Mixed Worlds

Chapter Nineteen PART 2 - Everything Is Fine

  “You don’t want to be a vampire?” He shakes his head. “How old are you?” I ask.

            “Thirty two. I stopped aging at twenty-five I think.”

            “What if I told you that you might not need to find Christian to help with your hybrid issue?” His face brightens.

            “You know someone who can do that kind of thing?” Hope spreads across his face, and he leans forward waiting to hear what I have to say.

            “I might. I might not… what I can do, is tell you where your father is.” Alex looks confused. “He’s on the other side of this door.” I point to the door to my right, which leads to Christians room. Before he can think of a response, I hear the door knock. “One second!” I holler at the door. “I’m gonna zip tie your wrists, just in case he wants to come in. I’ll be right back.” I do as I said, and walk out the door. I’m met by Jack, who’s holding two bags of blood, and a handful of vervain vials.  

            “Uh, hi?” I say as step into the hall and pull the door closed behind me.

            “Hey. Lucas wanted me to bring these so he can take a nap. How’s it going in there?”

            “It’s going good, I think. I was right about my hunch. He’s Christians son. He’s also a hybrid. His mother is human.” I explain a few minor details, but pass over the whole, ‘me untying him a bit’ thing. Jack probably wouldn’t react too well to that. “I’m wondering if there’s a power I can use to help him out. Maybe just kinda put my hands on his chest and see what happens. Who knows, maybe I’ll just end up healing his shoulder.”

            Jack’s face contorts into anger. “No. I don’t want you touching him. You already kissed him, you don’t need to do anything else.” He snaps.

            “Pardon me? Since when do you get to dictate my life?! After the s**t you pulled, ‘we’,” I point between us, “are done, remember? And even if we weren’t, you still can’t tell me what to do. If I want to help someone, I’m going to do it.” I snap back.

            “How do you even know he’s telling the truth?” he asks. He steps back and shakes his head.

            “I don’t know how, I just do! He’s sad, and broken. I can see that he hates Christian, and I don’t blame him for wanting to get rid of that part of him.” I take the items out of Jack’s hands, and turn and face the door. “If you don’t believe me, fine. But I believe him.” I turn the knob.

            “Use the Rune.” He says. “If you use the Rune and he passes, then I’ll believe him.” I look back at Jack, and give him a confused look. 

            “That’s for a supernatural being? Yes I know he’s half vampire, but what will happen to his human side! What if I hurt him, or worse?!” I yell. It pains me to even think about hurting Alex, and I have no idea why. Maybe its pity for who his father is. “We need him, and he needs me. I’d say that’s a fair trade. He says he’s been hunting his dad, so who knows. Maybe he’ll turn out to be a good hunter. But you?” I poke his chest. “You don’t get to decide his fate.” I open the door, and Jack forcefully follows me in. Alex is standing in the corner, ropes and zipties on the ground.

            “I’m sorry, I got tired of sitting. My ass was going numb.” He scratches the back of his head, and smiles. Jack charges past me, and slams Alex into the wall. “Hey man, take it easy! If I wanted to hurt anyone, I could’ve done it already” he struggles.

            “Jack, that’s enough. Let him go.” I try to pull him off of Alex. He pushes me back and shoves him again. Something is burning inside of me, and I scream. “JACK! Let him go, NOW!” I grab Jack, and yank him off. I see in a small mirror above the little sink that my hair is blowing, and my eyes are golden. Jack is leaning against the wall, breathless. 

            “Ally, I’m sorry.” He says. 

            “Just shut up! Get your damn head under control.” I walk over to a curled up Alex, who’s coughing on the floor. His shoulder is wet and sticky, and here’s blood on both of us. “Jack, I need you to go get me a tshirt for Alex. His shoulder ripped open again.” I hear the door click as I help Alex up, and back into his chair. “I really wished you would’ve stayed seated.” I say as I help him take his shirt off. “I’m also sorry about your shoulder… again.” He laughs. 

            “Hey, it’s okay. I’ll heal back up eventually. Thanks for getting him off of me. That guys got a tight hold.” I chuckle. I help Alex ease back into the chair, and take the soaked shirt off of him. 

            “Yeah well that’s not his normal strength. Probably on an adrenaline rush cause I kissed you earlier.” I blush and look at his shoulder. “You’re gonna need a bit more blood than what I have.” Can I heal him the way I healed Jack? I stand up, and place my hands on my hips.  He looks confused, so I begin to explain. “So, I may or may not be a hybrid too. Except my mother is Athena.” His eyes go wide. 

            “Like, the Greek Goddess, Athena?” I nod. “Well, that’s pretty cool. Better than being a blood-sucking monster.” We both let out a small laugh.

            “Hey now, we can’t pick who we’re related to.” I pat his head and laugh again. “I want to try something, but I don’t know if it’ll work because this is way bigger than a scratch. I might be able to help with healing it a bit quicker than you can.” I sit back in front of him, and wipe the blood off his chest. “Would you be willing to let me try?” I ask.

            “Why not? If it works, great, if not, we’re back in the same spot anyways.” He smiles. I scoot closer to him, and gently place one hand right on his wound, and he winces. I start to pull away, and he stops my hand. “It’s okay. Just stings a bit.” I put my hand back, and place the other over his chest. 

            I look at him again for reassurance, and when he nods, I close my eyes. I focus on my intent, and envision his wound closing up. I feel heat under my hands, and can tell that somethings happening. I open my eyes, and watch as my powers begin to work. My hands are glowing, and now, so is Alex. I see his cut start to close, and the red marks around his neck disappear. He closes his eyes, and squeezes them tight. I press onto his shoulder a bit, and seal the remaining cuts. I pull my hand away, and wipe his blood onto my sweater. He opens his eyes, and takes a look. 

            “Holy f**k… you did it.” He rotates his shoulder all the way around, and I smile. He stands up, and picks me up with him and we laugh as he spins us around. “Holy! I honestly thought you were just spewing bullshit but that was awesome!” He sets me down and rests a hand on my side the sparks are stronger now, and I swear my knees might just fail me. “You’re amazing Katie. Thank you.” He takes my hand and kisses the back of it. I blush as he lowers it and holds onto it.

            “So, about that. My name is actually Ally.” I giggle. “My friends call me Al or Allycat. And Matt is actually Lucas, and he’s not really my brother. Not by blood anyways.” I take my hand back and touch his shoulder. “It’s all healed up. I’ve only ever fixed scratch marks on Jack, so I didn’t know how well it would work.” Well, he’s a human with demon blood in his veins, but Alex didn’t need to know that. “How do you feel?” I ask.

He stretches his arm. “Sneaky sneaky. But I feel great actually, I think you fixed my thirst too.” Right as he says that, the door opens, and there’s Jack with Alex’s new shirt. We jump apart, and I take the shirt from Jack. 

            “What’s going on here? What were you two doing?” He asks as he glares at Alex.

            “I fixed his shoulder, and he got excited. He hugged me and I was just making sure he was feeling okay. I fixed his thirst along with it I guess.” I place my hand on Jack’s arm. “Everything is fine here.” I turn back to Alex. “I think the only way Jack will ease up on you, is if I try another thing on you. It might hurt a bit, but only if you lie. Is that alright with you?” Alex takes a seat and looks nervous. 

            “There’s something I want to tell you first.” He takes a deep breath and looks at me with sad eyes. “I lied about wanting to find my father. Well, kind of. I don’t want to talk to him, I want to kill him.” I look at him deeply, and again believe my feeling that he’s telling the truth.

            “How do we know that you’re not just saying that so we let you go?” Jack says.

            “Whatever you need to do, do it. I swear on my mother I’m telling the truth.” I look up at Jack with sad eyes, and he doesn’t budge. I walk over to Alex and sit down in front of him. 

            “Remember earlier I said I could cut the truth out of you?” He nods with worry. “Well, I wasn’t kidding about that. There’s a truth Rune, and I have to cut it into your skin on top of your heart, and ask you a few questions. The more you resist, the more pain you’ll feel. I’ll start with obvious questions to show that you’re telling the truth, and then I’ll have to ask you to lie about something so we can make sure it works.” 

            Alex looks between me and an angry looking Jack, and takes a deep breath. He looks back at me, and nods. “When do you want to do this?” He asks.

            “Well, I’m exhausted, and after using my powers for the first time ever, I don’t think I have much left in me. How about we get you a bed and we can all sleep on it. If you’re still willing to do it in the morning, we’ll do it after we all eat breakfast. I’m going to have to tie you down though. Not for me, but for Jack here, and Lucas. Okay?” I look back at Jack, and he nods and walks out of the room. I look back at Alex, and lower my voice. “Look, for some reason I trust you, but right now, Jack’s mind isn’t in the right place. I don’t want to dig, so just tell me now what areas not to go over and I won’t. I feel like we can both help each other out, and that you’re telling me the truth.” I stand up, and Alex grabs my hand. 

            “No. I’ll answer what questions you want me to. I don’t have much to hide anyways. If I lie, then I suffer. And that’s what liars should get.” He squeezes my hand a bit. “I trust you too.”

            I smile and drop my hand. Jack walks in rolling a cot, and is carrying two sets of chains. I take the chains from him, and begin to close them over Alex’s ankle as Jack sets up the cot. I walk Alex over to the bed, and I chain his one leg to the centre post. The bed is made of iron, and a vampire can’t break through it. I let his other leg stay free so he can try and get somewhat comfortable. Jack stands by the door, and I notice there isn’t a pillow, or a blanket. 

            “Seriously Jack? Go get him a pillow and a blanket.” I hiss. Jack walks out in a huff and takes off down the hall again. I quickly grab a bag of blood, and tuck it between the mattress and frame. “This is for after we leave, just in case.” He takes my hand again, and this time turns my face to look at his. 

            “I don’t know why you’re doing this. We just met and you’re acting like we’ve known each other for years.” I ignore him. “Whatever your reasoning is, and if I live to see another day, I’ll owe you big time for sparing me.” I pull back and Alex drops his hands.

            “I’m doing this because… I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I feel bad for who you’re related to, or maybe it’s because I believe you’re actually a good person. Maybe we feel like that because we have a common enemy.” There’s a brief moment of silence, and I continue speaking. “Try not to spill any and put the empty bag on one of the shelves. As soon as I can, I’ll come check on you. I’ll give you as much slack as I can with the chains, so you can try and get comfy. I won’t chain up your other leg.” Alex sits down carefully, and holds his hands out. I take his other leg chain, and chain his hands.

             I take the shorter chain, and close one end over the middle of the chains around his hands, and the other end to the middle of the bed. I step back, and sit on the chair. Jack comes in, and hands me the pillow and blanket. He stands back by the door and waits. I set the pillow on the bed, and signal Alex to lay down. I throw the blanket onto him, and he gives me a slight smile. I fix the blanket to cover his feet and pull the blanket up to his chest. I stand there for a moment, and say goodnight. As I turn around, Alex quickly grabs my arm and whispers to me.

            “Thank you.”