Chapter 7

 

Kyle lay on the floor in the darkness of Jade's room, listening to her soft breathing. His mind swam with crazy and weird thoughts, thoughts he couldn't comprehend. No one had ever stood up for him before, they were usually standing up AGAINST him.

He turned over on his side, resting the side of his head in his palm. Soft white-blonde locks fell over his face and in his eyes, but he paid it no mind. He wasn't looking at anything, he was trying to think, and it worked if he stared into space.

‘I must do all I can to help,’ he thought. ‘But I mustn't get attached, or parting will hurt more than hell itself. And now I'm a runaway, a traitor. My master is sure to come for me... maybe I can't get attached, but I do have to make sure that Jade stays alive, even if it means me dying. Her life is more valuable than my own, anyways.’ He ran the tip of his tongue over his canines and felt them sharpen. ‘However...’ A dull pain started to well up in his lungs. ‘I haven't fed in a while... and this child's body can't handle that well at all...’

Then the pain hit. It caused him to gasp aloud and his tiny child's hands clutched at his chest, over his heart. He wasn't getting enough fresh blood in his heart, and if he didn't feed soon, he would die. There was Jade, but... no, no, he couldn't do it, he couldn't bring himself to bite her, not even for a small sip of life. No...

A small moan escaped his lips and he curled his body into a ball, panting heavily. Perspiration broke out on his small forehead and the pain was increasing. Oh, God, he needed blood, he needed it bad and if he didn't get it...

He managed to right himself into a kneeling position, but the pain just wouldn't go away. His pale blonde hair fell over his eyes, somehow managing to shadow his whole face. And the pain worsened, starting to spread like wildfire, but it was really a disease, a vampire disease and only blood could cure it, the blood of a living being... it just hurt so much, he had to get blood... now. It just grew and grew and grew and grew...

He finally gave a small cry as the pain got even worse. He was dying.

 

Jade awoke to the cry, the cry of a child. Instantly realizing it was in her room, she rolled off her bed, forgetting she was clothed only in her underwear and a t-shirt that didn't go much past her hips. Silvery moonlight reflected off white-blonde hair on the floor. "Kyle?" she whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Stay back," he gasped. She ignored the warning and knelt in front of him, putting a hand to his forehead. She immediately pulled back, not because she felt intense warmth, but instead the feeling of ice, ice decorated with slightly warmer drops of water. "Oh, God," she whispered, realizing that he was dying, and she knew exactly why. She'd encountered a vampire or two before; she knew he needed blood, and badly.

No one else was there except her. There was no other choice. Joshua wouldn't do it, she knew he resented Kyle already. She was still upset at Francesca, and she knew Francesca wouldn't do it because Jade cared for the child and Francesca got jealous very easily, even though Jade didn't ever remember telling Francesca she loved her.

Timmy was a definite no. Who knows what kind of lies he'd tell the boy just to get what he wanted. This time Jade just could not trust Timmy, no matter how much she loved him. Gabriel was out of the question. He was already confused and hurt and lost, still plagued with severe amnesia.

She was Kyle's only hope for life.

"Come on," she coaxed, reaching out for him. He slapped her hand away, but weakly. He couldn't fight her off for long, and as much as it made her feel guilty, she had to use that to her advantage. She wouldn't let him die.

Jade grasped his arm, pulling him to her. He struggled, but without the blood he needed, struggling would only make it worse. "Don't make it worse, Kyle," she pleaded, lifting her arm up near his face. "Come on, it's all right. I'm giving you permission." He tried to shake his head, but her hand shook his shoulder. "Kyle, do it," she ordered, not moving her arm.

The life flowing beneath him was almost too hard to hold back from, but the child was doing his best. But he was weakening, not only in strength but in willpower. "Come on," Jade whispered. "It's all right."

His lips parted and she felt something slide over her skin. She was confused until she felt warmth and wetness on the middle of her forearm. He was completely still except for his tongue, which was lapping up every drop he would get. Jade was starting to feel light-headed when he pulled back. Tears hung on his long eyelashes. "Why did you make me do that?" he whispered. "I... I'm so afraid... I'll kill again... blood lust..."

Jade didn't know what to do, so she reached for him. When he didn't respond, she pulled him to her, resting her chin on his head. Kyle's eyes clenched shut, the teardrops falling down his face. "I can't kill... again... just can't... kill again... Jade... how can I... fight... if I can't... kill... oh, God, I don't want this..."

"Shh," she soothed. "It's all right. See? I'm fine." He just whimpered and hung his head. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Kyle," she promised.

He shook his head. ‘No, that's wrong... I'm supposed to protect you, Jade...’

 

Nicholas stared at his papers, trying to absorb all the information he could. There were typed documents and observations, newspaper clippings, name of the tapes with the action caught on them... just about everything he needed.

                                    HEAD STOKAR KILLED: NO EXPLANATION

                          The lead of the Stokars, the community’s protectors, was killed

                        brutally June 13. No one can explain how, but fellow Stokars claim

                        it was a little girl with an extraordinary power. Research was done

                        on the little girl, whom shall remain nameless at this point, and it is

believed she holds the power of Nature inside of her. Due to other

                        experiments, this belief isn’t totally impossible.

  The only child of the head Stokar, whose last name was, surprisingly,

never revealed, claims, “That person you claim as the little girl is

my best friend!” He was later heard to have testified, “I never knew the girl.”

            Nicholas shook his head, observing the article again. June 13, “extraordinary power”, “a little girl” and “the power of Nature” were all highlighted. He flipped over to the next page to find a doctor’s report for the parents.

Jade seems to be making exceptional progress. She is healing well

                        and the stitches are mending. Although, when we x-rayed her

abdomen, we found a strange glowing light. If you know of any

reasons that could be the cause of this, please contact me.

Dr. Larsen

            Nicholas frowned slightly. It was slowly making connections. The power of Nature… the glowing light… he found a faded x-ray paper-clipped to the note, and held it up to the light. Indeed, there was a fuzzy object, but it seemed to him as if it were closer to the heart than the abdomen. ‘Idiotic doctors,’ he thought.

                        Nicholas,

                      We, the scientists, have tested the blood sample you have given us.

                    All indications were correct in pointing to that Jade is the keeper of

                    Nature, and that it might have been passed down through her bloodline,

                    although that last fact has not yet been determined.

                      We have also remodeled the BM197 so that, this time, there will not

                    be as many defects as there were with the first ginea pig, Blaise.

                      No reports from Blaise, by the way. She has been determined killed.

                      The BM198 through 201 will be shipped to you in a matter of weeks.

                    Please be patient with us, this is delicate equipment we’re dealing with.

                      Last order of business. A mysterious figure has been seen roaming

                    the areas of your previous encounters with the Nature girl. She never

                    has appeared solid; she seems to be a transparency. We assume she may

                    have killed Blaise, but this is still undetermined.

                      We think that the Nature girl is somehow connected with this figure.

If so, she appears to be powerful and cold, not evil. We are doing all the

work we can to determine who she is.

   By the way, how is our BM model 189?

          Dr. Khan

          Dr. Kjun

          Dr. Llik

            Nicholas tucked the note away in his pocket for later use. ‘Those BM models better be getting here soon,’ he thought.

            BM stood for Body Modificator.

            Them sending the 198th to the 201st meant that there were now 201 models of the BM. Blaise had been in the BM197. It had transformed her, and it was a deadly weapon.

            They had to get Jade into one of them.