Fractured Souls(54)

We run, following the invisible current of electricity, going further into the cave. With each step, the current grows and becomes more charged and at the same time I become more eager and excited. God, I’ve missed this. I’ve never really missed something before and knowing I’m going to have it back soon pumps adrenaline through my body at a toxic dose.
By the time we reach a door, the current is flowing so powerfully that I know Alex has to be behind it. I’m actually shaking from the energy coursing through me, it owns me, consumes me, possesses me to the point that nothing else matters.
I need to feel more of it.
I need to see Alex.
What I need is to feel like I’m breathing again.
I let go of Laylen’s hand, turn the door handle, and push the door open, starting to smile. However, what’s on the other side makes my mouth turn back down and my stomach churn. All the excitement evaporates and my eagerness alters to paralyzing fear.
There’s a massive crystal ball about the size of a football stadium flaring brightly within the enormous space of the cave. Attached to the crystal, solely by chains, are people. Alex is front and center, chains wrapped around him from head to toe, binding him to the crystal ball.
And he looks dead.
All of them do.

Chapter 18
 
They’re all dead. Alex is dead. I can’t breathe. I can’t live.
“Calm down, Gemma.” Laylen’s voice is soothing, yet distant. I feel my legs turning into rubber and the room begins to sway. “They’re not dead.”
I straighten my legs back up. “Are you sure?” I choke out while I stare at Alex’s slackened body; his shirt’s off and his jeans hang loosely at his hips. His head is tipped down so all I can see is his hair. Is he awake? Dead? Alive? “They look… he looks dead.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Yeah, I’m sure. The crystal’s collecting energy from them,” he explains, his hand brushing my back. “If they were dead, they wouldn’t be useful.”
I nod and then I’m running to Alex at a pace I didn’t even know I was capable of. When I get closer, I realize that not only are chains securing him to the crystal ball, but so are tubes. They’re embedded all over his body, sucking his life and blood.
I immediately start pulling the tubes out of his skin. “Laylen, can you break through these chains?” I ask as he moves up beside me. With each tube I remove, a hole and blood trail is left on Alex’s skin. They’re not too deep, though with so many, they have to be painful.
“I think so,” Laylen says, gripping onto the chains.
Alex’s eyelids suddenly shoot open and my breath catches. His normally bright green eyes are dull and he looks incredibly weak. I’ve never seen Alex look so weak. It is strange and heartbreaking as well as completely disconcerting. It makes me realize how much I like the confidence he portrays most of the time and how safe it makes me feel. I realize a lot of things at that moment; about me, about him, about us. I can feel something shifting inside me; chains breaking, my body drifting closer to him and farther from another.
“Are you okay?” I ask, cupping his cheek.
He opens his mouth to speak, but no sound comes out and his head bobbles around, like his neck is too weak to support it.
Laylen bends the metal links and snaps the chains like twigs. I reach up to help Alex and he falls onto me like a hundred and eighty pound bag of bricks. I almost buckle to the floor, but Laylen catches him and supports the majority of his weight.
“Excellent catching skills,” Laylen jokes, flopping Alex’s arm over his shoulder.
“Hey, I never claimed to have them,” I protest, grunting as I attempt to carry some of Alex’s weight. “Besides, I’m not a half-Vampire, half-Keeper who is freakishly strong.”
“Would you two stop joking around,” Alex says with a smidgeon of humor in his voice as he leans against me and I slip his free arm around my waist. “Can you get us out of here before we get caught?”
I start to retrieve the crystal ball from my pocket, but Alex shakes his head and then nods at the massive crystal ball exploding with energy, a enormous glowing orb radiating around the pallid, seemingly lifeless people. “Don’t use your power too close to this… it could kill you.”
I nod and we head for the door, Alex dragging his feet as we walk. Laylen holds up most of Alex’s weight and we move quickly, distancing ourselves from the gigantic crystal ball. Once we’re a safe distance away, I retrieve the crystal ball from my pocket while Alex works to hold himself up and gather his own balance. Laylen grabs onto my arm and I touch Alex, making sure they both go with me.