Louis
The horn blared out as Leila's forehead smacked against the wheel. A startled shriek ripped from my throat as I grasped the wheel before we veered off the road and into a nearby, arid ditch. Leant over the seat, I steered us into the middle of the road and rolled us to an abrupt stop. The car door slammed as I leaped out and round to her side.
"Leila?" I called frantically, shaking her motionless shoulder. "Leila, what's wrong?"
Her body remained apoplectic, face down on the wheel. This resulted in me pulling her from her seat and laying her onto the dusty, water-ridden ground, face up.
My stomach dropped. I felt it collide with my ribs when my eyes met her. Her skin was a faded ashen, inky black shadows cast under her closed eyes. Blood was seeping through the bandage ribboned around her bite and I knew I was making an enormous mistake the moment I began to unravel it. It piled up upon the ground and all I could do was stare. The wound had grown considerably, crawling up her entire forearm. Deep navies and purples ringed around the crescent bite marks and contaminated blood continued to endlessly pool in the wounds. Blue veins surfaced above her flesh and crawled up to her wrist. Bile rose in my throat when the realization truly hit me that Leila Grey was dying.
I had to save her. Oh my God, I had to save her.
Fingers trembling, I tentatively layered them over her limp, decaying wrist, checking for any signs of life. Anything to slow my own erratic pulse. The lump in my throat turned to vomit and before I knew it, I was emptying the contents of my stomach onto the side of the road.
There was no pulse.
I refused to accept her demise, inclining my ear towards her lips to hear a weak gust of breath. Nothing.
"Leila, please," I begged, tears beginning to brim at my waterline, "You can't do this to me."
My hand fumbled for her uninfected arm, flipping it over to view the pale inside of her wrist. My digits pressed to it as gently as they could despite their shaking. I waited.
"Please..." my voice caught in my throat in a pathetic whisper.
Her wrist ticked with life.
My eyes widened, a jubilant grin splitting my face apart. Lifting her lifeless body from the ground, I hugged her against my chest, holding on as if she was my lifeline.
"I knew you wouldn't leave me," I cried, cradling her head against my collarbone. My mouth lowered to place a lingering kiss onto her hair. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it..."
We sat there for a while, her body moulded between my legs and my arms clung around her shoulders. My nose was pressed to her hair, inhaling her scent – the only constant in my otherwise hectic life.
I needed this. I needed this pause on life to think everything over. This was what it took for me to realize that I had to grow up and face the fact that Leila was dying. Laying here with her lifeless body wasn't helping. The hole in the hourglass was widening; each tick of the clock mattered. I had to grow up, pull myself together and save her life.
Heaving her over my shoulder, I returned to the jeep and slumped her into the passenger's seat. I sat down beside her, key twisting to the left and allowing the vehicle to awaken.
The concept of time had become obscure and hazy the last few months, but I'd guess it was around three or four hours of dead eyes staring at the road ahead of me and the wheel dripping with sweat beneath my fingers before inarticulate mumblings began to bubble from Leila's mouth.
My head snapped sideways to face her and my heart dropped when I saw the trail of blood descending from the corner of her lip.
"It's okay, Leila, I'm sure we're nearly there." It was clear that I was assuring myself more than her.
I jumped when she sprung forward in her seat, coughing hysterically as if she was choking. Blood splattered onto the windshield and I wasted no time in slamming my foot down onto the brake. Unbuckling my seatbelt, I hurried to her side to try and calm her. Coughs were still racking from her throat but the blood had ceased. My hands cupped her cheeks and my eyes bored into hers. The cerulean once circling her pupils had simmered down to a watery, milky blue. She watched me lazily, the subtlest trace of a smile flittering across her blued lips.
"Stripes?"
"Yeah, Leila, it's me. Are you okay?"
Her smile grew wistful as she flicked blood from her fingertips. "Had better days, Stripes, had better days".
Breathing a sigh of relief, I wrapped my arms around her neck and embraced her. She stiffened momentarily, but it didn't take her long to melt against my chest and return the hug.
"I thought you'd died, Leila. I had – I had no idea what to do! I'd be so lost without you, please don't leave me. Please, never leave me".
She exhaled lowly against my neck, eliciting prickles that layered my flesh. "Once I take the antidote, I'm here for as long as you want me, kid".
Her optimism made my heart sing. "I'll always want you".
Her glacial eyes softened, the first glint of humanity beginning to shimmer through the decaying mask. Seeing the old Leila Grey start to shine through like the crack of light underneath a doorway was both exhilarating and terrifying. How long did she have?
A pin poked into my thought bubble when I felt Leila's hand lightly press to my face. She cupped my cheek, thumb grazing the skin so tentatively. The intimacy between us was foreign – but certainly more than welcome. My lids involuntarily fluttered shut as I revelled in the contact.
"I love you," I breathed, my own hand reaching upwards to lay upon the back of hers.
She froze and for a moment I thought my words had frightened her. "I know you do, Stripes."
I knew she loved me too, I knew it. She just couldn't say it yet but I would take what I could get.
"I feel dizzy."
My gaze flickered up to meet hers and nausea hit me when I noticed blood begin to trickle from her nostril. The blood was black.
"It's okay, Leila, you can fight this, you–"
"Look!" she cries weakly, interrupting my ramblings. Finger extended, she straightens up in her seat to point ahead of us.
I turn to witness what she is pointing at but frown when all I see is what appears to be an abandoned warehouse. "What?"
The next three words to leave her lips before she passes out and falls from the jeep leave me breathless. "It's the lab."
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So sorry this has taken so long, I've been super busy with my other books since Killer Kisses (being renamed) is being published and I'm working on a new Larry fic which will be out soon. Also apologies for the short chapter - this book has nearly reached its end! :( Thank you for reading, don't forget to vote and comment! <3
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Gory Glory // l.t au
Fanfiction"Please tell me what's going on," I didn't bother to hide the pleading tone in my words. I was desperate and terrified. "Let me enlighten you," she began, extending her hand out for me to shake. "Hi, I'm Leila Grey, and this is the end of the world"...
