Darkness Fades

by Jessica Sorensen

  He hesitates then moves to the side, getting close to me, and then he reaches for my hand, lacing our fingers together. Despite my initial reaction to jerk back, I just stand there, confused.

  "When Tristan told us that you were captured, Maci said you were going to die, and so would the world. I told you earlier that I'd always be there for you. And I meant it. Whatever it takes, I'll be there for you; even if it means turning into my own worst enemy."

  I can tell that he wants to kiss me, and before I can do anything about it, he pulls me into him. As he leans in, I battle with my confliction. Part of me wants to kiss him, for reasons I can't even process at the moment; however, the other part of me knows it's wrong. I'm about to lean away, listening to my final thought, when the other side of me pushes through.

  I want to kiss him. I want him more than anything else in the world. I want him more than Sylas. We belong together.

  I blink, wondering where the thought came from.

  Aiden reaches down and fixes a finger under my chin. He gently tilts my head up towards his with his fingertips, his eyes shutting as his lips inch towards mine. He's breathing raggedly, his chest colliding with mine. If I had a heartbeat, I'd bet it'd be racing.

  My eyes remain open as I cup the back of Aiden's neck, about to kiss him, but then I picture Sylas. His eyes, his cocky attitude that makes him annoying, yet at the same time, I can't seem to stay away from him. Deep down, I know I want to be kissing him. What am I doing? What am I thinking? Why am I ready to kiss Aiden?

  No, I want to kiss Aiden.

  No Sylas.

  Aiden.

  Shit. I'm so confused.

  It clicks what's going on. Shaking my head, I remove my hand from Aiden's neck and push him away. He jumps back, startled, and then stumbles ungracefully over his feet a little, clutching onto my hand for support. His eyelids lift open and confusion masks his expression. "What's wrong Juniper?"

  "Why did you just do that?" I ask, slipping my hand from his hold.

  "What? Try to kiss you?" he asks, gaping at me like I've lost my mind. "Because I wanted to."

  "Well, don't do that," I tell him, swallowing hard.

  "Why not?"

  "Because I don't want you to. And stay out of my head."

  Shaking his head, he turns his back to me. "It would have been a great kiss if you wouldn't have lost your damn mind and shoved me away." He starts to stalk away, but I jump in front of him.

  "Lost my mind? You were in my mind... you were manipulating my thoughts." I push him, but this time he doesn't stumble. "I could feel you inside my head. You were making me feel those things... like I wanted to kiss you--wanted to be with you."

  I shove him again, this time much harder, and the force launches him in the air much harder than I intended. I fold my arms across my chest and cringe as he crashes into a vehicle just behind us. Metal bends and concaves under his weight then ashes scatter and float in the air.

  Aiden lands on the ground hard, asphalt debris shattering under his weight. He quickly gets to his feet, and with three long strides, he closes the distance between us. He leans into my face, anger burning in his eyes as he balls his fists. For a second, I think he is going to attack me, but I just stare at him, refusing to back away. Although, when he raises his fist, making me think he's going to hit me, I turn to leave, not wanting to fight. Not right now. Not here. Not when there are other things I need to take care of.

  He captures me by the elbow as I start to storm away, stopping me in my tracks. I turn my head and try to shrug him off. "Let go of me."

  Aiden's eyes widen in shock. "Juniper, I'm not going to hurt you."

  I shake my head in disbelief as I glance at his hand on my arm, his fingertips digging into my skin. "You're not?" I question with doubt.

  He releases my arm and then rakes his fingers through his hair. "I would never hurt you. You have to believe me that I wouldn't."

  I sigh because I can actually feel that he's telling the truth. "I believe..." I trail off, my eyes wandering to my left at something heading towards us... something large.

  Aiden follows my gaze and his eyes snap wide as the creature weaves in a fast pattern between the cars in the road. We take off at the same time, sprinting in the opposite direction as fast as our legs will carry us. Yet, I can hear the panting of the creature getting closer at the same time the ground cracks beneath its feet as it runs on all fours.

  When I glance over my shoulder, I realize just how big of a problem we have. There's not just one, there are many creatures chasing after us in a herd. Their fleshless bodies are a repulsive sight to behold, their fangs out, nipping as saliva drips from their mouths. It makes my guilt arise again because they're the same creatures that bit Sylas. Or as Dominic called them, vampire abominations. It reminds me that Sylas could very easily be one of them.

  Chapter 3

  I speed up, my arms pumping, my feet moving so fast that they're nearly gliding across the ground. Aiden stays right behind me, whether on purpose or not, I'm not sure.

  The mutilated monsters howl and nip at our heels; the sound forces my legs to move quicker than I ever thought was possible. I nearly fly as I race towards a wide trench in the distance. Approaching it, I glance over my shoulder as I leap into the air, relieved to see Aiden is right behind me, flying over the trench as if it's the easiest thing to do in the world. I'm glad he can keep up. Although I hate to admit it, it drove me a little bit crazy when he was human and slowed me down.

  When my feet gracefully land on the ground, I hurry to my left and head for the desert land that stretches towards the caves. Aiden gets his footing and moves quickly with me, motioning at me to go faster. So I do. My legs and arms drive my body past its breaking point until I feel like I'm going to crack apart. Even then, I go faster.

  The monsters begin to fade into the distance, however their howls and cries still pierce the air, so I keep moving; going forward, racing through the sand, around bushes, cacti, my eyes fixed ahead of me. I could probably go on for days, but I eventually slow my pace down to a jog then conclusively to a walk when I feel we're safe enough away and the howls have finally dissipated.

  Aiden slows down with me, walking at my side while looking content and sort of happy, which is strange.

  He's not panting, nor am I. Our hearts aren't beating, but our skin is damp with sweat. We're both unnaturally calm and it starts to click in my head that maybe we're abominations, too.

  "So are you going to tell me what those things are?" Aiden finally asks, peering up at the dark sky.

  "I'm not one-hundred percent sure." I shrug as I sidestep around a bush. "All I know is that's what Dominic turned into--and he said he was an abomination. Half vampire, half human... some sort of mutated hybrid."

  Aiden slams to a stop. "Wait, isn't that what we are? A mutated hybrid?"

  I halt and turn to face him. "Well, Dominic said we weren't. He said we're something different, although he never said exactly what, but the abominations are more vampire than human. These gross beasts with no sense of pain, fear or mercy that will kill anything. We still have our will left--our sense of humanity--for the most part." I breathe in quietly and gaze out at the land. "I probably could have learned more, but I ended up having to kill Dominic when he attacked... Sylas and me."

  "Have you ever seen them in groups before?" he asks, leaning to the side and catching my eye, his expression unemotional. "The beasts, I mean?"

  I shake my head. "I've only seen two and they were by themselves."

  "Where did they come from?" he wonders. "I mean, I've never seen one before, so why all of a sudden? And why were they running in packs like that?"

  "I'm not sure... maybe Monarch and Gabrielle are creating them now. That would explain the sudden onset of them."

  "Why would you think that?"

  "Because of the cells. There was blood and scratches all over inside them... and I heard stuff... horrible stuff..." I trail off, trying not to shudder because it'
d make me look weak. "I think that they may have been creating them there and I think they might be using them as weapons, like they send them out to attack or something."

  Since I'm divulging everything right now, I decide to let him in on everything, unsure how he'll react. "Aiden, there's something I need to tell you about Sylas... when he was attacked by Dominic... he was... he was bit. He started changing into..." I shut my eyes and force a lump down my throat. "Something else when we were captured by the Highers. I'm not sure what he is right now." When I finish, I open my eyes.

  "So you're saying he's going to turn into one of those monsters?" he asks, his voice tight.

  "You sound upset."

  "Because I am," he replies, his jaw set tightly.

  "But I thought you hated him."

  "I don't hate him." He looks at me and I see honesty burning in his eyes. "Just because he's done some things in the past that I think are wrong, it doesn't mean that I don't care about him. Besides, I wouldn't want anyone to have to become one of those things." He starts walking again and I follow him.

  My thoughts drift to Sylas as silence settles between Aiden and I. I can't help thinking of the kiss Sylas and I shared before we were captured in the cells. The way his lips felt against mine, the strange emotions I had, how much I liked it, how much I want to do it again, feel all those things again. Anger swells inside me. Sylas shouldn't have to suffer.

  You don't want to kiss him again... you just think you do. I kick a rock in my path and it flies up in the air, almost hitting Aiden in the back.

  Wait a minute, Aiden.

  Rushing up behind him, I quickly snatch hold of the back of his shirt and jerk him to a stop. Then, I tug him around to face me. "You never told me what the hell was going on back there." I point over my shoulder. "When you were trying to kiss me... it felt like you were putting thoughts into my head, like you were trying to manipulate my thoughts."

  He smiles at me arrogantly and I have to resist the urge to slap him. "I was just trying to help you. Deep down inside, you really want to be with me and so I was giving you a little push."

  I shake my head and shove him out of my way, stepping around him and heading for the cave that's in the rocky cliff not too far from here. "I'm warning you now, never to do that again or you'll pay," I threaten, however I'm not sure if I really mean it.

  "I'm sorry," he says, but I can hear the smile in his voice. "It worked so well on the guards that I wanted to test it on you. I'd never force you to do anything and I would have stopped it if I thought you didn't really want to." He catches up with me and captures my gaze. "Do you forgive me?"

  I shrug because I'm not sure if I do or not.

  The cave rests in an area that is surrounded by cliffs. The sun is almost rising by the time we reach the entrance, which is blocked by a boulder to keep out the vampires.

  After we breezily climb up the side of the hill, I slide the boulder out of the way then duck down and step inside, Aiden following right behind me. He doesn't bother closing the entrance back up, since the sun will be up soon and the abominations and vampires only come out at night.

  Everyone is fast asleep in the back section of the cave, but the noise we make ends up waking everyone. Maci opens her eyes and immediately jumps up, squealing as she runs towards me and wraps her arms around me. I awkwardly return her enthusiastic hug, giving her a pat on the back.

  Her eyes sparkle with excitement as she pulls away. "Kayla, I knew you'd make it back alive, just like I knew Aiden would save you. I really missed you."

  "I missed you, too." I pat her on the head then pry her arms away from me, so she skips off to hug Aiden.

  I sit down on the dirt floor, lean my back against the rock walls and shut my eyes, feeling Tristan's eyes on me from the corner of the cave.

  "Where's Sylas?" he asks.

  I open my eyes and look at him for a moment, wondering if I seem as different as he does. "He--"

  Maci cuts me off, moving in front of me. "Sylas is gone," she announces sadly.

  Greyson steps out from a dark corner of the cave, his hands tucked in the pockets of his pants. His red hair is sticking up all over the place and his brows are furrowed. "You mean he is dead?" he asks Maci.

  "No, not dead, just gone," she says and then whispers, "He's something different now."

  Everyone looks at me, but all I can do is stare at Maci. Gone. Sylas is gone. I feel like I can't breath.

  "What do you mean he's something different," I ask Maci, getting to my feet.

  "I mean he's not a Day Taker," she says simply.

  Aiden says something to me, but I can't seem to find my voice. He's not a Day Taker anymore, which means what? I think I know, but it hurts to admit it.

  Sylas has become an abomination.

  Chapter 4

  Is he really one of those hideous monsters? Will he be sent to kill us? My thoughts make me sick and the sensation only heightens when everyone simply stares at me, as if they're waiting for me to explain. But I can't--won't. I refuse to accept it yet. I can't breathe.

  I swiftly get to my feet and head to the entrance, walking into the daylight. I stop on the side of the hill, breathing in the cool breeze, trying to erase the feelings inside me, yet they remain.

  Aiden walks towards me, but pauses at the entrance where the shade and the light meet. Now that he has changed into a Day Taker, he can't step out into the sunlight. He's pretty much trapped inside that cave until sundown.

  "Kayla, please relax," he begs.

  I don't turn around. "Aiden, please leave me alone... I just need a small break for a moment," I tell him and then hike further down the hill. I'm not sure where I'm going, only that I need to move; clear my head for a moment.

  I work my way to the side of the cliff until I find a spot where I climb to the top of the hill easily. There's a small ledge above me and, using my arms, I heave myself on it then continue to scale up the side until I arrive at the top. I sit down on the peak and stare out at the ground below me. It looks so beautiful, so serene from up here, not dark and twisted and full of death like it really is. As if it's a completely different place with no vampires around, screeching and killing anything that gets into their path. If I use my imagination, I can almost picture it as peaceful. What would that be like? To live in a peaceful world?

  I shake my head and force my attention off the land to my surroundings nearby. The ground below me is fairly flat, but there are crevices that weave in and out of the surface that drops down. If it was dark, those crevices would be death traps. Death. Sylas. He asked me to kill him and I didn't. I let him turn into a beast.

  "Stop thinking about it," I mutter to myself.

  My palms are sweaty and covered with dirt, so I wipe them on my jeans to clean them off. There's a small rock on the ground next to my feet. I pick it up and throw it over the side of the cliff, watching it fall until it hits the bottom and breaks apart like I'm about to.

  I can feel it. I can feel. My emotions are going haywire and I don't know how to turn them off. God, what the hell do I do?

  "You need to turn off your emotions," Monarch tells me. "They will ruin you--what you need to do."

  I watch as he urges a young boy behind the red door, pushing on his back. The boy refuses to go, though, and Monarch has to grab him and drag him in, his body leaving a trail of blood on the floor as he disappears into the room.

  "What if I can't?" I ask Monarch as he stands in the doorway, wiping the blood off his hands onto his white coat. "What if I don't want to?"

  He looks angry, but it's quickly replaced by calmness as he sighs. "I know that it's difficult, Kayla, but you have to remember it's for the greater good. The cruelties you suffer through will turn you into the strong person you need to become."

  I know he's probably right, but it feels wrong. Still, even though it hurts, I bury the pain deep inside me; shove it down into a box and lock it away inside. Then I turn towards the red door, knowing what he wants me to do; prepa
ring to take my next victim because that's what will make me become a stronger person in the future.

  The sound of rocks tumbling rips through the memory and my eyes fly open. Springing to my feet, I span my arms out to the sides and turn in a circle, searching the land and cliff for any movement. There's nothing around other than dirt and rocks, so I brush the dirt off my pants then decide I should probably return to the others and stop running away from the problem.

  I trek back to the edge of the rock so I can climb back down. Lowering my body, I ready to jump off the ledge, knowing the fall won't hurt me. But as I'm about to bend my knees, I hear something.

  Thump... Thump.

  I pause and hear it again.

  Thump... Thump.

  I tense, crouched down, feeling movement behind me. Someone or something is back there; something with a heartbeat. I spin around to the side as I hear the noise again, but I can't see anything. I whirl in the other direction and hear the thump again. It's coming from the side of me, down in one of the crevices in the rock.

  I carefully make my way over to the edge, keeping my senses on high alert. I can smell and taste the dirt, feel the heat of the air, feel my hyperawareness as I peer down into the crevice just over the edge.

  The gap is rather deep and burrows down into the rock, but I can see movement in its shadows.

  Thump...Thump... Thump... Thump.

  The rhythm is steady and strong; I'm almost positive it's human. "Whoever you are, show yourself," I yell, my voice echoing down into the gap in the rock

  Fear is radiating off them--I can feel it--and it makes me less afraid, if that makes any sense. I get down on my stomach and stick my head into the gap. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

  A girl's voice answers me, "How do I know that you aren't a monster trying to trick me?"

  "If I was a monster, I'd be down in the shadows with you," I say, trying not to roll my eyes. "Not out in the sun. I wouldn't be talking to you, either." I scoot closer to the edge to try and get a better view of her.

  "You have a point," she yells up to me. Rocks tumble down the hole as a figure starts to climb up the side through the shadows.