Rebirth

This needs to end

I was sick and tired of the dreams. I wanted to get out. I've been injected with sage more times than I could count. My crime? Talking.

"Nina?", I breathed out.

"Shh", she whispered.

"But-"

She cut me off, "Patience. A few more injections and you will die. I don't want my brother to go through that again"

"Again?"

"Not the time. There is always a way out", she said before passing out. I leaned against the wall. More sage was injected in her, compared to me. I closed my eyes and tried to rest.

"You know what happened to her?", the same horrifying voice asked.

"You know how he killed her?"

"Don't you want to know the truth about the monster you are supporting?"

"Don't you want to feel the pain of knowing you are on the wrong side?"

"He will kill you. No matter what"

"Trusting him is equivalent to digging a grave for yourself"

The same statements repeated on a loop. I was tired of the dreams. I was tired of the statements. I was tired of the voice. The only thing I wasn't tired of was getting to see Ketan in my dreams.

"Ladies, wake up", a voice whispered.

"Not again!", I groaned.

"Shh. Do you want to get us killed?", the man whispered.

"Who are you?", I whisper shouted.

"I helped Nina escape last time. I will lead you out. The dinosaur's eyes are elsewhere"

"Dinosaur?", I breathed out a laugh.

"Yeah, well, both are ruthless killing machines. Try to get up and follow me", he said.

"I'm chained", I sighed.

"I'm not stupid. I unlocked them. Now hurry up"

"Who are you?"

"Do you want answers or escape?", he asked annoyed.

"Escape", I whispered.

"Great. Too much sage was injected into Nina. I will lead the way to forest. Pick her up and run as fast as you can. You are too weak but I think you can make it before sunrise", he explained.

I pulled Nina over my shoulders. The man held my hand to navigate out of this miserable place. Even though I was a vampire, I couldn't see in that place. Maybe something else was injected along with sage.

We kept walking and occasionally running. I felt the fresh and cold breeze on my skin. That's when I realised we reached the forest. I blinked a few times and tried to focus. I could see trees around me. A smile made its way to my lips.

"How dare you?!", I heard a growl from behind.

The man left my hand. I couldn't figure out if it was dream or reality. Either way, I didn't budge. "Listen closely. I can't help you anymore. I want to you run diagonally to your right. When you reach a big hollow tree, I want you to run diagonally to your left. Understood?", he said quickly.

"First diagonal to my right, reach a big hollow tree, then diagonal to my left. Got it. Thank you for everything", I whispered.

"Reach home safe. I will handle him"

"Thank you and I'm sorry you went through this trouble for us", I said quickly before taking off in the direction he told me to go, without waiting for a reply.

"I will find you and when I do, I will kill you", I heard a faint growl from behind. I didn't care. I kept running. I started seeing better as the effect of sage was slowly fading away. I could run better too.

It wasn't long before Nina's body started burning my neck and shoulder. I winced in pain but didn't stop running. I wanted to stop, catch my breath but I knew it would only put us in danger.

I was starting to wonder if I'm going in the wrong direction when I spotted a big tree at a distance. I ran faster towards the tree. Sure enough, there was a huge hole in its trunk. I smiled to myself before turning left and speeding.

I heard a faint whimper. "We escaped. We are going to be fine", I said with a big smile on my face even though she couldn't see it.

"L-Leave me", she croaked out.

"What? No. I didn't carry you all the way here to leave", I slowed down a little, catching my breath.

"Too much sage. Can't stay alive", she whispered faintly.

"I'm not leaving you. If we reach home, we reach home together", I declared. She didn't reply. I could hear her heart beating faintly. Her breath evened out. She fell asleep or fainted.

I looked around and realised that I was only a few minutes away from home. That gave me the energy to increase my speed for the last few minutes. The problem was, it would only take those few minutes till sunrise.

I ran towards home with all the energy I had left. Nina let out an ear piercing scream. That's when I realised that sun was up. It wouldn't be long before both of us get incinerated to dust.

My skin started burning as my vision got clouded. This is it. The end. I collapsed on the ground and Nina fell sideways. All the memories of the past two months came rushing to me.

I remembered the first time I met Ketan. I thought it was crazy that I thought he was hot. Now I know it's not crazy. He was my mate. I couldn't spend more time with him when I had the chance. I feel bad about it. I guess it's fine. Whatever moments we shared, they were special. I'm happy that we had the chance to know each other.

I felt someone throw something on me. "I'm sorry", I heard the faint voice of a man before everything went blank.

______

Where was I? The last thing I remember was running. I was running towards home with Nina over my shoulders.

"Please be back", I heard a voice. It was Ketan. "I can't handle losing another person I love", his voice cracked. I tried to get up or open my eyes but I couldn't. I could feel someone wrap their hands around my body.

With a lot of struggle, I managed to open my eyes. Ketan leaned against the bed and hugged me. I dragged my hand and placed it on him.

He moved up and looked at me with wide eyes. I gave him a smile. He quickly recovered and kissed me passionately.

"I can't tell you how happy I am that you are back", he smiled, cupping my face.

"Your kiss gave it away", I chuckled.

He smiled and hugged me tight.