The Crystal 2 by Jones M (reading cloud ebooks .txt) 📕

Third Person's P.O.V

"Why did you bring me here?" Emery asked with a low voice, but Zane did not answer her. He was quickly rushing towards the entrance of the castle with Emery in his arms. The guards who were stationed at the doors took a brief glance that quickly turned into shocked looks. They stared onwards as the two individuals made their way into the castle.

"I found her!" Zane screamed through the hallways.

Erick, Justin, Selena and the rest of the members of the Ordinary Brothers had been in the main study room when they heard Zane's shout. The Queen was among them, and they all quickly left the room to go to him.

It didn't take them long to spot him. Once they did, they were shocked.

"Emery!" The Queen and Selena gasped, running towards the crystal. 

It was quite a sight. Zane and Emery were still drenched with hair strands sticking on their forehead and their clothes stuck on their forms. 

Emery's eyes stared forward as Elizabeth touched her face, checking for any signs of injury. The Queen looked at her form, noticing a pale-red patch near Emery's wrists.

Elizabeth raised the cloth to reveal the skin beneath, and she gasped at what she saw. There were red cuts on the skin. The Queen quickly realized they had been recent. She looked onto the other wrist, noticing they had the same cuts.

"Did you do this to her?" she growled at Zane. His eyebrows momentarily shot up.

"What?" he asked, turning his head so he could face what Elizabeth spotted. Once he did, he hissed in anger before loudly cussing. 

Zane realized that he was still holding Emery. He went down, and Emery quickly got out of his hold to sit on the floor. Zane felt the loss of her warmth, and it pained him.

"Well, did you do it or not?" Elizabeth persisted with her question. Zane sighed as he took out a piece of folded paper from his pocket. He had obtained it from Emery's suite. He handed it to the Queen. She took it, quickly unfolding it while the rest turned their attention towards it.

Once everyone had finished reading the note, there were a couple of mixed reactions. They were angry, sad and a bit embarrassed.

"She almost committed suicide," Zane announced as his eyes gained a far-away look. Selena began crying out loud, running to envelope Emery in a hug. Emery did not respond to her cousin's hug or the sad stares she was receiving, sitting still on the floor as she stared at nothing. Selena was perplexed by the coldness of Emery's skin.

"She's cold, guys. Let's get her warm," Selena said. The rest began moving, but they noticed that Emery was still. 

"Emery?" Logan called out as he waved a hand in front of her face. "Why isn't she responding?"

"She has been like that ever since I found her," Zane informed as he bent to carry Emery. She did not fight him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Logan went to speak, but he decided against it. He looked at Emery, and feelings of anger and regret took over him.

They all went towards Emery's room in the castle. The guys stayed outside as Selena and the Queen helped Emery change her clothes. They had also healed her wrists. All the while, Emery was silent, and that scared them.

"Emery..." Selena spoke, but Emery ignored her.

"Come on, dear. It's better if we leave her alone for now," Elizabeth advised. Selena had no option but to nod as she followed the Queen out of the room. 

"Someone needs to watch her," Erick said once the door was closed.

"We could place a guard near her door," Elizabeth suggested. "I would like to do it myself, but we need to talk about her."

Erick called for a guard who came to stand near the door.

"Do you think this will be enough?" Selena asked with uncertainty. "What if she tries to escape again, or tries to--"

"Don't finish that sentence," Erick cut her off with a glare. He knew where she was going, and he did not want to picture it.

Selena had flinched at the look she received. Erick sighed and apologized.

"She won't," Elizabeth said with a certain expression. "I enchanted her room with a barrier spell. I even disposed of the things she could use to hurt herself. The guard will be here to tell us if anything happens."

Erick, Selena and Elizabeth then began their walk towards the main study room. Justin and the rest of the boys were also there.

"Is she okay?" Logan and Justin asked at the same time.

"She's fine," Erick said with a doubtful expression. "I don't know. We need to talk about her."

"She has been quiet ever since she got back. What's happening?" Ethan asked with raised eyebrows.

"We don't know," Erick said. "But we plan to have a doctor check her out."

"Erick, she does not have physical wounds," Zane spat out. "She needs help!"

"What do you know, Zane?" Logan yelled at him with a glare. "Weren't you the one who beat her up two days ago?"

"Logan, now is not the time," Erick intervened the conversation that threatened to become a fight.

"You were not there, Logan!" Zane yelled at Logan as tears clouded his vision. "You were not there when I saw her! She looked so broken. She had obviously given up on life, and she did not care about ending her life."

Zane's mind chose that moment to replay the events that had occurred on that day. Like the rest, he had been worried about Emery after she had run from the castle. 

Ever since Emery had almost killed him for abusing her, he had been in a state of self-hatred. He believed he deserved what Emery had almost done to his life. In spite of all that, Zane wanted to apologize for every bad thing he had done to her. He wanted to make things right. He wanted Emery to have her life back even if it meant that she would still hate him. He still cared for her, and that was why he had volunteered to help search for her.

Everyone had been looking for her for the whole day. No one had been successful in finding her, and so they were planning to look for her on the following day.

Zane, however, was adamant in finding her. 

It was later during the day that he had a feeling he knew where Emery was. He had chanted a disguise spell before he had begun to look into hotels in New York, asking if anyone had seen her or if she had booked a stay there. Some of the hotels were reluctant and suspicious as to why he was looking for her.

It was in one particular hotel where he found her.

He had noticed the mistakes he had done on the previous hotels and so he lied to the staff that he was a cousin of hers. As soon as he had received the necessary information, Zane raced towards Emery's suite.

He had been surprised to find it open. That had worried him a lot.

He entered the room, calling for her until he stopped at the bathroom. The tub was full of water, but what frightened him was the water tinged with blood. In a panic, Zane started looking around for her in the tub, splashing water everywhere. Fortunately for him, Emery's body was not there.

That still did not ease his worry. Zane continued looking for Emery, and that was how he found the letter she left.

He read it, and without wasting time, he ran out of the suite. He asked the people along the hallway if they had seen her. No one knew who she was, but they did mention a woman who matched his description of Emery.

Zane guessed that Emery was going to the top of the building. He went there and found her in the rain, standing on the banister. Before he could move, Emery had started falling. Zane screamed for her before thoughtlessly teleporting to her form. He was falling, and he tried hard not to focus on that as he grabbed Emery before teleporting back to the top of the building.

He was glad that he saved her, but he was scared of what could have happened if he had not been there on time. It made him silently cry as he embraced a sobbing Emery in the rain. Zane hated himself more for pushing Emery to kill herself. 

The two of them remained crouched in the rain. Emery continued to sob for minutes as the rain mercilessly poured over them. It was after she had finished crying when Zane took her to Crystalia.

"Zane, where did you find her?" Harry asked with a concerned look.

"She was on the top floor of the hotel, standing on the banister. She was going to jump to her death."

"No!" Erick spoke in shock as tears clouded his eyes.

"It was raining at that time. She could have slipped and fell, guys." Zane swallowed before adding, "I believe she would have been okay with that."

Tears started falling down Zane's cheeks. "She wanted to die, and she jumped. She actually jumped."

There was a collective gasp in the room as Zane began crying out loud.

"I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't... if I hadn't been there on time."

Zane shuddered at the image formed in his mind. If Emery had fallen to her death, every bone in her body would have been broken, and her body would have looked unidentifiable. He did not want that for Emery.

"That's why I'm saying she needs help. I think she has mental issues."

"Are you saying she's crazy?" Liam asked in a shout.

"No. She yelled at me for saving her from her death. She told me she was so close and that she knew she was nothing. I think she has it in her head that she has nothing to live for. She thinks she is worthless. She's so depressed, guys. That's why she needs help."

There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone started thinking of what to do.

"If she had issues, wouldn't she have talked to us?" Selena asked.

"She doesn't trust us. Well, she trusts the rest of you more than Zane and me," Harry answered with an expressionless tone.

"She needs to go to a mental institution," Elizabeth relented. That was met by voices of protest.

"WHAT?"

"Mom, are you crazy?"

"She's not psychotic!"

"She's just having a bad month."

"Hey!" Elizabeth shouted, stopping everyone from further speaking. "I'm sorry for saying this, but Zane is right. Emery has been hurt a lot. I don't think any word we will say to her will help. It's also possible that she may try to kill herself again."

"B-but, mom..." Justin trailed off.

"You all don't have to worry. She will be here with us. I believe the new hospital has a mental ward," Elizabeth reassured them.

They all started to consider the Queen's suggestion.

"Mom, are you sure about this?" Justin asked with a worried glance. "It will make her seem crazy."

"But she's not," Elizabeth replied. "Emery needs a break from everything in life. She needs a change of environment, and she needs someone to help her with her situation and to also help with the issues she has endured. This will be good for her."

There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone pondered on the Queen's words. Everyone came to agree after a while.

"We are really doing this, aren't we?" Selena asked. Justin nodded in confirmation as they all left the room to start making plans for Emery.

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"Emery?" Zane called out as he slightly pushed the door open. Behind him were Erick, Selena, Justin and Elizabeth. They were all met with silence. At first, they thought that Emery had been asleep.

It