storm ◇ jasper hale ◇

chapter thirty-nine ; awake

It was quiet. A constant stream of silence. It was peaceful and helped to forget the burning in his veins.

He'd been on fire. He was Madej, that was his name. Something had happened, and then all he'd known was hellfire. Every single cell of his had been torn apart, burned into nothing. Yet he was still there. Was he alive? Or was he in limbo?

It took a moment for him to realise he was awake, that the burning had stopped. His chest felt heavy, almost. He realised he didn't need to breathe, didn't have a pulse., couldn't feel his heart beating There was an ache in his throat, an itch he couldn't get rid of.

He sat up, feeling something akin to grogginess. He looked down at his legs, seeing clothes he didn't own. He could see the fibres in intricate detail, could see dust mites floating through the air, and the realisation came to him.

He'd been turned into a vampire.

The last thing he could recall before the burn - it was more than a burn, more than he could describe - he'd been on the road, dying. Dominic had died, and Madej thought he'd be joining him in death, thought he'd be joining his brother and grandpa once more.

He was sat on a table. Why was he on a table?

Madej looked down at himself, realised someone had braided his hair, that his clothes really were not his own, so someone had to have changed his clothes for him. There was a bite mark on his right wrist, and he wondered if it was just that one, or if there were more covering his body. He could smell something and looked to the left to see his mom and Benedict standing there, worry lining their faces, hope in their eyes.

"Madej," Mandy said, but it didn't reach his ears. He frowned, hands going to his ears, only to find his hearing aids weren't there as he got off the table.

Shouldn't the change have healed his hearing?

"I can't hear you," he said, feeling the way the words came out of his throat, unable to hear them; and he saw the heartbreak on his mother's face, saw the detail, could see the way it happened all slow and agonising.

Mandy repeated his name, and then she was rushing to him, her warm arms wrapping around his cold body. He was careful with her, putting his arms around her nervously. Madej knew how strong vampires were, how strong new ones were. She could break easily, and he was terrified of hurting her.

He looked over her shoulder to his brother. Benedict was crying, and Madej could smell the salty tears.

"Why can't I hear?" he asked, and his mom pulled away from him, then put her hands on the sides of his face. She rested her forehead against his, warm breath fanning over his face as she spoke. Golden light illuminated the two of them, and then she jerked away from him like she'd gotten an electric shock.

'Dominic cursed you,' she signed with shaky hands. Behind her, Benedict had covered his face, turned away from Madej as he started to sob. 'Old magic. Magic is stronger than vampire venom, and ...' Madej connected the dots, but didn't want it to be real.

"I'm stuck like this?" he asked, finishing his mother's sentence. "He cursed me, and now I'm stuck without my hearing?" He looked at his mother, eyes wide and scared. "Mom,"

'I'm sorry,' she signed, then wiped at her face, and looked to Benedict, talking to him. Madej never learned to lip-read. He'd had his hearing aids, never felt the need to pick up the skill. He felt alone as he watched them talk, left out and unsure.

The itching ache in his throat had yet to go away.

Madej wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He felt almost volatile. He felt like he was in pain from that goddamn itch in his throat, and he tried to ignore how it meant he was supposed to start drinking blood.