Darkness Fades

Chapter 21

And wait we do, for a very long time—hours maybe—although I’m not exactly sure since I never did figure out the exact concept of time. Nothing seems to be happening. We make it all the way through the night when Nichelle comes by to inform us that a few vampires tried to break through the wall, but were easily fended off. That ends up being the most excitement we get for the night.

She gave me a weird look when she came into the lab, probably wondering why I was sitting there with Mathew instead of being out with her as well as the others, fighting off vampires. However, neither Mathew nor I offered her any explanation, so she got irritated and left us alone.

“Thanks for not saying anything to her,” Mathew tells me after she leaves, slumping down onto the table. He looks exhausted and a little bit weaker than he did before.

“No problem,” I respond calmly, yet on the inside I’m worried about how he looks. I’m kicked back in the stool with my legs up on the counter, my back leaning against the wall so I’m facing the door with my knife on my lap. I look relaxed, however I’m anything but. “I didn’t think you’d want her worrying about you.”

He nods his head, his eyelids fluttering like he’s fighting off sleep. “She’s very important to me,” he says with a yawn. “I hate that she’s even out there fighting.” His head suddenly begins to wobble around so his forehead is angled and pressed against the surface of the table. Then he shuts his eyes and becomes silent.

I sit up and lower my feet to the ground, wondering if something’s happening. My senses go on high alert, my fingers wrap around my knife as I get to my feet. I listen and realize I can no longer hear his heartbeat, so I hurry to his side.

“Mathew, are you okay?” I place my hand on his shoulder and gently shake him, keeping my other arm out to my side, ready to swing it around and stab him in the chest if he sits up and his eyes start bleeding. He limply moves around as I shake him. “Mathew!” I still can’t hear his heart beating so I lean over and put my ear beside his face, trying to hear if he’s breathing. All I hear is silence and I feel no breath.

Jesus, did it kill him?

I pull my hand away and turn for the door to get help, hoping someone else around here can understand medical stuff enough to know what’s going on. I’m halfway there when I hear it. Soft at first, but then it increases; rapid, loud and sturdy.

Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…

I quickly spin around and race back to the table as Mathew elevates his head and focuses on me, blinking his eyes as he looks around in disbelief. I put my hand in front of me, the sharp tip of the knife angled at his throat, but then he opens his eyes widely; my knife slips from my hand and hits the floor.

His eyes are no longer pale. They’re green, like how grass used to look.

“Holy shit,” I say, stunned.

He lets out a shaky breath as he sits up straighter. “What’s wrong?” He looks at me worriedly. “Did it work?”

“I’m not sure… but…” I scoop up my knife and inch closer to him, “but your eyes are green... and your skin looks less pale.”

Mathew’s green eyes widen as he touches his fingertips to the bottom of his eyes. Then he examines his skin over, putting his arms out in front of him, turning them over, noting that it looks healthy and smooth. When he looks at me, he’s in a state of awe.

“I feel so much better,” he says and even his voice sounds stronger.

I open my mouth to ask if he thinks it worked—if maybe that’s the cure—or if he thinks he might have turned into a Day Taker—or worse something else—but we’re interrupted when Nichelle bursts inside the room, panting and gasping for air. Mathew purposefully looks in the other direction from her, as though he’s working on something at the table.

“Sylas is back with the others,” she says, breathless, pressing her hand to her chest as she reaches the center of the room.

“That’s good.” Mathew pretends to be moving things around. “Why don’t you send him in here? But just him, not the others.”

She nods, giving his back an inquisitive look. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” He shoos her away. “Just really busy.”

She still looks lost as she turns and exits the room, letting the door bang shut behind her.

“Why are you hiding from her?” I ask him, sitting down at the table beside him.

He glances up at me, looking even healthier than he did before Nichelle ran in. “I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up yet. Not until we can be sure I’m cured. For all I know, my blood still might not be human. And if it does work, we need to find a way to make it in large amounts—enough to cure everyone that has been infected… because it’s going to take more blood than you have in your body.”

I glance down at the veins in my arms, purple just below my pale skin. “Do you have any idea on how to do that? How to tell what you are and how to create my blood?”

He shakes his head. “I’m not sure, but I’m going to start by studying your blood and mine. And…” He trails off as he wanders over to the counter, his strides so much sturdier, and he carries his back straighter.

He bends down in front of one of the bottom cabinets and then glances over his shoulder before slipping his hand into his pocket. He takes out a key and moves it towards a lock on the cabinet door.

“What are you doing?” I ask as he unlocks the door.

He drops the key into his pocket, opens the door up and then reaches inside. “Getting something important.” When he pulls back and stands up, he has a vial in his hand.

“What’s that in your hand?” I question, gripping the handle of my knife while wondering if he’s up to something; if maybe he’s turning into a Higher. His hair isn’t white, though, or his eyes. Plus, he has emotion in his expression.

He slowly lowers his gaze to the vial in his hand as he unfolds his fingers from the glass. Then stretches his arm out to me. “This is the original virus.”

I step back, stunned. “What?”

“The original vampire virus,” he says. “This is what started it all.”

It doesn’t look like something that would harm the world; in fact, it looks innocent. White and sparkly. When the liquid hits the light, it shines brighter than anything I’ve ever seen.

“That’s it?” I ask, leaning in to get a good look at it. “That’s what changed the world to what it is?”

He shakes his head as he tucks the virus into his pocket. “No, a lot of greed was the cause of why the world is what it is,” he says. “But yes, this is what started the vampire spread.” He pauses as he gets lost in thought. “It spread so quickly, you know. One host would get infected and feed off something then who they fed off would change and start to feed. Within days, well, the world was a mess. The Highers took the opportunity to make it seem like they could offer protection when really what they wanted was control and more test subjects to use to find their perfection.”

I frown, remembering the colony. “I can remember.”

He smiles sadly. “You can remember what the world is, but not what the world was. It wasn’t that bad of a place.”

I wish I could remember it all, but I only have bits and pieces of my memories. I wonder if they’ll all come back to me. “So why do you have that?”

“Well, I kept it mainly to study it and try to figure out a way to get rid of it,” he says, closing his fingers around it. “But now I’m going to study it to figure out how it replicates itself. How it takes over the body of the host and turns them into a virus.”

“Why, though?” I ask. “Shouldn’t you be studying yourself and seeing if you’re human.”

“I am,” he says, placing the virus carefully into his pocket. “But I want to study this, too. If we did find the cure and it’s in your blood, the virus might help us figure out a way to spread it quickly. If we can figure out the process, then we can replicate it with the cure.”

“So that every person infected with the cure becomes the cure,” I say, nodding understandingly.

“Yes,” he says brightly as he whisks over to the table. “Now I just have to see if you and I are the answers to the cure.”

“Why would you two be the answer to the cure?” Sylas says from behind me.

Mathew’s green eyes widen and he quickly tries to turn away before Sylas can see he’s healing. Sylas strides over to him, grabs his shoulder and with a lot of effort, forces Mathew to turn around to face him. He observes him closely; the once weak man who now looks a lot younger, stronger and has green eyes that were once pale.

“Did you do it? Did you find a cure?” he asks Mathew in shock. When Mathew doesn’t respond, Sylas looks at me. “Kayla, what’s going on?”

“We might have found something,” I say. “But…” Before I can further explain, Sylas moves up to me and throws his arms around me in the weirdest embrace ever. “I can’t believe it,” he says, pulling me closer to him. “We have a cure. Finally, we have something to fight for.”

He seems so much more weightless, like his rough shell has crumbled with the idea that there’s hope. More than I would have expected and part of me wonders if his whole tough guy act was a facade created to mask the worry that we’d never protect or save the world. I’m about to tell him that we might not have a cure—that Mathew isn’t even sure if he’s human, and if he is, we’re not even sure how to make enough of a cure to spread it yet—but he seems so happy, and Sylas never seems happy, so I decide to follow what Mathew did and keep quiet. Mathew and I exchange a look and make a silent agreement to keep our lips sealed.

“So what do we do now?” Sylas asks, pulling away. His dark eyes look brighter and his expression not so hard.

He has a smudge of dirt on his cheek and I rub it off with my thumb. “We fight.”

Sylas nods with enthusiasm. “That, I can do.”

“Good.” I force a smile, feeling my own lie all over me, but shake it off and go forward, trying to be the fearless leader everyone seems to expect me to be. “Can you do me a favor? Can you go check on Maci for me and make sure her and Greyson are safe? After that, find Nichelle. Make sure that the Day Takers and her people are cooperating... I’m a little worried about certain personalities conflicting”

“Since when do you get to say the orders?” Sylas questions with a teasing arch of his brow.

“Since you started asking me questions,” I reply in a joking tone, but I’m being serious.

He assesses me over with a look that used to make me nervous, although it sort of makes me excited now. Then he nods, putting his hand on my hip, fingers delving into my skin. I jump, shocked by the intimate touch as he slowly slides up to my side. His fingers dip into my skin roughly, but I barely feel a sting. Then he pulls me towards him and I resist for a moment before letting him guide my lips. He kisses deeply, exploring my mouth with his tongue until Monarch clears his throat and we break away.

“I’ll be back as soon as I check on things,” he says with a wink before turning around and heading out the door.

I blow out a breath and then sink onto the floor and drop my face into my hands. “I don’t like lying very much.”

“No one does,” Mathew says as he begins sorting through his cabinets.

I take a few deep breaths then compose myself before raising my head up. “So now what?”

“Now, I study.” He frowns. “But I just hope I have enough time… I hate to think it, but if I don’t get this all figured out before the Highers and their army show up here, then they’ll likely destroy everything, including my lab. At that point, all hope will be lost.”

“First off, we don’t know when they’re going to show up,” I say. “And if they do, we—I won’t let them ruin the lab.”

He doesn’t seem convinced and I get up from my chair and stride towards the door, pausing to look back at Mathew. “Work on figuring it out. I’ll make sure nothing gets in or out of here.”

He swallows hard and then nods, but I can tell he doesn’t think I can do it. However, I have to, no matter what. “Kayla, wait,” he calls out before I step out.

I pause, turning around. “Yeah.”

“Would it be all right if I drew some of your blood,” he says. “To study and for…” He rubs his neck tensely. “Just in case something happens to you, I’ll still have something to study.”

“Oh, of course.” I return to him and hop up onto the table, rolling up my sleeve as he grabs another syringe. “But Mathew, as far as I know, I don’t… well, I haven’t figured out a way that anything could happen to me.”

“You don’t think you can die?”

I shrug. “As far as I can tell, no. It makes me wonder if the cures living inside me if… if I can ever be human again.” I’m not sure how I feel about this revelation, if I like the idea that I’ll always be different. Honestly, I don’t think I do. How can we ever change back the world if I stay the same; if I’m always there to study and replicate, like the Highers want to?

He offers me a smile. “Maybe your right… maybe Monarch did create perfection in you, but then again, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that everything has a weakness.”

After I’m finished giving Mathew some of my blood, I walk out of the building. It’s quiet for the most part. Most of the people have barricaded themselves inside the buildings and homes while the rest stand their posts at the wall. Just a ways to my right, Nichelle is standing by the wall, noticing me as I make my way down to the street.

“Kayla,” she calls out, heading over to me with a torch in her hand. She has a thick leather belt strapped around her waist and a sword secured in it. “What were you doing in there with Mathew? And why was he so sketchy?”

“I…” I trail off as I see them moving towards me.

A row of different collections, people who carry different powers, yet share the same genetics for the most part. They stand out like a sore thumb; dark clothes, leather, their hair colors like fire and ash. Their skin is smooth, features flawless and the sounds of their hearts are still.

Sylas stands in the middle and uses his long legs to stride over to me. He has an arrogant look on his face, but it vanishes when he reads my face like an open book. “What’s wrong with you... you look upset.”

“There’s nothing wrong,” I reply, pulling myself together.

“Is it about the cure?” he asks, folding his arms.

Nichelle’s head whips in his direction. “Cure?”

“Yeah…” Sylas’s eyes stay on me and I wonder if he can sense my uneasiness. “They found a cure… maybe.”

A big grin spreads across Nichelle’s face. “Yes!!” she exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. “I knew Mathew would figure it out. God, it’s so great! We finally have some good news!”

“You’re making a lot of noise,” I tell her as people start glancing in our direction. She settles down a little, but still has way too much energy. “Mathew thinks he might have found a cure, but there’s still a lot of other stuff to figure out,” I say, and their moods deflate a notch. “What we need to make sure of is that he’s protected at all times. Nichelle, I need you to put a lot of guards around his lab and make sure they’re there always… it’s important that he can keep working no matter what happens… and that him and his lab are safe.”

She nods and turns around, jogging off towards a solider-looking group of people who aren’t nearly as strong as the Day Takers, but probably as close as you can get in human form. She says something to them and then they head over towards the lab with swords and knives in their hands. I wonder if it’s enough; if they’ll be able to stop the abominations from getting in if they do show up. I wonder if Mathew will figure it out in time. I wonder a lot of things at that moment and all the answers make me feel… well, hopeless. The feeling sucks.

I glance over at the Day Takers who are just standing there, watching me. All six of them. I don’t know any of them except for one; a tall girl with red hair, wearing a long, flowing skirt and who has the powers to dip into people’s heads.

“Emmy,” I say cautiously, remembering how she’s slightly off her rocker. “Can you come here for a minute? I need to ask you a favor.”

Her deep red lips spread into a smile and then she struts forward, swishing her skirt.

“Do you really want to go there?” Sylas questions amusedly. “You know how she can get.”

“Yeah, but I need her to help protect the lab,” I say to Sylas. “Mathew… he’s the one who can figure all this out.”

“But it’s your blood?” he states. “We should be protecting you, too.”

“Mathew has some of my blood just in case something happens to me,” I reply. “Besides, I don’t think anything can. I’ve died plenty of times and I always heal.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“No, I say it like it’s a thing that’ll be a problem in the future if things do go back to the way that they should be.”

He opens his mouth to say something with a strange look on his face, but Emmy interrupts us, stepping unnecessarily close to me.

“Well, well,” she says. “If it isn’t the beautiful Kayla.” She taps her finger on her lips and then breathes in my scent. “Looking for me to dip into your head again.” She strokes my hair with her fingers and Sylas chuckles from behind her.

“Actually, no.” I step back out of her reach. “I just need you and two other Day Takers to go help guard that building over there.” I point over my shoulder at the lab.

She frowns. “You want me to help protect a building; one that humans are already protecting?”

“Please,” I say. “It’s really important.”

She crosses her arms and stares me down. “And what do I get out of this.”

Sylas nudges her in the back, a little rough. “Emmy, stop being a pain in the ass and go.”

She huffs and stomps her foot. “God, this is so ridiculous,” she whines, but ends up obeying, going over and getting two other Day Takers to come with her. One of them is really tall and muscular while the other is shorter, though equally as strong in appearance. When they walk by us, they all give me a dirty look.

“Glad to see they still feel the same way about me,” I say, tracking them with my gaze until they arrive at the lab.

I return my attention to Sylas when he brushes the inside of my wrist with his fingers before taking my hand. “Come with me for a bit,” he says. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask as he starts to pull me down the path.

He doesn’t speak as we head deeper into the shadows of the town and farther out of the eyes of Day Takers and humans. He only lets go of my hand when we arrive at a section where the ground bowls inward and all that’s around us are hills and the wall of cars.

“What about Aiden?” he asks as he releases my fingers from his hold and steps back to look at me.

“What about him?” I ask, glancing around, wondering why he brought me down here.

He considers something and then starts to circle around me with his hands behind his back. “All this talk about protecting everyone in here, especially Mathew, but what happens if Aiden shows up here with them, too?”

Through all the chaos, this detail had sort of slipped my mind and the only solution pains me. Yet, saving the world is the most important thing at this point.

“We’ll have to stop him,” I say quietly. “If he gets in the way.”

“Can you do that?” he questions, stopping in front of me, inspecting my reaction closely.

I swallow hard and nod. “I can if I have to.” I pause, gathering my voice. “Can you?”

His eyes hold mine, like he’s pretending it’s no big deal, but I can see in his eyes that it is. “I’ll stop him if he gets in the way.”

We grow quiet and eventually he turns to stare at the wall with his hands stuffed in his pocket. We can hear the sounds of voices drifting down to us as the people in town and on the walls talk way too loud.

“You know, they make a lot of noise for someone who’s in trouble,” he remarks, looking at me again; his dark eyes look even blacker, like coal.

“They’re human,” I say. “They don’t know anything else.”

“You think they can handle this?” he wonders with zero confidence. “If they can fight against the abominations and stand a chance?”

I shrug, being honest. “I’m not sure… Maci seems to think I can do something about all this… protect everyone, or at least Mathew.” I sit down on the ground in the dirt and he joins me. “But at the same time, I’m just one tiny person going up against a herd of large, vicious monsters. Yeah, I can’t die or become infected, but I also can’t make sure everyone else doesn’t either.”

He sits down beside me and bumps his shoulder into mine. “I wasn’t asking if you can handle it… I know you can.” He leans back on his hands and we stare at the hillside. “I was asking if you think they can handle it.” He nods his head at a group of humans standing just above us on the wall.

I want to say yes, but deep down I know that’d be a lie. “I honestly don’t know,” I say. “But I guess we’ll have to hope for the best.”

“You’re basing a lot of this on hope.” He leans into me, wetting his lips with his tongue. “But you’re forgetting one thing.”

“And what’s that?” I glance at his lips as he gets closer.

He pauses just as his lips almost connect with mine. “That you’re the perfect soldier.” Then he kisses me and I want to pull back as I tell him he’s wrong. That I’m flawed. That I can’t die. Can’t change. That I’m pretty much motionless.

Instead, I keep kissing him because, for a moment, it makes everything easier.