INHERITANCE

Part 17 – Addicted

It's like the only company I seek is misery all around It's like you're a leech Sucking the life from me It's like I can't breathe

“Rae,” Finn tried to speak but the frog in his throat made it come out as a quiet croak. He cleared his throat, and tried again, “Rae.”

Rae’s head twisted to him. Her eyes were tired and any happiness that Finn might’ve once seen had disappeared and in its place was fear, worry and a troubling darkness that he sadly recognised.

“I found something in your room….” He whispered.

Part Sixteen – Memory Loss

“It's a trap. Someone's waiting in the tall grass. It's a trap, no one around for miles but you’re all smiles”

Archie lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. Worry had swept the pit of his stomach as he thought about Karim lying in the hospital; he should have been able to heal him. If he could bring bloody Chloe back to life then he should definitely have been able to heal a man who had only collapsed.

Links are now updated! Sorry for the slacking guys 

Inheritance 

Part Fifteen – We Are Broken

'Cause we are broken What must we do to restore Our innocence?

And Oh the promise we adored Give us life again 'Cause we just wanna be whole

The next morning left the two of them with stiff necks and grouchy attitudes. They’d barely said two words to each other since Rae had woken up. Finn hadn’t slept, the previous day’s events spinning around in his mind and his suspicions becoming stronger. His vision had kept on coming back to him a well; he needed to speak to Rae but just didn’t know how.

Part 14 – War Sweater

Battle lines drawn if you wonder which side speaks the truth Then look closely to which speaks from pride I love you, I swear it, I would never lie

But I fear for our lives and I fear your closed eyes

Rae’s hand was clammy and felt weird clasped inside Finn’s hand nonetheless it was comforting to do so, despite the uncomfortable waiting room chair that Finn had wedged himself into. His mind raced as he thought about the events that had brought them to the hospital.

-

“Rae.” Finn shouted, panic in his voice as he pleaded with Rae to come out of her trance.

She stood, still glued to the spot and staring at her step-father with a haunting look in her eyes that made Finn shout out for her even more.

“RAE.”

Rae shook her head for a second and suddenly everything snapped back into normal time. Rae reached for the phone and hit ‘999’.

“Hello,” She whispered, “I need an ambulance please.”

-

When they had arrived Karim had been taken through some doors and Rae and Finn were left behind. A passing nurse told them to go to the waiting room and there was any news then they would be informed. Rae’s eyes had never left the closed doors that led to Karim. There had been no opportunity for discussion but Finn didn’t care. She had reached for his hand so quickly and so tightly that Finn knew she was still in there, that any darkness that might have been tempting for her hadn’t got her just yet. Rae still needed Finn and that was all that mattered.  

However, except for the few saddened glances that were passed and slight tightening of grips, the silence was a little scary for Finn. He was worried about how Rae would cope if she lost Karim as well; he needed to know what she was thinking.

Finn closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he tried to open the connection that had blocked for far too long. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt Rae’s mind opening up to him.

“Rae, please talk to me. Tell me how your feeling.”

Rae’s hand tightened around Finn’s and she turned to look at him. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears and the immensity of her vulnerability knocked the breath out of Finn a little.

“Finn, I don’t know what to do. I can’t… I can’t lose him too.”

Finn leant forward and rested his forehead against hers in an attempt to give her more comfort.  

“Rae, he will be ok. He’s strong, healthy and he will fight whatever this is and still be here for you. He loves you Rae.”

Finn could feel Rae’s head shake against his in denial of his words.

“That’s what I don’t understand Finn. He’s relatively young and he’s never had any health problems… so why is this happening? This isn’t normal.”

Finn opened his eyes and moved his head back slightly to look at Rae. She looked broken and defeated, like she had lost hope. It scared him, the loss of hope could lead to her dissent into darkness again.

“Rae, do not give up on him. He needs you just as much as you need him. You have both lost someone and you need to be there for each other. We know Karim will fight but he will need your help Rae. Fight for him.”

Rae finally opened her eyes and let her tears fall. She nodded slightly and slowly leaned forward, placing a very gentle kiss on Finn’s lips. His eyes closed at the contact. It felt good to finally have her kiss again and it overwhelmed him; he felt his own tears begin to form and squeezed his eyes tighter so that they didn’t give way.

There was an uncomfortable cough and Finn and Rae split, looking to the intruder. The doctor was standing in front of them and Rae rushed to her feet.

“Is there any news?” She begged and the doctor narrowed his eyes at her.

“Who are you in relation to Mr Bouchtat?” He asked.

“I’m his step-daughter,” she gulped, “He’s my legal guardian.”

“Where’s Mrs Bouchtat.” The doctor asked, checking down his chart.

The doctor looked tired, his hair slightly greying and there were far too many frown lines on his forehead and between his eyes. He regarded Rae with lack of sympathy and patience for an emotional seventeen year old girl.

“She’s dead.” Rae spoke coldly.

Finn stared at Rae, biting his cuticles nervously and waiting for the doctor’s next sentence.

“Right,” the Doctor cleared his throat, “Mr Bouchtat has fallen into a coma. We’ve run all the tests possible and can’t find anything wrong with him. It’s a complete mystery but we’re trying to get to the bottom of it, I promise.”

Rae nodded and turned around. The doctor excused himself and Finn looked at Rae. Rae was crying and Finn pushed himself up so that he was close to her again. He wrapped his arms around her, cocooning her in warmth and love.

“He’s going to die Finn. I just know it.”

Finn blinked his own tears away; he needed to be strong for Rae.

“Don’t say that Rae. You don’t know it and he’ll be ok.”

“How can you possibly say that Finn?”

Finn’s eyes met Rae’s and they stared at each other for a little bit, sharing emotions silently. Finn wrapped his arms around Rae tighter and placed a kiss against her forehead.

“We’ll do something, I promise.”

His mind jumped to Archie and he made a promise to himself that he’d ring for Archie or something, get him to the hospital as soon as possible. He just needed to hold Rae a bit longer.

“Sit here.” Finn whispered a few moments later and he sat Rae down in the chair.

Pacing over to the pay phone, he slotted a couple of twenty pences into the machine and dialled Archie’s number. It rang a couple of times before Archie picked up and Finn sighed yet another breath of relief.

“Archie!” He cried, “You have to get to the hospital.”

-

Archie and the rest of the gang walked hurriedly into the waiting room. Izzy, Chloe and Tix immediately ran over to Rae, each placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Finn made his way over to Archie and Chop.

“Arch, thanks for coming mate. Rae really needs you to do this.” He tried to bring a small smile to his face but he couldn’t manage it.

Tix grasped Rae’s shoulder tightly “Rae, we all looked through the house and we found nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that could cause Karim to be this way.”

Finn noticed that Tix gave Rae a pointed look and the slight nod that Rae gave in return but before he could ask by what she meant, Archie stepped forward and spoke out to Rae.

“Rae, I promise I will try my hardest to help him.”

Rae smiled small and nodded at Archie. She grabbed his hand and stood, and started leading Archie towards Karim’s room.

“He’s through here,” she whispered.

The group of friends walked into Karim’s room and all stared in horror at the sight before them. Karim, usually so full of life and vibrancy, was lying on the hospital bed looking pale and drawn with tubing coming out of every available space of his body. A sob escaped Rae and Finn leant forward, placing his arms around her and taking her into a tight hug. She couldn’t stand to look at Karim so broken, all those machines attached to him. Rae buried her face in the crook of Finn’s neck and cried.

-

The whole scene was horrible, and Archie swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and stepped forward. He was about to place his hands on Karim when he could feel the eyes of every one of his friends on him, waiting for him to give them the hope that Karim would be ok. He felt his nerves begin to rise in his body and his hands started to shake. He took a deep breath but the nerves didn’t subside. He just needed to be alone.

He turned to his friends. “Guys, I’m sorry but can I do this alone? I need to concentrate.”

Chloe, Tix, Izzy and Chop all nodded and turned to leave the room, whilst Finn was gently whispering to Rae, gradually leading her through the door. Once he was alone Archie felt he could breathe enough to do what he needed to do. He closed his eyes and placed his hands on Karim, one on his head, one on his heart.

Delving into Karim’s body he headed straight to Karim’s heart. It was beating strong; nothing wrong. Karim’s lungs looked as though they had taken a beating; slightly red and bruised but with a little persuasion they healed almost immediately. Archie then searched the rest of Karim’s chest and found nothing wrong. He checked Karim’s mind and but again, there was nothing there to show why he was in the coma.

He searched through the rest of his body and found nothing. Archie drew himself out of Karim’s body and pated for breath. He searched and searched and found… nothing. He couldn’t understand why Karim was this way; there was nothing inside him to indicate the reason behind him coma.

Archie stood and walked out of Karim’s room and into the waiting room. Six heads raised as he walked into the room and when they noticed Archie’s beaten expression, all their hopeful expressions dropped.

Rae stood and walked over to Archie, “Archie, tell me he’s ok. Tell me he’s awake.” Rae’s voice shook and the tears began to stream down her face.

“I’m sorry Rae. I found some bruising on his lungs but I healed that and then, nothing. He’s fine Rae, I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Rae began to shake violently, “No you’re wrong! There has to be something!” Rae’s voice began to rise and she moved restlessly around the room, “you must have missed something, he can’t be like this for no reason!”

The small tables in the room began to shake as Rae’s emotions started to spiral.  

Chloe stood and walked over to Rae, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Rae, please-,”

Rae shrugged off Chloe’s hand and turned to her sharply, “No! There has to be something! He didn’t look properly! He couldn’t have!”

Finn walked over to Rae and turned her to him.

“Finn, why is he like this? He shouldn’t be like this!” Again, Rae buried her face into Finn’s shoulder and tried to subside her tears.

Archie looked at Finn, “I’m sorry. We’ll put some protections on the room but then I think we should all go home and get some rest.”

Rae looked back up at Finn. “I can’t leave him, I can’t leave-“

“Shh, Rae it’s ok. We can stay here as long as you need.” He whispered against her forehead as he placed a single kiss there.

-

The rest of the gang went back to Karim’s room and placed some protections all around him, warding off dark power and sending power to Karim, hoping that he would awake. As they made their way back to the living room, they quickly made their excuses and goodbyes to Finn and Rae.

As he left Archie whispered to Rae, “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t answer.

Just to let everyone know that the links to all the fics are updated so if you are behind on any of the parts, they are all there!

Part Thirteen – Dark Ride

It's in these moments I am begging. Wanting peace, My fear consumes me. And in the end I'm just left, expended. There's a darkness in your eyes.

Finn’s fists came down heavy on the front door. He could tell from the neighbours’ twitching curtains that he was making too much noise for such a quiet cul-de-sac but he didn’t care. All he cared about was marching up to Rae’s bedroom and forcing her to see that what she was doing was wrong and wasn’t the only way. She needed to see that. He needed her to see that.

The door was swung open quickly, an anxious Karim standing opposite Finn with a slightly irked expression on his face. His face soon changed when he saw Finn, almost turning to relief as he beckoned for Finn to come in. Finn stepped inside, watching suspiciously as Karim checked outside for anything or anyone else before shutting the door.

“Finn, I so glad you here.” Karim said as he led the way into the kitchen.

“Look Karim, I’m just ‘ere to see Rae ok… something’s going on.”

“I know.” Karim said and Finn stared at him with wide eyes.

Karim coughed slightly, clearly getting a cold or something, and put the kettle on. Finn cast his senses out in the awkward silence. He could feel nothing from Rae’s bedroom and he instantly knew that she wasn’t home. It worried him because he didn’t know where she was. He wasn’t the type of boy to need to always know the whereabouts of his girlfriend but the vision meant that he knew there was something wrong.

“I worried about Rae.” Karim said as he cleared his throat, coughing a little again.

“I know mate,” Finn sat down at the table and buried his head in his hands, “I’m so worried about her.”

“She goes for hours at a time and when she home the house is cold.  I even got plumber,” Karim paused to cough, “I even got plumber to come and check the pipes. Nothing wrong.”

Finn frowned as he looked up at Karim. Even though Karim knew about Rae’s magic and her powers, he liked to pretend that he didn’t sometimes; sometimes it was easier for humans to pretend that their world was exactly as normal as they were. Finn knew it because he wished that sometimes he could bury his head in the sand too.

“She be ok,” Karim said and Finn nodded, looking back at his fingers.

Karim placed a cup of tea in front of him that Finn hadn’t even noticed had been made. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts and worries about Rae that he was blocking everything else out. Perhaps that was why he couldn’t get through to Rae; maybe she was blocking him out simply because she was too swept away in her own thoughts.

He hoped it was true.

Karim sat opposite Finn and as Finn looked up at him. He was shocked to see tears in Karim’s eyes as he lifted the mug to his lips. A tear fell down Karim’s cheek and he choked up as he opened his mouth to speak.

“I miss Linda,” Karim coughed before continuing. “She would know what to do or say to Rae. We need to get her back.”

“We will.” Finn said, reaching his hand over and placing it on top of Karim’s in support and reassurance.

 Karim’s coughing came back in vengeance and he sipped his drink to try to help it subside. Karim brought his hand to his mouth as his coughing became stronger and he stood up from his chair. All of a sudden he coughed and some bloody mucas flew out of his mouth and Karim bent over, clutching his stomach in pain. Karim started to panic which only brought up more scarlet phlem. Finn scraped his chair back, rushing over to Karim to help.

“Karim, you ok?” He asked urgently, rushing him over in the direction of the sofa.

Karim attempted to answer Finn but another bout of coughing erupted from him, and he coughed up into his hand. The pain in his stomach grew and Karim wrapped both his arms around his middle, trying to control the pain. Finn quickly helped Karim over to lie on the sofa, desperate to help him feel comfortable. He was beginning to panic; he didn’t know what to do.

Finn was trying to help Karim get comfortable and was so concerned that he didn’t notice the front door open. His heart jumped into his throat as he noticed Rae’s presence but his worry about Karim was bigger than any feelings for Rae.

“What’s goin’ on?” She asked, obvious terror in her voice.

Karim tried to answer Rae but the blood that he had been coughing up began to trickle out of his mouth.

“Karim!” Rae screamed and ran over to him, kneeling down in front of him. “Karim, what’s happening? What’s wrong?”

Karim’s coughing stopped as suddenly as it started and Rae and Finn stared at him. Karim began to stand up, almost as if the coughing and the blood hadn’t even happened. He stood the perfect picture of a healthy man.

“I’m ok I just need…” Karim then began to sway and collapsed on the floor.

Finn ran forward and tried to catch him but it was too late. Karim’s body crashed onto the floor and Rae shrieked, rushing to her step-dad’s side. Suddenly everything returned to Finn and he knew what to do. Turning to Rae, he noticed that she had suddenly come away from Karim’s side and was staring at them both with fear in her eyes. Finn made his way over to Karim and stared back at her urgently.

“Rae, we need an ambulance.” He begged.

Rae just continued to stare at Karim on the floor, frozen to the spot and unable to move.

Part 12 – Too Close For Comfort

What was I just about to discover? When I got too close for comfort.

Finn walked up to Archie’s front door and knocked. He was apprehensive of seeing Rae. It had been another difficult few days without her and he was struggling.

The door was opened with a grunt and Finn came face to face with a very angry looking Chloe. She looked at him with narrowed eyes, disgust written on her face and scoffing as he stepped through the door, she sharply slammed the door after him. Not having the patience to deal with Chloe and her attitude, his anger protruded from him.  

“Oh for fuck’s sake Chloe! I haven’t done anythin’ wrong. That girl I were with was my mate from home. I fancy her about as much as I do you so can you drop the attitude and just let me be?!” A small flame had built on Finns palm and as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, the flame gradually subsided.

Chloe’s face became straight-laced; a perfect portrayal of indifference. “Whatever Finn, you just need to sort things out with Rae. I’m sick of seein’ my best mate upset.”

She crossed her arms over her chest in defiance.

“Well, move out of me way and just let me see her yeah?” Finn began walking in to Archie’s living room.

The atmosphere changed as Finn noticed that the living room was a missing a certain key  person. He felt his heart take a dive.

“She’s not here Finn.” Chloe said in a low sad voice.

Finn turned to see Chloe’s face filled with sorrow “She hasn’t talked to me in days Finn. I’m worried. She hasn’t been to a circle in ages and I’m running out of ideas of what to do.”

Finn stepped forward, his hand reaching out to give Chloe comfort: just a reassuring hand on her shoulder but Chloe quickly stepped away from his touch and Finn dropped his hand. He had forgotten for that moment that he couldn’t touch her and felt extremely foolish. He sent Chloe an apologetic grimace. Chloe shook her head and gave Finn a sad smile.

“It’s ok.” She reassured him, “it’s the thought that counts right? Come on, let’s get this circle started. Don’t know about you but I could use some support right now.”

Chloe and Finn walked in to the living room to greet his waiting friends Archie got everyone’s attention by coughing loudly and waving awkwardly at his friends.

“Right, seing as Rae isn’t here I guess I’ll lead the circle.” He paused, “I reckon we all need a bit of support at the moment. We are going to have to conduct the circle differently because Rae and Tix aren’t here and obviously us lads can’t hold hands with Chlo.”.”

The rest of the gang gave nervous glances to Chloe but Izzy grabbed her hand in a tight grip and Chloe could feel the love and reassurance radiating from her. “Where is Tix? I haven’t seen her in ages.” Finn was confused as to why Tix hadn’t been around.

A sly smile played on Chloe’s lips as she happily explained that Tix has been spending a lot of time with her boyfriend.

Archie continued, “So what we will do is that Chlo and Iz will hold hands and us lads will hold on to Izzy. Iz, you’re going to have to conduct the power and spread it to all of us… that ok?”

Izzy’s face grew into the biggest grin that Finn had ever seen. There wasn’t a hesistation or any ounce of doubt in her smile as she nodded enthusiastically. “Definitely Archie!”

Archie giggled at her reaction. “Great Iz… Well, let’s get started then.”

The group gathered around Izzy.  The redhead grasped Chloe’s hands tightly, with a couple of squeezes which made Chloe giggle. The boys placed a hand each on Izzy’s shoulders and they all closed their eyes in unison.

The group could feel the power beginning to surge through them, support and love flowing all around them. Even though it was a surreal experience, there was something missing;  they could all feel the loss of Rae’s influence.

The second that the thought of Rae entered his head, Finn was hit with a vision. He clutched his head, breaking the link and screaming as the vision soared through his mind. Pain pulsated through him and he groaned, feeling himself falling into darkness.

He could see Rae. She was in her room surrounded by dark clouds and there was something about the words that left a nasty taste in Finn’s mouth. She was chanting what sounded like gaelic words and Finn could feel the darkness in the air beginning to wrap around his lungs and choke him. Rae was kneeling on the floor, leant over a large book and rocking back and forth as she chanted. She suddenly sat up and her eyes slowly opened, revealing pitch black orbs. The black soon faded to clear and her eyes had returned to normal. It was almost as if she had sensed Finn and he was sent out of the vision with a bolt of anger.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his friends surrounding him. He sat up and anger began seeping through his veins; he would not let this happen again. He would not let Rae fall for the darkness again, especially after everything they had lost; especially after everything that he had lost and left for her. He knew that dark magic would always be tempting to Rae and he was annoyed at himself for not remembering and noticing sooner. He had failed Rae.

Finn stood and quickly explained what he had seen to his friends. He let the venom he was feeling seep into his words and watched his friends grew even more worried about everything. He could deal with the worry, but what he couldn’t take was seeing the pity on their faces. Rae was losing the fight again and he was tired of it happening.. he was tired of having to always being the one to save her.

“FUCK THIS!! I’m sick of this happening! She’s gonna fight this cause I’m not giving her a fuckin’ choice!”

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Written by katywright340 and learningacceptanceme

Part Eleven – Need You Now

Another shot of whiskey, can’t stop looking at the door Wishing you’d come sweeping in the way you did before

“Do you remember that time when we went to the park, y’know near the universities? And we just hung around for ages thinkin’ we were getting drunk off two bottles of WKD Blue?” Finn laughed as he took a sip of his beer.

Stacey cackled, her head tilting back and her mousey blonde hair falling down her back. “What were we, thirteen? How did we even get those bottles?”

“Jamie’s Uncle’s-“

“Friend’s girlfriend! Oh yes, I remember now.” Stacey smiled, “those were good times.”

“The best.” Finn grinned back.

Those times definitely did feel a lot simpler than as things stood now. It was like a dream that sometimes, only in a fleeting moment, Finn wished he could return to. Just as Finn was thinking about his past, the pub door blew open and his present walked in. Rae and Chloe hurried in out of the cold air, giggling with each other. Finn noticed Stacey tense up beside him and his eyes wandered between his girlfriend and his ex. It was a strange place that he’d never thought he’d be in.

Rae eyed them suspiciously and Finn watched as Stacey’s face turned into a grin. He knew her well enough that it was fake; probably from the death stare that Rae was giving the two of them as they sat alone in a booth.

Calm down.

He tried to reach Rae but he could tell that his messages weren’t being received. He grew angry; it was clear that Rae had blocked his messages and he hadn’t even done anything. He had thought that things were slowly getting better, especially after taking the boys advice.

“Rae…” He started but Rae immediately turned on her heel and was out of the door a lot quicker than she’d entered.

He ran after her, not caring about the fact that he’d abandoned Stacey sitting at the table. As he made his way to the door, he was about to reach for the handle to push it open but Chloe positioned herself between him and the door. Anger flashed through him as he stared at Chloe. He was ready to shove her out of the way but, as his hand made his way to touch her, he remembered that one touch could send him to his death.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Chloe barked, her eyes dangerous with rage.

“What do you mean Chloe?” He asked, crossing his arms across his chest and staring moodily at his friend.

“Why the fuck are you with that?” She asked, sending a dismissive scowl in Stacey’s direction.

“D’you know what… I can’t be fucked with this right now Chlo’. Not when me girlfriend is clearly upset.”

“Well you’d better because you’re doing an awful lot to piss MY best friend off.” Chloe spat.

“I haven’t done anything!” Finn insisted.

“Fuck off back to your precious new girl.” Chloe said with a flippant wave of her hand.  “I’m going to go find my best friend and see if she’s ok, I’ll see you at circle. If you come after us right now, I’ll touch you.”

Her eyes were darker than usual and Finn couldn’t help but wonder if her threat was more than just a threat. She made her way out of the pub and Finn was faced with two dilemmas; either to run after them and risk death, or sit back with Stacey and do nothing wrong.

He went for the second option.

As he went back over to sit with Stacey, she had a bright smile on her face. He smiled back quickly before taking a slurp of his beer and sitting upright, not even caring how uncomfortable it was. He needed Rae to open up to him, something was happening and he just couldn’t tell what.

Rae, I’m sorry.

Yet again he got a feeling that the message wasn’t being delivered and he groaned inwardly in frustration. He was brought out of his thoughts by a question that made him choke on the beer as he drunk. Spluttering over the table, he stared at Stacey with wide eyes.

“Pardon?”

She giggled, “Silly billy. I asked, what is a circle?”

“What do you mean?” Finn replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That blonde bitch, her name Chloe?”

Finn nodded. “She’s not a bitch though.”

Stacey continued, “She said something about seeing you at Circle? What’s circle Finn? Some sort of cult you’ve joined since you’ve moved to the middle of nowhere?”

Finn laughed uncomfortably, “No. What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know Finn. Things are just a little weird since I got here… like, that girl. You’re like obsessed with her and she doesn’t seem all that great.”

“Rae?” Finn’s face screwed together in annoyance; “Rae’s amazing and I love her… that’s why I might seem like I’m obsessed with her… but I’m going to spend the rest of my life with her and I just know it.”

There was a silence between the two of them. Finn’s mind raced back to his vision when he’d seen Rae and him living a happy long life together. All the future that they had ahead of them and all the happiness that could be.

“Whatever you say…” Stacey replied, leaning back into the booth and watching Finn carefully.

He squirmed underneath her gaze.

“So what is a circle? You haven’t actually said.”

Finn searched ever crevice of his brain for a decent excuse or something that she could’ve misheard but he came up with nothing.

Spoiler: 

Just as Finn was thinking about his past, the pub door blew open and his present walked in. Rae and Chloe hurried in out of the cold air, giggling with each other. Finn noticed Stacey tense up beside him and his eyes wandered between his girlfriend and his ex.