My
eyes snapped open, was I dreaming or was I in reality? Had I really
seen Debbie? I inhaled, taking in my surroundings; I was in an oddly
white room, lying in a white bed complete with scratchy sheets, there
was a faint beep of a machine to my right. I exhaled, "what's
going on? Is this paradise… if it is it's painful and weird" I
muttered to myself. Sitting up, I winced at the sharp pain in my side
and the dull ache of my muscles. The dim light burned my eyes; I
blinked, wondering where I was. Then it hit me, I wasn't in
paradise, I was in a hospital room… very much alive. My mind raced,
what happened to those years I spent in the lake? How was I found?
Did my diary have any effect on the past at all? Why am I alive? I
swallowed, finding myself to be panicking; I lifted my hand,
examining it for scars, in sheer desperation, hoping that they were
there. Sure enough, ten pearly white scars ran across my fingers."
At least I have my vampire powers" I thought. I could find no
logical explanation for me being alive, I was supposed to be dead,
lady Evanna had told me so, 4 years had supposedly passed and I
seemed very much in present day... a few days after I well… died?
Then again, since when had anything in the vampire world been
logical? Sighing, I mused with the thought of everyone's reaction
when I say "oh, hey... I'm supposed to be dead" then it hit me,
something must have gone wrong with Evannas' plan, I'm supposed
to be dead, the war of the scars should be resting on the birth of
Evannas' children from both Vancha and Gannen. I have to find
Evanna and see what's happened! I threw back the covers to my bed
and tenderly swung my legs off the end of the bed, taking a deep
breath I attempted to stand, a wave of dizziness plagued me and I had
to sit. "Focus!" I told myself, taking another deep breath an
concentrating hard on blocking out pain I stood, swayed for a while
and took a couple of shaky steps forward whilst clinging to the wall.
Slowly, I edged my way to the window, taking miniscule steps; I
peeled back the curtains to reveal a bright sunny day. I stood,
entranced by the suns golden glow, not noticing the smell of burning
flesh… Hmmm… BURNING FLESH!?!?!? Charnas Guts! I glanced at my
arm, it was severely blistered from sunlight exposure and I was
betting that my face would be similar. I staggered backwards in
shock, repeatedly muttering charnas guts, unable to take in the fact
that I must be a full vampire.
"Mr Shan, what on earth are you
doing out of bed, you should be resting" Startled by the shriek I
lost balance and fell to the ground, glancing up I caught a view of a
stern looking nurses angry features. Helping me up and back to my bed
I endured her furious lecture of reopening wounds blah blah blah, it
was enough to send me to sleep! Actually, I was becoming rather tired
and as I fell back onto my pillows I became immersed in sleep
"The
nurse said he was awake this morning... she doesn't know how he got
the burns though, neither does the doctor… it's quite remarkable
really."
"Well, not really. Maybe the purge has passed and
he's full vampire, we'll not know till he wakes up" There
snippets of conversation awakened my senses, I knew both of these
voices and my heart leapt at hearing the hushed tones of both Alice
and Vancha. Opening my eyes I found them to be sat next to my bed,
gazing at me apprehensively.
"Darren, it's good to see you
up!" Exclaimed Vancha as he leaned over to hug me.
"Vancha
there's som-"I began,
"oh, well of course I knew you'd
wake up..."
"Vancha something ba-"
"but I've been
worried sick…"
"VANCHA!" I roared, he looked at me
offended look upon his face, "sorry, but I was trying to tell you
something".
"Why didn't you say so instead of yelling at me"
he replied scornfully, rolling my eyes I took a deep breath, and then
I reminded myself that they'd think I was crazy… I opened my
mouth, and then closed it.
"uhhhmm… where's Lady Evanna,
its urgent". Vancha looked at me curiously and murmured.
"Darren,
you need to rest. Can't it wait at least until your fully healed".
T looked down and realised something, I had healing vampire spit. I
waited while Vancha and Alice went to the window to have a hushed
conversation when I cautiously peeled back the bandaging over my
abdomen and took a well aimed spit at it. The wound started to close,
I spat again just to be sure and the wound closed up fully.
"Darren,
you idiot, what are you doing. Do you want to bleed to death or
something?" I jumped at Vanchas scolding and toppled out of bed.
"and now look, you're falling all over, honestly Darren you
expect to get better, did that fall in the lake make you lose your
mind!?!"
"Hey, Vancha, get off your soap box a minute. I
healed myself, no thanks to you. So can we get this show on the road
or what? I'd like to see Evanna sometime this lifetime" I
laughed, smirking at him. Vancha looked at me, dumbfounded.
"The
purge is over? Wow, this is a cause for celebration" I grinned and
jumped out of bed, anxious to get out of the hospital and see
Evanna.
"What are we waiting for?" I grinned, walking towards
the door when Alice stopped me.
"For you to get some clothes, if
you go out now you'd get arrested for indecent exposure" She
said, half serious half jokingly. I glanced into the mirror and gave
a yelp. I was wearing a backless hospital gown.
I quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt Vancha obtained from a shop nearby, as I dressed I took a glance in the mirror and looked at my reflection. I was slightly more muscular, and my biceps seemed to bulge more. I looked at my facial features; I ran a finger over a jagged scar on my cheek, a graze on my chin and wondered to myself if I looked older after the purge. I ran my hand through my hair, worry bubbling at the pit of my stomach. I turned and strode along my room towards the window, unclipped the catch and escaped into the night heading for the meeting point Vancha had scheduled.
