Bound to You

Johnny’s head was throbbing in the worst pain he’d ever felt as he groggily opened his eyes, wincing against the fluorescent lights, which were much too bright for his own liking. Was he in a hospital? He didn’t remember what had happened; only that he’d been standing in the mansion before a loud boom had echoed throughout the house. After that, he recalled nothing.

“Where am I?” He groaned, trying to sit up but finding that his ribs too were in excruciating pain. Just what in the hell had happened to him, he wondered.

He heard the clamoring of feet on tile floor as someone made their way into the little cubicle-like area that he was in, and looked up to see Val standing over him, a worried expression on her pretty face. “You’re awake.” She smiled at him, relief obvious in her voice. “Do you remember anything?”

“No.” Johnny told her. “Where am I? Why are the lights so damned bright? Where’s Leigh?”

And just like that, as soon as he’d said Leigh’s name, everything came back to him. They had been evacuating the mansion; Sean was sure to know where they were, and someone on the inside had betrayed them all. He hadn’t gotten out of the house; there had been an explosion.

“Where are the rest of them?” He suddenly asked Val, sitting up and ignoring the pain in his abdomen as best as he could. He could deal with whatever was physically wrong with him; he needed to know Leigh, Jimmy, and Leana were alright.

Val sighed, putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing him down back onto the mattress as gently as she could. “You’re not getting out of this bed, Johnny. You need to heal.”

“Stop avoiding my question!” He told her, his voice louder this time. “Where are they? What happened to them?”

“Jimmy and Leigh are both alive. Jimmy is in and out of consciousness, right now he’s out. Leigh’s awake too.”

“And Lea?” Johnny asked quietly, noticing that Val hadn’t said anything about Jimmy’s wife and one of his friends. Val’s eyes immediately darkened, and tears threatened to spill out of them. She looked at the floor, and crossed her arms behind her back just as she always did when she was upset.

“She’s dead.” Val said quietly. “Sean must have taken her before the explosion went off. He had a reporter send Zack a message this morning through the morning news; a picture of her body was used.”

“Dead?” Johnny asked, feeling his heart sink. Leana and he had never been romantically involved; she was in love with Jimmy, and Jimmy with her. But nonetheless, she had been a friend of his, just the same as Val was a friend. The fact that he was being told now that she was dead was unacceptable. Sean wouldn’t get away with this.

He’d kill the bastard or die trying, he thought to himself angrily.

“Yes.” Val whispered. “Leigh’s not…She’s not looking good either, Johnny.”

“What do you mean?” His head snapped up, glaring at her even though he knew it wasn’t her fault. Val sighed, and met his gaze again.

“She’s got extensive injuries. We’re not even sure how bad her internal injuries are; she almost positively has a collapsed lung. She…She probably won’t make it.” She whispered to him. “She’s talking about turning.”

“But…That’s only done in rare cases.” Johnny said quietly, again, his heart sinking even lower. It was bad enough that Leana was dead, but now Leigh was dying too? He’d only just started getting her to open up to him; he couldn’t let her die, not now. Not this way. He had promised her he’d keep her alive. But did that mean that he could turn her?

“She is a rare case, Johnny.” Val said. “It’s so obvious that you two are starting to fall in love, if you’re not already there. Could you really just sit by and watch her die?”

“No.” Johnny said. “If…If I had the right, I would. But she has no idea what she’d be getting herself into. And the other guys wouldn’t like it.”

“That’s a choice you have to make, Johnny.” Val sighed. “And you have to make it quick. I’m guessing she only has a few days left at best.”

-x-
With Eliza
-x-

Life was going downhill, Eliza thought to herself as she pushed a hand through her hair, a sigh leaving her lips as she thought about all the recent events that had happened. The mansion had been blown to pieces, and was sure to be surrounded by police and crime scene investigators who wanted to know why someone had blown up the huge estate. Someone on the inside had betrayed Avenged Sevenfold; something none of them had ever seen coming. No one was being seen as innocent; even now, Zack was going through everyone’s files and records, searching for any sign of betrayal or untrustworthiness. Only the five of them, Val, Leigh, and herself were in the place she’d started calling the “Bunker.” Jacoby and his group were on their way from wherever they were located; they, too, had been betrayed by someone on the inside. Zack had yet to get ahold of the one he’d called Joel, but he and his group were also going to be brought on the inside. Leana had been murdered by her ex-boyfriend, a man she no longer recognized, and Johnny’s girl was on the verge of dying. Jimmy was in and out of consciousness and still didn’t know that Leana had been killed. And then there was Zack.

Eliza didn’t even know where to start when it came to Zack anymore. Before, they’d started getting over some of their issues and had started coming closer as a couple. But then, after the explosion, it was as if a brick wall had been built, separating the two of them. Sure, they still had physical contact. He still kissed her, and she still hugged him. They held hands when they sat beside one another, and Zack had pushed his cot flush against hers the first night in the Bunker. But there was something missing, Eliza mused to herself sadly. His emotions. She knew she was under suspicion, even though Zack had cleared her. He was distancing himself from her and they both knew it. It was only a matter of time before what little progress they’d made together crashed down around them.

She just hoped that things could be resolved before that happened.