Darkness Fades

Chapter 22

Sylas and I continue to sneak off and kiss for the next few days, trying to distract our minds from what we face ahead. I check on Mathew, make walk-throughs around the town and generally check on everything. With each day I start to wonder if something has happened; if maybe Aiden didn’t make it to them or if the Highers couldn’t agree to send out the army. Deep down, though, I know that’s not true. They’ll come. They always do.

People have started to let their guard down by staying out later or not keeping such a close eye on the desert land when the sun goes down. Some even bail out and head for the hills; not wanting to protect their colony, but hide. It’s driving me mad, but there’s nothing I can do. They won’t listen to me because I’m not human; something which I try not to think about.

On the fourth day, when I stop by to check up on Mathew, I decide to talk to him about it; to see if he’ll talk to them about being more careful.

“You need to talk to your people,” I announce as I enter his lab. “They’re…” I trail off at the sight of the mess that surrounds him. Empty vials are strewn everywhere, flasks, garbage, spilt liquids on the floor, and Mathew stands in it all with his eyes pressed to that strange device he pointed at the other day; the one he said would help him study our blood.

“What on earth,” I say, maneuvering around the mess. “Don’t you ever clean up in here?”

He falters back with his hand pressed to his heart, his elbow bumping the counter and putting a dent in it. Strange. “Goodness, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I said something as I walked in,” I say, glass crunching under my boot, eyeing over his extremely healthy state. I mean, he’s been looking healthier and healthier by the day, but he’s almost glowing with strength. “Didn’t you hear me?”

He shakes his head, looking distracted. “No… no… I was…” He drifts off as he puts his eyes back on the strange device, turning the knob on the side. “Well, I was having an epiphany.”

“Over what?”

He glances up at me, his eyes shining with excitement. “Over a cure.”

I rush up to him. “You figured it out?”

“Well, yes and no.” He gestures at himself as he squares his shoulders. “I’ve been studying my blood and well…” he trails off, glancing around with a puzzled look. Then something clicks in his expression and he hurries back to the wall.

“What are you…?”

I trail off as he rams his fist through the wall. Bits and pieces of brick shatter and fly through the air. My jaw hits my knees as I gape at him, stepping back as my hand moves to my knife.

“What are you?” I ask, drawing my knife out of my back pocket.

He surrenders his hands in front of him. “Kayla, relax. I’m still me, simply stronger… just like you.”

My arm falls to my side. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

He lowers his hands and rushes towards me, beaming from ear to ear. “Yes,” he says. “You’re blood didn’t just cure me; it turned me into a Day Walker.”

“That can’t be possible,” I argue against the bluntly honest truth in front of me. I can see it in his eyes; the power, the strength, the confidence. “Sylas didn’t...” I trail off, remembering how he seemed to be stronger as we ran here and how, when he kisses me, there is so much more behind it I thought I’d bruise. I’ve never felt like I could bruise before. Unlike Mathew, however, I’m not happy. “Well, that doesn’t do us any good,” I say. “Because we’re not trying to turn the world into a bunch of Day Walkers. We want to be human again, right?”

“Of course,” he says and I can tell he means it, that he wants the world to return to what it was. “And we’re one step closer to it.”

“How so?”

“Because…” He hurries over to the cabinet, unintentionally smashing things in as he goes. “Now I understand the way the virus and the cure work.” He takes out a few vials and the leftover papers of Monarchs with his handwriting scribbled all over them. “Monarch kept rambling in these,” he says, staring down at the papers. “How he managed to make you immune to the vampire virus even before you were changed into…” He peeks over at me with an apologetic face. “Well, before he turned you into whatever you were before you were a Day Walker.” He taps his finger on the papers. “It means at one point you were still in human form and withstanding the virus.” He gathers the papers and vials and then moves over to the table, arranging them out.

“When I was injected with your blood, my blood took on the structure of yours,” he says. “Therefore, I became a Day Walker, so if I can return you to your human state, then your blood could turn any person back to their human state.”

“But wouldn’t you be making a cure by turning me back into a human?”

He shakes his head. “There’s something in your blood, Kayla; something that kills the virus instantly. So if we can break down the various viruses in you and eliminate them, then we might be able to get you back to your human form,” he says. “It would make you a viable host and cure because your blood would not only heal the infected person and change them back to human, but it would also protect them when getting bit again.”

“But what if when you turn me back,” I say. “Then I’m no longer the cure; what if it’s my Day Walker blood that’s the cure.”

He shakes his head. “I already told you, Monarch said you weren’t responding to the virus even when you were a child,” he says. “But honestly I don’t know, not until we try it.”

“But what if you try it and then I change back and I’m merely useless.”

“I’m not going to lie to you, Kayla. It’s a risk. You just need to decide if you want to take it. And I’d make sure to have a lot of your original blood on hand as backup.”

I’m not sure how to respond. He acts like he’s playing mad scientist, which is what started this entire problem in the first place. So many things could go wrong. “And how would you even do it?” I ask. “Figure out how to turn me back to human?”

He swallows hard, his cheery demeanor darkening a little. “There was this thing we used to do called a fading,” he says. “Back in my experiment days, after a subject had been tested and tested on, we’d try to wipe the virus out of their bodies so we could start the testing process on them again; make them usable again, like a clean slate.”

I give him a dirty look. “And did they live?”

He bites on his lip, looking guilty. “Most didn’t, but a few strong ones did,” he says.

“And what were they like?” I say coldly. “These people that you faded. Were they normal humans again?”

He runs his fingers through his hair then reclines back against the table. “I’d try to lie to you, but from what I understand from Monarchs notes about you, he made it so you could tell when someone is lying.” He releases a stressed breath. “So the answer is yes, they were human, but no they weren’t the same. They lost a lot of their function, although their bodies still thrived.”

I step forward in a threatening manner, wondering if I can take him now or if his strength will match mine. I’m curious to find out. “So what you’re saying is that if I take this fading, then there’s a good chance I’ll be gone.”

He wavers then gets to his feet and walks over to me. “Gone, but for the greater good. I’m sorry I have to say this, but sometimes it takes a huge sacrifice to make things right again. Not everyone can survive.”

His words almost match Monarchs words; the ones I constantly hear in my head. Is that what he’s trying to tell me? That this is the sacrifice.”

“I have to think about it,” I say then turn for the door.

“Kayla, wait,” he calls out. “I need one more thing from you.”

Shaking my head, I turn around. “What?”

He looks taken aback by my anger, but shrugs it off. “I need to inject you with the original vampire virus.”

“Why?” I gape at him.

“Because I need to see if I can get your blood to replicate like the virus does. And I want to start by seeing what will happen if I add it to your blood.”

“But I’ve already been bit. Nothing happens.”

He shakes his head, his expression laced with stress. “The virus itself works a lot different… and it’s more potent when you shoot it straight into a vein.”

“So you’re saying I could turn?” God, what does this man want from me? First he’s asking me to risk my existence and give over my body for the hope of mankind and now he’s asking me to take a risk and turn into a vampire.

“I doubt it,” he says. “I just wanted to let you know that it’s a risk because I don’t want to lie to you.”

“Can’t lie to me,” I remind him, annoyed. I consider it for a moment, wondering what the right choice is. I could turn into one. Let my flesh rot. Do I want that for myself? Then I remember that there are risks that need to be taken in order for things to change and then decide to do it. “You have some of my blood, right?” I ask, sitting down on a chair. “As backup, so you can hopefully change me back with it?”

He nods, pointing at a row of vials in the cabinet. “I do and any signs that you’re changing, I’ll inject you.”

I shove my sleeve up. “Then do it. Go ahead and inject me.”

He seems remorseful, but still goes to retrieve the vial from his cabinet. He fills a syringe with it then flicks the needle with his fingertip as he makes his way back over to me. A slow breath eases from his lips as he aims it at my arm and I frown as he runs his finger along my vein, remembering, yet not remembering, all the times I was injected. Then, with a deep breath, he injects the virus straight into me and all we can do is wait.

“I feel funny,” I say, feeling a little woozy as he throws away the syringe and returns the virus to its rightful place in the cabinet.

“That’s understandable.” He turns around, watching me, waiting to see if I’ll change.

I brace myself against the wall as the room starts to spin; my veins feel like they’re on fire. “I feel like I’m going to throw up.”

Nodding and keeping his eyes fastened on me, he backs away to a metallic cooler in the corner of the room. He opens it up and takes out a small vial of my blood along with another vial that looks like it’s filled with a black liquid that bubbles red. He tucks that one into his pocket and then hurries forward, preparing to inject me with my blood.

I hold up my finger, struggling to breathe, not ready to give up. I force my body to fight against the potency and desire to let the virus take control. After a few inhales and exhales, my strength returns to me and I manage to stand up straight, releasing a breath.

“I think I’m going to be okay,” I tell him, squaring my shoulders.

“You don’t feel like your skin is peeling off or anything?” he asks cautiously. “Or are you filled with a hunger for blood?”

I shake my head, breathing freer and freer by the second. “I feel perfectly fine.”

His whole body sinks as he sighs with relief. “Thank God.” He moves over to a drawer and gets an empty vial and syringe. “I’m going to take some of your blood now and see what it’s doing. Have a seat.”

I do what he says as he prepares to draw my blood. I eye his pocket, wondering what the other vial is. “What was that other thing you grabbed?” I ask.

He touches his finger to my forearm, finding a vein. “What do you mean?”

“That vial that’s in your pocket. What is it?”

He puts the needle into my arm and begins to fill the syringe up with blood. “That’s the fading.”

I don’t say anything as he finishes up and then I get up from my chair, heading to leave.

“Wait, where are you going?” he asks as I reach the doorway.

I pause. “To think.”

Now, he pauses. “Kayla, I know this is a hard decision but—but we’re running out of time.”

“I know that,” I say through gritted teeth. “But I need just a few minutes.” To think. To process. To find out what Sylas thinks.”

I walk out the door, knowing if Mathew wanted to, he could probably chase me down and try to put the fading in me, but he doesn’t. He’s giving me a choice. When I think about it, though, I know it’s really not a choice. Deep down, I know what I’m going to do because it’s why I was created. To think without emotion, to think about what’s important, to not base my decisions on greed.

In the end, I’ll go through with it. I just need to say good-bye.