11. Piper

Chapter eleven

Piper

Before

" P iper?" Someone was whispering my name. That was my name, right? I blinked my eyes open, looking around blearily. My room was dark, so I couldn't tell what time it was. Or what day it was. A hand touched my back hesitantly, so it definitely wasn't Cain. My head pounded, and my skin itched with… need . But what did I need?

The hand continued its path over my hip, slipping underneath the waistband of my boxers. "Mmm, hello there," I mumbled, rolling over to face Austin, who was curled up at my side, his yellow-green eyes bright in the darkness.

"Are you sick?" he rasped, stroking my dick idly as he studied me. I hardened immediately under his touch, but the need under my skin distracted me. It made me angry. I grabbed his hand and pushed it away, rolling away from him.

"I'm sleeping, Austin, leave me alone," I muttered, folding my arms across my chest and digging my nails into my arms. Everything was too much. Even the air I breathed weighed me down. I wished I could stop breathing all together, and finally be at peace.

"You've been sleeping for three days," Austin hissed. "Cain told me to get you out of bed and make you eat."

"Then lie to him and fuck off," I snapped, and he keened unhappily. I knew he wouldn't lie to Cain. He worshiped the ground he walked on. He shoved my arm roughly, and I swung at him, knocking him backward. "Fine!" I bit out, glaring at him. I got out of bed and immediately stumbled, slamming my hip into the corner of the end table. The pain sharpened my mind, dulling the ache in my chest ever so slightly.

I limped toward the door and headed down to the kitchen as Austin trailed behind me. It took the little energy I had just to make it to the kitchen, and I slumped down into one of the chairs, breathing heavily.

"I could get you a beer?" Austin offered, looking around the kitchen anxiously. He didn't eat food like we did often, and he definitely didn't cook. I nodded dully, and he wandered off to grab a beer from the basement fridge. My skin ached so badly I gritted my teeth, willing the noises in my head to shut the fuck up for just a moment. Whispers started to circle around me, too quiet to hear, but the pressure in my body was building up like a tea kettle. It needed to be released somehow, before I went insane.

Pain shot up my arm, a lancing heat that made me ache with instant relief. A dripping sound filled the room, and I searched around for the source. Looking down at my feet, I saw a small puddle of red forming next to my chair. That was odd.

More pain lanced down my other arm, like someone tore open the skin and exposed the bone. I watched as blood leaked out of my untouched skin, spreading like a dark line of fire down my forearm. The puddle underneath me grew, and I stood up, trying to get away from it. My vision flickered, and I slipped, landing on my side on the kitchen floor. I heard a door open and footsteps neared. "It wasn't me, Cain," I mumbled, sinking into the icy darkness that beckoned me with open arms.

The void of death sounded a lot more like a hospital than I'd anticipated. In fact, the beeping was really getting on my nerves. Maybe this was hell. I opened my eyes, wincing at the fluorescent lights above my head. Hell would have had bad lighting like this, that much I knew. I felt someone squeeze my hand and I looked over to find Austin staring at me, his face half-hidden in one of Cain's hoodies. "What happened?" I asked, my throat feeling like I'd swallowed a handful of sand.

"You bled all over the kitchen. Cain called an ambulance," he rasped, looking down at the floor. Oh, right… had that been me ? I looked down at my arms, remembering the blood that had pooled out of them. They were unscathed, not a single scratch on them. The curtain pulled back abruptly, startling both of us. A large man in scrubs and holding a clipboard walked in and started looking at the IV bags I'd been hooked up to.

"Well, Mr…" He blinked down at the chart. "…Smith." He shot me an incredulous look and sighed. "Aside from missing at least a full pint of blood… you're totally fine." He frowned. "Docs couldn't find any wounds, external or otherwise, so once you're all packed full of fluids again, you're free to go." He checked the line in my hand, shaking his hand at the dried blood flaking off my skin. "It's a full moon tonight, figures," he muttered. He shot me a sharp look, his eyes narrowing. "You know, your brother, Mr. Smith , is in the next bed," he mused. "If you're going to have a family reunion, do it somewhere other than my ER next time."

I blinked in confusion, watching him leave. As soon as the curtain swung shut, I dragged my legs off the bed and got to my feet, grabbing the IV pole for support. Austin was at my side in a heartbeat, holding me up. "You have a brother?" he rasped, and I shook my head.

"Something's weird here…" I mumbled, and my chest ached, drawing me toward the next bed. Austin helped me shuffle past the curtain, and we came upon a lone figure curled up on a hospital bed. He looked a sight, for sure, covered in dried blood and pale as death. Unlike me, it was obvious where his injuries were. Twin bandages wrapped around his forearms, and I could still feel the ghost of the knife parting his skin, seeking relief from the pain of the world.

"Who is that?" Austin whispered, and I gripped his arm tightly, until my knuckles went white and my breath came out in sharp bursts. I saw him now, with her , taking her injuries into himself. He was twisted up, bent and bleeding. I felt the agony in his head. I saw the void behind his eyes.

He was ours. Our pain-eater, our healer, our purgatory.

"He's coming home with us," I murmured, and Austin grunted as I collapsed in his arms, my legs too tired to hold me up any longer. Austin dragged me back to my bed just as Cain walked in, his shirt stained with blood and his hair wild from running his hand through it.

"Insurance was a nightmare. Apparently, there's another Mr. Smith here tonight, also admitted for attempted suicide. They mixed up your charts," he grumbled, watching Austin lower me back onto the bed. "Now that you're conscious, mind telling me what the fuck happened?"

"It wasn't me," I replied automatically, and Cain's eyes darkened. "I didn't do anything. That was the tug. It brought us here for someone else." He immediately groaned, his hand going back to his hair.

"Not this again. I can't take it anymore, Piper! We've already got snakes under the floorboards. What next?! Rabbits in the shower?" He sank into the visitor chair, shaking his head mutely. "I can't do it. I can't take care of anyone else."

"Cain… he needs us," I replied softly. "He's one of us, and he tried to die tonight." Cain groaned loudly, his head in his hands.

I laid back, my head feeling too heavy to hold up anymore. I think I fell asleep, or maybe I passed out staring at the flickering light above my bed. When I woke, I heard murmuring voices on the other side of the curtain, one of which was Cain's. Austin had crawled onto the hospital bed next to me, coiling around me with his head on my chest. The bags attached to my IV were nearly empty, and I felt a little stronger now. I stayed still to avoid jostling Austin, my eyes unfocusing as I stared up at the ceiling. Whispers grew louder, swirling around my little bed. I felt the tightness in my chest increase as words filtered out of the hum. I reached up for my charms around my neck, but they weren't there. Someone had removed them.

" Death ," they whispered, and I wondered who was meant to die. I glanced down, ice in my veins when I saw the blood coating Austin's arms, his hair a matted mess of gore. No, not him, I begged the whispers, not him . It came unbidden, the flash of violence and pain, a nightmare of certainty that was yet to unfold.

"Piper? What's going on?" Cain lifted the curtain and walked inside, the usual pained scowl adorning his face. I blinked at him, the whispers fading as he approached, fearing him and his unbridled wrath.

"Puppets, the puppets are everywhere," I told him, grabbing his hand and jerking him toward me. "Don't trust them, Cain, please!" He stared at me for a moment, his face softening.

"Alright, Piper, I won't. It's okay now," he replied, patting my hand.

I was discharged from the hospital later that day. Cain dropped Austin and me off at home and disappeared once I was settled in Austin's room. Apparently, I was not allowed to be alone or unsupervised for the next little while. He returned later that evening, and he and Austin helped the other Mr. Smith up the stairs and into my bedroom, since the spare room didn't have a bed yet.

While I was feeling mostly better, he - Wyatt, Cain told me - was still heavily sedated and barely conscious, hardly registering the new surroundings as they helped lay him down. Cain told me he'd get some more furniture for him soon, so I could have my room back in a couple of days.

I didn't mind where I slept. It was just nice to be home, where I was supposed to be. My heart was close to whole now, just missing that one final piece. Her. The one the black cat would bring me.

Our Little Spider.