Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls Series, Book 3) (5 page)

I grow furious as I think about all the harm
the Highers have caused. It is getting late and I am tempted to
wait around to watch for the Highers, see if they come out to feed
so I can try to pick them off one by one. However, as my temper
subsides, I realize the only way to for me to seek revenge against
them is to put an end to everything.

“
Rationalize,” Monarch whispers in my
head. “Keep a level head and wait until it’s time.”

I want to tell him to shut up, remembering
what happened back in Cell 7, but I’m not really sure if he’s even
talking in my head or if it’s a memory. Plus, what he’s saying
seems right; I need to keep a level head. The Highers, vampires and
the abominations all must go. The only way to do that is to find a
cure and I’m the key to finding it. So, even though it kills me, I
turn and head back to the cave.

***

When I get back, it’s dark, which of course
means the vampires are out, yelping and nipping at each other,
their eyes dripping blood, their bodies decaying flesh. But they
keep their distance from me, especially because I walk on top of
the boulders; jumping from one to the other, making sure none of
them follow me. Their cries echo through the night as I climb
calmly up to the cave, quickly slipping inside before putting the
rock in front of the entrance again.

It’s darker inside, yet my night vision
allows me to see everything clearly as I walk to the back, stooping
low to avoid hitting my head on the section of the cave that dips
downward. I can see where everyone is sleeping. Aiden, who is
leaning up against the wall, has his eyes shut, although I’m fairly
certain he’s wide-awake, listening to me walk around.

I don’t go to him, heading off in the
opposite direction, instead, and step over Nichelle’s leg that’s
stretched out.

“You can see in the dark?” Nichelle asks me
quietly. “Either that, or you are a really good guesser of where
everything is.”

I sit down next to her on the dirt floor and
lean against the rock wall behind me. “Yeah, I think maybe even
better than I can in the daytime,” I tell her, absentmindedly
touching the side of my eyes with my hand, pressing down, wondering
why I can see in the dark. Sure, it’s because I’m a Day Taker, but
how is it possible to see in the night. What makes it work?

Maci is cuddled next to her on the floor and
I shake my head, trying not to smile. “It doesn’t take her long to
get attached to someone does it?” I ask.

“She’s a good kid,” Nichelle says.

“She really is,” I agree with her.

“You two are close, aren’t you?” she asks,
sitting up carefully so she doesn’t wake up Maci.

I shake my head, but it feels like a lie.
“I’m not close to anyone really.” Thoughts of what Monarch has
always said, rips into my head.
You need to turn off your
emotions. They will ruin you; what you need to do.

Before she can say anything else, I change
the subject because this particular one is pissing me off. “How
about you explain why the hell you came out here to look for
me?”

“Because I was told this is where I could
find you; at least people who used to belong to your colony… I’m
supposed to take you back with me to our town.” She pauses,
considering something. “There’s a man there. Mathew. He’s probably
the oldest person in town. He says he has things he needs to tell
you. Things that may be able to help you save humanity.”

“I don’t understand how someone I don’t even
know could know about me,” I say. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Oh, you know him. You probably just don’t
remember him.” She yawns. “He was a doctor a long time ago, but
there were things being done he didn’t approve of, so he left and
went out on his own.”

I listen to the steadiness of her heart
beating and it lets me know what she says is true, or at least that
she believes it’s true. I do remember there were a lot of doctors
in white coats near me all the time when I was younger.

She suddenly reaches out in the darkness and
grabs my arm. My initial reaction is to jerk away, but for some
reason I don’t. “Kayla, you have to trust me. I need you to come
back with me before it’s too late.”

“What do you mean before it’s too late?” I
ask, glancing between her hand and her expression, which is filled
with panic.

She pulls her hand away and sighs. “Mathew
was bit by a vampire a few days ago.”

“If he was bit he would have either died or
turned into one by now.” I know I should be more sympathetic;
however sympathy isn’t really one of my traits.

“Normally, that’s true, but when Mathew was
first involved with the doctors from your colony, he used some of
the injections that they were experimenting with on himself.” She
pauses for a moment, choosing her words carefully. “Although he’s
not immune, one of the shots did cause a delay in his
transformation...” She sucks in a deep breath and her heart
trembles. “He… he believes that it’s part of the cure.”

I take in everything she just told me. If
what she says is correct, I need to talk to this Mathew, but do I
dare go to this place? It’s unknown.

“
Follow your instincts,” Monarch
whispers. “They’ll never lead you astray.”

“Okay, I’ll go just as soon as daylight
hits.” I feel lost, knowing I can only hope I’m making the right
choice. “Now get some sleep. I need to make sure that you have
enough energy to get us there.”

“Thank you, Kayla,” she says softly then
lies down on the dirt floor and closes her eyes.

Seconds later, she falls asleep and I sort
of envy her for being able to. I sit wide awake, listening to the
vampire cries right outside as I wonder if I’ve made the right
choice while, at the same time, knowing that time is running
out.

Chapter 7

Because I no longer need to sleep, I just
listen to the breathing of those around me, watching the entrance
to the cave until morning comes. My only company is the darkness
and the shrieks of the vampires outside.

I’m pretty sure Aiden has listened to my
conversation with Nichelle during the night, but he has stayed
quiet in his corner and hasn’t budged since we quit talking,
leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Eventually, the shrieks of the vampires
start to fade, and I assume that the day is starting to break, so I
stand up from my seat on the floor of the cave. Raising my arms up
above me, I stretch my stiff limbs, preparing for my journey. The
rest of the group starts to stir as I walk over to the cave
entrance and roll back the rock that covers it, letting the
sunlight spill in and fill up the cave.

I step outside, staring at the vacant land
while breathing in the fresh air, wondering if there will ever be a
time when people can look at the view when the sky is dark.

“So you’re simply going to leave with
Nichelle and abandon the rest of us?” Aiden asks, walking up behind
me. I know he’s angry at me because I’m leaving, because I trust
Nichelle and because I won’t tell him that I love him when he wants
me to. Desperately.

I turn around and look at him; I mean
really
look at him. He has his jacket wrapped around him,
his hood over his head and his hands tucked in the sleeves. I can
barely see his face in the shadows, but I can tell he’s upset and I
feel sorry for him. He didn’t want to change into what he is now,
but he did it because he thought it was the only way to save me. He
cares for me that much. I’ll never feel the same way about him,
though. At least, I don’t think I can.

I don’t know why I do it, other than it
feels like an impulse, as well as the right thing to do. I reach up
and gently touch his cheek, causing his body to shudder. “I have to
go, Aiden. This Mathew may know the answers to finding a cure.”

His eyes soften. “I thought you and I had
the answers up here,” he taps the side of his head, “locked away in
our memories.”

I sigh and remove my hand from his cheek.
“We’re supposed to. The papers that Sylas and I found might have
had what we needed to help us, but they’re lost and this may be the
only chance we have to save the world.”

“And what if you’re wrong.”

“Then at least I tried.”

Nichelle walks out of the cave, ready to go,
her pack slung over her shoulder. Her hair is pulled up behind her
head and she has a jacket tied around her shoulder. She glances
back and forth between Aiden and I with a curious look on her
face.

“You ready to go, Kayla?”

I nod, watching Aiden as he backs away from
me, his eyes glinting with rage as he stares at Nichelle. There it
is again. The anger. Something I never really saw in him before he
changed. When he notices me staring at him, he pauses, his lips
parting like he’s going to say something, but Maci and Greyson step
out of the cave and he snaps his mouth shit.

Greyson is carrying what little gear the
group has and Maci skips over to the side of me, her red hair
blowing in the breeze.

“Are we ready?” she asks me, her eyes
sparkling with excitement.

I’m confused. “Umm… Maci, you aren’t coming
with us.”

She looks at me with a smug expression on
her face; it throws me back a little. “Yes, I am.”

I glance over to Nichelle, who shrugs her
shoulders. “I didn’t tell her she could go.”

I crouch down in front of Maci so we’re
eye-level. “I know you want to come, but it’ll be faster if I go
alone with Nichelle.”

She shakes her head in protest. “No, I’m
going.”

I glance over to Aiden for help, but he aims
the same smug look at me and I can tell that I’m going to have to
fight this battle on my own.

Sighing, I stand back up and pat her on the
head. “Somebody has to take care of Aiden. If he goes into the
sunlight, it’ll hurt him. I need you to take care of him. And
Greyson, too. Do you think you can do this for me?”

She looks as though she is buying into my
little story. “Okay, I think I can do that.”

Then Aiden walks out of the shadows of the
cave and doesn’t stop until he’s right in my face. “This is bull
shit,” he says, the anger there again, burning like a fire. “If
you’re going, we’re all going with you.”

“You can’t,” I start to argue, knowing if
they all go, then I’m going to be stuck worrying about them. Plus,
they’ll slow us down.

“Watch me,” he says and then he turns to
Nichelle. “Which way is it?”

Nichelle eyes him over, as if she doesn’t
trust him, but then she turns and starts walking up the hill.
“Follow me,” she says, motioning him to follow.

Maci smiles at me and then takes my hand,
pulling me along. “See, Kayla, I told you I was going.”

I shake my head, trying not to smile as I
follow her because it’s not funny. She shouldn’t be going. It’s too
dangerous, yet the fact that she said she was going and now she is,
is sort of amusing.

It makes me wonder what else she can see. I
think about asking her if we’re going to be okay, but when I really
think about it, I’m not sure that I want to know the answer.

Chapter 8

The journey across the sandy desert land is
slow, hot and it irks me to know that, if I was traveling it solo,
I could have made it to the city and back by now. I drift to the
back of the group, checking to make sure no one is getting left
behind as we all trudge farther towards the unknown. Nichelle leads
the way across the desert land; her bag on her shoulder, her back
hunched over like she’s tired. Maci is quiet, looking exhausted and
hungry, but I can tell she’s trying not to complain. Aiden’s quiet,
too, as he walks just in front me with his head tucked down, trying
to keep the light from hitting his face.

Aiden has been acting a bit more strange the
more and more time goes by. I know that he has changed into a Day
Taker, but still, something else doesn’t seem quite right about
him. The mood swings… I don’t remember being that moody.

I watch him from the corner of my eye as I
wind around sagebrush and cacti while sand gets in my eyes because
of the dry breeze. He still has his hood up and hands covered, but
strangely, he doesn’t seem drained of energy the way Sylas and
Tristan were when they traveled in the daylight. I stare at him a
moment longer, wondering what feels off, but I’m unable to put my
finger on it. When he glances at me, I quickly avert my attention
from him and focus on clouds of dust the breeze is kicking up.

The sky grows darker with every step we
take, and when we reach the edge of a hill, readying to wind down,
Nichelle pauses for a moment, waiting for the rest of us to catch
up with her.

She looks up at the darkening sky with her
hand shielded over her eyes, and her face masks with concern. “I
don’t think we’re going to make it back to town before darkness
falls.”

“How much further is it?” Greyson asks as he
wipes some sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. His
skin is sweaty and stained with dirt and he looks exhausted.

Nichelle points at the desert land before
us. “It’s over there.”

I step next to her and track where she’s
pointing. There’s a deep basin that stretches out a few miles and I
can see a small speck on the other side. It looks different than
the land I’m used to; more green.

“How long will it take to get there?” I ask
Nichelle, measuring up the distance while knowing if it were just
me I could be there in a flash.

“Normally,” she looks around at our group,
“well, I’d be there already. But we are moving at a much slower
pace than I’m used to, so I’m not sure.”

I nod, understanding what she means. “Is
there somewhere nearby that we can stop for the night?” I ask when,
really, what I want to do is take off and let everyone else stay
behind for the night.

Nichelle scans the area below us for
someplace to hide as I hear the screeching of the very first
vampires awakening for the night. Everyone grows uneasy, restless,
as they glance around at the shadows on the hills, the desert land,
and the caves in the sides of the hills. So many places for
vampires to be hiding and they could walk out at any moment.