"What are you?" He asks me, breaking the silence. I am quite shocked by this question. Mostly because I don't even know how to answer it.
"Werewolf. I think... And you are a vampire," I state. He nods.
"You don't smell like a werewolf." He lifts his...
"Please, we have to go find him now!!" I scream and plead while grabbing Alasdair's arms. He looks at me with pity which infuriates me. Why aren't they doing something?! Then Farlan grabs my arm and turns me towards him with an intense look.
"How many vampires were there?" he asks and my eyes widen, as I realize what's making them hesitate. They are scared. I shake my head in anger.
"It doesn't matter! He's going to die if we wait!" I scream back, ripping my arms out from his grip ready to run out and find him myself if I have to. I can't lose him. That horrible debilitating sorrow that engulfed me in my vision is beginning to sneak back, as I remember his lifeless body slumped on that chair. My eyes blur with unshed tears but I quickly wipe them away.
"Athena, we have to make a plan," Isobel pleads with me, but too many emotions are running through my body, that I can't think straight.
"If we go now, we might all die. A banshee is powerful, but only alone. If you use your scream, we will die, and so will Dom," Alasdair explains, but it only frustrates me further, because then what the hell am I supposed to do? Even if they won't help me, then I can't even help Dom myself, because I might just kill him trying to do so.
"You need to shift," Isobel then blurts out in a surprised breath, as if she herself is taken aback by the idea. But then she looks straight into my eyes and repeats it.
"We have to change you tonight." My eyes widen as the idea takes hold in my mind and I wonder how it might play out. This could maybe work - as long as I fight through the pain. I don't have the time to lie in agony for days before fighting, for all I know, Dom could be dying right now. But we don't have another choice, so I nod firmly.
"Do it," I command, not caring which of them does it, just that it is done. Isobel takes two steps towards me so she stands just in front of me. Then Farlan and Alasdair each grab one of my arms, which I assume is so I won't fight Isobel when she bites me. To my surprise though, I feel the sharp and stinging pain of a bite in each of my upper arms, but before I have any time to process it, I see Isobel's teeth bulging out of her mouth, just before she lunges down into my neck with ferocity.
It's nothing like when Dom bites me - a feeling that only hurts temporarily before being drowned out by the numbing ecstasy and sensation of my blood being pulled out of my body. This is a cutting sort of pain that only gets worse as I feel something pour into me instead. It's like lava and ice at the same time, blowing my veins open in an eruption, and contracting them to restrict blood flow. As if that wasn't enough, it's like a million small daggers are ripping every atom of my being from each other and shredding my bones to splinters.
I fall to the floor and as I'm about to scream out in agony, a big ruffed hand covers my mouth and pinches my nose at the same time, restricting me from making any sound.
"Keep it in. Fight through it," I hear a voice grind into my ear through the million needles penetrating my brain. Slowly the hand is removed from my mouth and I start to hyperventilate. Every breath is like fire in my lungs, and every exhale is like a boulder thrown on my chest, keeping me from inhaling again.
I barely register as I'm lifted off the ground and dragged up into a bed. Faintly I register that I'm soaked in a cold sweat and shaking so violently it's on the verge of convulsions. A belt is forced in between my teeth and I bite down so hard on it, that I fear my teeth might splinter, which they might have had, if the belt wasn't there.
I have no idea how long I lay in this agony. I'm so delusional from the pain, that I barely know where I am or who I am. All I know is pain. After a long time, the pain reaches a plateau which is a welcome relief after having to live through the pain only increasing for every heartbeat. I almost feel like I can breathe a bit better.
"Fight against it," a voice says, and without being able to respond, I follow the command. I don't have time to lay here for days like Isobel. I need to save Dom, so instead of just submitting to the pain and doing whatever I can to survive through it, I fight against it. I force myself to take breaths all the way into my stomach, and even though I feel my lungs being scratched open, I force myself to keep at it.
As I get used to that new pain, it's like it begins to subside, and I can now try to force my eyes open. I have to muster all my energy to do so, as it feels like my eyes are filled with sand and I'm grinding them down by moving my eyelids.
Finally, when I open my eyes, it's like I'm bombarded by what I see. It's weird - the scene is like I expected, I'm lying in the bed and there's nothing new in the room. But it's like this is the first time I have really opened my eyes, and my life so far has been like a dream with dulled senses. I'm seeing everything with such clearness, that I'm sure I would be able to see the individual droplets of dew on a straw of grass on a spring morning.
I'm beginning to understand Isobel, when she said she would go through that pain again, just to experience this. I can't even begin to fathom what it must be like when all the pain is completely gone. I still feel delirious because of it, but at least I can now manage as I have gotten a taste of what's on the other side.
My head falls back on the pillow and my eyes fall shut as I once again grit my teeth and fight to keep the screams of pain in. I hope this is over soon.
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