From the Dust

From the Dust - Epilogue

It was dark, and the sounds echoed around me like I was underwater. I felt like I was floating, rising up with each breath, and sinking down as I exhaled. I felt relaxed, calmer than I'd been in a long time.

Where was I? I couldn't remember anything. Slowly, I began to get a hold of my senses, and noticed a soft beeping sound, almost comforting. I sighed softly, the whole world feeling soft. The more I became aware, the more I noticed the strange things around me. I still had my tail, but I was laying down on something, and I was breathing air. Was I dead? Everything was so ... white.

Then I heard voices, soft, gentle voices. I thought I recognized them, but I wasn't sure.

"The doctor said he'd be okay."

"Will he ever be able to move again?"

"Yes, eventually." There was a pause. "Hey, it's okay."

"It's not okay." His voice was terrified and distressed. I couldn't understand why. I felt just fine. "It's all my fault. If I'd only listened to him, if I had believed him in the first place ..."

"It still would've happened. It's okay." This one sounded so comforting, so nice. I liked him.

"How's our little fish?" a female voice asked gently.

"Not good."

"We'll be back in ten minutes. The test results are in downstairs."

Suddenly, the world went light, like someone had flipped a switch. I blinked my eyes open and was hit with a sudden burst of pain. I winced with a gasp and quickly took in my surroundings. I was in a hospital room, empty except for a few machines, the IV, and two people. They looked familiar. One of them was tall and kind of scruffy-looking, with the kindest blue eyes. The other was pale with black hair and fangs. A vampire.

"Braken! Braken, you're alive!" the vampire said in great relief, and suddenly, it all came back. The memories of the past week, my friends, my father - everything slammed into me head on and I jerked backward, blinking.

It took me another moment to recover from that, and then I could clearly see the two in front of me, clearly remember everything. The fight, the agony, the metal that twisted through my stomach and out my back - I quickly looked down, but I was wrapped up in bandage, all across my torso and chest. "I'm alive," I whispered, smiling weakly. "Guys, I'm alive." I started to cry, though I'm not sure why. I guess I just couldn't believe it. Against all odds, I'd actually survived. I'd saved them. I'd done something right.

Leo looked as if he was going to cry, too, both in happiness and regret. "Braken, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I should've listened, I should've ... and I bit you, and that almost ... if I hadn't, you could've fought harder ... can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you," I mumbled, dropping my eyes, "because it's my fault. I told Father about you and I led him right to you."

"You didn't have a choice, did you?" Joel asked.

"As soon as I knew what you two were, I told him, because I thought I'd finally be appreciated. I thought I'd finally prove to him I wasn't useless." I felt a lump rise up in my throat and tried to swallow it. "He told me all supernaturals were horrible things, with no thoughts but to kill. But when I met you guys ... I finally understood that he was wrong."

"Leo, are you sure you don't have a soul?" Joel teased.

Leo furiously rubbed his eyes and glared at the werewolf, who just grinned back at him.

A sudden thought hit me, and I shifted my blurry attention down to my legs - my tail. "Uh, guys ..." I said slowly.

"What?" Joel asked.