Reclamation

by Erica Stevens

  Yes, there was definitely something wrong with my chest as I rubbed it absently.

  "Is there anything else you would like?" the woman asked.

  I'd forgotten she was even there. "No," I responded in a clipped voice. "Get out."

  She wasn't offended by my tone but simply stepped out of the room and closed the door. I turned my attention back to the ruined world beyond the glass. My world, a world I was supposed to help rule now, a world that I was supposed to help destroy now.

  She will be fine, I told myself. She was tough and she would survive her broken heart until I could see her again.

  I felt wetness on my cheek and lifted my hand to wipe it away. I stared at the clear liquid trembling on my finger in confusion. I'd never seen it before. It was the first and only tear I'd ever shed. I hadn't even known we were capable of such a thing, but there it was, the evidence that I was capable of such a human thing. It didn't make any difference though, I wasn't human.

  ***

  The haunting memories of that time and place drifted away as I gradually began to become aware of my body once more. Every part of me was tender when I moved and I could feel where the needle had repeatedly pierced my flesh but I knew that I would be fine. There was a haze clouding my mind and I recognized it as the enduring effects of whatever drug Bishop had given me.

  It must have been the drug that had triggered the memory of that time and place. A time that I hadn't thought of since I'd finally escaped that hideous encampment. There was nothing about it that I had ever wanted to recall, not the endless crying of broken humans, the repugnant smell of burning flesh, or the blood that I had consumed while trying to pretend that I was still one of them. I hadn't killed anyone; there had been no need to as the blood supply seemed endless, and the cups of it overflowing. Though some of my kind had taken pleasure in torturing and slaughtering the humans, most of them were content to listen and watch their misery unfold without getting their hands dirty.

  I could taste blood on my tongue now, fresh blood, human blood, but it wasn't Bethany's. Her blood was better than the finest wine or sweetest chocolate. Her blood infused me with even more strength and made me feel as if I could conquer the world. No, this blood wasn't hers but it had helped, as I already knew the thread that had been required to knit my skin back together was no longer necessary.

  I could sense Bethany nearby though and the scent of her was enough to drive my thirst to nearly epic levels. The other blood should have been enough to dampen my appetite, but just the thought of her was enough to make me spiral nearly out of control.

  I had stayed away from her and in that hideous place to keep her safe, and if I hadn't felt her intense agony through the bond that we shared when she'd been injured, I might have waited even longer before returning to her. I had been tempted to let her live her life so that I didn't damage her, but after feeling her pain I hadn't been able to stay away. I'd told myself I would be able to control myself around her, but I'd never be able to control myself if I felt our bond irrevocably severed by her death and I hadn't been there to save her.

  Now however, as my eyes cracked open and landed upon her I knew that I couldn't control myself. The golden aura or halo that encircled her, and none of the others, instantly drew my attention. It seemed to pulse with vitality as it called to me, begging me to taste her, to take from her what I had denied myself for years and had only just recently got a brief taste of.

  That brief taste hadn't been enough, I wanted more. I wanted it all and I wasn't sure I could be denied anymore as my veins lit with fire and hunger blazed to life within me.

  Chapter 12

  Bethany,

  "Bethany?"

  I jolted and nearly fell over as my head flew up from my knees. My eyes burned from lack of sleep and my body ached from sitting on the concrete floor. Aiden and Bret stirred and blinked against the light as Jenna subtly moved away from Cade. I leapt to my feet as his face twisted in his sleep. He muttered my name again and his eyelids fluttered open. Aiden rested his hand on my arm as Cade stirred even more but didn't completely awaken.

  The breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding exploded out of me as he remained asleep. I wanted Cade to wake up; I wanted to know that he was going to be ok.

  I swore as I spun away. Jenna gasped loudly; I was turning back around when hands grabbed hold of my arms, lifted me off the ground, and pushed me into the wall. A startled cry died in my throat as Cade's mouth seized hold of mine. His grip was firm, and the wall bit into my back, but I didn't feel the pain as it was quickly buried by the sensation of his tongue sweeping into my mouth.

  The darkness rose up within him to brush against my soul and I gave myself over to it. He supported my weight when my knees buckled. Something inside of me seemed to twist and turn as I felt him latch onto my soul. A slight tug pulled at the very core of my being but instead of fighting against it, I gave myself over to him as I relished in the feel of him within me again.

  He pulled away abruptly and dropped his forehead against mine. His ragged breathing caused his shoulders and chest to heave, his hands eased their grip but he didn't release me. Threading his fingers through my hair, my body instinctively pressed closer to his as his mouth trailed over my cheeks. His breath was warm against the hollow of my throat as he buried his face there.

  So vulnerable, I realized.

  He'd always been so strong, so sure, and fast. However he was clinging to me like a squirrel clung to an acorn. I was his weakness. I was his downfall. I was the one that could push him over the thin precipice of control he maintained, the one that could make such a powerful man unbelievably weak. He never would have been injured if it hadn't been for me, he never would have left our makeshift room, and he never would have gone after those things alone if he hadn't been trying to protect me.

  I knew in that instant that there wasn't anything I wouldn't give to him, even parts of my soul.

  I bent my head to his and tenderly kissed the stitches on his cheek as I savored in his scent and lost myself to the feel of him. He shuddered as he lifted his head. His eyes were filled with black, but they didn't appear unseeing or enraged as they searched my face with reverence.

  "Are you ok?" he demanded in a raspy voice.

  "Yes."

  "I didn't hurt you?"

  "Never."

  I smiled at him, but the tension didn't leave the chiseled planes of his face. His eyes slid closed before they opened to the clear onyx depths I knew and loved so well. "Never say never," he murmured.

  "Cade..."

  He didn't give me a chance to finish as he wrapped his arm around my waist and turned to face the other people crowded into the room. "Thank you."

  Their expressions were wary as their eyes darted between the two of us. Please stay ok with this, I pleaded silently. I didn't know what Cade would do if they turned against him now but I knew that we would have to leave. We couldn't stay here when there was a possibility they would hurt him, or he would hurt them.

  He stood proudly before me but I could sense the fatigue that still held tight to him. I rested my hand on his arm as I pressed closer against him.

  Aiden cleared his throat as some of the astonishment faded from his face. "You're uh... welcome," he stammered.

  "I told them everything Cade. They had to know," I said.

  I held my breath as I waited for his reaction and prepared myself for a fight. "I understand," he assured me as he kissed my forehead. His lips lingered on me before he turned to Bishop. "Can you take the stitches out?"

  Bishop's eyes flew rapidly over Cade's bare and stitched chest before resting on his face. There were enough stitches in him that he could almost pass for Frankenstein's monster. "They should stay in for at least another week," Bishop informed him.

  Cade's midnight hair fell across his forehead as he shook his head. "They can come out now, I'll be fine." Some of the color faded from Bishop's face but he didn't complain as he bent to pull a pair of scissors from his bag.
"There's no need for that," Cade told him when Bishop began to heat the scissors under a flame to sterilize them. Bishop frowned but didn't protest. "Or a sedative."

  I clutched his hand as Bishop placed the syringe back in his bag. Bishop approached with the care someone would take with a wounded dog but his hand was steady as he began to cut the thread away. Cade's muscles flinched and flexed every once in awhile, but he didn't protest as Bishop worked on him and eventually the doctor began to relax. I somehow managed to keep my mouth clamped shut and remain immobile, but no one else hid their amazement as the stitches from his chest, face and abdomen fell away. The wounds weren't completely gone, but the deep gashes had faded to little more than just scratches with a few deeper gouges.

  Bishop finally took a step away from him. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and was briefly tempted to pinch myself as I stared at the place where bone had once been exposed but now it was nothing more than a deep scratch on his cheek. I had known how formidable he was, but this was beyond even my comprehension. The cuts would have been deadly to a human, but within hours they would be gone from him. His eyes were unreadable as they met mine, his fingers stroked over my arm as he leaned closer to me.

  "My God," Bret whispered. "How..."

  "It's only flesh," Cade said when Bret's voice trailed off.

  "It's your flesh," I breathed as I traced one of the lines across his sculpted abs.

  His jaw clenched and unclenched as his hand took hold of mine and he pressed it flat against his chest. I managed to swallow but I didn't have any words. "Did our blood do that for you!?" Jenna blurted, able to voice the question that remained lodged in my throat.

  "It helped," he said.

  "Shit," Bret said from between his clenched teeth.

  "We need to leave here. There will be more of those things coming down; they'll search these tunnels until they've covered every square inch of them. They won't leave any place unchecked. There are probably more already on their way."

  "What are those things?" I asked.

  "Scouts. They've been sent out to search the areas that the others can't get into. If there are too many humans down here, or too high of a threat to their creators, they possess a paralytic agent that will hold a person immobile for twelve hours, sometimes even a full day." I recalled that milky liquid dripping from those tusk-like things and shuddered. "The fact that they haven't reported back has already alerted the others that there is something worthwhile down here. The Seekers will be coming for you, for us, themselves."

  "The Seekers?" Aiden inquired.

  "The larger ones, the ones you've been running from this whole time. We need to get out of here; more Scouts will be coming soon." He shook his head as he ran a hand through his disordered hair. "I was out for too long."

  I hated the self condemning tone of his voice. "That's not your fault," I told him.

  No matter what I said though, he would blame himself if those things came back. "It doesn't matter. We need to go."

  Bret and Jenna looked as if he had just told them that the sun was going to stop shining tomorrow. Bishop picked up his bag while Aiden rubbed his chin and calculated Cade's words. "How much time do we have?" Aiden inquired.

  "At the most a day, at the least an hour."

  My hand flew to my mouth as dread coursed through me. "We need to find Abby and warn the others!"

  "How are we going to explain this to them? How are we going to tell them what is going to happen?" Jenna demanded.

  I closed my eyes as I clenched Cade's hand. "They don't know where we've been for the past four hours. We'll tell them that we went back into the tunnel above to see if there were any more of those things around and that we saw more of them coming," Bishop said flatly.

  "But what if some refuse to leave?" I asked.

  "We can't save everyone Bethany." I would have expected such a callous response from Cade, but not Bishop and his words knocked all further protest from me. "We have to save who we can, and we have to go now."

  "Are you ok around me now?" I asked Cade quietly when the others moved ahead of us in the tunnel. His eyes flickered away from me, his jaw clenched as he gave a brisk nod. "Cade..."

  "I'll be fine Bethany, I promise. Their blood helped to ease some of my thirst."

  "But it hurts you to be around me."

  "It hurts me far more to be away from you. I can control this Bethy; I can do anything for you."

  A lump formed in my throat but before I could shed my tears Cade's nudging hand in my back got me moving toward the exit.

  ***

  I was struggling not to scream as I burst free of the air duct and inhaled heaping gulps of fresh air. I was shaking and my muscles felt like I'd run a marathon from being tensed while crawling through the duct. The sweat on my back had the effect of an ice cube sliding down my spine as the chilly October air hit me. Cade clasped hold of my arms and helped lift me to my feet.

  "It's ok, it's almost over," he whispered in my ear. I couldn't open my eyes to look at him; I could only bite on my bottom lip as I managed a small nod. "Only a few more feet, keep your eyes closed if you want."

  I desperately didn't want to see anything around me again. I could feel the walls, but at least I was out of the air duct. I'd been able to make it through the tunnel systems for the past week so I knew I could do this.

  "I'll be fine," I whispered as I forced my eyes open. I recoiled involuntarily as I caught sight of the walls pressing against me, but somehow managed to gather the last dregs of my courage for the remaining leg of our journey.

  Swallowing heavily, I tilted my head back to look at the manhole cover twenty feet above us. We were almost free, almost back into the real world. I should be thrilled but instead I was terrified. We didn't know what awaited us up there. Not anymore.

  Cade squeezed my arm before he slid his rifle over his back and grasped the metal rungs of the ladder. I wrung my hands before me as I watched him. Cade didn't hesitate as he grabbed hold of the metal cover, lifted it up and kept it low to the ground as he pushed it aside and slipped free of the tunnel.

  "He has no fear," Aiden muttered as he stepped closer to me.

  "None," I agreed in a low whisper. I glanced over my shoulder as Lloyd and Darnell pressed closer to us.

  Cade's face was highlighted by the radiance of the sun as it reappeared above us. "Clear."

  "Let's go," Darnell ordered.

  Aiden nudged me to go first and I happily took hold of the first rung and began to climb. Cade grabbed hold of my hand and helped to pull me from the hole. I blinked rapidly against the influx of light as I attempted to take in the world up above again. Scraps of garbage blew across the road in the breeze that swirled down the street. The sunlight glinting off the fragments of glass littering the streets didn't help to make it easier to see.

  I went to my knees on the asphalt and tried to get back up before anyone could see me, but my vast relief at being free again caused me to go back to my knees. "Bethany?"

  I shook my head as Cade knelt by my side and brushed the hair back from my face. I slipped my hand into his. "I'm ok. It's just so wonderful to be outside again."

  The air, oh the amazing air. I breathed it in gratefully as I savored in its crispness, and the scent of the rotting leaves that littered the tree beds. Even the scent of death seemed to have abated during our time underground and it was wonderful to breathe air that didn't harbor the aroma of mildew, rats, and body odor.

  We were free!

  Cade pressed his palm against my cheek as he turned my head toward him. He was beautiful and tempestuous as he grinned at me before kissing me forcefully. I embraced him as I savored in this one small moment of hope and perfection in a world that had none of those things anymore. He caressed my cheeks as he pulled away from me and I was finally able to fully take in our surroundings.

  We had emerged on the outskirts of the city as row houses spread out before us. They were mixed in with stores, businesses, and a playground that was m
issing a few swings and its slide. The road curved around some homes on a hill before disappearing around a bend. From what I could see, Arlene had been right in her assessment that the survivors had all moved on from here.

  I stepped away from the hole as the others began to file out. Though none of them had been enthusiastic, and some had even cried as they packed their things, no one had chosen to remain below after the emergence of those new, frightening creatures. I didn't know how we were going to move so many people, but we'd have to do it quickly if we were going to make it out of this city alive.

  We had agreed to head north. The winter would be more challenging up there and we would have to find decent shelter soon, but to move south would only bring us into more populated areas. There were far more cities to our south and west than there were to our north. Cade kissed me once more before releasing me and turning to help some of the others emerging like moles from their holes as they blinked at the bright world around them.

  I didn't care where we ended up just as long as I was free of this awful city and every hideous thing that we had witnessed here.

  Chapter 13

  The descending dusk was a deeper twilight in the shadows of the forest that surrounded us and I worried about what those shadows hid. I felt like I was asleep on my feet as we trudged through the woods. Right now all I wanted was to sit and put something in my rumbling stomach. Darnell, Lloyd, Cade and Bret moved ahead of us, keeping lookout for any source of danger. We'd made it out of the city with relative ease but I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It seemed almost too easy, yet Cade didn't appear overly concerned.

  Everyone stopped moving as Darnell held up his hand and Cade became still in only the way that he could, in only the way that his kind could. My hand adjusted its hold on the gun I held by my side as I studied the huddled group surrounding me.