Gone

Chapter 18-Mina

I was so furious, so disoriented at Ross's abrupt change of character, that I stayed where I was for a moment. A moment that held the importance of a lifetime. I inwardly cursed. I had a really bad habit of freezing up in the face of danger. I leaped for Emmett, and attempted to forcefully pull him from Esmeralda's hawk-like clutches.

"Ah ah ah, a deal is a deal. He is mine." She cackles maniacally. My insides crawls at the bloodlust filming over her almost completely black eyes. She pulled a glittering, jewel-encrusted dagger from her robes. She holds it threateningly at Emmett's exposed throat, breaking the skin ever-so-slightly, causing a thin trickle of blood to snake its way down his pale neck. I hold my breath, praying she wouldn't widen the minuscule gash.

"Drop the weapons....... Yes, oh yes, I see the blade the pretty one has hidden, Esmeralda sees all." She points at my concealed sword, and I sullenly drop it with a clatter.

"You.. You....." I began, preparing to send a string of swear words my simple, polite mother would have fainted at. However, my cussing spree is cut short by Ross.

"Mina, don't. Just listen to her." Ross interrupts earnestly, and I see it in his eyes that he believes this will works out. And, for the second time in an hour, I slap him across the face. It feels good to finally unleash my anger and frustration on somebody.

"Just you wait...... Oh how you will wish I would have killed both of you." I fume, glaring maliciously at Esmeralda and Ross. "As for you, Emmett, consider yourself grounded for life."

"Ooh, feisty and pretty. Esmeralda was pretty once. Until the monster came. It hurt Esmeralda. It took Harvey and Jamie. Poor, poor Jamie." She rambles, suddenly changing character. I see a more humane gleam enter her eyes, along with grief and confusion. She pulls up her sleeve, revealing a monstrosity like I have never seen.

She had a bite wound, festering and oozing putrid green pus. You can visibly see the muscle that it punctured, pink tinged scarlet. The tooth marks were scored deep, and dried brown blood encrusted the edges. Scarlet blood still pulsed from the casualty.
My stomach convulsed when she painstakingly wrenched a bloody tooth from her tissue.

I recoiled in horror, and retch and gag, but my stomach is empty. She has tears in her eyes now, and she seems more helpless, more human.

"Will you help Esmeralda? She doesn't want to die a monster. She doesn't want to kill your Jamie. She will give you the information, before the monster takes over her again, if you do what she wants. Not what the beast wants. Will you kill Esmeralda, let her die human?" She begs, and I see the despair and anguish she has hosted inside her. She may have a little life in her yet, and she was determined not to become like the Gone that had murdered Jamie and Harvey, who ever they were. Maybe she has a daughter and a husband.

Ignoring Ross's doubtful look, I decide. "I will kill you, if that is what you wish, especially if it means to get the information and my brother safe." I firmly reply. It is the least I can do for her broken soul.

Her parched lips break into a massive grin, and she sobs. I see the gratitude shimmering behind her crystal tears. She releases Emmett, and quickly begins to talk.

"The BloodWarriors. They are here, and they are hungry. They also killed their last woman." Esmeralda reports. These words chill my bones to the core, but I continue to listen to her.

"And... The monsters..... Esmeralda sees the monsters. They are the hunt, the hunt for the one with raven hair and emerald eyes. Yes, they want you, pretty one. They want you." She visibly trembles. "The monster... It is coming back. Do it now!" She pleads.

Without hesitation, I reach for my rapier and plunge it into her heart. Quick, painless. It scares me that I feel nothing during this, no emotion or feeling. Like I am a cold-blood killer.

She attempts to speak, but blood is rapidly filling her lungs. "Thank...thank yyyoouu..." She gasps, as if she is drowning. "I..I can be with Jamie now. Thank you."

She reaches for my hand, and doesn't let go. I bow my head, and only when the rasping, gurgling sound stops abruptly. Esmeralda, a woman I probably would never have met in a normal life, just asked me to kill her. And the frightening thing is, is that I did.

"We have to bury her. She was human too." Emmett interrupts the thundering silence.

We bury her under a peach mangrove. The bittersweet aroma of overripe fruit wafts around it like a pleasant aura of scent. A whippoorwill sits on a branch, swaying in the breeze, and sings a mournful lament. It feels as if he is grieving also. The sun bathes the grove in a golden glow.

We dig the hole in silence, managing the best we can with the blades of weapons. When we finally finish it, it is almost nightfall, but we don't care. I gently lay Esmeralda in the earthy tomb, and arrange her shawl the best I can. Emmett lies a bundle of goldenrod in her hands. She looks beautiful, peaceful and finally freed from her own accursed body. We bend our heads in remembrance, and then Emmett pipes up once more.

"She looks happy. I am glad she is with Jamie now." He quietly remarks.

We shovel the mound of dirt back on her, and Ross finds a wide, mossy stone. Using the blade of his knife, he etches the words: Esmeralda- May she always be remembered as a beautiful woman, not a monster. For she was no beast, and she was human to the end.

I think she deserves it in writing.