After The Awakening | ONC 2023

Chapter Three

Xavier stared at the girl, his jaw slack and eyes wide.

How long had it been since he'd seen Mari? Over a decade for certain. And yet he'd be lying if he said thoughts of her hadn't crossed his mind in the time between.

His training colleague. His ex partner. The woman who had upped and left with barely a letter after the Awakening, disappearing from his life as if she'd been a ghost.

'You're lying,' he said with confidence. 'Mari doesn't like kids.'

The girl's eyes hardened. 'I didn't say she took me in by choice,' she bit out.

'Xavier,' Dylan interrupted, pulling him away from the staring competition he'd engaged in with the girl. 'You need to see what's in the basement.'

He wanted to argue, but her face told him that would be a bad idea.

Instead, he flagged down an officer. 'Watch the girl. I have more questions for her,' he commanded.

'I have a fucking name,' she muttered.

'I'm glad to hear it because I plan to find out exactly who you are,' Xavier promised, pocketing the flask, before following Dylan.

'Marilyn Le Bou was your first partner?' Dylan queried.

'We went through first training together. She was my partner when the Awakening happened.'

'What happened? I know she's a decorated agent. Her name is on the plaque,' she said, thinking of the big monument in the Bureau's reception. Three quarters were devoted to those agents who had fallen in the line of duty, but the last quarter was dedicated to agents whose bravery deserved recognition.

'Couldn't handle the job after what she saw during the Awakening. It changed a lot of things. She wasn't the only one who couldn't live with their memories.' His fists clenched as he thought of the people they'd lost since that night. 'What did you find in the basement?' he asked, looking for a distraction.

Dylan hesitated. 'There were three vampires there. They were looking for something, but took off when they heard shots being fired. I'm assuming that was you?'

'I wouldn't call their attack coordinated, but it wasn't frenzied. They were there for a purpose.' And it has something to do with the girl, he added in his head.

Dylan put her hand over the doorway, blocking his path. 'I want to warn you about what's in there.'

Xavier raised a brow. 'Okay?'

'The girl wasn't lying. She is with Marilyn Le Bou. We found the three vamps torturing her for information, but we didn't catch what it was about.'

'And Mari?'

Dylan shook her head. 'It isn't good.'

Xavier pushed past her and raced into the room. Paramedics were already there, but they hung back, their faces drawn, knowing that their services were useless.

Mari lay on a stretcher by their side, her body unmoving.

Everything seemed to slow as Xavier approached her. Blood covered her face and matted her hair. Jagged bites littered her throat and hands. Her one leg was bent at an unnatural angle and she was missing three fingers. And yet she was still the woman he remembered.

'Xavier.' Her eyes fluttered open and despite all the pain, she smiled at him.

'What were you doing, Mari?' he whispered. 'Is there nothing you can do?' he growled at the paramedics before she could speak.

'Her body is already shutting down with the poison. It's just a matter of minutes. We're keeping her sedated, but she wanted to speak with you,' they explained.

He closed his eyes. Sixty percent of the population were immune to a vampire's bite. Thirty percent were compatible. But for the minority, the bite was a death sentence if the vampire didn't kill you first. The poison, for which there was no cure, travelled through the blood, freezing your body and shutting it down one organ at a time. It was a painful and cruel way to die. And Mari didn't deserve it.

'Xavier, you need to listen to me.' She swallowed, her tongue flicking out to dampen her wet lips. 'Promise me you'll take care of Ray. The girl,' she added when he looked confused.

'Mari-'

'No. You need to promise me that you'll take care of her. You. You're the only one that I trust. There are things in play. I haven't been honest with you or Ray, but there isn't enough time.' She broke off as her body convulsed.

'Mari?'

Xavier turned as he saw the girl standing across the room, her chest heaving. A disgruntled police officer was racing after her.

She dashed to Mari's side, her hands fluttering around her body.

'Why aren't you fucking doing anything?' she barked at the paramedics.

'There is nothing we can do.'

'Bullshit. There has to be something.'

'Shhh,' Mari soothed her. 'It's alright, Ray.'

'How is this alright?' Ray argued. 'You're dying. You're not supposed to die.'

'Death, a necessary end, will come when it comes,' Mari quoted.

'It's not right.'

'But it is what it is. Now you remember what I taught you. Repeat it,' Mari commanded.

Ray breathed deeply. 'Watch. Plan. Survive.'

'And what about emotions?'

'Don't let them get in the way of surviving.' But despite her words, Ray still crushed Mari's hand in hers as another convulsion shook Mari's body.

'Xavier will look after you. There's so much I should have told you. I'm so sorry for what you're going to go through, and I wish I could be there to see what you'll become.' Tears mixed with blood fell down Mari's cheeks and Ray wiped them away, knowing that Mari would hate that she was showing signs of weakness even on her deathbed.

Xavier watched as the girl breathed evenly. Her eyes clear. Not a single tear in sight.

He looked between the woman he had known and the girl he didn't, wondering at the set of circumstances that had brought them together. The bond between them was nothing like that found between parent and child, but he could sense that it was strong. It was like the bond between two warriors thrown into the same war. One born of struggle and difficult times, but resilient and powerful.

He grabbed Mari's other hand when she reached for him.

'I do not pity you for what has to be done and what I ask is too much, but you're the only one,' Mari croaked.

Her eyes searched his face but couldn't see him, a sign the poison had reached her optic nerves. They fluttered close, and Ray and Xavier crowded closer as Mari's chest finally fell silent. Her arms grew slack, and they rested them by her side.

Her end had been blessedly peaceful compared to many he'd witnessed, and he thanked whatever deity had been looking out for her.

He watched silently as Ray lifted her hands and closed Mari's eyes with the barest brush of her fingertips.

'Travel into the light where the darkness can not touch you. Walk in the footsteps of the garden, where you will only know peace. Bask in the hope that swells there and allow it to protect you. Await us in the place where all things come to rest, for one day we will join you. So mote it be,' she prayed, her face devoid of emotion just as Mari would have wanted.

'So mote it be,' Xavier and the paramedics repeated.