Blood Town

[13]: So Many, So Many

A/N: Dedicated to candycane297 for voting and commenting. Thanks a bunch. Sorry this isn't on the seventh but I'm going on a trip so I decided better early than late! And Happy Very-Early Birthday!

Jason cursed under his breath as he looked over his handcuffed arms and ankles. The doors were locked and the windows closed. He might as well have been glued to the seat of the back of Zane's police car. 

"I can't afford to take the risk of you running away but I have something I need to do," was all Zane had said before locking Jason in his car and heading off to the back of the Ketsueki Inn. 

"What if I suffocate in here?" 

"I won't be gone for long. However," he had shot Jason a distasteful look, "if you do suffocate, I must say that would be a pitiful ending indeed."

"Damned officer!"

~

Emily muttered something under her breath and Zane leaned in closer. But, her voice soon died out and he sighed, placing his palm on her forehead to check her temperature. He frowned for the hundredth time. When he'd barged into this room, he saw Emily on the floor unconscious despite her health had seemed just fine when he'd checked - no fever, no injuries.

The gesture aroused her from her peaceful slumber and she blinked twice before snapping her eyes open, widening them in horror as if some monster hung from the ceiling. As if it looked down at her, grinning. 

Letting out a horrible howl, she jumped off of bed, muttering indistinguishable nonsense. She was shaking her head violently,  holding Zane's arms and digging her nails into his skin. For a second, he was petrified that she had been possessed by some kind of satanic spirit. But, he took control. 

He grabbed Emily by the shoulders and shook her. "Everything's fine."

Some gibberish escaped her mouth. 

"Calm down."

She screamed again, tears streaming down her cheeks like someone was forcing pins into her bones.

He held her face. "I'm right here. No one's going to hurt you. You're just fine. You're-"

She made gagging sounds and Zane realized they were attempts to talk. His fear was rising. What had happened to Emily? Something so horrible, it disoriented her mental stability? Something so horrible, it left her incapable of proper speech?

"Just be quiet -"

She screamed in agony as if someone was skinning her alive. Zane did the only thing he could think of, what he used to do Alyx all the time whenever she woke up screaming in the middle of the night with a terrifying nightmare. 

He pulled Emily into a hug and wrapped his arms around, resting his chin on her head and stroking her hair back into place. He tightened his grasp, letting his warmth flow through her. For a moment, they were one being. Completely inseparable. 

"It's all right, it's all right. I'm right here. You'll be fine. I'll be right here. It's all right."

He kept patting her head, lowering his voice to a hushed, soothing whisper. 

"You're absolutely safe with me."

She wrapped her arms around his stomach, bringing her hands around to grip the back of his shirt. He felt her nails scratching his skin but endured the pain. 

"You're safe with me. I'll keep you safe. No one's going to hurt you. Everything'll be all right."