Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls 3)

"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 s

ort 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.