Alone (Book 2): Lone

by Prunty, Mercedes

  “Yes he arrived early this morning. But what concerns me is he told me you all came on this great journey to find us, that Kaley has some great gift that needs protecting, that she needs to go somewhere to be able to fix, this”, he motioned his arms at us.

  I said nothing I didn’t know what to say and his tone of voice was putting me off opening my mouth.

  “You can’t fix evolution Stacie”, he told me and opened a cabinet full of swords, taking one out he studied it.

  “I don’t understand what you mean?”

  “Albi seemed to think that she needed to go somewhere in another country, the country of the origin of the virus to fix what had happened, to cure us all”.

  “Yes he told me he thought that too”, I told him.

  “And what do you think?”

  I had to play it cool, I had to make him think I was on his side or me and Kaley might find ourselves well and truly dead, “I think it’s lies, I don’t think there is a way to fix this, it’s not like you can turn back time”, I laughed a false full throated one.

  “But you want to leave here?”

  “We are free spirits Christian we don’t like being in one place for long”.

  “Don’t lie to me Stacie, I can feel your lies”, he said stroking the sword, “You do want to fix this, us, evolution”.

  “Maybe I don’t like what ‘I’ have become”.

  “But you are perfect in every way”, he said grabbing my shoulder with his free hand, “You still look human, you are strong and…You cannot die”.

  My face must have shattered with annoyance that Albi had spilled that, but how did Albi know? Did I tell him? All this had only been a few days but I couldn’t remember what I had or hadn’t said.

  “He must have it wrong, everyone can die”.

  He studied me this time and not the sword before smiling, “That’s what I thought to, how silly of him”.

  I breathed slowly I could see in Christians eyes that he did believe him and that I was now more special to him than before.

  “Where is Albi?” I asked.

  His eyes glanced at the blood covered floor and beheading device, “He would have tried to take Kaley and you away from us to try and save this new world. But we need you here, we are the people you were meant to find, we are meant to all pool together to make this new world ours and take it for our own”.

  I stood silently watching him as he moved about the room, my heart pounding so hard I knew he could hear it too. Walking to a curtain he lifted it slightly and I had to stop myself reeling in horror, Albi’s decapitated head lolled to one side as Christian moved it with the tip of his shoe, “Stacie, Albi told me about Kaley’s gift, why did you both keep it from me?”

  “The last people Kaley told tried to hurt her, she wanted us to know it was safe before we told anyone else. She’s been through a lot, she just wanted to make sure, you understand right?” I felt sick, so goddamn sick, I had to get Kaley away from here.

  His eyes flickered over mine, his tongue whipped out and licked his dry lips, “I understand”, then he opened his arms wide, “Welcome to the family my future Queen”.

  ~

  Kaley sat in the room and wept, she knew Albi was gone as Christian had come and revelled in the fact of telling her once Stacie had stepped down the corridor and out of sight. To add salt to the wound she now knew he had told Christian her secrets, not out of evil or malice but because he thought he could trust these people but they had changed since he had last seen them but what had scared Kaley the most was how Christian had got inside Albi’s head, got him to show him and tell him everything, this scared her because he now knew all that Albi had known about her, all what she had accidentally shown him in her dreams, shown him the place where she needed to go.

  He had laughed, “You will never leave little girl”. She had told him to non-politely leave her be needed time to think, to grieve but he now knew what she could do and just like Lucas he would never let her leave, she would have to do what he wanted with her gift.

  ~

  “Just so you know I cannot let you leave my Queen”, Christian spoke to me.

  “I know”, I cringed at how he called me Queen yet his wife was still around somewhere.

  “But the reason is not what you think, I know about Kaley’s gift but the others do not and I wish to keep it that way”.

  “Why?”

  “Simple, if they think she is more powerful than me they might try to make her in charge and I will not have my throne threatened”.

  “So what you going to keep her under lock and key like Dexter?”

  “Only until I know she won’t tell anyone and use her gift on anyone”.

  I wanted to say ‘You mean use it on you’ but I held my tongue, “She won’t I know she won’t”.

  “Maybe so but I need to keep her safe for other reasons”.

  “Like what?”

  “From them”, and he pointed out the small tiny framed window that looked out over the courtyard, some of the others were outside talking, “If they think she is a weak link they may bully her, but I cannot let her show off her ability”.

  “So?”

  “So you cannot leave either not that I would let you, I have great plans. But the others fear you for some reason, I think it’s because I cannot manipulate your mind like I can theirs. You can keep Kaley safe but if you were to leave I could not promise her safety”.

  I suddenly felt very threatened, threatened in a way that wasn’t good for my mind. I raised my hand to my head which felt like caving in, I could feel the creature inside threaten to spill out and tear him to pieces, he was being an arse and he needed putting down before Kaley got hurt…but what would happen if I did, would they all know telepathically that I had killed him? Would they go for Kaley and hurt her as punishment before I could get back to her? I couldn’t risk it so I built up those walls and kept the creature caged inside where it belonged, it didn’t belong out in the open. I didn’t want him to see what I could become as I knew he would definitely never let me go. I knew she had told him but to see it was something else.

  “So I have no choice we have to stay”.

  “Correct, I can’t let a great specimen like you just walk out of here. You would be a great asset to my throne, I needed to find a common ground between us and I think I found it, we both have a heart”, he told me.

  I giggled at that.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You have a heart…of ice maybe?”

  “And why do you say that?” I expected him to rush at me, to shout at me but he just smiled coolly at my comment.

  “Because you killed Albi even though he trusted you”.

  “Trust always has issues, he’s that kind of guy”, Christian smiled “And I have a heart I mean if I didn’t would I really ask you to stay to keep Kaley safe? No I would tell you to leave and go and let these guys do what they wanted to her”.

  But he knew I knew he wouldn’t have let me leave anyway, “And what would they do to her?” I asked him.

  He shrugged, “Whatever took their fancy”.

  “What kind of group are you running here?” I said raising my voice and throwing my hand in a way to show I was annoyed.

  “A half human and half infected one, we are all the same, we are EVOLUTION”, he raised his voice to try and prove he was the stronger species.

  “We are not evolution Christian we are a manmade mistake that happened upon the world because the human race was a sick and demented kind of animal. We didn’t evolve, we got infected and punished as we kept our minds instead of losing them”, I snapped.

  “How can you believe that, you are magnificent, a piece of art. You evolved to outlive the other survivors, we will triumph and go on for years after the humans have died out”, he snapped back.

  “The humans won’t die out, they might lack in numbers for a few hundred years or so but they will come back, fighting”, I said, “We on the other hand will not, once we die we
will be gone, we cannot reproduce as what will grow inside us might kill us, it would be an abomination”, my mind flashed back to the poor women who had been impregnated with infected foetuses by the crazed doctor Demetri.

  “It is not an abomination, it is beautiful”, he replied bluntly.

  “It is? What do you mean it is?” I asked but I had a horrible feeling I already knew his Queen, why she was poorly and why she might die.

  “Come with me Stacie, there is someone I would like you to meet”, he said placing the sword back in the grasp of the cabinet. Grabbing my arm with such force he swung me off my feet, he opened the door and led me back down the stone staircase and out into the freezing cold courtyard, more snow was drizzling down and it chilled me to the bone as it washed over me.

  He led me to another door I hadn’t been through yet which was attached to the main building, the hallways here were darker and narrower. Staffing quarters, maids and servants came to mind, this must have been the part of the main house that they maybe lived and worked in. Taking me through a doorway which led into a small kitchen area with another two doors he took me to the right sided one, he tapped on the door.

  “Yes”, a small voice came from the other side.

  “It’s me”, Christian replied.

  I watched as the door slowly opened to reveal a girl who was not infected, she was black and blue all over from bruises, cuts scored her pretty face, she wore rags which just clung to her small petite frame, her auburn hair reflected in the light. She looked like Katherine but younger.

  “How is she?” he asked the girl who looked me up and down but not in a bitchy way in a fearful way of what a creature like me might do.

  “She’s doing fine, a little off her food and a little clammy but she’s ok”, she replied.

  He then barged past the poor girl knocking her clean off her feet, she fell into a wall scraping her arm. Hissing she raised her hand to the cut which was bleeding. Christian smelt the air and stared at the girl who went pale and rushed away closing a door and locking it behind her.

  “Who is she?” I asked him showing distaste in my voice.

  “Just a servant girl”, he replied turning away and heading to a door which was closed. Taking out a small box from his pocket he opened the door and walked in.

  I followed behind him into the room, this room was very dark and gloomy, I could just make out the bed hiding in the gloom by a small heavily curtained window. A small fire was burning away in a tiny fireplace compared to the ones in the main castle but the light didn’t lift the gloom in fact it added to it in some weird way. As we neared the bed I could make out a shape hiding under the covers, it was a woman and she had a bump, a very large pregnancy bump.

  My blood ran cold and I took an involuntary step backwards towards the door, Christian gripped my arm tighter and pulled me forward with him. I felt sick to my core as I could see she was very near to the end of her pregnancy weeks maybe days left until the thing inside her would break free. I knew there would be no way she could survive, I was shocked she had made it this far due to what I had read in the doctor’s notes back in Brighton. He had to drug the mothers senseless due to the claws digging into the womb and piercing vital organs, yes I knew this woman was half creature as I could sense it but and it was a big but the creature inside her was demonic, it was going to kill her I could see it. I could sense the thing inside her tummy, it was no child it was an alien form hiding inside a human, it’s long elongated back arched showing solid and spikey back bones, where the hands should have been were long claws which were moving around slicing the poor woman to shreds inside. As it moved she groaned in pain. Its face was the only thing I couldn’t make out, it was too deformed for me to see in my senses but to be honest I didn’t want to see it. What scared me was how fast it was growing, I could feel its gestational age wasn’t that old.

  “How far gone is she?” I asked him trying to hold in my dinner from last night.

  “Five months”, he replied smiling and placing his hand on her tummy. The thing moved inside her giving him a small kick, “Oh look he knows daddies here”.

  That was it my stomach couldn’t handle it anymore and I rushed from the room and back into the small kitchen, the door had been locked but with my desperation I broke it, I just reached the small sink when my guts spewed out into the sink, I retched for what felt like ages before nothing but bile came up burning my throat making it sore.

  How could this be happening? How could he do this? How?

  A small hand appeared beside me with a glass of water, taking it I swashed it round my mouth and spat out into the sink before taking small sips and trying to calm myself down.

  Feeling calmer I turned to find the petite auburn haired girl staring at me confused, “You’re not like them are you?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  She lowered her voice so only I could hear, coming right up to my ear, “Most of the half breeds think it’s cute that a creature baby is going to be born but you, your reaction was different, almost human”.

  “That’s because inside I still think I’m human”, I said, “What happened to you”, I went to touch her face on one of the cuts but she pulled away, “Please you can tell me”.

  “I…I…”

  “Stacie what are you doing? She’s awake now and wants to meet you”, Christian said looking appalled that I was talking to the girl. Had he not noticed or cared about my reaction.

  I looked at the girl, her eyes read it all out to me, she had been poorly abused by this group of people due to her humanness. Trying to show her in my eyes I cared and that I would try to help I left the kitchen and headed back to the bedroom.

  The room was lighter now compared to just now as the curtains had been drawn back, the woman was sitting up in bed but she looked half dead. Her skin was translucent, her veins popping out from her fragile and paper thin skin as the thing inside her took all her goodness. Her hair had once been a vibrant red almost auburn just like the girl outside and Katherine, she looked like the two girls, their features similar but she looked to be the same age as Christian.

  “Hey”, Christian said softly to the girl and taking her hand, “This is Stacie the girl I told you about, the girl who is going to save you”.

  “Wait what?” I said feeling confused.

  “Save her, you are the girl that can save her”, he replied.

  “I’m sorry but I still don’t get you, how can I save her?” I said feeling shocked.

  “Because you heal rapidly, you can’t die, you didn’t need those stitches on that wound on your arm, you have healed stupidly fast. I need you to heal her”, he replied.

  “I can’t heal people”, I told him.

  “You don’t have to but you can donate your blood so we can transfuse it into her and save her”, he smiled giving the poor woman false hope but I could see in her eyes that she needed this hope, she needed the hope to be saved to get her to live on and carry this baby.

  “I’m sorry but I’m not donating nothing”, I said, I felt guilty as I watched her eyes roll back with the lost hope that had kept her going.

  “Oh I don’t need your permission to do so Stacie”, he threatened, “I will just take it if necessary”.

  I flung out my claws and pointed them at him but he just laughed, “Oh come on Stacie you think I would fight you in the presence of my wife!”

  “This is your wife? Yet you told me you wanted me to be the future Queen”.

  He laughed, “My wife knows I had a backup plan in case she didn’t make it but now I know you can’t die you can save her instead”.

  I shook my head.

  “So strong willed Stacie but remember I will break you”.

  “Who is the other girl?” I asked referring to the auburn haired girl changing the subject.

  “She is of no importance”, he said turning back to his wife whose eyes were shining with the tears of a pained and tortured soul.

  “WHO IS SHE!” I dema
nded slashing a nearby chair in half making the poor woman cry out in fear.

  I didn’t even see him move but he was upon me in seconds, his arms strong and powerful pinning me up against the wall so I couldn’t move a muscle. He leant in to me and whispered into my ear, “Don’t get all stroppy with me girl, I can break you in half in a heartbeat and those claws of yours will do nothing to help you. Now you will do what I want you to do or I will make sure you and your little friend are dog meat to my people”.

  I nodded although I didn’t want to admit defeat but I wanted to keep Kaley safe and yes I wanted to keep my own ass safe.

  “Now are you going to donate your blood for me?” he asked again his arms still holding mine tightly to the wall, he sent a powerful surge of his muscular power into my wrist and I let out a gasp as I felt the bone in my wrist threaten to break and snap in two, I knew it wouldn’t kill me but it would hurt like hell and I didn’t need that kind of setback, I needed to be on top form if I was going to find a way to get us out of her safe and well.

  Nodding he hissed at me, “Say it!”

  Nodding again I said, “Yes”.

  He loosened his grip, “Glad we could come to an agreement”.

  “Why won’t you tell me who the girl is?” I asked feeling his grip tighten again, “Look I mean no harm and I have agreed right, in return you can tell me who the girl is”.

  “Why so interested in the servant girl?” he asked me hissing into my ear so his wife couldn’t hear him.

  “Because she looks just like your wife and Katherine”, I replied, “I just wondered if there was any connection to them”.

  “They are all sisters”, he whispered, “But my wife doesn’t like to talk about it seen as Lara abandoned her in her time of need and betrayed her”.

  “Betrayed her how?” I asked.

  “Because she wanted to stay human!”

  I felt confused, “Why is that so bad?”

  “Because we need to evolve to survive and she is holding us back”.

  “So what you’re punishing her for staying that way?” I asked.

  He nodded brushing his face close to mine, I suddenly felt very aware of how close he really was to me. Yes he had a wife and she was in the room but flashing a quick glance I could see she was so tired she had closed her eyes and wasn’t looking in our direction. “We punish her for holding the group back, we don’t like the humans and we don’t normally let the humans live but as she is my wife’s sister I allow her to live on the condition she comes to our every beck and call. She looks after my wife every minute of the day but when she is not needed here when I am here she must please the desires of the others”.