Ancient Awakening (The Ancient)
Page 33
Panic, anger, and fear no longer filled Ann's heart. She was way past that. Now she felt an odd acceptance. She was not going to make it through this day alive.
She felt terrible. She was too weak to struggle in Keith's grip, not that it would have been wise to do so. His touch was hot, like he was feverish. Or maybe that was just how demons felt. They flew far above the streets of Newark, the sun high in the early afternoon sky. The view was quite nice, even if the circumstances of the little trip were not. She hoped Mike was okay. And Miller, although, from the sound of it, he was always okay.
Keith released her and for a moment, she again knew fear as she fell several feet to the roof of a building. She struck the surface hard and for a second, the world dimmed. Recovering, she tried to sit up, but her head was pounding too much. She had to lie down to keep from vomiting.
She thought she was hearing drums but realized it was her blood pounding through her ears, so loudly that it hurt. There was a bubbling noise from her right but she could not turn her head to see what it was. After a moment, Keith asked, “Why do you torture me like this?"
"Me, torture you?" Ann said weakly. It hurt to talk. Actually, it just hurt in general.
"Yes! I have done everything to please you. Everything to make my sire proud, to make her join me as my queen."
"I don't know what you’re talking about,” Ann said. She was distracted by a tightness in her belly. It seemed about to explode.
"You! You created me! You brought me into this world and then you rejected me!"
"What? I did no such thing," she groaned. Suddenly, the tightness seemed to be relaxing, her muscles uncoiling.
"You lie!" Keith yelled. The pain was fading, but it felt like she was stretching. She moaned, again trying to sit up. She had more success this time and managed to pull herself up to face Keith. He was human-shaped again but still had the blast marks from Mike's shotgun. His face was a twisted black mess and a good section of his chest had been torn open. One good eye stared back at her.
"Keith. You’re confused. That woman, Vanessa, she did something to you. Made you into this."
"Hah, my little sister did no such thing. Although she has been jealous of you since I sired her." A wet choking sound came out of his ruined face, which Ann assumed was a chuckle. "You honestly don't know, do you? You don't know what you are," he continued, becoming serious. "You are sick, just like little Jamie was."
“Jamie?" Ann thought back, she remembered a young intern by that name. He had started working at the hospital at about the time that Ann and Keith had broken up. Ann hadn’t seen him in a long while, but that was not unexpected. Interns rotated in and out of the hospital. "What about him?"
"He’s ill. Sometimes he still thinks he's human. Other times he’s a mindless beast." Keith sounded downright grave at this point, concern for the young man in his voice. "I think the humans have done something to us or themselves, to help resist our seed." The pieces suddenly fell into place in Ann’s head. The thing in the basement. That was Jamie.
"Your seed?" It felt like Ann's skin was getting too tight. She slid out of her coat, which was drenched with her sweat, and tried to stand.
"Our seed, Ann. You are one of us. The oldest of us."
"What? You’re crazy..." She was on her feet now, her body shaking from the effort. She took a step away, but her mind was spinning. She remembered what Vanessa had first said to her, "The law doesn't allow me to kill you.”
"Join our family," Keith had said. She had been compelled to take his offer. What was going through her mind? There had been all the dreams, the black scales and drums. She could hear the drums now, the blood thrumming though her ears. Good God, it wasn’t possible, was it? Miller had said Bill was as human as Mike was. He had made no mention of her. Did he know?
Ann felt something rip on her arm, and her flesh tore away, revealing white scales. "No, it can't be," Ann muttered under her breath. How was this possible?
"See?" Keith's ruined faced turned up with a smile. "You begin to see the truth."
"No!" Ann stumbled back to the ground as her spine stretched forward. She felt the flesh around her stomach give way. "God no, this can’t be real." Her shoulders spread apart, tearing both flesh and the cloth of her shirt. One hand suddenly doubled in size, the skin snapping away.
"No, I won’t let this be true." Ann struggled to crawl forward.
"You cannot deny what you are," Keith said. "Join your family. Come to where you belong."
Ann was silent for moment as she dragged her shifting body forward. One of her sneakers popped open to free a clawed foot. She saw only one way to end this nightmare. "I will not become a monster,” she said as she pulled herself up to the edge of the roof.
She had been right. She was not going to live through this day. With one long final stare at Keith, she pushed herself over the edge of the building.
Keith screamed and leapt forward, but was far too late. She closed her eyes as she dropped toward the ground, seventeen stories below, the air ripping through her few remaining strands of hair.