Eternal Changes (Mikah) (24 page)

The vampire moved to try to strike again, but Talmadge was quicker. The vampire gasped as Talmadge’s hand burrowed into his chest. Talmadge pulled the vampire’s black heart out and tossed it over to Ashton. Ashton placed the two black organs on the ground and waved his hand over them. They ignited into flames and disintegrated in seconds.

When she turned around the bodies had disintegrated as well, leaving nothing behind. There wasn’t even a burn mark or a single ash on the ground.

“Do you realize who you killed?” Talmadge asked Caoilainn as he stood next to her.

She shook her head no as she shifted back to her human form.

“You killed Jaymes,” Talmadge said. “He was the one Ophelia said killed Malachi.”

“I was hoping I picked out the right one, but I wasn’t sure it was him,” Caoilainn said as tears filled her eyes. “I heard one of them say Jaymes and the fury of my cougar took over.”

Talmadge’s arms wrapped around Caoilainn as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.

Caoilainn looked over at Ashton as she dried her tears. “I’m ready. Let’s go find Lucy.”

Ashton took the lead and took the path the two Haemon had come from. He came to a fork in the caves and Ashton went to the right.  It wasn’t long before he reached what looked like several bedrooms. Ashton put his ear up to one of the doors and listened. Nothing. He moved to the next door. He didn’t have to put his ear to the door. A sobbing sound could be heard in the hall.

Ashton turned around and pointed to the door. He gestured to Talmadge that he was going in. He rushed forward, his shoulder angled at the door. The door flew open as Ashton slammed into it. He jerked to a stop as Lucy looked up at him from the floor. Blood stained her mouth as she clutched someone to her.

Lucy moved slightly and ice trickled in Ashton’s veins as Michael’s face came into view. Blood stained Michael’s clothes where it had spilled from the large wound on his neck. Ashton looked back up at Lucy as tears sparkled in her brown eyes. She hung her head as the tears slid down her cheeks.

“Welcome,” Karver hissed a chair in the corner of the
room.

Ashton’s eyes narrowed as he took a step forward. “I’m going to
enjoy
ripping your heart out.”

Talmadge grabbed Ashton by the shoulders and pulled him back. “This isn’t your fight.”

Ashton pulled away, spun around and glared at Talmadge. “Like hell it isn’t.”

Talmadge shoved Ashton out of the way as Karver flew forward with his fangs bared. Talmadge threw up his hand, striking Karver in the face and slid to the right.

 “It’s been a long time,
brother,
” Karver spat as he spun around. His eyes glittered as he stared at Talmadge. “Your existence ends tonight.” He lunged at Talmadge and they fell into the hall as their bodies collided.

Talmadge tossed Karver up in the air and jumped up from the ground. Talmadge glared at Karver as the Haemon, Dragomir, and Daroch circled around them to watch the fight. The crowd was quiet as Talmadge flew into Karver and grabbed a hold of Karver’s throat. Karver’s fingernails elongated as he clawed at Talmadge’s face. Talmadge pulled back and grabbed onto Karver’s wrist.

Talmadge’s blood pumped and burned as the bloodlust consumed him. His eyes turned blood red as he dove forward. Karver slid to the left and broke away from Talmadge and flew up into the air. Talmadge stared up at Karver as he propelled himself off of the ground like a bullet being shot from a gun. Talmadge collided with Karver midair as Talmadge’s fangs elongated. Talmadge bit into Karver’s arm and ripped a chunk of flesh off and spit it out. Karver screamed and it echoed throughout the caves.

Black blood splattered the rock below and chaos broke out as the crowd clashed. Karver leered at Talmadge as his fangs elongated. Karver struck at Talmadge’s neck with his fangs, but Talmadge spun out of the way. Karver turned to face his brother once more.

Talmadge’s mouth was curved upwards in a small smile.“Come on,
little
brother,” he taunted. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Karver screamed as he launched himself at Talmadge. Talmadge moved slightly to the right and bit into Karver’s side and he tossed Karver over his head like a rag doll. A scream erupted from Karver as his skin and flesh was ripped off. The flesh hung from Talmadge’s mouth as the black blood dripped from his pale skin. He spit the acidic flesh out and it fell to the ground below.

“And you call yourself the leader of the Haemon?” Talmadge leered. “You’re
pathetic
, brother.”

Karver started to move forward, but then stopped suddenly. Talmadge flew forward with his arms outstretched. He jerked to a stop as Karver dissipated a few feet from him. Talmadge swiveled around and looked for Karver.

Talmadge descended to the ground below. “Where is he?” he hissed as he walked through the crowd, his gaze scanning the surrounding area. Talmadge stepped back as a cougar ripped into a Haemon’s neck and sliced through the neck with its fangs. The black acidic blood coated the cougar’s golden fur.

“He’s gone,” Jayde said as she touched Talmadge’s shoulder. “I don’t think he’ll be back.”

Talmadge spun around and burrowed his hand into the chest of one of the Haemon behind him in frustration as Jayde walked up to the headless bodies of the Haemon scattered across the rock floor and ripped their black hearts out and threw them in a pile. She waved her hand over the pile and incinerated the black organs. The dead bodies vanished from the floor as the rest of the Haemon dissipated and fled the scene.

“Cowards!” Jayde yelled.

Talmadge’s eye color slowly turned back to normal. He didn’t say a word as he pivoted and walked towards the room where Lucy was being kept. The crowd parted to let him through and Jayde followed closely behind him.

Talmadge stopped next to Caoilainn at the entrance of the room. He could taste t he power flowing through the air. He looked to where Lucy was clinging to a boy’s body as Ashton knelt by her with his head hung low. Red blood covered the boy’s neck as he lay lifeless in Lucy’s arms.

“I can’t fix this,” Caoilainn whispered to Talmadge.

Talmadge touched Caoilainn’s shoulder and walked into the room.

Red tears trickled down Lucy’s cheeks as Ashton gently touched her chin. She looked up at him with a broken look on her face.

“I’m a monster,” Lucy whispered as she clung to Michael.

 “You’re not a monster, baby,” Ashton said as he touched her head with his.

Lucy looked down at Michael. “I did this to him, Ashton,” she said as she bent Michael’s head and exposed the torn flesh of his neck. “How am I not a monster?”

Ashton stared at the gashes in Michael’s neck. The skin around the bite marks was jagged and the muscles in the neck had been torn to shreds. Ashton slowly turned Michael’s head to expose the other side of his neck to feel for a pulse. A faint erratic beat thumped against his fingers.

“He can be saved, right?” Lucy asked with hope filling her eyes.

Ashton stared at Lucy and shook his head no as he wrapped her in his arms.

Lucy pulled Michael to her as she sobbed. Tears flowed down her cheeks as her body shook. Her breathing came in short, hard gasps as she cried.

Ashton looked up at Talmadge and moved away as Talmadge knelt down on the floor next to Lucy. 

Talmadge looked into his beautiful daughter’s stricken face. “Lucy,” he whispered gently.

Lucy looked up as tears slid down her cheeks. “I killed my friend,” she said in a broken whisper. “He didn’t deserve this. Not him.”

“I need you to let me have him, Lucy,” Talmadge said as he looked at her.

Lucy shook her head no as she clutched Michael to her. “I need to fix this,” she said.

“You can’t fix this,” Talmadge said as he touched his daughter’s chin and looked into her brown eyes. “No one can.”

Lucy shook her head in denial. “No. No!
NO!”

Ashton nodded at Talmadge as he wrapped Lucy in his arms. “You need to let go of Michael, Lucy.”

Sobs wracked Lucy’s body. “I can’t,” she whispered.

Talmadge leaned forward and gently pried the human boy from Lucy’s arms. He took the boy in his arms, stood up and walked over to where Jayde was standing. “Take care of him,” he said as he handed the boy to her.

Jayde nodded her head and left the room carrying Michael’s body in her arms. She looked down and her heart seemed to stop beating for a small moment in time. His features were absolutely beautiful and she couldn’t help but wonder what color his eyes were. There was something about him that tugged at her heart strings.

Jayde walked down the corridors of the caverns. Her heart felt heavy and grew heavier with each step that she took. Talmadge wanted her to take care of the body, but she couldn’t shake the feelings that coursed through her as she carried Michael in her arms. She glanced back down at his face as she walked. What was wrong with her?

Jayde’s emotions threatened to overwhelm her as she left the caves and flew up into the air. She propelled herself forward and the scenery below blurred.

Jayde didn’t slow down until she reached Mammoth Caves. She gently landed on the green grass in the woods near her home as her emotions crashed over her like a wave against the cliffs during a high tide. She laid Michael’s body on the ground and looked down at him. Could she really just sit here and watch the last little bit of life leave him and do nothing?

Jayde shook her head in exasperation. This shouldn’t have been a hard task for her to complete. Turmoil rocked through her as she glanced down at his body. His body jerked on the ground as the last little bit of life started leaving his body. Jayde fell to the ground next to him as she slit one of her wrists with an elongated fingernail. She gently held up Michael’s head and put her wrist to his mouth. The black blood seeped in and dripped from the corner of his mouth. Jayde removed her wrist and lightly stroked his neck as she helped him to swallow. Jayde moved away from him and sat down on the grass as he swallowed the last drop.

Jayde ran her hands over her face as she looked up at the sky. The stars danced across the black backdrop. Jayde ran her hand through her hair and gently tugged. Had she completely lost her mind?

“You’re such an
idiot
,” she murmured to herself as crawled over to Michael and lifted him up into her arms. She stood up and headed for the entrance of the caves.

Jayde entered the caves and ran through the maze. She veered off to the left to a hidden cavern and waved her hand at the solid rock wall. The wall jerked and slowly opened and she entered the room. She closed the wall and walked over to the large bed at the far end of the room and laid Michael on it.

Jayde ran over to the fridge and grabbed a couple jugs of blood as Michael’s body convulsed on the bed. A gasp left his lips and his eye flew open as Jayde hurried over to him. She stared down at him. His eyes were slowly turning blood red as his body started to change.

Jayde touched his face and he looked at her. Her breath caught in her throat as her heart pounded in her chest. She looked away and closed her eyes as she absorbed some of his pain as her blood ravaged his body. Jayde gasped as she pain rocked through her. She opened her eyes and looked at Michael as he clutched onto one of her arms.