Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve

Genesis

I felt Ethan next to me. I wanted to ask him what was happening next, why my body was suddenly cold—why everything felt numb—but I couldn’t open my eyes.

I was trapped in darkness.

~“So,” a low whispery voice spoke into the darkness, “will you stay or will you go?”~

~“What?” I spoke into the darkness, unable to see anything around me. White smoke suddenly appeared in front of me, and then a hand reached out through the smoke.~

~“Will you come with me? Allow me to ease all your pain? Or will you stay?”~

~The hand looked so welcoming.~

~The closer it came to my body the more I wanted to take it.~

~But I could still feel Ethan, and leaving him… felt so wrong. My body shuddered at the thought.~

~“Choose,” the voice commanded.~

~I didn’t want to choose. I just wanted to go back to my normal existence, where I went to Starbucks in the mornings and did homework in the afternoons.~

~Those days were long gone.~

~“Choose,” it said, louder this time.~

~I swayed toward the hand.~

~But something held me back.~

~The pain flared again—unbearable—as if someone had stabbed me in the heart.~

~“I can take it all away,” the voice soothed. “Just take my hand.”~

~Was I crazy? To choose the pain over this man’s hand? Over what I was sure would be complete and total peace?~

~Ethan meant pain.~

~And as much as I hated him in that instant—I needed him… even if it meant pain.~

~It was his eyes.~

~They reflected what I felt in my own body—in my soul.~

~He was suffering, just like me, only it was a different kind of suffering, one that I’m sure had to do with the vision I’d seen of him and the woman.~

~“Choose!” the voice boomed.~

~I stepped backward and wrapped my hands around my body. “Him. I choose him.”~

~The cloud disappeared, revealing a man who looked a lot like Cassius. I wasn’t sure if he was a Dark One, but the air around him seemed to freeze in place. I shivered.~

~His eyes flashed white.~

~So he was a Dark One.~

~His teeth were shaped like tiny knives.~

~“It won’t be easy,” he spoke softly, “choosing life.”~

~“It shouldn’t be easy…” I found my voice. ”…to choose death.”~

~He smiled, bowed his head, and disappeared.~

The pain in my chest spread to my back. I arched, and then everything stopped. The pain, the heat, my heart slowed.

And I blinked my eyes open.

Ethan hovered over me in a shielding stance, almost like he was protecting me from someone coming into the room and knifing me in my sleep. His eyes were black.

“I…” My voice sounded groggy, foreign to my ears. “I think it’s done.”

His eyes slowly faded to gray and then green. “You chose me.” His voice cracked.

“Well…” I licked my lips, just looking at his mouth at my body, yearning for his touch. “It was either you or the guy with the creepy voice.”

Ethan’s delicious mouth broke out into a smile. “Does that mean you don’t find me creepy?”

I examined the fangs protruding over his plump lips. “You’re a different kind of creepy.”

He leaned back on his knees and pulled me up so I was in a sitting position. “Didn’t think you’d wake up spouting compliments and poetry.” He sighed. “It’s almost complete.”

“Almost?” I croaked. “I have to go through more pain?”

“No…” His eyes flashed. “…just pleasure.”

“Wha—”

His mouth was on my neck before I had a chance to utter any more words. His tongue twisted and pushed against the base of my throat.

I bucked off the bed as a sweet sensation of euphoria washed over me.

When he pulled back, his eyes were so bright green it hurt to stare directly at him. “Now that… was me biting you.”

“Yeah…” I managed to push the word past my stunned lips. “It was.”

He moved off the bed at epic speed and was already at the door when I blinked for a second time. “Stephanie will be in to help you shower and dress.

“We'll discuss your… duties… when you've regained some of your strength.”

“Wait!” I blurted.

He paused at the door, his hands digging into the wood. “Yes?”

“Am I still human?”

He burst out laughing and turned. “Of course… still weak, still fragile, still very much… human.”

“Oh…” I nodded, my studies of vampires were clearly lacking since I'd learned that a bite could turn you or worse, kill you. “…that's good, right?”

“Depends on who you ask, I suppose.” He shrugged and shut the door softly behind him.

I was too tired to focus on what that cryptic sentence may have meant and didn't have time to mull it over like I typically would because Stephanie burst through that same door two minutes later yelling, “You lived!”

Did that mean she'd thought I would die?

“Good for you.” She nodded. “Things are finally looking up!” She clapped her hands and dropped a set of clothes onto the nearby chair.

“Let’s get you showered and looking your best so you can start producing little vampire babies.”

I felt my stomach drop. “Wh-what?”

“It was a joke.” She winked. “Well, the vampire babies part. Now, let’s get you feeling better. I’ll have Alex in here a bit later to stabilize you and—”

“Stabilize me?” I repeated. “What?”

“It’s what he does.” She nodded. “He’s a siren—makes girls feel calm when all they want to do is pull their hair out and scream. I’d do it, but it only works on men… thus the need for him to do it.

“Don’t worry though. It’s like taking a Xanax, only it feels way better.”

“I don’t want to feel drugged,” I mumbled, my body aching in places I didn’t know even existed. “I think right now I just want a shower.”

Stephanie shifted on her feet. “He didn’t hurt you… did he?”

Well, my physical body was intact, but my heart was really confused. Did it hurt? No, but something felt wrong. Like I should be happy, elated even, rather than depressed and rejected.

“No,” I finally answered. “I’m great.”

“Good.” She exhaled. “Now, about that shower.”