Psycho Gem

Chapter 16: Abby

I slowly opened my eyes as the blinding light had disappeared. My vision was blurry, but I could tell I was in a cave with a fire in front of me. I felt both toasty warm and uncomfortably cold. I Immediately felt the sickness flow through my body as the poison from the dark magic was still inside me. My throat clogged up as I began violently coughing into my arm. I could feel the black goop shoot out of my throat and into my sleeve. My entire body was sore, I felt dehydrated and nauseous. My vision became clearer as I kept looking at my surroundings. I looked to my left and saw Tracks sitting cross-legged, dried tears down his face and blood all around his mouth. I saw his grey skin and realised what he had done.

"You used the bracelet?" I said, my voice sounding very hoarse.

"Good to see you too, Magus," he said, looking extremely depressed.

"What happened?"

"You passed out. I tried to carry you, but I couldn't. Then B.U.R.N.E. agents showed up, I activated the bracelet and it turned me into... this. Took them out and brought you here." he explained. "Good news is, whatever this bracelet did to me, it fixed me. I'm not dying anymore"

"No, you are. Your body just can't feel it anymore. We need to fix you or else you could die without any warning."

"Oh." Tracks said, looking extremely disappointed. "But, if I'm a vampire, doesn't that mean I'll die if I go into the sunlight?"

"No," I responded. "That bracelet is designed to inject the bearer with a strain of vampire disease that is impervious to solar rays as well as fire."

"Well... thanks I guess."

The more he spoke the more I realised, his accent wasn't as strong as before. I shifted around, trying to sit up but my body was weaker. I sighed and lifted myself with my mind, positioning myself to sit up against the cave wall.

"What happened to your accent?" I asked.

"My mates would always talk like that. I guess I wanted to fit in. I bet I sounded stupid anyway. But enough of that, what happened to you? You look terrible." Tracks asked.

"Black magic is a very powerful tool, but it's very taxing on the body. With the amount I used in one go, I would be dead if I weren't as powerful as I am." I explained as I unbuttoned my shirt to reveal my pale chest, black veins spreading all across.

"What is that?" Tracks asked, squinting at my chest.

I wondered what he meant at first, but then I noticed he was looking at the gem sticking out below my left pec. It was glowing a beautiful amethyst light, while purple veins grew around it. The dark poison spreading around my chest stopped where the purple streaks were.

"It's what gives me my telekinetic abilities. It's also the only thing keeping me alive right now."

There was a solid twenty seconds of silence. I thought about telling Tracks about my experience with Malcolm, but that would've meant revealing to him who he really is, and I didn't think he was ready for that yet. He was a fast learner, but he wasn't used to the whole "parallel universe counterpart" thing. It was best to keep it a secret for the time being. I looked down at my ragged clothes, wondering if he dragged me here the whole way with how dirty they were. Then I saw that my cape had a long tear through it. It sent me into a panic as I frantically grabbed it and used my magic to weave it back together. I couldn't stand the thought of it being ruined, it means too much to me. I finished fixing it, turning it over to make sure it wasn't damaged, then leaning my head back and breathing a sigh of relief.

Tracks finally broke the silence. "Is this what it's like?"

"Hmm?"

"Is this what it's like for you? Having to go through all of this suffering, facing these monsters, living on knowing they're out there as well as everything else. How do you do it?" Tracks asked with genuine sadness in his eyes.