Archaic (28 page)

The reality was that the odds were against us. I wanted to be able to wrap my arms around him one last time. I wanted to thread my hands through his raven-black hair and kiss him. There were so many things I still wanted to do.

"I want to tell you how we've planned the altering," he said softly. "I want you to know so that you are prepared when it happens. We decided to perform the altering out in the clearing as soon as you enter the next emotionless state. Nathaniel will be the one to drain the energy from you. We chose him because he has had more experience than anybody else, and I can't drain you. I don't want to take the chance that draining the Hue energy from you might taint my Archaic energy. I'm worried that if my Archaic energy is tainted the altering might not be successful. We're taking every precaution to make sure we do it right."

A pity there wasn't a manual that came with instructions about this whole thing. It would take the guessing out of the equation. A checklist would be even better. I trusted Jared's judgment, though, and if he thought Nathaniel was the person to drain me, then I trusted Nathaniel to do it.

All of my muscles ached; I felt battered and bruised. Jared couldn't heal me, but surely my body would have started to heal itself already. Within all of my pain, I felt hunger. Maybe my body was struggling to heal because I was low on energy.

"Once he's certain he has drained you to the brink of death, I'll push all of my energy into you. It's going to be crucial that we get it right. I know it's going to be painful," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion, "but I need you to pull through."

He paused.

"I
need
you to survive."

I squeezed his hand. The pain increased, and the last thought on my mind before I gave in to the darkness was that I didn't want to die.

The agony the next time I woke up was worse. Emotionally, I was numb; I'd entered an emotionless state. Mason. I needed him like my life depended on it. It was agony, the burning desire to find him and touch him.

I was too weak to move. All I managed to do was moan. My eyelids felt like they were glued closed, so I couldn't open them.

A hand reached for mine. As the fingers touched my skin, I could feel my skin burn beneath the touch. It was so painful. It took all my strength to pull my hand away as I moaned louder.

I heard a shuffle in the room.

Someone wrapped me tightly in the comforter from the bed. They were careful not to touch my skin.

I knew what was coming, but I was too weak to fight. If I couldn't even lift my head, how could I possibly try and escape? It wasn't an option. The burning need increased. It got so bad that I gasped out loud from the pain.

Someone put their arm under my shoulders and another arm under my knees and lifted me off the bed. I heard multiple footsteps as they carried me down the stairs. They were taking me to the clearing for the altering. I felt the cool air brush my face as I was carried out of the house. It probably meant that it was early evening already.

I felt them lay me down on a cold leather seat. They'd put me in the back seat of a car. The only sound came from the constant moaning escaping my lips. I was in agony, and it was getting worse.

Nobody said anything. I knew from the sound of footsteps and the sound of activity in the car that there was more than one person with me. I couldn't do anything else but lie on the back seat and moan. Someone started up the car and I could feel it pull away and drive. I knew where we were going.

Everyone was silent for the journey to the clearing. I didn't know why no one was talking. Maybe they were too nervous to try and make pointless conversation. Once the car stopped, I heard someone open the door and I felt someone lift me up off the back seat and carry me out of the car.

From the smell of the trees and the dampness of the grass and soil, I could tell that we were headed to the clearing. Still the only sound was the soft moan that was emanating from me.

We walked for a little while and when they stopped I was put down on the ground. Someone unwrapped the comforter. I lay on the comforter on the ground in the clearing, moaning as they prepared to start the altering.

"We need to start," Tyler announced. I remembered Jared telling me that they needed to perform the altering when I was in an emotionless state. They couldn't waste any time, then, as the altering needed to be done before my emotions returned.

"I just need a minute with her before we start," Jared said.

I heard Jared crouch down beside me on the grass in the clearing. I then felt Jared's breath brush over my face.

"Remember your promise," he whispered to me. No one else could hear what he was saying to me. I knew he wanted to touch me, but he knew that if he did he would cause me physical pain.

But I felt nothing for him; I only wanted Mason. The agony of the separation from Mason was increasing in intensity. I needed to touch him, and I didn't know if I could cope with the pain anymore. If it got any worse I would beg them to kill me. I couldn't take it much longer.

As I lay on the ground in the clearing, I knew they were about to begin with the altering.

I only wanted Mason at that point. I wanted to feel his hand holding mine. The pain needed to end. He wouldn't be able to find me. I knew this. I was too weak. The signal from the Hue energy we shared was too weak. This time he wouldn't come. This time I was alone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

I lay on the ground in the clearing, waiting for them to start.

"Tyler and Danny, hold him and don't let him go until I tell you. I can't take the chance he will try to stop me if he sees her get worse," Nathaniel instructed.

"We've got him," Tyler replied.

In that moment I hated the Archaic and what they were doing to me against my will.

"I'm going to start to drain you, Ava," I heard Nathaniel say to me. Didn't he know that I didn't care? I felt nothing. None of this mattered to me. All I wanted was the connection I had with Mason. That was the only thing that mattered to me.

I felt Nathaniel place his one hand on my forehead, and the other hand on mine. My skin started to burn, and then I could feel the gentle pull of energy through the connection of our skin. Unable to pull away or struggle, I groaned as I became weaker. As I weakened the moaning stopped. As the energy began to leave my body so did the pain and the burning need for Mason. I was entirely numb. The desperate need slowly vanished with my energy. I didn't need him anymore, and for a brief, relieving moment there was no pain.

I breathed.

My heartbeat began to slow. I could feel the physical effects of the drain of energy on my body. I was dying, and my body was beginning to shut down. My breathing became shorter and a new pain began to spread through my body. I could feel my whole body start to slow down as I gasped for breath. I couldn't breathe. I was going to die.

My blood slowed in my veins.

In an echo, as if in a dream, I heard someone say, "Let him go."

I felt the pain disappear and then I felt nothing. I was finally free of the pain, I thought. I was wrong.

A sharp stab of agony entered my chest. The pain increased as the energy pushed into my broken body. I couldn't move and I couldn't utter a word as the searing pain from the new energy entering my body intensified until I thought I was going to die.

It felt like an electrical current jolting through my body, making my body spasm uncontrollably.

The darkness of death surrounded me and I wanted give in. But I'd promised Jared I would fight. As the energy spread from my chest to the different parts of my body, so did the spasming pain. There were no words to describe the agony that spread through nearly every inch of my battered body.

It felt like every single cell in my body was being jolted with the energy. I wanted to scream and never stop, but I couldn't make a sound. Just when I thought the pain couldn't get any worse, it did, until finally its intensity remained constant.

"Please, you promised me," I heard Jared plead before the darkness descended.

I drifted back into consciousness. The reason I knew that was because I could feel the pain again. It was agony.

"Ava, can you hear me?" I heard Jared whisper. I couldn't answer him back because I couldn't move and I couldn't feel anything on the outside of my body. Every particle of my being inside felt alive, like electricity vibrating in me.

How long had I been out? I didn't know how much longer I could take this. I wanted to beg for someone to stop the pain. It was too much.

Time ticked by. The only thing I could concentrate on was the agony that spasmed inside of me. It didn't feel like it was easing up at all. I didn't know how long I'd been wrestling with this indescribable pain. I lay there, wishing for the pain to stop, but it was pointless because it was unending.

Jared whispered comforting words to me and I held on to the sound of his voice, like a beacon of light in the darkest storm.

The next time I regained consciousness, the pain was still there, but it had eased slightly. It was still a throbbing pain pulsating in my body. I tried to move my hand. It moved, and then I felt a hand holding my other hand.

I opened my eyes. It was dark. My eyes took a while to adjust to the darkness as I scanned the room. It was Jared's bedroom. I could see him sitting in a chair next to my bed. He was sleeping. He looked exhausted. I tried to sit up, but the pain was too much and I felt a wave of dizziness so I lay back down.

For a few minutes, I lay there and watched Jared sleep. He looked so peaceful. I held his hand tightly. It was comforting to touch him. I slowly brushed my thumb over the side of his hand. While I was watching Jared, I drifted off to sleep.

It must have been a while later because the next time I woke up, the sun was shining through the open curtains.

The pain had been replaced with an ache. Everything ached.

"Ava." It was Jared. He was awake and he was still sitting in the chair next to my bed.

I looked at him.

The sight of him warmed my heart.

He looked relieved as he grasped my hand with both of his. I tried to move, but I was still sore. Every muscle felt stiff with even the slightest movement. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath.

I'd survived. It had been a miracle. A miracle I had desperately needed. Tears gathered and slid down the sides of my face. They were tears of relief.

"It's okay," he soothed while he brushed my tears away. "You're going to be fine."

He pressed a brief kiss to my forehead. I still couldn't believe I'd survived and that I was going to be okay.

"You survived," he whispered. He pressed a light kiss to my lips. It felt like heaven.

"I want to heal you but I'm scared of what effect it will have on the altering," he explained. I understood. Besides, the pain was gone now. I was still sore, but that was nothing compared to what I had endured.

"Did it work?" I whispered faintly. I hoped it had worked because I couldn't do it again. I wasn't strong enough to go through that again. If I'd known how bad it was going to be, I wouldn't have been able to do it in the first place.

"We think so."

Good.

"Tired," I whispered to Jared.

"Sleep. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here when you wake up," he soothed as he pressed another kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes and let exhaustion claim me.

It was dark the next time I woke up. Soft light illuminated from the side lamp on the side table next to the bed.

"Hey," I heard Jared say. True to his word, he'd stayed with me. His beautiful green eyes lit up and he smiled at me.

"Hey," I said.

I tried to sit up. I felt Jared hold me up by my upper arms and position me sitting up against the headboard of his bed.

"Thanks."

"You still need to take it easy," he instructed.

My throat was sore.

"Here," he said, handing me some water, and I took a few sips. The coolness soothed the dryness in my throat.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his eyes searching mine.

"Much better," I said.

When I remembered how bad the pain had been, I shuddered. I didn't want to ever think about that again. I wanted to lock that memory in a deep hidden part of my mind and never relive it again.

My eyes drifted down to the wrist I remembered cutting. The skin looked perfect. There was no mark at all.

"I want to see myself," I said to Jared when I remembered cutting my throat.

"Are you strong enough to walk?" he questioned with concern.

"Yes," I said.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see.

When I looked down, I noticed that someone had changed me into my pajamas. I swung my legs around to the side of the bed and tried to stand up. Jared steadied me and put his arm around my waist as he helped me walk slowly to the bathroom.

He switched on the bathroom light as we stepped inside. He walked me over to the mirror. I held on to the bathroom counter below the mirror.