Watching | Michael Jackson *HEAVILY EDITING* ✓

Chapter 16. Gone

Michael's POV:

   The sheer shock and horror that spreads across my body is numbing.

This can't be real.

Lisa Marie Presley is standing in front of me, alive and well. Janet, Austin, and I all share a look of unbelievable confusion at the sight of her standing in front of us, a devilish grin spread across her face. Flashbacks of the day I pushed her off the cliff fill my mind, and it's only then that I recall something from the research I had done with Tatiana—vampires can only be killed by putting a wooden stake dipped in the blood of a newborn the creator turned through their heart.

But I saw her—she was dead!

"What's wrong, Mike? You look like you've seen a ghost," Lisa purrs as she walks up to our circle, causing all of us to hiss.

"I killed you," I spit, sending daggers her way. But in my heart, I realize now that I was naive back then and wasn't as careful as I should have been.

Lisa chuckles and paces back and forth, saying, "No, you didn't. You only rendered me unconscious. But of course, how could you possibly know any better? Hell, even I thought I was dead at the bottom of that cliff. But the powers that we hold with this immortal form are far more than we could have possibly imagined." As she says that, the house shakes, and before we know it, newborn vampires collapse in from the roof, circling in on us.

"You're the one who's been killing all of those people!" Tatiana yells in horror as she looks around the room at all of the turned human beings who are now no longer human. There must be fifty of them

"Why yes, yes I am," Lisa smiles sadistically. "And it was so much fun too! I would never have gotten the idea to kill Jara and Don if it wasn't for your perfectly crafted research, Tatiana. So consider their blood on your hands." I quickly gaze over at Tatiana whose eyes are now glued to the floor, her face strewn with guilt.

"Don't you dare try and blame Tatiana for the horrors you've committed!" Austin yells angrily, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Austin. What a sight—you've finally made up with Michael, have you? Too bad you mean nothing to any of them," Lisa starts, materializing behind Austin who's at the back of the circle formation around me so that her hands are sliding down his chest. "They don't care about you. They never did and they never will." Austin attempts to attack Lisa, but she materializes in front of me again.

Lisa then focuses on me, trying to run her hand against my cheek as she says, "Oh, Michael. How I've missed you dearly."

I hiss at her and say, "Back off!"

"I don't think so, sweetheart. We're supposed to be together," she smiles demonically. "We're meant to live for eternity together."

"You're a lunatic, Lisa!" Janet shouts, showing her fangs aggressively.

Lisa turns her attention to Janet, looking her up and down before saying, "Death looks better on your brothers." The anger and annoyance that spills from Janet's face could kill a man.

Lisa returns her focus to me as she says, "But before you're mine again, I have to get rid of one little problem first." She looks at Tatiana and I know that she's going to hurt her. Both Janet and Austin look over at me, telling me they know that Lisa is going to hurt Tatiana as well. I quickly do my best to get into Tatiana's head where I say "Tatiana you have to run." Tatiana looks over at me confused as she realizes I didn't actually speak but sent a telepathic message to her—a new feature I learned from the research. Her face tells me she doesn't want to leave.

"You have to, I'll be alright. I promise" I transmit. "We'll fight them off. You're all that matters." Tatiana nods hesitantly, so I send another telepathic message to her, Janet, and Austin as I count down. 

"3...2...1...now!"

Tatiana's POV:

   I make a run for the door but Lisa is significantly faster than I am. She grabs me and throws me at the wall, pain shooting from my back to my stomach as my entire body aches. I gaze up to find Austin and Janet fighting off newborns while Michael goes directly for Lisa. He lunges at her, scratching at her face as she tries to do the same to him.

Janet fights off more of them but manages to throw them out the window before coming by my side and trying to pick me up, saying, "You need to get the hell out of here." Before she can take me anywhere, Lisa lunges for me and pins me on the floor. Michael tries to get her off of me, but before he reaches her, in what feels like a split second, Lisa sinks her fangs into my neck, causing me to scream in pain as I try my best to kick and punch her off of me. My efforts are fruitless as she only latches on harder, my screams growing louder. Michael and Janet manage to push her off of me. They land on my bed, breaking it in half. My surroundings grow increasingly fuzzy to the point where all I can hear is yelling, hissing, things falling, and furniture breaking. Blood gets everywhere. I don't know what's wrong but it's like I'm paralyzed. 

"Tatiana!" Austin yells.

Then the world goes dark.

   I'm not sure how long it takes, but I wake up to find Michael over me, tears streaming down his face. I can't speak or move—all I feel is a burning sensation spilling across my body, almost as if I'm being burned alive.

"Tatiana honey, you're going to be okay," Michael cries. Judging from the way that the sky above us is moving, I think Michael is running. I fade out of consciousness.

"I'm gonna get you to a hospital okay? Oh god, you're bleeding so much..." I hear Michael mutter, so I open my eyes again, finding him staring down at me, tears continuing to stream down his cheeks. This time, my body feels ice cold—am I dying? I fade out of consciousness again, but all I hear is the sound of Michael repeatedly telling me how much he loves me.

"Remember when I was taking you back home the night of the fire and I sang to you? Remember, I sang Lady In My Life? Tatiana, you're the lady in my life and you always will be," he sobs, lifting my head so that it's in his chest.

"And baby through the years, gonna love you more each day," Michael attempts to sing, though his cries continue. "So I promise you today, that you will always be the lady in my life."

***

   I finally come to, my eyes fluttering open. I wince as the room I'm in is filled with light, causing my eyes to feel terribly strained. When my eyes adjust to the light, I realize that I'm in a hospital room. Suddenly, the memories of the fight with Lisa flood my mind and so does the fact that she bit me, so I call out for Michael.

Am I a vampire now?

"Michael?!" I try to yell again, but my voice is hoarse and rough. My eyes are blurry, but I see a figure rush to my bed.

"Tatiana, you shouldn't speak," I hear a familiar voice say. At first, I can't help but smile as I reach out for him, but my heart drops as the voice continues.

"Michael is dead," the voice says, and I quickly realize it's Austin. His voice sounds solemn.

"What?" I squeak, my voice is incredibly rough. I find myself beginning to cry as my eyebrows furrow.

"Tatiana, I'm so, so sorry, but Michael...he had to leave. We...we found a cure—we were able to stop your transformation, and now we're human again. All of us," Austin explains as he grabs my hand, holding it gently in his. My heart drops into my stomach and pain fills my body in disbelief.

"No," I mutter, holding onto Austin more tightly. "No."

"But, something happened to Michael. When he was cured, his body...I don't know why, but it aged far more than mine. Maybe it was a bad reaction to the cure, but...he's gone..." Austin states, his voice and face actually showing emotion for once. I realize as I look at him that his face does appear a bit older, but not by much. I shake my head in absolute disbelief—this can't be true. My entire body goes numb and tears begin streaming down my face as I sob in pure pain. Austin sits on my hospital bed and crawls next to me, letting me cry into his chest.

"I'm so sorry," Austin repeats, rubbing my head gently as I continue to bawl my eyes out into his chest.