Eternal Changes (Mikah)

by Tiffany Berry

  “Oh my God!” the boy screamed as he fell and scrambled backwards.

  Karver smiled as the boy crawled towards the bed and stood up with his back to the bed. Lucy’s arms wrapped around the boy and a scream pierced the air.

  The boy’s eyes were the size of saucers as he turned his head. “Lucy,” he said as a relieved sigh left his lips. “I thought you were dead.”

  Lucy didn’t respond as she opened her eyes.

  “Lucy, let me go,” the boy begged as he tried to get out of her grasp.

  Karver laughed as the boy struggled as Lucy started to pull the boy towards her. Her red eyes sparkled as she took her hands and tilted the boy’s head, exposing his neck.

  “Stop!” The boy screamed as he stood locked in place by Lucy’s hands.

  “Yes,” Karver whispered as Lucy’s fangs elongated and she delved into the boy’s soft flesh. Blood dribbled down from her mouth as she drank the boy’s blood in rushing gulps.

  “Please,” the boy whispered as he felt faint. “Stop…”

  Karver smiled at the boy’s request. There was no stopping any vampire when the bloodlust was upon them. The vampire part took over and filled the need. Every other part of the brain shut off. She needed the blood and so she took it.

  The boy went limp in Lucy’s arms and she finally let him go as her eyes started to turn back to their normal color.

  Everything was hazy as Lucy looked around her. She was kneeling on the bed and Karver had a satisfied smile plastered on his wicked face as he stared at her. An odd metallic taste tingled in her mouth as something dripped from her chin.

  Lucy looked down. A small pool of blood stained the comforter. “What happened?” she asked as she scanned the floor. She paused as she found Michael’s body. Her heart dropped to her stomach.

  “Oh my god!” she screamed as she scrambled to the floor. “Michael?”

  A look of confusion crossed Karver’s face. “Michael? I thought you said his name was Ashton?”

  “I never told you his name,” Lucy said as she glared over at him. “You assumed when I asked for Ashton that you had him.”

  Lucy looked down at Michael’s neck. Two puncture wounds glared up at her. “What did you do to him?”

  “I didn’t do anything to him, my dear,” Karver said as he sat down on a nearby chair. “You did.”

  Lucy shook her head in denial. There was no way she would have hurt him. She put her finger in her mouth and pulled it back to look at it. Her eyes widened as red dripped down her finger. She vehemently shook her head and tears pooled in her eyes as she clutched onto Michael’s body. Lucy gently put a finger to Michael’s neck and held her breath. A sigh of relief left her lips as a very faint heartbeat thumped against her finger.

  Talmadge scanned the area outside of Kartchner Caverns. The night was clear as the moon’s silver rays shone down on the group. There was close to a thousand of them with the Dragomir and shifters combined and they were prepared for battle. He looked over at Caoilainn. A red horizontal stripe was painted across her face. He nodded at her.

  Caoilainn held up her hand in a fist and her people shifted into cougars and rushed forward in different directions.

  Talmadge looked at his people and pointed a finger up. They nodded and flew up into the sky. Talmadge walked over to Caoilainn and Ashton and pointed North. Caoilainn and Ashton nodded as they propelled themselves forward.

  Ashton, Caoilainn, and Talmadge stumbled across an entrance a mile away from where they had started. Talmadge nodded at Ashton and Ashton climbed through the dark hole. One by one they made their way inside the dark caves. Talmadge stopped and listened. The sound of water dripping echoed throughout the caves.

  Talmadge walked over to Caoilainn and picked her up as he levitated a few inches off of the ground. He slowly flew down the hall with Ashton following not far behind him. The cave twisted off slightly to the left and Talmadge jerked to a stop as he heard voices coming towards them. Talmadge and Ashton slid up next to the rock wall and listened.

  Footsteps scraped across the rock floor. Talmadge looked down at Caoilainn as the footsteps moved closer to them. His ears perked up as he listened in to their conversation.

  “You put dogwood in Ophelia’s bloodstream?” One of them with a deep voice asked.

  “If anyone deserved that kind of death, it was her,” someone else hissed.

  “Remind me not to get on your bad side Jaymes,” the deep voice rumbled.

  Talmadge felt Caoilainn’s claws dig into him as they listened to the conversation. He felt her slide from his arms. Her cougar’s body was crouched low to the ground as she silently stalked her prey. She inched forward as Talmadge and Ashton followed quietly behind her.

  Talmadge paused as Caoilainn crouched down even lower and stopped as two vampires came into view. The two vampires had their backs towards them. Caoilainn rushed forward and lunged into the air. Her fangs were bared as she aimed for the blonde vampire’s throat. Talmadge blurred as he moved to take the other vampire out.

  Caoilainn clamped her jaws down as she sank into the vampire’s flesh. Once she had a good grip on his throat, she swung her head and ripped out the vampire’s jugular. His head rolled to the floor as it snapped off. Caoilainn’s black claws dug into the vampire’s chest where his heart was. A loud gushing sound echoed around them as Caoilainn pulled the vampire’s heart out with her paw. Black blood was peppered across her face as she held the black organ in her paw.

  “Give it to me and I’ll dispose of it,” Ashton said as he held out his hand to her.

  Caoilainn handed Ashton the organ and turned her attention to the fight still raging between Talmadge and the other vampire. The other vampire punched his hand forward as he tried to strike Talmadge several different times, but Talmadge dodged out of the way.

  The vampire moved to try to strike again, but Talmadge was quicker. The vampire gasped as Talmadge’s hand burrowed into his chest. Talmadge pulled the vampire’s black heart out and tossed it over to Ashton. Ashton placed the two black organs on the ground and waved his hand over them. They ignited into flames and disintegrated in seconds.

  When she turned around the bodies had disintegrated as well, leaving nothing behind. There wasn’t even a burn mark or a single ash on the ground.

  “Do you realize who you killed?” Talmadge asked Caoilainn as he stood next to her.

  She shook her head no as she shifted back to her human form.

  “You killed Jaymes,” Talmadge said. “He was the one Ophelia said killed Malachi.”

  “I was hoping I picked out the right one, but I wasn’t sure it was him,” Caoilainn said as tears filled her eyes. “I heard one of them say Jaymes and the fury of my cougar took over.”

  Talmadge’s arms wrapped around Caoilainn as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

  Caoilainn looked over at Ashton as she dried her tears. “I’m ready. Let’s go find Lucy.”

  Ashton took the lead and took the path the two Haemon had come from. He came to a fork in the caves and Ashton went to the right. It wasn’t long before he reached what looked like several bedrooms. Ashton put his ear up to one of the doors and listened. Nothing. He moved to the next door. He didn’t have to put his ear to the door. A sobbing sound could be heard in the hall.

  Ashton turned around and pointed to the door. He gestured to Talmadge that he was going in. He rushed forward, his shoulder angled at the door. The door flew open as Ashton slammed into it. He jerked to a stop as Lucy looked up at him from the floor. Blood stained her mouth as she clutched someone to her.

  Lucy moved slightly and ice trickled in Ashton’s veins as Michael’s face came into view. Blood stained Michael’s clothes where it had spilled from the large wound on his neck. Ashton looked back up at Lucy as tears sparkled in her brown eyes. She hung her head as the tears slid down her cheeks.

  “Welcome,” Karver hissed a chair in the corner of the room.

  Ashton’s eyes narrowed as he took a step forward
. “I’m going to enjoy ripping your heart out.”

  Talmadge grabbed Ashton by the shoulders and pulled him back. “This isn’t your fight.”

  Ashton pulled away, spun around and glared at Talmadge. “Like hell it isn’t.”

  Talmadge shoved Ashton out of the way as Karver flew forward with his fangs bared. Talmadge threw up his hand, striking Karver in the face and slid to the right.

  “It’s been a long time, brother,” Karver spat as he spun around. His eyes glittered as he stared at Talmadge. “Your existence ends tonight.” He lunged at Talmadge and they fell into the hall as their bodies collided.

  Talmadge tossed Karver up in the air and jumped up from the ground. Talmadge glared at Karver as the Haemon, Dragomir, and Daroch circled around them to watch the fight. The crowd was quiet as Talmadge flew into Karver and grabbed a hold of Karver’s throat. Karver’s fingernails elongated as he clawed at Talmadge’s face. Talmadge pulled back and grabbed onto Karver’s wrist.

  Talmadge’s blood pumped and burned as the bloodlust consumed him. His eyes turned blood red as he dove forward. Karver slid to the left and broke away from Talmadge and flew up into the air. Talmadge stared up at Karver as he propelled himself off of the ground like a bullet being shot from a gun. Talmadge collided with Karver midair as Talmadge’s fangs elongated. Talmadge bit into Karver’s arm and ripped a chunk of flesh off and spit it out. Karver screamed and it echoed throughout the caves.

  Black blood splattered the rock below and chaos broke out as the crowd clashed. Karver leered at Talmadge as his fangs elongated. Karver struck at Talmadge’s neck with his fangs, but Talmadge spun out of the way. Karver turned to face his brother once more.

  Talmadge’s mouth was curved upwards in a small smile.“Come on, little brother,” he taunted. “Is that all you’ve got?”

  Karver screamed as he launched himself at Talmadge. Talmadge moved slightly to the right and bit into Karver’s side and he tossed Karver over his head like a rag doll. A scream erupted from Karver as his skin and flesh was ripped off. The flesh hung from Talmadge’s mouth as the black blood dripped from his pale skin. He spit the acidic flesh out and it fell to the ground below.

  “And you call yourself the leader of the Haemon?” Talmadge leered. “You’re pathetic, brother.”

  Karver started to move forward, but then stopped suddenly. Talmadge flew forward with his arms outstretched. He jerked to a stop as Karver dissipated a few feet from him. Talmadge swiveled around and looked for Karver.

  Talmadge descended to the ground below. “Where is he?” he hissed as he walked through the crowd, his gaze scanning the surrounding area. Talmadge stepped back as a cougar ripped into a Haemon’s neck and sliced through the neck with its fangs. The black acidic blood coated the cougar’s golden fur.

  “He’s gone,” Jayde said as she touched Talmadge’s shoulder. “I don’t think he’ll be back.”

  Talmadge spun around and burrowed his hand into the chest of one of the Haemon behind him in frustration as Jayde walked up to the headless bodies of the Haemon scattered across the rock floor and ripped their black hearts out and threw them in a pile. She waved her hand over the pile and incinerated the black organs. The dead bodies vanished from the floor as the rest of the Haemon dissipated and fled the scene.

  “Cowards!” Jayde yelled.

  Talmadge’s eye color slowly turned back to normal. He didn’t say a word as he pivoted and walked towards the room where Lucy was being kept. The crowd parted to let him through and Jayde followed closely behind him.

  Talmadge stopped next to Caoilainn at the entrance of the room. He could taste t he power flowing through the air. He looked to where Lucy was clinging to a boy’s body as Ashton knelt by her with his head hung low. Red blood covered the boy’s neck as he lay lifeless in Lucy’s arms.

  “I can’t fix this,” Caoilainn whispered to Talmadge.

  Talmadge touched Caoilainn’s shoulder and walked into the room.

  Red tears trickled down Lucy’s cheeks as Ashton gently touched her chin. She looked up at him with a broken look on her face.

  “I’m a monster,” Lucy whispered as she clung to Michael.

  “You’re not a monster, baby,” Ashton said as he touched her head with his.

  Lucy looked down at Michael. “I did this to him, Ashton,” she said as she bent Michael’s head and exposed the torn flesh of his neck. “How am I not a monster?”

  Ashton stared at the gashes in Michael’s neck. The skin around the bite marks was jagged and the muscles in the neck had been torn to shreds. Ashton slowly turned Michael’s head to expose the other side of his neck to feel for a pulse. A faint erratic beat thumped against his fingers.

  “He can be saved, right?” Lucy asked with hope filling her eyes.

  Ashton stared at Lucy and shook his head no as he wrapped her in his arms.

  Lucy pulled Michael to her as she sobbed. Tears flowed down her cheeks as her body shook. Her breathing came in short, hard gasps as she cried.

  Ashton looked up at Talmadge and moved away as Talmadge knelt down on the floor next to Lucy.

  Talmadge looked into his beautiful daughter’s stricken face. “Lucy,” he whispered gently.

  Lucy looked up as tears slid down her cheeks. “I killed my friend,” she said in a broken whisper. “He didn’t deserve this. Not him.”

  “I need you to let me have him, Lucy,” Talmadge said as he looked at her.

  Lucy shook her head no as she clutched Michael to her. “I need to fix this,” she said.

  “You can’t fix this,” Talmadge said as he touched his daughter’s chin and looked into her brown eyes. “No one can.”

  Lucy shook her head in denial. “No. No! NO!”

  Ashton nodded at Talmadge as he wrapped Lucy in his arms. “You need to let go of Michael, Lucy.”

  Sobs wracked Lucy’s body. “I can’t,” she whispered.

  Talmadge leaned forward and gently pried the human boy from Lucy’s arms. He took the boy in his arms, stood up and walked over to where Jayde was standing. “Take care of him,” he said as he handed the boy to her.

  Jayde nodded her head and left the room carrying Michael’s body in her arms. She looked down and her heart seemed to stop beating for a small moment in time. His features were absolutely beautiful and she couldn’t help but wonder what color his eyes were. There was something about him that tugged at her heart strings.

  Jayde walked down the corridors of the caverns. Her heart felt heavy and grew heavier with each step that she took. Talmadge wanted her to take care of the body, but she couldn’t shake the feelings that coursed through her as she carried Michael in her arms. She glanced back down at his face as she walked. What was wrong with her?

  Jayde’s emotions threatened to overwhelm her as she left the caves and flew up into the air. She propelled herself forward and the scenery below blurred.

  Jayde didn’t slow down until she reached Mammoth Caves. She gently landed on the green grass in the woods near her home as her emotions crashed over her like a wave against the cliffs during a high tide. She laid Michael’s body on the ground and looked down at him. Could she really just sit here and watch the last little bit of life leave him and do nothing?

  Jayde shook her head in exasperation. This shouldn’t have been a hard task for her to complete. Turmoil rocked through her as she glanced down at his body. His body jerked on the ground as the last little bit of life started leaving his body. Jayde fell to the ground next to him as she slit one of her wrists with an elongated fingernail. She gently held up Michael’s head and put her wrist to his mouth. The black blood seeped in and dripped from the corner of his mouth. Jayde removed her wrist and lightly stroked his neck as she helped him to swallow. Jayde moved away from him and sat down on the grass as he swallowed the last drop.

  Jayde ran her hands over her face as she looked up at the sky. The stars danced across the black backdrop. Jayde ran her hand through her hair and gently tugged. Had she completely
lost her mind?

  “You’re such an idiot,” she murmured to herself as crawled over to Michael and lifted him up into her arms. She stood up and headed for the entrance of the caves.

  Jayde entered the caves and ran through the maze. She veered off to the left to a hidden cavern and waved her hand at the solid rock wall. The wall jerked and slowly opened and she entered the room. She closed the wall and walked over to the large bed at the far end of the room and laid Michael on it.

  Jayde ran over to the fridge and grabbed a couple jugs of blood as Michael’s body convulsed on the bed. A gasp left his lips and his eye flew open as Jayde hurried over to him. She stared down at him. His eyes were slowly turning blood red as his body started to change.