They Came In Hoodies

Chapter 40: See You Around

Last chapter!!!! Look out for the <>!

Stella POV

I woke up and the first thought I was Gray. He was supposed to find his father. I wondered if he did and where he was. I pushed myself up from the bed I laid in and looked around the massive room. So many beds held people in different conditions. It was quiet in here as if everyone knew the worse was over. Somberness draped around the room like a woman wearing a shawl. 

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My eyes fell on Gray, a few beds down from me as he talked to Else with his foot propped up by pillows. He talked to her in such a hushed voice that I wondered what was so worrying. "Gray?" I asked, hoping to grab his attention. 

He turned over to face me without wasting a second. There was such concern in his eyes that I wish he didn't have. "How are you?" 

"I'm ok. And how about you?" 

He shrugged. "Ok." 

"Did you stop him?" 

His frown deepened as he shook his head. "No."

"And the royal family?"

"Dead." 

I bit my lip, wishing I would have done more to stop him. There was so much I should have done but didn't. "And what happened to them?" 

"He killed all of them and ran off, taking the Darklings with him." 

"What will happen next?" 

He looked at Else, hoping that she would provide some guidance to this question, but she was silent. Either she knew and didn't want to share or maybe she really had no idea what would happen next. Either way, it was better to stay silent. "We don't know." 

I nodded as I swung my legs over the bed and got up, taking long slow strides over to him. "What happened to your leg?"

"A Darkling bit it. But I'll get better. It is already improving." 

Taking his answer as the truth, I sat at the foot of his bed and sighed. There was silence that fell between us as neither knew what to say. 

"I'm going to find the other professors, make sure they are doing already with tending to people. I'll talk to you later," Else said as she stood up from her camp chair by Gray's bed. 

Gray nodded. "Tell me if you need anything or if you find out anything." 

"You'll be the first person I come to." With that, she walked away, giving us peace that I so badly wanted. I still didn't understand why Gray liked Else when I saw no redeeming qualities within her.

Gray turned his attention to me and wrapped his hand around mine. "I'm sorry." 

Those two words were meant for so many things. Like a blanket coving body on a cold night, they were meant to provide comfort, but I felt nothing from them. He shouldn't have apologized for what his father did or what had happened here that I lived through. 

As I looked back at him, I didn't know what to say to it. Maybe there wasn't anything to say because I was sorry too. He shouldn't have to deal with any of this. He was just as undeserving of this situation as I was. 

In the silence of thought, my mind went back to being with Graywick and the Royal family up in that room. "You know, your father tried to show the Royal family what was wrong with their rules. He brought me up to prove a point, but they didn't want to hear it. They said that he didn't understand and that he would never understand. I don't think your father wanted to kill them at first. I think he really wanted change without death."