CHAPTER ELEVEN: Wake Up
This chapter is a little different from the other ones, but oh well.
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Nowhere in her memories had she ever felt anything like it. Why were her cheeks wet? Mimi was on the street, in front of a hundred cameras. But only a small part of her was even voicing this concern. The rest of her body was wracked with horrendous, shaking sobs. Warm, salty tears streamed from her eyes, and her knees were weak. She collapsed to the ground, writhing in an agony that was gripping and fearful. And it wasn't for herself. These were not selfish tears, not even tears for wounded pride. These weren't tears at Schuyler's expense, nor for all the times people hadn't been there for her. This sorrow was for a person – forgotten and precious, who Mimi would never know.
*****
Dr. Pat's office was modern and cold, the epitome of medical efficiency. In light of his twin's 'breakdown', Jack had been excused from his classes at Duchesne for at least a few days. Mimi lay motionless on the pristine and colorless hospital bed beside him, her blond hair fanned out beneath on the snowy-white pillowcase. At first glance. She looked like she might have succumbed to the same unnatural sleep that Allegra van Alen had, but the doctor had assured all of them that she was just exhausted, and would wake when she was ready. Certainly, she was breathing deeply and occasionally mumbled incoherently, but she had looked so lifeless.
An emotional trauma, Dr. Pat had explained. A great shock. Sadly, no-one had been able to answer her questions about what may have triggered the episode. But Jack was feeling guilty. Incredibly so. Trapped in her slumber, Mimi had repeated the words 'don't leave me! No, no….', and 'my precious boy… come back to me!' She was often twisted in her paper-thin sheet, terrified of whatever she was dreaming of. And Jack knew that it was his fault. He had left her – again – to go to Schuyler, and then she had collapsed. It was because he had seen her – really seen her – and then he had thrown it back in her face. He couldn't help it, he felt an unexplainable pull towards Schuyler, and when he had seen her there, trying to get his attention, he had wanted to step in to shield the tiny figure from everyone. But not any longer. He wasn't about to let anything happen to Madeleine Force ever again; even if he was going to hurt himself unbearably in the process. He loved Schuyler desperately, but Mimi had occupied his heart first. She had always been there for him.
*****
She tossed and turned, unable to cease the memories going thick and fast through her mind. All Mimi could see was his perfect face, his gorgeous eyes; thousands upon thousands of separate times. Sometimes her loss quieted, and she could no longer feel the grief stabbing her heart like acid-dipped razors. But when she could no longer fell Jack holding her hand, or talking to her, telling her she would be fine, or saying that she needed to wake up, she fell into the dark place. Like she was at the bottom of a crevasse made of ice; looking up at the world far outside her reach. But the sliver of sunlight above her was fading now, and the cold was overwhelming. Maybe she would just sleep a little longer… Yes. She would get up in the morning. Why was she being shaken so roughly? The cold and the sorrow where getting to her, why couldn't they see that? And Jack was shouting at her. Why was he doing that, what had she done this time? Ah, he wanted her to wake up, right now. And then the darkness swallowed her.
*****
Schuyler paced around her new bedroom, disbelieving. She had seen – with her own eyes – Madeleine Force fall to her knees, crying real, hysterical tears. And then she had collapsed on the pavement outside the clubs, curling up into a fetal position. Jack had turned around and crouched down next to her, shaking his twin. Mimi looked like she was having a fit, pale and shaking, with tears and sweat mingling on her face. But someone had called an ambulance, so they had to get her out of there quickly, before it came. Some fast thinking blueblood in the crowd had called for Doctor Pat, and a discreet black car had pulled up outside the club within minutes. Jack and Bliss had lifted her limp body into the backseat, and then crawled in after her, as Schuyler watched on in shock. Time slowed down for them all, up until the moment the car had pulled away into the traffic, swerving around other vehicles and going at least twice as fast the speed limit allowed. Blue blood was more important to the vampires than the red kind.
When the ambulance finally arrived, a distinct lack of anyone actually in need of medical assistance became apparent. A lot of the red bloods present hadn't even seen Mimi get taken away by her best friend and her brother, it had been that fast. All of the blue bloods, however; had the common sense to loudly claim that they were tripping, and nothing of the kind had happened. A brief argument broke out between the two points of view, but the vampires could look scary when they wanted to, and in the end most of the people opposing them meekly backed down.
The flashing neon combined with the ambulance lights made everything look more than slightly surreal; lots of the people present were eager to get inside, to dance and drink it off. But understandably, both places were very uncomfortable with the thought of ambulance officers anywhere near their fine establishments. The ID's were more stringently checked than usual, and anyone 'suspiciously' young looking was sent away. Most of the red-bloods kids who normally went out to either club were turned away, but all underage blue bloods were hastily ushered into Block 122, the same as usual. Money was above the law, it seemed.
*****
Jack sat silently by his sister's side for hours, his mother and father coming and going frequently. He watched Mimi intently, trying to sense what she was dreaming of through their bond. But he was getting only flashes, like bad reception on a television. She was scared – that he could tell – and there was also an overwhelming grief so strong that he broke down in tears several times as well. Mimi felt saddest when she was looking at a pair of bright green eyes, and Jack felt a pang in his chest when he snatched a glimpse of them too. He felt that he knew who those eyes might belong to, but he couldn't quite place them. And then it dawned on him, like a bucket full of the obvious being dumped on his head. Those were his eyes, Mimi's eyes, his father's eyes – and Allegra's eyes. But they didn't belong to either him or Mimi; because in the snapshots he was getting he somehow knew that they were standing together, looking at someone. It wasn't Charles or Allegra either; he could tell. This was someone completely different, but he couldn't see a face, or where they fit into this memory of himself and Azrael. Perhaps in this memory, whoever it was would be standing opposite the twins.
But the strangest thing was, when he was combing his own memories for this mystery person, he couldn't find any trace of the scene Mimi could picture. He couldn't even see the pair of them looking as they did in her mind. When he tried harder, all he could get was the forbidding image of the word 'Croatan' on the ancient wooden sign, standing solitary in an innocent field. The image sent shivers up his spine, just as it had when he had first tried to go past it. He knew now that the Committee had blocked their full past from them, for fear of reawakening the 'silver-blood' panic. Because that's what the word Croatan meant. Silver-blood. Many vampires couldn't remember that anymore – nor did they wish to – but a growing number of them were looking for answers.
An alternate conclusion occurred to Jack. It was so unlikely, but maybe – just maybe – Mimi had managed to somehow surpass the memory block, and come into complete possession of everything that happened in her history. Maybe the scenes were so horrific, she was now grieving for all those who had been lost to the silver bloods, and then forgotten about. A fine way to repay their sacrifice, Jack thought wryly. And then another obvious thought occurred to him. One Mimi woke up, she could project her memories into his mind and he could discover their true history as well. Looking around furtively to make sure Dr. Pat wasn't anywhere near – she had forbidden him from trying to wake his twin up, claiming she needed rest – Jack grasped Mimi's shoulders, and shook her gently. 'Wake up. Mimi, I'm here, and you need to wake up for me. Wake up! I need you to wake up.' He shook her shoulders again, a little less gently this time. She made a noise halfway between a sob and a groan, and her head lolled back onto his arm again. He started murmuring in her ear, in every language she knew, trying to find the right words that would wake her up. He was terrified, seeing her like this. If only he said the magic words, she would come back to him. Azrael was always in control, always assertive and just so alive, seeing her cold and scared was just wrong. A voice in Jack's head whispered that it hadn't always been like this. She hadn't always been so ready for a fight. He started in surprise. How had he known that? The twin he could always remember was a true angel of Destruction.
*****
Jack's voice and the warmth of his hands were drawing Mimi closer and closer to the sunlight, pulling her upwards. She wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to see what was up there, maybe she would just see that poor dead face again, feel the razors. But he was telling her to wake up, saying that he needed her. Those were the words she reveled in. He needed her. Of course he did. She needed him too. It was always going to be the two of them now. She knew the horror of the silver-bloods, the only thing that could harm either of them, and now she would be stronger. She would be so strong, she was going to find out who had done it – ripped her true family apart – and come down on them with all of her true strength. Her power had been cloaked for so long, throughout the centuries, and she hadn't even known it. She hadn't realized why. But now she did. And they were going to burn. Her face broke through into the sunlight, and Mimi snapped her eyelids shut against the golden glare. Blessed warmth enveloped her, and when she opened them again, she was seeing her soul-mate staring at her, almost crying with relief.
Okay you guys, this is a little drawn out, but I like it. If you don't, well, you know what to do.