Prego and the Phoenix 🐇↩️✔

Bourne - Twenty-Three

Betrayal... It's the ultimate form of hurt. It cuts deeper than knives, scars like no other. It is not something that can be easily fixed nor is it ever forgotten. Whether by their own will or the will of someone else, when a person betrays you, you never fully trust them again. It's impossible because there will always be a tiny part of your mind that says, 'they betrayed me. I will be prepared if they do it again.'

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

I open my eyes slightly and am met with a menacing pain that I have never in my life experienced. It is almost as painful as when I phoenix but not quite. I am shaking and very confused. One, because I don't understand what the hell is wrong with Humphrey but another reason is because I shouldn't be feeling any pain at all. Whenever I get hurt, the phoenix takes over and overtakes me to repair itself and my body. We are one in the same; I am the vessel. If I am broken, the phoenix is in danger and will immediately fix the problem. But the pain is here and real... Something is wrong...
"Bourne? Are you awake?" I hear someone ask over my head.
I try to focus on who is talking to me and I see that it is Arabella. Her face is full of worry and she is lovingly stroking my head. I shudder a little and she pulls the blankets over me.
"Don't strain yourself..."
"It hurts..." I croak.
"Well, of course it does. You were stabbed."
"No... I shouldn't feel it."
"Shhhh, shhh, shhhh... Just stay calm and don't overtax yourself. I'm going to go get your mother."
Arabella leaves and shards of pain go through my body as I try and move myself into a more comfortable position.
Ma comes in and kisses my forehead.
"Tenía tanto miedo que no lo hacen!"
"I'm fine... I think... Did I phoenix?"
"No... That's why I was so worried. Nothing happened after you were stabbed., You were coughing up blood and everything and I thought we would have to call an ambulance. You suddenly stopped and seemed to breathe easier. I wonder if something on the inside with the phoenix happened? Lochner is looking things up for us to understand what happened."
"Humphrey... Is he alright?"
"Let's just say he's a bit tied up and unavailable right now..." Arabella says, a menacing glare in her eyes as she looks out my door.
Seeing the usually sweet and loving mother-to-be having the look of someone who wanted nothing but to stab something is making me see that this is not going to blow over easy. But I have to see him... I have to understand.
"I want to see him. Take me to him." I say, starting to get up.
Ma pushes me back down and looks me in the eyes.
"No. You cannot go near him. We don't understand what's going on and we don't want another accident to happen. Lochner is watching him right now."
"I have to understand what happened, Ma. If you don't trust him to be alone with me then just get him in here tied up or whatever. I need to talk with him."
"I'll tell Lochner." Arabella says and leaves the room.
Ma looks at me in worry as I spasm again, the pain almost unbearable. She strokes my face tenderly as worry seeps into her eyes.
"We thought we were going to lose you for a moment. You just didn't do anything and there was blood everywhere... Oh, Bourne, it was so scary."
I put my hand on my mother's and smile. "I'm alright, Ma. I promise."
"But you never phoenixed..."
I smile at her when a commotion makes me look at the door. Lochner is bringing Humphrey in with his hands tied behind his back and a gag in his mouth. As soon as he sees me, he starts going kind of crazy and Lochner puts him in my computer chair. He puts his hands on his shoulders and then allows the gag to come down.
"Bourne! I'm so sorry! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Okay-"
"Please forgive me! I never meant to hurt you! I don't know why I did it!"
"It's alright, Humphrey. I know you wouldn't have done it on purpose. What did Trevor do to you? Can you remember?"
"I just know he stuck his hand in my stomach like some anime villain and then I started getting really hot. I felt like I had to hurt you... like I was being controlled and I couldn't handle myself. I'm so sorry, Bourne."
"Lochner, did you find anything on ice phoenixi?" I ask him.
"I found a couple of things but control? No... Plus, there is what happened with Arabella. She knew something bad was going to happen before any of us. Do you think that her baby... that it detect things?"
"Who knows... All I know is that we need to get some more info on Trevor and what he knows of me and this phoenix business. This is obviously something that he is familiar with and we need to beat him at his own game. Let Humphrey go."
"But Bourne-"
"You are in charge of watching him. If you see anything, you make sure I'm nowhere near him. As well as Arabella."
"She hates me right now... Bourne, please forgive me." Humphrey pleads again, looking scared and very confused.
I smile at him. "I've already forgiven you. I know you didn't mean it."
Lochner reluctantly cut the binds loose and Humphrey came to my side, grabbing my hand.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
"Please stop apologizing. I understand that it wasn't you..."
Humphrey just put my hand on his head as he leaned on the bed, burying his face in the covers next to me. I can hear him crying and I sigh, knowing that he will never forgive himself even if I tell him that everything is fine. He has been loyal to me ever since I told him about my condition and had vowed to protect me from any who tried to do harm. He's battling himself right now. I just pet his hair softly and look at Ma. She is looking at him sadly and she touches him on the back softly.
"Come on, Humphrey. We will let him sleep so that he can recover, alright? Come on, love..." she says softly to him.
He finally gets up and hugs her tightly, burying his face in her embrace and walking with her.
Lochner's brows furrow at his twin but he turns to me.
"He's not going to forgive himself."
"I know... He's mixed emotions right now. So you found out nothing extraordinary about the ice phoenix?"
"Nothing much. They are pretty much the exact opposite of regular phoenixi. Though their growth process is a little different from yours."
"Yeah?"
"It said where I looked that when a regular phoenix dies or gets hurt, it grows in stages. When an ice phoenix gets hurt, it doesn't phoenix. It can just will itself to heal but it takes one year off its lifespan every time. When it does 'die' it shoots out shards of ice and then breaks instead of being consumed by flames."
"So it doesn't do what I do?"
"No... But I found nothing on controlling people... I can look some more if you like."
"No, I think we've had enough excitement... I think I'm going to phoenix in a moment so if you could leave me to it?"
He nodded and left the room. I shivered, feeling suddenly extremely cold and then the coursing heat of the phoenix overtook me.