Mila's POV:
"Fuck!" I groaned out in pain. It had been a couple of days since Emma left, and the virus had made it's way closer to my heart. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me.
"I'm so sorry, Mila. I hate that you are going through this much pain." Nina had basically become like an older sister to me.
"Don't be sorry, it isn't your fault," I said all of this through clenched teeth. She got on the bed behind me and brought me closer to her. I laid my head on her chest as she held an ice pack on the back of my neck.
I was in so much pain. So much so that every time I felt anything touch my skin, it felt like it was being ripped off, and my bones were breaking. I felt like I was burning from the inside out. I am honestly surprised that everything my body is touching right now isn't catching on fire. I felt a surging pain shoot up my back.
"Fuck." Nina moved out from behind me and got down on her knees in front of the bed, in front of me. I could see the concern etched on her face. I could see my reflection in her eyes, exposing how much pain I was in.
More pain started to shoot through my body, but It continued to radiate. It was taking my breath away. I could barely keep my eyes open. I felt like I was going to pass out. I felt Nina wipe away my tears with the other hand that wasn't holding the ice pack. I looked at her and broke down.
"I can't do this, Nina. I can't do this." My voice was strained, and more tears made their way out of my eyes.
"You can do this, Mila. You can, okay?" I just shook my head no and screamed out in pain again. I started curling into myself.
"Grab my phone and call my mom, please. Tell her to come here now." Without taking the ice pack off of me, Nina reached and grabbed my phone and called me mom. I heard the light conversation as I was drifting in and out of conscientiousness. "Let her know that I need her to make my will and to bring stuff so we can do that." After I said that, the world around me faded till everything went black.
Emma's POV:
The lady had dark raven black hair, and her eyes were this orange-yellow color, and it reminded me a bit of the sun when it was starting to set. She looked to be somewhere around in her mid to late forties. If this is the ancient witch, though, I am sure she is probably as old as the world. Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit on that one, but still. She was a lot older than how she looked.
"Follow me." She simply said this and started walking further in the middle of the clearing. Chloe, Riley, and I all exchanged looks before following behind the older lady. The lady waved her hand, and soon a house was unveiled. It was a beautiful cottage-like home that looked wholesome. I looked like home, if that makes any sense.
"Come on in now." We filed in one by one slowly, cautiously. "Go on, sit down." We again cautiously made our way to the couch, where the three of us sat down together. She took the chair in front of us.
"Like I said before. I have been waiting for all of you." She waved her hand again and what looked to be like cups of tea appeared in front of Chloe and Riley, while a cup of blood appeared in front of me. "Go ahead, drink. It won't harm you, only replenish your energy." We exchanged looks and grabbed the cups off of the table. The blood I was drinking was unlike anything I had ever tasted before. It was delicious. Not as delicious as Mila, but still delicious. I put my cup down first and wiped my mouth on my sleeve.
"So you know why we're here?" The lady simply nodded.
"Yes, I do. The questions you have come with to ask me, I do have answers for." She took a brief pause. "However, these may not be the answers you were hoping for." Chloe took charge now and spoke.
"If you know our questions already, can you please tell us the answer to them then?" The witch perked one of her eyebrows up.
"Ahh, Chloe. It's terrific to see you again." I'm sure we all had just as confused looks on our faces just like Chloe did. "I was there when you were born. Your parents might have referred to me as Aunt Kesem." A look of realization dawned on Chloe's face.
"You're the lady holding me in one of my baby pictures. I didn't know it was you because you can't see your face." Kesem gave a warm smile.
"Yes, that was me. I am a Delvaux, just one of the originals." I cleared my throat.
"I really hate to break up this little family reunion slash epiphany moment, but my wife is currently dying, and we are running out of time. Do you know how to cure the virus?" She looked at me, and even though I had a little bit of a snippy tone, she still gave me a warm smile.
"Yes, there is." My mood was elated.
"Fantastic. What is it?" She looked at me, searching my eyes for something.
"You've had it the whole time." I looked at her like she was crazy.
"If we had it this whole entire time, then millions of people wouldn't have died, people still dying, and My soulmate wouldn't be dying. So what the hell is the cure?" I demanded answers. I was done with these vague answers.
"Emma." Chloe started to scold me, but Kesem raised her hand, and Chloe stopped talking.
"It's okay." She turned her attention back to me. "Your soulmate, Emma. She is the cure." I shook my head no at this.
"No, the doctors said that it only slows the virus from spreading in her, but it will still kill her." She nodded her head.
"They are right. The enzymes in her immune system aren't enough to fully stop the virus. Something is missing." I looked at her waiting for her to tell me what was missing.
"And what's missing?" Thank god Chloe asked because I would most certainly have done it in a bitchy tone if I had.
"Her essence. Her soul. That is the missing piece." Chloe's face showed that she knew something I didn't.
"No!" Chloe gasped out. This had the hairs on my neck standing up.
"What does that mean?" Chloe looked over at me, and she had tears in her eyes. Chloe turned back to the witch.
"There has to be another way!" Chloe was now the one with the tone. "There just has to be! Tell me there is another way, please." I heard Chloe's voice break a little bit.
"I'm sorry, there is no other way. I told you I had the answers to the questions you sought but that they may not be what you were hoping for." Chloe dropped her head into her hands, and I could see her body racking with silent sobs.
"Will, someone tell me what the hell is going on? What do you mean by her essence slash soul is the missing piece? What the fuck does that mean?" I was now standing up and yelling.
"It means that Mila has to give up her essence, her soul, her life, Emma! That is what she is saying." I looked at Chloe then back to the witch.
"If she gives up her soul for the cure, what will happen to her? Will she become a soulless vampire?" The witch shook her head no.
"No, Emma. She'll die." Chloe whispered out. I looked over to Kesem.
"Is that true?" She nodded her head, yes, and I lost it. I felt my vampire side take over completely.
"She is not dying. There has to be another way." I growled this out and started rushing toward Kesem. She put up her hand, and I went flying back onto the couch. I tried to get up, but I couldn't move.
"I'm sorry to both of you, to the ones that love her, but this..." She paused and looked at Chloe and then back to me. "Is the only way to cure the virus. I wish that there was another way, but there isn't." She looked at me and put her hand to my head, and the vampire side of me immediately went away.
"I don't want to lose her." I looked at Kesem's face, which slowly becomes blurry as tears welled up in my eyes. She put her hand on my cheek and wiped a tear that had broken free.
"You are going to lose her either way." Her voice was so soft when she said this. It felt like she was trying to set me down gently, but it didn't work. I was crashing.
"Riley, before I forget. I'm not going to change a thing about you; you are perfect just the way you are. You will find your soulmate soon, and you'll learn what being loved is truly like and learn to love yourself. Now you two" She pointed at Chloe and me. "Are running out of time. I am going to teleport you both straight to the lab. Chloe, I'm going to tell your mom to head there now and to bring everyone else to say goodbye." She was about to snap her fingers.
"Wait!" I yelled out, and she paused.
"You'll be fine, Emma. Even though she won't physically be there, I promise she'll still be close watching over all of you. She'll still be there for every moment. Till we meet again." She snapped her fingers, and I looked around to find myself back in the lab. I looked over to find Chloe right beside me too. I wasn't going to just go to the plexiglass to see Mila; I was going to go straight to her.