Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls Series, Book 3) (15 page)

I notice there are a few drops of blood on
his jacket; however the wound on his neck has started to heal,
barely two specks.

“And it gets worse,” Sylas continues. “His
bite made me black out for a few minutes and that’s when he
attacked Mathew. I managed to pull him off before he bit him and
then he ran off… with the papers.” He pauses, shaking his head at
himself. “I don’t get it… I used to be so much strong than him, but
felt so helpless… he took out the guards, too…” He shakes his head
again and tips his chin up, keeping his eyes angled from the sun.
“He’s different. Stronger than anything I’ve ever come across. I
think he might really be working for the Highers.”

I swallow hard, wondering why I felt Monarch
lying to Gabrielle when he clearly was telling the truth. The crowd
starts to break up and Mathew walks back up the stairs towards us
with a strange look on his face that makes me tense even more.

“I think I know the reason he attacked me,”
Mathew says as he reaches the top of the stairway and stands in
front of us.

“Because of the papers,” I say. “I think
that the Highers have him brainwashed somehow.”

Mathew shakes his head. “Not brainwashed.”
He pauses, gazing out at the sun descending below the mountains.
“Aiden’s changing into a Higher.”

“What!” Sylas and I both cry
simultaneously.

Sylas inches closer, anger surfacing in his
expression as he dares to look up from the ground just the
slightest bit. “How can you be so sure?”

Mathew shuts his eyes, puts his hand into
his pockets and then takes a piece of paper out before opening his
eyes. “I managed to read quite a bit before he stole the papers… I
even had this one in my hand when he attacked me.” He unfolds the
paper. “Monarch says on this one that he messed up on subject 409,
a boy named Aiden. That he broke the DNA… put too much of injection
7 in him…” He trails off as Sylas and I gape at him, having no idea
what he’s talking about. “Right.” He stuffs the paper back into his
pocket. “To make a long story short, Kayla is the only perfect
soldier. As much as Monarch tried, he couldn’t create anything like
her. He had a few failed attempts where he created something
else—something almost perfect—yet filled with one flaw, greed. A
Higher; and Aiden was one of them he messed up on.”

Sylas lets go of my hand and turns away. As
much as the brothers fought, I can tell this is affecting him. He
stands there for a moment, and when he looks at me, there’s a hint
of sadness on his face, something I’ve never seen on him before. He
erases it, though, and then shifts his attention back to
Mathew.

“So Aiden stole the papers to prevent you
from finding the cure?” he asks, drawing his hood back as the last
of the sunlight slips away and the sky turns grey. I can hear faint
howling in the distance start. “Does that mean there is no hope for
a cure?”

“Not necessarily,” Mathew says, glancing
around at the people in the streets rushing inside. “I think I read
enough information before the papers were taken. I might understand
what needs to happen to establish a cure. I just need some time to
process it all… think… put stuff together.”

I look over at Sylas; the worry in me
matches his. Time. I’d almost forgotten. We probably don’t have
much time.

Taking a breath, I turn back to Mathew.
“When we were in the colony, we heard the Highers talking about the
monsters they’ve created; the ones we call abominations. They’re
sending out an army of them out to find humans and bring them
back.”

Mathew gapes at us, his wide eyes matching
the full moon in the backdrop. “They’re coming
here?
To our
town?”

“I think so,” I tell him. “At least, that’s
what we’ve heard… although they said it could take days, even weeks
to get the orders through.”

Mathew glances around at the streets winding
in and out of the buildings, panicking, probably visualizing the
madness and chaos that could happen. They’re fairly empty now, but
they were packed quite a while ago, and if the abominations were
around, they’d have chased down every last one.

He looks at both Sylas and me, pleading.
“Can you help us?”

This town was ready to lock us up, yet
Mathew wants us to protect them—save them. Sylas glances at me, and
I can tell he’s thinking the same thing, waiting to see what I tell
Mathew. Monarch told me I was here to help find a cure. That my
purpose was to save humanity. To save the world.

“That’s what I was made for,” I say, my
thoughts sort of connect, forming an understanding.

I understand. What I have to do. What I am.
Why I was created.

Mathew breathes a sigh of relief. “Thank
you.”

“Don’t thank us yet,” Sylas says. “Just
because we’ll help you, doesn’t mean we’ll win,” he states bluntly.
When Mathew frowns, he adds, “Just gather everyone that can
fight.”

He nods his head and walks away down the
street, heading towards the guards near the closest building.

“Do you think that I’m doing the right
thing?” I ask Sylas. “Do you think I’m even strong enough to
help?”

“I think that you’re doing what you are
supposed to do.” He takes my hand and offers me a smile. A real
one, too, which he’s rarely—if ever—done.

I open my mouth to say more because I’m
worried about if I can handle this, but he silences me by placing
his lips on mine. His tongue slips between my lips. He tastes so
good that I open my mouth and willingly let him explore me. We
don’t notice when Maci walks up behind us until she taps me on the
side.

We break away from each other, startled. Or
at least I am. Sylas looks momentarily content.

“It’s time,” Maci announces with her hands
on her hips.

“Time for what?” I ask her, wondering if I’m
going to get another one of her little riddles about the
future.

“Time for me to tell you how to save the
world,” she answers.

Chapter 20

What in the world? Sylas and I stare at her,
stunned.

The grey sky darkens with each second that
goes by until it’s jet black, but the glow of torches on the
buildings lining the silent street radiates around us. The
temperature has descended and more and more cries circle the town
as more vampires awaken for the night.

“What do you mean?” I finally ask Maci.
Sylas glances at me, his face contorted in confusion. “I thought
you weren’t supposed to tell us anything like that?”

“I told you when the time was right I would
tell you,” she says with a cheerful, small smile, her red hair
blowing in the breeze. “And the time is finally right.”

She turns her attention to Sylas, tipping
her head back so she can look at him. “You need to go and get the
other Day Takers and bring them here. It’s the only way things will
work.”

He’s not looking at her, but at me, gaping
incredulously. “What’s she talking about?”

“I’m talking about saving the world,” Maci
answers. “So please just get going.”

Sylas gradually turns in her direction, his
eyelids lowering as he glares at her. “And how the hell do you know
anything?”

“Sylas,” I warn, taking his arm, slightly
worried at what he might do. “Maci’s usually right about these
things.”

He studies her with wariness. “But she’s
just a little kid.”

“A little kid that knows more than you.”
Maci glares at him, crossing her arms. “And you need to go now
before it’s too late.”

Sylas is shocked because he isn’t used to
taking orders. “Are you telling me what to do?” He points at
himself, flabbergasted.

“Yeah,” Maci answers with attitude. “And if
you know what’s good for you, then you’ll listen.”

Sylas rolls his eyes. “I won’t take orders
from a little kid.”

“Will you take them from me then?” I ask
because I know Maci has to be right. If she says the Day Takers
need to be here, then they need to be here.

Sylas turns to face me, pushing up the
sleeves of his jacket, his lean muscles flexing as he crosses them.
“Have I ever taken orders from anyone?”

“I’m not giving you orders,” I sigh. “I’m
asking you to go.”

He continues to keeps his attention focused
on me, and it’s hard not to look away, yet at the same time, not
impossible. I maintain his gaze, hoping he’ll cave and realize this
isn’t about who gets to give orders.

“Fine,” he relents and then surprises me
when he leans over and gives me a quick, though passionate, kiss;
stealing the breath right out of my lungs and making my lips swell.
When he pulls away, he looks dazed, but I’m not sure if it’s
because of the kiss or because he’s taking orders from a child.
“I’ll hurry back as fast as I can… but it’s going to take me a
while to gather them and bring them back.”

“Do you have to go back to the city?”

“I’m not sure,” he says with a simple shrug
as he shuffles towards the stairway. “If they followed the orders I
gave Emmy, then they’ll be at the Grates… but you never know with
Day Takers since they hate taking orders.” He flashes me a cocky
smile.

“Be safe,” I tell him. He gives me a look as
if to say ‘no duh’.

“Of course, Juniper,” he says, winking at me
when he uses my nickname. “I always am.”

He starts to step down the stairway towards
the street, but pauses at the bottom to glance up at me one last
time. For a brief second, he looks afraid, and for a fleeting
moment, I feel the same way. Then he turns, and I watch him race
off at inhuman speed until he vanishes out of the glow of the
torches.

I turn my attention back to Maci, feeling my
stomach burn, knowing the last time we split that terrible things
happened. “So, what do I need to do?”

She points to our right to where the street
curves up a shallow hill. “You need to protect Mathew.”

“Just Mathew?” I ask. “What about the rest
of the people?”

“Kayla, go find Mathew and talk to him,” she
says. “Then you will understand.”

I want to question her more, however I know
better than to do so. She’s pretty much been correct with
everything that she has told me previously, so after I drop her off
at the building, with the woman teaching the children, I hurry off
down the street to find Mathew. I make it past the fifth building
on the street when I run into Nichelle. There’s a small group of
people with her, wearing all black, and they all are armed with a
knives, sticks, spears and even a few swords. They look like
average people dressed up in fighting gear only creating the
illusion that they can fight. I know it’s not real because beneath
their armor I can hear their hearts racing with fear.

We’re doomed.

They’re doomed.

When does they’re become a we?

“Mathew said that we were supposed to find
you,” Nichelle tells me. Her hair is pulled up in a bun and she has
boots on that go up to her knees. There’s this strange black band
around her neck with a small metal pouch hooked to it. “Poison,”
she says.

I’m confused. “What?”

She points at her neck at the collar and the
pouch. “I saw you looking at it and I can tell you’re wondering
what it is.” She lifts up a hook on the pouch and beneath it is a
pin-size button. “If I get bit, I push this and it injects my veins
with poison that will kill me before the virus takes over my
body.”

“So you’d rather die than change?” I’ve
heard Sylas say this, but it’s surprising to hear humans are the
same way, too; that we both feel the same way.

She nods. “Wouldn’t you?”

I nod. “I would.”

There’s a pause where we realize we’re not
so different. Then Nichelle clears her throat.

“Anyway, Mathew said you’d show us where
each of us needs to be so we can protect the town,” she says with
an eye roll. “He thinks you’re going to save the town somehow—that
you’re a better fighter than me—but he’s wrong.”

She’d think differently if she ever saw
me in action
.

“You know the town better than me.” I glance
around at the unfamiliar structures and alleys around me; I don’t
even know where any of them lead to. “You should be in charge of
getting everyone into position.”

She nods, satisfied, and then starts to walk
away when I snag her by the jacket sleeve and pull her back to me.
“Sylas will be coming back sometime... please make sure that people
are aware of this. Make sure that nobody attacks him or the people
with him.”

“Sylas?” she questions, her brows dipping
together. “Who the heck is that?”

“That guy I showed up with earlier,” I
answer. “Aiden’s brother.”

“Oh.” She seems hesitant, but then gives in
and nods. “All right, I’ll see what I can do… but what are you
going to do?”

“I need to find Mathew.” I let go of her
sleeve and fetch my knife out of my pocket as vampire cries grow
louder around the colony. “Do you know where he is?”

“He went back to his lab.” She points to the
left, towards where the street slopes down to a cluster of
buildings around a sandy hill.

“Thanks.” I spin around and jog back down
the street, hoping that Mathew will be in his lab when I get there.
Hoping that I can find out why Maci wants me to talk to him;
protect him. Why it has to be me.

When I reach the small square building, I
notice there are no longer guards posted in front of the doorway.
Everyone in town has been put on high alert and many of them have
stepped up to the wall around the colony that was built out of
cars. In fact, the wall of broken-down vehicles looks more like a
wall of people as they line the top. I wonder how long they’ll have
to wait there. How long it’ll be until the abominations will show
up. Maybe we’ll end up getting lucky and they won’t show up at all.
I doubt it, though, and I know that thinking that way can be
dangerous.

It’s eerily quiet when I open the door and
step inside the building where I make my way down the dusty hallway
with my knife poised out in front of me; always ready, always on
guard, focusing one step ahead, focusing on fighting. I have to be.
I don’t know when anything’s going to show up.