Logan and I picked up our pace and made our way to the cabin, making sure to open the door as little as possible to keep the light from coming in. Walking in was striking, the way that everything was exactly the same as we left it. The big room with the open kitchen off to one side, the large poster bed in the middle, and our big stone fireplace with the bear skin rug laid out in front of it on the other side. It felt like it had been ages since I'd last been in this little rustic cabin, but also like it hadn't been long at all. The only thing missing was Calvin.
Octavia was standing off to the side of the room, leaning against the bathroom door that was shut.
"Is he ok?" I asked her as I cut across the room.
I tried to push by her to go check on him myself, but she held up her arm, stopping me. "Give some space for a minute." She whispered. "He's very weak already, and that didn't help." She shook her head, looking towards the door.
"The sun wasn't even all the way up yet." I said, turning to lean my back against the bathroom door too and Octavia nodded her head.
"It doesn't have to be direct sunlight to drain us." She told me. "As soon as the sun's light starts to touch the sky, just the slightest touch of it to us is very uncomfortable." She explained. "It isn't like we combust or anything silly like that, but it's more like we have an aversion to the sun. It can't technically kill us, although the pain of it on your body is enough to keep any of us from trying it out, but it zaps the energy right out of us, and since Calvin hasn't eaten..."
"It really did a number on him." I shook my head and swept some of the stray hairs that had fallen from my bun back behind my ears as I looked up at the low ceilings. "How's he going to make his announcement?"
"Speaking of that," Cromley interjected, coming over to us. "Did you get the camera and the cords to wire it up?" He asked Octavia.
She nodded and pointed over to Logan who was sitting on the foot of the big bed, the bag lying beside him. "I grabbed it when I went to get Logan." She told him. "Go ahead and be getting it setup so we can do this as soon as he's ready." She dropped her eyes down to the thick rug and she frowned to herself. "He's only going to get weaker, and I'm not feeling so great right now either."
I reached out to put my hand on her shoulder. "You go sit down." I told her. "I'll wait for him."
She nodded faintly and went to sit beside Logan and he put his arm around her shoulders while she leaned into him, resting her head against his and closing her eyes. I knew it was an odd reaction, but the sight made me smile. As strange as it felt, I really just wanted him to be happy, and I love Octavia, so if she could be the one to do that for him, then I am happy for them both.
I waited for a few minutes before I finally grew impatient and turned towards the bathroom door and knocked lightly. "Cal?" I said softly. "Can I come in?" I heard a rustling behind the door, and then the sound of the little lock on the doorknob turning. I pushed the door open slowly, and peeked around. My heart ached for him.
Calvin was sitting on the floor, his long legs stretched out in front of him and his back pushed up against the counters, his head hung forward. "I'll be ok in a minute." He muttered. "We need to make the announcement before there's any more unrest." He told me as he nodded his head. He looked up at me and I could see the pain on his face. His eyes looked sunken and his complexion that is usually so warm, was flat and pale like a sheet. Even his hair seemed to have less of the perfect Calvin shine to it. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
I dropped down to my knees beside him and brushed his limp hair away from his forehead. "For what?" I asked, looking into his sad eyes.
"That all of this is happening." He replied. "I feel like we are testing fate by continuing to try to be together."
"Don't say things like that." I chided him. "I love you, and I don't want anything else than to be with you." I told him quickly. "Yes, everything is turning to shit right now, but if it weren't for you being at my side, I wouldn't be able to handle this." I admitted. "Can I tell you something?"
He glanced up, a bit of wonder in his smoky blue eyes. "Anything." He whispered.
I took a deep breath and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "Calvin, it may have seemed like I was ok over the last five years, but I wasn't. I had been lying to myself for all of that time, trying so hard to move on from something that I should have known was eternal." I professed to him, and he raised a hand to cup my face gently. "Everything might quite literally be falling apart now, but I have more hope, with a dream of a future for the two of us and our daughter, than I ever did when everything in my life seemed to be going as planned."
"What did I do to deserve you, Rachel?"
I laughed lightly and leaned in to kiss him. "Honestly, I wonder the same thing about you all of the time." I professed. I was about to mention to him that I was ok with being his blood source when he was ready, but he began to stand and I lost the nerve to say anything. It was an awkward thing to mention in a normal conversation anyway.
I helped pull him up and he held the back of my neck and kissed me hard before he took my hand and led me into the main room. "Let's get this over with." He muttered and I squeezed his hand a little. "Please." He tacked on the end, then looked down to smile at me.
"Rachel, come let me get you ready." Octavia said softly, but I held my hand up to her.
"You relax and build your strength back up." I told her. "I can manage."
I went back into the bathroom and freshened up my face and freed my long hair from the band and brushed through it with my fingers. I pinched my cheeks to give myself some color, and then rushed back out.
Logan was digging through his big bag and he pulled out a folded up white shirt and tossed it over to Calvin, then a black suit jacket that the camera was wrapped up inside of. Cromley and Octavia went to work with the camera and getting it hooked up, while Calvin got dressed and I helped him get his hair looking less of a mess before the camera was ready to be turned on us.
"Here," Octavia said, walking up behind us with the sheet off of the bed. "This will keep anyone from trying to figure out where you are." She explained as she held the sheet high over her head so that we'd have a nice neutral backdrop.
I turned to Calvin, a few nerves slipping in. "What do we say?" I asked him. "I mean the whole reason the rebels are even doing any of this is because of you and me and Rose."
Calvin frowned. "I don't know, honestly." He sighed. "But if we don't make the official announcement soon, there will be confusion, fights, and possible spread of the disease, which I cannot allow to happen."
I nodded my head, but I was still feeling pretty lost.
Cromley came over with the wired mics and hooked them up for us, then chewed his lip nervously. "There is an interviewer who wants to conduct the announcement." He said sheepishly. "She's one of the only ones left and she insists that the people want their questions heard."
Calvin looked down at the floor, then turned to look at me. "Ok." He whispered and Cromley took out earpieces for us to wear and he backed up to hold the camera up in front of his face.
"Ready?" He asked and I sighed then nodded with Calvin.
"Hello?" A voice popped into my ear. "Majesties, can you hear me?"
"Yes." Calvin and I both responded.
The woman cleared her throat, then you could hear shouts and screams in the background. "As I am sure you already know, the people of Castrum de Petra are very eager to hear what you have to say about the disaster that we are currently all stuck in." She said icily and I recognized her voice as the snooty red headed news anchor who was always a big one of my criticizers.
"Yes," Calvin said firmly. "I am well aware of the situation here, and I am doing everything I can to do the right thing not only for my people here in the capitol, but also for all of my people worldwide." He said confidently. "It is for that reason that I will be enforcing a full scale lockdown until the situation has ended."
"So we are all to be trapped here until we die?" The woman snapped. "Is that what you're telling us?"
Calvin sighed, his façade weakening ever so slightly, and I reached out to hold his hand.
"As I am sure most have come to realize by now," He said. "The Lamia Mortem was put into our home as a cruel act of rebel forces who have disregard for all of the lives here." Calvin spoke slowly, emphasizing each word. "It was a callous act, that will not go unpunished, and the individuals responsible will die the most painful deaths imaginable. They poisoned our blood supply, and it will take some time to get a new shipment that can be trusted, but I am doing everything in my power to get us all through this."
"Oh, really?" The woman asked cruelly. "I see on this council agenda that I have in front of me that our blood shortage was on task to be discussed at a meeting many days ago." She said. "How is it, Your Highness, that you let these rebels as you called it get away with such a thing? Did you simply not care what the council had to say about it? Did you even attend the meeting to discuss why our blood supply was so low and what reasons there could have been?" She demanded. "The way I see it, and I think many would agree, is that you were too busy with your new queen, to be bothered with the issues of your people. The council saw this coming, yet you didn't. What kind of a ruler are you?" She laughed. "Your father was a rambling fool, but you, Majesty, you are something else altogether. What kind of king leaves his people to suffer? What do you expect us to do here?"
"Enough!" I snapped, making Logan and Cromley both jump, but Calvin stood expressionless and frozen like a statue. "I won't hear any more of this." I said lowly. "All that you're doing is spreading more fear and hate, which is exactly what the people who did this wanted." I shook my head. "We need to be coming together right now, in this, which may just be the biggest and scariest thing we will ever have to endure. How we chose to react to these monsters who put us here, is how we will all be remembered when the histories for this time are written." I was so angry I had to let go of Calvin's hand so that I could run my hands through my hair to calm myself down. "Also, this council that you're so quick to defend, were the first ones to flee while the people fell ill." I pointed out. "Meanwhile, your king...Your very susceptible king, is still here with you, fighting the same battle as you are, feeling the same amount of fear and distrust as you are. It's time to stand up and stop being cowards. Don't let the rebels attempts to drag the king's name through the mud be a success. This man beside me has so much love for his people, and I won't stand by and listen to anyone trying to tear him down."
The woman laughed, and started to say something, but Calvin cut her off.
"I'm sorry you find everything so amusing, Miss Krystal." He said firmly. "Maybe you yourself are one of the rebels, or at least a sympathizer." He shrugged.
"Of course I'm not, Majesty, I-I-."
"I won't hear anything else from you." Calvin snapped. "My message to my people is this." He sighed. "We are all in this." He said. "I am here, fighting beside you, just as I always have, and together we will see the other side of this, and we will watch the people responsible burn. But for now, we must stand our ground. I know that it's scary, but remain in your rooms, stay away from other people so that you don't risk contamination. Guards who have been trained will be responsible for the disposal of the ill, do not touch them yourselves." He warned. "The blood slaves are the only sources we have now, but there aren't nearly enough for everyone, plus there is no guarantee that they are all uninfected themselves." He explained. "The best course of action is going to be to bunker down in your rooms, and let the illness run its course. If everyone remains calm, and holds off on feeding as long as possible, we will be triumphant over these vile creatures."
Cromley raised his brows, and Calvin nodded, letting him know he was done.
Cromley had barely had time to lower the camera before Calvin collapsed on the floor.
Octavia and I both fell down at his sides, checking on him, but he tried to wave us away. "I'm alright." He muttered. "I'm just tired." He whispered, his head falling over to one side.
Cromley helped him from the floor and over to the bed, and he groaned as he stretched out, lying his head back on the pillow. I was at his side, holding his hand. The sight of Calvin so weak, when all I've ever known him as was the strongest person I'd ever know, was physically painful. "Calvin, please, let me help you." I whispered and he fluttered his eyes open.
"I promise, Rachel, I'll be alright." He said shakily.
I turned back to look at Octavia. "What happens if he doesn't eat?" I asked her and she frowned, shaking her head at him.
"The desire to have any blood will become stronger and stronger, making you and Logan being near him an issue." She said softly. "But we will keep him away from you both." She assured us. "After a while, probably not too much longer actually, he will start to shut down. It won't kill him, but he'll certainly feel like he's dying. He'll go into a coma-like state until he feeds and is strong enough to pull out of it."
I felt the tears in my eyes as I imagined it, then turned back to Calvin, shaking his shoulders. "No," I told him. "I won't watch you go through that, Calvin."
He lifted his hand slowly and placed it on my cheek. "I'll be alright, Rachel." He told me again.
"Drink from me, Calvin, then you'll have your strength back." I said quickly, my cheeks flushing slightly since we weren't alone.
His eyes hardened as he looked at me. "No." He said simply and I leaned back out of his grasp.
"What do you mean no?" I asked, my voice coming off slightly offended. "I'm your wife, Calvin. I love you, I need you to be ok, and I'm human, which means I can help you for once." I rambled quickly. "Let me help you."
He shook his head, looking up at the ceiling. "No, Rachel." He said firmly. "I've already told you before, and I still have the same answer." He told me. "I won't drink from you."