Araya looked at the pain monitor as Zadie began to struggle against her restraints, eyes shooting open as she gasped in pain.
Ten seconds. Araya thought, holding the scalpel closer to her throat. Soren, come on.
Zadie's screams and cries of pain filled her ears as she took her gaze away from her and decided to stare at the pain monitor instead.
Tears formed on the woman's eyes as Zadie's screams grew even more pained while she tried to break out of the restraints now, convulsing and trembling.
Five seconds. Araya thought. Staring at the monitor while wiping the tears out of her eyes.
Four. Three. Two.
"Soren!" Araya shouted, turning to the man who just finished cutting her leg open but it was already five seconds and Zadie was ready to attack whatever was in front of her.
Araya looked at the nerves slowly began connecting to the machine and then to Zadie almost breaking out of the restraints now.
Come on, Araya. You have to do it now. Otherwise, you and Soren are going to die.
I know. She thought, looking at the woman screaming her lungs out as her battered face seemed to swell even more.
"Araya!" Zadie's cheery voice filled her head as she remembered the few good years of her life.
I can't. She thought, throwing the scalpel to the ground just as the restraints broke and Zadie launched a hand out, grabbing whatever she could.
Araya grabbed her hand and held it tight though Zadie attempted to crush the other woman's hand, screaming, "It hurts! It hurts! I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"
Tears streamed down Araya's face as she bit back the pain she felt as Zadie slowly began to crush her hand then it suddenly stopped.
"Are you ok, Araya?" Soren rushed to the woman as she collapsed to the ground, her entire body trembled with fear or pain, she could not tell.
"Were you able to do it?" She asked, looking up at the man trying to pry her broken hand from Zadie's grips.
"Yeah." He said, finally able to get them open as she lost consciousness again. "Her grip is scary strong. Does she have metal arms like you?"
"No," Araya said, holding her hand as it flopped to one side, looking like a limp piece of wood. "Oh, I'm going to have to fix this."
"I can help you." Soren offered but Araya only shook her head and stared at her broken hand as the broken pieces of flesh around it began to connect.
Her tendons, muscles, veins, joined, covering the metal part up completely. Following that, the skin mended itself until there was nothing left to show that it was ever broken in the first place.
"Ok, maybe I don't need to help you." Soren sighed, sitting on the ground. "That has to be the most stressful operation I ever did and that is saying a lot."
"You were such a great help, Soren," Araya said, looking at him with half-lidded eyes. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I would have done without you."
"I am sure you would have been fine even if I wasn't here." He chuckled.
"Yeah. But you helped reduce the damage." She grinned at him, eyes almost rolling to the back of her head.
"Whoa." Soren quickly caught her before she could fall back onto the ground. "Are you ok?"
"I used too much of my strength." She mumbled, eyes falling close as Soren picked her up in his arms.
"I'll take you to your room." He said, checking on Zadie one last time before he walked up the stairs to her room.
"You know …" Araya began to talk, not entirely awake but not unconscious yet. "Father was the one that told Issac to look for all those people."
"All those people?" Soren asked as the wood under him creaked with every step he took to her room.
"Yeah, you know how he is sleeping with all those people?"
"Yeah?"
"If he doesn't do that, his body will dissolve into himself and turn him into a nuclear bomb, enough to wipe this city out." She said chuckling bitterly as they reached her door.
"That sounds dangerous," Soren said, not too sure how he should be reacting. Using his knees, he pushed open the door and entered the room, walking straight to her bed.
"Yeah, well. Issac was always trying to find ways to kill himself so that old man decided to create a trigger inside his body that will be activated once he becomes brain dead." Araya said as Soren laid her down, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Wait, I thought he has to sleep aroun-"
She shook her head at him, smiling softly. "It is both. You know how he takes in negative energy, right?"
"Yeah?"
"One can hold that much negative energy for so long. So he sleeps with people to transfers the excess, more than his body can carry, to their bodies." She sighed, slowly falling asleep. "He hates doing that. No matter what he says otherwise. Soren … please take care of my brother."
The man stared at Araya's sleeping face and pulled the covers over her body, tucking her in as a solemn expression crossed his face before walking out of her room.
____________
After leaving Araya's room, Soren went down and cleaned up the basement, making sure to dispose of everything they used. He took the time to check up on Zadie while wiping away the blood splattered everywhere.
Checking all the cupboards, he was able to find everything he would need to clean up, from sanitization tools to cleaning supplies.
That did little to help him get his mind out of the information he was bombarded with all of a sudden. The plus side is that the basement is sparkling clean but Soren is still disturbed.
Oh well, a small price to pay for someone to clean without complaining.
____________
So that is where we are now. Soren is seated on the living room couch, trying to make sense of everything as he waits for Issac to come back.
A crash on the front garden signalled that the person he was waiting for is here and it took everything in him not to cuss him out right there and then.
"Soren," Issac said as he stepped out of the house and stared as the two came out of a jeep halfway through the fence.
"What is going on here?" Soren asked, crossing his arms over his chest when he saw the rare peonies in the front garden completely crushed. "Those were expensive."
"I was the one that bought them," Issac said, staring at the crushed flowers as the other man stood beside him, holding a bundle in his arms. Something seemed to be dripping from the bundle, some kind of liquid.
"And I am your finance manager. So let me be upset for you." Soren sighed, holding the door open for them. "Get in."
"Fine," Issac said, turning to the other man, Jadin was it? "Go inside. I will have to take care of this."
"Ok." The younger man said, rushing past him and into the house.
"What are you going to do with that?" Soren asked as Issac jumped into the jeep again.
"You don't need to know." He said, turning the engines on and driving off, leaving a broken fence behind while Soren watched him go.
With nothing better to do, he walked into the house, turning to the younger man. "Hey, you are Jadin, right?"
"Yeah." He answered, clutching the bundle in his arms tight. Almost like he is making a cocoon around it.
"Would you like anything to drink?" Soren asked, making his way to the kitchen.
"No thank you."
He ignored him and poured out some mango juice anyway and placed them in front of the younger man.
"There you go," Soren said as brightly as he could. "Have some, it will help you regain your strength."
"Thanks," Jadin said, drinking the juice in one gulp.
As the two are awkwardly sitting in silence, the door bursts open and in comes Issac, smelling heavily of smoke.
"What did you do, Issac?" Soren asked, standing up as the smell seemed to ooze out of him.
"Nothing too important," Issac said nonchalantly scratching the back of his head.
That is when Soren noticed how burnt his fingers are and he just grew more annoyed at him.
"Issac-"
"Where are the others?" Issac asked, walking over to Jadin. "You good?"
"Yeah."
"They are resting," Soren answered, noticing how his voice changed when he talked to Jadin, for some reason.
"Ok. I'll show you where you can rest," Issac said, leading the unprotesting man up the stairs and then coming back minutes later to Soren waiting for him on the couch.
"I take it you have some things you need to talk to me about?" Issac asked, taking an orange juice from the fridge and drinking it.
"Yes. Why didn't you tell me you were a ticking time bomb?" Soren asked, trying not to raise his voice in case he wakes someone up.
"Let me guess, Araya told you?"
"Yes, Araya told me. Now please explain it better."
"Fine. Sit down."