stay here. Is Moira okay?" Hailey said, her eyes darting to Erik. She wondered if she should shake him awake.

Charles nodded. She nodded back, squeezed his hand. Then his eyes went desperately wide, and he struggled on the ground like some kind of fish out of water. Worried he was having a fit, Hailey grabbed at something to put under his head, but he croaked, "Raven – with him –"

Another crack and a hand fisted in the material of her shirt, pulling her away from him, and she cried out, but her voice was lost in the white noise, and even though she shut her eyes, she could still see the pale, inhumane faces, the mouths open so wide that their skin had started to tear –

When she hit the floor, it was hardwood. She scrambled to her feet, but Azazel was already gone. She stood frozen, waiting for him to come back.

It was dark in the house. She sneezed. Dusty too. Maybe they hadn't been here for a long time.

Azazel was by her side in a second, gripping her hand before –

They were upstairs, in Sebastian's room. Hailey shook her head, already beginning to cry.

"You take this," Azazel said urgently, handing her a small white tablet. "Take it. It make you not care."

"Azazel, please, take me back," Hailey urged, grabbing at his jacket. "Please, please God, take me away, I have to make sure they're okay –"

I'm all the way in fucking Miami, how am I meant to help Alex or Moira or Raven –

Azazel shook his head, pushing her away.

"You don't have to stay here either! Come with me, we – Charles, he can –"

He held out his hand. "Take. You take, now."

Hailey clenched her hands into fists. "Take. Me. Home."

"This is home!" Azazel shoved her, surprisingly rough. Her knees hit the back of the bed, and she tumbled onto it. "You think he just let you leave?"

"I can't just leave my friends!" Hailey shouted, but wiping her nose on the hem of her shirt. Alex's shirt. Oh Jesus he's back there –

"Am not your friend?" Azazel snarled and spat at her feet.

She stared at him, his fury becoming clear. Betrayed. That's how he felt. But surely he'd still feel compassion –?

"Help me," Hailey whispered, trying to look as small and as weak as possible. "Please."

Something in his expression softened. He held out the pill again. "Please take."

She looked at it, unsure. It make you not care.

"Take, and I'll take you back." His voice was calm, stoic with grim resignation. "Then you see."

Hailey didn't think about it; she plucked the pill from his fingers and tried to dry swallow it. She gagged. Azazel disappeared for a moment, then reappeared holding a glass of water, lifting it to her mouth.

She swallowed, grasping his hands. "Take me back now."

Azazel tossed her into the grass, and it was still wet from the rain.

Hailey righted herself as quickly as she could, her surroundings coming into focus.

They were out the front of the mansion, right where Hailey had practiced her levitation with Charles. Azazel was behind her. Angel was probably still inside. Sean, Hank, Moira – they must have been inside too. Janus was dragging a limp Raven back towards the house – and there was Sebastian, less than twelve feet away, his back turned to her. He was crouching next to a figure on all fours, a figure who was making a sound between sobbing and dry-heaving –

Hailey struggled to her feet but a pair of hands set themselves on her shoulders, pushing her back down into the slippery grass.

"The more you care, the more he'll hurt him," Azazel said stonily, holding her down.

Hailey watched, her mouth dry, as Alex's body was wracked with seizure-like spasms – she could hear Sebastian talking, hear the soothing tone he was using, and she felt like she was going to scream. Do this for Alex, she thought. You can stay calm for Alex –

She heard Alex scream and she leapt to her feet, throwing Azazel away with a twist of her hand. Then she was running, back to the person she'd hoped she would never see again.

"Stop it!" she hissed, sliding to a halt not even half a metre from him.

"What's the magic word?" he chided.

"I'll go with you," she blurted.

Shaw slowly stood up, barely glancing at her. One of his hands was tangled tightly in Alex's hair, jerking the younger man up onto his knees. Hailey's heart felt like it was being dragged from her chest. Blood ran from his nose, his mouth, his ears; he was gasping for breath.

"Hailey," he managed, "don't –"

"Shhh," Sebastian said, and Alex's body seized, his teeth gritting together, more blood spurting from his nose, and it had to be something passing between them, some kind of energy charge Shaw was giving him, probably destroying everything in Alex's body –

"Sebastian, stop it, Jesus, please stop it," Hailey whined, letting the tears fall down her face. He didn't like it when she cried, usually did anything he could to stop it.

But he looked at her as if she was a stranger, and for a few moments she felt that dull pain of being left out, being left behind.

"Please, I said I'd go with you –"

He let go of Alex quite quickly, his hand reaching out and seizing her throat, lifting her into the air as if she weighed no more than a loaf of bread.

"I really don't appreciate how you're saying that," Sebastian reprimanded. "Because it sounds like you're only doing this to help him. Not me."

"Sebastian," Hailey gasped, trying to shake her head, "I can't breathe –"

Light was crackling behind Sebastian – purple-hot light, sizzling and bright –

"I loved you, Hailey, I gave you everything you ever wanted and this is how you repay –"

He stopped, rolling his eyes and dropping her to the ground before turning back to Alex, who was desperately trying to conjure enough energy to throw at him.

"By all means, try this again," Sebastian said cheerfully. "I'm sure it'll work this time."

"Kill you," Alex managed.

Sebastian chuckled. "How?" he asked, interested.

Even though his hand had left her throat, Hailey still couldn't breathe. She sat in the grass, gasping and spluttering, before climbing into a standing position, desperately gripping onto Sebastian. Every part of her body felt shaky and weak. She felt powerless.

Hailey. Charles' voice rang in her head, unwelcome. She's with me – Moira's fine and with me –

Good, she thought, trying to be thankful that Moira was okay but nothing was okay, and there was nothing to be thankful for. Keep her there. She swallowed. Miami.

"Please," she begged, tugging at Shaw, bringing his attention back to her. "Please, I'll go with you, I'll do anything you want, it'll be exactly like it was, please Sebastian, please, I'm so, so sorry, I –" Her breath hitched, and then she was really crying. Crying like a stupid little kid who couldn't get what they wanted.

The energy attempting to swirl around Alex's body sputtered and died, but Sebastian didn't notice. He was looking at her in a way that was all too familiar; he was disappointed, but he was waiting for her to make it up to him.

Hailey gently tugged on him again, one hand wrapped in the material of his jacket, and the other on the back of his neck. He had to bend down to kiss her, and she wanted to bite his tongue, rip it out from his mouth, but instead she thought of Alex, and how he might be dying on the grass below them.

Sebastian kissed her with a fervour that would've once made her knees weak. She could feel him smirking against her lips, felt one of his hands squeeze her ass, and she winced, knowing it was purely for Alex that he was even doing this –

But when he pulled back, he looked content, and she felt calmed by this. He was even smiling at her.

"I missed you," he murmured.

"Please don't kill him," she whispered, and his smile disappeared.

Wrong thing to say, Hailey thought dully.

"Sure," Sebastian said, pulling back from her. "Azazel."

Hailey felt sick, but at least they were leaving. Alex would be okay. He would be okay. Everything was starting to feel more okay –

Only Sebastian was stepping away from her, even as Azazel linked his hand in hers. Hailey looked at him questioningly.

"What – Sebastian, where are you –?"

"Take her home," Shaw said, smiling pleasantly enough at the pair of them. Alex moaned on the ground.

"But –" Hailey shook her head, suddenly feeling sluggish. The words stumbled on her tongue. "You said you wouldn't –"

"And I won't," Shaw shrugged. He knelt down next to Alex, grasping the boy's jaw in his long fingered hand. Alex grunted, futilely trying to pull away. "But I think we could still have some fun."

As Azazel helped her onto the bed, she was still processing it.

"No," she said after a moment.

"I told you to not care about the boy," Azazel whispered.

"He lied," Hailey said simply, lying back on the pillows, her limbs heavy. She suddenly felt very comfortable. "He lied again." But it didn't bother her that much. Her problems felt quite far away, practically surreal.

The room became brighter; Azazel was flicking on the lamps.

"Is Alex okay?" Hailey asked, swallowing thickly.

"Stop talking about him," Azazel snapped. "You making it worse."

Hailey did as he said, distracted by the patterns the lamps had cast upon the ceiling. Alex couldn't die. He just couldn't. That wasn't allowed. That single thought swam in and out of the haziness.

"What did you give me?" she asked, but Azazel wasn't in the room anymore.

She tried to lift the lamp, but it wouldn't budge. She tried breaking the windows, tried to concentrate on levitating, but nothing was working. She couldn't focus on it long enough.

She wasn't tired; not at all.

Alex is okay, he's okay, he's okay –

Any minute Shaw would be walking through that bedroom door.

Alex is okay, he's okay, he's okay –

And she'd have to have a very good excuse prepared. She shut her eyes, her lids feeling pleasantly heavy. It must have been a while. She felt less hazy, but she was still having trouble with her telekinesis.

Sit up. Come on, Hailey, sit up.

Why was this taking so long? She almost wanted Shaw to come back, because if he wasn't here then he was still with Alex –

Panic broke through the haze and she sat bolt upright, pulling her knees up to her chest. This was happening. This was real and it was happening and if she didn't figure out something right now –

The door opened and Shaw walked in. Her stomach sank; he looked younger than he had the last time she'd seen him.

He glanced her way, and raised his eyebrows at her cold expression. He whistled. "I don't think I've seen you this angry since you –"

"You killed them," she said bluntly.

Sebastian cocked his head, shutting the door. The lock clicked. "Trust me, I wanted to send Lover Boy into whatever Great Beyond awaits him, but I did as you asked. Which reminds me," he added, his tone abruptly hardening, "I think you should be thanking me rather than –"

"Gabby," Hailey said flatly and his face went blank. "Violet. My mom. My dad."

"I told you," Shaw said doggedly, "he wasn't your –"

"You told me they were okay," Hailey said firmly. She watched in disbelief as he merely rolled his eyes, taking off his jacket and dropping it to the floor. "You self-righteous little prick, don't you dare –"

"You know what your precious little family did before I watched them die?" Shaw cut across her, his eyes cold, his mouth drawn into a thin line. "Begged."

"God damn it," Hailey whispered, her lip trembling, wishing that she could send something, anything, hurtling across the room and into his skull.

"Begged me to kill you and not them," Shaw continued, watching her carefully as he removed his belt. He was keeping his distance, however. "I'm starting to think I should have, with all the hell you've put me through."

"I swear to God," Hailey said through gritted teeth, clutching tightly at her knees, "the second I find someway to kill you, I'll –"

"You ungrateful little whore," Shaw said coolly. "How long did you make him wait before you fucked him? Thirty seconds?"

"How long did it take you to fuck Angel?" Hailey retorted, surprised to hear the words leave her mouth. "Fifteen seconds?"

He'd crossed from the door to the bed in two strides; Hailey thought he was going to choke her again, when he simply sat on the side of the bed with an easy kind of grace, and let his fingers brush against her arm.

Agony ripped through her, making every nerve-ending feel as though it had been hit by a tank; she screamed and twisted away from him, feeling herself regenerate even as he climbed on top of her, holding her wrists down and pinning her struggling body beneath him.

"Now that," Shaw said cheerfully over her whimpers, "is only a fraction of what Lover Boy had in him. You sure know how to pick 'em, sweetie."

"Stop –" Hailey begged before she felt the pain scour through her again, and she screamed before she could stop herself. She sobbed, tried to wrench her arms away but he was heavier than she was.

"Don't struggle or I'll do it again," Shaw said, pleasantly enough. "And I don't want to do again, Hailey. Please don't make me."

Hailey squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry.

"Now, I think," Shaw was saying slowly, "that what you did – you know, leaving me to think that you had been kidnapped or raped or, really, any number of fucking horrible things – wasn't very nice. I think you should apologize."

Really? Hailey thought dully, blinking blearily up at him. Am I really being asked to apologize by the guy who murdered my family?

Another shock rampaged through her body and she bucked, desperately trying to get away from that horrible, horrible pain. "Oh God oh God I'm sorry!"

"Little more sincerity, if you don't mind," Shaw said apologetically and she nearly went crazy, actually felt her sanity try to accommodate the fact that here she was, trapped and under him, and she actually had to apologize –

"I'm sorry, Sebastian," Hailey said before he could hurt her again. She felt the tears pool in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Shaw hesitated, looking into her eyes as if searching for confirmation that she was, in fact, sorry. After a second, he let go of her wrists, sitting back on her hips and running a hand disinterestedly through her hair.

"The old colour was better," he said dismissively, rolling off her and walking swiftly to the en-suite bathroom.