HYBRID

by Emery Skye

  He leans forward, pressing his elbows to his knees. "Tell me. What do you know? You don't know anything!” his jaw tightens. “You never knew why those jokes of people you call parents kept me on such a tight leash, it's because they didn't trust me. Lex, he is my savior. He unleashed me, uncaged me. I’m not sure why he’s so interested in killing you though. You’re still weak and pathetic, same as always.”

  I’m hearing, but not understanding. At first, I don't know who he's talking about, then, it hits me--the vamp. He's referring to the vamp that changed him.

  I only remember Chase being perfect.

  How he can call anything capable of hurting so many people a savior is revolting.

  "Lexi, I had a decision to make. Choose death or choose to be a king. It's my birthright to be this." He moves his hands down the length of his body.

  His words make little sense to me. "You chose to be a murderer over being killed? Chase, we can beat this! You don't have to be this way! Hunter told me how you have to do what the sire says, but we can beat him! I promise! We'll find a way!" I'm screaming the words, fighting the burning sensation in my throat.

  There's still a possibility.

  His lips quirk up in a menacing smirk. "I want this, Lex. There's nothing to beat." He tells me. "I was born to..."

  "To what? To be a butcherer, to be a murderer, to be a vampire?"

  There's still a possibility.

  "Yes, I was created by a vampire and I want to fulfill my destiny."

  "I know you and know you aren't capable of creating such death and pain. I know it!" I scream at him. Spit shoots from my lips.

  My hair sticks to the sides of my face, glued by the tears that continue flowing steadily.

  "That's the problem. You think I can't kill. You think I'm so good," Chase muses quietly. His narrowed eyes seem to be searching for something.

  "You can be good," I say, realizing the truth of it. Maybe, there's still a way.

  “I hope you know, I wanted your death to be swift, but now I see no other way,” he says.

  I’m shaking.

  My heart hurts. I hardly see him; my eyes burn so badly.

  "What are you talking about?"

  He snaps his fingers and two Hordes enter the room with a pretty girl who looks so much like me with her dark brown hair streaked with red. Her face is pale. She looks to me with fear-stricken eyes and she's sobbing.

  "What...what are you doing?" I ask Chase feverishly. The walls are closing in. The Hordes disappear. It's only Chase, the girl and me.

  He pulls her forward and strokes her cheek almost seductively, before looking at me with such evil in his eyes, I know now.... there's no possibility. He brings his other hand up and with a quick motion, he snaps her neck, causing her head to collapse to the side. Her hazel eyes stare at me and I watch as the life drains from them. Any sign of vibrancy disappears.

  The Hordes smack their lips together. I dry-heave.

  I scream with all the power I have left in me. I thrash against the metal around my wrists and ankles, and they cut deeply into my skin. The warm trickle of blood drips down into my palms and rolls off my fingers. I moving so wildly that the chair flips to the side. My stomach lifts into my throat as my head hits something hard. I listen to Chase’s deep chuckle. He’s a monster.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  "Wakey, wakey, little girl," Chase coos.

  The pain in my head doesn't have anything on the pain radiating in my chest.

  My heart’s crying. Meanwhile, razors slice at my every attempt to breathe. There is no reprieve from the pain. The wound Chase created will forever bleed.

  I'm sitting upright.

  "You don't look happy to see me this time," he mocks. He uncrosses his arms revealing a mauve-colored shirt. It must be a new day. I stare past Chase for any indication of time, but there is none. The few windows are boarded up.

  I have no energy to speak with this monster. He's a murderer. He's killed so many and shows no remorse. He could've fought for his humanity and chose not to.

  He surrounded himself in darkness and so darkness he became.

  This Chase; he’s the weak and pathetic one.

  "You look disappointed," he observes.

  I stare into his eyes. I know mine are void of all emotion. I'm tired of his game.

  He backhands me with such force, my neck twists to the right and my chair jerks backward. The chair wobbles on its back legs, but doesn’t fall.

  My lip trembles, my nostrils flare and my chest heaves. I try with every effort not to cry.

  He leans away and clucks his tongue.

  "Let's talk. Like old times," he suggests. "Tell me about the cute little angel with red hair. Who's that?" Caity. Oh my god, he knows about Caity and Caity's been gone! He didn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't. I gape at him and know he could have. Again, my chest stings with the realization of what he is capable of.

  "You better not have touched her!" I growl deep and low, gutturally.

  "I haven't done anything… yet. The angel escaped before I could get too close. Tricky little brat." His brows draw together in a frown.

  How did Caity escape him when Hunter couldn't? This thought swirls in my mind.

  "Tell me about the Cambion."

  My teeth grind together at the mention of Hunter. For the first time, my fists clench and the muscles in my wrist push against the metal that's no longer foreign to my skin.

  "Aw, yes. You care for him. Don't you?"

  I'm silent.

  "Figures you would fall for a vile, disgusting creature like him."

  "Don't you speak about him like that!” I scream.

  Chase smiles and it reminds me of his old smile, when he was my brother and not a monster. It's so familiar; it makes me want to cry.

  It's like I'm losing my brother all over again.

  "You don't know what he is. Do you?"

  My whole face drops. I don't know.

  "I know he's not a murderer like you!"

  Chase chuckles. An amused glimmer lights his murky blue eyes.

  "Oh, Lexi. He's killed far more than I have."

  "He's killed ones like you! He's not a monster who snaps poor girls’ necks for shits and giggles." I'm praying silently that Hunter hasn't ever committed the atrocious acts Chase suggests.

  "It's too bad you'll never find out the truth about your dear Hunter."

  He sits in the chair across from me.

  I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want my brother to torture me. I've been tortured enough. I don't want these memories of him. I only want to remember the good. This man in his expensive suit and dark eyes is not my brother, but he looks too much like him. He reminds me of the all the darkness in the world. He reminds me of the darkness that almost took my life.

  "Kill me already," I beg weakly.

  Darkness hushes the dull roar in my mind; the shrapnel of light is disappearing. I'm stuck in twilight, pleading for death by my brother's hand.

  He chortles. A sound I once welcomed with open arms, now sends waves of nausea.

  "Say, please," he coos.

  I bring my teeth together to control the bile rising in my throat and the muscles in my throat knot up.

  "Please," I force the word that taste like sour milk to leave my now stilled lips.

  He drops his head back and heartily laughs. "Sorry, no can do. My sire wants to meet you."

  I raise my eyes for the first time in a long time to meet Chase's. He's telling the truth.

  "I can help you sleep until then," he says. "But first,” he reaches forward, so his mouth is close to my arm. “I need a snack.” The feeling of two incisions being made by sharp needles piercing through my forearm, causes me to thrash uncontrollably and I realize, Chase is biting me. My brother is biting me! The searing pain in my arm is something I've never experienced. Then, it stops as abruptly as it started.

  I stare into his blue eyes, tinted with a murkiness like swamp water. "Tell me, little sister, you know what
I am. Now, what are you?"

  My forehead wrinkles, matching his.

  The sting like a million needles tattooing my right cheek is the last thing I feel before passing into darkness.

  I awake to a lingering drip, drip, drip coming from behind me. There are no windows in the building, so I don't know if it's day or night. I don't know how long I've been here. I only know, every second brings me closer to my death.

  "Thinking deeply, are we? Don't bother. You're dead soon anyway," Chase says. "It won't be long now."

  "What are you waiting for?" I bite angrily.

  "Such a fire. I thought it was dead and gone. You know, sometimes, I can feel the fire from that pansy too."

  Chase faces me. I squint my eyes to clear them of the cement-like gunk casing them shut.

  "Who?"

  "I wanted to kill them, you know that? Instead, I only got that disgusting horse, but every night before I fall to sleep, I revel in the pain it must have caused you." I'm silent. There's nothing I can say. I know he's talking about our parents. I know now, he killed Cruiser.

  "I'm going to kill them too. You know that, don't you?"

  "Who?" I ask again, more anxiously than before.

  "The boy. What's his name? Pierce, I believe. Then, I'm going to kill the pretty little redhead. And for the finale, I'm going to destroy your Cambion."

  Time stops. Heat kindles in my lower abdomen and branches to my toes, my fingers and the crown of my head. Fury and rage brew in my heavy heart. The pressure is too much to handle. I'm seconds from erupting. All the anger at my loss. The loss of my parents, my brother, my life, is becoming too much. I will not let this monster kill the last of my family. I won't let him hurt Caity or Pierce. I won't let him hurt Hunter.

  Chase stands and backs away from me. "What the..."

  The metal's hot against my skin, but I don't feel pain, only warmth.

  Fear grows in Chase’s widening eyes.

  "You will not hurt them!" I scream through the burn in my throat. Chase backs away to the door and two Hordes run through. They stop feet from me and stare at me with inky black eyes. The metal around my ankles and wrists snaps and falls to the ground with a clang.

  "You will not hurt them!" I scream again.

  I stand and all the anger, pain, fear, confusion and despair erupt from my body.

  A brightness, like the sun, emanates from somewhere. It blinds me, it's partnered with a rushing heat. At some point, the light dissipates.

  "Lexi, can you hear me? Stay with me!" Blue eyes greet me and I jerk away. "It's me, Hunter. You're safe. Stay with me!" I'm lifted into strong arms and the heat fades away, replaced with a warm, gentle hum vibrating under my skin.

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  I keep my eyes closed, not willing to accept that I'm dead.

  My fingertips stroke something soft and silky. Death feels pretty good.

  In my next life, I hope there’s lots of cool cushions. Wait, is there a next life? Where does darkness come from? I wonder if I'll be able to ask God these questions.

  Ah, if heaven exists, does that mean God does too? He’s going to hate me! Whoops. Guess I shouldn't have talked as much shit about an omniscient, supposedly all-powerful being that could potentially impact my eternal future.

  I wonder if there are angels. Surely, angels wouldn’t come for me. Surely, they’d have better things to do. Surely, God wouldn't send them to me or have them bring me to heaven when he murdered my mother and father and left my brother as a vampire. Surely.

  I expand my fingers and stroke the cool, soft blanket. My skin is rough, like burlap, against its fineness. I peel my eyes open. A week worth of gunk glues them shut. Everything is heavy: my fingers, arms, toes and my heart.

  "You're awake?" Caity says gleefully, as she walks through an arched doorway.

  She’s delicately holding two Styrofoam cups with her manicured pianist fingers. If she's here, then maybe, I'm not dead. Or maybe, she's dead, too? Could that be it?

  I'm sure one of the cups contains one bag of chamomile and one bag of green tea for her. Who is the other cup for?

  I turn my head, ignoring the beauty of the room and peer over at the handsome vampire slayer sitting awkwardly in a plush, brown pleather chair. His skin is a watery cocoa color. His eyes are closed, and his soot black eyelashes hang low. His full lips are parted slightly.

  "He never left," she tells me sweetly. "You've been keeping interesting company lately, sweetie."

  Caity stares kindly at Hunter. Her eyes pulsate with energy the color of the inside of a lime.

  Hunter’s scars are more visible against his skin than usual and his hair is in more disarray than I've ever seen.

  "How long have I been here?" I ask, surveying the room. I'm lying on a massive king-size sleigh bed. The brass spiral knobs on the different doors around me, shine brightly in the sun. The sun’s rays spill through a large window that must be at least my height and possibly taller. I stare at a large marble tub, built into the wall, enviously.

  "Beautiful, isn't it?" Caity asks.

  She walks to a fireplace and flips a switch, the flames flicker wildly.

  "You gave us all quite a scare, sweetie." She takes a seat at the edge of my bed. She's wearing a light purple, cashmere sweater with matching purple, rope sandals and dark blue jeggings.

  I have a million questions, so why do I keep looking at Hunter like a lovesick puppy?

  "Where are we?" I ask.

  "In a safe place," she tells me. “I'm so thrilled. I always knew you were one of us."

  "One of who?"

  Hunter shifts in his chair. Caity notices my eyes drift to him again.

  "I'm very serious. I literally had to force the boy to make the travel to the bathroom," and she glances at the thick brown doors I noticed earlier.

  "I would have been fine pissing off the balcony," he bites.

  Judging from the look on Caity's face, she doesn't know Hunter as well as I have come to know him. Poor thing. Being around Hunter without knowledge of how he works must be stressful, especially for her.

  Wait, Caity is an empath, so why can't she tell that Hunter isn't truly angry?

  "One of who?" I ask again.

  I once wondered if I could count on Hunter to stay with me. I had hoped he'd be a constant in my life and here he is, still.

  "Oh, I can't tell you that yet." My eyes widen. "Now, sweetie. Don't be mad. I have orders and they are to be quiet until everyone arrives. That was the deal," she explains gently, padding my hand.

  "Are you kidding me?" I sound like a boy going through puberty. "You and Pierce take off and then...well, I was almost killed by my brother, who's a--" I pause. Does Caity know?

  "Yes, I know Chase is a vampire. Although, that was quite a shocker, I'll tell you. It surprised us all." Her eyes drift to Hunter and her lips purse, then she looks back to me, settling in a look of sweetness. "Well, except him, of course. But that's not for me to discuss."

  "How do you know?" I question her knowledge of the supernatural world.

  "Well, sweetie. I know quite a bit, actually. Like I said, let's wait till the others arrive to discuss the nitty-gritty. The good news is that you're alive and well." She grins widely.

  "How long?"

  "I feel how angry you are and it's in everyone’s best interest if you calm down." She inhales like we're in Lamaze class. "We wouldn't want another outburst, now would we?"

  She's right—I'm furious. I'm in some random room and my best friend, who's been MIA for weeks, knows about my brother and refuses to tell me more, and now she's telling me to calm down. Oh, I'll show her calm! A fire I recognize, much like the fire kindling the fireplace, sparks in my stomach.

  "Lexi,” she reaches forward and places her cool, elegant fingers on my hand. A rush of euphoria unlike anything I've felt before, washes over me. Wait, I have felt this...when I was younger. It wasn't as strong, but it was like this is right now.

  My anger subsides, slowly melting away like
an ice-sculpture in the sun.

  She's doing something to me. She's taking away the anger somehow.

  I jerk my hand away from hers and my emotions hit me, but with less force. Her face falls into a frown. My heart swells with the grief of hurting her.

  "Don't do that!"

  "I was only trying to help," she crosses her legs.

  "A week," she tells me out of nowhere.

  "A week? I've been passed out for a week!" I say loudly. She raises her porcelain hand threateningly with a cocked eyebrow.

  "Calming down," I say as I raise my hands in mock defense. I'm sure she'll do her weird calming thing again if I don't lower my voice and keep my cool.

  I'm propped up against the headboard now, with dozens of cotton pillows around me.

  "Give or take a few days," she alerts me.

  I gaze around the room in dismay.

  "Where am I? Why am I not in a hospital?"

  "Oh, sweetie, you didn't need to go to a hospital. You gave everyone quite a fright. I knew you would be fine."

  My heart stops. "Since when are you qualified to make that decision, Caitlyn. Last time I checked, you weren't a doctor," I growl.

  "There's water on the end table," she informs me, her voice dripping with sugar. "No, I am not a doctor, but I can sense when there is real danger and we were able to heal most of your wounds. So, there was no need for you to go to a doctor. That's the last place a hybrid should ever go."

  "A hybrid," I look to her and her eyes widen. She fuses with her braided hair.

  "No, I... Ummm, don't say anything," she pleads.

  "Caity! What the hell are you talking about? Am I a hybrid?"

  "I hate this chair," Hunter groans and his blue eyes reach mine. They're darker than I remember. His face relaxes and his lips move up in a small, easy smile. "Lex, you're awake," he sighs heavily, like he's been holding his breath for months.

  "I told you she would wake up," Caity tells him.

  "Wasn't talking to you, Red," he says. He stands, before reaching down and taking me into a tight embrace. My body is awkwardly sprawled across the bed, but I don't care. My head comfortably rests on his strong chest and the smell of mint and evergreens wraps around me. The hum vibrates under my skin as my body recognizes his.