Jessica Sorensen: Darkness Fades

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.