Darkness Fades

  "She wasn't just born that way?"

  He shakes his head. "Humans weren't born with extraordinary gifts, which are why the Highers were so determined to create them."

  I'm not sure if I believe him or not, though, considering he used to be one of the doctors and the cause for all this messing around with humanity. Maybe it was that thought process--that humans had no gifts--that helped their strive to perfection escalate.

  He scratches his head. "Did Maci by chance tell you how to save the world? Or how to find the cure even?" he asks, hopeful. It makes me have less hope that he'll be able to find a cure.

  His expression sinks as I shake my head. "She didn't tell me how to save it... she never gives instructions, just tidbits of information that will lead me to do the right thing. And she told me that I needed to protect you," I tell him.

  He sighs and turns back to the vials on the table. "Yeah, I guess things can't ever be that easy."

  "No, they really can't," I agree, reflecting on my difficult past and everything I've gone through to get to this exact point. "But what about you?" I ask. "Did you figure out anything at all yet?"

  His pales eyes light up as he picks up a glass vial and holds it up to the light. There is a purple liquid inside the vial that reflects through the glass. "Not yet." He lowers the vial. "But in the papers Aiden left behind, Monarch made several references to how you seemed not to be immune to the original virus in the beginning... that your body reacted to the virus just like everyone else, which means that somewhere along the lines, that changed; you became immune." He places the vial back down on the counter. "So I think the answers might start with you."

  I already knew that. I hop off the counter and walk over to him. "So, wait a minute. Are saying that he purposefully injected me with the virus to see if I would turn into a vampire? And then what? I'd turn? How the hell did he change me back?"

  "That's the answer we need." He gives me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Kayla. He was determined to find a way to create perfection and he didn't care about those he was hurting. Or killing." He pauses. "He did try to make up for it--tried to reverse the damage he'd done." Mathew starts organizing the vials in rows.

  I'm burning in my own anger. Monarch had changed me into a vampire at one point. I was once one of those disgusting monsters crying out at night; hungry and looking to eat flesh and blood. Just like Sylas before he changed.

  I swallow my emotions down because I know that I have to--or maybe it's how I've been programmed. "Mathew, there's something I have to tell you." I watch as he sorts through vials, reading the label on them. I hope that I can trust him. "Something important."

  He glances up at me with a concerned look on his face. "Kayla, what is it... you look a little ill."

  I touch my cheek to my hand, wondering what ill looks like on me. "I feel fine, except I need to tell you something... I just need to know that I can trust you."

  He nods, standing up as straight as his crooked back will allow him to. "You can trust me with your life. I promise."

  I absorb his truth, feeling a little better. "Back when I went to get the papers and Sylas was there... well, he wasn't there as himself but a... but an abomination..."

  He holds up his hands. "Wait, Sylas was an abomination?"

  I reluctantly nod. "He was, but then he bit me and well..." I trail off as Mathew's eyes widen.

  "Why didn't you tell me this before?" he asks in disbelief, dropping the vial he's holding onto the floor. It shatters at our feet and scatters into fragments around us.

  "Because... I wasn't sure I could trust you," I say. It's my initial instinct to mistrust, to keep things to myself, to put walls up. "And besides, it doesn't make any sense. He didn't turn back into a human... he turned back into a Day Taker. Plus, he's bit me before and it didn't do anything at all to him; just made me pass out."

  Mathew deliberates what I've said, fiddling with the button on his coat. "What were you when he bit you the first time?"

  I shrug. "Whatever you want to consider me before I was a Day Walker," I say. "A soldier... I'm not sure."

  "But you were a Day Walker when he bit you the second time?"

  I nod, the wheels in my head turning. "Do you think that's what did it? Do you think my Day Walker blood has something to do with the cure?"

  His eyes are as wide as I've ever seen before, and without even answering, he whisks over to a cabinet door, his excitement giving him a boost of energy. He opens the door and takes out a syringe. There's a stool next to him and he pats it for me to sit down.

  "Why?"

  He pauses, uncertain. "If it's all right with you, I'd like to draw some of your blood and study it."

  I pull out the stool and sit down on it. "You think studying it will help you figure out a cure?"

  "We're about to find out." He pulls the cap off the syringe. "Roll up your sleeve," he instructs. I sigh, but obey, rolling up my sleeve. He presses the needle into my skin, into a vein. It pinches and I watch as the syringe fills up with my blood. When the syringe is full, he removes the needle.

  "So now what?" I ask. "How do you study blood?"

  He points at this strange looking object over on the counter with a tube attached to it that angles to a platform. "You study blood through that," he says, rolling up his sleeve. "But that's not what I'm doing."

  Before I have time to think, he aims the needle at his forearm and plunges it into his vein. My eyes widen as I leap from the stool and reach out to stop him. "You don't know if that is safe!" I exclaim, my fingers snagging the rolled up sleeve of his jacket.

  He turns out of my reach and nudges my hand away with his elbow. If I wanted to, I could take him out, but it wouldn't do any good. He's already put some of my blood into his veins.

  "What if it doesn't work on you?" I say, stepping back and shaking my head. "What if it only worked on Sylas because he was a Day Taker? Or what if it turns you into a Day Taker or an abomination? There are so many possibilities, Mathew."

  "I know that, but that's how all of this started. Risks where taken. Lives were sacrificed." He continues injecting himself with my blood. "Whatever happens doesn't matter... I can either do this or turn or die. I have to try something else."

  Sacrifices need to be made. You must understand that, Kayla.

  Shaking my head, I sit back down on the stool. "Well, I'm killing you if you turn."

  He glances up at me with a ghost smile. "Fair enough."

  It grows silent as he takes the needle out of his skin then sets it down on the countertop. I hold my knife and keep my eyes locked on him, ready to slice his chest open if I have to.

  He pumps his fist a few times, staring at his arm, waiting for something to happen, I guess.

  After some time goes by, I ask, "What do we do now?"

  "Now," he says simply, "we wait to see if I turn human or if you have to kill me."

  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."