S o n g : S a y Y o u L o v e M e - J e s s i e W a r e
C h a p t e r LVI
V i r i d i a n
I was seeing red as I took in Miguel's vein free body; indicating his mind wasn't corrupted by the virus. As I watched him in disbelief, he began to tremble in amusement and agitation. His thin lips spread up into a smile as a deep chuckle rumbled through him warningly. "You think you can fight me, Your Royal Highness?" He spat out angrily, yet his laugh grew louder and crazier. "Did you forget who taught you all that you know?!" He screamed, jumping up onto an overturned bench that leaned against the wall dangerously as he kept hopping up onto the grooves, making himself higher up from the ground.
"I'm a Pure Blood, Miguel." I growled dangerously, my eyes proving my words as they glowed a rich gold -the colour of the highest of bloodlines. "You've forgotten your place." My eyes followed his quick feet easily as I spoke slowly. "Your fighting skills are nothing compared to a Drăculea --don't be a fool."
The bench teetered with each movement until he made it to the top, looking down at me with amusement in his eyes; an unmissable red flooded around the grey that represented the sickness in his blood. Despite his poisoned-free body, he was clearly exposed to the virus. For some reason it was reacting differently to him -almost as if it were taken to him unlike the others whose fates were cut short the moment they were exposed. And taking into account that the xV's weren't bothering us, it seemed as though they were forbidden to enter by -perhaps- his wishes. But it was too soon to tell and the more time I spent trying to piece together the puzzle in font of me, the longer I put Kenna in danger.
"You think you can beat me because of your pathetic blood, my lord?" He scoffed with a shrill laugh throwing his head back and hands up. "I am unbeatable!" His powerful voice echoed up into the rafters as I placed Kenna on her feet and stood in front of her protectively. "I am the only one strong enough!" Staring back down at Kenna and I, he grinned maliciously, "I am the chosen one this time. I am the one who was blessed with the blood of a god. And I am the one that will make everything you love regret ever even knowing you." He flashed away into the rafters as he sat above the hanging corpses of familiar faces from Kenna's life; his swinging feet kicking the bodies, making them sway back and forth. Kenna's hand clutched my waist as she buried her head into my tensed back, refusing to look up at the gruesome setup while I swore under my breath. "This is for choosing a human over everything I've ever taught you: for choosing a human over my earned respect! And soon, Your Royal f*cking Highness, I'll complete my little collection with that girls mutilated body hanging right in the middle." He sneered; the smile transforming into a hateful piercing glare at the quietly sobbing girl hidden behind me.
I pulled Kenna into my side, kissing her forehead as I quickly thought of a plan to get her out of here safely, dependent on the relationship between Miguel and the xV's.
"Leave the girl alone and fight me." I repeated myself from earlier, my voice in a low growl as I watched him step off of the ledge and fall down to the floor with a loud thud as he landed on both of his feet and one of his hands.
"You must be eager to die, my lord." He smirked, slowly standing up straight and stalking towards us as Kenna's entire body shook and her heart sped up unhealthily.
"Let Kenna go." My teeth clenched together as I forced out the words. "Or it won't be a fair fight. I'll be focused on her, not you." I added, hoping his pride had been maximized with his greed and hatred.
He hissed with a snarl as he looked at Kenna then back up to me. "Fine. But when you die, I'll kill her even slower than I had originally planned. Maybe I'll even torture her for a few years: make her my servant." He grinned evilly as I tried to stay calm, "I'll make her mine before I kill her. She will know nothing but pain." He promised with a snigger as I tried to control my anger threatening to turn me into a beast in front of Kenna.
"I'll kill you before you ever hurt her again." I spoke lowly, walking over to the door and opening it. "Call off your dogs." I spat as the xV's stood at the door like a blockade.
A large part of me hoped my assumption was wrong; that Miguel couldn't control the infected. If this was all of his doing over revenge on what he assumed was a mere human, who knew what else he had waiting for my family. He would destroy the world if it meant our destruction and with an army like this, he could do it in the blink of an eye.
"Let the girl pass!" Miguel barked the order with a ring of authority that sent the xV's moving to the sides like rows of ugly-ass demented soldiers.
We were goddamn doomed.
"No," Kenna spoke up in a whisper, tearing herself from me as she stumbled backwards, away from her freedom.
"Kenna-"
"Shut up!" She screamed as her bloodshot eyes filled with tears and her head shook frantically -her hair whipping around her face from the sharp movements. "I won't leave you. I'm not losing anybody else."
We didn't have time to argue. I didn't have time to persuade her into doing the right thing. With the state Miguel's mind was in, he could have changed his decision to let Kenna go at any moment. I wouldn't let her die for me no matter what it took.
Grabbing her, I threw her over my shoulder within the blink of an eye as I ran to the edge of the town beside a parking lot. She thrashed in my arms as I placed her on her feet.
"Don't do this to me," her fingers clutched at the material on my chest as her eyes peered into mine desperately. "Don't go back and fight him. Don't leave me. I was wrong to run: I need you." Her voice was a whimper as her body shook with anxiety.
"No, Kenna," I said coldly, pulling her hand off of my chest. "You don't. You don't need anybody." My hands cupped her tear streaked face, "God, Kenna, I'm so sorry. I would give everything I have to bring back what you have lost these past months." My eyes drank in her dark green eyes and freckled rosy cheeks and button nose, "But all I can do is leave you alone. It's my fault for everything --can't you see that? It's my selfish choices that have brought you to this point."
It was finally so f*cking clear. It was me. And there was nothing I could ever do to make this up to her. Her world was slaughtered mercilessly because of me. Everything she ever knew was now up in flames. All because of me. Everything she had lost could all lead back to some selfish choice I made for her. If I had just let her go it would have never have come to this.
Her bottom lip trembled as she looked back at me, "You're wrong." She mumbled unconvincingly as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Softly wiping it away with my thumb, I shook my head. "I wish I was. I wish that all I ever brought you was the feeling of peace and safety and being loved, Kenna." My jaw clenched as my eyebrows pinched together painfully, "But it's not. I bring you pain and regret and endless darkness and death." My fingers dropped from her face as I closed my eyes. "I won't do it anymore. I can't. You've lost everything because of me."
A thick silence filled the air as she thought over my words, letting them sink in as I finally laid the truth out flat and confessed to it all. There was no avoiding it or excusing it this time.
"You need to run from here." I spoke, breaking the silence as I opened my eyes. "Find a car and just go. Leave it all behind you and never look back." I once again held her face, gazing into her guarded eyes sternly. "Saffron will find a way to get to you. You won't be alone for long, I promise. She'll bring you back to your people and you'll be okay, okay?"
She numbly nodded, never leaving my eyes as I saw the wheels of her mind turn in thought.
"Can I kiss you?" My voice was quiet and unsure. I just wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. But I had to let her go. This time I wouldn't f*ck it up for her again. I had to let her go or I'd be the death of her.
She once again nodded after a moment as she bit her lip. I lowered my head down until my nose rubbed against hers, skimming down the small slope to her cheek as my lips finally met hers for what seemed like the first time but was actually one of the last. Her soft warm lips parted as one of her hands intertwined in my hair, pulling me closer to her while my tongue savoured the delicious taste of her. My hands held her face as the kiss took every single breath out of my lungs and replaced it with lead that weighed down my chest and slowly crushed my heart. Running my tongue along her bottom lip, I peppered all of my love in the form of kisses onto it before pulling my lips away from hers and resting my head on her forehead.
"I'm scared." She whimpered as her hand balled up against my chest.
"You'll be okay, love." I cooed softly, brushing her smooth cheek with my finger as I kissed her forehead, "Trust me one last time. You'll finally be safe from it all with Saffrons help."
"You don't understand." She shook her head on my chest as she hugged me with one arm. "I don't care about my safety. I'm scared for you." Her voice choked as the tears clogged up her throat.
"Despite what you seem to think, I'm not hopeless. I'm going to be the King of Hell one of these days --give me some credit." I whispered into her ear before pulling her away and kissing her unforgettable lips quickly again. "Promise me you will run and you won't look back." I took hold of her hand and squeezed it.
Her eyes pierced mine with sadness as she finally agreed to leave me with a nod. "Will you do a few things for me in return?"
"Anything, love."
She bit her lip again nervously, "First, stay alive. Don't let that monster take away anymore people I love." Her voice whispered as she reached her hand up and touched my cheek with her fingertips, "Second, keep my little brother safe. He was turned into one of those things, but I know he's in there. So take care of him for me."
Her brother was turned? That would mean the virus was turning humans into xV's without them transitioning into Vampires first. Was that even possible? What kind of virus was this if it was able to mutate the actual 'sickness' that was Vampirism? Transitioning took a night or two and the town was only hit today. If Kenna's brother was already an xV then not only did it mix with Vampirism to instantly make an xV, but it sped the entire Vampirism process up.
It had different transition rules and different results after the transition. Looking at it like that, it couldn't be called a virus. It wasn't just some sickness: it was an entirely new species.
"And lastly," Kenna interrupted my horrifying realization as she looked down as her feet. "Promise me, someday in the future, we'll be together again."
"Don't look back, Kenna." I reminded her, kissing her cheek before touching her ear with my lips, "No matter how much I want to say otherwise, I'm not good for you. You don't see how much I hold you back, but I do now. I keep trying to rescue you before you've even tried saving yourself --and I know you can. Somehow 'saving you' has turned into keeping you by my side no matter the cost and it always ends up hurting you instead. Everything in me tells me to keep you in my arms even if it causes the end of this damn world. And I can't be selfish with you anymore --I won't let myself. So I need to let you go." I finished breathlessly as Kenna desperately clutched at my shoulder, refusing to let me go as she held herself closer to me and shook her head. "I love you -I'm too in love with you to not put you first, Kenna." My eyes squeezed shut as her hand loosened against my skin while she inhaled sharply. "Let me be selfless with you. Please. Let me let you go." I buried my face into the crook of her neck, feeling thoroughly exhausted emotionally. It took everything in me to get the words out. All I wanted was for her to stay. But I needed her to go.
"Viridian, please," her voice trembled in anguish, "Don't say those words. Don't convince me to leave you behind --that you're right."
Every next word threatened to shatter me like glass but I had to make sure she would leave and that all hope of seeing me again was crushed. I wouldn't let her wait around for me. "It's killing me, Kenna. I already can't breathe thinking about what my inevitable selfishness will cost you next. And it will always be on my mind, love --how I'm going to hurt the only one I have ever loved and I can't seem to stop it. I don't want you to lose anything else. Especially not after this. Not after you've lost everything in this lifetime. I don't want to feel like this anymore --so hopeless to keep you from harm because it's me that's hurting you. It's killing me and I've only just started to feel it. I can't do it anymore --looking at you only makes that horrible pain of guilt worse. I'm too weak." My voice was a mere wavering whisper as I kept my head down on her shoulder, unable to look at her.
Her hold once again loosened, breaking my heart as her hand fell down my arm, barely pressing any of its weight on me. "You win." She pushed me away abruptly, spinning around as she cried hopelessly, "I'll never look back. I'll forget you ever existed." Her endless tears were like my kryptonite as I pulled her tiny body back into my arms, feeling her instantly melt into them as she held on desperately; kissing everywhere she could reach on her tip-toes while I hid my own teary face in her neck, burning her irresistible scent into memory before kissing her back with everything left in me.
"Until the day I die and maybe not even then, I'll never stop loving you, Kenna." I promised against her soft lips in a bittersweet goodbye kiss. Not even a second later, I was long gone; leaving Kenna to finally take control of her own life without me around to mess it up. She would be okay --better than okay. Kenna was going to be extraordinary.
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So sad :( I hate goodbyes. Ughsidkzbsk. And he told her he loved her :(
Thanks for reading! I hope I didn't break your heart too much.. :(