The pain triggered my shifter blood and I couldn't stop myself from shifting under her. In the process, the impact of my larger wolf body sent her several feet away and she landed gracefully on her feet. I growled lowly as she approached me slowly, dancing along the dirt as she giggled maniacally and licked her fingertips clean of my blood.
“Oh, Kai'sa! Your blood is absolutely delicious, you almost taste like a human!” She squealed in excitement.
I have to take her down quickly and get to the courtyard or the others will come looking for me, and I don't want them anywhere near Jenny. She is the most aggressive person I've come across tonight... I thought desperately, pacing the perimeter between us anxiously.
“I want more,” Jenny murmured, lunging at me again.
I took her challenge and lunged at the same time. As our bodies collided, I flipped my body around hers and shifted back to my human form, wrapping my arms around hers tightly. Our bodies landed into the dirt, with her taking the brunt. She snarled and squirmed underneath me as I struggled to keep her hands together.
“Give me more!” She shrieked as I held her down, thrashing around wildly.
“Don't worry, Jenny, it's all going to okay. I just have to get you some help,” I whispered as I fastened a rope around her wrists and hauled her to her feet.
Five
After I dropped Jenny off to The Guard's post, the bracelet on my wrist shocked me and my body was forcefully turned in the direction of the gym where a bright red beacon shone. My wounded ankle protested as I ran toward it, each step sent shooting pain through my leg and I had to grit my teeth to keep from screaming. Someone is in trouble. Is it the guard? Did someone try to get into the gym and one of my friends got hurt trying to stop them? My brain tortured me as I rounded the corner behind the gym, and nearly crumbled to my knees when I smelled her blood.
Aubrielle's blood was absolutely suffocating as I neared the front of the gym, I gagged on it as I drew closer. She's okay, she has to be, I told myself as I pushed through the smell. I focused on the sounds around me, trying to pick up the sound of her heartbeat among the others inside the gym – but I couldn't distinguish anything through my panic. Climbing the stairs, I picked up another smell under Aubrielle's blood – death – and sure enough, once I got to the top of the stairs, I saw them.
In front of the gym door, Aubrielle was lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood, gasping and choking on the blood as it filled her lungs. Her hands were firmly pressed to two severe wounds on her neck and abdomen, blood-soaked and shaking. A few feet away from her, a shifter's corpse lay lifelessly in a different pool of blood, her eyes staring blankly up at me.
“No, no, no,” I sobbed, falling down next to Aubrielle, putting my hands over hers as she tried to keep the blood from pooling. “Hey, it's okay, I'm here now. I-I'm going to make it all better,” I cried as I looked down at her slowly graying face.
“K...Kai'sa,” she whispered, coughing up blood and wheezing as she struggled to speak. “I...I protected...everyone. B-but, I don't think … I don't think I'm going to make it.”
I pressed harder on her wounds and shook my head firmly. “No. I'm going to save you, too. J-Just hang in there! I don't know how, but I'll save you, too.”
Desperate, I began tearing the fabric of my clothes into make-shift bandages, my hands shaking violently as I struggled and cried. Come on, Kai'sa! Steady your freaking hands! I scolded myself and tried again, watching as Aubrielle's eyes started to droop.
“No! Come on, keep your eyes open!” I shouted, moving my hands back to hers and listening to her breathing. It was labored and I had to listen very hard to hear it, the liquid in her lungs had reached a critical level. Even a vampire has somewhat of a heartbeat, and when I put my ear to her chest, I couldn't hear hers.
“Aubrielle! You have to breathe! I can't lose you! Please, please just breathe!” I sobbed and began CPR.
Her body was so frail and fragile that I broke two of her ribs immediately. The motion pumped blood from her wounds and I panicked, switching to breathing air into her mouth. I gagged on the taste of her blood but continued. Tears stung my eyes as I switched back and forth between compressions and breaths. I continued for five minutes to no avail and eventually fell away from her body, screaming into the night.
“Why can't I save you?!” I screamed as I watched her take a shallow breath and then nothing for several moments. “I should have been here! It's all my fault!”
As I stared at her body, my anger was suddenly directed at my creator. If she had just given me some special affinity for healing, I could do something about Aubrielle's wounds. But, all she blessed me with was completely worthless!
“This is your fault!” I screamed at the sky. “You call yourself our Goddess, but I bet you love to watch as I crumble! I hate you!”
My dear Kai'sa, you are so much stronger and so very gifted. But, with every blessing comes a curse, and I cannot interfere. If you truly don't believe that I have blessed you, allow me to show you. A disembodied voice whispered through the night's air at the same time that Aubrielle took a huge breath and coughed up blood.
I rushed to her side and caressed her face. “Hey, it's okay. I'm here, keep breathing okay?”
She laughed humorlessly, a choked and painful sound. “Kai'sa, I want you to do something for me … Once I'm gone, you have to keep living, don't let my death affect your life for more than a moment … I never wanted to be a vampire, anyway.”
I shushed her, putting my hands over her wounds again. “Don't speak like that, Aubrielle. You're going to pull through this,” the tears had returned to my eyes and were dropping onto her face quickly, mixing with her blood.
She smiled warmly, her once pearly white teeth crimson. “No, I've already accepted that I'm dying. You have to protect the others, okay? For me.”
“You're not allowed to give up!” I shouted, picking up the pieces of cloth. “I'm going to bring you to safety and … and the doctors will know what to do!”
Fighting through the blur of my tears, I moved her hands and began bandaging her wounds tightly. Kai'sa, stop. The voice whispered again. You need to be more observant of your surroundings. She isn't going to recover from this unless you listen to your instincts.
I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply and I focused on the feeling deep in the pit of my stomach. It whispered instructions and guided my body in the correct direction. In the pitch black of my mind, I could clearly see the answer to my problems, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the most dumbfounding, miraculous thing. Hovering over Aubrielle's wounds, my hands had taken on a pure hue of white, the essence dripped into her as if it were liquid. I watched as it spread underneath her skin, ebbing into her veins and residing there.
“K-Kai'sa?” She whispered, looking up at me through tearful eyes.
I shushed her gently. “It's going to be alright, I know what I have to do to save you now. Just hang in there, okay?”
“Please, it hurts so badly,” She whimpered and gasped for air as she tried to speak again.
“I'm going to make it all better, okay? Just a little longer,” I whispered, and shook the sudden blurriness from my vision.
The longer I kept this up, the more I started to feel sapped of my energy and the blurriness returned to my vision in intervenes, becoming persistent. It was getting exhausting to keep this up and I grew frustrated as Aubrielle's color didn't return, her breathing even more labored than before. Why isn't she getting any better? I wondered desperately, flattening my hands over her wounds.
“Kai'sa, th-the pain is getting worse,” Aubrielle whimpered, followed by a hacking cough that sent blood down her chin and gushing out of her wounds. I pressed my hand harder against the wound on her neck and hummed in frustration.
“Come on!” I growled, closing my eyes to focus.
I will save you, I have to!
Weak but firm hands came over my wrists, and my eyes snapped open. Aubrielle was looking at me with the remain
ing strength she could muster to look stern. Her blood-stained lips were parted as she panted and wheezed. “Stop. Just go help the others, Kai'sa. I was dead before you found me and it's not helping anyone for you to put all your strength into trying to save me. I'm telling you – no, I'm demanding that you leave me right now. It's my dying wish.”
A choking sob escaped my lips as I shook my head. “No, you can't ask me to do that! I-I don't want to lose you.”
“You already have, and you need to man up and accept that,” She growled, shoving my hands away weakly and coughing from the effort. “Get out of here now! I … I don't want you here!”
It's time to go now, Kai'sa, the voice whispered as a rush of cold air passed by us and with it, Aubrielle took her last strained breath.
Six
I made my way to the courtyard on auto-pilot. The stale scent of Aubrielle's blood on my clothes made me nauseous, and the anguish that hummed through my body made every step feel like wet cement. I found Ophelia waiting for me, her body language was screaming at me – feeding the already fragile parts of my heart with poison. She looked up when I approached her and her eyes watered with tears she must have been holding back all night, softly falling.
“What happened, Kai'sa? Are you hurt?” She asked though I suspected she already knew that something bad had happened.
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and shook my head.
“Whose beacon was that? I tried to go, but I ran into The Guard and had to hide.”
Tears formed and quickly fell from my eyes. “Ophelia...”
She closed the distance between us and began checking my body for wounds. “Where is Monte? I thought you were staying together?”
I stilled her hands and captured her gaze. “Monte is fine, but Aubrielle –”
“What about Aubrielle?” She interrupted.
“She … she got cornered by the gym and she –”
“And she what?” Ophelia demanded, her voice breaking.
A shaky sob escaped my lips and I inhaled sharply. “Ophelia, she didn't make it. I tried to save her life, but I got there too late and she bled out in my arms. She … she didn't want me to save her life, she wanted me to save you and Monte. I tried to reason with her, but she pushed me away.”
Ophelia shook her head. “I don't believe it. I refuse to believe that Aubrielle would want to die. She always talked about starting her life after the Academy. We were supposed to move to the city and start a Goth and witch accessory store together.”
“I'm so sorry, Ophelia, I –”
My words cut off when the, for the second time, the bracelet around my wrist sent a shock up my arm. Simultaneously, my heart squeezed tightly and I fell to my knees as pain skittered across my abdomen. It felt as if I had taken a blow and I had to gasp to catch my breath again.
“Monte,” I whimpered.
“What's wrong?” Ophelia asked, kneeling down.
I grabbed her arm tightly and pointed toward the beacon in the sky. “Monte took his bracelet off, he's in danger.”
She looked into the sky and turned back to me. “How can you tell? There's nothing in the sky, Kai'sa,” she asked, looking at me with furrowed brows.
“How can you not see the huge beacon in the sky?” I snapped, struggling to my feet with her help.
She tapped the bracelet on her wrist and then tapped on mine, frowning. “The spell isn't active anymore. It must have worn off. Can you walk?”
I nodded, even as the pain radiated up and down my wounded leg. “We have to hurry.”
********
Ophelia and I rushed to the library as quickly as possible, but when we finally got across campus, Monte's situation had become dire. He came into view, lying on the ground as he fought off a strong and determined vampire. I listened as Ophelia chanted with her fingertips pressed together, the outline of a ball forming between her hands. It was a living, breathing ball of water, electricity surging through its middle.
“Entrap,” she whispered, hurling her hands toward the vampire as it snapped its fangs at Monte. I watched as the small ball enveloped and removed him, freeing Monte from his clutches. The vampire's body floated across the grass until it came crumbling to the ground, water splashing the ground as he choked.
“Get Monte to safety, Kai'sa!” She ordered, waving her hand over Monte's body and gently setting him several feet away from the vampire, on the library's steps. “I'll handle the vampire, we aren't going to lose another tonight.”
Her eyes were fierce but held unending pain behind blazing ocean orbs when I locked eyes with her. “Please be careful, Ophelia. I don't know why the spell isn't working for you, but if you get into trouble, snap your bracelet and I'll come running.”
She nodded shortly. “Go.”
I rushed to Monte and flung the doors open, dragging his body inside as he groaned and winced. Apologies came in the form of whispered sobs until the doors were firmly closed and barricaded with tables and chairs.
“Kai'sa,” he murmured. “You should be out there helping Phie. He's dangerous and she doesn't have our strength or speed.”
Kneeling down next to him, I shushed him. “You need me more right now, Monte.”
“I'll heal, please,” he persisted as a shaky wheeze escaped his lungs.
I shook my head. “Monte, shut up. I'm not leaving until you're better.”
He opened his mouth to argue and I put my palm over it. Once he'd given me a short nod, I began stripping his layers off. Each layer was torn, from his leather jacket to the thin grey tee-shirt, he wore underneath. I winced when his chest was bare and I saw the extent of his damage, three thick, jagged ribbons across his abdomen and chest.
“That bad, 'eh?” he chuckled.
I ignored his comment and put my hands over his wounds, flexing them in an attempt to awaken my healing powers. And when nothing happened, I inhaled sharply. Closing my eyes, I tried to picture it. I pictured the bright white light of my essence pouring from my fingertips into him, traveling through his veins and spreading across his being.
“What are you doing, Kai'sa?” Monte asked.
I ignored his question and flexed my hands in annoyance. C'mon! What am I doing wrong now?
I expected the voice to whisper some philosophical bullshit about listening to my instincts, and when she didn't, I grew frustrated. When I continued to focus on the image I'd put in my head, something changed in it. I watched the third-person perspective of Monte and me in the library, with me straddling him, completely bare and riding him as white light illuminated around us. I watched as his wounds closed and his face flushed with color, our hands coming together.
The image had given me an ashamed feeling in the pit of my stomach, both for thinking of such lewd thoughts while he's injured and for wanting it to be my reality. I suddenly salivated for the idea, it consumed my wants and drowned my senses in warmth. Every muscle in my body screamed at me as I sat still, urging me to move, to make the image a reality, and I wondered if it was my instincts or my desires speaking.
Monte coughed and my eyes opened in time to see the blood splatter his lips. It brought me back to being with Aubrielle as she bled out and I panicked, flexing my hands and pressing them against his wounds, instead of hovering. He groaned and wrapped his hands around my wrists tightly, trying to pry them away.
“I have to put pressure on your wounds, Monte. You're losing so much blood. Why didn't you break your bracelet sooner?!” I scolded.
He gave me a crooked grin and rolled his eyes. “Because I'm not a damsel in distress. The vamp only got me because I was distracted.”
I glowered at him. “You still should've.”
He coughed again and shook his head. “Forget about that for a second, I need to tell you something important. In case I don't make it –”
“You're going to make it!” I interrupted.
“Kai'sa, just listen to me for a second, please,” he murmured, moving his hand to my cheek. “I have been in love w
ith you for a very long time, but I've been too scared to tell you how I feel. For seven-hundred-and-thirty days, I have watched you from afar, listening to everything you've ever said as if it were the most important thing I would ever hear. I have been sneaking glances at your beautiful smile and feeding off the stomach fluttering, heart-warming feeling that you give me. I love you, Kai'sa Estrange, with everything that makes me a man.”
I couldn't handle another dire situation confession tonight, but hearing all of this from him seemed to unlock something deep within me. All of the feelings that I had been having toward him today began to make a lot of sense, and that made me more determined than ever to save his life – so that I could show him how much he really meant to me.
“I'm going to save your life, Monte, and then when we get out of this, we'll talk,” I told him, moving my hands to my blouse.
As I unbuttoned it and shed it, Monte's eyes followed. He watched as I pulled the camisole off and unhooked my bra, sheepishly allowing it to fall from my breasts. I couldn't watch him for too long without my gaze falling to the ground shyly, my face aflame.
“What are you doing, Kai'sa?” He whispered as I stood and shed my jeans.
I ignored him as my fingers hooked through the straps of the lacy thong and pulled them down the length of my legs. If I answer him, I'll lose the nerve to do this – and I can't afford to waste a second. My heart raced as I unbuttoned his jeans and reached within.
His hand came over mine and he flinched. “What has gotten into you, Kai'sa? Just tell me what is going on.”
“I'm going to save your life, with a gift from the Goddess. Just trust me,” I murmured, pulling his erection out to stand proudly and eased myself onto it. The contact of our most precious parts sent a surge of familiar energy through my body and I gasped as it spread through me.
Monte had been staring at me in awe, his face flushed as I began moving my hips and pressed my hands to his wounds. Our eyes connected, if for but a moment, and everything that needed to be said was understood. He moved his hands to my waist and rested there, the feeling of his touch was warm despite his hands being ice-cold.
Quantum Minds Page 3