Evelin was putting pressure on the profusely bleeding wound on Emma's stomach as tears trailed down from her eyes. “No! Emma, you can't go like this! Don’t leave me alone… I-I can’t do this without you.”
Not far Isabelle was held down, without putting up any resistance still frozen in place by the indifference of Troy. The sudden betrayal seemed to have shocked her greatly.
Similarly frozen was Jim who stood by the side, watching over Emma’s bleeding body. He got flashbacks from Lukas death, as everything repeated itself before his eyes. His relationship with Emma was closer than he wanted to admit.
Of all the people on his team, the only other person than Jake who cared for him was Emma. She was the one that nursed and helped him after barely surviving the fight with the raven. She was the one that encouraged him to not throw his life away and cared for the wounded, helping them to recover.
She saved countless people, risking her own life in the process. She put the well-being of others above her own which she proved again and again. Even in a situation like this, she thought of others instead of herself. “Evelin everything is fine. I’m sure you will do fine without me. I’m just glad that I was the only one that got injure-”
Not even able to finish her sentence she coughed a mouthful of blood. This finally broke Jim’s frozen state as he knelt beside Emma saying, “Don’t say things like that. You will survive this, I promise you that. I still have to repay your kindness. You can't go like this, not again, not like Lukas.”
Taking a deep breath to calm her raging heart Evelin said, “Jim is right, we will get you to the church and all healed up. Everything will be fine.”
Suddenly a hysterical laugh broke out from behind them. “Hahaha,” Looking over his shoulder Jim saw their captive, the culprit that caused Emma's wounds to begin with. Seeing her a deep fury built in Jim and he couldn’t have controlled himself if Max didn't punch her in the gut to silence her.
But instead of groaning in pain the woman just laughed louder, wheezing through her teeth. “You can’t save that girl, hehe. She will bleed out in a few minutes unless you…”
Before she could finish her sentence Max pushed the arrow that was embedded in Isabelle's shoulder deeper into her flesh which finally stopped her laughter as she screamed out in pain.
Coming beside Emma was Clay with a serious expression on his face. “She will not die under my watch,” saying this he pushed Jim and Evelin aside putting his hand above the wound on her stomach.
Confused Evelin asked, “What the hell are you doing?” Instead of turning his head, he closed his eyes to concentrate better. “I will stop the bleeding.”
Evelin wanted to question further but Jim stopped her. He understood what Clay wanted to do. Not long ago he questioned him how he and Chris handled their wounds out there and it seemed like he could witness it firsthand now.
At first, they didn’t see any changes as the sweat dripped from Clay’s forehead but after a while a layer formed over the gruesome stab wound, stopping any further bleeding. Seeing this Evelin, Charlotte, Jim, and the others became exhilarated.
With the bleeding stopped Emma could survive. After he was done Clay fell weakly on the ground, exhaustion written on his face. “I stopped the bleeding for now but I have no idea how severe the wound is and if any of the organs got damaged. We have to quickly return.”
Gravely nodding his head Jim bowed down, picking Emma carefully up. “Then let's not waste any time.” Understanding the urgency of the situation the group quickly made their way back to the church with no obstruction.
At the moment barely any beasts remained in the city and with Troy fleeing with his tail stuck between his legs they shortly arrived at the church. Upon their arrival, they attended to the wounded and placed Emma in a bed before calling one of the few survivors that had some medical knowledge.
On their way back Emma lost consciousness and was deathly pale, while her breath was weak. Together in the room with her were Jim, Clay, Charlotte, and Evelin who was anxiously biting her nail.
After a short examination, the person turned to them. Noticing this Evelin stopped biting her nail asking, “How is she?”
Shaking her head the woman in her thirties said, “I’m sorry but she won’t survive for long. It's hard to say but she could die by the end of the day.” Shocked, Jim asked, “Why?! We stopped the bleeding. What is the problem?”
“Yes the outward bleeding,” sighed the woman before explaining, “Her liver was punctured and she has strong internal bleeding, additionally a lot of bacteria entered her body which will most likely cause an infection.”
Helpless Jim looked at Clay, who understood what he wanted to ask. “It is not easy to heal someone else's wounds. There is a big difference between healing the outermost wound and an organ. The deeper my own energy has to reach into her body the less control I have. If she could use her own energy to heal that would be a different story but…”
He stopped talking but everyone understood why that was impossible. Not only was Emma not conscious but she also didn’t know how to properly control her energy, in fact, no one was able to replace what Clay can do.
But they wouldn't give up that easily, there had to be a way to save her. Charlotte looked desperately at the woman asking, “Is there really no way to save her? How do you treat such injuries normally?”
“It depends on the wound and it is hard to say how bad the internal bleeding really is, but normally we perform emergency surgery. The thing is that we-”
“Don’t have a surgeon to perform surgery, hell we don't even have a real doctor,” interrupted Jim anxiously. Hearing this the woman just nodded her head. “There is not much we can do in this situation. If you are lucky she will wake up again and you can say your goodbyes.”
Leaving these words of condolence the woman decided to leave the depressed teenagers on their own. There was nothing she could do to help them. After the door closed behind her the room fell into an eerie silence, while a gloomy atmosphere spread in the room.
Eventually, Evelin stopped walking up and down, as a resolute expression appeared on her face. Not explaining anything she opened the door and left. Confused, Charlotte called out from behind, “Where are you going?”
Not turning around she replied, “To our prisoner.” Having a bad feeling after hearing this Charlotte followed behind her. Confused by their departure Jim and Clay also tagged along.
Evelin was a part of the Vanguard and trusted by the people so it was easy for her to get past the guards and arrive before the cell of their assailant. Shortly after Charlotte arrived but the moment she took the last step she only heard the mad laughter of a woman.
Growing worried Charlotte rushed past the two other cells before arriving at the third and last cell. The door was wide open and her eyes widened as she saw Evelin brutally punching the cuffed Isabelle. “Evelin! What are you doing?!”
Ignoring her she just continued her assault as her punches grew heavier. Realizing that she wouldn’t stop Charlotte grabbed the wrists of Evelin in an attempt to stop her, but was overpowered, as another first landed on the face of Evelin punching one of her teeth out.
By now Jim and Clay also arrived at the scene and quickly helped Charlotte to stop her. After a last struggle, Evelin broke down crying miserably. Stroking her back Charlotte comforted her and said, “Evelin what happened? Why did you do this?”
Sulking for a moment she eventually said, “That bitch knows something. She said we couldn’t save Emma unless we do something. I need to know what this something is.”
Saying so she looked with hatred at Isabelle who was still laughing and profusely bleeding from her face. Seeing the miserable state of Evelin her laughter just got louder. Eventually, she said, “You know what?”
Spitting some blood that gathered in her mouth she said, “I will tell you what I meant under one condition.”
With a serious expression, Evelin stood up, having deep killing intent in her eyes as she asked, “What condition? If you want to be released you can keep on dream-”
Laughing hysterically Isabelle interrupted, “No worry dear I don’t want to be released. Isabelle is dead. There is nothing out there for a person like me. The only thing, the only one that made this world interesting abandoned me. No, I have a different request.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The others grew silent waiting in anticipation. “I want…” smiling wildly while she licked her lips, “That you return to me, once your little friend has died. I want to see your despair when you realize that there was no hope, to begin with in this accursed world, haha”
Trying to punch her again she was stopped by Jim saying, “Evelin calm down, she isn’t worth it. She is provoking you, making you angry. If you punch give in now you only give her what she wants. She doesn’t know a way to save Emma anyway.”
Clenching her fist one last time Evelin breathed out, relaxing her hand and body. She wouldn’t succumb to her anger. Witnessing this scene Isabelle chuckled again, “Who said I didn’t know a method? I’m just sure that it will fail.”
Eying her suspiciously, Evelin didn’t say anything. But Isabelle didn’t wait for an answer asking, “Did you know that in the heart of every beast is a special sort of blood stored that if drunk gives you a lot of energy, accelerating recovery while enhancing your body?”
Intrigued, Clay asked, “How would you know that?” Snickering to herself Isabelle licked over her lips saying, “Because I drank it myself.”
“What?” Charlotte asked in confusion, “But you just told us that Emma wouldn’t survive so why are you still alive.”
Instead of replying she just snickered to herself. Before anyone could ask anything Clay came close to her, grabbing her hair, pulling her head back. Giggling she said, “Oh I didn’t know you like it rough.”
Ignoring the comment Clay pulled the eyes of Isabelle open looking at her pupils like he was confirming something. Afterward, he let go of her head and looked at her hands or more specifically her nails.
Very confused by Clay’s sudden behavior Charlotte asked, “Clay what are you doing?” Turning around he replied, “I think I know what 'method' she used.”
Smiling Isabelle tilted her head, “Oh you found out? That would surprise me.” Looking her deep into the eyes Clay said, “You ate the heart of a transformed cat.”
Hearing this the smile on her face widened, “Good, hehe, very good. I’m surprised you found out so quickly. Then I can save the boring explanation.”
Shaking her head baffled Evelin said, “Okay what the fuck is going on? I don’t understand what you both are talking about.”
Sighing Clay rubbed over the ridge of his nose. “It seems like this woman drank the blood of a cat that caused her to mutate. You know how I was so picky about calling animals, not mutants?”
Nodding his head Jim said, “Yeah you made it pretty clear that you don’t want to call them mutants.”
Nodding Clay said, “I wanted this because we have to understand these transformations and changes clearly. You can certainly call these changes mutations but I personally think the term evolution is more fitting.”
Looking at Evelin for a moment Clay shook his head. “Every animal we encountered so far was heavily changed due to this new energy, but they are essentially still the same animal. They are a lot stronger, yes, but they didn’t grow additional limbs or organs. They just grew a lot bigger, they evolved, like we humans did.”
Pointing at Isabelle, Clay said, “That woman on the other hand is something I would call a mutant. She mixed her blood with a cat and the changes may not be apparent at first sight but she is not purely human, not anymore. Just look at her pupils and nails.”
Hearing this information the others were shocked as they took a good look at Isabelle and finally noticed that her pupils were similar to a cat formed into two vertical slits, while her nails were unusually sharp, sharp enough to cut through flesh.
Confirming this silence spread in the dark and damp cell. If it was really true that you could mix your blood with other beasts to quickly gain power they didn’t want to imagine what would happen if this information got into the wrong hands.
No matter how much power this gave them, could they really abandon their humanity for it? This whole procedure of drinking the blood from the heart of a beast, to gain more power just sounded... wrong.
They couldn’t imagine what sort of side effects a mutation like this could bring. It was also not safe as Isabelle was for some reason sure Emma wouldn’t survive even if she drank the blood.
Returning their attention to Isabelle, Clay asked, “What else do you know about this mutation?”
“Hehe, not much to be truthful. I know that it makes you immensely stronger and that the transformation is immensely painful, even more so than the one during the advancement to the next rank. Oh, and the blood should be fresh,” replied Isabelle with a chuckle.
Looking worried at Clay, Charlotte asked, “You don’t really want to do this, right? I want to heal Emma more than you can imagine but not like this. I know that she wouldn’t want to live if that meant turning herself into some sort of monster.”
“Of course,” replied Clay with a nod. “I just wanted to know. We can’t trust her anyway, who says she isn’t lying to us? We have to test this somehow but that is for the future, now we have to resolve the problem with Emma above all.”
“Right,” agreed Charlotte before looking at Isabelle again. “Is this really the only option you know of?” Hearing this Isabelle just replied, “No, and even if I did why should I tell you?”
“This doesn’t lead to anything, let us leave,” intervened Jim with annoyance. Knowing that any further talk with this maniac of a woman would only waste their time Jim left the room, followed by Charlotte and Clay, while Evelin took one last glance before also leaving, locking the cell.
***
Time passed and the group tried all day to find a way to save Emma but to no avail. The condition of Emma was only getting worse and if they didn’t do anything she wouldn’t see the morning.
They decided to split up looking for a possible way to save here, all but one. Evelin knew that they wouldn’t find a way, she could only resort to the method Isabelle told them. Evelin causally greeted the guards and with the excuse of interrogating their captive, she easily gained access to the cell.
She came just hours ago and it seemed like Evelin just wanted to confirm some things, little did they know har far this was from the truth. Opening the cell the face of Isabelle distorted into a wide smile. “I knew you would return… Now that the nuisances are gone do you want to know more?”
Taking a deep breath, an expression of deep resolution appeared on Evelin’s face. “Stop with these games. Tell me exactly how you caused this mutation and more importantly how you survived it.”
“Oh, dear you are in such a hurry. It was quite a story, you know? How I got to experience this… wonderful gift.” Isabelle replied with a giggle.
Rolling her eyes Evelin said, “I don’t have time for this, either you talk or I will make you talk!”
Not taking her the least bit seriously, Isabelle replied, “Relax dear, I was just having some fun. Okay, let me tell you how I almost died…”
The story wasn’t anything particularly interesting. At the beginning of this whole catastrophe, Isablle’s own cat transformed and after killing it she was close to dying herself. True to Evelin’s assumption Isabelle had more than one screw loose, as she began to eat her own cat in the hope that she would also transform.
Evelin couldn’t even fathom how the fuck one could come up with an idea like this, but to Isabelle's luck after eating the heart of her cat, she absorbed some of its essences, initiating a transformation that had a similar effect of healing than a normal transformation during advancement.
After she heard the story Evelin asked, “Why are you so sure Emma will die? If this is so similar to a normal transformation she should survive it. You did too after all.”
Hearing this Isabelle’s smile only grew, “Oh, it is simple. In the past I… let us say persuaded some people to do the same. To my surprise, they didn’t survive. Only later did I realize that the reason for my survival and their death was the rank."
“Both I and my cat were rank one, but the moment someone tried this on the second rank they…” mimicking an explosion with her hand Isabelle finished, “Died. Let alone someone in the third rank, she would never survive such a mutation.”
Seeing the expression of despair on Evelin’s face Isabelle felt ecstasy all over her body. After a moment of silence, Evelin asked, “What if I use the blood of a rank two beast? She has the body of a rank three and should be able to survive.”
Shaking her head Isabelle replied, “Dear for how stupid do you hold me? I also tried this and even if it has some effects, they are gradual and do not initiate a transformation, and without transformation, there is no effect of healing.”
Hearing this Evelin got close to Isabelle looking her directly in the eye asking, “What if the blood used was mostly human?”
Isabel's eyes widened in shock, as she saw the cold expression of Evelin and the deep killing intent buried behind her eyes. The senses she gained through her mutation were screaming at her to run away but before she could do anything a hidden knife was pushed deep into her chest.
A trail of blood flowed from her mouth, as she looked down at the knife embedded into her chest. Evelin slowly laid her on the ground, before cutting her chest open slowly revealing the fleshy inside. The shock was too great, and the blood lost too quickly as Isabelles's head tilted to the side muttering, “Troy my beloved…”
Evelin was oddly cold the whole process, as she sliced the chest open to reveal the heart that rested inside. She was very careful to not damage it, this was the only chance she got. After she removed the heart she wrapped it in some clothing before putting it into a leather pouch.
Lying Isabelle to the side so one wouldn’t immediately see that her chest was open, Evelin quickly left, locking the cell. Passing by the guards she said goodbye, informing them that she got what she came for.
The guards were happy to hear that she got the ‘information’ she needed. Evelin didn’t waste any time directly rushing to the room where Emma stayed. To her surprise Charlotte was also there – she was supposed to be with Solaire.
Greeting her Evelin asked, “What are you doing here? I thought you were searching with Solaire for a surgeon.”
Nodding Charlotte said, “That was the plan, but he already asked everyone and we sadly have neither a surgeon nor a proper doctor between the remaining survivors. I just wished Emma would wake up one more time, then I could… could at least say my goodbyes.”
“Yeah, our city never had a good medical system. Could I see her one more time? Just me and her.” Evelin asked, slightly nervous.
Hearing this Charlotte had a weird feeling, as she saw how Evelin was sweating all over her face and fiddling with her fingers. The light wasn’t good, as they had to resort to candles, as electricity stopped working long ago and between the flickering light she saw on Evlin’s hand something that looked like… blood?
“Evelin what were you doing again-?” Before Charlotte could even finish her sentence her knee was kicked in, and she fell to the ground, while a piece of cloth wrapped around her throat and she felt how she was strangled.
She wanted to speak or scream but couldn’t as she gasped for air. The last thing she heard was Evelin's voice behind her. “I’m sorry, but there is no other way…”
Afterward, everything went dark as she lost consciousness.