Consume

by Shelly Crane

  "Eli!" Enoch boomed. "You can not do this!"

  I felt all the breath leave me.

  Oh, no. I just lost him, didn't I? I couldn't ask him to do that. To be human for me? It was too much. And judging by Eli's cool calm it was too much for him, too. This was it. The sacrifice of love was sometimes too much to pay, as she had said. There was no way Eli would-

  He pulled my face up from its dejected downward gaze. "I would sacrifice anything and everything." He shook his head. "This isn't really even a sacrifice." He looked at her. "I've wanted nothing but to be human since the day I met her."

  I pulled his face back to look at mine with a jerk. He had? Was that true? But why? Humans were weak and required sleep and couldn't do reveries with each other.

  "The only other option," she ventured, "is to have her in a perpetual state of reverie."

  "That's not a life, that's a prison for her."

  "What's she talking about?" I asked.

  He rubbed the bond on my wrist with his thumb. "She's saying that I can take your body somewhere and bring you into a reverie…but never let you out of it." He swallowed. "Your body would be frozen in time, no aging, no getting sicker. We'd live in the reverie forever, doing whatever we wanted, going wherever we wanted to go."

  "Is that what you want?"

  "I don't think it's a life. You'd never see your family. You'd only ever see me for the rest of eternity and we'd be stuck in a dream world forever."

  "That doesn't sound so bad," I said quietly.

  "It doesn't sound so good, either," Eli rebutted.

  "But the other option…you don’t want to be human. You're just saying that because I am."

  The corner of his mouth turned up as he spoke. "To be someone who no longer fights an evil nature, to be someone who can eat and sleep with you, have real live dreams of you, marry you, have kids with you and a white fence and live only one lifetime?" He smiled. "That doesn't sound like a sacrifice, that sounds like paradise."

  "Really?" I squeaked.

  "Really." He kissed me. "I never wanted you to be what I am, but I would give anything to be what you are."

  I fought not to break down. I never thought I'd be loved this way by anyone. He was going to give up everything for me…

  He stroked my cheek with his fingers before looking back to Magenta. "But once again, it's not really a sacrifice. It's what I've wanted, so I don't get how this counts."

  "You becoming human isn't the sacrifice," she said plainly. "What's da most awful thing you can think of when it comes to her?"

  His eyes moved back and forth as he thought. Then his eyes widened and he looked at her, his face etched in horror. "I have to do it. I have to stab her."

  "Yes." She smiled grimly. "The sacrifice for you…is living your worst nightmare."

  He jumped up and prowled the room with heavy boot falls. He ran his hands through his hair and then stopped. He looked at Magenta seriously. "Will she feel the pain? Will the Devourer just fade away, or will it fight?"

  She just looked back at him and that was answer enough. He groaned and went back to prowling. Enoch stood and sighed. "Why does everything have to be so complicated? I'll stab her."

  Any other time, I could have seen the irony and humor of this whole thing, but I knew what Magenta's answer would be.

  "It has to be the one who would despise the act most." She gave him a wry look. "And everyone here knows that is most definitely not you. It's the whole point of a sacrifice."

  "Clara," Eli said ignoring them. "I don't know if…"

  "Come. Sit by me." He came over and I thought he'd sulk next to me, but he gripped my hand, his fingers playing with mine. He rubbed my promise ring with care. I looked back to Magenta. "Tell me what it'll be like?" I asked, but my voice was breathy from the headache I was having.

  She sighed and out of nowhere Cavuto came and perched on the side of the couch. She began, "The blood will fight. It won’t just be paralyzed like when a Devourer dies. It'll be torture as the blood drains from you. Then when you wake up, your human body will have to be tended to for its wounds from the stab."

  "So he stabs me with the Goblin's tooth…then my body rids itself of the bad blood…and then I'm normal again?"

  "If your human wounds can be tended to quickly enough, then yes."

  I swung my gaze to Eli, who watched me warily. "Eli, can you do this?"

  "I want to be human, I do, and I want to help you. I just can't see myself sticking that thing into your chest," he whispered and looked at me with pain in his eyes. "The reason I almost left before was because I was afraid of hurting you. And now to have to literally hurt you… It's my worst fear. It's my kryptonite. Clara…"

  I scrunched my brow and tried to think, but the pounding behind my eyes was persistent. Could I stab Eli if the situation were reversed? I wanted to think that I would. I understood though, it sucked. I also understood that Eli would do it in the end, but he needed to put up a fight with himself about it. So I let him. He and Magenta went back and forth about other options and the lack of.

  I didn't listen. The bird squawked about the Goblin's tooth, but I drowned him out with my own thinking. Enoch sat in silence on my other side. I glanced at him. He glanced at me. We stared at each other. We didn't know if I would live or not. But if I did live through this, he knew Eli would be human and he'd be forced to hate him.

  I was taking his brother away from him and didn't shy away from the look of scorn that I so deserved. Did Eli understand? Did he know fully that he was choosing me over his brother?

  I went to ask him, but screamed instead as a pain shot through my spine and skull so hard that I fell back onto the couch. I clawed at my chest as it ripped open. Surely there was blood everywhere. I lifted my shirt to find the bandage from the burn and nothing else. Eli was frantic to find out what was wrong, but I could hear nothing. Not a sound…

  I reached up to my ear and when it came back it was covered in blue blood. Eli gripped my hand and examined the blood. Enoch was yelling at him and he yelled back. I lay there and waited to be claimed by darkness, but for good this time. We waited too late…it was too late.

  The last thing I saw as I lay on the couch with Eli hovering over me was him reaching his hand out and Magenta giving him what he asked for. Then he raised his arms above him, his mouth open in silent cry, and he plunged it into my chest.

  Twenty One

  I was in hell.

  I was being lifted and could do nothing to stop whoever it was, though my skin was practically boiling from my bones. I begged them to stop, but they couldn't hear me or wouldn't listen.

  The jostling was the most painful thing I'd ever experienced. I felt raw and open and on fire. And then everything went black once more.

  ~ ~ ~

  My eyes opened to night sky above me. I felt like I was drowning. I still couldn’t hear. I wiped my face. There was a wetness all over me and in my nose. I gasped to breath and lifted my hands to see them covered in blood; blue and red.

  Eli pulled my body a little to look at him. He was running through the trees with me in his arms. He was saying something, but I couldn't hear the words. I read his lips for some it. He mouthed, "Hold on, love. Hold on."

  My head leaned back, lolling and giving up its quest to hold itself up. I let go and the darkness took me prisoner. And I welcomed it.

  ~ ~ ~

  All around me was red and blue. It flashed and I woke with a startle. We were in an ambulance. No…we were running passed one. Then the lights were so bright as Eli rushed us through double doors, I threw my arm over my eyes and felt it in my chest when I groaned.

  Then the tug of war started.

  Eli was fighting with someone over me. I opened my eyes to see Eli refusing to relinquish his hold on me so they could take me in the back.

  We were at a hospital. Ah. They were trying to take me to a room and they didn't want him in there with me. I rolled my head to the side to see a sign on the wall, but it was in Spa
nish. We must still be in Arequipa, or near it. My body had a sudden convulsion that had me seizing. Eli laid me on the table and stepped back as they took over, ripping off my shirt and starting IVs. I saw him mouth, "Oh, God, please," while he gripped his head and closed his eyes tightly.

  When I looked back at them, the lights were so bright that everyone had halos around their heads. But I knew they weren’t halos because I wasn't in heaven. These were not angels.

  I was still in hell.

  ~ ~ ~

  The smell of flowers filled my senses. I felt my lips part, cracked and thirsty, as I took a breath. My eyes wouldn't open. It felt like they were stuck…or something. I tried to say something, but my throat was too dry and it came out a wheeze.

  A straw was placed between my lips and I drawled greedily at it, moaning at the coolness and comfort it offered me. When it was taken away, I lifted my hand to touch my eyes. Tape. My eyes were taped shut.

  "Let me, love," Eli said gently and took my hand laying it back to the bed. He peeled the tape off and it hurt, but nothing had ever hurt as much as my chest did when I took a deep breath. I palmed my wound and felt the thick bandages under my fingers. Eli took my hand once more and moved it back to the bed. "Don't," he said softly.

  When my eyes were freed, I opened them. Eli was there in the chair right up against my bed. His eyes had dark circles under them and his skin was pale with worry. He lifted his hand to rub my cheek and I sighed. Then he sighed at my reaction and laid his head to my hand, kissing it over and over.

  "Another hospital, huh?" I asked.

  "Had to," he replied and lifted his head. His eyes were pained.

  "What are all the flowers for?"

  He sighed. "The story Enoch apparently told them was that we were attacked and robbed. They don’t take kindly to their tourists being treated that way I guess. The flowers and cards have been pouring in. They talked about you on the news a little bit, too. About how the police are looking non-stop. I feel kind of bad about that."

  "Huh. Well, at least they believed it." I touched my eyes again. "So I'm back to normal? My eyes are back to green and my blood is good old red?"

  He nodded and gulped as he let his eyes roam my face. "I am…so sorry."

  "No, I'm sorry." His brow bunched. "I didn't get a chance to ask you about Enoch. About choosing me over him. Wait…where is he?"

  "He's gone," Eli said casually. "He left as soon as the…bond broke."

  I started to sit up, but the lancing pain was enough of a reminder that that wasn't a good idea. I groaned, but tried to keep it to a minimum. I knew who'd be feeling a double dose of guilt over this one. He pressed my shoulders down and grimaced. I said, "What do you mean the bond broke?"

  "The Devourer blood is gone. He left as soon as the string left his wrist." His breath stuttered and one tear slid down his face. "You…died, Clara. For one minute, you were dead." His face twisted and he wiped his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "I thought I killed you."

  "So because I died, the bond broke?" I lifted my arm to see my own wrist. The bond was still there, connecting me to Eli. I looked at him in confusion. He cracked his first smile that made my heart leap and bound.

  "You and I are still bound," he said and his voice almost growled in that happy way when he was thoroughly pleased. "But Enoch is free."

  I thought about what he was saying. Why would the bond release Enoch? The bond was a connection from one human to one Devourer…I gasped. Eli wasn't a Devourer anymore…was he? I took in his appearance. He looked terrible. He hadn't slept, that I could tell, and his lips were dry and cracked like mine, like he hadn't drunk anything. He looked so tired…

  "Eli, you're… You… I'm so sorry!" I said and reached out my arm. "How long have I been out?"

  "Only a day," he comforted and kissed my palm. "But why are you sorry?"

  "You've been human for a whole day? And all alone, no one was here to help you?"

  "You were here." His thumb rubbed under my eye, wiping away my errant tear. "You were all I needed."

  "But-"

  "But nothing." He smiled. "It happened here, at the hospital. The blood was coming out of you, but by the time we got here, most of the Devourer blood was gone. And when the last drop left you, I felt it."

  "Felt what?" I said enraptured.

  "Hunger." He laughed. "I was hungry. As the day wore on, I felt tired and sleepy and then exhausted, too. It was wonderful."

  "Did you sleep?"

  "Not a wink. I couldn’t stop looking at you."

  "Did you eat?" I asked.

  He laughed. "No. I didn't want the growling in my stomach to stop. I wanted to feel it; to know I was human and it wasn't a dream. I wanted to wait for you to wake up."

  "Well, I'm awake." I smiled, though my face hurt to do it. "Are you still hungry?"

  "Famished." His grin was beautiful.

  "Eli…" The tears came once more. "You risked everything for me."

  "You gave everything to me," he groaned happily and kissed my forehead. "You saved me again, Clara Belle."

  "You saved me."

  He scoffed, but smiled sadly. "By stabbing you?"

  "By doing what needed to be done." I groaned. "Ah, they called Pastor didn't they?"

  "Uh…no." He looked guilty. "I lied. I told them we were married and here on our honeymoon."

  I smiled. "You did? You persuaded them?"

  "I can't do that anymore, love."

  Oh, yeah. "Right."

  "I just used my natural charm." He kissed my forehead again and stayed close. "It works on the ladies apparently."

  "Hey," I complained softly.

  He laughed soundlessly, his lips curving in a smile against my skin. And then he did something that had me smiling as the tears made their way down to my lips.

  He sang me back to sleep.

  Honey, you should know,

  that I could never go on without you.

  Green eyes

  Honey, you are the sea

  upon which I flow.

  And I came here to talk

  I think you should know.

  Green eyes

  you're the one that I wanted to find.

  And anyone who tried to deny you,

  must be out of their minds.

  Because I came here with a load

  and it feels so much lighter since I met you.

  Honey, you should know

  that I could never go on without you.

  Green Eyes.

  Twenty Two

  We spent the next few days doing just that. We watched bad Spanish soap operas because that was all that was on. We talked about everything that had happened and nothing of what was to come. We drank. We ate. The first thing I did the day that I woke up in the hospital was get Eli to order us both a tray of food. I barely touched mine, I just wanted him to eat. And he did. I made a joke about how he had to start watching himself or he'd get a burger gut now that calories counted.

  The train ride home five days later was torture. The hospital tried to get me to stay longer, but I refused. I had slept most of the time anyway and poor Eli just stayed in my room in that horrible chair. Eli had been speaking to Mrs. Ruth. He wanted to wait for my go ahead, and once he had it he called them. The hospital was a bare minimum kind of place and didn't have phones in the rooms. Or bathrooms, or windows. So, I couldn't speak to her myself as I was confined to my bed. I was glad to go to say the least.

  But Mrs. Ruth had apparently run Eli up the river. He could no longer persuade her that everything was fine and they wanted to drop everything and come and get me. I told him to please beg her not to come. He managed somehow to convince her that by the time they got their emergency passports and got here, it would be time to go home again.

  She wasn't happy. We were in another country for crying out loud. I wondered how long I'd be grounded for this.

  And now, on the train ride home I was anxious. I thought about what my mom would have done with this situat
ion. She would have been worried, but she would have also made a comment about how this stunt would ruin my reputation. I would have rolled my eyes and she would've said she was serious. That my reputation as a lady hinged my future.

  I shook my head. She had been a small town thinker through and through, but I'd gladly listen to a lecture about my reputation right now just to hear her voice.