pretty eyes ~ newt

chapter 24: revelations

"and i don't want the world to see me, cause i don't think that they'd understand"
iris, the goo goo dolls
—

Vince narrows his eyes when he sees her, gesturing at one of his men. "Well you may trust them, but I don't. Check 'em."

I tense up immediately, laying my hand on the hilt of my dagger. My eyes fix on Brenda as she pants heavily, and the familiar grooves of the dagger provide a strange sense of comfort. But before his men can even come close, Brenda suddenly stumbles forward, before falling face-first into the dirt.

I gasp in surprise, the others flinching back in shock. Jorge is the first to kneel by her side frantically, his eyes wide in alarm.

"Brenda! Brenda, what happened? Talk to me!" he holds her in his arms, examining her face in worry.

"Jorge...I'm sorry..." she mumbles back with difficulty, in between labored gasps of air.

The rest of us gather around the two, watching the girl in concern.

"I'm sorry," she gasps again, her eyes rolling back to her head. Vince steps closer to them cautiously, kneeling down by her side.

"Hey. What's going on with her?" he asks Jorge, his brow furrowed uneasily.

"I don't know," Jorge mutters back quickly, eyes still locked onto the girl. "Bren, you alright? Talk to me."

But my eyes shift to Vince when he peers more closely at her left leg, lifting the bottom of her pant leg. His eyes widen immediately in panic, and I see a large bite wound, black veins stemming from the injury.

"Shit. Crank, we got a crank!" he yells, stepping back and whipping out his gun the next instant. We all stumble back in surprise, my heart stopping in horror. I subtly pull out my knife, gripping it tightly in my fingers.

"NO!" Jorge screams, covering Brenda's body with his own. "Please! Just—just wait, not her—"

But Thomas jumps in front of the two immediately, waving his hands at Vince frantically. "No, no wait, just listen!"

"Step back!" Vince spits at him, still pointing his gun steadily at Brenda.

"Hey look, this just happened okay? She's not dangerous yet!" Thomas sputters, eyes pleading as he tries to reason with him. The rest of us stand back uneasily, watching the scene with wide eyes.

"You shouldn't have brought her here!" Vince hisses in response. "We bring cranks in now, the Safe Haven won't last a week! Step the fuck back, kid!"

But Thomas is persistent, countering quickly. "Just listen, okay? Please, you don't understand—I told her you could help. There's gotta be something you can do!"

He knew she was infected...? For how long? The fucking idiot.

I see two of Vince's men pull Jorge away from Brenda, as he struggles desperately to break their grip. But it's futile, and he's forced to watch as Vince cocks his gun.

"Yeah. There is something I can do," he looks at Thomas grimly. "Put her out of her misery."

"NO! NO, GET AWAY FROM HER!" Jorge shrieks immediately, the panic clear in his voice. But Vince seems set on his decision, his lips pursed tightly as he points the gun at Brenda steadily.

"Vince, that's enough!" I hear a female voice cut in suddenly. "Let him go!"

I snap my head to the unfamiliar woman as she rushes to Vince's side, ordering the men to release Jorge. She has long, dark brown hair, and seems to be around Vince's age. Jorge rips his arms from their grip aggressively, kneeling immediately at Brenda's side once more.