Lifeline (Chills Fanfic)

14 - Autumn

I pull Emma back away from Arlo as she starts to convulse on the floor. Arlo's eyes go from blue-gray to red, and she stops shaking, and then lunges at us. Dylan pushes forward in front of us, and he grabs her by the waist, and as she fights against him, she kicks up at the air, trying to get away from Dylan.

"Dylan, you can't handle her!" Emma shouts. "Let her go, or she will hurt you!"

"I got her," he says, struggling to hold onto her.

She then cuts into his arm, slicing open his pale skin, and draws blood. He swears and drops her, and she falls, whirling around to face him, and she bares her sharpened teeth at him.

"Arlo, Arlo, can you hear me?" I ask her. "Try to fight this!"

Arlo gasps and screams. "Run!" She then jumps forward, running at Dylan. He doesn't even have time to react before she is on him again. He cries out, and my heart twists and begs me to make sure I never, ever have to hear that noise again.

I stand taller than I ever before, and I run to his side, pulling Arlo back away from him. Dylan looks at me, his brown eyes wide, his face shocked and paler than usual.

"Please," Arlo says. "Kill me, so I can't hurt her or him, or you, please, Autumn."

"No," I say. "No."

A sob is torn from Arlo. She pulls back away from me and stumbles backwards. She is shaking and crying hard. I want to help her. I want to help her and Emma, I want to make their tears stop. I hate seeing my friends that way.

"Please ..." I say. "Arlo, I'm not going to kill you!"

Arlo struggles on the ground for a moment before she suddenly collapses, unconscious. Emma runs to her side, and Mikael shakes his head as he and Gabriel step into the area we're in. The two of them sneer at us as they approach, and I clench my fist. 

They did this to her. They blood-starved Arlo until she went nuts and nearly fed off Dylan when she cut open his arm. I don't know what would've happened to him if she'd been able to feed from his wound.

I walk over to stand beside him, and he is between Gabriel and Emma.

"You've all done well, surviving this first encounter with a blood-starved vampire. But what happens when all of you are that way?" Mikael asks.

It is then that I realize his power has something to do with mind control. He can control the actions of others, if he puts their bodies to the extreme. But why? Why would he want to? Why would he need to?

He is the one who is helping her go this mad when this happens. Yes, vampires can go feral and this is not something that is supposed to be able to happen easily. Surely not within a few days, like Arlo's case is.

"You did this to her," I say. "That is your power, like Gabriel's. You have the power to control their minds if you push them to their limits."

Dylan and Emma both look at me.

Gabriel smiles. "You're smarter than you look, Autumn."

Emma stands up and walks over to stand right beside me. She stares at them defiantly. She narrows her eyes, widens her stance, and glares fiercely.

"You can go fuck yourself, Gabriel," she snaps.

He laughs and shakes his head. "Aren't you funny?"

"Gabriel. Go," says Mikael. 

"Excuse me?" Gabriel asks.

"I said go."

Gabriel glowers at him, but walks away. Mikael watches the flames fade into nothing in front of them, and then he turns to the vampires.

"I'm going to break you. Force each of you to go through hell. And then, when you reach your breaking point, I will see what you're truly made of. I will see your powers."

"Is that how you got your power?" I ask.

"Yes, actually. I, too, was brought to my breaking point and beyond it. Then my power was awakened. Then, I was able to do anything and everything I desired. Then and only then was I able to unleash the power of mind control and turn it on my attackers. And now, now I am doing this to help make you stronger."

"You're insane," Dylan says.

Mikael laughs. "They always call great people insane. So thank you." He spreads his arms out. "Wanna see something I can do?"

Dylan suddenly goes rigid. He looks at me and Emma.

"He's trying to control me," he says.

Suddenly, he bends forward like he's bowing, and then he turns on us, his eyes glowing red like Arlo's were in her rampage. Pain contorts Dylan's face as he tries to resist the mind control.

"Let him go now."

Mikael, who is still just standing there, smiles.

"Wanna see something else cool?" Dylan says, and I jump, shocked to hear Mikael's slightly noisy and nasally voice instead of Dylan's deep, quiet voice.

"Okay, uh, talking through Dylan was definitely creepy as hell," says Emma. "Do you have to make it so creepy?"

Dylan then sinks to his knees, looking at us.

"Autumn," he says. His eyes flicker to brown, and I run forward and catch him as he collapses onto his side and in my arms. I hold him as he falls unconscious.

Mikael himself swears and comes back to his own body. He glares at me.

"Your sway over him is amazing," he says. "I wonder what it would be like if the roles were reversed?"