𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝔸𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟 - 𝔸 𝕂𝕒𝕣𝕝 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕠𝕓𝕤 𝔽𝕒𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕔

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕖𝕟

TAREQ POV
"No!"

I stared at the monitor, which had just been beeping rhythmically. Now it was emitting a long, drawn out whistle, and the green line extended continuously onwards.

"Hazel!" I looked down at the person the machine was hooked to; Hazel lay there, motionless.

"Hazel!" I tried to scream her name, but no sound came from me. I tried reaching my hand out to her, but I couldn't lift my arm.

What happened next sent shivers up my spine.

Hazel's eyes opened, but as they did, she wasn't Hazel anymore. Now Shane was in that bed, sitting up and staring at me.

"This is your fault. All yours." He said in a low, threatening voice.

"No!" I tried to exclaim again. But again, I couldn't make a sound.

"Your fault..." The voice echoed in my head. "All yours..."

The words echoed over and over again, overlapping, merging with the horrible sound of the monitor. I squeezed my eyes shut, as the whistle increased in pitch, getting higher and higher, so much I thought my ears would bleed...

"Tareq!"

I jolted awake, sitting up so fast my head spun. My heart was racing and I felt as if I'd just run a marathon.

Chandler was standing over me, looking at me with concern woven into his eyes. "You looked troubled in your sleep." He said quietly.

I briefly closed my eyes, calming my heart and brushing off the last traces of my dream.
"I'm okay." I assured him after a moment.

Just then, the door unlocked and opened, and in came Shane, gripping something black and leathery in his hand.
"Come." He said, directing the command to Chandler. I glanced at the Hallow boy, who glanced back at me with equal concern.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Shane smirked an evil, horrible smirk. "Well now, that's for me to know, and you to find out, isn't it?" He said.

I suddenly got up, stepping between Chandler and Shane. "Take me instead," I insisted. "Don't take him."

But Shane just smiled. "I don't think so. Besides, knowing your friend is hurt will be just as painful to you, so it's a win-win for me."

I blinked. "Hurt?!" I repeated. "What are you going to do with him?"

Shane sighed, clearly impatient. "Let me rephrase that. He'll only be hurt if he doesn't comply. Otherwise, all will go well."

With that, he took a big step forward, reaching behind me and grabbing Chandler's wrist roughly. He dragged him to the door, and the taller boy had no choice but to follow.

"I can't let you do that." I said simply, and Shane stopped in his tracks, looking back at me menacingly.

"Fine," he said. "Then I've got no choice."

KARL POV
"Karl, we can still go back. We can get the cops over here or something."

Y/N had been protesting the entire time we were on our way to the mysterious address written on the letter. But every time, I told her this was the best way.

"We don't know what this person will do," I said thoughtfully. "For all we know they would just do away with our friends the instant they saw the cars outside. I don't want to risk it, Y/N. Right now, going with it will be the safest option."

I cast a side glance at Y/N as I drove; she was looking out the window looking worried and sullen. "Don't worry," I said softly, lifting one hand off the steering wheel to lay it comfortingly on her leg.
"We'll be together. Remember what we said after that whole episode with Shane months ago? We said we'd never be separated again. I mean it, Y/N. We're always going to be together."