She is Fatal to Death (Standalone Story)

Chapter 30 (Quiver. Hide. Run.)

Renata

As the four of them fought to get to Diamond, they received an up close look at just how much the world was falling apart. Luckily, they had access to Nirvi's private jet, but on their way to it, they were surrounded by fire and screaming and blood. There were monstrous undying in different phases of the craze running rampant in the shadows of the night.

Hopefully the impending dawn would take care of some them.

On top of this new, grotesque world unfolding all around them, they needed to be as discreet as possible if they wanted to evade Angel as his endless reach. With each passing moment, Renata was certain he would rise from some dark corner, eyes black and swirling with shadows. She felt not only him, but Death.

It reminded her of when she met the elderly woman from the hospital room '414'. Images flashed by, of her life from the first days to her last. That feeling right before the first breath and the power fluctuating after the last. This overwhleming sensation of nothingness and a stretching, ever-expanding universe. That cold rushed through Renata, stronger than ever. Except, even as she looked around at her alarming surroundings, countless faces whirred past. Other details distract her senses. Wood burns. Tears. Hearty laughter. Sorrowful cries. Blood. Ash. Bone crunches. Gasp. Crash. Choke. Drip, drip, drip. Urine. Quiver. Hide. Run. Fight back. Go. Stay. It'll be over soon. Gone.

"Renata," a quiet voice whispered, breaking her out of her haze.

She looked up, having hyperfocused on the seat in front of her, not really in the present. She looked around to see everyone's eyes on her. She hated that feeling, like she was some kind of freak.

Well, considering she just faced off with Death, it's not like it was some cruel rumor. She was a freak.

She made eye contact with Keone first. She was startled by his hazel green gaze, expecting red. He's human, she reminded herself. Maybe this was all one long dream he invaded as some kind of sick joke? "There's shadows at your back."

"Like in the hospital," Tahoma added, "and it happened again when you clashed with..." The grim reaper. That moment still hadn't registered in her mind. It was more like a memory she wanted to forget ever happened, especially because her confronting Angel was probably the whole reason the world was going to shit. Her processing that she was responsible for all this death. Impossible.

Renata turned around but saw nothing. "Sorry, I can't control it."

"Is death near?" Rocio asked. She hated the fearful look in her eyes.

Renata shook her head and wanted to cry. "It's here. It's everywhere. I feel like I can't breathe." She dropped her face into her hands, feeling the literal weight of the world on her shoulders. "I don't have any answers. I don't know how to stop any of this." She felt a slender arm rest across her shoulders and knew it was her sister.

"None of this is your fault," Rocio told her. "We're going to figure this out together."

Renata sat up and wiped at her face. "I'm fine, I just want to get Diamond."

"We will." Tahoma had moved so he was across from her. He put his hand on her knee. "We'll get to her and protect her."

"What if she turned?" Keone brought up the one thing Renata hoped would be left unsaid. "Or is sick."