Through the Haze - Part Eighteen

We have to fight back, for if we give in, then the battle is truly over, and we have lost. --Rincaldoin McLeof, Book of Endings
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Gabriel glared at the figure as he struggled to sit up straight. The figure laughed and moved closer to him as Lou stayed motionless on the ground, propped up against the wall. He managed to sit up, slowly, and swung his feet over the edge of the bed, glaring at the hazy gray figure.

"Please, don't move, you'll just make things harder for yourself," said the figure, a twisted smirk visible through the haze of gray mist. Gabriel got to his feet; his legs were wobbly and wanted to give under his weight, but he forced them to stay put.

He looked over at Lou. He still hadn't moved.

"Don't worry," the gray mist said. "He's not dead. Just out." it took a step toward him.

Gabriel moved away a little. The figure laughed and, in the blink of an eye, was in front of him, sneering at him. Gabriel shivered, feeling terribly cold and detatched. The figure raised a misty hand and touched it to Gabriel's chest.

Fire spread throughout Gabriel's body. White hot pain flared through his eyes, putting a terrible haze in his mind. He yelped and took a step back, stumbling and barely managing to catch himself. He gasped for breath, sweat dotting his forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lou make the first signs of life and blink his eyes open. His eyes looked glazed and he seemed out of it, and he hoped that his friend would be smart and just stay down.

The figure was in front of him again. Gabriel snarled something under his breath, and his hand began to glow. He raised it and pressed it into the mist, forcing it back a step. Lou was shaking his head and struggling to his feet, and Gabriel prayed he would stay out of this.

The room grew colder as Gabriel focused his energy, but the figure wasn't doing it, and Lou didn't feel it. He as feeling colder because he didn't have the strength that he was trying to use to fight this thing. He was running out of energy, and fast. Whatever he was going to do, he had to it quick.

No matter what it took out of him. He couldn't let this figure hurt Lou more than it already had. Lou was his friend; he'd done a lot for him here recently, he didn't deserve to be attacked by this thing that the gift brought.

With a yell, he darted forward and unleashed his power with the remainder of his strength. He heard Lou let out a curse as he and the figure landed on the ground. To his amazement, the figure didn't disappear in a cloud of gray mist. It stayed there, seemed solid, and began fighting back.

Fire rose up around the two of them, burning them, eating away at them. Normally, Gabriel would be able to protect himself from his flames, but he was focusing all of his attention on the fire, on the figure, and had nothing left to spare to protect himself.

Darkness rose up around the two of them, exstinguishing the flames. White hot agony tore into him, forcing him to clench his teeth to keep from screaming as things began to cut into him. He never saw it coming; one minute he was fine, then he was bleeding and in terrible pain.

He shouted as he forced the rest of his power to come out, and unleashed it upon the figure. The figure shouted something and then was gone, taking the chill and the darkness with him. Gabriel lay on the ground, unmoving, panting and gasping for breath, too weak to move, too weak to give even the slightest flicker of an eyelid after they slid closed. Silence rang in his ears, and agony engulfed his body. He was too weak to scream, to weak to whimper, too weak to anything but lie there and accept the pain with open arms, even though it wasn't welcome.

He felt cold, but it wasn't the usual chill that brought the cold, it wasn't the warning in his head, it wasn't the coldness of fear and anger. It was the coldness of death. Death was finally coming to claim him.

"Gabriel...." a voice broke through the haze in his mind as someone shakily grabbed his wrist and held it for a long moment before they let it drop.

'I'm still alive,' he wanted to say. 'But not for much longer.'

"Gabe...are--are you with me?" the voice was nothing but a mere whisper, whispered with desperation. "Gabe?"

'Sorry, Lou. Too tired, can't answer.'

Something pressed hard into his chest, forcing a stinging sensation and agony to shoot through his body. "Shit. Look at the blood."

Gabriel wanted to tell him to leave it be, to not try to stop the inevitable, but he couldn't draw the breath in to speak. What little breath he had left went to his heart to pump the blood through his body, even though it just escaped through his many wounds.

"Gabriel? Stay with me, okay? Stay with me, Gabe." the thing on his chest pressed down even harder, applying pressure. "Stay with me."

'Love to,' he thought. 'Can't.'

There was a rapping sound at the door to the room. It took Gabriel a minute to realize what it was, and even longer for the thing on his chest to go away as Lou moved to answer the door. There was the sound of the door scraping against the carpet as it opened.

"Holy shit!" someone new gasped. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later," Lou said hurriedly, "We have to help him now."

"Yeah," the new person agreed. It was a male's voice, but Gabriel couldn't guess the age.

The thing was back, being pressed hard into his chest. He felt a metalic taste in his mouth, and felt it dribble out of the corners, and then heard Lou curse again and wipe it away.

"Stay with me," his friend said.

He tried to open his eyes, but could only open them enough to look through his lashes. Lou was deathly pale, his face a mask of pain and horror as he pressed a now-crimson towel to the wound on his chest. There was another male next to him, with light brown hair and tan eyes, looking rather worried as they worked on dealing with the other, less threatening wounds. His lids slid closed again, and he felt himself start to fade away.

"Stay with me," his friend pleaded. "Please, stay with me."

'Can't,' he wanted to say. 'I'm sorry.'

"Gabriel, please...stay with me. Just for a little longer. Help's on the way, okay? He called down for help when he heard you yell. Please, just stay with me a little longer."

'Sorry...'

Something grabbed his right wrist, the opposite one from the one Lou had gripped. "Pulse is irratic," the newcomer said sadly, and Gabriel could almost picture him shaking his head. "Help's on the way, but I don't think he'll last that long. He looks terrible."

There was a silence, and Gabriel could almost see the look Lou was surely giving him. "Stay with me, Gabe. Just a little longer."

He tried to talk again, but it only made more blood fill his mouth and dribble out the corners. This made Lou curse again, and it was wiped away.

"Hang on, Gabe. Okay? Hang on just a little longer. Can you do that for me?"

'Try,' he thought to himself. 'Doubt it, but I'll try.'

It was so cold. So terribly, dreadfully cold. He felt himself start to shiver, and then there was hand on his left shoulder, keeping him still. "Don't move, Gabe."

".....I-It's....so--so cold...." he choked out, his voice sounding strange, even to his own ears.

He felt more than saw Lou wince. "I know it's cold, Gabe, but stay with me, okay? Hold on for me. Just for a little longer."

"Ca-Can't..."

"You can," Lou insisted. "You can, Gabriel. Please. For me, just hold on a little longer. Help is on the way. Just stay with me."

"....T-Tr-Try...."

"Try. Just try. You can do it, Gabriel. You can. I know you can. Stay with me a little longer. Please."

Gabriel let out a small breath and felt himself start to black out. "...Can't..."

"Try."

"....T-Too...cold....too t-tired..."

"Stay with me," Lou hissed.

"...I'm--I'm s-sorry...." he managed to whisper, before his head lolled to the side and he let his breath rattle out slowly.

"Gabriel! Please!"

And then there was no more.
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Isaac was staring at the ceiling when Roo entered the room, looking cheerful for the first time in a long time. He looked at Roo for a long moment before he asked slowly, "What?"

Roo broke into a wide grin. "It's Ember. He woke up. His fever's gone down a lot."

Isaac breathed a large sigh of relief. Ember was okay. He was going to be okay. He blinked back tears of joy and closed his eyes. "That's good."

"Yeah. He asked to see you, but then he went out again. But he woke up, and that's good. Maybe next time he wakes up, you can go see him."

"Yeah...I'd like that."

"Well, rest up, okay, Isaac? Rest up and take it easy, and I can't stress this enough, DON'T MOVE. Not if you can help it. I'll bring you some food in a little while. Okay?"

"Okay," he murmured, already fading out again.

Roo let out a small chuckle, and Isaac heard him leave the room.

And then he was out again.