Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls Series, Book 3) (3 page)

“Have you ever seen them in groups before?”
he asks, leaning to the side and catching my eye, his expression
unemotional. “The beasts, I mean?”

I shake my head. “I’ve only seen two and
they were by themselves.”

“Where did they come from?” he wonders. “I
mean, I’ve never seen one before, so why all of a sudden? And why
were they running in packs like that?”

“I’m not sure… maybe Monarch and Gabrielle
are creating them now. That would explain the sudden onset of
them.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because of the cells. There was blood and
scratches all over inside them... and I heard stuff… horrible
stuff…” I trail off, trying not to shudder because it’d make me
look weak. “I think that they may have been creating them there and
I think they might be using them as weapons, like they send them
out to attack or something.”

Since I’m divulging everything right now, I
decide to let him in on everything, unsure how he’ll react. “Aiden,
there’s something I need to tell you about Sylas… when he was
attacked by Dominic… he was… he was bit. He started changing into…”
I shut my eyes and force a lump down my throat. “Something else
when we were captured by the Highers. I’m not sure
what
he
is right now.” When I finish, I open my eyes.

“So you’re saying he’s going to turn into
one of those monsters?” he asks, his voice tight.

“You sound upset.”

“Because I am,” he replies, his jaw set
tightly.

“But I thought you hated him.”

“I don’t hate him.” He looks at me and I see
honesty burning in his eyes. “Just because he’s done some things in
the past that I think are wrong, it doesn’t mean that I don’t care
about him. Besides, I wouldn’t want anyone to have to become one of
those things.” He starts walking again and I follow him.

My thoughts drift to Sylas as silence
settles between Aiden and I. I can’t help thinking of the kiss
Sylas and I shared before we were captured in the cells. The way
his lips felt against mine, the strange emotions I had, how much I
liked it, how much I want to do it again,
feel
all those
things again. Anger swells inside me. Sylas shouldn’t have to
suffer.

You don’t want to kiss him again… you
just think you do.
I kick a rock in my path and it flies up in
the air, almost hitting Aiden in the back.

Wait a minute, Aiden.

Rushing up behind him, I quickly snatch hold
of the back of his shirt and jerk him to a stop. Then, I tug him
around to face me. “You never told me what the hell was going on
back there.” I point over my shoulder. “When you were trying to
kiss me… it felt like you were putting thoughts into my head, like
you were trying to manipulate my thoughts.”

He smiles at me arrogantly and I have to
resist the urge to slap him. “I was just trying to help you. Deep
down inside, you really want to be with me and so I was giving you
a little push.”

I shake my head and shove him out of my way,
stepping around him and heading for the cave that’s in the rocky
cliff not too far from here. “I’m warning you now, never to do that
again or you’ll pay,” I threaten, however I’m not sure if I really
mean it.

“I’m sorry,” he says, but I can hear the
smile in his voice. “It worked so well on the guards that I wanted
to test it on you. I’d never force you to do anything and I would
have stopped it if I thought you didn’t really want to.” He catches
up with me and captures my gaze. “Do you forgive me?”

I shrug because I’m not sure if I do or
not.

The cave rests in an area that is surrounded
by cliffs. The sun is almost rising by the time we reach the
entrance, which is blocked by a boulder to keep out the
vampires.

After we breezily climb up the side of the
hill, I slide the boulder out of the way then duck down and step
inside, Aiden following right behind me. He doesn’t bother closing
the entrance back up, since the sun will be up soon and the
abominations and vampires only come out at night.

Everyone is fast asleep in the back section
of the cave, but the noise we make ends up waking everyone. Maci
opens her eyes and immediately jumps up, squealing as she runs
towards me and wraps her arms around me. I awkwardly return her
enthusiastic hug, giving her a pat on the back.

Her eyes sparkle with excitement as she
pulls away. “Kayla, I knew you’d make it back alive, just like I
knew Aiden would save you. I really missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” I pat her on the head
then pry her arms away from me, so she skips off to hug Aiden.

I sit down on the dirt floor, lean my back
against the rock walls and shut my eyes, feeling Tristan’s eyes on
me from the corner of the cave.

“Where’s Sylas?” he asks.

I open my eyes and look at him for a moment,
wondering if I seem as different as he does. “He—”

Maci cuts me off, moving in front of me.
“Sylas is gone,” she announces sadly.

Greyson steps out from a dark corner of the
cave, his hands tucked in the pockets of his pants. His red hair is
sticking up all over the place and his brows are furrowed. “You
mean he is dead?” he asks Maci.

“No, not dead, just gone,” she says and then
whispers, “He’s something different now.”

Everyone looks at me, but all I can do is
stare at Maci.
Gone. Sylas is gone. I feel like I can’t
breath.

“What do you mean he’s something different,”
I ask Maci, getting to my feet.

“I mean he’s not a Day Taker,” she says
simply.

Aiden says something to me, but I can’t seem
to find my voice. He’s not a Day Taker anymore, which means what? I
think I know, but it hurts to admit it.

Sylas has become an abomination.

Chapter 4

Is he really one of those hideous
monsters? Will he be sent to kill us?
My thoughts make me sick
and the sensation only heightens when everyone simply stares at me,
as if they’re waiting for me to explain. But I can’t—won’t. I
refuse to accept it yet. I can’t breathe.

I swiftly get to my feet and head to the
entrance, walking into the daylight. I stop on the side of the
hill, breathing in the cool breeze, trying to erase the feelings
inside me, yet they remain.

Aiden walks towards me, but pauses at the
entrance where the shade and the light meet. Now that he has
changed into a Day Taker, he can’t step out into the sunlight. He’s
pretty much trapped inside that cave until sundown.

“Kayla, please relax,” he begs.

I don’t turn around. “Aiden, please leave me
alone… I just need a small break for a moment,” I tell him and then
hike further down the hill. I’m not sure where I’m going, only that
I need to move; clear my head for a moment.

I work my way to the side of the cliff until
I find a spot where I climb to the top of the hill easily. There’s
a small ledge above me and, using my arms, I heave myself on it
then continue to scale up the side until I arrive at the top. I sit
down on the peak and stare out at the ground below me. It looks so
beautiful, so serene from up here, not dark and twisted and full of
death like it really is. As if it’s a completely different place
with no vampires around, screeching and killing anything that gets
into their path. If I use my imagination, I can almost picture it
as peaceful. What would that be like? To live in a peaceful
world?

I shake my head and force my attention off
the land to my surroundings nearby. The ground below me is fairly
flat, but there are crevices that weave in and out of the surface
that drops down. If it was dark, those crevices would be death
traps.
Death. Sylas. He asked me to kill him and I didn’t. I let
him turn into a beast.

“Stop thinking about it,” I mutter to
myself.

My palms are sweaty and covered with dirt,
so I wipe them on my jeans to clean them off. There’s a small rock
on the ground next to my feet. I pick it up and throw it over the
side of the cliff, watching it fall until it hits the bottom and
breaks apart like I’m about to.

I can feel it. I can feel. My emotions are
going haywire and I don’t know how to turn them off.
God, what
the hell do I do?

“
You need to turn off your emotions,”
Monarch tells me. “They will ruin you—what you need to do.”

I watch as he urges a young boy behind the
red door, pushing on his back. The boy refuses to go, though, and
Monarch has to grab him and drag him in, his body leaving a trail
of blood on the floor as he disappears into the room.

“
What if I can’t?” I ask Monarch as he
stands in the doorway, wiping the blood off his hands onto his
white coat. “What if I don’t want to?”

He looks angry, but it’s quickly replaced by
calmness as he sighs. “I know that it’s difficult, Kayla, but you
have to remember it’s for the greater good. The cruelties you
suffer through will turn you into the strong person you need to
become.”

I know he’s probably right, but it feels
wrong. Still, even though it hurts, I bury the pain deep inside me;
shove it down into a box and lock it away inside. Then I turn
towards the red door, knowing what he wants me to do; preparing to
take my next victim because that’s what will make me become a
stronger person in the future.

The sound of rocks tumbling rips through the
memory and my eyes fly open. Springing to my feet, I span my arms
out to the sides and turn in a circle, searching the land and cliff
for any movement. There’s nothing around other than dirt and rocks,
so I brush the dirt off my pants then decide I should probably
return to the others and stop running away from the problem.

I trek back to the edge of the rock so I can
climb back down. Lowering my body, I ready to jump off the ledge,
knowing the fall won’t hurt me. But as I’m about to bend my knees,
I hear something.

Thump… Thump.

I pause and hear it again.

Thump... Thump.

I tense, crouched down, feeling movement
behind me. Someone or something is back there; something with a
heartbeat. I spin around to the side as I hear the noise again, but
I can’t see anything. I whirl in the other direction and hear the
thump again. It’s coming from the side of me, down in one of the
crevices in the rock.

I carefully make my way over to the edge,
keeping my senses on high alert. I can smell and taste the dirt,
feel the heat of the air, feel my hyperawareness as I peer down
into the crevice just over the edge.

The gap is rather deep and burrows down into
the rock, but I can see movement in its shadows.

Thump…Thump... Thump… Thump.

The rhythm is steady and strong; I’m almost
positive it’s human. “Whoever you are, show yourself,” I yell, my
voice echoing down into the gap in the rock

Fear is radiating off them—I can feel it—and
it makes me less afraid, if that makes any sense. I get down on my
stomach and stick my head into the gap. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt
you.”

A girl’s voice answers me, “How do I know
that you aren’t a monster trying to trick me?”

“If I was a monster, I’d be down in the
shadows with you,” I say, trying not to roll my eyes. “Not out in
the sun. I wouldn’t be talking to you, either.” I scoot closer to
the edge to try and get a better view of her.

“You have a point,” she yells up to me.
Rocks tumble down the hole as a figure starts to climb up the side
through the shadows.

When she reaches the top, I grab her hand
and pull her out of the hole. Standing up, I hoist her to her feet
and out into the sun.

She’s taller than me, although she’s about
my age. Her skin is tanner than mine and her hair is black and
coiled into small strands that hang down from her head. She’s
wearing a dark shirt and pants, carrying a small pack on her back.
Plus, in her hand is a sharp dagger, and when she gets her footing,
she aims the tip at my throat.

“You lied. You’re not human,” she says
warily. Her hand holding the dagger trembles. “What are you? And
how do I know I can trust you?”

“You’re right. I’m not human, but I’m not a
vampire, either,” I tell her, stepping away from the tip of the
knife, even though I doubt she’s going to use it on me. “But I did
come from The Colony… there’s actually more of us around.” I pause,
assessing her over. “Did you get thrown out of The Colony in The
Gathering or have you been out for a while.”

She doesn’t answer; instead she studies me
over for a moment. Then she relaxes as she lowers the dagger and
puts it into the bag. “Sorry about that, but you can never be too
careful.” She pauses. “My name is Nichelle.”

I don’t give her my name. I’m too cautious
of her. “You didn’t answer my question. Did you just get sent up
from The Colony?”

Her forehead creases. “No... I came from a
town off in the distance.” She points over her shoulder at the
hills and desert behind her.

“A town? What? You mean another colony?” I
have no idea what she’s talking about. A town? Maybe she’s
insane.

She nonchalantly shrugs. “Town, Colony, I
think they mean the same thing.”

My jaw drops in shock because I can tell
she’s not lying—feeling she’s telling the truth—which means Sylas
was right; there are other colonies.
How many are there? And how
can they survive out in this wasteland?

“Hey, are you all right?” Nichelle asks,
inching closer to me and snapping me out of my stupor.

“I’m fine,” I tell her, but I’m still in
shock. All this time there were other colonies. Are they better
than the one I lived in? Are there rules? “I just didn’t realize
that there were others besides us.”

“It’s hard to believe, huh?” She smiles and
I’m not sure how to react to her cheerful demeanor. “The members of
The Colony forget that there is a whole world out here with people
and everything.”