No Escape

Blood lined the floor of the white tiles lining the glossy white bleached white floors that were already sagging beneath the charcoal haired boy's feet. Blood pooled from a hole in his lower leg where an arrow protruded. There was too much blood everywhere for his liking. He tried to focus on one spot in particular, but all he could see was red - the sticky blood smeared across his cheekbones and lips.

"It's not my fault he can't be arsed to do it by himself." Lian spat out the bloody words with more venom than he would normally have. It wasn't his fault that the stupid bastard couldn't get his own shit done. 

He could feel something crawl behind him as he felt the coiling of slimy skin against his neck. Lian turned slightly to face the monster, just in time for the blade plunged into the side of his neck. His head snapped back, and he felt the sharp prick along his jugular. The world spun around him, and he saw blackness creeping up at him. The pain didn't register. Just the cold.

"Lian! Lian! Wake up!" A voice cried. 

Shooting up in bed and almost choking on a mouthful of saliva, Lian sat up so quickly that the sheets wrapped around his legs went tumbling onto the ground. The room came rushing back to his eyes, and the first thing he registered was that there was someone else in the room with him. Not his mom or dad.

The crimson stains plagued his vision as River stepped in to help her brother now in a panic. Lian blinked hard and pushed River away as gently as she could. 

 "Leave me alone, will you?! What is wrong with you? Do you want to die?" His throat throbbed painfully from crying so loudly.

Lian felt another presence from the doorway, noticing Ember smiling back at him, causing River to back away as they watched the anthropomorphic being leave the room without comment. The room fell silent for a moment until River finally broke the silence.

"I am sorry I didn't tell you…" She looked at him worriedly.

Lian took in his surroundings again, realizing that they were in their living quarters. The walls were a deep gray, and the carpeting was a light blue. The furniture was all black, but in a sleek and modern way that was not unlike the architecture in the city.

 "What are we doing here, River?"

"You told me to take care of you if anything bad ever happened, right? Well, I'm here to make sure nothing happens." River said, calmly sitting down beside him. Her hand hovered near him, almost like she wanted to comfort him, but knew that this wasn't her place. 

A feeling of pain temporarily smacked Lian in the face before noticing the brief smell of signed flesh before him, Lian pulled back the blanket covering his legs and winced. There were more. A lot more. His stomach churned with anxiety and fear at the realization that he'd been attacked while asleep. Someone had hurt him. He'd never even realized someone was trying to kill him. But why him? 

It felt as though some deep part of him was missing, and he began to hyperventilate when he realized that the wound on his neck hadn't stopped bleeding since he woke up. He needed to get out of here, but what if whoever did this had found him again? Would he still end up dead? Or worse, would they find his sister and kill her next?

Reality was becoming to him as he tried to ground himself as specks of blood danced around him. No matter how hard he tried, he could no longer breathe freely. He could feel the air trapped inside his lungs, and he felt light-headed and dizzy. The last thing he remembered before his eyes rolled back into his head and he blacked out was his sister screaming for him and the sound of a gun firing.

"LIAN!" River shouted. 

Xavier and Ember rushed in as Lian shouted as his world warped in front of his eyes as River tried her best to hold down as the pangolin chanted to ground the traumatized reaper in the present. When he opened his eyes, everything was calm. Ember held the small reaper in her arms as he breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. 

"Xavier, this has been happening for almost two weeks now! What do we do?" Ember shouted. 

"Where is that old man at?" Xavier asked.

Both were silent as Lian slowly calmed down. Once he managed to stop trembling violently, he took one look at his sisters' expressions before answering, "I left him. He isn't coming, so you don't need to worry about him."

They both frowned at him in confusion but let it slide, knowing Lian was under huge amounts of stress as the old magic worked deep inside the main frame of his being. 

"I need to talk to Mason later…" River whispered. 

She promptly left as Lian pushed his arm down as Xavier and Ember gawked at each other . When Lian was pulling himself up, Xavier finally spoke up again. 

"Do you really think you should leave the house, Lian?" Ember scolded. 

Making a motion as though he was summoning Dread Harvest, smiling back at Xavier and Ember before walking out. They weren't satisfied with the answer.

He stood on the porch as the sun radiated on his face and heat swirled through the air, making his hair dance wildly in the air like fireflies. A soft breeze drifted through his hair, lifting it lightly above his eyes as he stared at the sky. Lian sighed deeply, letting the cool air wash over him, soothing his mind. He needed to relax. This would be a long day.

When he heard the door open, he turned around to see Mason standing there with a concerned expression on his face. "Hey, Lian. Are you okay?" Mason asked.

Lian nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Mason gave him a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

Lian nodded, taking note of the concern that seemed to radiate off of Mason. "Don't worry, I haven't had any attacks for days. And I know that I'm not the only one suffering because of this situation."

Mason looked confused. "What do you mean?" Mason asked. 

He could feel an aura emanating from the boy's small frame, but there was a hint of hesitation underneath his emotions that he couldn't quite define. The way he spoke suggested a sense of hesitance to him.

There he could sense the boy's emotions, and they seemed similar to his own, but Mason was different. Something about him made the wizened man feel uneasy.

"Will you use me like Gemma did?" Lian questioned. 

"I have Xavier and I have Ember, and they are like children to me!" Mason noted. 

Lian's head turned to the side as he wondered what else he could possibly say as stood there with everything that had happened to him recently. 'That I'm a half-breed reaper that has been raised by a human? Yeah, that'll go over well' 

Mason walked towards him cautiously. He could sense Lian's discomfort, which made him curious as to why.

 "What is wrong? Are you scared?"

The burn on his arm stung as he tried to hide how much it hurt. He bit his lower lip, then looked down at the floor.

"Why did you try to protect my sister when you knew there would be consequences?" Lian questioned, looking up at Mason once he was finished speaking. "Did you want something from her?" 

"Gemma was caught illegally entrapping you in his web, and it was up to me to free you," Mason explained. 

 "It would have gotten worse if I had allowed her to carry out the plan. I am sorry, but it had to happen. She was going to kill you, and I couldn't allow her to do that." Mason paused after he had spoken. 

"I realize more and more that maybe death would be fitting…" Lian thought.