“I don’t know, it’s just what she said.”
“Crap. Stay there.” I ordered as I ran from the room, through the house.
“Lawrence, Nic!” I yelled “Everyone, we need to leave now!” And by everyone, I meant our army that consisted of a Shifter, one and a half Seers, a couple of Dark Ones, and five humans from the academy. We were toast, condemn us now as I couldn’t see a way out of this one.
Eli walked into the hallway. “Eli, we need to go.” I yelled.
“Yes, I know.” He said with a smile on his face. The boy was strangely at ease with the whole situation. “But we can’t go that way.” He said.
“What, out of the back door? We have to.”
“No, we really don’t, Elisha.” He said, still smiling.
“Okay, what gives?” Nic asked. “What’s he on about?”
“I’ve no idea.” I said.
“No,” Eli spoke. “But Lawrence does.” He looked up at Lawrence.
Lawrence looked puzzled at first, then the sign of faint recollection washed over his face. “The tunnels!” he exclaimed. “Why didn’t I think of that?” He asked with a huge grin over his face.
“Since when did we have tunnels?” I asked, confused.
“Since we bought the house... they were there for smugglers back in the day. They lead out into the forest, near Lake Mead.”
Eli smiled as I picked him up and gave him a big cuddle. “Thank you, Eli!” I said, placing him down and kissing him on the head. He smiled as he tugged on my sleeve, pulling me towards the basement door. We hadn’t been down there since Taylor had died. It was kind of creepy going back, and considering everything I’d seen, I was surprised that kind of darkness creeped me out. Then again, it could be because I knew what would happen if we didn’t get out, the pain and torture we’d end of going through, even Eli. She’d have a special kind of punishment for him, a rekindling of DNA to improve his ability to see the future, creating a whole new race of seer-like creatures. I shuddered.
“I’m okay, Elisha,” Eli said. How did he know I was thinking about him? He’d grown up so much since he came to live with us, especially since he saw the battle we had fought in. Something happened there, something inside him had changed. He still had his fearless attitude, his strange acceptance of the abnormal as being perfectly normal. But sometimes it was like he was an adult trapped in a kid’s body. Then other times, well, he seemed to be plain little Eli again. He smiled, squeezing my hand.
Entering the basement, Eli led the way, walking past the old wards and rickety hospital beds and over to a clunky looking bookshelf with old jam jars filled with human organs. The thing was covered in spider webs and dust from centuries ago. I’d forgot that the place was once a shelter to the poor and weak when they succumbed to illness and injury. They had provided the perfect food source back in the day, blood for Lucian and lifeforce for me. Lawrence had even managed to save a few of them.
Nic, Jayden, and I shifted the bookcase to its side and a glass jar fell off, smashing onto the floor beside Meghan. She screamed as a rotting brain slumped out and onto her exposed toes. Really? It was her own fault for wearing sandals on a day like this. Who goes hiking in sandals? Remind me again why we’re saving the human population? Nic ran over and kicked the brain to the side as Jayden covered the screaming girls mouth. “Shush,” he whispered, “they’ll find us!”
Pearce walked up, hand in hand with his stumbling half-dead girlfriend. “Quiet, Meghan.” He demanded, flashing his teeth. Meghan winced. Jodie leapt backwards, cowering against the wall. It wasn’t Pearce she was scared of, it was Jessie’s blood lust. We’d already had a few problems with her rebirth since it happened. If we could get to a blood bank, there wouldn’t be a problem, but considering the girl had been reborn and we didn’t have an ounce to feed her, she was rather attracted to the humans in the group. Understandably so.
“Keep her away from the humans!” I demanded as Pearce noticed and yanked Jessie back.
“She needs blood, Elisha!”
“I know, we’ll find some as soon as we’re out.” I sighed. I could only deal with one disaster at a time and today my plate was full. Did he forget that most of us needed to feed? And my need was also proving difficult to keep at bay? I looked over at my friends, my fellow cheerleaders, the humans in the group. I’d only managed to save three from my team when the world came tumbling down, but they were the three that, if I had to choose, they’d be first in line. They were my fellow captains and the leaders of each of the three cheer teams I’d created. Kathryn was leader of the first-tier squad, Allyson was leader of the second, and then Hayley was the third. I’d always been closer to Hayley out of the three. She didn’t seem to need manipulating as much as the others. I know, I tell myself all the time not to use it, but when you have such a grand power, why not play with it a little? It was as though Hayley knew about the supernatural from the word go. She never feared me, never feared any of us, and no matter how much she’d seen, she happily accepted it along the way. Kind of like how Eli did. Was it ignorance or acceptance? I wasn't sure.
“Come on, let’s keep moving,” I said, pulling Hayley by her hand. Lawrence and Eli had already gone on ahead, lighting the way, one candle at a time. It felt like stepping through a time loop into the Victorian era, not my favourite era, I tell you that. Men loved to presume they should be above all women and treat them as lesser beings. That had never played right with me and, I have to say, that soon changed when I came to town. A little whisper here, a little whisper there, and eventually I got women to stand their ground and burn their bras Granted, it took another sixty-seven years after Queen Victoria died, but who ever said life was easy? Life was a war won by the patient.
Heading through the tunnels, Eli came running back towards us. “We need to hurry, Elisha!” he said, grabbing my other hand and dragging me along.
“Quickly,” I said, ushering the rest of the group onwards and upwards.
We ran through the tunnel as fast as we could amidst the cobwebs and dirt, and as we reached the light, we slowed to a fast-beating halt. What had happened? The forest was rotting, the trees were diseased, and Lake Mead was filled with a thick darkness that oozed the colour of stagnant blood. Where was the world I knew and loved? Where was my home? Had we been gone too long?
Kathryn gasped as she walked into the light. The daylight sun waned over the bloody lake before us. Cursed trees wept their leaves in the middle of spring when bluebells should had been raising their weary heads. The ground was covered in ash, remnants of barbequed wildlife lay in waste on the pathway before us. If this was the world now, then were we the only survivors?
The rumbling growl of something left alive groaned through the forest. An injured bear, perhaps, or a bloody deer? Heading over, the group followed, carefully watching where they stepped and what they stepped on. Who knew what disease had inhabited the plant life around there? Nic transformed into a lion, ready to pounce. Jodie still gasped as he roared before her. I swore he did it on purpose. But then, I understood that feeling of power, that need of recognition. He was probably smirking inside, laughing at how he made the human girl jump. To be fair, though, it was rather amusing.
Nic leapt away, roaring as he ran, attempting to frighten whatever lay in wait over the ridge before us. “Here,” he yelled, clearly back in his human form. Jayden ran over with Nic’s clothes he’d picked up along the way.
Running to catch up, I stood on top of the ridge, looking down at a naked, pale Harland. He shivered in the sunlight, his mottled skin turning green with madness as his veins absorbed the sickness from the plant life around us.
Nic tugged on his jeans and bent down to touch him. “Shit, he’s hot.”
“Don’t touch him!” I yelled. We didn’t know what he had.
“Mate, I’m immortal.” He grinned, touching Harland’s head again, as if to prove a point. Idiot, I frowned. “He’s sweaty, too. Elisha, fix him.”
“Ah?”
> “Use your lifeforce”
“Why?”
“Err... cos’ this is Harland.”
“I never said I liked the guy.” Okay, I may not have said it, but his physique was quite a turn on, even in his sickening state. “Fine.” I groaned, grabbing Nic’s t-shirt and placing it down for me to kneel on. Nic frowned then shrugged his shoulders. Leaning over Harland, I placed my head over his; nose to nose, breath to breath, I leant further forward and as our lips touched, I kissed him. The kiss was one sided at first, a saddening, solemn kiss, one which I hoped he’d enjoy. But alas, he was too sick, too lifeless in my embrace. Then, with my lifeforce flowing its way into his dying body, the colour came back to his cheeks, the shimmer to his complexion. His ripe muscles perked again, supple arms lifted as he pulled me in closer. His eyes sparkled as they opened, and he sat up and kissed me back, enjoying every moment of our dance together. The scent of roses strengthened our union as I fell into his embrace, feeling the after effects of my waning lifeforce. It was time. I needed to feed or else it’d be me lying down next time.
“Elisha!” Harland exclaimed. “I didn’t realise you liked me that way.”
“I don’t.” I croaked, issuing a faint smile in the corner of my pale lips.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Nic came over. “She needs to feed, mate. She gave you a lot of her lifeforce.”
“What! Why?”
“You were dying,” Nic said.
Harland looked down at me, comforting me on his lap. “How can I help you?” he asked. I looked over to the humans, to my friends.
Hayley nodded. She knew. She’d helped me before, as I had her when she fell from the split pyramid we’d been attempting. The rest of the squad didn’t realise she’d suffered a bleed to the brain, that she’d landed on her head after all. But when she started coughing up blood in third period, I knew. I’d given her my lifeforce in the locker room, took her there to recover. That was when she saw all of me. She knew me then and knew I wasn’t all bad. Now it was her time to repay the favour.
Hayley walked over, leant over Harland, and picked my frail body up. I embraced her, hanging on for dear life, taking a little lifeforce from her, but not too much. I didn’t want to deplete her entirely. I’d make sure I would give some back from someone else later. I couldn’t lose Hayley to a lesser life, and so I could live on even longer.
Kathryn and Allyson saw. They sat with Hayley, reached forward, and embraced me too; each giving me a little of their own lifelines so I could continue living my own. “Thank you,” I said, feeling as full of sunshine as a bright, sunny day.
“Anytime,” Hayley said, smiling. Kathryn and Allyson smiled, hugged me, and wandered back over to the other human girls from chemistry class.
“Right, well, having four girls on my lap isn’t something I’d expected to have happen today.” Harland said, smirking. “But I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it.” He grinned as Hayley pulled me up to stand.
“Get up, Harland,” I said, kicking dirt at him.
“Oi, watch the t-shirt!” Nic said, picking it up, offering Harland his hand as he bent down.
“Thanks, mate.”
“Where’s the rest of the pack?” Nic asked Harland.
“I dunno, I’m hoping they made it home.”
“Was it Rowena?” I asked.
“Rowena’s the least of our problems.” He said, raising his eyebrows.
“Why, what else is out there?” Well, most of Elvington was rubble. There was nowhere to hide. It was those damned mutations, her failed experiments. There were hundreds of them roaming the streets. I had hardly made it out alive.
“So we’re facing a zombie apocalypse now, too?” I asked.
“Err, yeah, something like that.” He exclaimed. “But they’re not the same as what you’d imagine.”
“What do you mean?”
“These things don’t seem to need to eat for survival, they do it because they like to kill.”
“Can’t we just behead them all?” I asked.
“Yeah, like in the movies!” Nic said.
“No, mate,” Harland said. “I don’t know how to kill them.”
“What do you mean?”
“My claws don’t work.”
“Huh?” Nic said.
“They have some kind of armour inside them. Whatever she tried to do, it failed and created these things. They don’t follow her, they don’t follow anyone but each other.”
“Each other?”
“Yeah, they seem to hunt in packs. They have teeth like Lucian's, skin like, well, nothing I’ve ever seen before, and bodies like humans. Rotting, decaying humans, but still dead humans.
I saw them bite a kid before I could get to it. They stopped when they saw me, chased me in here. I thought I’d lost them until I turned around and saw the child. Problem was, there was something wrong with him. The bite had killed him, turned him into one of those things. The little sod went and bit me, left me here for dead. If it weren’t for my Lycan genes, I’d be a ravaging zombie by now.”
“Shit.” Jayden said. Nic nodded. “Now what do we do?”
“We fight.” Eli said as he wandered over.
“But how, Eli? There’s too many of them.” I asked.
“It’ll be okay, Elisha.” He said, smiling.
“Okay,” I said. I didn’t know why, but I believed the kid. Somehow, it’d be alright.
Chapter 16: Taylor
Lifting me up, we hugged, walked forward, and entered the first mirror we saw. There wasn’t any particular reason why we chose that one, it just so happened to be the closest at the time.
Following my mother through, I had my hand on my tummy. I couldn’t believe it. How was I pregnant? Okay, well yes, I knew how. My Earth mother had taught me all about the birds and the bees. But how did I not know? Surely you should know when your body is cocooning a tiny human inside? It explained the sickness, at least, explained the ever-growing tummy too, plus the huge appetite and weird tastes back on the cruise ship with Lucian. Jeez, I missed him so much. I wished he was there to celebrate the news with me. How could I bring a child up without their father? Hell, how could I bring a tiny person up at all? I was barely an adult myself. Not only that, but knowing what was really out there, how could I bring a child into any of it. Was it unfair? Selfish, surely? But what choice did I have? I was in tit forever, whether I liked it or not. I loved the idea of having a child of my own... but now? I didn't even have a house anymore. The one I had currently contained the opening to Hell in my kitchen, and that was not exactly child safe. Would she or he be human? What about Lucian's genes, and Hell, my genes? What would the child be? Half monster, half angel? Was I even classed as an angel? I was the mother of humanity, but that didn't bestow me with big sparkly wings. So, I wasn't quite sure what I was. Therefore, I had no idea what my child would be.
Stepping onto the hot planet was like a walk in the park; been there, done that. The problem was that I felt weaker, somehow. I felt vulnerable. It wasn’t just me I had to protect anymore. I had the responsibility of another life inside of me and that scared me. I’d survived before because I was carefree, I jumped in head first and always figured my way out. I had never hesitated. But now, well, now I knew I would, and that hesitation could get me killed, get us both killed, and then what type of mother would I be? Killing my child before it even arrived in the world. No, I couldn't do it. I didn't know how. I didn't know what to do.
I stood there, silent, not daring to take another step forward. The overwhelming feeling of dread pulsated through my body. With clammy hands, I gripped my stomach. How could I be a mother to this child? Breathing faster and faster, my muscles tensed, blood pounded in my ears, my heart thudded faster, threatening to jump out of my chest. Eyes wide, vision blurry, I struggled to breath, dropping to my knees on the wasteland of a planet. My mother turned, looked at me, and came running over.
“Eve!” she exclaimed, “it’ll be okay.” She soo
thed me as my eyes opened like floodgates, salty tears streaming down my face, pooling down onto my thighs. Pulling me in close, she smoothed my hair as I sobbed, letting everything go. All my fears, worries, and sadness washed out of me; the relief was intense. I let go, finally and completely let go. I held up my hands and said no, I can’t do this anymore. It was good to admit the truth. Good to say, ‘hey you know what, no, I’m not okay’. I shouldn’t let my pride stop me. I’m not a superhero, I can’t solve every problem, and you know what? That’s okay. I wouldn’t expect someone else to do it alone, so why should I need to?
“I’M HERE WITH YOU, Evie.” She whispered.
I knew she was. It meant a lot to have her by my side. I couldn’t imagine doing it alone, especially without my Lucian. I couldn't imagine living without him either, but that was something I didn't have the choice of anymore. Jeez, I was truly and really having a baby. My hormones were out of whack and I sure hadn’t seen that actualisation happening.
“Come on, Evie,” mother said as she helped lift me up. “Let’s head back through. This isn’t your home.”
I smiled, ached, as I got up and headed back in the portal we had just come through.
Chapter 17: Elisha
Hours of trudging through the forest took its toll. The girls were tired. Jodie was moaning about nettle-stung toes. She had to have been the unluckiest girl I knew, considering there was rarely any greenery left in the diseased forest. The goblins had been following us since the beginning; I used to find it amusing how Taylor had described them as Gremlins; you could see the resemblance, being only two foot tall. If only they knew when they had created that film. Perhaps they did, perhaps they could see them too.
The goblins loved to watch, usually following the humans, unseen to the eye. They had a knack at causing trouble, though, and I knew full well that if we didn’t stay clear of them, trouble would find its way to us. Those little critters were the nicer ones of the bunch, that race had a whole lot to answer for, but there wasn't too many of them on Earth. Julian had always said they came from another planet he’d seen near his own. Julian, I missed him. His stentorian voice always made you feel like you’d done something wrong, but he had a cool head when others didn’t. He would have known what to do. Since when was I leader material? Granted, I could lead the cheerleading squad, but an apocalyptic revolution, erm, no thanks, that sounded painful to me. Then again, leading a group of girls wasn’t a picnic. Come to think of it, in comparison to the darker days we’d had, I’d rather lead a bunch of testosterone driven men, at least they were easier to control. Women, they had too much emotion, it took time to manipulate their kind. Men, on the other hand, let’s just say I wasn't quite sure how they ever survived so long.
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