Darkness Fades

  I'm not sure if he understands me or not, but I don't care anymore. The needle plunges into my skin and the purple liquid enters my body. It burns in my veins like liquid fire. I drop like a ton of bricks to my knees, feeling sad, yet satisfied as I wait to fade.

  "You stupid bitch!" Gabrielle screams as he races across the room at me. When he reaches me, he doesn't touch me; instead he picks up the vile beside me. He peers at it, trembling with rage. "What was that?"

  I sit down on the ground as a euphoric state overcomes me, reclining against the counter, staring ahead at the wall. The burn in my veins stops and I feel oddly content and at peace as I feel this strange emptying sensation slither through me. "It was the fading."

  "Dammit! What have you done?" Gabrielle chucks the vile across the room, breaking it against the wall. Then he swipes his arm over the table, shattering vials and vials into pieces of glass, losing control of his emotions.

  I look down at my arms expecting to see my skin fading, but everything looks normal. I'm not changing into anything, though, then again, will I even look different? What does fading even look like? Will I just vanish within myself and not even realize it?

  Everyone watches me as I sit there, unmoving, unchanging... I don't feel different at all, just more content. Then I hear something that's not normal, like the tiny beat of a footstep; a small sound forming in my chest. I glance down at it, but see nothing. I can still hear it, though. What's happening to me?

  Gabrielle starts to relax as he takes in the sight of my unchanging. "Well, look at you. All that bravery for nothing... even the fading can't work on you. You see, you're the perfect creation and soon you'll make the Highers the same way."

  Ba-bump... ba-bump... ba-bump...

  My heartbeat. Oh my God... I'm becoming a human. And it feels... invigorating because I can fully feel it, fully feel everything. My arms start to shake, tremble, weaken. My muscles deteriorate into the strength of a normal person. I feel my breath struggle a little more, my body stops healing, standing still; the wounds that were sealing themselves together pause and allow blood to trickle out.

  Gabrielle's eyes burn with hatred as he sees it; his cure slipping away. He turns to Aiden with rage in his eyes, ready to throw all of it at someone. "Kill her... she's no use to me now."

  I crawl back towards Mathew as he says it, feeling helpless. Shards of glass split at my skin. "No, Aiden, don't... please."

  Aiden ignores me, nodding at Gabrielle and then marching towards me, his eyes cold and his expression hollow. I try to stand as Mathew gets to his feet, ready to protect me, but I fall back down, my legs weak and aching. I glance at Mathew for help, but Monarch rushes forward and pummels him, throwing his weight into him before both of them crash into the wall.

  Aiden crouches down in front of me and cocks his head to the side, assessing me for a moment with his pale eyes that used to be honey brown and so beautiful. I miss those eyes.

  "I'm sorry, Kayla," he says in a monotone voice. "I always have, and always will love you. Forever. Please forgive me." Then he opens his mouth, lets his fangs descend and then digs them into my vulnerable throat.

  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.

  What I've done to him. This sentence hits me harder than anything that I have ever felt before. It's over, yet it seems as if it's only starting. The cure is inside me and in Gabrielle and Monarch and Mathew, but there's still so much more to do.

  "We have a cure," I whisper in awe, glancing down at my bloody arms. My blood.

  "You did this to me," Gabrielle says as he staggers closer to me, barely able to stand. "You did this." He gasps for air. So weak. "You've undone all that we have worked for. Everything I've done..." He lands on top of me as his hands go around my neck and I gasp. He presses his weight down on me, his face reddening as he shoves me down against the floor. "I'll kill you!" he growls. I can see in his eyes that he will.

  I feel my breath leaving me as I try to fight--try to kick, try to get away--but I don't know how to work my body. The feeling of the helplessness is frightening. Death. Weakness. Is that what being human is?

  I shut my eyes as I push on Gabrielle's chest, refusing to give up; using all the strength I have in me. I feel him leave my body and I think that maybe, just maybe, I've somehow gotten over my human weakness. When I open my eyes, though, I find that Monarch and Mathew have pulled Gabrielle off me and Monarch's shoving him down to the floor.

  "Go," he says to Mathew and me as Gabrielle fights to get away. Monarch picks up a piece of glass as he says, "Go check on your people."

  Mathew hurries across the room, but I don't dare move as Monarch presses the tip of the glass to Gabrielle's throat. "You and I have some unfinished business."

  "Monarch, don't," I say, feeling something ache deep inside my chest, knowing if he kills him, he might feel the same ache. "It's not... it's not worth more blood on your hands."

  Monarch turns around and looks at me, his grey still a bit alarming. "Kayla, go. You've done your part, and now I'll do mine."

  I don't want to leave and let Monarch do what I think he's going to do--kill Gabrielle--yet at the same time, I see nothing except evil in Gabrielle's eyes. So even though it's agonizing, I turn and walk away, hating myself a little bit.

  When I step outside, it's still dark; however, I can see a speck of sun on the horizon and I swear I can feel it's warmth. The streets are fairly quiet, the echoes of battle continuing in the distances. The streets are covered with bodies of abominations and people. For the most part, though, the people and Day Takers--what's left of them--have gotten the streets under control from the beasts.

  Near the corner of the building, Nichelle is hugging Mathew, sobbing as torches burn in the street. "You're okay." Tears stream down her face as she grips him tightly. I can suddenly understand her emotion more than I'd like to admit.

  He holds her firmly in return. "It was all Kayla," he says. "We owe it all to her, for risking her life to save others."

  I stop when he says it and glance around at the blood painted on the streets. Yes, there's a cure now, but at what cost? All these deaths... and Aiden's death... and there's still so much left to change. How are we even going to get it to spread quickly enough? How are we going to fight to cure the world? Yet, as I glance around again at the streets, hope arises because we survived.

  I'm about to take off and see if I can find Sylas when Nichelle rushes over to me and hugs me, tears spilling from her eyes while I have to choke back my own. I wrap one arm around her as she thanks me repeatedly. It doesn't feel as strange as it used to. When I let her go, she runs back to Mathew and continues to hug him. They seem completely happy and so do I, yet the death that surrounds us also makes me incredibly sad.

  "Are you okay?" The voice takes me by surprise and I spin around, almost falling to the ground as my weak human legs try to give up on me.

  Sylas catches me in his arms and pulls me against his chest, holding my weight for me. The warmth of his touch overflows me, along with my feelings for him, and what I have to tell him. Tears start to fall from my eyes again, despite how much I attempt to suck them back.

  "I'm so sorry," I say as I circle my arms around him.

  "Sorry for what?" he asks, kissing my hair.

  "Aiden," I choke.

  He tenses and holds me tighter. I know he won't cry. Not when he's still a Day Walker, but deep beneath the surface, he'll hurt. I hate being the one to tell him the thing that will make him feel that way.

  "Kayla... why do you smell different?" he asks, his face nestled against my neck.

  "Because I'm human," I whisper.

  He jerks away and looks me in the eyes, searching them, and then his expression falls. I wonder if he hates me. If he'll leave me here, standing in the streets, alone.

  "What happened?" he asks, shocked.

  "I took the fading." I take a deep breath then blow it out and it feels like I'm blowing out freedom. "And now we found a cure."

  Epilogue

  It all seems too good to be true, and for the next few days, we're all stuck in some strange, alternate reality, but for once our hopes are high because we have a future of our own.

  The people of the colony spend a lot of time burying their loved ones and cleaning up their city. There were a lot of deaths, including humans and Day Takers. Maci and Greyson managed to make it out okay, along with Mathew and Monarch, who are making plans for the best way to spread the cure without killing off
the entire population of the world. They decide the best way is to send the remaining Day Takers out there to inject the vampires with my blood and allow them to spread the cure amongst them. I'm a little wary of his plan since it follows his whole army theory he's had from the start. Still, it seems like the best plan going up against the vampires and the remaining Highers. Plus, it's the only plan we have now, however Mathew and Monarch are trying to make the cure airborne.

  There's one more reason why I'm not so keen on the idea of the Day Takers being the ones who have to go. But that's based on the fact that the person I care for the most is a Day Taker turned Day Walker. One who's been pretending not to be sad, yet I can see it in his eyes whenever he doesn't think I'm looking at him, and the fact that he doesn't seem to want to bury his brother, not wanting to accept yet.

  However, on the third day of recovery, Sylas and I decide to have a burial after he finally decides it's time to move on. Around daybreak, we go up to the top of the highest hill and Sylas digs a large hole. Then we put Aiden's body into it and bury it with sand. By the time we're finished, the sunlight is breaking through the sky and, for some reason, it looks brighter.

  "Are you ready to go back to the town?" I ask Sylas as he stares out at the land, wisps of his dark hair shadowing his charcoal eyes.

  He shakes his head and sits down in the dirt. "Not yet." He glances up at me then pats the ground beside him. I do what he asks and sit down beside him.

  When I get situated, he reaches over and takes my hand. I can immediately sense that something's wrong, but I'm afraid to ask what because, knowing Sylas, he'll give me the blunt truth whether I like it or not.

  "I've been wanting to talk to you about some stuff," he starts, leaning back on his arms and watching the horizon, watching the sun rise. "You have the cure inside you, and everyone's talking about spreading it across the world... changing everyone back to being human and how the Day Takers are going to be the main ones to do it."

  "It's not a bad thing." I keep my eyes on the approaching sunlight. "Although I wish you weren't going."