Chapter twenty

I gulped and took a step back, pulling Zair with me. She looked at Zane, and she saw what I did. We were in so much trouble. Without so much as looking our way, he rounded on us. He punched me in the face, and threw me. My head hit a piece of driftwood, and everything became so blurry. I tried to scream my sisters name, but I couldn't. Why couldn't I? I screamed, as loud as I could, hoping to attract his attention. I felt Zair crash into me, and I knew I'd just made it worse. I heard his footsteps coming near. They stopped. Then a punch came. One for me, one for Zair, one for me one for Zair. I tried to tell him to stop, but my mouth refused to obey me. I couldn't even scream. It hurt too much. I could feel my body trying to heal, but for every bruise and cut that went away, two more would come. My vision cleared for a mere second before Zane punched me again. Then he unexpectedly stopped. My eyes focused once more to see him staring at his hands. His gloves had fallen off at some point, leaving only his bare hands. I watched a small amount of blood run from his middle finger, down his hand to his wrist. From his wrist, down to his elbow, dripping off and hitting the sand, staining it red, where no amount of water from the rain or waves would clear it. Even as the tiny grains of sand were washed away, they would forever be stained red. A mixture of Zair's blood, and my own.

"Zane, please," Zair chocked. Zane stood there, his eyes holding no emotion. Was he going to hurt us again? Was he going to kill us? I could not tell. Zair and I stood up, holding onto each other. Zane eyes continued to look blank. But then, something seamed to fall in. Determination. My body was healing itself rapidly, but I doubted I could take another hit, and Zair was already past her limit.

"Run," she whispered. Zane took a step toward us, and just like that, we were off. Zair had my arm on minute, and the next, she didn't. Zane had her. I whirled around, and saw both boys had a good grip on her.

"Run Zoe!" she cried. For the first time in forever, my voice worked.

"Zair!" I cried.

"Go!" she screamed.

"Stay Zoe!" Zane yelled. I looked at my brother. His eyes pleaded with me. Just stay.

"Run!" Zair shouted, before Techris, covered her mouth. I took off. I ran to the path, and I didn't stop then, I could still see Zane. I kept running, through the town, and as far as I could until I saw a bus stop. The bus was there, but no one else was. Just before the doors closed, I hopped on. The bus moved, and shoved me into a seat. I saw Zane still running, but he couldn't out run a bus. I was safe. I rode the bus until the driver kicked me off. I had no idea where I was. I looked around. The area may have been nice at one point, but now it was just dirty, and run down. Not really ideal, but not a place I could easily be found. I looked down at myself. All I had was the clothing I ran in. I could see my reflection in a puddle. Needless to say, I was not a pretty sight. While my various injuries were healing, I was still practically covered in mine and my sisters blood. Zair? Was she okay? Alive? She was probably dead. But she was Zair. Zair was dead? Most likely. I collapsed on the ground and sobbed. Zair was either dead, dying, or being tortured. I wanted her here! At the same time I wanted her to be dead. Zane would then no longer be able to hurt her, and Lokar. Would they search for me? Likely. Did I care? I don't know.

"What the hell is a little girl doing in this place?" a voice whispered. Female, maybe a year older than Zair. I stopped crying and sat up, trying to find the girl. Before I could, a man stepped suddenly appeared in front of me. He hissed at something behind him. Before I could look, a strong gust of wind knocked me onto my back. I tried to get back up, but something really heavy was stopping me. The wind blew again, and this time I realized it wasn't the wind, it was the girl. Before I could react, the man whispered something to her. He raced off. I stared at the girl, then I searing pain ran through my shoulder. Like fire. It was spreading. I screamed at loud as I possibly could.

And that wraps up this story folks! :)