by Aine Massie
“Anya? May I?” came Star’s lilting voice. Seems she had arrived, finally. Having to keep my windows covered and my door shut during the day, was aggravating. I had weakened to the point that not only could Geoff and the deer easily injure me, but now the sun burnt my eyes and singed my skin.
“Always, Star, you know that.”
“Well, they said you had asked everyone to leave you alone. You even put out Declán and Nicholas?” Star came in looking at me quizzically. “Ugh, you do look awful.”
“Thanks,” I half laughed. “Just what every girl wants to hear from her mom.” I carefully moved into a sitting position on my bed, gesturing for her to come sit. “Please.”
Star sat with exaggerated slowness, obviously afraid she might hurt me. “You shouldn’t have let things get this bad before calling me,” she gently reprimanded.
“I know. I just did not want to deal with what was happening. It was all so fascinating at first, the sensations, feelings; they were exciting in an odd sort of way. But now, I can’t even move right and I hurt Declán,” I couldn’t look at her. She had never approved of my fascination with him; this wasn’t going to make her any less upset with me.
“I know, Jonathan—” Star's words were cut short as we heard the sudden scream of Nicholas. He sounded like he’d been stabbed or what I would imagine he would sound like. Without thinking about what I was doing, as I knew better, I ran to go find him. I made it down to the basement with Star at my side before the pain became too much and I collapsed at the foot of the stairs – running through the house during the day was not a wise thing to do. I struggled to find Nicholas, not giving in to the pain more than I already had.
Geoff and Declán were helping Nicholas up from the floor. Nicholas was moving oddly, looking hurt. Star stood staring at the spectacle, but she didn’t move to leave me. Instead, she scooped me up and carried me over – I couldn’t decide if she looked more worried about me or Nicholas.
“What happened?” I choked out. “What’s wrong with Nicholas?”
“Calm down, love. Declán just got me good in the ribs. He’s better than I thought,” Nicholas murmured. I might have believed him except the torturous sound that had come from him was not surprise, nor was how Declán and Geoff looked at him.
“No, Nic,” Declán interjected. “That kick shouldn’t have sent you flying like that, and I’ve never heard anyone make a sound like that, not even when Geoff hurt Anya.” Turning suddenly to Geoff, “I know you didn’t mean to, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have hurt her, but you are right in part. Nicholas, this isn’t like you. I’ve hit you harder than that,” Geoff grumbled as he carefully touched Nicholas’s ribs. As he did so, Nicholas let out another yelp of pain, his eyes going wide.
“Okay, will someone please explain this all to me?” Star snapped. “I come out here because Anya is wasting and injured and now it seems Nicholas is too? Is there anything else I don’t know?”
“We don’t know, Star,” Declán replied. “This is the first Nicholas has shown weakness, though Anya has been getting worse for a while now. No one can figure it out, and as they aren’t human, we can’t take them to the hospital or anything.” His eyes touched softly on both our faces as he explained.
“Geoff, can you go close up the sitting area and get Jonathan for us?” Star asked. Turning to Declán, “And you can help Nicholas upstairs, yes?”
Geoff and Declán both murmured their agreement as Geoff flashed up the stairs.
“What are you up to Star?” I queried. “Jonathan doesn’t know what’s wrong, and the fact Nicholas is hurt too won’t change anything.” I flinched occasionally as Star continued to carry me. She wasn’t as supple in her motions, so she accidently jostled me occasionally.
“I know that, but we need to figure this out, and quickly,” she answered tensely, as she sat me carefully on the couch.
It was nice and dark in here, thankfully. My skin still tingled, and my eyes ached from my stunt of trying to get to Nicholas quickly. Jonathan appeared with Geoff as if they had been there with us the whole time. Jonathan looked nervously at Nicholas. Declán had helped him into a chair next to me and had settled on the couch looking back and forth nervously.
“What happened?” Jonathan asked, more calmly than I could have. Star, Declán, and Geoff filled him in on both sides of the event – I hadn’t told him about the severity of light sensitivity I had descended into. It reminded me of the vampire stories I had read before, about their inability to go out in the sun.
“Hmm.” Jonathan sighed, pacing now. “And you have never heard of such a thing Star? Not in all your years?”
“Not like this. Let me make some calls to the others. You do the same if you know anyone that can be trusted. I think for now Anya needs to stay inside, even at night. And Nicholas, dear? You need to have someone with you if you go out. If Declán could do that much damage with no weaponry, then what woulda happened if it had been Geoff that kicked you?”
I didn’t like that line of thinking. What if it had been Geoff?
Nicholas sighed, wincing slightly. “Agreed. We need to figure this out and fast. I can still see the singe marks on Anya’s skin,” he added, reaching over to me tentatively. “I am so sorry, love. You should not have come out in the light.”
“Right, with that cry of pain? I was what, just going to sit there and ponder its meaning? Don’t think so!”
Well, it was Nicholas’s turn to be followed and patronized for a while, I thought humourlessly. Thinking over things as of late, there were signs that something was amiss with him, but everyone was so focused on my deteriorating status that things were missed. His moods were more volatile than normal; he wasn’t as sure or driven, but still loving and gentle with Declán and me. I hadn’t noticed his waning strength, but he’d been working so hard to keep it in check, between interactions with Declán and then of course his attempts to help me, knowing how fragile I was becoming.
Star and Jonathan had both been searching for any possible solution to our issues. I was beginning to despair that they would be able to find us a way out. I couldn’t be of any help to my family, my House, like this. The anger was warping my mind, or the illness was, not sure which. I was having random thoughts of violence. Even my fantasies were twisting into cravings for blood. I knew that wasn’t me and yet . . . the thought of . . . No, no, no. Attacking, bad. Killing, bad. Stealing blood, bad. What is wrong with me?
Amber had taken Nicholas out hunting, just for safe measure. He needed to do whatever he could to try healing on top of needing to feed anyway. Declán had stayed with me, but Geoff was exceedingly conspicuously watching me after what happened the other day.
While I didn’t overly like being watched, I was somewhat grateful, as I obviously couldn’t trust myself, even if Declán was foolish enough to want to be that close to me.
“He’s not insane, he’s in love,” Geoffrey teased me quietly as we were sitting, watching some movie, I wasn’t really paying attention to it. It was bright and colourful, loud, but it couldn’t keep me from my internal ranting.
“Ha-ha,” Declán petulantly fumed. “I don’t need a babysitter to spend time with Anya. Why don’t you go find someone else to annoy. Are there any vampire kittens you could go wrestle or something?” Declán seemed to like the comments and guarding even less than I did.
“Boys, please. Just because I can’t kick either of your butts right now, doesn’t mean I can’t make you wish you’d behaved,” I said injecting as much force into my words as possible. I knew even my voice was weakening, but it still had at least some sway, thankfully.
“Yes, ma’am,” they both replied quickly.
Just then, Jonathan came sprinting into the room. His eyes were wild, excited not angry thankfully. “Anya?” he shrieked excitedly.
“Um, yes. I’m right here Jonathan,” I confirmed. “What has you so excited?” What could he be acting like this over? Weird.
“I have a theory on what is happening to you. Why you are weak and no matter how much you feed, not improving any.”
That caught my attention. I tried to pay better attention as I prodded for information, “Wha – what do you think is wrong? And is there something that can be done if you’re right?”
Declán and Geoff were both fixated on Jonathan now as well, Declán turning off the movie quickly.
“Well, I was looking at this all wrong, I think. I tried contacting Louie and Simon – oh, they’re on their way over, by the way.” Jonathan wasn’t making sense yet, he needed to focus.
“Jonathan, please. What do you think is wrong?”
“Sorry. Louie asked if you had been in a fight lately, where you might have been stabbed with something silver,” Jonathan mused curiously. “He had heard of something similar a long time ago when a piece of silver broke off when one of us was stabbed by a Guardian.”
“But I haven’t been attacked, and while my jewellery looks silver, none of it is. I don’t see how this applies to us.” How could I be poisoned? None of this made sense.
“No, but there are other ways to get it in you. Think about it, you take in blood from hunting. What if your hunting grounds are tainted? That would explain why Nicholas is affected as well and why hunting doesn’t seem to be helping,” Jonathan’s voice was becoming more excited. He looked like a caricature, he was so animated as he continued. “Think about it Anya, you two are the only ones that hunt there, you said Thomas warned you that the House had used humans to try to do something to you, and the more you hunt the worse you seemed to become.”
“True. Would that explain my mental issues as well? And what can we do about it? I understand that if you’re right we will have to change grounds and have to find a way to protect any new hunting area but how do you undo poisoning?”
“That’s why the others are coming,” Jonathan said animatedly.
“I don’t understand.” I hated being confused.
“Anya, they have the strength to help you, maybe,” Geoff replied, trying to be the good guy, I think.
“Oh, okay. What can they do that you cannot?” I tried to puzzle out why them and not those with me. This made no sense to me, though there was possibly light emerging for us.
“Louie is closer in power to you, and his blood is stronger for reasons you don’t want to focus on too hard,” Jonathan added, looking away nervously.
“Um, eww . . .” Declán choked. “You are saying to get better she has to bite Louie?” Poor thing, he turned somewhat green at the thought, not that I was overly happy either. “And won’t that upset Nicholas?”
“That is a reasonable point Jonathan. You saw how upset and depressed he was before. Is there no other option?” I didn’t like the thought of possibly hurting Nicholas again.
“While normally I might agree, I think he will want you well more than he will care about who you are biting. Besides, he will have to have a transfusion or two as well, if this works, though we may not have to resort to such extreme measures with him. He isn’t nearly as bad.”
“You are not going to be here for whatever they end up doing to me!” I demanded of Declán.
“No, I haven’t a problem agreeing to that. I can accept what you are, but I don’t want to see. No offence,” Declán whispered, stilling looking slightly green.
“None taken, a ghrá,” I whispered, resting my head on his shoulder. “So, how long until they arrive?” I wasn’t sure about this, but continuing to get worse sounded bad too. The not being able to concentrate and being hazardous to others was not pleasant either.
“Not long. They are good friends. That and well, I think Louie is hoping to prove that all like him aren’t bad. He knows you have a distinctly ‘us versus them’ mentality about those who feed on, um, humans,” Jonathan whispered the last word, flashing a glance toward Declán nervously.
“I know he’s not that bad, though I still have issues with his diet. However, I wish that if he was going to feed on humans, that he would not kill to do so. We do have the choice in how much we take from them.”
“I think I’ll go visit Kayla and Skye. Yeah, that sounds good,” Declán said timidly. “And maybe soon you can visit with them again too. They miss you and aren’t overly happy that I haven’t been bringing you to visit.”
“Louie and Simon aren’t going to hurt you, Declán,” Jonathan complained. “He would never, not to mention, he’s fascinated that a Guardian is double bound to two of us.” Jonathan was staring off, thinking again.
Declán shivered faintly, “Yeah, should I leave soon . . . or . . .?”
“They will be here soon, so, if you are not wanting to see them at all,” Jonathan continued, raising his eyebrows.
Chapter Twenty–Two
“Anya, you need to relax before they arrive. I’m hoping that this will work, but there’s a chance even this will not fix everything. If it doesn’t, I really don’t know what to do. But, I am going on the hope that this will. I suggest you do as well.”
Jonathan turned to Geoff and continued. “I wanted to know if you could stay with Peony during this? It’s nothing personal, Louie just said he would like the least number of people around as he will be temporarily weakened.”
“Ah, understood. I’ll get Peony and go out for a while. I’ll keep the cell on, just in case,” Geoff continued, nervously looking towards me.
“It’s fine Geoff. Jonathan can protect me and Louie and Simon have no intention of harming me.” I shooed him out the door, figuratively, trying to sound confident.
Once they were also gone, I turned to Jonathan. “Star is still out, Nicholas and Amber are hunting, and now Declán, Geoff and Peony are gone. I hope you are certain about this.”
“I trust them, dear one, as do Amber and Nicholas. Things will work out; have a little faith. Ah, speak of the devil.” Jonathan’s face was suddenly beaming gaily.
Only moments later, I heard the soft knock at the door. Jonathan’s eyes narrowed, the look he gave stopped me in my now failed attempt to answer the door. He flitted to the door letting Louie and Simon in quickly.
Louie was the first to make eye contact, looking me over quickly; a sour frown taking over his normally beautiful face. “Oh no, you are worse than Jonathan led us to believe,” he hedged.
“Thanks, you look great too,” I chirped, trying to infuse as much sweetness as I could manage. Thanks for the update, ugh.
Simon laughed, “She has a point. That’s no way to start a conversation.” He turned and knelt next to me, “Just ignore him when he’s like this, I do.” He winked playfully. “Seriously though, we came as soon as Jonathan let us know what was going on. May I?” Simon added gesturing as if to touch me.
I grimaced but answered casually, “Sure. Just be careful.”
Louie and Simon checked me over carefully, asking a million questions. The only time I really had an issue was when Simon touched my upper chest, where Geoff had crushed me – I wasn’t healing after all. It seemed like the three of them debated forever about the best way to help me, the best method of infusing me with strong blood, and about if they needed to, ugh, bleed me first.
After a while, I decided to voice one of my concerns, “What about my bonds? This isn’t going to affect them, right?” I knew it was silly to worry about such when this might be my only chance to survive the poisoning, but I had to know.
“No,” Louie said, breaking off his debate with Jonathan. “You will be taking an equal, well closer to one, and as no one will be taking yours back in, it will not form any bonds between us. This would be easier if you were not so powerful.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Simple, the stronger the blood, the faster the healing but you are more powerful, well normally you are,” Jonathan explained.
Simon laughed darkly at his words though I could not figure out why. I felt my head tilt and the curiosity burning in my eyes. Why was he laughing?
“Sorry,” Simon s
aid sobering. “It’s just that there are many that would seek to overpower you and take your blood as you normally are. It’s a vile, indecent thing to do, but there are those of our kind that would crave the power they could gain from you. Of course, once you’re healed no one could ever do that to you, not with that voice of yours.” He was shaking his head unhappily.
“What I worry about the most is if the damage to their minds will heal,” Jonathan added. “They are both acting oddly. Anya bit Declán and was frighteningly sweet as she threatened Geoff a few days ago. You should have seen how she reacted at first to being injured, she was practically giddy. Nicholas has been borderline violent with Geoff over his teasing.”
“Don’t forget, Nicholas has been lacking his normal composure and self–awareness,” I chimed.
“Er, yeah, that too,” Jonathan snorted.
“Well, if Nicholas is not as bad he should heal easier and more completely. Anya, you, however, may take a long time to have your mind back to normal. But, as your mind was already damaged from the Educators, I’m not sure how it will affect you. You may snap back to normal, for you, or you may continue to be different,” Louie explained. He looked worried as he contemplated my health.
“Okay, so you think you can heal my body, but my already broken brain may be even more broken . . . permanently?” Eh, I was weird already, as long as Declán and Nicholas didn’t mind I guess it’s not a big deal.
“Yes, I am relatively certain, though as I said before, it would be better if you were not more than I but, the only ones I know of that would do better for you are those that want to control you.” Louie’s voice and face twisted with anger. Seemed he was becoming oddly protective as well. Why is everyone so eager to help me?
Simon shook his head, a smirk breaking free. “Anya, what none of them have explained is that Louie was a friend of yours ages ago. He is who helped you escape Gabriel. That’s also why he’s so eager to win back your approval and friendship.” I could see Louie was not pleased that Simon had told on him.