Wrath and Emeralds - Chapter 10b
Nov. 14th, 2010 02:16 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
draconica-nova.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
wl_fanfiction
Title: Wrath and Emeralds – 10b/12
Chapter Rating: R
Overall Rating: R
Warning(s): Blood ‘n’ stuff
Summary: A race for survival, but it may already be too late.
Author's Notes: I love you all so much, so here’s the next part, as promised. ^_^
~~~
Colin and Hunter were both on the floor after the commotion, the gun having been knocked clear away in Colin’s anger. Not too far away, the beast was hunched, doubled over in fact, and snuffling quietly.
Colin would deal with Hunter in a moment, but as soon as the excitement had subsided he went straight over to his best friend, whom he knew was no more of a monster than he was. The wolf dwarfed him in comparison, but this left him unfazed as he reached out to make sure everything was all right.
Meanwhile, Hunter, having finally become aware of himself and the surroundings, scrabbled toward the shotgun in a last ditch attempt of success, but a stern foot landed on the firearm just before his hand had a chance to grasp it. Bryce was on the other end of it, looking down at Hunter in irate disbelief.
The other two agents, both young men themselves, dragged Hunter to his feet and clicked a pair of handcuffs on him. He stood before Bryce, annoyance and slight amusement on his face.
“You killed my wife,” Bryce accused, noting the sickening look of pride that memory aroused in Hunter.
“I liberated her.”
The older man scowled at just how much trust this man had taken advantage of in order to fulfil his own twisted wishes. “Take him away.”
Hunter laughed, a sound that echoed throughout the room as he was pushed and lead outside by his fellow agents. Bryce and Colin watched after him with similar expressions of combined pity and disappointment, while the wolf simply growled under his breath.
Turning his attention back to the situation at hand, Colin placed both hands under the beast’s head, which was hung low, and tried to lift it up gently.
“Ry?” he whispered, kneeling beside his companion while Bryce watched on. “Hey… you okay?”
It whimpered at him helplessly as it opened its large green eyes and saw that Colin was alive, and seemingly all right. It grumbled happily and began to lick at Colin’s face in affection, noting that he’d suffered a cut to his brow as he’d fallen and wanting to clean the wound for him.
Colin smiled and weakly pushed the large snout away so he could breathe. “Cut that out,” he laughed and stroked behind an ear, earning an approving mewl.
All of a sudden, the mood changed entirely as the wolf collapsed down onto his side and whined over and over, its paws flexing as he curled in on himself. Without question, Colin was there immediately with hands outstretched and ready to help. As his palm landed on the chest and shoulder of the beast, he felt something warm and sticky, matting the fur. Lifting his hand to confirm the fears, he was left in a panic at the sight of dark blood.
“Ryan! You’re hurt!” The wolf simply whined more and bore his teeth against the influx of pain, mixing sounds of anger with those of despair. The blood seeped, dripping onto the carpet. “Bryce, what do we do?”
Bryce thought for a moment, then smiled and pulled out a cell phone and dialled three numbers. It was clear that he’d called 911. After giving the address to the emergency services, he went on to explain that a man had been shot and needed immediate surgery. In the midst of the call, he threw a thumbs up to a confused Colin and ran out of the house.
Colin was beginning to wonder how some paramedics would react to enter and find a large, bleeding man-wolf in the middle of the room. When it whimpered for him again, he broke that muse and turned his attention back to the creature that had been so smitten by him. “It’s okay, Ryan,” he whispered, smoothing the fur of his muzzle in comfort. “It’ll all be fine.”
When Bryce returned he was carrying a silver metal case embossed with a symbol of a crescent moon – Colin recognised it instantly. “The antidote?”
“Hunter wasn’t lying to you when he’d said we’d created a possible antidote,” Bryce explained and knelt beside the beast, opposite Colin. “He stole it under our noses and we think he may have destroyed it. Lucky for you, though, that wasn’t the only vial we’d made.”
Opening the case, Bryce prepared the antidote for injection, knowing that it was a race against time. The wolf was losing a lot of blood.
“Keep him nice and still and calm for me, Colin. I have to locate the vein.”
Colin nodded and focused all his attention on stroking and comforting his friend. One hand stayed scratching under his chin whilst the other rested on a large paw. Bryce was pushing the fur behind its left ear as he figured out where to press the needle.
“Hold still, this might sting a bit,” Colin whispered into his ear. “We’re going to save you, Ryan. Just like I promised.” The wolf gave an answering mewl, his eyes growing dark and dull.
The injection went smoothly with the beast squeezing its eyes shut for a brief moment. Bryce packed the equipment back into the case and sighed. “If the antidote is positive then he should return to normal in the next few minutes. Let’s just give it time to circulate the body. There’s nothing left to do but wait.”
And that’s just what they did. Colin had fetched a towel and was pressing it hopefully against the wound, trying to limit the amount of blood lost while Bryce, respectful of the obvious friendship, waited outside for the ambulance.
“This is all my fault,” Colin sniffed and the wolf lifted its head slightly to the statement. “I should never have left your side, not for one second. What a God damn mess…”
Wearily, it moaned and licked at Colin’s hand before closing its eyes peacefully, feeling that it was time to say goodbye. As a tear dripped down Colin’s face, he leaned over to press his palm against the soft, furry neck, still feeling a weak pulse there. “I’m so sorry.”
Beneath his hand, the dark sepia fur suddenly began to shrink away along with the rest adorning the muscular body. The muscles themselves twitched as they also began to deflate, as did the elongated paws when the bone shifted to create regular, human feet.
Looking back up to the wolf’s head, Colin watched in awe as the ears flattened and the entirety of the monstrous head reformed to make the slightly large nose and strangely youthful but worryingly pale face of a human being again. Ryan was back.
“Ry?” The man beside him was trying so hard to hold back tears of joy at the sight and shifted Ryan over until he was lying on his back in Colin’s arms. “Can you hear me?”
Ryan winced, breathing coming thick and wheezy as his eyes eased themselves open. They were a beautiful dull jade. “Colin… it hurts.” He made to curl in on himself in an effort of numbing the pain, however Colin stopped him with a hand to his chest.
He bit his lip. “I know it does, Ry, but try and keep still. Help is on its way.” At that moment, the sound of sirens arrived and Colin looked up to see the reassuring sight of blue flashing lights in the hallway.
“Love you, Col,” Ryan said weakly, looking up into Colin’s eyes as he felt the tempting sleep pull him down, allowing him to escape the pain. “Tell Pat I’m sorry.” And then his eyes were closed once more, the emeralds shining their last as he fell limp in Colin’s arms.
“Don’t go to sleep, Ryan. No, please don’t go to sleep! Ry!” Colin clung onto him desperately and pressed a kiss to his forehead, just as two paramedics, a man and a woman, rushed into the room with Bryce in tow.
“What have we got here?” the male paramedic said, setting his kit beside him and kneeling down on Ryan’s right hand side. Lifting off the towel carefully, he inspected the wound to his shoulder. Bryce had successfully persuaded Colin to move aside and let the professionals handle the situation.
The female paramedic moved over to where Colin had been, on the other side of Ryan’s form, and pressed two fingers to his neck. “We’ve got a pulse,” she informed and Colin almost fainted in relief if Bryce hadn’t been standing with him, an arm around his shoulders in support.
“One bullet to his shoulder and one to the collar,” the other paramedic assessed. “He needs to get to surgery, now.”
“This is him, isn’t it?” the girl, who looked no more than thirty, asked Colin as her colleague went out to fetch a stretcher. “The man they’re all looking for.”
“Ryan,” Colin answered. “Please, can I ride with him in the ambulance? I’ve messed up so much… I can’t leave him again.”
She didn’t question him at all, nothing over what he meant or what had happened, and nodded with a small smile. “My name’s Helen. And my colleague’s name is David. Don’t worry, he’s in good hands now.”
A little while later, as they were loading a heavily bandaged Ryan into the ambulance, Bryce pulled Colin aside and spoke quietly and quickly. “I’ll be round to the hospital later to check on things, but for now I have to take care of Hunter.”
“What about the police?” Colin asked, “What am I supposed to say to them?”
Smirking, the older man pulled out a leather wallet from the inside of his jacket and opened it up, revealing a police badge and ID. James Bryce was a sergeant.
“Leave everything to me,” he assured and clapped an amazed Colin on the back before turning and walking away, towards the black car parked a little down the street – the one they’d arrived in.
Shaking his head at the absolute absurdity of everything, Colin went over and clambered into the back of the ambulance with Ryan and Helen. Sirens blaring, they pulled out and zoomed off down the street, carrying a very precious cargo.
Throughout the journey, Colin remained silent as he sat beside his best friend, holding his hand. He didn’t answer any more questions Helen asked him, which he knew was quite rude but there was only one thing on his mind that simply would not budge. And damn it, he was not going to cry in front of strangers.
To be continued...
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Date: 2010-11-14 05:31 am (UTC)Seriously, one cliffhanger after the other! Save him please! Update soon!
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Date: 2010-11-14 04:25 pm (UTC)Update shall be soon! ^_^
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Date: 2010-11-14 08:45 am (UTC)I have to say that I'm kinda sad that Ryan is cured; his wolfish side is cute...when he's not ripping people apart, of course!
This was lovely to wake up to on a Sunday morning. I'm anxiously awaiting the next chapter...*starts vigil with candle* ^_^
no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 04:27 pm (UTC)This had an alternate ending where we would've seen a lot more wolf, but for some reason I just went with this one.
Thanks for commenting! ^_~ x
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Date: 2010-11-14 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 09:43 am (UTC)Aw, wolfy Ryan licking Colin's face made me smile. Another great part...please make Ry all better soon. *makes big, huge puppy eyes & joins RCF's vigil*
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Date: 2010-11-14 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-14 03:16 pm (UTC)please let ry be ok!
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Date: 2010-11-14 04:29 pm (UTC)I shall try! x