Three days ago things were perfect. She was going to go out with the most handsome and popular guy and then figure out a way to pass French class. But things changed and Ilana Bunnell found herself tormented by a disease in her blood. Fighting both for her humanity and unimaginable creatures of darkness she must learn to trust herself and the one person she hates the most. Perhaps she'll realize that she has more at stake than just her life.

Stranger in her Blood

She ran, her coat tail flying behind her, the stench of sewage rancid in her nose. Holding her breadth she turned in to an opening in the wall. She held her breadth as she heard the steps come closer. Her body was weak with sickness. She heard him, his steps irregular against the pavement.

His steps slowed as if feeling her presence near. She inched further into the whole. Her breath choked in her throat. She wasn't going to last. The smell certainly wasn't helping either.

Three days ago:

Her paper came back with another red mark, failed yet again. She'd been sure that this time she'd done better but it came back the same as all the others "see me" written in illegible teacher's script. Again, another afternoon with Madame Pouchard, she was going to have to explain herself to the ever stern "Pooch". She had eight different classes and only one held any fascination to her and French class certainly wasn't it. The bell rang signaling the end of class and sluggishly Ilana Bunnell stood up. Not today. She wasn't going to see Madame Pouchard today. Tonight was the night of the big bonfire on the beach and she wasn't about to miss that. Especially since Jordan Peck had invited her as his special guest.

Jordan Peck, student body president and god of the school, had the chiseled features of one of those Greek statues that you see standing immobile in great art galleries. Coming from one of the wealthiest families in St. George's Village it wasn't surprising that he had quite a fan base in town with the females, between the ages of preteen to pre-adulthood, absolutely smitten with his good looks. She looked out the window just in time to see his midnight blue Mazda arrive in the parking lot. They were in the same morning math class but he rarely showed up, yet managed to still pass the class; even after he went to Africa with his family last year on holiday and missed two weeks' worth of class.

There was just six minutes between her classes and this wasn't the time to be looking out window when her last class, AP Biology was on the other side of the building. Grabbing her notebook from her locker Ilana rushed on to her last class. Not really glancing up she walked into the doorway just as Roger Mason walked in at the same time.

"Watch it Ilana, time to look up!"

She casted Roger a withering glance, but he just shrugged it off. She was never going to understand how there were people like him who grow up in nice towns like St. George's yet never learn any manners. They'd been middle school rivals and since then he'd moved on to be the top their class but her grades have fallen since. Unfairly, she knew, she shouldn't blame her dropping grades on him. But she couldn't help thinking that perhaps if he weren't around she'd have more incentive to work hard if she knew there wasn't someone there just to beat her. Roger wasn't shy or awkward like her. He wasn't embarrassed by the attention of being the best and was charismatic and charming it seemed to everyone else except her. Not only was he prideful, but he was beautiful. He didn't cut the Herculean figure that Jordan fit but he held his own lithe body in good shape. He was not bad to look at with his tousled black hair and midnight blue eyes. This just agitated her more.

"Today we will be looking at some eukaryotic organisms that live and feed on other species. They are the parasites. We will be looking at the tapeworm family and studying them through the microscope. I will be assigning your lab partners today because last time I let you guys pick and I found many groups were just fooling around. I don't want to see any of that today so I will be picking your partners for this week: Amelia and Nate, Dean and Thomas, Mercedes and Calvin…Ilana and Roger...Now get to work everyone."

Ilana cursing at her rotten luck looked up to see Roger looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to move her things to his lab table. She gathered her stuff mumbling under her breadth. She caught Amelia's glance when she was walking away and made a face. Amelia had heard the partner choice that was given to Ilana and looked sympathetically over at her.

Ilana sat down hard on her lab chair next to Roger. He didn't glance her way.

"Are you going to the bonfire tonight?" Roger asked without any expression or even a glance in her direction. Squinting suspiciously in his direction she answered,

"Yeah, I'm going with Jordan. What's it to you."

"Just trying to make small talk but apparently that's too much for you to handle." His cold reply made her grit her teeth. This was going to be a long week working with Roger. It was already unbearable and they hadn't even started. That seemed to kill the conversation and they waited for the labs to be distributed.

They worked at the same table but it might as well be two separate lab teams each doing their own work. Ilana was writing down her observations when Roger was looking through the microscope and vice versa when she was looking through it. They were the last to finish as they had to look at each of the ten slides twice so both could get down the same observations.

"I hope you don't hold me up the next time that we work together, Ilana."

"Holding you up? You're the one that couldn't manage to share in on the research and observation. The rest of us need to learn as well. Forgive me for just helping myself to a little education."

"Whatever Ilana, just stay away from Jordan Peck."

"Excuse me? Please don't tell me that you are giving me relationship advice. You don't even know me."

He didn't respond before leaving.

Amelia was waiting outside for her.

"What's wrong? I just saw Roger walk out with a huge scowl. Was it that bad?"

"It was worse..," so Ilana relayed the conversation she had had with Roger.

"Well don't worry about it for now. You still need to get your dress for tonight. I know I told you that I wouldn't be coming with you to the mall but it turns out that I am free after school today. Field Hockey is canceled and I want to find something nice to wear as well. Nate invited me."

The rest of the afternoon was spent gossiping over Nate and Jordan as the girls did their shopping. They got hair and makeup done at Ilana's house. Her parents were out of town on business. Amelia left to wait for Nate at her house.

At seven Jordan, looking dashing in a black leather jacket rang the bell. He held flowers in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other. Ilana answered the door in a pink dress of roses and daffodils, her hair done up in a French braid. She looked innocent with her hair out of her face and standing there shyly in the doorway. She invited him in. Thanking him for the presents she placed them carefully on the welcome table by the door. Grabbing her tiny clutch she headed out.

"You look beautiful."

She smiled and blushed.

"Thank you." His Mazda sat purring by the curb. He escorted her to it and opened the door to let her in.

He put the car into gear and they peeled away from the curb. They didn't talk much on the short ride to the beach; it was only a fifteen minute drive. She hoped that they would talk more at the party but when they got there he was immediately bombarded by welcoming friends and she was pushed away from him by jostling girls. He hadn't made any attempt to introduce her.

Walking desolately to the punch table by herself she poured herself some of the drink and sipped it slowly while walking along by edge of where the waves lapped at the sand. Jordan had been led away by his entourage and was there talking with them by the fire.

"Ilana." She turned around at the sound of her name.

"Roger," she said emotionlessly.

"Are you here with Jordan?"

"Yes and who are you here with?" She hadn't meant to goad him. He just somehow bought out the worst in her.

"Do you think it's possible to enjoy the night alone or can you only enjoy it with male company?" His harsh words changed her mind. She had felt sorry for being so negative towards him but she could see that he was still the same hateful Roger. She was going to be the better person and just walk away instead of exchanging jabs with him.

"Wait." He walked up to her.

"For what Roger, another poke. I don't think we really need to talk to each other, so why bother."

"Because that wasn't always the case. I thought we were friends once. Just trust me Ilana, you don't want to be with someone like Jordan."

"That was so long ago it's no longer true."

"True or not, be careful around him. Don't let him get too close."

Ilana walked away. They had been friends once and maybe they'd even been more than that if you can call competition a real relationship. She was in such a black mood that she didn't even see Jordan walking over until he was leaning over her and whispering.

"Let's go somewhere to talk. You look like you've got a lot of things on your mind." She couldn't help thinking that finally he wanted to talk just when she didn't really want to talk anymore. Great! She reminded herself that she was happy to be there with Jordan and it meant something to those that saw her there with him. Here she was not the prettiest or the smartest girl at the school but she was with Jordan Peck. He had chosen her. That thought made her feel slightly better.

"Yea, sure." He escorted her to one of the rocks on grass by the edge of the beach. The figures at the bonfire were only shadows now.

"What did you want to talk about?" Ilana turned to Jordan. He didn't want to talk. Instead he rained gentle kisses on to her eyelids, lips, and cheek. She felt a tingling sensation from all the places that he kissed her. She felt a little sleepy and her brain felt muddled from too much punch.

"Don't you want to know more about me?" Ilana pushed him away long enough to get the sentence out.

"Here's what I know. You're beautiful with your dark hair and olive skin. Your lips are full and I love them." That was all he said before the kisses began again. The dizziness returned. She liked it. Maybe she should just relax and enjoy the moment. Before any relaxing could happen it was interrupted.

"Oh so this is what they call the kissing rock. You bring a lot of girls out here Jordan?" Roger interrupted them. His demeanor was relaxed and he smiled amusedly.

"No! Ilana is special to me," said Jordan. He didn't stop his advances on Ilana though. Ilana feeling very uncomfortable now tried to push him off. He didn't budge but Roger helped. Grabbing Jordan by the neck of his jacket Roger physically dragged Jordan off her.

"Get off of her!"

"It's already done," Their commotion caught the attention of the crowd and the bonfire gang gathered around them. Roger turned and walked away grabbing Ilana's wrist on his way out of the crowd. They left Jordan just lying on the floor in front of the crowd.

"What are you doing Roger? Where are we going? You're hurting me." Ilana jerked her hand from his grasp.

"Listen to me Ilana, you need to pack your things and get out of here." What are you talking about?

"They've picked you Ilana. I was hoping that it wouldn't be you but he's made it clear that you are going to be his mate. That's why they are going to change you. Perhaps this means that they won't hurt you like the others but I can't be sure."

"His mate? You're crazy. Too much studying has gotten to your head."

"This isn't a joke Ilana. They're parasites. They live off of their hosts. Jordan and his family brought them home with them when they went to Africa. I've known Jordan and his family for a long time. They were a part of my father's church so he sent me to inquire after their health when they stopped attending Sunday mass after coming back. So one Saturday afternoon I went over there. I rang the doorbell but no one answered. Perhaps it was rude of me to enter without knocking but I did it anyways. They were home though, but it wasn't them. It was just their bodies. They were all gathered in the living room, all of them around this giant container of blood. They had IV tubes coming from their wrists to the container and I called out to them and I tapped them on the shoulders. They were unresponsive. The ivy tubes were clear with remnants of their blood. They felt cold to the touch. But I think the parasites felt me. Because I watched as blood from the container came running back through the ivy tubes and I felt their hands turn warm. I didn't stay any longer than that. I checked online I was too scared to go to my father, but they got to him before I could warn him. They went to Sunday mass the next weekend and when he came home he wasn't the same anymore. Everything was the same but his eyes. They were different. They didn't have color anymore. They were just clear with a metallic light."

"You're crazy Roger and you're freaking me out. Aren't you a bit too old for Halloween jokes?"

"You'll know when they get to you. My father was completely turned and so are Jordan and his family, but you haven't been, so you'll know when it tries to change you."

"What do you mean?"

"If I'm right you are going to get very sick very soon. You will be running a high fever as your body tries to purge itself of the parasites. But it can't. You will only get sicker." Roger turned to go.

"I need a ride home, freak!" He turned and not touching her gave her the keys to his beat up civic.

"It's in the second row."

Ilana found herself driving home alone in Roger's car. It was all a very strange night. She was hoping for a better morning. Maybe she would get a chance to explain to Jordan what happened and why she had to leave so early.

She walked into a quiet homeroom the next day.

They were all there. But it was silent. Even the teacher looked concerned. Mrs. Taylor sat at her desk with nothing to do. She didn't have students to yell at and she wasn't ready to start her class yet. The class turned in unison as Ilana walked in.

Ilana took her seat, and yet they all kept staring at her. Jordan walked in last as usual. He took the only empty seat next to Ilana. He smiled her way as he took his seat. His eyes were blue. That calmed her down a bit.

"Hey, why did you have to leave so soon last night? I hope I didn't do anything to frighten you."

"No. Roger just had some question to go over with me about AP Bio we're partners for lab this week," the lie came so easily to her. She didn't know why she didn't just tell him that Roger thought he was some sort of host to a parasitic monster. Well hmm because that sounded ridiculous to her as well.

Roger wasn't in Biology that day. She went home feeling very tired. She woke up at eight the next morning and was late for her first class. She had been asleep since four in the afternoon. She didn't feel warm enough for a fever but she was still so tired. Cramming down a pop tart she ran to school. Math had started already. Ilana tried to sneak in without anyone noticing but alas to no avail she was sent down to the secretary's office to get a permission slip for tardiness.

There was no one there. Generally the secretary's office would be abuzz with activity. She figured that they were all gathered in the principal's office. She went in there and no one was there either, but there, in the corner of the room was a large container empty of all fluids except for remnants of blood and IV tubes were coming from it. Backing out of the office she ran straight into Jordan. Trying to control her heart she smiled her amiable smile but she couldn't quite get her heart beat under control. The flight or fight reflex was in full force.

"What are you doing here Ilana?" He was leaning in very close. He looked so good today; why did she have to listen to Roger that story was such a hoax. She wished she could just trust Jordan but the container in the office really unraveled her and all the students were perfectly behaved in homeroom and where were the secretaries and the principal?

"I was running late this morning and just needed to get a late slip. How about you?" Ilana inched towards the door keeping her eyes trained on Jordan.

"I was looking for you actually." His supposed charming response sent a shiver down her spine and she ran out of the room and out of the front door to the right of the secretarial office. She ran all the way home. She had left her homework and books in class but she couldn't go back today. She completely freaked in front of Jordan of all people just over a stupid story and a container that could very likely just be a water container in the principal's office.

She couldn't help it. She believed him and that meant she had to go find Roger and figure things out. Grabbing her stuff she headed out to her car. Her parents had left their SUV at home and she took the keys from the hide hole that they put it in so that she doesn't find it and drive their car and crash it. Unfortunately for them she'd known where the key were hidden for a while now.

Roger lived on the edge of town. His family didn't have much money and by luck found an affordable place in St. George's Village but bordering the bad neighborhood. She knew where he lived because Amelia lived a couple doors down and she saw him sometimes when she visited.

She rang the doorbell. No one answered. She walked to the back of the house hoping to look through a window. She was in luck the curtains pulled back to let light in. She peered into the kitchen of the Mason house. No one was home. There weren't any strange containers that she could see.

"What are you doing here?" His hard cutting voice made her jump. He was standing behind her in grey sweats.

"I'm here to find out the truth." She stared back at him.

"Do you believe me?"

"I don't know?"

"Then come back when you do."

"So you don't have proof? I'm supposed to believe every fantastical thing that you've said? Isn't it enough that I am here; that I left class to be here? Do you think it is easy for me to believe in what can very well be some fucked up fairy tale?"

Suddenly a spasm of pain shot through her and she squeaked out the last word of her sentence. Hunching over in pain Ilana lost her balance and fell to the pavement.

She opened her eyes. She was laying on tiled floor, a green dirty spotted floor. It could only mean that she was back at the school. None of the lights were except for the light from the microscope. Roger was seated with his back to her. She watched as the muscles on his shoulder stretch as he tried to keep his neck from cramping. He looked different. She couldn't remember the last time that she really looked at him. They'd been rivals for so long that he'd lost all appeal to her. Standing she dusted off her cardigan. There was still a dull ache in the pit of her stomach but other than that she felt fine.

"Was the floor of the school the best place you could think of to place me?" She said staring over his right shoulder. He'd drawn some observations into little round circles like the page in their lab packets.

"They look like the worms that we saw in class." He leaned away to let her look through the lenses. She saw a larger replica of what she saw before." As if anticipating her next question he said quietly,

"I took a sample of your blood. My mother was a doctor and I know that my dad left her stuff up in the attic. I was able to find a needle."

"What is wrong with you! Was it clean?" It was all she could say because she couldn't accept what she saw beneath the microscope lens.

"I think you have bigger problems to worry about Ilana. But yes I do think it is clean I also cleaned it the best that I could."

"So that's me beneath those lenses."

"Yes." Ilana locked her jaw and sucked in her cheeks. It was a defense mechanism. She needed to think.

"Am I going to die?"

"Eventually…yes."

"I'm talking about being killed by this thing not dying of old age. This isn't the time to be funny." Neither laughed.

"I was talking about the parasites. The fact that you still retain the color in your eyes suggests that they weren't able to inject enough of their blood into your system. But even having a handful of the parasites will hurt you enough to wish yourself death. They will eat you from the inside out."

"Where was your father? I didn't see him at the house."

"He is gone. They are done with him."

"The pain?"

"Yes, it was them. They have begun their feast on you."

"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?" The hysterical scream escaped her before she could control it. She moved to shake him but he moved faster and was standing across the room from her in an instant. Her sob caught in her throat as she stared at the fear on his face. She pieced it together,

"So they pass to each host through touch?"

"Yea. It is not instantaneous but prolonged touching. I believe that they cause sharp thin microscopic needles to grow all over your body and that is why you don't feel anything for the first two days. They are busy at work causing these tiny changes to your skin composition. It is the only thing that I can think of that can let them travel so quickly between hosts." She closed her eyes.

"That night on the beach, by the rock, was that when he…"

"Ilana, I was hoping that he wasn't one of them. He still retained the color in his eyes. His parents didn't so I thought that he was okay. If I knew I would've never let you be near him."

"Thank you Roger. You wouldn't have been able to stop me. We weren't exactly friends and you told me your advice and I didn't listen. I'm not your responsibility." They were quiet for a while after that. Each lost in their own thoughts. Ilana finally broke the silence.

"Are they all like that now?"

"No. The rest have found a hideout in Amelia's basement. She and Nate had arrived late on the beach and they had watched as Jordan taking the fall as a chance to split open his hand smeared his bloodied palm across the faces of some of the onlookers. It sped up the process for the parasites to penetrate the skin and then they screamed and then there was chaos as more of the parasites came out of the trees surrounding the beach. These were parasites that you could tell from a distance. Their eyes glowed with bright metallic light."

"How do you know so much about them?"

"My father was one of them. But they didn't get to him completely at the beginning and even when they finally made their presence known through his irises. He still had lucid moments. Although my father is but an engineer he lived with my mom for almost fifteen years. He knows a thing or two about medicine and could explain a bit of what was going on to me. They are a species that can communicate with each other but only when they are together in one unit like in the containers that I mentioned earlier to you. They need to change hosts frequently because they eat their way through the body organs and need to move on quickly before the bodies collapse. They can either force their way out of your body at one location or they can leave through human waste like many other parasites."

Ilana felt stabbing pain again as she took a seat on the lab benches.

"What are we going to do?"

"We need to get you to a hospital. They are parasites. They should be treatable with chemotherapy."

"If that is the case why didn't your dad just go to Cathedral Hospital?"

"We tried. Because even the most common parasites can alter behavior in their hosts for self preservation and these more complex parasites are no different. He cannot smell any sort of chemicals without passing out or going into an anxiety attack. He's not here not because the parasites ate his organs. He died of a heart attack on the way to the hospital." Roger turned his face away as he finished his story. Ilana reached out to comfort him but remembered just in time that she was infected and her touch would bring only death.

"I'm sorry." She felt so strange as if she just stepped into a science-fiction horror movie. Things like this didn't happen in real life.

"There's something else you need to know Ilana." Roger whispered.

"It is not just St. George's Village that has been affected." He flicked on the television.

I am standing here in Eastview. As you can see behind me there are bodies in the streets. This town has been entirely annihilated by the parasitic epidemic that is spreading the nation. It is advised that those that are not infected remain indoors at all times with as many cracks in the doors and windows blocked as possible.

Roger switched off the television.

"They recommend those that are infected to go to the nearest emergency room for radioactive treatment."

"I can't!" My hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"Listen to me Ilana. Stop thinking about the treatments and the hospital, take a deep breath. I want you to think of other things. Just follow me wherever I go." Ilana took a deep breath and exhaled out all her worries and hospital thoughts. She replaced them with determination.

"Let's do it!" Roger ran to grab his coat and hat. He had thick chemical gloves on. He even wore a visor on his face.

"They can manipulate your thoughts but I don't think they've infected you with enough of them to do it easily."

"I trust you, Roger."

"Don't get melodramatic on me Ilana. Just move it. They are probably looking for you. They need to finish the job otherwise you are too much of a threat to their life. You have too much free will. Here wear this." Roger gave her a large black trench coat.

"Put it on. Just in case they find you, you can't let them inject you with any more of their venom. I need you to be coherent and human for a while longer." They left the lab room and headed downstairs but Roger stopped before the main entrance.

"You'll get violently ill if we take any roads that you are familiar with and I don't know if you'll be able to make it with them knowing where you intend to go. As far as I know they do not understand our language yet and see only through the pictures in our minds. Jordan is the exception to this of course."

"What do you suggest?"

"We take the underground tunnels."

"Underground tunnels? I thought those were just make-believe that seniors tell freshmen to scare them before they come to the high school."

"Good. Then you don't know about them. Follow me." Roger brought her to the basement, a part of the school that she never been to before. The tunnels were a level down from the basement and Roger lead the way.

"This isn't underground tunnels. This is a sewage pipe." Ilana wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Don't complain lets go before they come and find you."

"How would they find me. I don't even know where I'm going and I really doubt anyone knows about these tunnels."

"Jordan does."

"How?"

"He was on the rifle team and they had practice in the basement of the school. There is a shooting range there. We were on the team together that year and discovered the tunnels together. If he figures out that you've come to me. He'll know where I've brought you." Roger led the way along the dark passage. He held out his iphone for light. Its screen was set to as bright as it can go. Some sort of application gave it the ability to function as a flashlight.

She hid between the slimy walls of the sewage pipe. Her fingers itching to clean the slime out of her hair. Roger had gone ahead to scout out the right path. There were so many branch offs. He couldn't remember which one he took the last time he went.

The irregular steps were getting closer. All she knew was that they didn't belong to Roger and they came from the school. She could only assume that they finally figured it out. Along the way in the dark Roger and Ilana figured on Jordan being some sort of supreme master or controller of the other parasites. He didn't have the same abilities; it was only he that had the special abilities to both retain his original eye color and the ability to communicate with humans. The rest were all silent.

"Hello Ilana." She jumped with a start. He found her. She was about to abandon her hiding spot when he continued,

"I know you're in here. I feel my children close." So he hadn't found her. He could only guess that she was down there. All she had to do was stay calm, silent, and still. Unfortunately for her it was getting hard to breath. The parasites in her knew that he was near, their master. They tried to escape from her knowing that she wanted only to end their existence but there weren't enough of them and her body held firm against their prods and pushes for release. It still hurt though and it was all she could do to keep from gasping out loud from the pain.

She listened hard for his steps. They sounded further away now. Further up the tunnel that is, so if she left her hiding spot now she was going to have to get past him in order to continue. Then she heard another pair of footsteps coming towards them. It was the running pat, pat of Nike sneakers. Roger was coming back. He didn't know that Jordan was down there with them. Jordan was walking down the passage towards Robert. She bent down searching. Her fingers brushed on a lose rock. She threw it out of the crack and heard it hit the opposite wall. She heard it as Jordan stopped to listen. She threw another just for good measure. Jordan changed directions immediately. His steps slowed and quieted. He was headed her way. She was sure. She didn't know how well they could see in the dark but she was hoping that like her they couldn't even discern a shadow. If he was coming back to search for the sound he could very likely find her crack in the wall.

She pressed herself as close against the wall as possible. Ilana edged closely against the wall inching towards the direction she heard Roger come from. Silently she felt clothing brush against her arm and she stopped dead in her tracks. She felt Jordan move past her. He was looking on the opposite side from the sound. He knew that she threw it purposely. Thankfully she had gotten out of there.

"Ilana!" She heard him the same moment that Jordan did and she ran for it.

"Go! He's here!"

She heard running feet behind her. Suddenly a hand grabbed her and covered her scream.

"Shh…" They heard him run past.

"This way."

Apparently they had turned off into another branch of the tunnel. They ran all the way down to the end. She didn't hear anymore footsteps coming after them. They ran to a ladder that leads to a manhole opening. Roger lifted the lid and she finally breathed in fresh air. The parasites knew this meant that they were close to the hospital and she felt her throat closing.

"C..an't…Breathe." She watched as the ground came up to hit her.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Yes, she'll be fine Mr. Mason. We will not be giving her chemotherapy just yet. She's the only one that's made it so far. It's happening all around the country. We are safe here for the time being. They are scared to be near the hospital. It was a good idea knocking her out like that at the end."

"I didn't bring her here to be a test rat. She needs to get it out of her."

"Don't worry. Let me just extract some blood and we'll start immediately." Ilana felt the needle prick her arm. She felt the blood flowing out of her. Needles always made her feel ill. This time she was happy to be rid of as much of it as possible. After five minutes she was falling in and out of consciousness.

"We have started the Chemotherapy treatment." That's all she heard as she fell into again into unconsciousness. They were pumping anesthesia into her lungs.

Her eyes opened. She heard the machines beeping with her heart beat. The room smelled of disinfectant. Roger was reclined in a chair in the corner. He snored gently.

"Roger." He opened one eye and smiled a sleepy crooked grin.

"How are you feeling?"

"Am I better?"

"As good as you'll ever be." Before she could ask him to explain he rose and leaned in and her question was left unasked on her lips.

"What about everyone else?" He silenced her again, but not before she got a good look in his eyes…they were clear metallic silver. She felt again that tingling kiss.