Fates Collide

Chapter 8 - Revelation

For I don't know how long, I lay there with a needle sharp branch sticking out of my chest. I have felt pain before but never pain like this. Not even during my last illness when I felt as though I was being skewered over a barbecue. 

I couldn't move. I bled too much. I was thirsty. I was drifting between reality and subconscious.

Meanwhile, my dad was still stuck on top of the trailer. I put him there, hoping it would protect him. Dumb move. Sorry. 

Dr. Seth's minion's move still puzzled me even if it'd been an entire five minutes since he sped away with a promise to finish me off during our next encounter. That guy has serious issues. 

A loud thud followed by shuffling steps disrupts me from my dying thoughts and jolts me back to reality. "Melanie?" Did my dad just jump off of a trailer? He lifts me up, supporting my back with his left arm and my head with his right. "Can you hear me, Mel?" 

I give a little nod as I lie in his arms. Weak, tired, and extremely thirsty. I am no longer skewered by the branch but due to the lost of blood, my wounds are not healing fast enough. "Your mother's going to kill me." With all my effort, I open my eyes. "I have to get you to a hospital."

"No," I say weakly. "Give me your arm, dad." His brows furrow into a straight line. I can't wait any longer, I must rid this excruciating pain. "Please trust me." I grab his left arm and sink my teeth into his wrist.  

As warm blood flows from the wrist to my lips to my throat, all the sounds around me just quiet a soft hum. It is the most beautiful sound I've ever heard. It sounds a little like a symphony. A desert symphony. I close my eyes and allow my dad's elixir fuel me from the inside, to make me brand new, to heal my wounds inflicted by the doctor's goons and the branch, and to make me strong again. 

Some time later,  as my dad's heart beat begins to slow, I let go of his arm. He slumps over on my lap, his face white as a sheet and his eyes closed. I look down at my chest and touch the newly fresh skin. The only reminders that I was impaled on a branch some minutes ago are the large holes in my white top and my ruined jacket. 

Feeling strong from the blood, I stand up, hoisting my dad up with me and like a sack of potatoes, I carry him to the lower bunk in the truck. In the glove box, I search for a band-aid for the wound. 

Outside is still a mess. Two corpses who might wake up any minute and a large puddle of blood by the bush where I got impaled. I take off my jacket and stuff it in the black garbage bag dad's been using for the food he'd consumed. Then I hop off the truck. 

*****

"Mel?" Dad mutters a few hours later. 

While he was out cold, I took care of the bodies and the blood. I had to make sure they stay dead. You do not want to know what I did. You would not believe it if I told you. 

After that, I changed into a clean sweatshirt and had since been waiting for my dad to wake up. "Dad, you're up." I reply softly. 

His eyes automatically fly to my chest where a few hours ago, a branch had pierced my chest. "You're okay. How?" He looks at me, confused and then he flips over his left wrist and sees the band-aid. "You bit me. You drank my blood." He bolts up and rubs his temples, still a little weak by the blood loss. "Explain." 

"Remember Christmas Eve?" He nods. I sigh and dive into lecturing mode, pacing back and forth the narrow area. I told him of how mom signed the doctor's bogus forms, subjecting me to his experiments. I explained about the side effects. My preternatural speed. My hyperactive senses. My strength. I winced at the part about me drinking blood.