Turn Away | c.h

Chapter 74 - Untouched

ya'll...

there's only six chapters left.

The room was cold, a stiff blow of air rattling my body the second I stepped through. Michael followed closely behind, his nose screwing up from the pungent smell of death and mould.
I stood close to the doorway in a pursuit of safety, deciding to stay close to the exit whilst I talked myself up to step away. But Michael ceased the room, stepping past all the dead bodies that laid carelessly on the floor, left to rot and decompose.

I didn't want to move, but I knew we had to save our time. We really had limited from here in in; once they noticed I wasn't in my cell, all hell was going to break loose. So now was the time for us to make tracks swiftly. And seeing as I now had to bring my dead lover to life with little to no knowledge how, the pressure was really beating down on me.

"He's here." Michael hushed from the side of the room, standing by a few overturned dead bodies. I felt myself freeze at his words. I wasn't exactly sure if I was ready to see him in this state, dead and broken. I had managed to catch a few glances at him on the field, but never up close and personal. "Come on, we're kinda on a tight schedule here."

I swallowed down my nerves and tried to dig deep, taking in a heavy breath before stepping away from the wall. Michael placed his hands on his hips, looking around at all the bodies surrounding him. I didn't want to look down at all the unfortunate lives that had been slaughtered all because of Felix's sick definition of power. I just had to focus on getting to Calum and to bring him back to me.

My feet stepped carefully around all the bodies, tiptoeing around their limbs, drawing me closer and closer to my lover.

"Just..." Michael's voice broke me out of my concentration, his piercing eyes staring directly into mine as I neared closer. "Prepare yourself, Stella. It's gonna be confronting."

"O-okay..." I shakily breathed, continuing to look up at him as I stepped over the last body that separated Calum and I. Michael took a step back, gesturing to his lifeless body.
He laid with his back to me on his side, face pressed into the dirty ground, limbs folded carelessly. The sight brought tears to my eyes as I looked down, squeezing my hand as tight as I could in attempt to distract me from the swelling sadness within.

I carefully dropped to my knees beside him, placing my hands on his cold body the second he was in reach. He was stiff, arms taut and covered in dried blood, much like the rest of him.
My bottom lip moved between my teeth, biting down hard to stop anymore tears from falling just at the mere sight of him. Especially when I overturned his body, letting his back fall onto my thighs, laying overtop my legs. Michael stared down at me, hand resting over his mouth, patiently waiting whilst I completely took Calum in before me.

His face was unrecognisable, with cuts and slashes across his pales skin, bursts of purples and yellows staining him in bruises. His eyes were closed, lashes resting over his bloody cheeks. Dark, black bruises wrapped around his neck and there was a clear outline of the mans hands that had selfishly brought Calum to his death.
He didn't look like my Calum anymore, he looked like something from my nightmares. I hated that they did this to him.

I slowly pushed back his hair, my fingertips grazing across the skin of his temple, wiping the dried blood away from his skin. A part of me expected his eyes to flutter open and for him to smile up at me and whisper how badly he missed me and how thankful he was to still be alive. But a few agonising minutes passed and nothing happened. He laid there over me, his heavy body threateningly still, no pulse thumping through his veins. Just lifeless and stiff, preparing to decompose.