HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER EIGHTEEN !

THE AIR AROUND THEM was thick. Their breathing was haggard, leaving their mouths in hoarse pants as they hurriedly trekked their way back to the cabin. Aches of pain attacked at the muscles of their legs as they walked faster than they had ever done before in their entire life. Van was in need of serious medical attention leaving the group no other option but to turn back and begin for the cabin.

The entire right side of the Palmer girl's face was ripped open, tore apart by the sharp and vicious teeth of the ravenous wolves. Now, as they hauled her back to the cabin and as she drifted continuously in and out of consciousness, the loose and bloodied flesh was held weakly by a piece of fabric tied around her face.

Taissa was struggling as she carried the redhead forward, her breathing heavy and her voice cracking while she spoke. "Just put one foot in front of the other." She instructed the Palmer girl. She needed to keep Van awake, couldn't let her pass out and potentially slip away for good.

In her own stubborn attempt to right her own wrongs, she had also refused to allow anyone else to help her in carrying Van. As if she was punishing herself for disregarding Van's feelings the day before, Taissa had now barely all the weight, took on sole responsibility of keeping Van alive and moving.

            Van was trying. She really was, but it was hard. She could barely catch her breath, blood was obscuring her eyesight making everything blurry and tinted red. The worst pain imaginable was coursing violently throughout her entire body. The entire right side of her face was tore open with only little fabric to keep it from slipping free and revealing just how deep into her cheek it went. Blisters from the fire had formed upon the skin of her legs, each and every one of them rubbing uncomfortably and painfully against the fabric of her pants.

She was well and truly on deaths door.

            Despite having been at the front of the group, leading the rest back the way they came, Misty quickly spun around and began rattling off all of her thoughts to Taissa. "When we get back, we're gonna need sterile water and thread to stitch up her face."

"L-leave me."

Her voice was barely audible but it was more than loud enough for all of the girls to know exactly what she had said and feel immense sympathy for the Palmer girl. No one deserved the shit she was going through, least of all Van.

Taissa shook her head instantly. "Van, stop it." She barked at the girl.

            Despite the agony she was enduring, Van couldn't handle the thought of the others getting attacked as well. If they were to get surrounded by the wolves once again, it would be because they had to stay with her, moving at a snails pace to get her back to the cabin, putting themselves at risk for her.

            "It's not...safe." The redhead groaned out. Her eyes scrunched tightly together and her teeth grounded hard as a jolt of pain attacked every single fibre of her being, every little cell.

            "Don't say that!" Taissa continued to command, her bottom lip wobbling as she fought back against the tears that threatened to fall. Hearing Van say these things absolutely killed Taissa. "We're almost there."

            A utterly defeated sigh rumbled through the redheads chest. "Fine!" She cried out. The sheer volume she managed to reach caused everyone, even Taissa, to halt and look at her. "Let them go."

Brown met blue as the two girls locked eyes. With all the strength that she could muster up, Van's weak voice travelled through her throat and out her lips, weakly whispering, "Let them go."

            She was imploring with Taissa, begging her to relinquish control. A storm of conflict raged within the Turner girls eyes. She didn't know what to do. Did she listen to Van and send the others on or did she ignore her pleas and continue to struggle on?

            She almost uttered for them all to continue but when she caught the look of total desperation that Van sent her way, she tiredly sighed. "Go back to the cabin as fast as you can. We'll be right behind, okay?" Taissa informed the girls, all of whom were reluctant to leave them behind.

          "Tai." Akilah hesitantly muttered.

           "Go." Was all that Taissa said in response as she slowly lowered both herself and Van down to the forest floor, kneeling down in the dirt. When she glanced back up and noticed that the girls had yet to move, she was quick to snap, "Go!"

         As Taissa barked her orders at them, she left them no place to argue. Perhaps if they could return to the cabin and get the others, they could help Van before she truly took a turn for the worse. As all of them looked down at the pair one last time, drinking in the sight of an alive Van who might not be a member of the land of the living the next time they lay eyes on her, they each let out a miserable sigh before spinning on their heel and taking off in a sprint, all of them determined to make it back to the cabin to get their friend help.

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            "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Nola questioned suddenly as she continued to walk, the girl choosing to ignore the burn that was quickly developing in her calves. Her nose was turned up in complete disgust as she looked over at Stevie. "Are those teeth?"

            The McClane girl glanced away from her outstretched plan that held the blood crusted, ivory teeth. Her head nodded as a small smile grew upon her lips. "Yeah, I took them from that wolf that Taissa killed last night." Stevie explained with a shrug.

            "Why?" Nola asked, backing her head away when Stevie brandished the teeth towards her, almost proudly.

            Stevie contemplated her answer for a moment. Why had she retrieved the teeth from the dead animal? What did she seek to gain from carrying them around? Finally, she just shrugged her shoulders once again and said, "I don't know. Figured I could keep it as some kind of keepsake. Something to celebrate the fact that we survived a group of wolves."

            "Well, don't let Van see it. I doubt she'll enjoy seeing those." Nola stated matter of factly as she stared off at the backs of Misty, Mari and Akilah as they carried on ahead of them.

            She truly did doubt that Van would enjoy seeing teeth from the animal that had ripped open her face. In all honestly, who in their right mind would actually enjoy looking at the very things used to tear the flesh from your bones?

            "If she even makes it." Stevie mumbled with a sigh.

Nola's gaze turned sharp at an instant, a glare now fixed upon Stevie. "She's gonna make it." The Rilke girl snapped. The harsh tone that was woven into her words caused Stevie's shoulders to fall. "We're gonna get back to the cabin, get her help and she's gonna make it. So just get that thought out of your head."

And with that, the brunette took a few long strides forward until she caught up with the other girls, leaving Stevie to linger behind, the girl occasionally drifting her gaze back and forth between the wolf teeth that continued to lay in her palm and the back of Nola's head. She was conflicted, depressed even. Much like Akilah, Stevie was never even supposed to be there. Coach Martinez had decided last minute that they needed a few more members from the JV team in case of a sudden injury.

Perhaps it was childish but the McClane girl had really believed she and Nola could be close. They were total opposites that played so well off of one another. Nola, an attack and Stevie, a defender. Two members of a soccer team destined to work well together and by that logic they should be working well together in other aspects as well. But Nola had not seemed pleased by her words, not one bit which confused Stevie greatly.

            At the end of the day, she was speaking the truth. Van mightn't make it so why delude themselves into believing otherwise?

           A disheartened sigh tumbled free from Stevie's lips before her bottom lip became momentarily trapped between her teeth. Perhaps Nola just hadn't come around to her way of thinking yet, Stevie considered.

           A yell of "Stevie, pick up the pace!" From Misty up ahead dragged Stevie from her thoughts, causing the girl to beginning sprinting forward and joining the rest of the girls on their continued trek to the cabin.

Their respiratory systems were in total overdrive when they finally arrived back at the cabin. Hearts were beating a mile a minute, clothing was drenched with sweat. Desperate pants for air caught the attention of those who dwelled upon the porch, each of them lifting their heads just in time to watch as the group who had gone in search of help collapsed to the dirt in exhaustion.

          Jackie was the first whose gaze landed upon them, immediately exclaiming, "Oh my god. What happened?" As she hopped up from the porch and held out her arms just in time as Misty stumbled into them.

           Shauna glanced around at the arriving girls, immediately taking notice of the absent two. "Where are Van and Tai?"

            It was Travis who had appeared at Nola's side, kneeled down next to her shaking body as she desperately tried to even out her breathing, the boy staring down at her in concern. Only once had he'd seen her look this way...when his dad's body had crash landed into the ground. The pale look on her face, the beads of sweat that trickled down her skin.

            Misty gasped for air as she struggled to explain. "She told us to leave them. We had to get help." Her voice was incredibly hoarse as it scratched itself up her dried and Sahara desert like throat.

            Laura Lee stepped forward and took a knee, kneeling down in front of the still gasping Misty and lightly gripping her shoulders. "Show us which way to go." She uttered firmly, the blonde believing that they could find the two girls and aid them.

The Quigley girl nodded her head, choosing to ignore the blood pounding around in her skull that came as a result of dehydration. She agreed quickly, as did the others. They all moved to their feet, all ignoring the wobble in their knees and the pain that that shot up the backs of their legs. Helping Van was the most important thing and took precedence over their own pains.

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THE SKY HAD BECOME DARK mere minutes after they headed back into the forest. Their path was lit up by the glow of the moon and the faintest light that was emitted from the few lanterns that were laying around the cabin. The group stumbled their way through the forest, following behind the girls who struggled to find the path they took back to the cabin. Traversing the forest during the day was much easier than at night. They could barely see enough to put one foot in front of the others.

            Yells for the two girls echoed throughout the eerily silent forest. Every few seconds someone would bellow out either girls name, wait momentarily for a response only to not receive one. This went on and on as they ventured further through the trees.

            "Are you sure you came this way?" Laura Lee worriedly inquired of the Quigley girl who led them forward.

            "I don't know." Misty huffed out. She gripped onto a nearby tree trunk and allowed it to steer her forward. Her shoulders shrugged as she glanced around nervously. "I can't see anything. It's so dark."

           As if by some miracle, a sudden blast echoed off in the distance, capturing the attention of the group. Their heads turned in the direction of the sound and were greeted by the sight of a bright, fiery red flare flying high in the air, illuminating the night sky.

A wide grin formed upon Laura Lee's lips. "It's them." She declared happily as she began to race off in that direction, the sound of her own footsteps becoming drowned out by the stomp of everyone else's feet.

They quickly reached the two girls and were quickly mortified by what they saw. Both seemed completely drained of all their strength. Taissa, who had carried Van further towards the cabin seemed about ready to pass out from exhaustion and Van looked as though she was moments away from giving in to her pain and allowing her eyes to roll into the back of her head.

The group swiftly began to escort the two all the way back to the cabin, hauling both girls exhaustion filled bodies with all their strength. Before long they had arrived back and began executing their plan to save the Palmer girl. Her body was splayed across the table, the cloth holding her face together ripped away. Natalie stood beside the table, holding onto her friend's hand.

Pained whimpers escaped the redhead as she lay on the table, staring tearfully up at Taissa who stood clutching the sides of her head as the pads of her thumbs moved soothing across the surface of Van's cheeks.

"Everything's gonna be okay." Taissa comfortingly whispered with a weak smile. She hoped she was right. She hoped Van would be okay, that she'd make it through. "We're gonna get you all fixed up."

Off to the side, Akilah somewhat shakily held a sewing needle over a burning flame, sterilising the steel so as to prevent infection. Once the needle was bright red it was pulled away and swiftly moved towards Van's face. Before she lost her nerve and chickened out, Akilah held her breath and quickly stuck the needle deep into the flesh of Van's cheek. Blood began to flow as cries of agony filled the air but still Akilah continued on, threading the needle through the other side and pulling the string along.

Misty began to move her hands about, making gestures as though she was holding the needle and instructing, "Okay, make sure that you're angled in—"

Shauna darted forward and grabbed at the girl, cutting her off with a, "Misty, I think she's got it." before pulling her away and stopping her from further distracting Akilah.

Van's body violently shook as pain coursed her veins. Her legs suddenly began to kick as muffled screams began to reverberate off the cabin walls. Immediately Natalie began to hold her down by her hands as Nola appeared by the redheads feet, grabbing them firmly and pinning them to the wooden table. Her body continued to struggle as the needle made its way up her face, sewing up her wound as tightly as possible.

Howls of agony continued to escape from the injured girl as Akilah worked. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of suffering, the needle was finally removed from Van's face and though she still sobbed, she was finally free of the pain that came along with the pierce of sharp, unforgiving metal into her flesh and muscle.

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter eighteen. not proofread.
I know these chapters are taking me some time to write. I'm honestly struggling to keep focused despite how much I love the show. anyway laura Lee dies next chapter so look forward to that lol. i hope you enjoyed :)

also if the layout looks weird, my wp is glitching and is constantly changing where on the page it sits despite me trying to fix it.