She'd survived change. She'd survived heartbreak. Now she has to survive one more fight for survival.
Ava Delaney was normal once upon a time, but then she met a boy and she fell in love. Then she kept his secret and fell into his world. She became...
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By the time Jared and I headed to his house later that evening he was still giving me the silent treatment. I couldn't understand why he was so angry with me.
All of the Archaics were waiting for us in the living room as we entered the house. Everyone greeted me with a smile, all except for Jennifer. I wondered if she would ever warm up to me, but I wasn't going to hold my breath.
My eyes landed on Andrew. I was a little surprised to see him. He knew our secret and he was now a member of our group so he also had a right to know what was going on.
Catherine gave me a friendly smile as I sat down in an open chair. It was the first time I'd seen her since our betrayal. I wondered if Jared had forgiven her. He could get another girlfriend but he couldn't exactly get another mother. I smiled back at her.
Jared didn't stand by me like he did when we were together; instead, he stood on the opposite side of the room. The Archaic knew the truth about us pretend-dating so there was no need to keep up the charade. Andrew was the only one who still believed we were genuinely back together but he'd find out the truth.
"I called this meeting so we could discuss Emma," Jared began to talk. He had everyone's undivided attention. He had a natural ability to command attention.
"Have we managed to find her yet?" he asked, directing it at Nathaniel. Nathaniel shook his head.
"She is supposed to be staying at a rented house with her parents but there is no one there. There is no trace of anything--the house is completely empty," he admitted, obviously not liking the fact he had no answers. I wondered how they knew where she was supposed to be living.
"Doesn't she have a phone we can track?" Jared tried a different direction.
Danny shook his head, and said, "She doesn't have a phone."
How did she not have a one in this day and age? Nothing. They had no idea where she was and had no way of being able to track her down.
An uneasy silence descended, with everyone trying to come up with alternative ideas on a way to find her.
Unexpectedly, the doorbell rang. Jared stiffened. I wondered who it could be? Jared walked out of the living room followed by Tyler, his backup in case there was an unwelcome visitor on the other side of the door. I stayed where I was and waited anxiously with the rest of the group.
I heard the door open and then all hell broke loose. I heard a commotion from the hallway and watched Danny quickly go to see what was happening. I heard Jared say, "I can't find a pulse."
Unable to help myself, I rose from my chair and rushed into the hallway. What I saw wasn't what I'd expected. Jared, Tyler and Danny were all bent around a girl's body lying on the floor. I couldn't see who it was from where I stood. Unease filled me as I stepped closer. Please don't let it be Stacy, I chanted in my head as I took another step toward them.
"Can you find a pulse yet?" I heard Jared ask Tyler as they frantically tried to find life inside the girl's body.
"I think I have but it's so faint I can't be sure," Tyler answered desperately with his fingers to her wrist.
"What happened to her?" Danny asked what we all wanted to know. From what I could see there were no obvious signs of trauma to her body. I took the last step and with one last chant in my head I looked at the features of the lifeless girl who lay in the hallway. It was Emma. She looked so pale, she looked like death had her firmly in its clutches.
"I don't know," Jared replied, shoving his hair away from his face as he leaned over her face. "I don't think she's breathing."
She was dead. But was that possible if she was a synthetic Hue? If she'd been hit by a blast of energy that she couldn't heal from there would be evidence of it but there was nothing. What could leave her lifeless without a mark on her body? Then in a moment of realization I knew what was wrong and what we needed to do to save her life.
"She's been drained--you need to give her Archaic energy, she needs to be altered!" I said desperately as I fell to my knees beside Jared. Jared glanced back at me and for a moment our eyes met before he turned his attention back to Emma. She was so pale, I wondered if that was what I'd looked like when I'd been altered, and now I understood why Jared had been so scared I wouldn't make it.
"Everyone, back," Jared instructed. Everyone pulled their hands from her body quickly as Jared placed his hands on her chest. I watched the Archaic energy flow from his hands into her body, and I glanced at Jared and watched the concentration in his face as he pushed his energy into her.
I knew it was wrong but I couldn't help the stab of jealousy that pierced my fragile heart at the thought Jared's energy flowing into her. Feeling disgusted with myself, I stood up and backed away from the scene in front of me.
Her life was more important than my heartbreak. I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder and glanced to watch Andrew pull me into his side as we continued to watch Jared fight to save Emma.
All eyes watched Jared work on Emma. After a few minutes I could see Jared weaken by the energy fading as it flowed into Emma. Sweat slid down the side of his face as he tried to give her as much energy as he could before it became too much and he lifted his hand from her body. Nathaniel caught him as he slumped to the side. He laid him down gently beside Emma.
He didn't look good, and I hoped he hadn't expelled too much of his energy. If he did, no amount of healing was going to pull him through this. I rushed to his side and hovered over him as Nathaniel began to heal him. Emma was forgotten as I kept my attention firmly on the boy I loved. His labored breathing eased and after a few minutes I could see his breathing become easier. Relief washed over me.
Catherine bent down to take over from Nathaniel when he pushed away from Jared. She didn't have to heal him for too long before I watched his eyes open. Relief flooded through me as I watched him stir. He tried to sit up as sweat slid down his forehead.
"You need to take it easy," his mom advised as she helped him sit up. His eyes locked with mine and held for a moment. Then he turned to look at Emma who was still lying, unmoving, on the floor. My heart sank to the floor.
"How is she?" he asked Tyler, who was trying to find a pulse with his fingers pressed to her throat. A minute passed and then I saw relief in Tyler's face as he said, "She has a pulse."
We'd managed to save her. Or rather Jared had managed to save her.
Jared's eyes caught mine. "You saved her life," he said. What did he mean by that? He'd been the one to put his energy into her.
"I didn't, you did," I said, stating the obvious.
"If you hadn't realized she needed to be altered she would've died," he explained, still watching me.
I didn't like her but that didn't mean I wanted her to die. We also didn't know if she was a willing participant in all of this. Hopefully we would be able to find out more when she woke up.
