by L. L. Wright
“But how can you be sure?” Lisa pressed. She still sat next to Emmie, holding her hand protectively.
Collin attached the tube at the end of the needle to the blood bag and ushered Leo into the chair beside Emmie before sliding the needle into his arm and laying the bag in his lap. Then he turned to Lisa. “The blood that makes Emmie half-angel belonged to Leo’s other half, his soulmate. They were created to be a perfect match for each other in every way. Now, angels don't usually need blood transfusions, but I’m going to go out on a limb and assume they're a perfect match in that respect too.”
Leo noticed the concerned look on Lisa’s face as she stared at Emmie and chewed the inside of her lip. He turned to look at her and said, “I know I’m a match. The first time I touched her I felt this strange electricity, like actual sparks, and just being around her clouded my senses in a way that has only happened once before. She and I share the same blood, and if this can help her I have to do it.”
“I can’t lose her,” Lisa said shaking her head and wiping away a tear with her sleeve.
“Neither can I.”
27
Emmeline
Emmie stirred in bed, her long hair falling in waves against the white sheets. The curtains were drawn and the early morning light filled the room with a warm glow. She blinked against the first light and turned over, reaching out a hand in search of something, someone. She felt his toned back beneath her fingertips as she traced small circles against his warm skin. He sighed happily before turning over to face her.
"What time is it?" he asked, his eyes still closed.
"Early," she replied with a smile, inching towards him.
He opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the sleep and the morning light as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his bare chest. She took a deep breath, relaxing into his body for a moment before tilting her head towards his.
“I love you,” she whispered, smiling as the words crossed her lips.
“I love you too,” he whispered back, tilting his head to meet her lips.
Emmie jolted upright, breathing heavily and looking around in the darkness, her mind was heavy with confusion.
“Are you ok?” Leo asked.
She turned to see him lying beside her with his eyes closed, half asleep. He reached for her hand, groggily rubbing it before dosing back off. She took a few deep breaths, and nodded her head, laying back down in bed and closing her eyes as the darkness pulled her back under.
Emmie stirred in bed, her long hair falling in waves against the white sheets. The curtains were drawn and the early morning light filled the room with a warm glow. She blinked against the first light and turned over, reaching out a hand in search of something, someone. She felt his toned back beneath her fingertips as she traced small circles against his warm skin. He sighed happily before turning over to face her.
"What time is it?" he asked, his eyes still closed.
"Early," she replied with a smile, inching towards him.
He opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the sleep and the morning light as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his bare chest. She took a deep breath, relaxing into his body for a moment before tilting her head towards his.
“I love you,” she whispered, smiling as the words crossed her lips.
“I love you too,” he whispered back, tilting his head to meet her lips.
She shivered as his slow hot kisses traveled across her cheek to her ear, trailing the length of her neck until his mouth brushed her collarbone.
Emmie jolted upright, breathing heavily and looking around in the darkness. Her mind was filled with confusion.
“Are you ok?” Leo asked,
Emmie turned to see him lying beside her with his eyes closed, half asleep. He reached for her hand, groggily rubbing it before dosing back off. She looked around the familiar room and shivered, pulling her sweater tighter. Then she took a few deep breaths and nodded her head. “Just a really vivid dream,” she whispered, picking at the skin around her nails absentmindedly for a moment. She sighed as her eyes scanned the quiet studio again before laying back down in bed and closing her eyes. The darkness immediately pulled her back under.
Emmie stirred in bed, her long hair falling in waves against the white sheets. The curtains were drawn and the early morning light filled the room with a warm glow. She blinked against the first light and turned over, reaching out a hand in search of something, someone. She felt his toned back beneath her fingertips as she traced small circles against his warm skin. He sighed happily before turning over to face her.
"What time is it?" he asked, his eyes still closed.
"Early," she replied with a smile, inching towards him.
He opened his eyes slowly, blinking against the sleep and the morning light as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his bare chest. She took a deep breath, relaxing into his body for a moment before tilting her head towards his.
“I love you,” she whispered, smiling as the words crossed her lips.
“I love you too,” he whispered back, tilting his head to meet her lips.
She shivered as his slow hot kisses traveled across her cheek to her ear, trailing the length of her neck until his mouth brushed her collarbone. His hands explored her body, slowly and gently, lowering the thin straps of her tank top while his lips lingered on her neck, playfully nipping at the skin above her clavicle.
Emmie jolted upright, breathing heavily and looking around in the darkness, her mind was heavy with confusion.
“Are you ok?” Leo asked.
Emmie turned to see him lying beside her with his eyes closed, half asleep. He reached for her hand, groggily rubbing it before dosing back off. She looked around the familiar room and shivered, pulling her sweater tighter. Then she took a few deep breaths, and nodded her head. “Just a really vivid dream,” Emmie whispered, but the words were too familiar, and they echoed in her mind. This isn’t right, Emmie thought as she searched her memory, trying to figure out what was wrong. She rubbed her eyes, as a wave of exhaustion crashed over her. Then she lay back down in bed and closed her eyes, I’ll figure it out in the morning, she told herself as the darkness pulled her back under.
28
Leo
"Emmie, come back to me," Leo whispered, closing his eyes as he drew in a deep breath. He sat in a chair beside Emmie’s bed, holding one of her hands between both of his. It had been ten days since Collin had performed the transfusion, and Emmie’s ‘condition’ showed no improvement. Collin came upstairs to draw a single vial of blood every morning, he ran it through the machines in his lab and compared it to Emmie’s first sample from the night of fire in the woods, along with every sample since.
“Her blood is leveling out. It’s just taking longer than we hoped,” Collin said when he brought up the results from the latest round of tests, and tossed a sandwich into Leo’s lap.
“Why isn’t she waking up,” Leo said, leaving the chair and pacing the length of the room. “Last time she was only out for three days. What if she doesn’t wake up this time?”
Collin threw his head back and sighed. “We’ve been over this already. The sedative effects demon blood. She had more of it this time, and it was so concentrated so it stands to reason that the results would be different, and she would be sedated longer.”
“Can you guarantee that she’s going to come out of his unharmed, that she's going to wake up and be okay? Can your machines tell you that? Can you promise me that?” Leo asked, dropping back into the chair beside the bed. He groaned and rubbed his eyes with one hand. “I’m sorry. I know you’re doing everything you can.”
“When was the last time you slept?”
“I nodded off for a bit last night,” Leo shrugged.
“I mean in a bed, intentionally.”
“I can’t leave her,” Leo said, as his head shot up to give Collin an intense look. “I couldn’t stop them from taking her before. But I won’t let that
happen again, not after this, after what they did to her.”
“Faction tower is secure. That breach proved to us that there are still hordes of demons out there. We thought they were on the verge of extinction and we got too comfortable, but THAT won’t happen again,” Collin assured him. “You have to get some sleep, man.”
Leo sat back in the chair and stared at Emmie, her features frozen in time by the supernatural sedative. I did this, he thought, pinching the bridge of his nose If I hadn't injected her maybe she would be fine right now. Maybe, the word echoed in his mind.
Collin rolled his neck and sighed heavily, “I’ll sit with her for a few hours while you get some rest. The lab is being cleaned anyway.”
Leo nodded, he knew he needed to sleep, and if he was going to trust anyone with Emmie’s safety it would be Collin.
“Thanks,” Leo said as he crossed the room. Pausing with one hand on the door knob. He looked over his shoulder at Emmie and felt another intense wave of guilt, if I had just left you alone the day we met maybe you would be fine right now, maybe.
29
Emmeline
Emmie jolted upright, breathing heavily and looking around in the darkness, her mind was heavy with confusion. How long have I been here, she wondered, and where exactly is here? She looked around the room and knew it was a room in Faction towers. It was bigger than her own room had been, more of a suite or penthouse than a room, but the style of it was the same. After living through this dream loop dozens of times Emmie knew what she was seeing was taking place in her mind, and not out in the real world where the real Faction tower stood. She also knew that her conscious time here was limited, whatever is going on, and whoever is responsible for this doesn’t want me to be in control.
“Are you ok?” Leo asked.
Emmie rolled her eyes, irritated at the repetitive nature of the dream she seemed to be trapped in. She racked her brain, trying to remember the last thing she saw before the dream loop started. Everything is just so hazy. She looked down at Leo, lying beside her with his eyes closed, half asleep. He reached for her hand, groggily rubbing it before dosing back off, the same way he always does, right on schedule. I wish he was really here, Emmie sighed, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. She looked around the room and shivered, pulling her sweater tighter. I only have a few more minutes, she reminded herself. Emmie tried to search her memory again, desperate for a clue that could set her free. She rubbed her eyes, as the familiar a wave of exhaustion crashed over her, “no, not again,” she whimpered as her eyes grew heavy and she fell back onto the bed. Emmie felt tears roll down her cheeks as she fought to keep her eyes open, but it was no use, seconds later they snapped shut, and the darkness pulled her back under.
30
Leo
Leo sat up in bed and shivered as the blanket slid off of his bare chest. It took a moment for him to place the sound that woke him, but then his attention snapped to his phone as it buzzed on the bedside table. Collin, he thought as he swiped the screen to answer the call.
“You need to get back here,” Collin said. The urgency in his tone was clear.
Leo threw the covers back and grabbed a zip-up sweatshirt from the back of the door, throwing it on and tugging the zipper halfway up as he ran down the hallway. He pushed the door open and rushed into the room. His eyes first scanned over Emmie, still lying in bed, and then darted up at Collin, standing over her with his arms crossed at his chest.
“What happened?” Leo asked through heavy breaths.
“I think she’s crying,” Collin shrugged, rubbing his jawline with one hand.
“She’s awake?” Leo asked, hurrying across the room to stand next to Collin.
“Nope. Still completely unconscious,” Collin said, his brow furrowed.
“I don’t understand,” Leo said, leaning over and wiping the tears from Emmie’s cheek with his sleeve.
“That makes two of us, and honestly, I’m a little bit worried,” Collin said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I uh,” he paused, deep in thought. “I think maybe I was wrong when I said it would take her longer to wake up.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m going out on a limb here. She’s one of a kind as far as we know and I’ve never dealt with anything like this so this is just a theory,” Collin said.
“Go on.”
“Whatever they injected her with targeted her memory. When we got her back I’m not even sure she realized two weeks had passed, or that she had ever been here at all. Some of her memories were missing,” Collin explained. “The blood you gave her will dilute the demonic traits and eventually her lab results will look normal. But if she has a cocktail of malachite and demon blood stored in her brain tissue, I don’t think it will be that simple.”
“Ok, so what does that mean, how do we dilute that?”
“When I gave her that sedative the first time, she was asleep for three days, plain and simple. But I don’t think she’s asleep this time. I think she’s trapped.”
“What do you mean, trapped?”
“The malachite was able to cross the blood-brain barrier to alter Emmie's memory, and it basically piggybacked on her demonic abilities, enhancing and concentrating them. The goal seems pretty clear. They were trying to bring out her inner demon and make her forget about the rest. But when our sedative put that half of her to sleep, what if her subconscious mind got stuck in between?”
“So Emmie is awake, but trapped inside her own subconscious,” Leo asked. He sat on the edge of the bed trying to process Collin’s latest theory. “How do we pull her out of it?”
“We don’t. Without having a sample of their cocktail I can’t figure out exactly how it was working, and even with it there’s no guarantee I could reverse its effects,” Collin said, shaking his head. “I think the only card we have left is the serum I've been working on to burn off Emmie’s demon blood completely.”
“How is that possible without killing her?”
Colling sighed. “Well, in a perfect world it would literally burn every trace of demon blood and venom out of her body, and then I would replace it with a mixture of human and angel blood. In theory, the angel blood would heal the internal damage instantly.”
“Why do I sense a ‘but’ coming?” Leo asked. In all the time he had known Collin he had never seen him hesitate, and the uncertainty in his voice spoke volumes about his faith in this plan.
“I don’t know if she has enough angelic power to keep her alive while I transfuse enough new blood to heal the kind of damage my serum would cause,” Collin said.
“So if we do nothing Emmie will be trapped in her own mind, alone, forever.”
“Which would most likely drive her insane,” Collin added.
“But if we use your serum she could die?”
“Yeah, that’s definitely a possibility.”
“How long before the serum is ready,” Leo asked, walking over to the window and pulling the curtains open. He looked down at the busy street below and remembered how Emmie stared out the window longingly, ‘people watching’ she had called it.
“It is ready, but I need to have human and angel blood on hand for this to have a real shot at working,” Collin said. “If you’re sure about this I can send someone to the hospital to get the right blood, but it could take a day or two to get the elders permission for that kind of mission.”
“I have another idea, but it’s kind of a longshot” Leo said, as he pulled his phone out of his sweatpant pocket and dialed Lisa’s number.
“It’s one o’clock in the morning,” Lisa mumbled when she answered the phone.
“What’s your blood type?”
“Leo? Is Emmie ok, did something happen?”
Leo sighed into the phone, “It’s a long story, I need to know if your blood is compatible with Emmie's human blood.”
“Of course it is,” Lisa yawned. “I’m O-negative, my blood is compatible with everyone.”
“I’m sending someone to pi
ck you up,” Leo said before ending the call.
When Lisa walked into the lab, Collin was removing the needle from Leo’s arm. He placed the bags into a small chest on the counter, and opened a few drawers, retrieving two more blood bags, a needle, a box of gauze squares and two boxes of bandaids.
“What is all of that for?” Lisa asked. She dropped her bag on the counter beside the door and walked over to the chair Emmie was in. The same chair she had been in the night they brought her back to faction towers sedated. Leo watched as Lisa tucked her best friend’s hair behind her ear, frowning. She squeezed Emmie’s hand gently before she walked over to the chair Leo had just gotten out of. She flopped down and pulled one arm out of her sweater, and held it up with her other hand.
“I’ve actually never drawn blood from a human, so I don’t know how messy this will be,” Collin shrugged with wide eyes.
“That’s reassuring,” Lisa sighed. She leaned over and pulled two pieces of gauze and one band-aid out of the boxes. “If we need more than this, I’m probably going to bleed to death, and you’ll need a new profession.”
Collin attached the butterfly needle to the bag and took a deep breath, then he turned to Lisa and tied a pale blue tourniquet a few inches above her elbow, before he picked up the needle and removed the safety guard. He ran a finger along a visible vein and placed the needle just above it, then he paused and looked at Leo who nodded back, but Collin stood frozen with the needle in position.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” Collin said. “We took an oath to protect humans, what if this goes against the code?”
Lisa huffed impatiently and in one swift gesture she grabbed his hand and pushed the needle into her arm. “You were saying,” Lisa challenged as the bag started to fill up with bright red blood. “Emmie is my best friend. I would do anything for her. Screw your arbitrary angel laws.”
Collin’s eyes were wider than Leo had ever seen them before, he might actually be in shock, Leo smirked as his best friend stood frozen, staring at the girl who seemed to be a match for his own stubbornness and loyalty. Collin shook his head and walked to the other end of the lab. “You could have punctured something,” he said roughly.