Beyond This Life

Beyond This Life (Before)

ONE MONTH BEFORE THE 'COMA'.....

Cherina and the Troop stormed into the Ghuard hideout, myself left outside with the other servants. My heart raced as I waited for my Mistress's return. Strong though she was, I worried over her. I loved her too much to do anything else when she wasn't in my presence.

How long has it been since she went in? Maybe they were in trouble. Maybe I should go check on her.

"MOTHER!!!"

That was Cherina's voice. Every servant head snapped up. My feet started flying without command stopping at the wide opening in the building. A wall of Troop soldiers blocked my view of Cherina so I materialized to the front. Cherina stood, her sword lying on the ground. Her right hand was lodged in the chest of a soldier.

Her words were the cruelest of growls. "I gave no one the command to kill." She wrenched her hand from the soldier's chest, taking his heart as well. She opened her palm and all watched as the heart caught fire and burned to ash, the soldier hitting the ground and doing the same.

"Good girl. Avenge the one who raised you."

My attention shifted to the one who'd said that. Higher Up, it was Cherina's adoptive mother. She pushed up from the ground, an arm going around her middle. I could smell the blood oozing from the woman's stab wound.

Cherina's gaze turned slowly to her mother. "You, Mother, don't deserve to live any longer. You are one of the few humans left that truly murder us. My Civilians fear your kind."

"I kill savage monsters. If you kill me... well, we know who would have been next. But you won't, because you are my daughter."

Cherina picked up her sword and leaned against it. "Killing savages? The Civilian I saw die just now was a child in my world and yours."

"Children sin."

"And humans die." In one quick move, Cherina picked up her sword, swung it in a circle, and cleaved the woman's head from her body. The body crumpled, and the head was raised by Cherina, a show of victory. The Troop cheered loudly and Cherina smiled, but the happiness---or whatever she was supposed to feel---didn't reach her eyes.

"Now clear out, Troop. I'd like to be alone with my disobedient servant." Everyone scattered, but I stayed, my head bowed in submission. "Were you worried about me, Beau?"

"Of course, Cherina. I love you. I heard you scream and came to you."

"You should have stayed with the other servants. I hate for you to see me work."

"Cherina, I know what you do, and I'm okay with it. It's my choice to be your servant and I haven't left yet. I don't think I ever would no matter what; I see how Sir Jake looks at you."

A strange emotion passed on Cherina's face. "Beau?" She dropped to her knees and shrieked soundlessly. I fell next to her, panicky and unknowing of what to do. She was in some sort of pain, so I wrapped my arms around her and offered my arm.

She pushed it away and covered her mouth like she was about to throw up---which kinda hurt my feelings---but instead she removed her hand and stared at what she held.

"Cherina? What is it? What's wrong?" I asked, trying to glimpse what was in her hand.

"Nothing. Leave me."

"Cherina, please---"

"I SAID LEAVE ME, SERVANT."

I clenched my jaw. Cherina was never the one to disobey when she became like this. No matter how much I loved her, I was still her servant. And so I left.

A few days later, as I lay on our shared bed, crying, Cherina came into the room. Her steps were light but I knew she was beside the bed, staring at me, maybe contemplating her decision.

"Come, Beau, let's get to work."

"I refuse to help you break my heart," I mumbled into the down pillows.

"You can refuse to be my servant. You cannot refuse to do a servant's job."

I was too out of it to even remember how we got to the room, but it was well set up. Our kind must've done this more often than I imagined. Cherina sat up on the glass counter or whatever and swung her legs. I almost smiled. She did that whenever she was nervous.

Damn my brain, it didn't seem to like my heart at all.

An entire wall was covered in weird wires and buttons and foreign scientific words. I didn't know how to do this. I didn't even want to do this.

"Basically, what's s'pose to happen is this machine sucks all the Civi-blood out of my body system. And I'll be as close to human as Civi-science can get me."

"Cherina, you don't have to do something so drastic. We can... we can just run away together."

"No. We've been through this. I have to do this."

"You don't but whatever," I said as I found a needle in the machine. "All right, Mistress, you'll feel a sharp pinch." I placed the needle in a vein. "Cherina?"

Cherina closed her eyes and whispered, "Hit the damn start button, Beau."

I hesitated, staring at the machine long enough to have it permanently etched into my brain. Right next to what I thought was the start button was another needle. It's label read output. I smiled. On a hunch, I read the label of Cherina's needle. It read input, and I knew how to save my naulin. I quickly jammed that needle into my arm and hit the go button. Well, it was green so I assumed it meant go.

My mouth filled with saliva as my Mistress's blood pumped into me. I cupped her cheeks and leaned my forehead against hers. I knew she was already gone. But not forever. She was safe now.

"You won't know this. But I'm keeping you captive, Cherina. I'm never letting you go. You may be gone, but you won't ever be away from me. You are my everything now. You are in my blood, in my venom, I bet you're even in my eyes. And I love you, naulin. I really, really do."

THE BEGINNING....