Timotheus was right; something was definitely different about me. After talking with him I had closed my eyes for a bit before getting up and rinsing off. I noticed that the bruises on my body were already fading, drastically fast. Yellow splotches now covered my pale skin. And where once bone had protruded from under my skin in an almost disgusting way, now it seemed as though I had gained weight. My joints weren’t as sharp as knives; you couldn’t stick a finger between my ribs without even trying. It was alarming and I had no idea how to handle it.
When Heather came in, she too came to a startled halt. But I think that was because I was standing right there by the door. She looked at me haughtily with her red eyes, “What are you doing?”
“I want to see Jon,” I stated.
“Why?” I noticed that a protective expression flashed across her face.
“Because,” – I said taking a step closer to her – “Please.”
She hesitated before pursing her lips, “Damn it. Fine. Let’s go.”
I followed her out the door, uncomfortably aware of the fact that I was barefoot. We walked down the hall, passing by people who were all dressed similarly to Heather and Timotheus. At the end of the hall was a door that was propped open, with the faint melody of classical music spilling from inside and into the hall. I recognized the music belonging to Zoe Keating. We walked in and I saw a man with who was slightly stumped over, with dark and messy hair. His skin was startlingly pale, almost translucent. Sort of like mine. Yellow flames covered him in this steady, crackling dance across his body.
“Jaye Stone,” Jon turned to look at me, his lips twisting into a smile, “I’m glad you came.”
“I hope I will be just as satisfied,” I replied.
Jon quirked his lips and focused his gaze on Heather, “We’re good here.”
“Are you sure?” Heather asked.
“Yes, everything will be fine,” Jon reassured her. I could tell from the tone in his voice that there was something going on between them. It was uncomfortable being in between them because I felt as though I were in the middle of two tides colliding. Only these tides were of intimacy and emotion, not water.
Heather gave me a silent warning look before leaving, closing the door behind her. I looked over at Jon for instruction on what to do next. He motioned to the table beside him, “Lay here.”
I did what he said, scooting so I was in the middle. Sharp pain radiated from the back of my head as I did so. I winced and propped myself up with my left arm while my right shoved my hair out of the way so it didn’t get caught under me when I laid back down. Jon pulled a chair up next to the table that I was on, watching me with sharp yellow eyes. “So what brings you here Jaye?”
“Both Timotheus and Heather said that when I got ill a few days ago, you said I had holes in my heart and that my organs were failing. Yet now, I feel better than I’ve ever felt before,” I frowned, “I was wondering what you thought now. About my health.”
“When you first got sick, you were throwing up blood and were unable to function. I brought you in this very room and ran tests. I had your blood drawn, x-rays, even had a mammogram done. You seemed as though you were having withdrawal symptoms externally, but internally, it was as though your entire body was shutting down. It looked like acid had been injected straight into your veins and was slowly vaporizing everything,” Jon looked away, rubbing his jaw. “I’ve only seen a few cases like it, but none quite so severe.”
“Do you know what was in my system?” I asked, trying to hide how disturbed I was by what he had just told me.
“When I ran your blood tests, I discovered several things. Which I have yet to tell Timotheus,” he pointed at me, “I was waiting for you first.
“A normal, healthy person has 3.9 trillion red blood cells and 3.5 billion white blood cells. With both, you had exactly half or even less of that number. With red blood cells, it means that you have anemia normally. Anemia can cause fatigue or weakness which I assume, you suffered, correct?”
I nodded.
“With your white blood cells, having such a low number means that you have an immune system disorder, cancer to bone marrow problems. But I have found nothing in my research that would hint at this. Seeing as how your body was dematerializing, I assume that whatever was in your system was attacking your white blood cells leaving your immune system shattered and your body defenseless,” Jon ran his hand through his hair, “Before I can go on with my other results, I need to ask you a question.”
“Go ahead,” I watched him with wary eyes.
“Can you see the yellow flames on my skin?”
My eyes widened and my lips parted, my breath catching in my throat.
Jon chuckled at my expression, “No, you aren’t insane. I’m asking because one, I am curious and two, it means that perhaps I can understand Stone now a bit better.”
“What do you mean by that?” I propped myself up on my elbows, “And why can I see flames? On you, Timotheus, Heather, everyone else here.”
“I’ll answer the former question later,” Jon promised. “The reason why you can see fire on us is simple. You are one of us. And what I mean by us is that Timotheus, Heather, me, and others are a different class of human. We are not demons – despite what some might think of us – but we prefer to be called warlocks. We are the real life mutants from the Marvel comics. Only, if you are one of us, and if you have ever once used your powers, you have fire on your skin and eyes that match that color.”
“Powers?”
“Yes,” Jon grinned, “Have you noticed how when Timotheus touches your head, how you instantly fall asleep?” – holy shit – “That is his unique ability. He has the power of empathy, so he can read your emotions. He can’t read your mind but sometimes emotions are more telling than words. Heather doesn’t have such a hidden power so she doesn’t use hers as much, but it is there. She has the ability to control fire and manipulate it to her will.
“My power is that I am I am resistant – and able to cure – poisons,” Jon leaned back in his chair.
“So the fact that I can see your flames means that I a-am a warlock?” I looked at him incredulously, “That I have powers?”
“Yes, and this is where I continue on with our earlier conversation. When you are a warlock, like us, you have a certain blood cell that I called the E-cell, which is just a fancy way of saying an energy cell. They look like little balls of electricity in your veins. There aren’t many of them, but then again you don’t need a lot. They are the same color as our eyes and our fire. Now, not only did you have very little white and red blood cells but you also had what looked like these strings of green flowing through your bloodstream.
“What I think is that the stuff in your bloodstream attacked not only your white blood cells but also your own E-cells – with the latter being the target. The green strings were almost like the debris of your E-cells,” Jon once again leaned forward to look right into my eyes. It was almost like he was looking into my very soul. “I noticed that black spot on your arm. That isn’t a bruise. It’s dead skin, rotten. It had contaminated the veins, the muscle, and was about to get into the bone when I looked last time. I have to ask; did your father have a special doctor injecting you with a medicine? Did you take pills?”
“Yes,” a cold sweat beaded across my brow.
“What did it look like?” Jon asked, his voice kind.
“The medicine that I was injected with, it was t-this faded green color,” I replied softly, “And the pills were the same color, and round, and small.”
“Did the injection burn?” he asked, motioning me to lie down. When I did, he grabbed my arm and looked at the black mark, which was the size of a quarter again.
“The first time Dr. Hastings injected me, I remember the incredible agony. I thought I was in hell,” I shivered at both the sharp pain that came from Jon’s thumb on the sensitive skin and the memory. “After that, it still hurt but as time went on, it just was this odd burning that slid through my veins. I assumed it was normal.”
“How many times did you get this injection?”
“Once a month.”
“How many pills did you take?”
“Two.”
“How many times a day?”
“Once in the morning and once at night.”
Jon rubbed his jaw, “In all honesty, Jaye, when you got sick, reminded me of someone going through withdrawals. Which would make sense. You got these shots every month, and took a lower dose of the drug orally everyday. This drug attacked and killed literally everything in your system and then was the only thing that held you up. Much like a regular drug, like heroin. Your body got dependent on it, and when you didn’t take it for twenty-four hours, your body was already so damaged internally that it couldn’t take care of you anymore and started to shut down,” Jon explained.
“Okay,” I licked my lips, “If that is true, why am I still alive and in fact, feeling better than before.”
“One of the bonuses of having the E-cell is that there is so much energy in it that it causes our healing process to speed up. Our injuries take less time to heal; our aging process is slower, etc. Once that drug was out of your system, your E-cells regrouped and began to work, reversing all the damage that this drug did,” Jon said.
I looked up at the ceiling, closing my eyes against the prickling burn. I could feel cool tears sliding out of the corner of my eyes, “So my father wasn’t trying to cure a disease that was killing me, he was giving me a drug that was killing me.”
“I’m afraid so,” Jon said quietly, his voice tinged with sorrow.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please share, comment, and vote!