Last Fae

Chapter 4 ~ Cause & Effect

"Kat?" My grin dissolved as I watched her standing, free, on the other side of the bars, her folded white lab coat hanging over her arm, and a pen threaded through her high pony tail. Beside her another young woman, wearing her lab coat buttoned neatly all the way down to her knees. She held a clipboard and a pencil, but her eyes were glued to the woman at her side like she was an eager student ready to take notes at a moments notice. "What are you doing here?" I could feel the all the eyes swivel my way as the words leapt from my lips.

Someone scoffed under their breath and I could only assume it was Jasmine as my eyes remained glued to my best friend who was smiling apologetically at me through the bars of the cell I was starting to think she had put me in.

"Hey, Del," She stepped forward and curled her fingers around the bars as she lent in closer, "I'm really sorry we had to bring you in. I promise it shouldn't be for too long though. I just couldn't let you lead the other Mythics here. I know you didn't think you'd find them but we couldn't take that chance. We have almost perfected the cure for you though. A couple more trials and I think it'll be ready for you to use safely." I inhaled deeply, trying to calm the churning in my stomach.

"You kidnapped all these people? And experimented on them? To find a cure for me?" I could feel the contents of my stomach fighting to crawl its way back up my oesophagus. I couldn't stop my eyes from drifting back across to Tia, her small frame still shuddering as she watched us with wide eyes.

"Well, admittedly they aren't all for your cure." She lifted one shoulder and sent me a sheepish grin, "At first they were. We needed a few guinea pigs to do trials on. But then we started to notice other differences in your blood. Things that could revolutionise human health. Professor McMilla thinks it could be the key to curing cancer, preventing ageing and we don't even know what else! Delilah, we could win a Nobel Prize! Can you imagine?" Her face lit up as she spoke, her hands weaving meaningless patterns in the air. Did she not see how wrong this was? "Kat, please just let us go."

"Us? Del you're not one of them! Of course I'm going to let you go. As soon as we cure you, you're free to live your human life. But everyone else is staying. We can't risk letting any of them go until we have the data we need and can show it to the world. What does it matter anyway? You hate them."

"No one deserves this."

"They slaughtered your family! Destroyed an entire race and turned you into one of them. Of course they deserve this. They deserve worse." How could she not see it? It was my life the Mythics had destroyed and I could see it. How was the kind, caring best friend that I had spent so many years laughing with be so cavalier with peoples lives? Was I like that? Is this what Kellan thought of me when he'd asked me for help and I'd refused.

"I can't believe you've done this," I murmur, more to myself than Kat at this point. All of this was my fault. No matter which way I looked at it. I'd told Kat about Mythics. I'd asked her to help me find a cure. I'd flooded her with hatred for Mythics. It was all me.

"Del, how else was I supposed to test your cure?" She questions like somehow understanding this would make it all better. Like I was missing the simplest piece of information. "It's not like I could just test them on you. The first few test subjects died!" I barely manged to lean past my crossed legs before my stomach contracted with a heave. Bile dripped from my lips, my stomach long empty. The powerful spasms shook my entire being pausing the scramble of thoughts in my mind as I struggled to gasp a breath in between. My vision blurred and pain seared its way up my arms and down my spine.

"Calm down," The deep rasping voice from my side jolted me back from a precipice I hadn't realised I was slipping from, "Breathe. If you shift now, the silver will likely kill you." I forced long ragged breaths from my lungs until the blur that was Kat's face cleared.

"You killed them?" I gasped, struggling to wrap my mind around the concept.

"Yes. But Del it was for you. For Science! What's a couple of dead Mythics really, in the grand scheme of things? Think of what we could accomplish. We've almost found you a cure already." I clenched my fists, my nails bit deep into my palms, breaking the skin. Jasper shuffled beside me.

"You'll never change her mind. You need to try another tactic." He growled under his breath, quiet enough that Kat wouldn't hear. I knew he was right, but my eyes were seeing my best friend and my ears were hearing a monster. I had no idea how to reconcile the two.

"Any chance you'll let me out of the cell at least?" I pleaded, hoping against hope that she'd agree. At least out of chains, I might stand a chance. She smiled softly and shook her head. "Sorry, Del. I just can't risk it. But I promise the cure is almost ready. We're doing another trial after this, and depending how that goes it could be only hours or days away. I'm so glad you asked me to help you with this Del. Really. You changed my life." Maybe, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't for the better. She stepped away from the bars and strode on with a brief wave, her ever ready companion by her side. And I was left to face the accusing glares of my cell mates.