Chapter 27 - Gain Or Loss

'Time is my foe when it passes so slow...'

Adrian~

I pulled up to the cafe and ignored the curious onlookers as I quickly stormed over to where Stacey stood. 'Do you know where she went?' I demanded.

Her friend looked flustered. 'No, I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do-'

I held my hand up to cut her off. 'You did the right thing. When did you last see her?' I asked her again. We'd been through this before over the phone.

When she'd finished explaining for the second time I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. 'They could be anywhere.' I muttered darkly to myself.

After my confrontation with Ashley about an hour ago, her friend Courtney had rung up not long afterwards sounding frantic and devastated. She'd said something about Ashley plotting something against Indigo, and had told me that Ashley had asked her to track down Indigo's whereabouts.

When Ashley had called her for the second time, she'd sounded incoherent and Courtney hadn't been able to get anything out of her - not even her location.

Once Stacey had called to tell me that Indigo had gone off with Ashley just after that, the pieces had fit together, forming an ugly picture. Indigo was in trouble and I needed to be quick before something happened to her.

Every second was taking its toll.

When Stacey saw my agitation she widened her eyes. 'Indigo's in trouble isn't she?' She asked, voice quaking. I didn't reply.

'I knew it! I knew I should've just stayed with her! This is all my fault.'

'This is not your fault.' I cut in again. [It's mine,] I added silently and cursed out loud. 'Right now we need to focus on finding Indigo,' I commanded. 'Were there any witnesses?' I asked her

She shook her head. 'How will we know where to look?'

My head snapped towards a particular direction as she asked that and something settled in my stomach. 'This way.' I told her.

She trailed after me when I began to walk away. 'How do you know?' She asked frantically, making sure to keep her distance.

I had no idea.

'I just do.'

It must've been something to do with being Destined, I realised, because I had absolutely no idea where I was going or why I felt compelled to go in a particular direction.

We eventually saw a park on the opposite side of a busy street and i crossed the road, not bothering to keep my eye on the cars. I walked over to the gates, hearing children laughing in the distance. 'She's been here.' I mused as I scented the air.

I could smell her scent -- it was faint but there nevertheless.

'This way.' I said again and began walking along the path with determination. I walked over a grassy area towards a heavy treeline.  When we walked in, the trees thickened and the sounds of the outside world became much quieter.

My arms became covered in goosebumps. Something was wrong.

'Where are we going?' Stacey wondered as she stumbled over broken branches and trod on fallen leaves, trying to keep up. I caught her before she could fall into me and pointed towards an area ahead. 'Over there.'

We kept on going for several minutes until I stopped again, scenting the air. Her scent was much stronger.

Suddenly I stiffened.

Stacey was watching me carefully. 'What's wrong?' She whispered. She looked like a frightened animal.

I almost smiled but instead stood straighter, frowning. 'Blood.'

She paled. 'Is it Indigo's?'

I nodded. 'I couldn't tell for certain at this distance but it smelt familiar.'

Stacey let out a small whimper before screaming, 'INDIGO!'

I jolted. 'Don't.' I warned her. 'The humans will become alerted.'

She glared at me in frustration. 'Well what am I supposed to do? We can't just stand here!'

I carried on walking.

'Hey!'

Holding my hand up to shush her, I scanned my surroundings. My eyes instantly fell upon a bush over a hundred metres away. I sniffed. The scent of blood was coming from that direction.

'Over there.' I growled. Faster than she could comprehend, I sprinted over to the bush, pushing twigs away desperately as I ran.

Behind me, I could hear Stacey's heart pounding as she sprinted, struggling to catch up to me.

When I reached the bush I sucked in a breath and crouched down.

'You could've warned me--' Stacey panted just seconds later. She stopped mid sentence when she saw her friend lying lifelessly on the ground.

'Oh my god, Indigo! Is she going to be OK?' I prevented her from getting any closer by pushing her back, and inspected the blood on Indigo's shirt. When I lifted it up, I hissed and Stacey inhaled sharply.

'Oh my God.' She whispered.

'Silver.' I panted. My eyes narrowed to slits and I had to fight the urge to retract my fangs. I was seeing red.

Stacey looked confused. 'What does that mean?' Her expression was frozen.

'It's why she won't heal.' I explained, panting heavily. 'She's been stabbed with silver.'

'Poisoned?' Stacey whimpered again as I picked Indigo up and ordered for Stacey to stay where she was.

Before she could say anything, I quickly took off and sprinted into the thickness of the trees.

I had to get her to the nearest hospital before she died.

*****************

Indigo~

Light.

That's what surrounded me as I felt myself floating, almost as if I were trapped in a bubble.

It felt different from before, when I'd fallen from the balcony and had lost consciousness. This time I felt detached from myself and was consumed with nothing but a sense of peace as I stared unblinkingly into the white nothingness.

The light grew brighter.

Thoughts of my former life began to flash through my mind. Images of Adrian, my parents and Stacey popped up. I though of the baby.

A stab of sadness pierced through me before I was engulfed by a stronger sense of peace. I smiled. Everything would be OK.

******************

Adrian~

I watched helplessly as the doctors rushed around Indigo.

She looked so pale lying there on her own, however much I wanted to grab her and hold her, I couldn't. She had to be taken care of.

As her fiancé, I'd made it clear that no one was to be alerted of Indigo's whereabouts until she'd reached a stable condition. The only other person who'd been told was my father, and as the head of the council he was currently sending out a search for Ashley.

My fists clenched when I thought of the red-head. My soulmate.

I should've known that something hadn't been right when she'd left without so quietly a fight, but as usual I'd been too self-absorbed in my own self-pity.

Now Indigo was fighting for her life and our child's and it was all because of me. This wasn't even the first time something like this had happened. I hissed angrily.

If I ever got my hands on Ashley I'd kill her.

Just then, the heart monitor attached to Indigo stopped and chaos erupted from all directions.

I straightened. 'What's happening?' I boomed, grabbing hold of the nearest doctor by the sleeve.

He shifted uncomfortably under my gaze and swallowed nervously. 'The princess's...er, heart has stopped. She has an unusual amount of internal b-bleeding coming from her womb.'

I froze. The baby.

Throwing my fists against the wall, I grabbed the doctor by the collar and spat angrily, 'Save them both or else I'll make your life a misery.'

The doctor paled considerably and then nodded, before rushing off towards Indigo, shouting orders as he way.

I ran my hands through my hair and prayed for their recovery. I honestly didn't know how I'd cope if I lost them both.

Aww, I think this is heartbreaking :(

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