Darkness Fades

Chapter 24

My eyes slowly open. Glimpses of people running and panicking flow through my mind. Some lie on the ground, motionless, some are screaming, others are groaning and working to get to their feet. Fires burn from torches and reflect into my eyes. I see the sky. It’s dark. It hurts my head to look at it.

Footsteps surround me as the abominations begin to pour through the collapsed wall. Some of the guards and people start to run back into the city as they fight the hordes of monsters coming at them from all directions.

As I fade in and out of consciousness, I grasp the reality of the situation. We’re going to be overrun. It’s over. I think I always knew this would happen. Even when Maci was telling me I could do it. I refuse to give up, though. I must fight until the end.

But how can it all end if the monsters and Highers still exist?

Mustering up the last bit of strength I have, I snap myself out of my daze and try to get up. Pain shoots through my shoulder at the slightest bit of movement. It’s out of place and I need to get it back in. I hold my breath and twist my body, grimacing as I feel a pop and it slides back into place. Warm liquid trickles from my head, yet I can already feel my body working to heal itself; mend my bones, bring the life back into me.

I glance around as I sit up straight, searching for a weapon. Just a ways in front of me, in a pile of broken metal and glass, is a dagger. I crawl over to it and pick it up. Then I breathe in and out, giving my body a few more minutes before I spring back to my feet and join the fight again.

The beasts are everywhere. On the wall, through the wall, running in through the gap in the wall. I quickly jump on top of one of the monsters that are ripping a person to pieces and stab it with my dagger, slicing its flesh apart. Blood spills out as it throws its head back and howls, however it lets go of the person in the process. I lift the dagger high above me as I hold onto its back then drive it down just below its head, sinking it in deep. It starts to run, but its knees give out and it falls to the ground, yelping.

I leap off its back with the dagger in my hand and charge at the herd of abominations barreling through the hole, ready to continue the battle even through the wall.

I spot Sylas jumping down from the wall, disappearing into the wave of their bodies. I want to cry out to him, but an abomination blindsides me and knocks me to the ground. I roll backwards and push myself upwards with my arms, launching into a flip. It nips at my ankles as I skitter to the side then slide the dagger through its enormous chest.

Another charges at me from the left. I spin around, steering the dagger downward, but it knocks it out of my hand. I grab ahold of its neck and pull it around with me as I glide to the ground, swoop up the dagger then swing us around. I stab it over and over again in its back. It lets out a roar, throwing its head back, hitting me in the chin before it falls to the ground as I stagger back from it, feeling my jaw pop out then back into place.

I pause to recover, but then something brushes my back. I instinctually spin around, my dagger ready to plunge it into the attacker, but I stop myself just in time as Sylas leans on me. He’s covered in blood and looks exhausted, however I can see that there is still fight in him. He’s not dying yet—we’re not dying yet. Can we even die?

Blood trickles down his side and there’s a large gash through his shirt and flesh.

“Are you okay?” I yell out as I glance around with the dagger out in front of me.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he says, but I feel his lie all over him. “It’s just a little scratch. I’ll heal.”

I swallow hard, feeling the end nearing. The wall is gone; cars are toppled on the ground in piles with bodies around me of both the abominations and people. Some of the people are rushing into their homes while others flee down the side of the wall, heading to the other end of the city. A few more are heading to the center of the city, trying to get away.

It hits me as the abominations chase them down towards the center of the city that we need to get somewhere where we can corner them. We need to keep them from heading further into the city towards the lab; somewhere where we can keep them from coming at us in all directions.

“Gather some of the Day Takers and follow me!” I yell to Sylas and to the people still alive around me. “We need to lead them another way!”

Sylas nods and then races off to gather them while I gather the stronger people around me. Once we all regroup, I take off and they follow me up the street.

“And make a lot of noise!” I shout out. When Sylas gives me a funny look, I add, “It’ll get them to follow us and move them away from the weak.”

He nods again and we make noise as we run down the street swiftly. I shout, trying to get the abominations to follow me, diverting them from going towards the lab. For the most part, it works. Many of them follow us, although some stay behind.

There are fires burning where people have fallen to the ground, dropping their torches, and blood stains the ground. Many of abominations are right on our heels, which is right where I want them. Finally, we reach the alley that Maci took me to earlier. I’m a little out of breath while, at the same time, my cuts aren’t healing as quickly as they normally do.

“This is where we can hold them off without them attacking us from other sides,” I say as we reach the alley with the people and even the Day Takers more out of breath then Sylas and I. “You four with spears line the width of the alley.” I point at four people holding swords then move my finger to another group of people. “You two go herd more in our direction.” I slide my finger to the Day Takers. “And you stay behind me and wait for any to get through.”

Everyone follows their orders, taking off in different directions. Seconds later, a handful of abominations rip around the corner, a herd of them at the others’ heels. Their eyes bleed as they rush at us, their feet plowing at the ground. The front row target their spears and swords towards the front of the alley. Seconds later, the first group of abominations collides with their weapons. Sharp points pierce their rotting flesh and they die almost instantly, crumpling to the ground. More keep coming, though, and then the people behind me suddenly burst around in a panic and barrel towards the beasts.

“Stop!” I cry. “Fall back!”

They don’t listen, and all I can do is fight. I stab the first abomination that reaches me and blood spurts all over my face. I tear the dagger from its body and spin into the next, stabbing at its chest. Sylas moves beside me, and we fight together, dipping and dodging as we slice through flesh, coating ourselves in their blood.

The abominations’ bodies pile up at the alley and create a small barrier for us. My mood begins to lift as I think that maybe, just maybe, we can beat them. Then I hear a loud thudding noise that grows louder and louder before I then feel a ripple in the ground. I know before I see it what it is.

Moments later, the over-sized abomination charges around the corner of the building and down the alleyway at us. The rest of the abominations move out of the way, creating a path for it to get straight to the pile at the end of the alley and to us. There’s nowhere to go and I’m not sure if we’ll survive fighting it.

“What the hell do I do?” I mutter, glancing around at the Day Takers and people waiting for me to give them a command.

I feel someone touch my arm. I turn my head to meet Sylas’s eyes.

“Run,” he says in a low voice, his eyes pressing for me to listen.

I shake my head. “No… I’m not running away like a coward. What the hell are you talking about?”

His grip on my arm tightens as the massive beast starts to charge over the wall of abominations at the end of the alley. “You are the key to the cure. No one else,” he presses. “Go back to the lab. Make sure that you get Mathew and the others out of here... make sure you survive.”

He jerks me towards him and kisses me quickly. I barely register it before he’s shoving me away, breathless. He whirls around, sprinting for the beast. Even though it tears me apart, I do what I have to do. I hurry and spring over the wall at the end of the alley, landing on the other side in another street, telling myself he’ll make it. That he’s a Day Walker. Deep down, I’m not sure, though. I’m not sure of anything anymore.

Blood stains the building walls and the ground below me. Horrifying screams blare at me from every angle, but I shut out the sight and run. I pass the blood and abominations, pass the bodies, pass all the death.

Was this all worth it? If Mathew’s still alive, will he even be able to save everyone? Will I be able to go through with the fading?

I shove these thoughts from my mind when I reach the lab. Nichelle is gone, along with everyone else, except for one person lying dead on the ground. Her red hair is scattered across the blood stained ground, her flawless features frozen in time, like death managed to preserve her beauty. I feel my dead heart inside my chest ache for a second, taking in the death of Emmy.

She stares up at the sky, her eyes open, her arms lifelessly to her side. I crouch down and let my fingers drift over her eyelids, shutting her eyes, letting myself feel what I need to. Letting myself realize what I have to do.

I get to my feet and head for the door. There are signs of a struggle, blood splattered on the front section of the wall, boot tracks in the dirt leading away from the building, blood all around them.

I open the door and rush inside, running to the lab. It’s quiet inside, however it looks untouched. The only signs of a mess are the vials everywhere, yet it was like that before.

“Mathew?” I call out quietly, vigilantly entering the room with my dagger out.

There’s silence and then I hear a whimper as Mathew jumps up from behind the table. “Kayla.” He glances over me; cuts and gashes, blood soaking my clothes. “God, what’s going on out there?”

“Did you figure it out?” I ask, stepping towards him. “Please tell me you figured out if my blood and the virus replicates like it’s supposed to.”

“Not yet,” he replies. “I’m still waiting to see if time will get the process moving.” He glances down at his arms. “Like your blood did with me.”

I walk to his side and rest my hand on his back, trying to shake out this bottomless, hopeless feeling. “You know you can fight, right?” I ask. “You don’t have to hide behind tables.”

He glances up at me. “I know, but I also don’t want to risk the chance of dying, either. I need to figure all this out before I die. You and I… we need to make sure we survive so that we can move forward.”

He waits expectantly for me to say that I’m with him, that I’ll do the fading. My mouth opens, ready to give him my answer, but then I snap it shut when I hear the door open. I know it’s not an abomination because they can’t open doors, so I don’t know who to expect.

When I turn my head and look in the direction of the doorway, I wish it’d been the abominations.

Gabrielle and Monarch are standing just inside the room with Aiden behind them. All three of their eyes are filled with the same coldness. The only difference between them is that Aiden is dressed in all black while Monarch and Gabrielle are in all white.

They’re the same. God, poor Aiden.

“Bravo,” Gabrielle says as he claps his hands together and enters the room. “You almost had us. Almost, but not quite. Yes, you put up a fight, but at the same time, there are still way more abominations over humans.” He pauses, looking thoughtfully at Mathew. “Because Humans are weak.”

I step in front of Mathew as he rises to his feet. “Run,” I hiss at him. “Or prepare to fight.”

Gabrielle snaps his fingers and in five lengthy strides, Aiden crosses the room. I move to hit him, but he catches my arm, matching, if not exceeding, my strength. He shoves me down to the ground and I crash against the table. As I scramble to my feet, he moves for Mathew, throwing his body into his.

They tumble into the cabinets, glass falling everywhere as they topple to the ground and roll around, throwing fists at each other. Mathew is still getting used to his power and he moves very sloppily compared to Aiden, causing them to move all over the floor and crash into things. Vials fall off the counters and shatter, pieces of glass surround them.

I start for them to pull Aiden off him, but Gabrielle grabs my arm, stopping me. I swing my other fist around and ram it into his jaw, but he’s barely fazed by it as he pushes me effortlessly to the floor. I fall onto Mathew who’s curled in a ball in front of Aiden’s feet, giving up before this has even started.

Gabrielle chuckles as he slowly walks over to me, glass crunching under his feet. “I’ll give it to you, Kayla, you’re strong. You would have made a fine Higher if you weren’t so determined to fight back, and go against rules and order. It’s your one flaw, yet you’re the cure to saving the Highers’ breed.” He shakes his head like he’s so disappointed in this fact. “It’s so pathetic that such an emotional girl is what’s going to save the strongest and brightest species that’s ever lived.” He smiles as he glances down at himself, filled with vanity.

I search my mind, trying to figure out what to do next. Fight him? Run? What about Mathew? Will he run, too? Or will we fight? Do we even stand a chance? And what if I don’t? What if the Highers capture me and are able to save their race? What would happen to the human race?

I’m not sure, but out corner of my eye I see the vial filled with black liquid that bubbles red. It’s the easiest answer to all this. If it works, it gives the best outcome. Do I dare go through with it, though? Will it change me back to a human? Or will it change me into a shell of a human? Am I ready to give everything up? My life? My strength? My feelings for Sylas? My entire existence? Am I selfish or am I self-sacrificing?

“It doesn’t matter what you do,” Gabrielle continues as he paces the floor in front of me with his robe trailing behind him. “We’re too strong, and in the end, you’ll come with us and I’ll find my cure.”

You must save the world, Kayla, no matter what.

I feel the vial in my hand, the glass scorching hot against my skin. When I glance at Mathew to the side of me, he nods his head once, his eyes begging me to do it.

Gabrielle kicks me in the foot, bringing my attention back to him. “Get up and come now. It’s time to give up and come back to the colony.”

“Kayla, there are other things more important than Sylas and Aiden. Bigger things. There will come a time when you’ll have to choose your battle, and may have to let someone go. You need to realize that you can’t save everyone. Not if you are going to save the world,” Monarch presses, his eyes locked on me. “Do you understand?”

I understand. I wasn’t created to fight against the Highers and vampires. I was created to end them. I bring my foot up and kick Gabrielle in the chin, putting as much force as I can muster behind it. As he buckles back, I jump to my feet and scurry over to the counter as Monarch and Aiden rush for me. I grab one of the syringes, bite off the cap from the needle and stab into the vial, filling the liquid. Then I drop the empty vial onto the floor and I hold out my wrist, pointing the needle to a vein in my arm.

I look Monarch straight in the eyes with no fear because if I feel the fear, then I won’t go through with it. “I understand now,” I say to him. “To save the world not everyone can survive.”

I’m not sure if he understands me or not, but I don’t care anymore. The needle plunges into my skin and the purple liquid enters my body. It burns in my veins like liquid fire. I drop like a ton of bricks to my knees, feeling sad, yet satisfied as I wait to fade.

“You stupid bitch!” Gabrielle screams as he races across the room at me. When he reaches me, he doesn’t touch me; instead he picks up the vile beside me. He peers at it, trembling with rage. “What was that?”

I sit down on the ground as a euphoric state overcomes me, reclining against the counter, staring ahead at the wall. The burn in my veins stops and I feel oddly content and at peace as I feel this strange emptying sensation slither through me. “It was the fading.”

“Dammit! What have you done?” Gabrielle chucks the vile across the room, breaking it against the wall. Then he swipes his arm over the table, shattering vials and vials into pieces of glass, losing control of his emotions.

I look down at my arms expecting to see my skin fading, but everything looks normal. I’m not changing into anything, though, then again, will I even look different? What does fading even look like? Will I just vanish within myself and not even realize it?

Everyone watches me as I sit there, unmoving, unchanging… I don’t feel different at all, just more content. Then I hear something that’s not normal, like the tiny beat of a footstep; a small sound forming in my chest. I glance down at it, but see nothing. I can still hear it, though. What’s happening to me?

Gabrielle starts to relax as he takes in the sight of my unchanging. “Well, look at you. All that bravery for nothing… even the fading can’t work on you. You see, you’re the perfect creation and soon you’ll make the Highers the same way.”

Ba-bump… ba-bump… ba-bump…

My heartbeat. Oh my God… I’m becoming a human. And it feels… invigorating because I can fully feel it, fully feel everything. My arms start to shake, tremble, weaken. My muscles deteriorate into the strength of a normal person. I feel my breath struggle a little more, my body stops healing, standing still; the wounds that were sealing themselves together pause and allow blood to trickle out.

Gabrielle’s eyes burn with hatred as he sees it; his cure slipping away. He turns to Aiden with rage in his eyes, ready to throw all of it at someone. “Kill her… she’s no use to me now.”

I crawl back towards Mathew as he says it, feeling helpless. Shards of glass split at my skin. “No, Aiden, don’t… please.”

Aiden ignores me, nodding at Gabrielle and then marching towards me, his eyes cold and his expression hollow. I try to stand as Mathew gets to his feet, ready to protect me, but I fall back down, my legs weak and aching. I glance at Mathew for help, but Monarch rushes forward and pummels him, throwing his weight into him before both of them crash into the wall.

Aiden crouches down in front of me and cocks his head to the side, assessing me for a moment with his pale eyes that used to be honey brown and so beautiful. I miss those eyes.

“I’m sorry, Kayla,” he says in a monotone voice. “I always have, and always will love you. Forever. Please forgive me.” Then he opens his mouth, lets his fangs descend and then digs them into my vulnerable throat.

The sharp tips stab into my skin and straight into my muscles. I feel myself about to split apart, wanting to cry out or beg as hopelessness crushes me down.

Moments later, I feel myself drifting away and can feel the cure for mankind drifting away with me. I struggle to hold on, but the room fades around me as I sink to the ground. Aiden covers himself over me, drinking from my veins. The more gulps he gets, the weaker I become, and I know that soon I’ll be gone. Dead.

And the cure might die with me.

Suddenly, Aiden jerks back, letting out a growl. My eyes widen as I sit up, bleeding out all over myself, watching in horror as Aiden clutches his head and falls to the floor. He screams so loudly it rings in my ears. His body begins to flail as every one of his muscles spasms.

Gabrielle’s expression collapses as he grips onto the table, watching Aiden roll around on the ground, shouting out and begging for help. “What did you do to him?”

I shake my head and press my hand to my bleeding neck as I crawl across the floor, feeling somewhat normal again while Aiden continues to go into a crazy fit of frenzy.

I wonder what’s happening to him. If he’s hurt. If he’ll die. Although Aiden did terrible things, I know it wasn’t by his own choice. He’s connected to the Highers, broken by Monarch. He’s still my friend and I don’t want to see him die.

I don’t know how to help him, though, and my arms are giving out as I lose more and more blood while it also feels like I’m losing something else. My arm gives out on me and I fall flat onto my stomach, listening to my heart beat as glass pokes at my skin from beneath me. Something feels different about me. I almost feel… human. Not just physically, but… well, emotionally. I don’t know how to process this; all the stuff flooding my body at once. Pain. Ache. Hurt. Sadness for Aiden and what he’s going through. Love. Not for Aiden, but maybe for another. Sylas. I don’t know if he’s still alive and it stings.

It starts to grow quiet as I sift through my emotions and then realize Aiden has stilled. When I push myself up enough to look around, I see that Gabrielle and Monarch are standing over him as he lies lifelessly on the ground.

“Is he dead?” Gabrielle asks Monarch.

“Does it really matter?” Monarch replies.

Gabrielle shrugs then shakes his head and starts to turn away when suddenly Aiden’s eyes pop open. I catch my breath, feeling… happy as I take in the honey brown color of his eyes. The way he was before. He’s cured. I can tell by the emotion flooding in his eyes. It’s evidence of the old Aiden… the one that cared about the world, humanity; that cared about everything.

He turns his head and scans the room. “What happened?” he asks in a stupor, gripping his head. His hair has glass in it and his skin has cuts, yet he seems so much happier than before. “Where am I, Kayla?”

“You’re back,” I say, choking on my happiness, but then I gasp as Gabrielle’s pale eyes slide to me. They almost look red.

His fangs slip out from his veins as he snarls. “I’ve had enough of this!” he cries, enraged. Underneath the anger, I see a hint of fear when he looks at me. He no longer can see his cure to perfection.

I try to scurry to my feet as he races towards me, fueled by his anger, shoving the table out of the way. My human legs feel rubbery and unnatural, and I can barely get my knees to bend as I lose more blood from my neck. I start to shut my eyes and hold my breath when I see Aiden get to his feet and runs for me.

“No!” I cry as he collides with Gabrielle’s body and they both tumble to the ground. I force my legs to move and manage to stumble unsteadily to my feet. I stagger towards them, moving slower than I ever thought was possible. It doesn’t matter how fast I move, though. I’m too late.

Gabrielle already has Aiden pinned under him with his fangs deep in his throat. My knees knock together as I stumble over to them, grabbing ahold of Gabrielle’s robe, trying to pull him off Aiden, but I’m jerked back and tossed aside by Monarch.

My head slams against the hard ground. The room spins as I sit up, clutching my bleeding neck. I feel like I’m dying inside as I watch Gabrielle and Monarch feed off Aiden, devouring his blood and tearing at his flesh. I remember how Mathew said they’d once drank human blood. The taste of Aiden’s seems to be driving them to want more.

My heart starts to ache as wet droplets slip from my eyes and burn at my skin while I crawl towards them, wanting to help, although I’m helpless. I feel hatred. Anger. Rage. The need to get revenge. I feel out of control. Feel the desire for my strength back.

I hate this.

I hate being human.

Blood soaks their white robes, and when they finally stop feeding, they turn their heads to look at me. Their faces, lips and hair are dripping with Aiden’s blood as an uncontrolled look encompasses their eyes. My initial reaction is to rush forward and claw their eyes out, but I’m not strong enough for that. So, even though I don’t want to, I back away.

They follow my movement, coming at me with their backs hunched over, looking more and more like the vampire breed. I pick up a piece of glass and throw it at them, but it barely flies two feet.

Mathew starts to step forward to help me when Monarch lunges at him and lets out a cry. Gabrielle smiles at me then he zips forward, jumping at me. He ends up tripping over his feet, however, and lets out a wail as he falls on his face. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Higher make a mistake like that. When he starts to vibrate and spasm, I suddenly understand why.

Gabrielle struggles to control his body, flapping his arms around and pushing his feet against the floor. He screams and shouts and flails just like Aiden did, fear filling his reddened eyes. I watch, feeling this sick satisfaction rise within me, as though him suffering somehow makes up for Aiden, when it doesn’t. Aiden is gone and nothing will bring him back.

I’m about to start crying again when I hear commotion at my right. I glance over and Monarch is doing the exact same thing as Gabrielle, both of them at a loss of control of their bodies. Mathew watches with me as we observe them slipping away towards humanity. Their bodies slam into tables, knocking things over, spilling the contents around the room. Vials break, shatter, pooling the floor with liquid.

Then, just as quickly as it began, it stops. Silence takes over as they still; their skin cut up by the glass while their white robes remain stained with blood. Their eyes are the dead giveaway of what’s happened, though. Monarch’s are no longer pale, they’re dark grey like the sky, and Gabrielle’s are an alarming shade of green.

They’re human again. Life and breath and blood stream through their veins.

Gabrielle rolls over to his stomach, moaning as he battles to stand to his feet. He gives up at sitting and then scoots across the floor to the upturned silver table. He peers in the reflective surface, examining his reflection closely. “This is impossible!” he yells, looking over at Monarch who is still lying on the ground, staring at his arms, his hands shaking. “How could this cure us? Why!”

Mathew and I exchange a look and then Mathew gives me a small smile. My blood not only still holds the cure, but it replicates like the virus he injected into me earlier. It worked. The risks we took worked, and now we can save the human race.

Monarch turns over onto his stomach and uses his arms to push himself up to sit. It takes him a moment to get there and then I can see a new look in his eyes; one I’ve never seen before. Happiness. “Because she’s perfection,” he answers Gabrielle.

Gabrielle goes into a fury and begins to throw everything within his reach—vials, flask, syringes—yet all that ends up doing is making his arm tired. He kicks his foot at the nearest chair and swears profusely, cursing me and what I’ve done to him.

What I’ve done to him. This sentence hits me harder than anything that I have ever felt before. It’s over, yet it seems as if it’s only starting. The cure is inside me and in Gabrielle and Monarch and Mathew, but there’s still so much more to do.

“We have a cure,” I whisper in awe, glancing down at my bloody arms. My blood.

“You did this to me,” Gabrielle says as he staggers closer to me, barely able to stand. “You did this.” He gasps for air. So weak. “You’ve undone all that we have worked for. Everything I’ve done…” He lands on top of me as his hands go around my neck and I gasp. He presses his weight down on me, his face reddening as he shoves me down against the floor. “I’ll kill you!” he growls. I can see in his eyes that he will.

I feel my breath leaving me as I try to fight—try to kick, try to get away—but I don’t know how to work my body. The feeling of the helplessness is frightening. Death. Weakness. Is that what being human is?

I shut my eyes as I push on Gabrielle’s chest, refusing to give up; using all the strength I have in me. I feel him leave my body and I think that maybe, just maybe, I’ve somehow gotten over my human weakness. When I open my eyes, though, I find that Monarch and Mathew have pulled Gabrielle off me and Monarch’s shoving him down to the floor.

“Go,” he says to Mathew and me as Gabrielle fights to get away. Monarch picks up a piece of glass as he says, “Go check on your people.”

Mathew hurries across the room, but I don’t dare move as Monarch presses the tip of the glass to Gabrielle’s throat. “You and I have some unfinished business.”

“Monarch, don’t,” I say, feeling something ache deep inside my chest, knowing if he kills him, he might feel the same ache. “It’s not… it’s not worth more blood on your hands.”

Monarch turns around and looks at me, his grey still a bit alarming. “Kayla, go. You’ve done your part, and now I’ll do mine.”

I don’t want to leave and let Monarch do what I think he’s going to do—kill Gabrielle—yet at the same time, I see nothing except evil in Gabrielle’s eyes. So even though it’s agonizing, I turn and walk away, hating myself a little bit.

When I step outside, it’s still dark; however, I can see a speck of sun on the horizon and I swear I can feel it’s warmth. The streets are fairly quiet, the echoes of battle continuing in the distances. The streets are covered with bodies of abominations and people. For the most part, though, the people and Day Takers—what’s left of them—have gotten the streets under control from the beasts.

Near the corner of the building, Nichelle is hugging Mathew, sobbing as torches burn in the street. “You’re okay.” Tears stream down her face as she grips him tightly. I can suddenly understand her emotion more than I’d like to admit.

He holds her firmly in return. “It was all Kayla,” he says. “We owe it all to her, for risking her life to save others.”

I stop when he says it and glance around at the blood painted on the streets. Yes, there’s a cure now, but at what cost? All these deaths… and Aiden’s death… and there’s still so much left to change. How are we even going to get it to spread quickly enough? How are we going to fight to cure the world? Yet, as I glance around again at the streets, hope arises because we survived.

I’m about to take off and see if I can find Sylas when Nichelle rushes over to me and hugs me, tears spilling from her eyes while I have to choke back my own. I wrap one arm around her as she thanks me repeatedly. It doesn’t feel as strange as it used to. When I let her go, she runs back to Mathew and continues to hug him. They seem completely happy and so do I, yet the death that surrounds us also makes me incredibly sad.

“Are you okay?” The voice takes me by surprise and I spin around, almost falling to the ground as my weak human legs try to give up on me.

Sylas catches me in his arms and pulls me against his chest, holding my weight for me. The warmth of his touch overflows me, along with my feelings for him, and what I have to tell him. Tears start to fall from my eyes again, despite how much I attempt to suck them back.

“I’m so sorry,” I say as I circle my arms around him.

“Sorry for what?” he asks, kissing my hair.

“Aiden,” I choke.

He tenses and holds me tighter. I know he won’t cry. Not when he’s still a Day Walker, but deep beneath the surface, he’ll hurt. I hate being the one to tell him the thing that will make him feel that way.

“Kayla… why do you smell different?” he asks, his face nestled against my neck.

“Because I’m human,” I whisper.

He jerks away and looks me in the eyes, searching them, and then his expression falls. I wonder if he hates me. If he’ll leave me here, standing in the streets, alone.

“What happened?" he asks, shocked.

“I took the fading.” I take a deep breath then blow it out and it feels like I’m blowing out freedom. “And now we found a cure.”