by J Thompson
15
Can blood heal the mind as well as the body?
“Baby, shhh, it’s ok, shhh,” Callum cooed as he rocked Helena in his arms. It had been 24 hours since he had brought her home and she still had not stirred. Her eyelids continued to flutter as she fought against the dreams that kept her away from him. She would cry out, moan and even scream in her tortured coma. He had no idea if she could hear him at all, but that didn’t stop him from talking to her. He spoke his heart and told her of the things he had been too cowardly to speak of before. Things that, if his fellow enforcers heard they would no doubt call him soft-hearted. He didn’t care.
Callum worried that they had been too late. Albert had finished trying to repair the damage that had been caused to her abdomen, they had been lucky in that sense. If Helena had been left any longer, even feeding her succubi blood wouldn’t have saved her from the infection that had started to take hold. Since she had returned, Callum had fed her five times, eager to give her the best chance of healing. Even if, afterwards, she rejected him and their bond, he would deal with it with honour. Their newly formed bond, although incomplete, had served its purpose in bringing her back from the brink and restoring her own succubi healing abilities. Her body had been pumped with so many drugs she had been more mortal and, as such, deteriorated quickly.
Callum pressed a kissed to her temple, feeling the scrape of the stubble on her recently shaved head. He remembered how thick and soft her long hair had been and how he had watched her braid it. He himself had spent many a time running his fingers through the locks, but now, he had no idea how long it would take for it to grow back. That was a minor thing, though, compared to what his mate was currently dealing with.
Albert, in his examination, had been ordered by the high council to document every injury that had been inflicted on her. They worried, along with the enforcers, that this wasn’t a lone facility and there were, in fact, multiple ones, each delivering their own personal hell to those of the immortal community. Other factions would have to be told and a decision would have to be made on who would be the ones that would hunt down those responsible. This attack also meant any visits for a non-enforcer to the mortal realm would be off-limits. Their race was already too low in numbers to risk the ones left.
Callum was brought out of his inner musing by Helena as she started to shake, her body again physically reacting to the healing process. Callum just hoped his blood was pure enough to heal her. Every time he fed her, he would check her palm to check the mark. A hope of seeing it darken kept him going, but each time he became a little more disheartened.
Holding her a little tighter, he again kissed her forehead and stroked her arms. Mirium had helped him bathe her, washing away every bit of dirt and grime. Any evidence of her ordeal that could be removed by soap and water had washed down the plug hole. If only healing the rest of Helena was as easy, Callum thought. Seeing her so vulnerable made his heart ache, seeing how emaciated she had become had brought him to his knees as he had let tears fall from his eyes. Every single rib protruded from under the skin of Helena’s ribcage, her hip bones looked stark against her pale skin. Mirium had continued to wash Helena, letting him have his moment of grief, and grief it was. Those monsters, in their archaic quest for knowledge, had destroyed a creature so innocent and pure, there was no return. He may have Helena back in body, but it would take more than a gift from the gods themselves to bring her back as she was. She was and always would be, changed, and Callum grieved for that carefree spirit that had captured his heart all those years ago.
As was his knew habit, Callum picked up one of Helena’s hands, caressing the delicate, soft skin and kissing the still sore fingertips. This was where he felt completely helpless, no gun or sword could beat this foe, and he had to do what he for once wasn’t very good at: wait.
His thoughts again turned dark as he thought of her captors. In all of their history, this had been the first time the mortals had had the balls to kidnap one of their females for the purpose of experimentation. That alone opened up the possibility that they now knew they were not the only predators on the planet, and that made it dangerous for all other creatures.
The humans, with no special gifts or traits of their own, would see this as only a threat. Seeing only evil in the races that had survived for centuries had, at one time, helped the progression of their race. They were a selfish species, happy to annihilate anything that hindered them, the domination of the planet knew no bounds and right now, Callum wanted to wipe every fucking one off the face of the Earth. They had begun their discrimination of the immortal races around the time of the Witch Trials, but back then they had only executed any they had felt weren’t human, they had never kidnapped them. That was until Sebastian’s bonded was taken one night, that had caused not only retaliation to the humans but also the vampyres, too, as it had been them that had taken the female. Their current truce was a tentative one, as Sebastian had vowed to destroy them all after he had been told of her kidnapping and death.
To a leech, a female succubi was a walking, talking high, one they could feed from for centuries without worrying about drinking them to death. The blood of the females was as addictive as a vampyre’s bite and as such, after a vampyre had become bored of the female, they were left fighting their own addiction. Most who survived the feeding would end up taking their own lives as their minds fractured and broke. Even after the passing of time, Callum knew Sebastian still grieved hard for his lost female, and was also why he took Helena’s kidnapping personally, vowing to help find her and bring her home.
“Callum,” Helena’s whispered voice called out, bringing Callum out of his dark thoughts. His heart raced as hope bloomed within.
“Helena, my love,” he replied. Using his fingers, he tilted her chin, expecting to see her beautiful pale eyes, only they remained shut, her lids fluttering as her scream continued. Her brows were furrowed as her hands started to clench. He watched as her chest started to heave in and out as whatever horrors she had witnessed replayed in her mind. Holding her tighter, Callum started to rock her in his arms once again. Words of love and encouragement fell from his lips.
“It’s ok, baby. You are so strong, you can do it.”
16
Words can sometimes hurt more than actions.
A loud, forceful thud of a fist against wood, echoed through the room, bringing Callum out of his doze. Reluctantly, he slid out from behind Helena, trying his best not to jostle or move her too much. Tucking in her unconscious form, he left only her head peeking above the duvet. He bent and pressed a kiss to her small nose.
The unwanted visitor persisted, this time knocking louder and, in turn, forcing a growl from Callum.
“Give me a goddamn minute.” His voice husky from his nap, he padded on bare feet across the wooden floor to the door, before throwing back the locks and opening it.
“What!?” he questioned, only to regret his ire instantly when the visitor was revealed.
“Sebastian?” he questioned, this time with no annoyance in his voice.
“Sorry, Callum, I did not want to disturb you but I felt I needed to see you, sooner rather than later.”
“No, I’m sorry for snapping, my friend.”
Sebastian just nodded, then added, “How is she?” Like a true gentleman and warrior, Sebastian made no attempt to look beyond Callum as he stood in the doorway.
“Still asleep, if you can call it that. It’s more like a coma, a nightmare she is unable to escape from. She cries out and sometimes you can see the pain on her face, yet nothing we’ve done has worked to bring her out of it,” Callum admitted. Sebastian was the one male that would understand the loss of a bonded.
“I’m sorry, my friend.” Callum nodded and looked back over his shoulder to Helena’s sleeping form. He watched as she twitched then moaned before she settled back down.
“You are lucky to have her return,” Sebastian started, “Luck was on your side.” Callum watched as pain and grie
f flashed across his friend’s face, before it was hidden once again.
“I know, but I fear we still may have been too late,” Callum admitted again.
“Believe in your bond, Callum. But trust no one.” Sebastian grew more intense, his gaze boring into Callum’s, signifying the importance of what he had to say, “Michael knows about the return and also about you feeding her. He knows no official bond has taken place and if she turns, he’s already put an order out to terminate her.”
Callum was stunned at the news. They had only just returned and the chance of Helena turning when she was still in a coma was slim.
“How do you know this?” Callum asked, looking beyond Sebastian to the corridor, expecting to see the council guard.
“I overheard one of the guards. Just be careful, my friend, but know the alphas protect our own.”
“Thank you, my friend.”
“Another thing…” Sebastian stepped closer, sliding a recorder into Callum’s palm “This may help you to understand what was done to your mate. The healer has a copy, but not the council. Just pray that Michael finds something else to occupy his warped little mind.”
“Again, thank you, my friend.”
Sebastian stepped back, placed his right fist at his heart and bowed before he turned to walk down the corridor, but Callum called out to stop him. He needed confirmation.
“Sebastian, did you?” he left the question unfinished, knowing his fellow enforcer would know what he was asking. Sebastian stopped and turned only his head, a slight tilt was the only other movement.
“It has been done.” With that said, he walked away down the corridor, leaving Callum to stare at the black recorder in his hand.
Through the little window, he could see the small silver disc in place. All it would take would be the click of a button and the secrets of Helena’s ordeal would be revealed. He was torn, torn between knowing exactly what had happened to his mate and not wanting to know, scared of what he would do when he found out. It created a pull deep inside Callum that twisted his gut and made his whole body tense. The damage that covered her entire body had been a culmination of months of abuse. It wasn’t just on the outside, but the inside as well. Albert, in his sharp-toothed way, had hit the nail on the head when he had said, “healing her body was the easy part, the fight would be to heal her mind”.
In the short period of time she had been with him, she had responded positively and rapidly to him feeding her. After each passing hour the bruises had started to colour then heal, scratches turned to scars and faded, too, only she didn’t wake.
Shutting the door, once again Callum locked it, not trusting the guards now that Sebastian had told him their secret. Dimming the lights, he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of headphones, plugging them into the recorder. He may want to hear what her captors had done, but there was no way in all the realms of hell he would let Helena, even unconscious, hear it. Brushing a palm across her pale cheek, Callum bent and kissed her lips before he moved over to the armchair at her bedside. Resting back in the leather, he placed the ear buds into his ears, Callum finally then gave in to the urge to click the play button. Sitting back in the chair, he listened, the voice of the doc coming through clear, making Callum’s palms slick with sweat and his heart rate double. This was the bastard that had hurt his mate. This was the man that had, by the will of his gods, suffered with no mercy for his evil deeds.
“Subject 12 was brought in today after being followed along Oxford Street. In appearance she looks human, but nothing this beautiful can be.”
Callum let his mind drift as he took in every word the doc relayed to the recorder, losing himself to the horrors his love had endured.
17
Even warriors cry
Callum’s unconsciousness was filled with violence, torture and pain. He stood watching as the doc performed his tests on Helena, stood by, helpless, unable to stop it from happening, even as she called out his name, begging him to come for her. Every procedure she had been subjected to fired past his vision as if it had been put on fast forward like and an old VCR. Her screams echoed in his head, branded there forever, and still he stood, transfixed.
He watched as the doc killed his mate, unable to move. Watched as he brought her back, each time destroying her soul. He saw defiance in his mate’s eyes before the end, watched as she boldly stated her hatred of a man that had taken so much from her in such a short period of time. Then Callum’s dream was done, he was thrust back into the present with only the overwhelming feelings of guilt and disgust at himself to keep him company.
He tugged the ear phones free and sat up in the leather chair. Helena was exactly where he had left her, tucked under the covers; safe. Letting the recorder slip to the floor, he stood and walked to her bedside. After his nightmare, he wanted to see her in the flesh, make sure she was here and not back on that exam table. Emotions assaulted him, combinations of anger, pity, guilt and pride ate at him, pounding him from different angles.
Sebastian had been right when he had said he needed to hear what was on the recorder, only a part of him wished he hadn't. Every single test that had been done to Helena had been recorded. She had been treated like a specimen; only kept alive to study.
It sickened him whenever he thought of that male. No, he wasn't a male; males didn't do that to females. That man was evil. Callum shuddered as he remembered the enjoyment in the doc’s voice as he relished every single bit of pain he inflicted.
Sitting on the side of the bed, Callum stroked his fingers down Helena’s cheek. Ever since he had returned with her, he had been unable to take not touching her for longer than a few minutes. Feeling her warm skin against his hand, reminded him that she was, in fact, alive - broken, but alive. It ate at him that he had lost her. He was an enforcer, one of the best and a member of the alpha team. He was supposed to protect their race, yet the one that should be protected at all costs has been lost.
"Helena!" he whispered, "I’m sorry, baby, I let you down." His voice broke. "I would move the seven levels of hell to make this right," he vowed, and for the second time since he had brought her home, Callum sobbed.
"I know you hate me - fuck, I hate myself for letting this happen to you." He took a few deep breaths before he continued, "Come back to me, please," he pleaded as he cupped Helena’s cheek and pressed kisses to her lips before he rested his head on her shoulder as he let the sobs overtake him. Letting everything he had kept locked deep within, out. Yes, he was a warrior, but he was still a creature with feelings and losing Helena had broken him in a way nothing else could.
"You are my light, Helena. I’m in the dark without you. Please, come back.”
18
Demons do exist, even in those we love
The constant beeping of Callum's watch alarm woke him from his doze. He had been advised by Albert that Helena would need to be fed every few hours to help with the healing process. She also needed a strong dose of antibiotics to help her immune system battle the infection that had been caused by the doc’s treatment. So he set an alarm that would keep him on track. This time, he had fallen asleep next to Helena not long after the last feeding and, yet again, he woke to her in the same condition.