Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls Series, Book 3) (17 page)

He glances up at me, looking even healthier
than he did before Nichelle ran in. “I don’t want to get anyone’s
hopes up yet. Not until we can be sure I’m cured. For all I know,
my blood still might not be human. And if it does work, we need to
find a way to make it in large amounts—enough to cure everyone that
has been infected… because it’s going to take more blood than you
have in your body.”

I glance down at the veins in my arms,
purple just below my pale skin. “Do you have any idea on how to do
that? How to tell what you are and how to create my blood?”

He shakes his head. “I’m not sure, but I’m
going to start by studying your blood and mine. And…” He trails off
as he wanders over to the counter, his strides so much sturdier,
and he carries his back straighter.

He bends down in front of one of the bottom
cabinets and then glances over his shoulder before slipping his
hand into his pocket. He takes out a key and moves it towards a
lock on the cabinet door.

“What are you doing?” I ask as he unlocks
the door.

He drops the key into his pocket, opens the
door up and then reaches inside. “Getting something important.”
When he pulls back and stands up, he has a vial in his hand.

“What’s that in your hand?” I question,
gripping the handle of my knife while wondering if he’s up to
something; if maybe he’s turning into a Higher. His hair isn’t
white, though, or his eyes. Plus, he has emotion in his
expression.

He slowly lowers his gaze to the vial in his
hand as he unfolds his fingers from the glass. Then stretches his
arm out to me. “This is the original virus.”

I step back, stunned. “What?”

“The original vampire virus,” he says. “This
is what started it all.”

It doesn’t look like something that would
harm the world; in fact, it looks innocent. White and sparkly. When
the liquid hits the light, it shines brighter than anything I’ve
ever seen.

“That’s it?” I ask, leaning in to get a good
look at it. “That’s what changed the world to what it is?”

He shakes his head as he tucks the virus
into his pocket. “No, a lot of greed was the cause of why the world
is what it is,” he says. “But yes, this is what started the vampire
spread.” He pauses as he gets lost in thought. “It spread so
quickly, you know. One host would get infected and feed off
something then who they fed off would change and start to feed.
Within days, well, the world was a mess. The Highers took the
opportunity to make it seem like they could offer protection when
really what they wanted was control and more test subjects to use
to find their perfection.”

I frown, remembering the colony. “I can
remember.”

He smiles sadly. “You can remember what the
world is, but not what the world was. It wasn’t that bad of a
place.”

I wish I could remember it all, but I only
have bits and pieces of my memories. I wonder if they’ll all come
back to me. “So why do you have that?”

“Well, I kept it mainly to study it and try
to figure out a way to get rid of it,” he says, closing his fingers
around it. “But now I’m going to study it to figure out how it
replicates itself. How it takes over the body of the host and turns
them into a virus.”

“Why, though?” I ask. “Shouldn’t you be
studying yourself and seeing if you’re human.”

“I am,” he says, placing the virus carefully
into his pocket. “But I want to study this, too. If we did find the
cure and it’s in your blood, the virus might help us figure out a
way to spread it quickly. If we can figure out the process, then we
can replicate it with the cure.”

“So that every person infected with the cure
becomes the cure,” I say, nodding understandingly.

“Yes,” he says brightly as he whisks over to
the table. “Now I just have to see if you and I are the answers to
the cure.”

“Why would you two be the answer to the
cure?” Sylas says from behind me.

Mathew’s green eyes widen and he quickly
tries to turn away before Sylas can see he’s healing. Sylas strides
over to him, grabs his shoulder and with a lot of effort, forces
Mathew to turn around to face him. He observes him closely; the
once weak man who now looks a lot younger, stronger and has green
eyes that were once pale.

“Did you do it? Did you find a cure?” he
asks Mathew in shock. When Mathew doesn’t respond, Sylas looks at
me. “Kayla, what’s going on?”

“We might have found something,” I say.
“But…” Before I can further explain, Sylas moves up to me and
throws his arms around me in the weirdest embrace ever. “I can’t
believe it,” he says, pulling me closer to him. “We have a cure.
Finally, we have something to fight for.”

He seems so much more weightless, like his
rough shell has crumbled with the idea that there’s hope. More than
I would have expected and part of me wonders if his whole tough guy
act was a facade created to mask the worry that we’d never protect
or save the world. I’m about to tell him that we might not have a
cure—that Mathew isn’t even sure if he’s human, and if he is, we’re
not even sure how to make enough of a cure to spread it yet—but he
seems so happy, and Sylas never seems happy, so I decide to follow
what Mathew did and keep quiet. Mathew and I exchange a look and
make a silent agreement to keep our lips sealed.

“So what do we do now?” Sylas asks, pulling
away. His dark eyes look brighter and his expression not so
hard.

He has a smudge of dirt on his cheek and I
rub it off with my thumb. “We fight.”

Sylas nods with enthusiasm. “That, I can
do.”

“Good.” I force a smile, feeling my own lie
all over me, but shake it off and go forward, trying to be the
fearless leader everyone seems to expect me to be. “Can you do me a
favor? Can you go check on Maci for me and make sure her and
Greyson are safe? After that, find Nichelle. Make sure that the Day
Takers and her people are cooperating... I’m a little worried about
certain personalities conflicting”

“Since when do you get to say the orders?”
Sylas questions with a teasing arch of his brow.

“Since you started asking me questions,” I
reply in a joking tone, but I’m being serious.

He assesses me over with a look that used to
make me nervous, although it sort of makes me excited now. Then he
nods, putting his hand on my hip, fingers delving into my skin. I
jump, shocked by the intimate touch as he slowly slides up to my
side. His fingers dip into my skin roughly, but I barely feel a
sting. Then he pulls me towards him and I resist for a moment
before letting him guide my lips. He kisses deeply, exploring my
mouth with his tongue until Monarch clears his throat and we break
away.

“I’ll be back as soon as I check on things,”
he says with a wink before turning around and heading out the
door.

I blow out a breath and then sink onto the
floor and drop my face into my hands. “I don’t like lying very
much.”

“No one does,” Mathew says as he begins
sorting through his cabinets.

I take a few deep breaths then compose
myself before raising my head up. “So now what?”

“Now, I study.” He frowns. “But I just hope
I have enough time… I hate to think it, but if I don’t get this all
figured out before the Highers and their army show up here, then
they’ll likely destroy everything, including my lab. At that point,
all hope will be lost.”

“First off, we don’t know when they’re going
to show up,” I say. “And if they do, we—I won’t let them ruin the
lab.”

He doesn’t seem convinced and I get up from
my chair and stride towards the door, pausing to look back at
Mathew. “Work on figuring it out. I’ll make sure nothing gets in or
out of here.”

He swallows hard and then nods, but I can
tell he doesn’t think I can do it. However, I have to, no matter
what. “Kayla, wait,” he calls out before I step out.

I pause, turning around. “Yeah.”

“Would it be all right if I drew some of
your blood,” he says. “To study and for…” He rubs his neck tensely.
“Just in case something happens to you, I’ll still have something
to study.”

“Oh, of course.” I return to him and hop up
onto the table, rolling up my sleeve as he grabs another syringe.
“But Mathew, as far as I know, I don’t… well, I haven’t figured out
a way that anything could happen to me.”

“You don’t think you can die?”

I shrug. “As far as I can tell, no. It makes
me wonder if the cures living inside me if… if I can ever be human
again.” I’m not sure how I feel about this revelation, if I like
the idea that I’ll always be different. Honestly, I don’t think I
do. How can we ever change back the world if I stay the same; if
I’m always there to study and replicate, like the Highers want
to?

He offers me a smile. “Maybe your right…
maybe Monarch did create perfection in you, but then again, if I’ve
learned anything, it’s that everything has a weakness.”

***

After I’m finished giving Mathew some of my
blood, I walk out of the building. It’s quiet for the most part.
Most of the people have barricaded themselves inside the buildings
and homes while the rest stand their posts at the wall. Just a ways
to my right, Nichelle is standing by the wall, noticing me as I
make my way down to the street.

“Kayla,” she calls out, heading over to me
with a torch in her hand. She has a thick leather belt strapped
around her waist and a sword secured in it. “What were you doing in
there with Mathew? And why was he so sketchy?”

“I…” I trail off as I see them moving
towards me.

A row of different collections, people who
carry different powers, yet share the same genetics for the most
part. They stand out like a sore thumb; dark clothes, leather,
their hair colors like fire and ash. Their skin is smooth, features
flawless and the sounds of their hearts are still.

Sylas stands in the middle and uses his long
legs to stride over to me. He has an arrogant look on his face, but
it vanishes when he reads my face like an open book. “What’s wrong
with you... you look upset.”

“There’s nothing wrong,” I reply, pulling
myself together.

“Is it about the cure?” he asks, folding his
arms.

Nichelle’s head whips in his direction.
“Cure?”

“Yeah…” Sylas’s eyes stay on me and I wonder
if he can sense my uneasiness. “They found a cure… maybe.”

A big grin spreads across Nichelle’s face.
“Yes!!” she exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. “I knew Mathew
would figure it out. God, it’s so great! We finally have some good
news!”

“You’re making a lot of noise,” I tell her
as people start glancing in our direction. She settles down a
little, but still has way too much energy. “Mathew thinks he might
have found a cure, but there’s still a lot of other stuff to figure
out,” I say, and their moods deflate a notch. “What we need to make
sure of is that he’s protected at all times. Nichelle, I need you
to put a lot of guards around his lab and make sure they’re there
always… it’s important that he can keep working no matter what
happens… and that him and his lab are safe.”

She nods and turns around, jogging off
towards a solider-looking group of people who aren’t nearly as
strong as the Day Takers, but probably as close as you can get in
human form. She says something to them and then they head over
towards the lab with swords and knives in their hands. I wonder if
it’s enough; if they’ll be able to stop the abominations from
getting in if they do show up. I wonder if Mathew will figure it
out in time. I wonder a lot of things at that moment and all the
answers make me feel… well, hopeless. The feeling sucks.

I glance over at the Day Takers who are just
standing there, watching me. All six of them. I don’t know any of
them except for one; a tall girl with red hair, wearing a long,
flowing skirt and who has the powers to dip into people’s
heads.

“Emmy,” I say cautiously, remembering how
she’s slightly off her rocker. “Can you come here for a minute? I
need to ask you a favor.”

Her deep red lips spread into a smile and
then she struts forward, swishing her skirt.

“Do you really want to go there?” Sylas
questions amusedly. “You know how she can get.”

“Yeah, but I need her to help protect the
lab,” I say to Sylas. “Mathew… he’s the one who can figure all this
out.”

“But it’s your blood?” he states. “We should
be protecting you, too.”

“Mathew has some of my blood just in case
something happens to me,” I reply. “Besides, I don’t think anything
can. I’ve died plenty of times and I always heal.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“No, I say it like it’s a thing that’ll be a
problem in the future if things do go back to the way that they
should be.”

He opens his mouth to say something with a
strange look on his face, but Emmy interrupts us, stepping
unnecessarily close to me.

“Well, well,” she says. “If it isn’t the
beautiful Kayla.” She taps her finger on her lips and then breathes
in my scent. “Looking for me to dip into your head again.” She
strokes my hair with her fingers and Sylas chuckles from behind
her.

“Actually, no.” I step back out of her
reach. “I just need you and two other Day Takers to go help guard
that building over there.” I point over my shoulder at the lab.

She frowns. “You want me to help protect a
building; one that humans are already protecting?”

“Please,” I say. “It’s really
important.”

She crosses her arms and stares me down.
“And what do I get out of this.”

Sylas nudges her in the back, a little
rough. “Emmy, stop being a pain in the ass and go.”

She huffs and stomps her foot. “God, this is
so ridiculous,” she whines, but ends up obeying, going over and
getting two other Day Takers to come with her. One of them is
really tall and muscular while the other is shorter, though equally
as strong in appearance. When they walk by us, they all give me a
dirty look.