Fight By My Side

I faintly remember Vic carrying me back to the Sanctuary. So much agony. Pain flooding. Thoughts disrupted. The bullet had ripped through my arm and caused a burning fire to engulf my body.

I saw the boys, but was it Austin who sent them because he was to weak to do it himself? He seemed like the sly man who would build up trust to tear it down, but was a coward to do it himself. I moaned out as a jolt caused my arm to move.

I blacked out briefly and ended up on the table in the back room. Vic firmly grasped my hand and two strong palms gripped my shoulders. My eyes fluttered open to see Mike. I knew Jack was the one about to take out the bullet.

Closing my eyes I had to think and calm myself down. This pain was to much. It was the worst physical pain I'd ever felt. The hot tears dripped down my cheeks. I didn't want to endure this any longer and the loss of blood was getting to my head. The metal tweezers entered my arm and I felt like I was falling into the core of the Earth.

"Jack, kill me now." I begged him. The cold metal prodding the hot flesh made me writhe and scream in pain. I begged Jack just to end it. I didn't want to live like this anymore.

When I opened my eyes, the pain was still there, but I swore I wasn't in reality. A Guardian stood in front of me. He kept yelling it was my fault, and I had to kill him in order to save my parents. The gunshots echoed behind me.

All I did was run away.

I was a coward. I didn't deserve to live this way anymore. If I kept running away from my problems, I might as well not exist so I didn't create any more issues for the three boys I called my brothers.

"Jack! Just end it!" I yelled to him. I opened my heavy eye lids to see the Guardian with my dead parents at his feet. Suddenly, the agony ceased and the figures disappeared. My throat tightened and was dry. I felt myself stop yelling as the alternate dream world ended and reality blurred my vision.

The long dark strands of Vic's hair leaning over me came into my side view. Tears rimmed his dark eyes as I looked to him. Mike relaxed for a moment as I calmed down.

"Vic, please make it stop." I asked. Although I barely could breath through the aftermath, I managed to squeak this out. Vic couldn't even smile but looked at me sadly and told me it was going to be all okay.

"Wynter, you gotta take these." Jack told me. I attempted to sit up and reach them, but my arms felt glued to the table. Vic helped me by wrapping his arm under my head to help me sit up. Jack took two pills and some water, helping me to swallow them.

An instant bout of dizziness washed over me as the pills sat heavy in my stomach. The first feeling of the world spinning was replaced by a sense of sleepiness. My mind wandered freely as I felt a slight tugging sensation at my arm. Jack was probably finishing up and stitching the flesh back together.

I didn't want to watch.

The little tabs I took must've been sleeping pills because I could already feel it start to kick in. Vic stroked stray pieces of dirty blonde hair. The minutes seemed like hours as I closed my eyes, but when I opened them again, I complained to Vic that I was tired. He seemed to be back to normal and happy that I had stopped my screaming about the agony.

He scooped me up and took me to bed, gently tucking the covers around me. I fell asleep in my warm bed with my best friend next to me.

It was about four in the morning when I woke up. A dull throb pulsed in my injured arm. Vic was in his own bed and my boys were fast asleep. I chuckled silently at catching myself calling them, 'my boys' even though they were older than me. They all respected me since they were the ones that came and take shelter here. We were all so close, I could just yell, "Boys!" and they would come scrambling.

Especially if it was Taco Tuesday. I always made Mike and Vic's favorite food.

As I lay staring at the ceiling, I felt a sense of restlessness come upon me. What I needed was a cool night wind to chill me down. Moving silently off the bed, I pushed the door open and cringed at the squeaky joints. Once I saw the boys were all still asleep, tangled in their sheets, I moved through the carpet jungle and to the stairs.

I took them two at a time and slowly unlocked the bolts. Pushing the old trapdoor up, I jumped out into the old house and shut the door. The abandoned house swayed in the gusts of wind that tumbled over the hills outside. Ignoring the aches under my stitches and bandages, I moved to the front door, unlocked it, and stepped outside.

The front porch was worn and creaky, so I stepped onto the grass. The night sky was lit by brilliant stars out in the rural areas with no pollution to obscure their brilliance .

Sitting on the front step, I stared up to the stars, thinking about the events of today. I was such a coward, running away from the scene. I didn't have the heart of a brave wolf that faced challenges-no, I was a wimp.

What did I do when the Guardians came to our house? I hid and then ran. What did I do afterwards? I hid out here in the abandoned house. What did I do when I was shot? I ran away.

Putting my head in my arms, I silently let the thoughts sink in. I was at an all time low.

"Hey, wolf girl." A gentle voice teased. I turned around to see Vic, coming to sit next to me. I felt suddenly ashamed for putting him through this. I was grateful that it was dark outside and he couldn't see my cheeks heat up. He came down and put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in close to him. He was very careful with my shoulder.

"Hey tiger boy." I responded quietly. Vic put his chin on top of my head and I closed my eyes and leaned into his chest.

"What's wrong? You're out here all alone." He commented softly. I sighed.

"You mean besides everything that happened today?" I asked him. He laughed softly.

"Besides the obvious." He thought. I pulled away, looking back to the stars again. Maybe I could see mom and dad up there.

"Vic, I'm such a coward. I've run away so many times and I fell weak from it." I admitted. Vic turned me around to face him.

"Wynter Ryland, you are NOT a coward." He told me firmly. I shook my head, refusing his comment.

"Vic, I ran away when my parents needed me. I ran away today. I never fought back!" I cried out in frustration, causing my arm to throb again. He took my shoulders, looking me directly in the eyes.

"Wynter, you are the bravest person I know." He told me softly. I didn't acknowledge it.

"If you were shot, you would've gone and ripped out their throats! I just ran away, to startled to do anything! My mom would've flown in and clawed out their eyes, and my dad wouldn't let them even blink!" I was exasperated. Vic smiled and shook his head.

"You made the smart choice not to fight. With that injured shoulder, you could've been killed. We can't fight all the time." He told me kindly. I couldn't help but smile weakly.

"I might not be able to fight all the time, but you can." I grinned. He wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I fell into the grey sweatshirt he shrugged on before walking out here.

"That's because I'm a big scary tiger." He joked. Vic's sense of humor could always cheer me up.

"Hey, the little wolf can still beat up the big scary tiger!" I muttered. I looked up to Vic and grinned.

"Hey, you snuck up on me that time!" We both remembered the fond memories.

"Which time? I seem to recall quite a few." We both laughed, then sat in comfortable silence. Vic still had his arms around me. He was always known as the hugger of the three guys.

"So should I rip out Austin's throat or do you want to do it?" He asked me. I sighed, burying my face into the warm folds of cloth.

"I'll do it later." I mumbled. Okay, yes I had killed before. Each time I felt bad, knowing what it's like to take out a family member. The thing was, I've only killed Rogues. The three boys were glad to take out Guardians, but I mostly focused on Rogue Shapeshifters.

I only regretted not killing them faster, not giving them a quicker death. But oh! Oh how I loved the joy of taking out another rank of Aaron's Rogues!

"Hey, you need to sleep after your long day." He stared down to me. Being under the night sky made me feel alive, awake, and definitely not sleepy.

"You know I don't like to sleep when it's so beautiful out." I told him. He sighed and let me go as I slowly lowered myself onto the ground so I could stargaze. Vic joined me, putting his head on my chest and letting me stroke his tangled hair. His brown strands were soft as I lightly brushed through them with my fingers.

He was asleep within minutes. All I could do was stare up at the twinkling lights sadly.

Notes

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