Immortal Love Book #2. Evil

37. "Hard to breathe"

I didn't waste any time feeling surprised. I knew all the vampires in there were going to attack me as soon as their shock was over, and so I had to act fast. I did it again, but this time I channeled all the magic that was at my disposition. It felt so easy, like it was what I was supposed to do all along. I didn't even need to focus or to get down on the ground and try to channel the vampires there, I just did it. I extracted their magic and I used it on Darko. I felt it go through me fast and strong until it was over. I ran out of it after a while, but I didn't know how much time had passed, and, not to my surprise, I fainted a second later. Everything went dark, and I felt nothing. That wasn't a new feeling at all. I was familiar with passing out due to an overuse of my magical abilities. I didn't even get to see if it had actually worked, and Darko was dead. I could just hope I had done it.

I became conscious suddenly, without a single clue as to how long I had been out. I couldn't open my eyes for a while, and all I could do was wait for my body to be strong enough for me to move a single muscle. I had lost the sense of time, so I wasn't sure how long I stayed like that either, but eventually, I started batting my eyelashes.

The first thing I saw was the white ceiling. I tried to move my neck around to see where I was, but it was difficult. I had no idea how it would feel like to come out of a coma that lasted years, but I imagined it was similar to what I was feeling now. After trying a few times, I could finally move my head around to try and recognize my surroundings. I was in a windowless room, with blood-red walls and a black floor. The bed was big, and it looked old. It had a black metal bed frame and a red bedspread. The room looked out of a vampire movie.

I didn't know where I was, or what had happened, but I did know I was still human, or at least as human as I was before. I felt like I had slept for years, and I also felt tired, but I didn't feel different on a fundamental level. I felt relieved. A part of me thought that Alexander would rather turn me into a vampire than let me die, so I was afraid something like that could happen while we were trying to get out of that horrible building. Oh right, that place. I had almost forgotten about it. I knew I wasn't traped in Darko's torture prison anymore, but I still didn't know where I was. I tried to stand up, but before I could, Alexander walked into the room.

He was breathing heavily like a human would after running a little, and he opened the door fast and hard like he was impatient about something. He looked the same I remembered last seeing him. His hair was a little longer than when I first met him, and his clothes were not gray and plain like before. He was now wearing black jeans and a white shirt with a V-neck. He looked worried. He ran to me as soon as he irrupted through the door at vampire speed, and he wrapped his arms around me before I could even see him coming. I was surprised by the gesture, but it made me feel better. I hugged him back, still unsure of what had him so worried.

"Fuck." he exclaimed. I didn't have to be a psychic to realize he was incredibly relieved. "I should be used to this by now, but for a second I thought this was it." he said against the skin of my neck. He thought I could actually be dead this time. I suddenly remembered another time I had almost died, and how relieved Dennis was when I woke up, and it felt like a déjà vu. Alexander ended the hug and sat next to me on the bed.

"I'm fine." I reassured him. Alexander looked at me with a certain endearment that I had never really seen in his eyes before. He was even smiling. "What happened?" I asked. I had connected some dots, but I was still pretty much clueless about what exactly had happened after I blacked out. Alexander's smile became a confused grin.

"You did it." he said. I assumed he meant killing Darko, and I immediately smiled. Only a second later I remembered I'd had this feeling before.

"Are you sure? Because last time we thought he was dead, he miraculously came back to life." I said. Alexander nodded, but his expression changed a little. He looked concerned.

"I'm sure." he assured me. Something told me he didn't want to tell me the reason he was so sure, but he had to have known I wasn't one to just nod and not ask questions.

"How are you so sure?" I asked.

"Because I killed his witch." he said. I was taken by surprise. "It was the only way I could make sure that he wasn't just going to come back to life later. If his witch is dead, every spell she's ever cast breaks, including the immortality one she'd cast on Darko. It was the only way." he said, justifying himself. I didn't know Darko's witch, but I didn't like it when people died. Especially because we didn't know if she was working for him against her will and she was just a victim. I tried not to think about it too much. It was already done.

"If you say so." I said, still with a bad feeling in my stomach. I didn't like for there to be blood on my hands, even when it was seemingly necessary.

Alexander looked at me for a second and then he looked away like he was hiding something from me. Suddenly, a horrible feeling overcame me, like something had gone wrong. The uncertainty of my blackout had left me, once again, in the dark, and it was giving me severe anxiety. My first instinct was to ask about Dennis, as usual.

"Is Dennis okay?" I asked. Alexander's expression changed from almost worried to indifferent. He really disliked Dennis.

"If by okay you mean alive, yes he is." Alexander said, and a weight fell from my shoulders. "The plan was to capture him so we could force him to turn his humanity back on, but he escaped, so it's not all good news." Alexander said.

I didn't care if he still had his emotions off and he had run away because at least he was alive. Or as alive as usual. Suddenly the horrible feeling came back. If it wasn't Dennis who was in danger, then who was? I was about to ask Alexander what was wrong, but he started speaking first.

"There is something I need to tell you." he said. I realized how serious the matter was when he took my hands in his. Alexander wasn't a very touchy person, so whenever he made physical contact with me, something wasn't right. I took a deep breath, and before he could even say anything, I thought of Merissa.

"Merissa." I said. Alexander sighed and nodded. Something had happened to Merissa. Something horrible. My heart began to race, and I felt like I couldn't breathe for a second.

"She's dead." Alexander said. Before I could even fully process what he had said, tears were already streaming down my face. I didn't like crying, especially in front of other people, but I couldn't help it. Alexander hugged me a second later and I keep crying against either his skin or his shirt.

It couldn't be true. Merissa couldn't be dead. She just couldn't be. I refused to believe what Alexander had said, but the tears kept accumulating in my eyes and then sliding down my cheeks nonetheless. I hadn't cried like that in a while. The kind of crying that makes it hard to breathe and to talk. The kind that is uncontrollable and messy. I took a deep breath as I squeezed Alexander's shirt in my fists. I simply couldn't believe it.

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Hiiii! I know it's been a month since the last upload, but I've been really busy. Don't worry though, the ending is near.

Love you all, and stay safe.

Rosie. ❤