Ancient Darkness (On HOLD)

Chapter Thirty One - Immortal Healing

The walk from the front yard to the bedroom on the second floor seemed to take an eternity but it was actually a matter of seconds as Owen and Sean practically flew.

Sang was gently deposited on the thick mattress, her protest over ruining the linens waved away as Sean carefully began to examine the mangled length of her forearm.

"Have you gotten heavier?" North muttered from the door, his voice sarcastic as he easily carried the larger man inside.

Sang bucked against the two Immortals, "Is he going to be ok?"

Silas' dark eyes met her own and she couldn't help but gasp at the ruin of his face, "Oh, Silas. I am so sorry."

Sean grunted as he gently rotated her arm, "He is not the only one that you should be apologising too. You promised me that you would stay inside while we slept."

Her head fell back on the pillow, eyes closing in exhausted pain, "I know. I didn't deliberately disobey you. I needed to find the laundry."

"It's attached to the back porch," Lucian murmured musingly as he and the others led Filos in. "You went out there, presumably to wash your clothes in the basin and..."

"I didn't realise that anything was out there watching until I turned around and saw Filos behind me in the doorway."

"Filos?" North asked quietly, sharing a glance with Silas.

"Yeah," She whispered, the burning ache in her arm now a thundering agony. "My arm hurts."

Her accidental attacker whined, looking around at the Immortals warily before slowly creeping over so that he could rest his snout on her legs.

"It's ok," She murmured, her eyes closing.

"What do you think, Sean?" Owen asked, his gaze dark with worry as he watched Sang slowly creep away from the pain.

"The damage wasn't severe enough that she'll lose the arm but one of the teeth nicked the vein in her wrist and she has lost a significant amount of blood. If you would like for her to be treated by human means, I suggest that we transfer her to the nearest hospital before she bleeds out or contracts an infection."

"Taking her to a human institute would be too difficult," Dakota interjected, his attention on the way the wolf rubbed his face along the length of Sang's leg. As though he were trying to convey or receive comfort from the human.

The list of things which confused him in regards to her just kept getting longer.

"Not to mention that taking her there would mean weeks of recovery and a significant amount of scarring," Gabriel looked at Owen, his eyes demanding that they find a different solution.

"The easiest solution would be for you to heal her, Sean," Victor murmured, his voice making the human's heart stutter even as she slipped further into unconsciousness.

Silas coughed roughly, dragging the room's attention to his weak attempts to rise to his feet.

Owen's eyes snapped, "North."

No other words were needed as the dark haired warrior offered his brother a wrist, the sustenance freely given.

Silas inclined his head in thanks, his fangs causing a sharp sting as they embedded into North's skin. The blood was rich and ancient, the effects immediate as he began to feel the damage slowly healing.

It wasn't a smooth process. Wounds from swords and fangs usually healed in seconds, the skin reknitting but burns were more complicated since they peeled away at the layers of dermis.

It only took a few moments but soon the carpeting in front of him was covered in petrified specks, a sight that no doubt would have caused Sang to faint if she were awake to witness it.

"My thanks, brother," Silas murmured softly after a swipe of his tongue healed to two small holes.

Although it was still a highly unexplainable phenomena, it was believed by many of their kind that the reason for their saliva having the ability to heal was an instinctive protective mechanism. After fangs had been removed from the skin, an advanced collagen was then pushed into the wounds, ensuring that the area was completely unmarked by the time that an Immortal drew their mouth away.

Of course, there has been mistakes in the past, young or deranged Immortals pulling away from their meal before the collagen had time to build up and become useful.

Stories of those instances had caused the vampiric legends amongst the human race although their opinions had greatly shifted from pure horror to a sparkled enigmatic romance because of the outpouring of modern literature.

Silas easily rose to his feet, uncaring that burnt shavings of skin slipped off his clothing, his eyes were on Owen and Sean as they continued to debate the best course of action in regards to the female.

"She seems completely human, Owen," Sean stated, his fingers moving gently across her forehead.

"Will she not be distraught to wake up and find herself completely healed?"

Nathan approached the end of the bed and cautiously dropped a hand onto the top of the wolf's, Filos', head, "Telling her that Sean healed her is not the same as admitting that a part of the healing process means compelling her to ingest Immortal blood."

"So would it not be best to withhold that particular information?" Gabriel cautioned. "She has no idea of our abilities and it would not be a stretch in making her believe that we possess that type of power."

"I can heal the internal damage without assistance and the scars would be minimal but my worry is for her blood loss," He glanced across at Owen. "We would be forced to either secure human blood from a hospital or find and kidnap a suitable donor from the town."

Owen sighed, "We do not have time and I am not comfortable with the idea of leaving the immediate area when the hybrid's intentions are not clear." He ran a finger down the length of Sang's nose, "She will take my blood and we will deal with the consequences later." His eyes flashed at Gabriel, "I would like to keep this from her but she has already proven that she can see through us in our unguarded moments. It will not remain secret for long."

"Will she take it similar to us or should we consider a human blood transfusion?" Dakota asked, his mind trying to locate objects within the sparse home which could possibly be used during such a procedure.

"Oral ingestion of our blood is quite different to a human normally drinking it," Sean explained, carefully pulling the pillow from underneath Sang's head. "As with Silas drinking North's blood, it is atomically designed to be absorbed into every part of the body without compromising any of the protected systems. It will go where it is needed before simply being filtered out."

"Will there be any lasting effects?" Lucian asked. "I've never witnessed or heard of a human taking blood from one of us."

"I have," Owen announced. "There may be some small changes within her but nothing horrific. For a time she may experience heightened senses, stronger bone density and increased muscular strength. It takes at least three large transfers for the changes to become...dangerous."

"What do you mean by that?" North demanded, his worry for the human shocking him.

Owen simply shook his head, "I will explain later. For now, Sean..." He unbuttoned and rolled up his right sleeve, offering the limb to his brother.

Sean shifted Sang's head and neck so that her mouth would remain open. "Once she begins to swallow, I will monitor the healing process." His fingers circled Owen's wrist, lowering it so that the splatter would be minimal before he allowed his thumb nail to lengthen into a claw.

"Try not to cry," He smirked at his oldest friend before stabbing deeply into Owen's wrist and forcing it over the woman's lips.