Breaking the Veil

3 ~ The Taste of Death (Part 2)

Ruse's voice pierces the void of coldness, pain, and darkness that I have been swallowed by.

"Lilith! Hey, wake up!" he cries, and I feel a hand touching my face. I try to open my eyes, but it's too bright when I do, so I slam them shut. My head and chest are screaming in pure agony, and even though I try to breathe around this wet, cold feeling in my chest, it is nearly impossible.

"Agent down, agent down!" Ruse exclaims into his walkie-talkie. "Lili's down. We need medics, asap!"

"Medic help is at least a half hour away," says a gravelly voice from the walkie-talkie.

Ruse swears. I hear footsteps running up to us, and Niamh's voice. "Oh, gods. What happened?"

"She was impaled on a stake," says Ruse, his tone frantic. "Medical help won't get here in time."

"Fuck," she says.

"Has Jonas secured the captives?" Ruse asks.

"Yes, but most of the Revenants left. They just vanished when your voice came on the radio," she replies.

"Lilith," Ruse says, his tone softening. I try to open my eyes, I really do. But I'm so cold. I'm hurting so bad.

".... hurts."

I hear Niamh sob. "Ruse," she says, her voice thick with tears.  "Save her."

"Don't you think I want to?!" he demands.

"Don't... want to .... die...." I manage to say, but the world is fading fast. My eyes open, and I blink through the tears as I try to see Niamh and Ruse. "Help..." I cough blood, and that causes more agony to rip through me.

"Ruse, damn it! Help her! If the medics won't get here in time, you know what you have to do. Hemming over this is not going to help her. She will die, Ruse. Help her."

Ruse comes into my line of sight, and I see the sadness and blood on his face. "I'm so sorry, Lili. But ... you can hate me later."

He slashes his hand open. Blood pools in the palm of his hand. And he lowers it down to my mouth. "You gotta drink, my friend."

I feel his warm blood drip onto my lips, and I lick them. The blood isn't a repulsive taste, like I'd thought it'd be. No, it is actually warm and pleasant. Rich.

I reach my shaking and bloodied hands up to his, pulling his hand closer as I latch my lips onto it. I don't know how much blood I drink. But when he pulls his hand back, I feel no different than I did moments before.

"She's too weak to feed on," he says. "But she's not healing. Oh, gods, Lili! Heal!"

"I think ..." Niamh audibly swallows. "I think we have to take the stake out."

Ruse nods, and he looks at me. His amber eyes seem to glow as he rests one hand on my chest. He gently grabs the stake thats protruding from my flesh. The sympathy in those eyes scares me.

Niamh clears her throat. "Wait." She pulls a strip of thick leather from her satchel around her waist, and puts it between my teeth. "Don't want you biting off your tongue."

As soon as she steps back, Ruse rips the stake from my chest.

The scream that leaves me is not human. No, it is something more. Something damn near demonic. Darkness temporarily consumes me.

When I come to, Ruse is lifting me up in his arms. He carries me over to the door, and as he lays me down in the lawn, Niamh steps closer and presses a hand to my forehead.

"She's cold," she says.

"Vampirism is a literal death sentence, Niamh," he says. "She has to die for this to be complete. She will come back as a vamp, like me. But she will need to let go first."

Niamh sighs. "Ah! Fuck!"

"What?" Ruse asks. I open my eyes, and see a deep slash in the side of Niamh's leg, blood trickling from it.

"A Revenant did this," he says gravely.

"Fuck...." Niamh's dark eyes are filled with pain and horror as she sits down beside me on the grass.

"If I don't get this checked, I.... I might become one of them," she says.

"There's only one way to avoid becoming a Revenant after slashed or bitten by one," Ruse murmurs.  "And you aren't going to like it."

"Let me guess, Lilith's not the only one getting fangs," she says dryly.

I turn my head to look at Ruse and Niamh. Her dark skin is flushed with the blood loss and pain. He looks down between her and I.  "Man, this fucking sucks. No pun intended."

Niamh laughs. "Yeah. Tell me about it."

Suddenly, my body turns cold, then numb. Tears fall down my face, and Ruse is immediately there, hands on my throat, checking my pulse. "She's turning."

"I'll see you on the other side, Lilith," says Niamh, a soft, grim smile on her face.

And once more, I feel the world closing in. Then, everything just .... vanishes.