Acteon Syndicate

Chapter 11: True Worth

Allis awoke in her bed at Ground Zero.
"Hey, you're awake!" Daniel cheered. "She's awake, Annalee, Rand, she's awake!"
Allis winced as she lifted her pant leg. Blood and peroxide stained her skin around a large bite mark on her lower leg. "Shit, that hurts."
"Allis, when I told you a bite wasn't that bad, I didn't mean for you to go and get bit." Rand joked as he sat on her bed by her feet.
"I killed it, though. That's good, I suppose." Allis dropped her pant leg. "How long have I been out?"
"Two days." Annalee replied. "Don't worry, we haven't had any missions. A Blood Howler was probably not the best choice for your first time. Next time-"
"Next time?" Allis asked with a groan. "I nearly died, and you want me to go out again?"
Annalee lowered her head. "I thought-"
"You thought, what? That I wanted to die, that I want to screw up every mission?"
"Allis, don't you think you're being a little hard on Annalee? She has done nothing but worry about you for the past two days." Rand said.
"I'm sorry, Lissi." Annalee cried. "I'm sorry that I put you in harm's way. I'll, uh, go report that Inise is all right." Annalee hung her head and walked away.
"Is it even worth it? Is it even worth going out on missions, won't that make me lose my innocence?" Allis asked.
"No." Daniel answered. "You are the innocent because you weren't exposed from the time you were born. We were born into this, raised by it. You weren't. That's what make you the innocent. Whether you realise it or not, Allis, in the days we've known you, all three of us have grown to care about you like family. It's wrong to treat Annalee that way."
Rand stood and shook his head. "Whether or not the missions are worth it, that is up to you. But, every time I sit behind that screen and watch my best friend, and the girl I love walk out that door, I know it is worth it. If you hadn't been bitten, odds are, that teacher and that janitor would have died from 'mysterious circumstances.' Just as Daniel and Annalee would have. You ask if the fight is worth it. A great author once wrote: 'Sometimes, a fight you cannot win is still worth fighting."