"Morringan," a familiar voice called her and she felt strong arms holding her cold body. "Morringan," the voice called for her again. "Morringan," again. "Morringan, wake up, Morringan!"
It took her sometime to regain her full consciousness, first she breathed deeply and inhaled the scent of someone she was awfully familiar with and not because she wanted, when she opened her eyes, struggling to face the light above, the first thing her eyes saw was Draven Winterbourne's face. Out of reflex, she fought against him, "Put me down!"
"I would if you were able to fucking walk," he snapped. "Get over your shit, something horrible happened," and he said it so seriously that she froze. "Why were you lying unconscious in the gravedigger house? How did you hurt yourself?"
"Hurt myself?" She frowned, then she felt the pain across her back, like an X slashed with something sharp and poisonous, and being conscious of it made her scream in pain, "Eldric! Where..." she looked around, finding herself close to the exit of the graveyard, "Where are you? Eldric?" She cried for him, but as she feared, no answer came.
"Eldric?" Draven gasped as he opened the door of his big black car and sat her on the passenger seat in her side, not to hurt her slashed back. "He was here with you?"
Instead of answering him, she covered her face with her hands and cried, not giving a shit if its Draven in front of her or whatever, tears rolling down her eyes, "I should have fought, I should... I should..." she shook with the tears and he quickly came inside the driver's seat, going on speed drive and leaving the graveyard. "It took him... it... it came for me... and..."
"What took who?" Ronan asked on the backseat and she screamed startled, hitting her back on the door, which made her cry and flinch. "Gods, it's not like I'm ugly or something."
"She was with Eldric in the graveyard," Draven told him. "What attacked you, Morringan?"
"Eldric?" Ronan gasped. "Where is he?"
"It... it took him... it came for me but... it..." she gulped, "it took him when he fought for us both."
"What took him?" Draven insisted.
She clenched her jaw, "You won't believe me."
"What, took, him?" He pressed.
"A soul eater," she snapped. "A soul eater took him."
"Fuck," both groaned.
"So it came for you both," Ronan groaned haunted.
His words made her freeze, then she looked in the backseat, noticing someone missing, "Where is she? Where is Ophelia? Where is my sister?"
"A soul eater attacked us early in the morning," Ronan muttered. "It impaled me with one of its scorpion tail arms and took her away, we tried to fight it but it was immune to our abilities. I... I would have died if Draven hadn't come quicker to us."
"It was too late," he clenched his jaw, tightening his grip on the wheel as he sped up. "I was afraid it could have targeted both of you, it was the case. Why were you drained from life force?"
"My... my sister... was... taken?" She asked, shaking.
"I'm sorry, Morringan, I wasn't strong enough, I,"
She ignored Ronan's words, "They took everyone from me," she cried, staring at her shaky hands. "My family, now Lia and Eldric. Why? Why? Why did,"
"What do you mean your family?" Draven frowned.
"It was a soul eater's doing, I saw it, but I didn't know what it was then, not until Eldric told me. It... it sucked their souls and made their bodies vanish. I... I... I tried telling what happened but no one believed me, and I didn't know how to explain it. I... what... what am I supposed to do now?" She cried. "How can I get them back? I... he... I need them."
"Fuck," they cursed together again.
"Was Eldric... really taken by the soul eater?" Draven asked.
But she frowned and glared at him, "Why do you keep talking as if you knew shit about him?"
"Does he happens to have once been named Eldric Winterbourne?" His question took her off guard. "Does he?" He insisted. "Morringan, I need to know."
"Why do you?" She snapped defensively.
"Because I've been looking for him my whole life," he snapped back, eyes darkening and she felt that eerie and off vibe from him again. "Answer me."
"Why should I tell you shit? I don't trust you!" She yelled at him, stressed.
He halted the car on the garage of the Winterbourne villa, glaring at her, he stepped off the car and went to her side, opening the passenger door and yanking her off, bringing her back to his arms. "This place has ears, we better talk in my study."
Ronan closed the doors of the car with a struggle and followed them, limping, still dripping with his own blood the same way she was with her.
"Why are you even helping me?" She snapped.
"Because you are Ophelia's twin, and now, it seems like you're our only hope to get through some shit us and the secret society have been struggling with for years," he snapped back.
"Secret what?" She frowned.
"Secret Society of the Bournes of Winter," Ronan told her nonchalantly, "or SSBW, it's the most prestigious and powerful secret society of Winterbourne, founded by the founding brothers that made Winterbourne and their bloodline so higher in power after creating the sanctuary that the city turned out to be for all of our races. The roots are in the academy we attended and in our university, and in all seats of power around the city."
Her frown deepened, "Is that some kind of cult?"
"Not a cult," Draven scoffed, sounding offended, as he opened the doors of the villa with magic and strode inside with her in his arms, and quickly they were on the door of his study.
Ronan opened it, they went in, then he locked behind them, and she instantly felt the sound barrier around it. Carefully, uncharacteristically of him in her opinion, Draven laid her on the wide leather couch with her belly down, then he began to reap the clothes she was using, the back part, and she gasped.
"What the fuck are you doing? This is assault!"
He rolled his eyes, "Do you want me to heal you or not, Morringan?" His tone was impatiently.
"Since when do you have healing magic?" She asked.
"Since when are you acquainted with Eldric?" He countered.
Morringan clenched her jaw, "Fine, heal me."
"Say please," he taunted her.
"I would rather die," she barked and began to rise up. "Hah, I should have known you were mocking me, and that you,"
He mercilessly pressed his palm on her open wound and forced her to lay back on the couch, making her cry with the pain of it, "Just shut up, Morringan." Before she could bark at him again, he closed his eyes and began to pour his healing magic on her.
Her hands grasped the leather fabric of the couch as pain coursed through her, but she refused to cry again, so, not to scream, she bit her bottom lip hard, so hard she tasted her blood in her tongue. Thankfully to her, they both stayed silent through it. She would have snapped in cursed had they not.
"I won't be able to fully heal it, but it's enough to stop the bleeding and you'll be able to softly lay down, just not much, and you should bandage it," Draven exclaimed, standing up and walking to Ronan who was already shirtless. "Your turn," he said, bending down and poured what's left of his healing magic in his best friend, who was unable to stay silent like Morringan had. "I was able to undo the effects of the soul eater poison, but it's still wounded, both of you."