Chapter 12

I now have resentment for loud sounds that wake me up.

Since I slept at 11 p.m last night due to sleeping problems caused by chatting and watching TV and eating popcorn with Ryan, I had to take sleeping pills. Apparently, they haven’t worn off at 6 a.m: the exact same time Bella shouted in my ear to wake me up. Roughly.

“Leah!” she shouted while shaking my shoulders. I shrugged her hands off forcefully before pulling the blanket above my head. “Wake up…!”

I grunted and tried to drown her out by putting a pillow above my head. She forcefully tugged at my blanket, and then got it off of me. She started tickling my feet but, instead of making me laugh, it annoyed me. I needed my sleep, and I was determined to fight for it.

“Dylan just called!” she shouted. Since I just woke up, this shocked me awake. When I sat up, she took my waist and slung me over her shoulder. I screamed; morning disorientation is my enemy.

“This isn’t fair!” I shouted in her ear, realising that my phone had been beside me the whole time. She just snickered as I struggled against her hold. This struggle was, as always, futile. Damn their vampire strength. Then, I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me and I suddenly found myself on the couch beside Jez. She cringed away from me. I noticed that she and her brother wore their normal black outfit, while I wore my bunny pyjamas. I swear I could’ve blushed if I wasn’t so irritated. Ryan had his arms around his sister’s shoulders, while she leaned her head on his shoulder. Again with the weird intimacy.

Paul and Luke were, as usual, arguing. I looked behind me and saw them arguing near the window. If one of them managed to throw the other, I’m probably safe.

“Alright, people! Now we’re all----wait, where’s Lucifer?” Bella started, looking around for their cousin. All of them shrugged, and she sighed. “Don’t tell me I have to drag him down here again for the fifth time this morning…?”

“I guess you have to,” Jez said, her head still on Ryan’s shoulder, her eyes closed. I guess we were all tired and in dire need of sleep. Then, to me: “You have to watch this,”

And I did.

The second I blinked and looked over my shoulder, Bella was already on the top of the staircase, holding Lucifer by the scruff of his white clingy shirt. Even if he was just in his boxers, I’ll admit that he looked pretty good. Megan chose a good guy this time. Lucifer was clawing at the air, in the direction of his bedroom. Bella grunted as she pulled him again.

“You---are---not---going---to---go---back!” she said as she wrestled him until they were both an exhausted pile at the bottom of the staircase.

“Noooo!!!” Lucifer screamed as he scrambled to go back up. Bella caught his foot and he fell on her. Everyone else was watching them, and stifled snickers could be heard. It was funny. “My bed is calling out to me!!!”

“And the living room is shouting for you!” Bella retorted as she finally slammed him down on the floor. He sulked. “There. Now, back to business. I have devised a very special plan so we can interact with the humans better,”

“We hypnotise them into coming here?” Paul piped up.

“We send them invites so we can finally feed on them, and get away with it by pretending we’re dead?” Ryan added. Jez laughed at this.

“Nuh,” Bella replied as she dragged in a whiteboard. She held a marker in her hand. Dread spread across our faces. “We’re going to have----drum roll please----a HALLOWEEN PARTY!!!”

I swear I could hear crickets.

“That’s it?!” Lucifer asked, enraged. “You dragged me down here and stole my sleep from me because of a party?!”

True, Lucifer. We all agree with you.

“It’s not just a normal party, cuz,” Bella said in a coaxing voice, putting her hands on his shoulders and letting him sulk on the floor again. “It’s a costume party. Do you people know what that means?”

Suddenly, realisation overwhelmed us.

A Halloween costume party meant that they could show their true selves without anyone suspecting it, and I can do that, too. A perfect opportunity to show off. And, to add to that, they can actually feed in front of people and do whatever it is vampires---and Dark Drinkers like me----do. Ah, Bella was a genius.

“Way t’go, Einstein,” Lucifer said, apparently still bitter about his lack of sleep. “Halloween is today,”

“Which is why we have to work extra today,” she reasoned, her cute lips turning from a smile to a pout. “And besides, the theme for today is ‘vampires in Greek mythology’.”

“Ha ha, that’s rich,” Ryan said, faking a laugh. “Vampires in Greek what?!. Cuz, do you seriously want to expose us to the whole world or is your mind just out of control?”

“I think it’s both,” Paul added in his usual cynical way. To Jez, he said: “Babe, you should put your cousin under control,”

“For once, I agree with Paul. Anyone who thinks Bella should be in a mental facility, raise their hands,” Ryan said before Jez smacked the back of his head with her fist.

“I agree with Bella,” Jez said, with a hint of authoritativeness in her voice, the nagging part forgotten. “I think it’s a great way to show ourselves without trying to hide and…I think it would be fun,”

Bella almost choked on her orange juice----something that I didn’t see until now. Everyone else’s eyes----including mine, but not Ryan’s-----seemed to bulge out of their sockets. No one ever heard Jez agree to anything except her and her brother’s decisions, which were usually the law in this household if they said so. “Are my ears busted or did I just hear Jez agree to my suggestion?”

“I think I should get my ears cleaned now…”Lucifer said, trying to slip away, edging inch-by-inch towards the stairs. Bella caught the cuff of his shirt and pulled him back, giving him a glare.

To us, she said: “Alright, then! Since Jez agreed to it, then we’ll do it, and since I suggested it, I’m going to be in charge. So, let’s start with events.”

She popped open the cap of her marker and started writing things on the whiteboard. That was when I knew it: there was no stopping her. If Jez took back what she said, then that’ll leave Bella disappointed, and we all knew that she wouldn’t want that. She sighed in mock exasperation as she put her head on her brother’s shoulder, and he put his head on top of hers.

This was going to be a very long day.

************************

Sending out the invites to everyone I know wasn’t so easy. Okay, so maybe I should look at the bright side first: at least I was allowed to go home. Still, in exchange for that, I needed to somehow invite every single student in my school. How they could fit in the lot, I have no idea.

Whatever. At least I’ll keep my side of the bargain. I hit the ‘Send’ button on the computer screen and proceeded to dial Eris’ number on my phone.

“Hey,” I greeted her. She grunted.

“There better be a good reason you woke me up so early in the morning. . .” she threatened. I laughed nervously. She was so good at threats, since she actually did them.

“It’s already half past 12, Eris,” I said nonchalantly, forgetting my brief flash of irrational fear. “Besides, if you don’t want to go to a great Halloween party at Dylan’s place----,” I didn’t have to finish my sentence since she already took the bait by the time I mentioned the word ‘party’.

“What’s the catch?” she said. Uh-huh. She fell for it, hook, line and sinker. I already heard her shuffling. “Do I have to do you a favour or something?”

“Help me with the invites, that’s it,” I said, my tone flat and even.

“I knew this was going to happen,” she said, her tone cynical but a little bit giddy. Good. That meant that she was gunna come. No worries. “Whatever. You need my popularity, anyway,”

I opened my mouth to protest, or to tell her that I didn’t need her popularity anyway, but she ploughed on.

“I’ll bring Nathan with me. We’ll be there by 10. Is that good?”

“Yeah,” I answered, knowing that I couldn’t probably protest against her anyway. That was just her. “It’s a themed party, so make sure you wear a vampire or ancient Greek thing for a costume, a’ight? Party starts at 11 pm, so you’ll be early if you arrive at 10,”

“Then see you at 10:30,” she said, before ending the call.

Oh, I was going to have a ball of a time.

Not.

***************

I had to arrive early. I arrived in my costume as Bella instructed, and it was a good thing, too. If I’d had arrived half an hour later, I would feel awkward and out-of-place in the midst of so many people in vampire and Greek costumes. My costume wasn’t a costume at all. The fangs were small compared to the Ryan’s or the other’s, but they were real enough. I wore my Recon uniform: a black, skin-tight leather outfit, leather boots, and black leather gloves with real gun to match.

“Hey, babe,” Eris greeted as she got in the front doors. One word: Goddess. She looked like that sculpture of a Greek goddess we saw in one of our field trips to the museum when we were in primary school. ‘Nough said. I mean, she was complete with the sandals and stuff. Her arm was wound around Nathan’s, who looked like the vampire. I mean, I would have mistaken him for a vampire, if his fangs didn’t look so fake and shiny. He wore an entire black leather outfit, and it suited him well. He smiled at me, and there was no pain in his eyes anymore.

“Hey,” I said, sitting down on the front steps. Both of them sat beside me.

“Who are we waiting for?” Eris asked. Ah, she was a good friend.

“Megan and Lucifer,” I replied, but not before seeing Eris and Nathan locked in tight tongue wrestle. I could gag. “Get a freakin’ room, you two,”

“Whatever,” Nathan snapped at me. I, for one, was shocked. He never snapped at me until now. Eris simply smacked his chest lightly.

“Babe, that’s mean,” she said, before kissing him lightly on the lips. I wish I could say that she broke off almost as instantly, but hell, those two were filled to the brim with lust. Thankfully, Lucifer’s car sped into view, and the hired valet a foot away from us----who was standing as still as a statue before, by the way----moved toward the car and offered to park it. Lucifer handed the keys to him. He wore a full-on Victorian vampire’s outfit, complete with the cape and tuxedo. His fangs reached down a little past his lower lip, and his eyes were scarier than ever, looking like two black holes. He opened the door for Megan, and she had a goth-coloured slut outfit: a black sleeveless blouse with a very low neckline, red eye shadow, fishnet stockings and heels that might have enabled her to touch the moon. It really didn’t fit her personality, but she looked good anyway. The three of us stood up. Who knew Eris and Nathan were paying attention?

“Hey Meg,” Eris and I greeted simultaneously.

“Yeah, I’m here, too,” Lucifer said. We all laughed at his dark joke. Vampires were good at that. “How ‘bout we all go inside? My cousin’s worked hard on this one,”

He held the door open for us. I haven’t really seen what was inside the house, since Bella told me not to look inside until I was with my ‘friends’. Now, I know why: I would’ve had a heart attack.

They had turned their wonderful, mind-blowing house into a heart-stopping horror house.

The first thing I noticed was the sobbing shadow in the corner. Lucifer and Megan hurried on, with Lucifer in the lead, so that they were out in a matter of seconds. The three of us just had to be the stupid fools who snooped around. The shadow kept on sobbing. It sounded like a kid. Nathan put his hand on the shadow’s shoulder, but it disappeared just the second after he touched it. There was no mistaking it: the shadow disappeared into God knows where.

Then the shadow appeared again. This time, it was standing up. And it faced us, behind Nathan. He literally shivered, and looked behind him.

Then he screamed---not like a girl, as I would have liked--- and the lights turned on.

Heads and bodies and body parts, scattered on the floor, or stuck to the wall. Two bodies caught my eye: one of them was a mutilated man, his head turned around in the most gruesome way possible, and his legs bended back to reach his ears. He had a face of agony, but his arms were around a woman, who had the same emotion splattered on her face, and in the same state. Their faces, although cut and possibly carved, looked so distinct.

And I realised who they looked like: they were both ex-employees in our house. The woman was Fiona Brown, 21 years of age (maybe), and very, very pretty. I might have mentioned her once or twice to Ryan on the day she got kicked out because she poured orange juice on my bedroom carpet. I didn’t think I’d see her as messed up as this. The man was Robert. I don’t know his last name, since he hasn’t worked that long for us, but he had destroyed my mother’s garden by forgetting to water the plants while sucking face with Fiona. Damn.

I rushed outside, the bodies and the blood blurring after me. I had to go near the pool and throw up at the hedge. That house is so messed up. I wiped my mouth with my arm and turned to the crowd. Besides the slightly horrified looks on each one of the student’s faces, they looked great. Actually, some of them looked like geeks and idiots, but there had to be some of them, right? I mean, school wouldn’t be fun without them to bully.

She walked over to Nathan and Eris, who were clinging to each other for dear life. She laughed at this. Their faces were so drained of blood----

Argh. I wouldn’t want to think of blood for the rest of my existence.

Well, not really, but thinking of it made me remember the faces of those…people. And I knew that those weren’t fake. All the details were right, and the aura that oozed from them was so familiar, because I knew those people. Well, dead mutilated people.

“Hey Leah!” I heard Megan call. I barely had time to turn my head before said obnoxious best friend dragged me close to the make-believe stage. I knew Bella was planning to make this, but I didn’t know it would look so real. Man, it looked so authentic, like something from a book. Like, literally a wooden stage with huge-ass curtains or whatever. Wonderful.

“Great, isn’t it?” she said as she ogled at her boyfriend, who was sitting on the far right Cleopatra couch beside Ryan.

He had his normal black leather attire, and his fangs were full-on out. His eyes were the colour of mercury, shiny and alive under the moonlight, dancing with part-amusement and part-seduction. He ran his hands across his thick, blonde-highlighted hair, and I swear I heard a few girls swoon. Maybe more than a few. Still, he had his left arm around Jez, whose formed was almost splayed across his, her silver eyes glinting with playful menace. Her arms were around Ryan’s chest, and she was lying on her side, her right leg around his waist. They were both sitting on a much bigger Cleopatra couch, and I knew that this certain position sparked jealousy among girls who were too clueless to realise that they were both twins.

Bella was simply observing all of this with so much pride, but her clothes gave her away, since she was wearing an almost see-through tunic, her belt glinting gold under the moonlight. Did I mention there were no spotlights? Or that they were mere feet away from the fountain? No? Well I said it now. Oh, and the blaring music was absolutely enjoyed by emos, goths and punks everywhere. Emo mania to the max.

Bella waved me over, and I awkwardly made my way towards her, climbing up the short steps and going beside her. From this point of view, I could see Luke and Paul flirting with human girls, looking as inhumane as ever, but looking good as always.

“So. . .what do you----ew, what is that smell?” she whispered in my ear. Then, she sniffed, a little loudly this time. Then, she laughed. “God, Leah. You should really get used to mutilated bodies by now.” She said as she handed me cologne. I gratefully smacked some on my neck.

“Whose idea was it anyway?” I whispered back. More like hissed.

“Who do you think?” she asked, possibly amused at my reaction.

“Jez,” I answered the second she finished asking. Honestly. Jez was the only one evil enough to conduct a mass murder that is so inconspicuous that no one noticed anyone dying. Or maybe Ryan just manipulated them into forgetting. He told me that he can mess with people’s minds, so I guess that’s what they might have done.

“Tch. Jez is too kind to do anything like that,” Bella said. Obviously----and probably, as expected-----Jez overheard this. Instead of ranting about how evil she was, she simply stuck a tongue out at her cousin. Bella shot her a smug look anyway. “Ryan did it, hun. He’s too stressed, I guess, and Jez couldn’t probably contain it anymore,”

Jez sighed heavily, and Bella frowned.

“Bells, would you mind if Leah and I talked privately for a while?” she said. I gave her a look that clearly said ‘now what?!’. Gee, the woman can’t keep to herself much, can she?

She grabbed her bow and arrow----a not-so-unexpected thing, whether it was fake or for real, since she was Artemis----and I sighed with her as we both got off the stage like two awkward friends. She led us both to the side of the house, where there were no people, and the lights were dim. I could barely see her face, which was really, really creepy because I only saw her glinting metallic silver eyes and her long, snake-like fangs. Creepy.

“What do you want now, Jez?” I asked. Then, her expression softened. I didn’t know why, but it did. Every time she drags me out for a private conversation, she gets weirder and weirder.

“Look, Leah,” she said as she sank to the grass. That was new. But then…I couldn’t help but feel kind-of sorry for her. Her black hair flowed down to cover her face, and for the first time, she really looked like a fallen goddess. Then, she started trembling and her hands, which were supporting her before, covered her face. “Damn. I forgot I couldn’t cry anymore.”

“What is this all about, Jez? I have a party to go to.” Okay, maybe that sounded a little too harsh. So, I tried to amend it by saying this: “What’s with the drama?”

Nope, still not cutting it. Still too harsh for my taste.

“I want to tell you something about…well, Dylan,” she said, leaning on the wall behind her. Her legs were now bended in an awkward way, splayed out from under her and pointed at different directions. The way she said it…sounded like… “He’s had an affair with another girl,”

My heart stopped. Everything stopped. I couldn’t think at all. Maybe she was bluffing. Maybe it was all just a joke, or this whole day was only a dream. I don’t know anymore. Things were so unclear. I couldn’t think properly. I couldn’t even function properly. My legs felt like jelly, and my mind exploded. It was like Dylan threw my heart to the ground and crushed it under his thick leather boot.

“Tell me that’s not true,” I managed to choke out. I couldn’t believe it. Moreover, I refused to believe it. My mind didn’t really process it.

“It is, and I’m sorry that I ever threatened you,” she amended. She sounded as if she meant it. She didn’t…right? “I’ve been meaning to tell you this, but I just couldn’t find the right time,”

“Who else…knows about this…?” I asked, petrified, sitting on the grass beside her. I was in the same awkward position, but that was barely noticed. I couldn’t notice anything. I couldn’t feel anything. Not the itchy grass, not the wind that seemed to pick up, not the dim lights or Jez’s sober expression. Nothing.

The simple thought of Dylan betraying me…it was much too hard to bear. That simple thought alone was enough to send me into a delirious state. It would have, if Jez wasn’t here. And I really wish she didn’t answer my question.

“Ryan, Bella, Lucifer…even Eris and Megan,” she answered. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t----,”

“How did they know…?”

“Everyone knew,” she replied, her tone turning darker by the second. She didn’t like talking about this, and I didn’t like hearing it either. It was the truth, and I still couldn’t process that. The words ‘Dylan’ and ‘cheat’ didn’t exactly fit in the proper context and sentence. Never. “Dylan’s new…obsession…tried calling your phone several times. We had to stop her. Actually, she called when you were in the shower. She’s so good at mimicking people---,”

“I was talking to Dylan’s…?” I began to ask, but the words couldn’t form. Dylan’s slut? Dylan’s whore? Dylan, Dylan, Dylan…how could you do this to me? How could you lie so much? How could you…

My thoughts were interrupted by the unbelievably loud doorbell.

This time, I knew what I needed.

I mindlessly shuffled around the house, going to the front steps without any interruption from Jez.

And I thought the night couldn’t be any worse.

He faced me with so much certainty, as if he always knew I had been there. A huge surge of vertigo overtook me, and I was caught speechless once again.

It felt too familiar, the surroundings so unreal.

It felt like the first night that he visited my house.

“Hey,” he greeted as he sauntered over me. All too familiar… his crisp, white shirt and his brown leather jacket. Those bootleg jeans were new, though, and so were the steel-soled boots, but…“Did you miss me…Elizabeth?”

I gasped. Jayce. Jayce, the one who I thought was dead. Jayce, my first love. Jayce, the person who taught me how to live life as it is without any regrets for my actions. Jayce, Jayce, Jayce…

“You’re always like this…” he said as he grabbed a lock of my hair and twirled it around his finger. He caressed my cheek with his other index. His skin was always so warm…and I never realised I missed his warmth until now. “Speechless. Flabbergasted. Always running away…but always ending up in my arms.”

Then he hugged me, and I simply melted. I tasted his soul once again, and relished it. I ran my hands up and down his back, feeling the familiar line that was always there because he stood so tall and straight and proud. I looked up at him and saw his metallic blue eyes, always shining with playfulness and seriousness all at once, which made him even more complicated and mysterious, even if I knew him by heart. His blonde highlights were faded now, but they were still there. I hugged him again and pressed my face to his robust chest. He was only slightly lean, but I could feel his toned arms and body. I smelled his scent---basked in it----and was left without words. He didn’t smell like cheap cologne, he didn’t smell like roses like Ryan or lilac or like Dylan. He smelled…well, like him. There was no other scent in the world…

“You’re here. You’re alive. You’re…” I said, running out of words for my amazement. “I missed you so much, Jayce. You don’t know how much I’ve been through just waiting for you to come back,”

“As I missed you,” he said with a chuckle, lifting my face to his for a kiss. I kissed him as well, still amazed by how he was so real. How he was so alive. How he was the same, never changing, always constant. Always and forever. He let the knowledge of love flow through every aspect of his body and into mine, as if reaching out for the heart of the one with the dark, dark soul that didn’t match his: my soul. Just like always, I felt like a repulsive creature next to his utter perfection. He made me feel like this even if he didn’t mean to, but he made me felt loved all the same. He was just like that. “Oh God, I missed you so much.”

I chuckled lightly. “I know.” He hugged me even tighter, not quite to the point of making me break my bones but to the point where I felt loved and secure. He made me feel like that, too.

“Oh, honey,” he said, his British accent always wavering, lifetime after lifetime. He never died, and I never did, either. He was the last Hunter there ever was, and I would never, ever kill him. So, that little curse or whatever it was I said to his dad? Yeah, that’s the reason while I’m stuck in this form and he’s always going to wait for me. It’s the reason why we die together and live again, and it’s the reason why we’re always born at the same time, same date, but different places and different families that make us look like we’ve always looked like ever since the 17^th century. We die, live again and look like before, and stay that way forever. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Now…I won’t let you go. Ever.”

“Well, well, Leah,” someone said from behind me, interrupting the moment. Jez. Always there to ruin everything. She ruined my life, ruined the party, ruined the night…now she’s going to destroy this. “Sorry to interrupt your little get-together. Bella’s been asking for you for the past 5 minutes, and it’s starting to really piss me off,”

She said that like nothing ever happened. Like she didn’t reveal to me that everyone I ever trusted and lived with for the past few months didn’t even tell me that my boyfriend has been cheating on me. I hated her. So much.

“Who is this…?” Jayce asked, not letting go of my waist just yet. I had a feeling that he won’t ever let go tonight. To me, he whispered: “Her heartbeat is faint.”

“Of course it is,” Jez commented, rolling her eyes so hard I swear I could almost hear it. “It’ll be like that for the rest of my undead existence. Now if you’ll excuse Leah, I’d bring her to the party now,”

“Tell me what you are, and maybe I’ll spare your life,” Jayce threatened. Ha! Who’s threatened now, bitch?

“You’re a Hunter, right?” Jez asked as she slowly drew out a bow and positioned her arrow. “Since when did you live, hm?”

Jayce pursed his lips. Oh, no. This was going to be bad. Or worse. I wanted to stop it, but the mere sight of Jez scared me. I’m serious. Her silver eyes were cold and dark and cruel, and the way she handled that silver bow…it was like how a real huntress held it before a hunt. She chuckled darkly, as if she just realised something.

“Well, I guess you’d know my name anyway, won’t you?” she said as she raised the bow and pointed it straight at his head. The arrow glinted maliciously under the moonlight, and the wind started to pick up, making her hair go wild. It made her look more menacing than ever. She smiled, and I was scared to death. It wasn’t an amused smile; it was the smile all killers used to convey the silent message that they’ve already won, and we’re just two mice who can’t escape her devilish trap. She continued to give him that creepy smile. “After all, you’re the one who won’t stop hunting me down, aren’t you?”

“Shut up,” he growled at her.

“Why should I?” she asked, grinning like a madman. “You’re the one who started it all. You’re the sole reason why I ended up as twisted as this, and…oh screw all that. I just want to kill you,”

“You can’t do that,” Jayce said, his superiority never wavering. It was one of those things that I hated about him but loved at the same time. I loved it when it comes in handy in situations like this. “You never could, and you never will. Besides, that was just a few centuries ago. What the big deal?”

“You made me lose my mother,” she whispered silently. Then, Ryan suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a gust of wind and held Jez’s hand. It was bleeding, I realised. So that was what the light crimson liquid came from. As I focused on it, it seemed to be made of small ruby shards that glinted, and…it looked like blood on snow. She was even paler than usual. She gripped the bow tightly for a moment, then let go, letting it fall to the ground. The blood seemed to vaporise in the air, and the bow was left clean and shiny as ever. Ryan took her right hand and licked her first two digits one by one, letting the wounds close. Then, he bit her palm. She let out a little sob, and Ryan let go.

There was no mark.

“Your twin,” Jayce said, lowering his gun. “Nice to meet you,”

“As I, you,” Ryan said offhandedly. “May I request you to leave, please. These are very fragile family matters and-----,”

Ryan stopped.

He sniffed at the air once, then his eyes widened. Then, he shouted at us: “Get down, now!”

I did, and felt something sharp brush my neck. It was fast and pointed, and my thoughts were confirmed as the---spike?----hit the ground like a javelin. Another one came close to my ear, and I actually heard it whizz past me like a gun that passed by my ear. It was the colour of ash and was exactly like a javelin: stiff, straight and thin, but sharp enough to kill a person.

It deafened me for the merest second…or a few minutes. The minutes that changed my life.

Jez and Ryan started shouting, pointing their arrows behind me. Jayce helped me get up and led me to the car, but a spike pierced my side, taking my clothing along with it, therefore pinning me down to the ground. There was so much pain. I didn’t realise I shouted until I heard myself scream at such a high pitch. If that didn’t break the devil’s ears, I don’t know what can. My feet couldn’t support me anymore, and my body hurt all over. My larynx was flooded with the taste of hot, iron-like blood. It choked me, and I had to cough it up. The blood didn’t stop flooding my mouth. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, barely able to stay awake. Maybe it was just my imagination that there was another female shouting in utter agony, but I wasn’t so sure, since I was barely able to move and breathe at the same time, stay awake.

“It’s poisoning her!” someone shouted. Multiple shouts echoed through, and I didn’t know which one to listen to. Poisoning me? How can that possibly happen? “Take it out!”

“Everyone go home! Party’s over!” someone familiar shouted. A different person this time. It sounded kinder, but a little too firm. Murmurs followed. I couldn’t make sense of anything at all. There were engines starting, but…there was a bright, almost-orange light that shone underneath my eyelids.

“I…d-don’t…,” I started to protest, but my voice sounded too raspy. What was wrong with them? What was happening?! I don’t understand. With every word, I had to catch my breath, therefore forcing more blood down my throat and making me choke on my own blood.

“Damn it, take it out from her NOW!” a male voiced barked near my ear.

I had no sense of what was going on, and the next thing I knew, there was this awful, sickening sound that echoed in my ears, like a stick being pulled out from thick raw meat. It was just as painful. Oh God, it was so painful! Didn’t they know? I didn’t hear anything except my own screams, always stopped short by the blood that flooded my nasal passages. Every scream ended in a muffled gurgle, and I felt warm liquid overflow from my mouth. I felt as if my skull was being ripped off and bleach was being poured onto my brain. It hurt. I was unconscious for a second or so, and when I regained consciousness, I was off the ground. Crimson agony was flowing from me to the green grass, staining it. Then I was moving.

Slowly, I felt the pain. I felt the hands on my neck and at the back of my legs, but I couldn’t speak. Even taking a simple inhale sent a million sharp points to my lungs. Every breath sent more blood pouring to the grass below. Everything was silent for a moment, I guess, but maybe I was deafened again. The next second, voices floated up and reached me. They sounded so near, but my vision turned black. But why was I still thinking? How can I possibly hear them?

“She needs to be changed, or she’ll die,” a grave female voice said beside me. I recognised that voice…

Bella, my subconscious mind whispered at me. Yes, now I remember. I remember talking to Jez, then seeing Jayce…then spikes raining from the air. And the pain. Now I knew: I was hit, and the javelin-like, ashen spikes probably pierced my lungs. Maybe that’s why I experienced so much pain. I remembered people shouting something…

Poison in the spike, my subconscious mind whispered again. Yes, that’s right. Poison…

Someone else started to speak. “Can’t do it. Busy feeding twins.” Lucifer. Lucifer…the Third. Twins…

Ryan.

The very thought of his name sent my senses into haywire. It was like my system was jumpstarted, and it began working as it should. I felt the wound close…and open up again. Painfully. I winced, and looked at the person who held me.

Jayce. So it wasn’t a dream then. I was in too much pain to even hallucinate, so I knew it was all real.

I looked to the side. Bella and Lucifer were kneeling over Ryan and Jez, who laid side-by-side like corpses. They both had identical, vacant expressions on their faces. Neither of them saw anything or heard anyone. They were feeding from Bella and Lucifer, that was evident enough, but only their lips moved. It was like they were trying to gulp but could not. Lots of blood overflowed from their mouths and onto the grass. They both had gaping holes in their chests the size of bowling balls. I mean, I could literally see through it. There was something beating in the middle, though. Like…half a heart. Oh God.

We were still outside, and no one was around anymore. I let my senses roam, and knew that Luke and Paul were watching in the shadows, unable to do anything to help. Then another, more humane presence.

Megan.

She was watching over everything, but from a distance, like…she was afraid. I didn’t know what, but she was afraid of something. What was it?

“Ryan…” I groaned, trying to squirm free of Jayce’s grasp. He looked at me once, kissed me on the forehead, and lay me on the grass. “Jayce…”

“Ssh,” he said, putting a finger to my bloody lips. He smiled sadly. “Everything’s gunna be alright now, hun.”

“S-stop,” I managed to stutter out. “I d-d-don’t want to b-become like t-them,”

“You have to, babe,” he whispered, like my ears were fragile. No, he didn’t understand. I’d rather be human than become anything close to what vampires are. He didn’t understand. He was just a Hunter. He didn’t know. To emphasise this point, he said: “I don’t want you to die,”

He didn’t know that the Final Death meant that we’ll never go back to Shadowland…and stay human. It’s the finality of our Drinker existence. And besides, too much blood loss causes lack of blood to the brain. Killing the brain is the only way to kill anyone (vampires are an exception, of course). That’s why everybody feared it: no one wanted to become human. But I’d rather be. I’m tired of killing. I’m tired of all those murders.

“You just don’t get it, do you?” Jez said beside me. She didn’t look at anything. She was just there, her mouth moving, her fangs still out so that her words were only slightly either blurred or distorted. “The only vampires who can change other people are Royals. When we do that…there’s a big chance that we’ll die…especially in our condition…we’re all too weak,”

A long, heavy silence followed. Everyone was struck into silence. I wanted to tell everyone…

“I’ll do it,” Ryan said. Oh my God.

“NO!” Jez and I burst out at the same time. I felt like I had a sudden burst of energy. He couldn’t do it. He shouldn’t. He wouldn’t. Right…?

“Damn it, Ryan!” Jez said, finally sitting up, but wincing anyway. She looked down at her chest and sighed. It was only half healed. At least her heart was back where it should be. Still, she went on: “What the hell is going on in your effin’ coco?! Why would you risk your life to save something like her?! We both know it’s just another one of your games, Ryan, as it is mine!”

“That was before,” he replied as calmly as ever. If Jez wasn’t his twin, I was sure she’d have killed him for sure. It was too obvious that she was ticked off. “We were both lying…until tonight. You took everything too far, Jez.”

“I did it because we agreed on it,” she told him, her nerves a little cooler now. She lay back down, and looked pointedly at me. “You’re an idiot.”

The moment she said it, I felt my head clear, and my wound…heal…by itself. The others just stared on, except the twins. Damn it, even Megan was watching. I could feel her eyes trained on me. But…why was her presence fading? I wasn’t becoming unconscious, and I knew that she wasn’t either, since Lucifer wasn’t rushing to where she was. Speaking of, why was everyone else’s aura becoming…undetectable? That was impossible. I couldn’t even taste their supremely dark souls. Even Paul, who was mere feet away from me, was totally unstable now. Unbelievable.

This couldn’t happen, unless…

“No,” I managed to say. Oxygen came to me easily now, and my head was clearer. By now, I had gained full control of all parts of my body. “Stop it. I don’t want to die,”

“What are you talking about, babe?” Jayce asked, his face clearly relieved that I was healing, but showing utter puzzlement. “You’re…not dying,”

“This is the Final Death,” I finally managed to say after one last thunk as the last piece of skin went together. There were no scratches, no headaches, and no pain at all. Nothing. I felt normal. Too normal. I didn’t even notice Jez and Ryan lose consciousness. “The Death means becoming human, Jayce. And now I’m human, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

The finality of it all…

Now, there was no other ending. If I die, I stay dead. That was my ending now, just as it is for everybody. Everyone has the same ending. No matter what you do, or who you’re with for the remainder of your life, it all ends in death. It’s decided, every time. No one can live forever, and I guess that was another rule of life: everyone changes. No matter what. Take myself, for example. I had thought that I’d stay the same for all those years. I had thought that nothing would change, even if Jayce was there. He’d be a Hunter, I’ll be a Drinker. I’d thought that I won’t ever change, because I never wanted to. Now, I have changed into one of those humans. I’ve changed ever since I met Jayce and all those people, even if I knew it or not. They’ve all been important, no matter how much I hated them or despised their very existence.

I let my tears spill.

For the first time in what felt like a million years, I cried in front of people. Actual people. People who may or may not understand, but tried to all the same. But Jez was probably an exception. Jayce helped me stand up and we walked a short distance towards the front steps, and sat there. I just sat there for a few minutes, crying it all out. Those pent-up emotions. Add the fact that Jez said that all of it was a lie…and act. How much of an act was everything? Does that also mean that Dylan didn’t really cheat on me? Or was our relationship a lie as well? Was Ryan’s sympathy that much of an act? I went way back to the fair, when he kissed me under the fireworks. Were all those feelings so fake?

Why was I worrying about all of this anyway? I had Jayce now. I, at least, had to find some emotion there, didn’t I? I knew I did, because Jayce…he was the one I had hung on to for the past hundred years. When he died in France, I’d lost all hope. All of it. But Dylan and Ryan and all others came along, and I had a tiny sliver of yearning and drive to live on. Whenever I saw Ryan, I saw Jayce, too. Now, they were two different people. It made things all the worse, but somehow, the tears stopped flowing down my cheeks. Jayce wiped them away.

“Crap,” Lucifer burst out, his fingers pressing over her wrist, removing his bloody wrist from her mouth for a second before putting it back. “Their blood pressure’s down.”

“Hearts aren’t coming back,” Bella said, frantically looking around. Her eyes rested on me for a while. “Jez exhausted herself too much. She gave what’s left of her energy to her.”

“What do we have to do?” Luke asked. “I’ve been held there, in the corner, and I am absolutely sick of just waiting around,”

“Held by what?” Jayce asked, taking the question right out of my mouth. He was right. I didn’t see anything that held either of them, but maybe I was just a glitch. I wasn’t, as it seemed. No, it wasn’t my imagination.

“Jez and her gift,” Paul piped up, kneeling beside Lucifer on Jez’s other side. “ She can control things, and sometimes, it’s…hard…for her to control her gift itself.”

“She’s been holding us in the shadows ever since Schuyler came,” Luke added. “She never wanted us to get hurt,”

“You make it sound like she’s so caring,” Jayce said darkly. Yeah, he had a way of saying everything I was thinking of, even before I managed to get a syllable out.

“Ah, so you’re the one who tortured her,” Luke said in an equally dark tone. The next second, he held Jayce up by the cuff of his shirt, taking a handful and using it to lift him off of the ground. His fangs were bare, and his eyes were now a luminous red. I didn’t know what to do at all, even if it was right beside me. Jayce didn’t say anything. He didn’t even protest, or squirm. He just stared at him, then at me, then back at him. His eyes held that defiant look in his eyes, like the night when…

“No,” I whispered, barely even managing to move a muscle. A wave of nostalgia hit me. Damn it, why did Jayce have to be so stubborn? Why’d he had to run his mouth like that? Why was I so petrified all of a sudden, like a cowardly fool?!

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t rip you apart---slowly---piece by piece,” he said, through his teeth.