35
1063 Words
Azriel
This was all my fault.
I couldn't control myself, and now this was the result.
I had my doubts when I saw her thrash and writhe in pain, watched her claw at her head, growl in her sleep and flinch at every sound.
It felt awfully familiar.
But I didn't want to believe it. It was impossible. It had taken my father years to make me into this. Just one bite shouldn't have caused anything. I was more afraid of her dying than becoming me. I didn't even know that biting her could turn her into me. It took science for me to be created. Why did it take a bite for hers to happen?
I'd tried to convince myself. Prayed and hoped it was just a very bad fever. It wasn't, and her words had confirmed it.
"It's like something's trying to claw its way out of me."
I couldn't breathe, her words echoing in my head.
Even the wolf seemed shocked because its constant agitation at her pain had paused, the words sinking into both of us.
I caused this.
"I'm so sorry, Seraphina." I didn't know when the words slipped out of me. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry—"
She reached for me, and I flinched back, horror crawling up my spine. My fault. She'd trusted me, and I'd sunk the poison in my blood into her. I'd turned her into the same monster I was.
"Azriel." Her voice was hoarse, cracked from screaming in pain. "What do you mean, Millbrook?"
I held her closer, inhaling her scent.
"We can't stay here." My voice was shaking. "Something's happening to you, Seraphina. Something I can't fix." I forced myself to meet her eyes, those dark eyes that had looked at me like I was worth saving even when she found out what I was. "If we stay here, you'll—" I couldn't say the words that got stuck in my throat. That she could become a monster like me, or worse, die if her body couldn't endure it. I'd seen many die the same way. "We need help," I continued instead. "We need to go to those who caused this whole s**t and get them to fix you."
"And you think we'll find that in Millbrook?" She laughed, but it turned into a cough, her body curling tighter into me. "Azriel, Millbrook is—it's a war zone. It's hell. You heard what the villagers said. We'll be going to our deaths."
"I know," I replied, reaching for her. "But it's rumoured that they're making experiments there. I'm not sure, but from how the men were looking for us, I think they're creating more like me." I paused, trying to filter out just how much she needed to know. "This means whatever's happening in Millbrook, it's connected to me. And if it is, they'll be able to cure you."
She stared at me, her chest heaving with shallow breaths. "So your plan is to walk into the place where they make monsters, hoping they'll cure me?"
"When you say it like that—"
"It sounds insane."
"It is insane." I laughed, running a frustrated hand through my hair. "It's completely insane. But Seraphina, look at me." I took her face in my hands. "I will walk through hell if it means pulling you out the other side. I will burn it down. I will tear it apart with my teeth. There is no length I won't go to, no risk I won't take, no price I won't pay. Do you understand?"
She was quiet for a long moment. The only sound was her ragged breathing and the distant call of a night bird.
"How?" she finally asked. "How do we even get there? We have no vehicle, no supplies, and I'm—" she gestured weakly at herself, "—I'm not exactly in hiking condition."
"That's not a problem," I replied. "We're not going directly to Millbrook. We're going to those who will take us there conveniently. That's the safest way to get in."
She looked up at me and laughed, then when she saw I wasn't laughing, she asked, "You mean you want to turn yourself in to those barbarians?"
"That's the safest way."
She went quiet again. I couldn't look at her—couldn't bear to see the fear I knew I'd find in her eyes. The doubt. The knowledge that this whole thing was crazy.
"And if we get there?" she asked softly. "What then? We just... knock on the door and ask for help?"
"If everything works out, they'll take us straight to the place." I watched her calculate everything in her head.
What I didn't tell her was that the person I was really gambling on was my father.
What he wanted most was for me to cooperate with more experiments.
If I promised him I'd cooperate, begged him if I had to—even if I had to crawl, let him put me back in that cage—it didn't matter. As long as he let her go.
And he would. I was sure of it. Seraphina wasn't that special. All he needed was one subject. Me. And I'd give him an extremely obedient one.
"And if things go wrong?" Seraphina asked, as if she could hear my thoughts.
I turned to look at her. "If things go wrong, then I won't hesitate to burn it all down." I rubbed my thumb along her cheek. "I'll bring down anything or anyone who stands in your way, Seraphina. I'll raze Millbrook to the ground if need be. So it doesn't matter if anything goes wrong, as long as you're okay."
I pressed my lips to her forehead. "I am not a good man," I whispered. "I've done terrible things. I am a terrible thing. But I am yours. And I will destroy anything and anyone that tries to take you from me. Do you believe me?"
She looked at me for a long time, her thumb tracing the curve of my jaw.
"I believe you," she said. "God help me, I believe you."
I closed my eyes and let her burn mark me, let her claim me the way I'd claimed her, and prayed to whatever might be listening that my faith in my own monstrosity would be enough to save her.
- Writer
