THE UNDYING | TWILIGHT

26. Desperate Measures

When Santiago failed to rise, Dahlia ran to the phone and dialed the first number that came to mind.

"Heidi? Heidi, there's something wrong with Santiago!"

As she spoke, her eyes drifted across the room, where Santiago lay motionless. Suddenly, his body started convulsing and his eyes rolled back in his head. A deep, agonizing scream tore from his throat as he clawed violently at the floor with both hands. And from his ears trickled a black liquid that dripped down his face.

"Heidi, hurry! I think he's dying or something!"

She hadn't even hung up the phone before she heard the front door bust open. Stomping on her heels, Heidi stormed into the room with Felix and Demetri at her flanks. As soon as she spotted Santiago, her eyes widened, and she said to her companions, "We need to hurry. He doesn't have much time."

"What's going on?" Dahlia asked.

Instantly, Felix and Demetri appeared beside Santiago and lifted him off the ground. By now, all the veins in Santiago's face had gone black, even those within his eyes.

"What's happening to him?" Dahlia cried, but nobody would answer her.

"Let's go," Heidi said.

"Wait!" Dahlia yelled as she desperately tried to keep up with them. "What's happening? Somebody tell me what's happening!"

One second they were all standing in Dahlia's bedroom, and the next they were gone, just like that. They'd vanished with a single blink of her eyes. So Dahlia did the only thing she could do: she sat down on the couch and waited with her unanswered questions, pondering them over and over until her head ached.

She would sit there until he came back, if he came back at all.

✧ ✧ ✧

Meanwhile, the four guards arrived at their destination: a small botánica nestled deep within the heart of the old market square. The shop was so modest in décor that one could easily walk by and miss it entirely. Mistook it for a house, many did, but the locals knew its true purpose. A historic gem, they considered it, for it was as old as the city itself—even older, according to some. The current owners, a trio of sisters, had recently inherited the establishment from their deceased aunt. Aro and his staff had a long and often contentious history with the sisters, but they could always count on the women's services when times were dire.

And tonight they were dire. 

Heidi disregarded the 'Closed' sign and entered the shop with her colleagues. As the four stepped inside, they were overwhelmed by the pungent aroma of incense and the dim glow of candlelight. Dozens of them lined the shelves, casting great shadows that seemed to move on their own.

"The hour is late," said a woman from behind the heavy black curtain which separated the back room from the shop's retail area. Soon after, the curtain lifted to reveal an olive-skinned woman with long, wavy hair that fell gently to her knees. Lizzel was her name. Her brilliant grey eyes focused on her guests and widened upon seeing the state of Santiago.

"So the rumors are true," she said, and then she turned and beckoned her younger sisters, Patrizia and Elmina. "Bring him into the back," she told Heidi and Felix, but when she saw Demetri, her eyes hardened into steel, and she said, "Not him. He stays out here."

Shrugging indifferently, Demetri stayed behind while his colleagues followed Lizzel into the back room. To pass the time, he lazily fingered through shelf after shelf of product.

"Magical pills, powders, and potions," he mused as he snatched a vial and studied it carefully. "Do they really believe this stuff works?"

"Try it and behold its power with your own eyes," replied the second sister, Patrizia, whose long, black hair was as straight as a sewing needle. Armed with a cardboard box, she entered the room and started restocking the shelves. Upon reaching Demetri, she boldly took the vial from his hand and placed it back on the shelf.

"You are not welcome here," she told him. "This is a house of healing. You bring only death."

"What are you going to do?" Demetri smirked. "Curse me?"

Patrizia smiled. "I can think of no greater curse than the one you have already placed upon yourself, Demetri."

She turned swiftly then, her long hair striking Demetri's face like a whip, and moved on to the next shelf.

Finally, the third sister, Elmina appeared. Her curly, untamed hair bounced freely behind her as she walked. "Sister, Lizzel needs you at once—"

As soon as her grey eyes fell upon Demetri, Elmina's soul became possessed by a great sadness. Clutching her heart, she fell to her knees and began to weep and wail without restraint. Tears fell from her eyes as freely water flows from a fountain and puddled around her.

And then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. The young woman rose to her feet and dabbed her eyes dry with her apron.

"You," Elmina went on, settling her eyes upon Demetri once more. "You have suffered a great loss recently. Someone very dear to you." Fearlessly, she approached him. "I am very sorry for your loss," she earnestly said; then she extended to him a most gentle hand which had comforted many before him.

Snarling, Demetri slapped her hand away before it could make contact. "Stay out of my head!" he growled, and then he tore out of the shop.

In his wake, Elmina placed her throbbing hand to her lips. "It came not from his head, but from his heart. Perhaps I should have kept it to myself. Some are not yet ready to face what grieves them. A great mistake on my part. I will try harder to restrain myself from now on."

"You cannot help it, Sister, and so you should feel no guilt. You speak only the truth."

"Yes," Elmina answered with a deep frown, "but the truth can be painful. I should have more compassion." She let out a heavy sigh. "Santiago is near death. I can feel his spirit fading by the minute. They waited too long to seek our help."

And so the sisters went into the back room, where Santiago lay upon a wooden table that was now stained with black. It poured from his ears, his eyes, and now his mouth as he coughed and heaved. Felix's strong arms kept him pinned to the table, but Santiago thrashed about and fought against him with all his strength.

"Keep him still," ordered Lizzel as she continued to slather his wounds with a thick brown paste.

Each time her brush touched his skin, Santiago would scream and squirm as if his body was being burned with a hot poker. But Lizzel had to continue. She had to treat the infected wounds. Dozens of claw marks covered his bare chest and arms, but they were small and shallow, as if formed by a child's hands.

What was he doing? she couldn't help but wonder.

"The poison is spreading," said Patrizia as she approached the body. Already, the black, pulsing veins had taken over his pale face. He didn't have much time left.

Patrizia had to act quickly.

Closing her eyes, she placed her hands on either side of Santiago's head. Slowly, the veins began to recede from his face and travel up Patrizia's arms, slithering up and up to her neck and finally her face. Black liquid dripped from her ears and trickled to the floor. Her body went rigid and started to shake uncontrollably, but she held on as long as she could.

"Patrizia, let go," commanded Lizzel. "You've taken too much."

"Not yet," uttered Patrizia as black tears fell from her eyes. "Just a little longer."

"Patrizia, let go!"

"Patrizia, stop!" cried Elmina.

With a sudden jerk, Patrizia released Santiago and dropped to her knees. Her sisters immediately went to her aid and helped her to stand. As Patrizia huffed and puffed with exhaustion, the black veins on her face faded and faded until they were no more.

On the table, Santiago lay as still as a corpse, but the wounds on his body were slowly healing, leaving the infected skin black and terribly scarred. 

Patrizia breathed a sigh of relief. "He is lucky," she said, "lucky this attack did not happen during the full moon. The poison hadn't yet reached its full potency, or else he would surely be dead. In all my life, I have seen only two vampires survive an attack during the full moon. They will forever carry the scars, just as he will."