Chapter Four

Raven POV

Brave sat on a chair next to my white hospital bed leaning over me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rude sulking by the door, and, out the other eye, nine more white hospital beds. At the very edge of my line of sight, I saw Wisdom comforting Timid, who was huddled up, hugging her knees, on a chair in the corner.

"Brave, what happened to you're eyes?" I asked again.

"Not just mine," said Brave solemnly, she grabbed a mirror off a nightstand by the bed and, holding it up to my face said "See for yourself."

I didn't want to look in the mirror, but I had to, and, gazing into my eyes, I saw it was true: mine where red too. A question occurred to me "Where am I?"

Rather than Brave, Wisdom answered, "My realm. Much of it reflects what I'm reading, so I just stopped part way through a medical textbook."

"So, I am in Nevermore, your not all manifesting?" I asked, still groggy.

"Correct."

Timid sniffed, "I'm scared. I mean, what are we going to do? How are we gonna..." she was hysterical, so Wisdom cut her off.

"We're going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine," Wisdom said reassuringly.

"But what if..."

"Timid, it's all right. We're going to be just fine."

"Okay," whispered Timid.

Turning on my side, I noticed that Timid's irises where red as well.

"What happened?" I asked again.

Wisdom looked at Brave and indicated for her to come over there. Brave sighed, but went over to Timid, while Wisdom came to sit next to me. Again, her irises were red. "Raven, what's the last thing you remember?" she asked calmly.

"Um, I was flying on patrol, above the city," I answered slowly.

"And that's it? That's all you remember?" Wisdom prodded.

"Yes," I answered steadily, bracing for bad news.

Wisdom sighed. Then she pointed to my left hand. Puzzled, I looked, and saw it was coated in blood, my blood. "When you first stirred, you put you hand on you're neck. I've bandaged it already, you're neck I mean, but there was a lot of blood. It soaked through the material. I was going to replace the bandage when you started to wake up. I think the blending has stopped now but..." she trailed of.

"But..." I prompted, becoming concerned.

"But... I don't think you want to know why the bleeding has stopped."

Rude snorted, "I should think not."

"Why has the bleeding stopped," I demanded, trying to remain calm.

"Raven... there must be some kind of mental block... because... while you were on patrol... you were bitten... by a vampire," Wisdom's words echoed through the room, through my mind, and I remembered.

"And that means that I'm... that we're..." I stumbled over the words, my mind refusing to except them. Timid burst into tears. Brave was doing all she could to comfort her, but, she seemed worried as well, which only made Timid cry harder.

"The bleeding! What about the bleeding? Why has the bleeding stopped?" I demanded, desperation creeping into my voice.

"The reason the bleeding has stopped... is that your heart has too."