The Tainted (An Original Story)

Chapter 11

Fate

Noun - The development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power

Verb - Be destined to happen, turn out, or act in a particular way

Seun-yong's POV

I felt her shift in her sleep. My blood was coursing through her veins, but she felt so much on fire. She sweated from her forehead and she mumbled as she twitched. I was sure she was going to die. I closed my eyes to hold off the tears that threatened to fall as I placed a kiss on her warm cheek. I would keep her safe; keep her alive, no matter the cost. She stole my heart and soul and I loved her for that.

But the more I tried to take away her pain, the more she felt out of reach from me. If she died, I couldn't bear that thought, but surely, Mercy would kill me and the others. I shook my head. I looked down and stroked her hair, singing softly to keep her calm. Her whimpering caused me to look down at her more closely, I heard something in the back of my mind and my eyes widened.

"Please don't leave me Seun-yong." I heard her say, but no words slipped past her lips.

How was that even possible? How could I hear her like that? Never before could a human be able to communicate with us like this. I tried to keep my emotions blank as I motioned for the others to come over to us. They all had a confused look on their faces.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered.

"Hear what?" Jackson asked, scratching the back of his head.

How could they not hear her? We as The Tainted could hear each other's thoughts all the time, when we allowed it, but now that she had my blood running through her, was it possible?

"She just spoke into my mind." I said, "You didn't hear her?"

I could tell by the looks on their faces that they didn't believe me. I could see it in their eyes. I shook my head. How could I make them believe me? I sighed.

Lia whimpered again in pain as she shifted, but this time, as I watched their eyes widen, did they hear her too.

"Let me live. Help me." She said.

Cristian was stunned, "How did she do that?"

Kadence rolled his eyes, "She had Seun-yong's blood, stupid. She's connected to us."

I groaned, "You do know that now that she's one of us, we can't take her back to the city right?"

"Then what do we do?" Kadence asked, "We break command, we're no longer free, you do know that right?"

I thought for a moment. There was a solution, but it meant taking both girls with us. We would be outlaws in the city now. We were risking our lives and our futures by doing this – but I needed to keep Lia safe.

"We move to the mountains. We take the girls with us. Once we figure out what is happening to Lia, then we can move from there." I said.

I placed Lia on the ground and covered her with a blanket before getting to my feet. I needed to walk away from her as my hunger returned. I would soon have to hunt in order to carry on.

"Jackson, can you stay behind and watch the girls while we hunt?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Good. I will shortly." I said and took off for the woods.

Jackson's POV

I watched as the others took off. Mercy was unbound, so this was going to be fun.