by ID Johnson
Over the sound of my own sobs, I heard Giovani say something about their ride and titanium bullets. A moment later, there was a roaring sound that reminded me a bit of the train and then the sound of shattering glass. Brandon’s hands went up and I instinctively covered my head, too. I looked up in time to see my sister disappearing through the ceiling, attached to a black grappling hook. She was being sucked through a hole in the glass, swallowed up by a helicopter. Something told me that one didn’t belong to Cale. Cadence was gone, and a few seconds later, chaos broke out around us.
The Vampires were still standing there, their bargaining chip having just disappeared through the ceiling. It turned out my sister’s friends were sneakier than Giovani had given them credit for. Around me, I heard hidden weapons come flying out, and the Vampires opened fire as LIGHTS began to take aim at their assailants. Brandon scooped me up into a ball and threw himself between me and the gunfire. Terrified, I did my best to stay hidden, knowing the Vampires couldn’t truly injure him, though I was sure the sting of their bullets had to hurt, and he had a few choice words as he took a few bullets that would’ve ended me. The helicopter sound faded away, and the sound of running all around me let me know that LIGHTS had launched their attack. I peered around Brandon to see some of the Hunters and Guardians that had been behind me closing in on the Vampires, though Giovani and Zabrina appeared to be gone.
Aaron shouted a few orders, and I heard my name, though I had no idea what he was talking about. The realization that the Vampires were moving away from me led me to believe that I was safe, but my sister was gone, swept up into the night, and I had the mark of a Vampire on my arm. It would only be a matter of time now. I began to sob as Brandon moved around so that my head was in his lap.
“Cass, it’s okay,” Brandon said, and I looked up into his green eyes to see they were filled with tears. “You’re going to be okay.”
“My… arm…” I stammered.
“I know. But it’s fine. It’s just a little scratch.”
“No,” I began, realizing he had no idea. “It’s ... too late.”
Before he could say more, I heard another familiar voice. “Hey, Cass. How are you doing?”
Other than seeing my sister on the bridge a few minutes ago, I have never been more relieved in my life to see someone. “Jamie…” I stammered. “My… arm. She….”
“Let’s take a look,” he said, his voice every bit as calm and cheerful as anyone could possibly be in this situation. “Oh, it’s just a little scratch,” he said. “I’m sure it’s fine. Let me clean it.” He opened his medical bag, but I saw him exchange a worried look with Brandon and then start talking to someone on the IAC. At least my sister still had that. She wouldn’t be completely alone, wherever she was going. I believed Aaron would find her, that she would be okay until then. I had to. In the meantime, I also remembered what she’d said about Gibbon, that he wouldn’t be strong enough to defeat her. As Jamie cleaned my arm and bandaged it, the pain stopped, and I had to believe Cadence would be okay. I tried not to think about it, tried to focus on Brandon, but the world seemed to be spinning around me.
“Why is she shaking?”
I looked up at Brandon to see he was talking to Jamie and wondered who they were talking about. Was there someone else Jamie needed to be helping?
“She’s in shock.” Jamie took off his jacket and draped it over me, and I realized they were talking about me. I was trembling. I was freezing, yet I could feel the sweat pouring down the back of my neck. Despite the fact that I was practically convulsing, I realized Jamie had a vial and a needle in his hand. Words failed me, and so did thoughts. I could neither ask nor consider what he might be doing.
“I’m going to need you to hold this for a minute, okay?” Jamie’s voice seemed faint as he spoke to Brandon. I closed my eyes, wondering where they were going. I could feel Brandon’s legs beneath me still, Jamie’s knee pressed up against my hip, but they may as well have been on the other side of the station.
I forced my eyes open and focused on Brandon’s green ones. “You’re okay, Cass,” he said reassuringly. “We won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
I wanted to believe him, but I knew there was no anti-venom for Vampires. I was going to be just like Zabrina soon. My sister might end up even worse. Through trembling lips, I said, “I’m so sorry. I never should have… it’s my fault… Cadence….”
“It’s all right. It’s all right,” Brandon said. I could feel his hand running through my hair and it was slightly calming. I felt my heartrate start to drop. “Deep breaths.” I tried to take his advice but the air just wouldn’t completely fill my lungs.
Jamie’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Cassidy, I know you’re upset, but I’m going to need you to try to hold still as best you can, okay?”
My eyes flickered over to his face, and I realized he was holding a syringe with a very long needle. It was the second longest, pointiest thing that had been positioned above my head that day, next to Zabrina’s fangs. “What are you doing?”
I felt Jamie’s hand on my arm and something else and realized he’d tied a tourniquet. Instinctively, I jerked away from him.
His usually calm voice sounded slightly frantic now as he said, “I’m giving you the Transformation Serum.”
I stared at him in disbelief. A thousand questions entered my head, all of them having to do with my age. I’d been told this couldn’t work. Or if they tried, I might die. “But I’m not old enough,” was all I could manage to say.
Jamie smiled at me. “Close enough.” I felt him reposition my arm. I thought he must’ve wedged it between his knees. “Now, let’s try this again.” I did my best to comply as he bent my arm for a second before straightening it, still holding it still. I was shaking, and there was nothing I could do to control it. I felt him feeling around on my arm and turned my attention to Brandon. He was smiling at me, but there were tears in his eyes. I focused on the smile. What a sweet young man he had turned out to be. He’d shared this adventure with me. Done his best to try to save me. Jeopardized his standing in the organization all for me….
A sharp prick had my mind filled with words my dad says when his favorite football team is losing. I felt an influx of burning pain all up my arm, regardless of Jamie’s hand being positioned there as I assumed he pushed down on the dabber. My mouth dropped open and my eyes bulged out of my head. I wanted to scream, but nothing would come out. Every muscle in my body went rigid as the pain shot up my arm and seemed to radiate through every single part of my body. Even though my eyes were wide open, my field of vision went completely black. Never in my entire life have I ever imagined this sort of pain could even exist. It was as if every fiber of my body was filled with molten lava. In that moment, I wished Zabrina had bitten me or tossed me off of the bridge. I couldn’t breathe, and I prayed I would either pass out from the pain or Jamie would realize my horror and find a way to end me.
I couldn’t see him, but off in the distance, I heard Brandon asked, “Is she okay?” His voice sounded as panicked as I felt.
“I don’t know.” Jamie’s answer was not reassuring. “She’s still with us. Her heart is racing.”
He was right. My heart felt like it was going to beat right out of my chest. I would be one of the youngest people in the world to die of a heart attack. I was okay with that so long as this pain stopped.
“That’s not good, is it?” Far Away Brandon asked.
“I have no way of knowing, Brandon. I’ve never done this before.” Once again, I was not comforted by Jamie’s response.
“You’ve never done this before?” He sounded closer now, or perhaps just louder.
Jamie’s reply was faint as I felt myself succumbing to the blackness and welcomed it in. “No, I’ve never attempted to change a Resurrecting Vampire into a Hunter. I don’t think anyone ever has.”
“How do you know it’s not going to kill her?” Brandon shrieked.
The last thing I he
ard before the prick of the second needle went into my arm, and the pain began to dissipate, the darkness spreading throughout my body, eating up the pain and sending me off into oblivion was the Healer’s honest answer. “I don’t.” I faded away, wondering if I’d ever open my eyes again.
Chapter 19
I’ve never believed any of those people who had out-of-body experiences, or those who claim they went to Heaven for a visit. It all seemed a little ridiculous to me. Why were they so special the Big Guy would want to have a one-on-one chat with them? But then, until recently, I didn’t think Vampires were real either. Now that I’d had a face-to-face encounter with a couple of them, I wished I could go back to before, back when Vampires were monsters one only read about in books or saw in tragic, Gothic love stories.
I can also now testify that coming back to your body once you’ve left it feels a little bit like slamming into a brick wall. Not in the sense of pain but in the breathlessness it causes. The jar is unbelievable, especially when you don’t realize you’ve been gone.
Once I collided with my exterior again, it took me a moment to open my eyes. I could hear voices first, feel someone’s hand on my arm. I felt warm, like I was tucked in all cozy in my own bed, though the smell was more clinical, like maybe I was in a hospital or someone else’s bed who really likes things clean.
The memories took a moment to catch up with the rest of me. They hit a split second after I realized I was back inside of my shell, and I remembered I had done something incredibly stupid. I’d taken a train across the country, dragged Brandon with me, been kidnapped by Vampires, gotten scratched, and watched helplessly as Cadence traded herself for me. Finally, Jamie had given me the Transformation Serum, not knowing if it would kill me, in an attempt to keep me from Resurrecting into a Vampire. I realized he hadn’t killed me, but the second possibility was still unclear.
Part of my brain wanted to panic that my sister was taken away by a helicopter by two vicious Vampires to meet up with an even deadlier monster, and I would’ve been freaking out about it, except I distinctly heard my sister’s voice. I had no idea what she was saying, but I was certain Cadence was in the room with me, which made fighting the desire to keep my eyes shut longer and fall back into oblivion a little harder.
But I also heard Brandon’s voice. He was concerned, worried even. And he was very close. I realized it was his hand on my arm. It had to be. The scent of his aftershave mingled with his perspiration, the same scent I’d been surrounded by just before I lost myself, filled my lungs, and I knew it didn’t even matter what I discovered when I opened my eyes. My sister was safe, Brandon was here, and I was alive. Everything else was just frosting on my cupcake.
I realized I was moving about the time that Brandon called my name. I felt more hands on me, on the other side now, and imagined that was Cadence. Slowly, I opened one eye and looked up at them. There was a collective inhale and sigh as I watched their faces turn from concern to happiness. I thought this must be good news and promptly opened my other eye. My sister’s face shifted in horror for a split second before she regained control of herself.
“Uh, hi, Cass,” Cadence stammered. “How… how… how do you feel?”
Instantly, I knew something was wrong. I tried to sit up, but their hands held me down. “Stay still,” Brandon insisted. I shifted my gaze to connect with him. “You’re okay. Just… wait for Jamie.”
I wanted to agree verbally, but I was afraid to say anything. I had no idea what was the matter. Jamie was next to Brandon in a flash. “Hey, there, stranger,” he said, and I realized he was trying to be lighthearted. “Hmmm, interesting,” was all he said as he gazed down at me.
Unable to take it anymore, I asked, “What? What is it?” My tongue darted over my teeth. They didn’t feel any different. There were no sharp points or anything. I felt like this was a solid victory. I desperately wanted to sit up, to move, to see if I was a Hunter.
“Well,” Jamie said, “we are just… a little surprised to see that… one of your eyes… isn’t hazel anymore.”
I sat up then, bolted right up in bed, almost knocking Brandon and Cadence over. Jamie jumped back in time. “What?” I demanded. I realized I’d moved very quickly, and I was stronger, too. “What do you mean?”
“It’s okay, Cass,” Cadence said. “I’m sure….”
“What color is it?” I shouted, though in my heart I already knew. I looked at the four faces staring at me and realized Aaron was the only one who had not had some sort of reaction to what Jamie was saying. So I turned to him. “What color is it?”
My sister’s fiancé, the Guardian Leader, maybe the most powerful man in the universe looked right into my non-matching eyes and said, “One of them is gray, Cass. We don’t know what that means, but as long as you feel okay, it doesn’t matter.”
I didn’t know if he was doing some of his magic hocus pocus to make me feel okay or not, but I wanted to believe him. I took a few deep breaths. “Can I have a mirror, please?”
I realized we were in a hotel room and it might be hard to come by one that wasn’t attached to a wall. After a few minutes of scrambling, Cadence said, “Ah! My phone!” and set it so when I looked into it, I’d be seeing myself.
He was right. My right eye, the one on the side where Zabrina had scratched me, was steel gray, the same color her eyes had been. The one on the left was still hazel, possibly a little more vibrant than usual. Once again, I checked my teeth. I didn’t feel anything, but I didn’t think that mattered.
“Thank you,” I said, handing my sister her phone. I took three calming breaths before I turned to Jamie. “What am I?”
He cleared his throat and sat down next to me on the edge of the bed, Brandon scooting his chair out of the way. “I’m not sure. But… I would guess we were able to stop the Resurrection process in time to prevent you from becoming a full-fledged Vampire. I would say… some sort of hybrid.”
“A Hunter, Vampire hybrid?” I questioned.
“That is my best guess,” the doctor nodded.
“Have you ever…?” I couldn’t finish the question.
“No,” Jamie said, clearly reading my mind. “I’ve never seen anything like it. So, we won’t know what you’ll be able to do until we give it some time.”
“Do you feel any burning in your throat?” Aaron asked, still the calmest of all, though Jamie didn’t seem as twitchy as he had a moment ago.
“No,” I assured him. It was true. There was no burning sensation. The thought of drinking blood made my stomach churn.
“Would you mind opening your mouth really wide for me?” Jamie asked.
Brandon got up at that point, and Cadence scooted backward a good five feet. I saw Aaron put his hand on her shoulder as I complied.
Jamie had somehow produced one of those little mirror things that dentists used. I didn’t realize his medical bag had been sitting on the floor next to him until the tool was in my mouth. He did a little poking around in the top of my mouth, behind my teeth. “Okay,” he finally said. “You can close.” He let out a deep breath.
“Well?” I asked, inhaling and holding it.
“They’re there,” he said quietly. “Pretty high right now. But they’re up there.”
I felt around with my tongue again and then looked at my sister. Her face was paler now than it had been right before Giovani put that bag over her head. “I have… fangs.”
“Yes,” Jamie confirmed.
“But… I don’t feel anything,” Cadence said. “I mean, maybe a slight vibration, but not like I usually do.”
“Me neither,” the other two Guardians agreed.
“Honestly,” Jamie said, looking to each of them and then back at me. “I have no idea. Like I said, as far as I know, this has never happened before. But let’s concentrate on the positive. You’re not a Vampire. You didn’t die. And… it seems like the Serum took, so you have Transformed. So… it could’ve been a lot worse.”
I knew he was right. I nodd
ed, thinking I would try to find a way to concentrate on that. “Thank you, for saving me,” I said to him.
“Oh, I didn’t do much,” he said, shrugging.
“Yes, you did,” I said reaching forward and resting my hand on top of his. “You got pulled out of the hunt because of me.” I realized then that all of this was my fault. I looked at my sister, Aaron, Brandon, and then back to Cadence. “I am so sorry….”
“We know,” Aaron said. “And… you should know everything is okay. Obviously, we got Cadence back.”
I looked at my sister and saw there were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling at me.
“Why don’t we leave and let the two of them talk for a while?” Aaron suggested, looking at Jamie and Brandon.
Jamie hopped up immediately, clearly thinking that was a good idea, but Brandon’s hand didn’t leave my arm. I turned to look at him and could see in his eyes he didn’t agree. Smiling, I said, “It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“Cass,” Brandon said slowly, “you have no idea….” He looked around and stopped himself, and I thought I saw tears in his eyes again.
“You’re right. I don’t,” I agreed. I had no idea what he’d been through, trying to save me, watching me almost die, looking at me now, not knowing what I am. “I’m okay,” I assured him. “Thank you for coming after me.”
Brandon nodded, and I knew he wanted to say more, but not in front of everyone else. He gently squeezed my arm and pried himself out of the chair. Jamie rested his hand on his shoulder and walked with him toward the door.
Once they were gone, I turned to face Cadence. “So… you’re alive. That’s good.”
She laughed. “Yeah, just barely, I think.”
“What happened?” I asked. “How did you get away.”