Taken Over

   Then why the hell was I suddenly terrified of giving Bishop a fresh sample of my blood?

   Something primal and instinctual was clamoring against my insides. I studied Bishop intently, but couldn’t come up with any reason not to give him blood when I had given it so freely before. The antibiotics were keeping me safe, for now, but what would happen when I came off of them? What would happen if he took a fresh sample and discovered that there was something wrong with me?

   Bishop touched my arm gently, looking to soothe me, but I found no comfort in his kind gesture. My hand trembled as I squeezed his hand for a brief moment. I couldn’t shake the nausea that twisted within my belly as I watched him walk away. I tried to convince myself that Bishop was right, that cross contamination was the culprit, but it wouldn’t sink in. There was something else, something savage clamoring inside of me, and begging to be heard.

   I couldn’t help but feel that it was the voice of truth.

CHAPTER 11

   I ran that night. I ran like I had never run before. I ran like the hounds of hell were on my heels. Ran like I could escape the clamoring terror thumping through my veins and pounding in my blood. If it wasmy blood anymore. I was afraid that this strange entity was inside me now, that it had somehow gotten inside and pumped and pulsed rapidly through my veins. My blood, this thing that I couldn’t escape from, this thing that was the very life of me, also felt like my enemy now.

   It was inside of me, pushing me faster, driving me onward as it tore at my insides.

   I wanted to shout my horror and terror to the world. Wanted to fall to my knees and scream until I couldn’t scream anymore. But that would only bring them, and if they came, they would kill me. If they came they would split me open, like they had that boy in the hospital, and poke around inside me to see if they could find what made me different too. I wondered if they would finally be able to discover what Bishop was so desperately seeking.

   I stumbled, fell, but scrambled swiftly back to my feet. My knees ached from the impact, but I kept going, leaping and dodging and zigzagging around the obstacles in my way. My labored breathing was harsh in my ears, I fell again as exhaustion claimed my legs. I attempted to scramble back to my feet, but slipped in the lose leaves and plummeted back to the ground. I lay there, gasping, trying hard not to cry as my fingers dug into the earth.

   What was wrongwith me?

   I didn’t mean what was wrong with my blood, but simply what was wrong with me. Why couldn’t I be like the others? Why couldn’t I put on a smile and at least attempt to fake happiness? Was it because there really was something wrong with me? Wrong with my blood?

   I shoved myself off the ground, refusing to lay there and be miserable. Refusing to be weak and broken anymore. The woods were my place, this was mytime. I would not allow it to be ruined, not now, not ever. There was nothing wrong with me. I had to believe that. There was nothing wrong with me other than a broken heart, wounded spirit, and a body depleted of the essentials it needed. I saw better at night now because I was a part of the night now in a way that I never had been before. I could hear better now because I had learned to listen better, because it was a sense I needed for survival and I had honed it. I was stronger and faster because I had been training, I had lost weight and gained muscle, and I had been fighting.

   I sat panting, my lungs burned, my legs ached from the run, but it felt good. I felt alive. I wasn’t trying to run from myself, wasn’t trying to escape something inside of me, I was simply seeking some kind of freedom from a world that terrified me now.

   And these moments were the only moments of freedom and solace I had.

   I ached for Cade, longed for him fiercely. He wouldn’t have the answers to the fears and questions that plagued me, but his presence had always been comforting, reassuring; strong. He’d always been so strong, so calm, so collected and cool even when I was breaking down and falling apart. He’d made me stronger. He wouldn’t have the answers, but I knew he could ease the doubts, the fears, the crawling horror building within my belly. I closed my eyes and lay down. The ground was so cool, so blissfully cool against my heated flesh.

   I could smell him; smell the wonderful scents of wood and earth and spices he’d exuded. I could almost feel him; almost touch the hardened muscles beneath his smooth, soft skin. Those eyes, so black and beautiful they had seemed as endless as the night sky, seemed to stretch into an infinity of love and understanding. A tear slid down my cheek, I did not try to stop it. Aching loneliness spread through my chest, I did not try to push it away, did not try to rebury it. It felt good to grieve, I needed to grieve. For the first time it actually felt good to think of Cade again. It brought agony with it, but it also brought a rush of joy so bittersweet that I almost laughed aloud with it.

   My arms shook as I pushed myself up. I sat on the ground, my legs crossed before me as I finally caught my breath. I opened my ears to take in the sounds around me, but I was horrified to realize that the forest was quieter than normal. Rising to my knees, I caught the faint sounds of animals moving about, but they were far more remote and hesitant. The breath froze in my lungs as I slowly surveyed the woods, looking for the danger that must be lurking within the dense cluster of trees.

   I frowned, uncertain and confused. I shoved myself up; my legs still trembled slightly from the exertion of my run, but they were strong enough to get me out of here if I needed it. My hands went to my waistband, instinctively pulling out one of the guns tucked there. Something seemed to shimmer as it moved on my right; I turned in that direction, leveling my pistol on the tree line. I waited breathlessly for a few moments but I didn’t see anything more.

   I frowned as I turned in a slow circle, searching for something lurking in the darkness. My sense’s hummed as I strained to hear, or see, anything out of the ordinary. Though both of those senses failed to detect anything, I was certain there was something there, something haunting me, stalking me. I hated the fact that these creatures seemed to enjoy playing with their food before pouncing.

   I swallowed heavily; my body was thrumming, fairly vibrating with tension and fear. I cursed my stupidity for having run this far. No one would even hear my gunshots out here. I was alone and I had no one to blame but myself, and my desperate need to feel something other than trapped and broken.

   I spun to the left, my hands clenching on the pistol as the rustle of leaves rattled through the trees. There was no breeze tonight; the animals had gone to ground. My eyes narrowed, my hands began to sweat as I took up a shooters stance. I might be able to outrun one of them, might be able to lose them in the woods, but I wanted to know exactly what it was that I was going to be outru

   And then it shimmered from the trees, moving with an eerie grace that left me mesmerized at the same time that I felt everything inside of me curl up and die. My insides shriveled, my mouth became as arid as the Sahara. I felt as if someone had just walked over my grave. My entire being became as cold as ice, gooseflesh covered my entire body. If someone had pushed me, I either would have fallen over or shattered into a million ice shards.

   My heart, the organ that had been beating so rapidly just moments before, seemed to have stopped. I felt as if the thing had shriveled to the size of a raisin. I could no longer feel the blood pulsing through my veins; no longer hear the beat of it in my ears. Every bit of my heart hurt, every beat of it was anguished and lumbering. There was a strange ringing in my ears; I could no longer make out any other noises.