Generation Gem

The Emerald Generation

As we rattled along at high speed in the cart, I hoped with everything I had that Jamie would be OK until we reached the Emerald Generation. He had to be. There was no other option. I saw Mel glance at me. I managed a weak smile and a huge sigh. I studied my heavily bandaged hand from what seemed a lifetime ago when I took the ruby necklace off. I remembered how Jamie had been so patient and kind as he had wrapped my injuries up. He was too special to be killed by a bunch of ghosts. I unwrapped the bandages slowly, surprised to see that my wounds had healed.

"I'm sorry for blaming you for Drews death. It just hit me so hard. One minute, I don't have a family, then I have a brother. Next minute I don't. It is going to stay with me forever, but it wasn't your fault, I didn't mean what I said."

I appreciated Mels apology, but I didn't feel like I deserved one.

"It's OK. Drew was lovely. He really was. I'm so sorry he's been erased."

"Like I said, it's not your fault Cassie. But the other thing I have to tell you is that Jamie will survive. I know he will. And as soon as he's awake, you need to tell him how you feel. You can't waste any of these moments. We don't know how much longer any of us have left."

I shrugged, easily. Me being killed didn't mean a thing if Jamie was already dead.

"We don't know that he's going to live." I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath, trying to compose myself. I opened them to see Mel was still looking at me. "And if he does....he...well, me telling him...stuff....that will be the last thing he wants to hear."

Mel flicked her short platinum hair back and put her feet up against the dashboard.

"Oh don't be so silly. He wants to hear it, trust me. And he feels the same. So if you want to live the rest of your life never knowing what love could be, then that's up to you. But I recommend you do it. You have nothing to lose."

I was just about to ask how she knew that Jamie felt the same when the blood cart screeched to a halt. I jumped out, running to the back to check on Jamie. He was still alive but deathly pale. I needed him to wake up. I had to see his big brown eyes staring at me with that look that could melt even the frostiest of hearts. I raised an eyebrow as Mel grabbed a few bags of blood from the cart and downed them hungrily, her eyes flashing as she did. When she was done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and shrugged.

"What? I haven't eaten for ages."

"Well now you have, we need to get Jamie seen to. Remember what Maisie said, if we don't get him help quick, he will die."

Mel nodded and lifted Jamie over her shoulder as easy as if he were a bag of feathers. Just like in the diamond afterlife, the cart had stopped outside The Emeralds entrance. I walked ahead of Mel to open the door, gasping at what I saw when I did.

The Diamond Generation had been creepy, the Rubies world had been modern and red, but this place...this was magical. I looked around in wonder at fields of green and little blue rivers with pebbled bridges. In the distance, huge castles. The colours of everything were so vivid and bright that you didn't know where to look first. At Pearl Eds, when we had learnt about the old human way of life, we discovered there had been something called fairytales. Looking out at the grass and castles and pretty little houses, it was the only way I could describe this generation. When you entered the vampire world, ruby red stones littered the roads, there were so many rubies that it began to hurt your eyes after a while. In the afterlife, the ghosts themselves were so pale and silver that they were the diamonds. In this world, there were emeralds dotted here and there, making everything sparkling and pretty, but not overwhelmingly so. I bent down to pick one up, soon realising it was a mistake as my hand started to burn up.