The sharp tips stab into my skin and straight into my muscles. I feel myself about to split apart, wanting to cry out or beg as hopelessness crushes me down.
Moments later, I feel myself drifting away and can feel the cure for mankind drifting away with me. I struggle to hold on, but the room fades around me as I sink to the ground. Aiden covers himself over me, drinking from my veins. The more gulps he gets, the weaker I become, and I know that soon I’ll be gone. Dead.
And the cure might die with me.
Suddenly, Aiden jerks back, letting out a growl. My eyes widen as I sit up, bleeding out all over myself, watching in horror as Aiden clutches his head and falls to the floor. He screams so loudly it rings in my ears. His body begins to flail as every one of his muscles spasms.
Gabrielle’s expression collapses as he grips onto the table, watching Aiden roll around on the ground, shouting out and begging for help. “What did you do to him?”
I shake my head and press my hand to my bleeding neck as I crawl across the floor, feeling somewhat normal again while Aiden continues to go into a crazy fit of frenzy.
I wonder what’s happening to him. If he’s hurt. If he’ll die. Although Aiden did terrible things, I know it wasn’t by his own choice. He’s connected to the Highers, broken by Monarch. He’s still my friend and I don’t want to see him die.
I don’t know how to help him, though, and my arms are giving out as I lose more and more blood while it also feels like I’m losing something else. My arm gives out on me and I fall flat onto my stomach, listening to my heart beat as glass pokes at my skin from beneath me. Something feels different about me. I almost feel… human. Not just physically, but… well, emotionally. I don’t know how to process this; all the stuff flooding my body at once. Pain. Ache. Hurt. Sadness for Aiden and what he’s going through. Love. Not for Aiden, but maybe for another. Sylas. I don’t know if he’s still alive and it stings.
It starts to grow quiet as I sift through my emotions and then realize Aiden has stilled. When I push myself up enough to look around, I see that Gabrielle and Monarch are standing over him as he lies lifelessly on the ground.
“Is he dead?” Gabrielle asks Monarch.
“Does it really matter?” Monarch replies.
Gabrielle shrugs then shakes his head and starts to turn away when suddenly Aiden’s eyes pop open. I catch my breath, feeling… happy as I take in the honey brown color of his eyes. The way he was before. He’s cured. I can tell by the emotion flooding in his eyes. It’s evidence of the old Aiden… the one that cared about the world, humanity; that cared about everything.
He turns his head and scans the room. “What happened?” he asks in a stupor, gripping his head. His hair has glass in it and his skin has cuts, yet he seems so much happier than before. “Where am I, Kayla?”
“You’re back,” I say, choking on my happiness, but then I gasp as Gabrielle’s pale eyes slide to me. They almost look red.
His fangs slip out from his veins as he snarls. “I’ve had enough of this!” he cries, enraged. Underneath the anger, I see a hint of fear when he looks at me. He no longer can see his cure to perfection.
I try to scurry to my feet as he races towards me, fueled by his anger, shoving the table out of the way. My human legs feel rubbery and unnatural, and I can barely get my knees to bend as I lose more blood from my neck. I start to shut my eyes and hold my breath when I see Aiden get to his feet and runs for me.
“No!” I cry as he collides with Gabrielle’s body and they both tumble to the ground. I force my legs to move and manage to stumble unsteadily to my feet. I stagger towards them, moving slower than I ever thought was possible. It doesn’t matter how fast I move, though. I’m too late.
Gabrielle already has Aiden pinned under him with his fangs deep in his throat. My knees knock together as I stumble over to them, grabbing ahold of Gabrielle’s robe, trying to pull him off Aiden, but I’m jerked back and tossed aside by Monarch.
My head slams against the hard ground. The room spins as I sit up, clutching my bleeding neck. I feel like I’m dying inside as I watch Gabrielle and Monarch feed off Aiden, devouring his blood and tearing at his flesh. I remember how Mathew said they’d once drank human blood. The taste of Aiden’s seems to be driving them to want more.
My heart starts to ache as wet droplets slip from my eyes and burn at my skin while I crawl towards them, wanting to help, although I’m helpless. I feel hatred. Anger. Rage. The need to get revenge. I feel out of control. Feel the desire for my strength back.
I hate this.
I hate being human.
Blood soaks their white robes, and when they finally stop feeding, they turn their heads to look at me. Their faces, lips and hair are dripping with Aiden’s blood as an uncontrolled look encompasses their eyes. My initial reaction is to rush forward and claw their eyes out, but I’m not strong enough for that. So, even though I don’t want to, I back away.
They follow my movement, coming at me with their backs hunched over, looking more and more like the vampire breed. I pick up a piece of glass and throw it at them, but it barely flies two feet.
Mathew starts to step forward to help me when Monarch lunges at him and lets out a cry. Gabrielle smiles at me then he zips forward, jumping at me. He ends up tripping over his feet, however, and lets out a wail as he falls on his face. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Higher make a mistake like that. When he starts to vibrate and spasm, I suddenly understand why.
Gabrielle struggles to control his body, flapping his arms around and pushing his feet against the floor. He screams and shouts and flails just like Aiden did, fear filling his reddened eyes. I watch, feeling this sick satisfaction rise within me, as though him suffering somehow makes up for Aiden, when it doesn’t. Aiden is gone and nothing will bring him back.
I’m about to start crying again when I hear commotion at my right. I glance over and Monarch is doing the exact same thing as Gabrielle, both of them at a loss of control of their bodies. Mathew watches with me as we observe them slipping away towards humanity. Their bodies slam into tables, knocking things over, spilling the contents around the room. Vials break, shatter, pooling the floor with liquid.
Then, just as quickly as it began, it stops. Silence takes over as they still; their skin cut up by the glass while their white robes remain stained with blood. Their eyes are the dead giveaway of what’s happened, though. Monarch’s are no longer pale, they’re dark grey like the sky, and Gabrielle’s are an alarming shade of green.
They’re human again. Life and breath and blood stream through their veins.
Gabrielle rolls over to his stomach, moaning as he battles to stand to his feet. He gives up at sitting and then scoots across the floor to the upturned silver table. He peers in the reflective surface, examining his reflection closely. “This is impossible!” he yells, looking over at Monarch who is still lying on the ground, staring at his arms, his hands shaking. “How could this cure us? Why!”
Mathew and I exchange a look and then Mathew gives me a small smile. My blood not only still holds the cure, but it replicates like the virus he injected into me earlier. It worked. The risks we took worked, and now we can save the human race.
Monarch turns over onto his stomach and uses his arms to push himself up to sit. It takes him a moment to get there and then I can see a new look in his eyes; one I’ve never seen before. Happiness. “Because she’s perfection,” he answers Gabrielle.
Gabrielle goes into a fury and begins to throw everything within his reach—vials, flask, syringes—yet all that ends up doing is making his arm tired. He kicks his foot at the nearest chair and swears profusely, cursing me and what I’ve done to him.