It was still midnight when they got out of the passage, the half moon had a beautiful reflection over the vast lake that stood in front of them and softly illuminated the forest. Emma felt like crying in joy when she finally threw herself onto the grass and laid down on her back, she was breathing harshly and her condition only seemed to get worse as she pushed her body around. From the corner of her eye she saw two more people, or rather vampires waiting near the lake. One was a lean guy with long blonde hair, and the other was a girl with her brown hair made into a very short pixie cut. Camille seemed to talk to them for a minute and they looked to be arguing, then the blonde guy took Jean in her arms and Camille started walking towards Emma. Her hips had that same feminine sway as she did before and Emma wondered how she managed to walk on the dirt path with her high heels, let alone sway like that. She stopped next to her and kneeled down to a level closer to Emma.
"We need to move faster and your condition isn't really going to help. The other girl there," she motioned to the pixie cut girl with her thumb, "is going to escort you friend."
Emma looked at her unsure and a part of her got worried that her arm would hurt, but she was too tired to even stand so there didn't seem to be any other option. She nodded,
"Okay, I see."
"Put your hands over your stomach."
Emma did as told and brought her broken arm up with the help of her other hand. Camille softly held her from under her shoulders and knees and picked her up from the ground easier than she expected. Her hold was firm on her body but it didn't hurt too much, her arm still felt like it had a thousand needles jabbed inside but at least she didn't need to walk anymore. Camille stood up and Emma felt the wind hit her face as she ran, the ground looked upside down since she had thrown her head back over her arm and the movement made her feel dizzy. She felt a heavy nausea building up in her stomach and her face felt cold but she managed to barely stay conscious. Not before long her eyes closed and she started giving in to the heavy need of sleep. The world started turning black, but she felt relieved to be finally saved from the horrible feeling on her body for once.
* * *
Fire, it was all she felt as her body fell down to the ground. A fire that grew in her heart and started consuming her inside out. It felt like she was in hell and she wanted to scream but there was no sound coming from her throat, there was a constant ringing in her ears and her eyes couldn't see anything other than darkness. It hurt, it burned and she couldn't do anything, her body felt lost in a giant void.
Then she felt it, a warm liquid that seeped life into her lips. Something so sweet and warm that it started subsiding the pain in her chest. She held onto it and drank as much as she could, it felt like she was being pulled up from the bottom of the sea to the surface. Invisible hands pulled her up, and then there was silence.
Jean opened her eyes, there was a heavy feeling on her body as she blinked a few times and her view started to clear up. She wanted to move but a sharp pain in her chest kept her in place.
"Don't move, you're still healing."
She looked to her side and saw someone waiting next to her. Someone with long blonde hair and familiar brown eyes.
"Dominic?"
The guy tucked a part of his blonde hair behind his ear, she could see his face better now and he didn't look happy.
"You used to call me Dom."
Jean leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes.
"Yeah, that was a long time ago."
She didn't see but she could feel his features scrunch up in anger.
"What the hell were you thinking back at the castle, Jean? Going on a suicide mission to kill yourself?"
He stopped and tried to hold himself back from yelling. Jean just stood there and kept quiet, she didn't have anything to answer.
"You can't just leave us like that, you can't abandon everyone that cared about you."
"Cared about me?"
Jean opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. It was her turn to be angry.
"Where were you the last two centuries, Dom? Off somewhere caring about me?"
Jean wasn't trying to hide the bitter and sarcastic tone in her voice as she spoke. Dominic seemed to be pained by her words and looked down.
"I'm sorry Jean, I really am."
She scoffed but didn't say anything. There was a short silence before Jean sighed.
"I'm tired Dominic, it feels like I'm losing my mind each passing day and constantly getting staked doesn't help much." she stopped for a second before adding, "Where's Camille?"
"So you noticed it was her?"
The silence was enough of an answer for Dominic. He stood up and walked to the door.
"I'll let her know you're awake."
And with that he left, leaving Jean in the dark silence of the room. She stared up at the ceiling and her mind drifted off into thoughts. Her mind flashed back to the second she saw Emma in the room, trapped and broken, she remembered when Eleanor broke her arm and her blood started boiling inside her veins. She shut her eyes close and tried to control her anger, it wouldn't make her situation any better. Then she remembered the vague image of her face after she fell down to the ground, she was holding out her wrist and those were the last seconds Jean remembered before she had passed out.
A soft knock on her door.
She knew who it was before she even entered but she turned her head to look at her. Her white shirt revealed her collarbone and its long and loose arms decorated with white lace had a vintage air to them, long boots reached up to the knees of her black leather pants and a black corset stood tight on her waist. Camille looked like she had come out of a French history book as she stood at the frame of the door. She closed the door behind her and took a few steps forward. Jean looked up at her from the bed,
"You saved my life."
"It's my duty to protect you."
"You swore an oath to my mother, and she is long dead." she smiled, "You had no obligation to save me, yet you still did it."
Camille didn't answer. It was a few long minutes of silence before Jean broke it.
"What about her?"
"She's injured, but alive."
Camille didn't say anything else. Jean felt that she had more to say but she stood silent.
"I know what you're thinking. She's the reason why I'm like this in the first place."
"Yes, you're right." she hesitated before choosing her words, "but I haven't seen you do something like this in a long time Jean, not for anyone. It gives me hope."
"Hope that the beast hasn't devoured me whole yet?"
"That's putting it boldly but yes."
She sat next to her on the bed and took Jean's hands in her own, her caress was as gentle as silk. Jean looked at her and her eyes lingered on the long black eyelashes that fluttered as she looked down. There was a sad smile on her face as she stared down. It was a few seconds of comfortable silence before she finally stood up but Jean caught her wrist. Camille turned to look at her with a slightly surprised expression.
"I know why you saved me. It wasn't some oath that made you do it."
Camilled stood silent but she didn't object.
"But why did you save her?"
"Because it was the righ-"
"Cut the morality crap. Why did you really save her?"
The expression on Camille's face fell and kindness got replaced with bitter pain and jealousy.
"Because I know you'd never forgive me if I didn't."
Jean finally let go of her wrist.
"You can't fool me Camille, none of you can. The last time I saw kindness was when I was a kid. It doesn't exist in our world."
Camille didn't say anything but her expression was far from kind or friendly as she stared down at her.
"I just want what's best for you."
"No," Jean interrupted her "You just want me for yourself."
Tension filled the room to the brim but Jean choosed to ignore it. Camille's eyes were a blue so dark that it felt like they were covering the white of her eye, leaving nothing but a pair of dark void behind. Before saying anything else she took off and left the room, and this time Jean didn't stop her.
* * *
Emma looked at the beautiful vampire in front of her as Danielle tried to reassure her that it was going to be okay. She felt fear build up in the pit of her stomach as she stared at the girl with the short hair whose name they learned was Kat.
"We need to fix your arm before it starts healing over the broken bone."
Emma protectively held her arm and sat in the furthest corner of the bed. She didn't want her to do it, but she also knew it had to be done.
"Look, I have done this before so I know what I'm doing. The later we do it the worse it will be."
Kat sat down next to her on the bed.
"I'm not going to lie, it will hurt like a bitch but it will heal a lot better after that."
"That doesn't really help."
Danielle interrupted and gained a fierce stare from Kat.
"You want to do it in my place?"
She looked away,
"No.."
"I thought so."
Emma was staring at the bed sheets as she tried to build up her courage but it didn't seem to work at the least.
"Will it be fast?"
"As fast as I can be, promise."
Emma looked up at her with fearful eyes then hesitantly turned her side with the broken arm. With a swiftness she didn't expect Kat held her arm and pushed the broken bone in place with a sickening crack. World went white as immense pain made Emma double over, then she felt something warm on her lips and noticed that Kat was pressing her already cut wrist to her lips.
"Drink up, it will make your arm heal faster."
Danielle held her friend to keep her from falling as she looked at Kat skeptically.
"Why are you helping us?"
"Would you rather me not?"
Her annoyed response surprised Danielle. She didn't say anything as she helped Emma sit up and not faint as she drank. Her writhings of pain seemed to calm down as she did so and Danielle breathed in relief. It was annoying to be powerless to help your best friend. After a few minutes Emma semeed to lose consciousness and Danielle held her before she fell, laying her down on the bed.
"Emma?"
Danielle slowly laid her down on the bed and looked slightly worried.
"Don't worry, she's fine. She probably fainted from shock."
Danielle was about to make a sarcastic remark but she kept her tongue. At least Emma didn't seem to be in as much pain.
"Why did you give her your blood?"
Kat casually wiped at her wrist and cleaned the blood with a napkin. The bleeding seemed to already have stopped.
"It helps heal your body up, as long as you don't overdose on it your sickness and bruises will heal faster."
"You can overdose on vampire blood?"
"Only humans can. Their body can't handle the extreme regeneration and have organ failures if they drink too much."
She threw the napkin away on a nearby desk and stood up.
"Now excuse me if you don't have any more questions."
"Wait."
Kat stopped in her place and looked at Danielle, waiting for her to talk.
"What will you do with us?"
Kat shrugged,
"I don't know, we can't do or say anything until Jean wakes up."
Danielle remembered the name, but she was still surprised as to why everyone was so over the girl. What was special about her?
"Now, if you please."
Kat walked away and Danielle watched her disappear after the door. She just sat down on the bed and stared at her friend, a sad look in her eyes. She tried not to show it around others but now that Emma was asleep she felt fear and worry surface in her. She had no idea how long they'd survive in this new world that they had fallen in, or if they'd ever see the sunlight again.