Chapter 36: Grieving For Those Lost

Vincent

The Battle for Varrfarrinn lasted for hours. Sozin’s men didn’t see the attack coming, so the last ones standing flew away. Some of us captured some of Sozin’s men to help us figure out where these sons of bitches were hiding.

“How is everyone holding up?” I asked.

“Never better,” Alex smiled. I noticed how pale my sister looked. She still hasn’t recovered from Rory’s attack. Everyone looked alright, aside from a few cuts and bruises. “I’m going to interrogate the captured. Vincent, I want you and Elizabeth to check on Mom and the others,”

“Let me know if you learn anything,” I said.

“I’ll come with you guys,” Jacob said.

Alex nodded, and I walked off with Elizabeth and Jacob.

As we started walking towards my mother’s location, I smelled something burning. I saw the burnt building and told the others, and we started running. I panicked as my mate was in that facility.

“Is everyone alright?” I yelled to the survivors. Terrified, I looked over the groups of people, searching for familiar faces. My eyes soon caught a glimpse of Audrey, and I calmed down a little. Jacob embraced Audrey.

“What happened here?” I asked

“We don’t know what happened, the building was already on fire when we arrived,” Audrey explained.

“Where’s Alyssa? I can’t feel her through our bond. I’m trying to contact her, but Astarot can’t reach her,” I said.

“Where is Henry?” Elizabeth said.

“I don’t know, I havn’t seen Alyssa. Henry went to find her a while ago,” Mom said.

“Do you know which way they went?” I asked.

I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!! Saga yelled. Saga was holding the barely conscious form of Henry.

“HENRY!!” Elizabeth yelled as she was holding her chest.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know?” Saga said.

“Henry, honey, can you hear me?” Elizabeth sobbed.

“Kaiden, we need you!” I yelled out to him.

“Lay him down on the ground and stand back,” Kaiden said as he approached us. “Henry’s been shot!” Kaiden said as he examined Henry.

“Did you see Alyssa anywhere?” I asked Saga.

“No, I only found Mr. Reid,” Saga said.

I observed Henry; he seemed to struggle to form words as he looked at me. “Kaiden, wait, I think Henry is trying to say something,” I said. I knelt by him and placed my ear above his mouth. Between his shallow breaths, I managed to make out a few words.

“Timothy is a traitor, he took Alyssa,” Henry’s eyes closed, but he breathed as Kaiden started healing him.

“What did he say?” Elizabeth asked me.

My eyes flashed with rage. “THAT ROTTEN NO GOOD BASTARD TIMOTHY! Saga, where did you find him!?”

“By the beach through those trees,” Saga pointed.

Without hesitation, I ran in the direction she pointed. I arrived on the beach and judging by the blood in the sand, it was where Saga found Henry. I quickly looked around the coast—no sign of Tim or Alyssa.

I felt my insides turn cold, but my body heated up. “They’re hurting our mate,” Astarot said weakly.

How could I leave her alone? I never trusted Timothy, but I left Alyssa alone with him. How could I be so stupid?

“Vincent?” Jacob behind me.

“She’s gone. Tim took her!” I growled. “That bastard! When I find him, I will shatter his soul and scatter them across the depths of hell,” I feel Astarot breaking through.

“Bro, calm down, you’re about to enter a forced shift!” Jacob said.

“Calm down!? They got my mate, I felt her pain just now, and only the goddess knows what else they have planned for her!” I growled.

“And we will get Alyssa back to you! But you are shifting in rage. This will not help Alyssa,” Jacob said.

I felt an acute pain in my back as my wings threatened to emerge. I hate to admit it, but Jacob is correct. We need to find out where their base was and have someone who does. I smiled at my thoughts.

“Vincent? I know that smile; we’ve known each other for years, and I know that you have something planned when you have that smile,” Jacob said, shaking a bit.

I walked past him to meet with Alexandria, with Jacob behind me. I told Audrey and Mom what happened to Alyssa, and Jacob began to comfort Audrey. Henry is still in critical condition, but Kaidan is optimistic that he will survive his wounds.

“Vincent, a word,” Mom said.

“Not now, mother,” I shook my head.

“Vincent Charon Callahan, stop right there!” My mother’s voice echoed as I was held in place by my mother’s magic.

“I don’t have the time,” I forced myself out of the control my mother placed on me. I walked off.

I arrived at the prison and commanded them to take me to the prisoners. Bao, Annabeth, Megan, and Alexandria discussed how the prisoners resisted their interrogations. “I can help with that!” I growled and laughed.

“Vincent! What happened?” Alex asked me.

“Where are the captives?” I asked calmly.

“There’s one in here, and then three more in sperate room down the hall.” Bao said.

“Have they said anything useful?” I said.

“Nothing that will help us,” Alex scoffed. “They are going to be tough to crack,”

“Give me a shot at questioning them,” I crossed my arms. I noticed Alex observing me, knowing there was something different about my temperament and attitude.

“Vincent, where is Alyssa?” Alex said.

“That’s what I’m about to find out, dear sister,” my eyebrows furrowed as I entered the cell.

My eyes glowed white as I heard the female prisoner’s breath hitch with fear. “You will witness true horror,” I whispered in the female prisoner’s ear. “Tell where Sozin’s base is,”

“Fuck you,” She spat.

“Wrong answer!” I dove my hand into her chest and clasped her heart. Her screams were a joy to listen to. “Tell me where Sozin is,” I whispered to the beating heart in my hands.

“Lord Sozin is in a castle deep in the Brazilian Rainforest,” She said.

I released my grip on her heart and left the cell as she breathed deeply and coughed. The others looked at me with fear. “Sozin is in a castle deep in the Brazilian Rainforest. It’s their main base,” I smiled.

“Are you sure this is solid intel?” Alex said.

“One way to find out. You said that the others were down the hall?” I said to Alex.

“Vincent, I don’t think this is the best way,” Alex hugged me, but I pushed her off.

“I don’t want to hear it! I’m getting my mate back, and I’ll destroy anyone who get’s in my way; you are either with me or against me, sister,” I roared.

Once more, I made the other three prisoners scream and force them to tell what they knew. I’m glad all three confirmed that Sozin is hiding in Brazil. The last one told everything he knew, but I still turned on the blowtorch and seared his flash til it was black.

“The last two were easy since they heard the other cry out,” I said as I exited the last prison cell. I walked past the others, but Alex yelled, stopping me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Alex said

“I told you, I’m getting her back!” I turned to face her.

“And I’m not stopping you, but we need a plan. Going solo into the enemy base without a plan or backup, you might as well kill yourself now. They probably know by now that Alyssa is your mate,”

Rage was flowing through me, and I knew that Alex was right. I looked at my hands and saw the mixed blood of the captive I brutally tortured. What did I do? If I wanted to get Alyssa back, I needed to pull myself together. I felt Alexandria’s hands on my shoulder, returning me from my thoughts. “You’re right, I’m sorry,” I lowered my head.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Alex smiled.

“What now?” I asked.

“Now that we know where they are, that gives us some advantage. But everyone should get some rest, a shower, and a decent meal. None of us are in any condition to do anything right now,” Alex ordered. “Tomorrow morning, we all gather at the council hall,”

“Tomorrow morning!? That means that she’ll be with them for a whole day before we even start to plan anything!” I yelled out.

“I know, but you know as well as I that we need some rest before doing anything else. Megan, you can let everyone know about the plan. There are showers and food here that everyone can use. I’ll make sure someone brings all our bags here so everyone can focus on getting some rest,”

“I’m going home,” I said. I returned to the palace to rest in my bedroom, and I was glad to see that my home had suffered minor damage, probably because nobody had been there. Some debris scattered over the floors, some from broken windows, and rocks falling from the ceiling. I walked past my room. At the moment, there was something else that I was towards. I soon found myself in front of Alyssa’s room.

I opened the door, and thankfully, her room was still intact. I can smell her scent, her perfume. I touched a few of her things, and I remembered the promise I made to her that she would never go through that nightmare again. I failed her. I grabbed her pillow and could still smell her faint scent.

“I will find you, Alyssa. That’s a promise,” I swore.

I could never rest before I found my mate. Alyssa’s scent lulled me to sleep. Her calming aura dozed me to sleep.

Alexandria

“Megan are you okay?” I asked as I found her looking at a picture of Isabella.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Megan wept.

I caught her off guard; she quickly wiped the tears off her face. “It’s alright to cry you know,” I leaned on the wall.

“I told you I’m fine!” Megan scoffed at me.

“Wanna talk about? Have a friendly chat, women, to woman?” I smiled.

“No,” Megan said quickly.

“I’m sorry about your parents, and Isabella. Since my father died, I’ve tried to bottle up my feelings and bury them. But in the end, that surfaced, and it’s better to let them out and talk about them,” I said.

“I’ve never seen you cry, Alex,” Megan said.

“I don’t normally take a two hour shower,” I laughed.

“Why are you telling me this, Alexandria? What’s your endgame?” Mega said.

“You look like you need to talk to someone,” I said.

“It feels wrong to complain when everyone else is hurting,” Megan punched the wall. “It’s pissing me off that I can’t find a way to greive my way,”

“You are not complaining, and everyone receives differently. No one is prepared to lose someone close to them. No one knows how they’ll react when it happens, but what matters is allowing yourself to grieve. I know how it feels when we unleash our emotions and show weakness, but mourning is not a show of weakness but strength,” I said.

“It takes strength to allow people to see that side of you. To enable them to see you at your weakest, and that takes trust. Right now, we are all grieving and need to stick together now more than ever. So the best thing you can do is cry, scream, or whatever helps relieve these emotions. Start to understand that even though the pain never disappears, you learn to live with it,” I said. “If you want to talk, I’m here for you,”

“Thank you, Alexandria,” Megan smiled, and we embraced.

The night passed quickly, and walking through the halls, I heard the crying for most of the night. The first rays of sunlight lit up the sky, and people started getting ready. In the morning, everyone started gathering at the council hall.

“Is everyone here?” I looked around.

“I don’t think Vincent is here yet,” Audrey said.

I swear the goddess, if he took off on his own, I would blast his ass to dust.

“Sorry I’m late,” Vincent said, walking into the room.

“Now that everyone is here, what is the state of Henry?” I asked.

“The bullet did some major damage, but thankfully, Elizabeth and I were able to save him. He’ll make a full recovery,” Dr. Solus smiled.

“Some good news for a change. Now, to brief those of you who don’t know. Alyssa has been captured, so we have two missions. Find Merlin, and establish a new circle of leaders,”

“And bring my mate home!” Vincent finished.