So sorry I haven't updated sooner! Also, I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Just tell me in a PM or a review and I'll get to work on fixing it. Also, short chapter is short. Don't kill me!
Chapter Two
"You might want to get off him, might accidently hurt him." Coach murmured to Ivory, gently pulling her off of Daniel's prone body. Ivory let him, not putting up a fight.
"I-I need to go get Myracle... She could get hurt..." Ivory whispered, seemingly to herself. Her yellow eyes were dull, lifeless.
"Do you need help?" Zoey asked her sympathetically.
"Yes... The other Infected will try to hurt us..." Ivory answered, walking towards the door.
"I'll go with her." Francis said, following the young Witch. He was curious to see Myracle. He hadn't even known that intelligent Infected existed, let alone a family of them.
"How did you and your family get infected in the first place?" Francis asked Ivory.
"Daniel got infected first. We were at the hospital, visiting my mother. She had just had a surgery on her heart and she wasn't doing well. When we got there, Mom had died. Her heart had just failed. No one could have done anything about it. Well, while we were there, there were people coming through in hazmat suits. We heard them talking about the Green Flu, saying that some new symptom had appeared. That the people infected with it would exhibit the same symptoms as a rabid animal. When we got to Mom's room to say goodbye, the men in the hazmat suits were trying to restrain her... And sh-she was screaming... I didn't know what to think. I was happy that she was alive, but afraid. Her eyes were yellow and I could see all of her veins through her skin..." Ivory got quieter as her story continued, until Francis could hardly hear her.
"A Witch?" Francis asked. Ivory nodded.
"She was a Witch. Daniel went up to get the men off her, and she bit him. Then one of the hazmat men grabbed Daniel and pushed him out of the room and into a quarantine room. It happened so fast. I couldn't do anything to help him. They injected him with some kind of vaccine I think, I couldn't really see it clearly. Then he just went still. I was terrified. I thought they had killed him. But then the man who had injected him told me that it was just a sedative, to make him relax. He lied. Within an hour, they told me that Daniel was infected with the Green Flu. That it was fatal. So they let me go in and see him. He looked fine to me, not sick at all. I was relieved, thinking that he would be fine. He told me to go visit the maternity ward and calm down." By this point, Ivory was blinking back tears. Francis patted her shoulder awkwardly, attempting to comfort her. A shaky smile appeared on Ivory's lip, a thin laugh bubbling up her throat.
"I know how weird that sounds, but it really did help me to calm down just to see the babies. We had been trying for a baby. But we just couldn't conceive. We went to doctor after doctor, but nothing worked. It got to the point where we were just ready to give up. But that isn't part of the story. Anyway, I got to see Daniel and take him home, as long as I allowed two of the hazmat men to come home with us. I thought that was strange, but I just wanted to go home, so I agreed. Later that night, Daniel turned. He killed the two men. When people turn, they lose their mind, and Daniel was no different. But then he just, I don't know, calmed down? That's the best way to explain it. But by then, he had scratched me. That's all it takes to be infected. And, well, Myracle was born infected. I don't think that needs explaining." Ivory finished her story. They walked in silence for a few more minutes before reaching a decrepid apartment building.
"It's safe to go in. We keep the Infected out." Ivory assured Francis before going in. Francis followed her, still alert for any unaccounted for Infected. Ivory led him to the third story and went to a boarded up door. She made quick work removing the boards from the door and walked in. Francis was hit hard by the smell of decay, but it didn't seem to bother Ivory as she walked into a side room of the apartment. Francis followed her to a crib in the corner.
"Myracle, sweetie, wake up. Mama's back." Ivory cooed, picking a small infant up from the crib. Myracle squirmed, sticking her hand in her mouth. Ivory giggled quietly and cradled the baby close to her chest, running her claws through Myracle's brown hair gently. Francis stepped closer, wanting to take a closer look at the infant. Myracle blinked at him curious, pulling her hand out of her mouth. Ivory bit her lip nervously, not knowing how her daughter would react to a living human. To her shock and relief, the baby just giggled and waved her hand at the human. She had been afraid that Myracle would mistake Francis for lunch.
"She's adorable. How old is she?" Francis told Ivory, smiling.
"Thank you. I'm actually not really sure, but Daniel thinks around 10 months. I don't remember when she was born, and I don't know what day it is now." Ivory admitted.
"Oh." Was all Francis could think to say. How did a mother not remember the birth of her child? Then again, the mother is a Witch...
"I know, it's weird." Ivory said. She had always felt a bit of doubt whenever she had time to think. If Myracle was really her child, why didn't she remember being pregnant with her? Or her birth? The first memory she had of Myracle was waking up to hear a baby crying and then Daniel telling her that Myracle was probably hungry again. She had asked Daniel about it before, but he always avoided the subject, which left even more doubt in her heart. But then she would look at her baby, see her own features reflected in that little face, and the doubt would vanish. Never completely, but enough to easily ignore it. Myracle was hers. She had to be.
"We need to get back before the others think we're dead." Francis told her. She nodded.
"Just let me pack a few things for Myracle." She said before going to the closet and filling a small duffel bag with human parts. Francis saw what she put in the bag, but didn't say anything about it.
"Ready?" He asked. Ivory nodded and began leading him out of the building, not bothering to reblock the door. Myracle was safe with her, there was no need to block the apartment off. When they got back to the Safe Room, Ivory and Myracle was instantly swarmed by the other Survivors, curious to see the infected infant. The overload of people made Myracle cry so Ivory laid her in a secluded part of the room to nap.
"She's so cute, Ivory." Zoey told the Witch. Ivory smiled.
"She is. Always has been." The young mother said proudly.
"Think she's going to be a Witch?" Ellis asked.
"Daniel and I talked about that not too long ago actually. We're not sure. She looks like a Witch, but she doesn't act like one. Even I have fits where I just start sobbing uncontrollably, like a feral Witch. And Daniel sometimes acts like a feral Hunter." Ivory answered after a moment of thought. She looked over at her unresponsive husband, frowning.
"But we think she'll have the tendencies of both a Hunter and a Witch. She gets playful like Hunters do and moody like Witches." She finished.
"So, a new Special?" Nick asked, a hint of nervousness in his normally stoic, sarcastic voice.
"Yeah. A new Special." Ivory said, going to sit beside Daniel.
*Two Months Later*
All Daniel knew was pain. A splintering, burning hot pain that seared his nerve endings and forced him to stiffen and lay still. It never let up, no matter how hard he tried to force himself to relax and let it subside. This wasn't the first time he had been hurt, and certainly wouldn't be the last.
"Daniel?" He heard a voice softly whisper.
'Witch? No, Ivory.' He reminded himself.
"Ivory?" He asked in response, his voice hoarse from lack of use. He heard a quiet sob before he felt the weight of his wife collapse on him. She was shaking with sobs.
"I-I thought you were dead!" She cried. He raised a weak hand to gently rub her back.
"Not that easy to get rid of me." He responded. She raised her head to look at him, glaring slightly.
"You've been in a coma for two months, Daniel." She told him, an accusing tone in her voice. He frowned.
"Two months?" He asked.
"Yes. Two months." She confirmed. Daniel looked around, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"The survivors' Safe Room. They dragged you here after you got hurt." Ivory explained.
"Oh. Where is Myracle?" Daniel asked.
"In her crib asleep. Coach and Nick were able to find her a new one and some new clothes." Ivory answered. Daniel sat up, groaning at a dull ache in his chest.
"Be careful. You were hurt really bad." Ivory told him.
"Got it. I'll be careful. Now stop fussing." Daniel chuckled. Ivory rolled her eyes.
"Kinda hard not to fuss, seeing as how you almost died." She told him, a smile tugging at her lips.
"But I'm fine now. And I want to see my daughter." Daniel told her.
"Alright." Ivory said, standing up and offering him a hand to help him up. Daniel accepted the help and stood up, bending over slightly to ease a sudden sharp pain in his torso.
"Are you okay?" Ivory asked worriedly. Daniel nodded and straightened up as the pain faded to nothing.
"I'm fine. Now take me to Myracle." He assured his wife. Ivory nodded and helped him to the crib their daughter was sleeping in. Myracle had been bathed and dressed in a clean onesie. It was yellow and covered in ducks. Daniel smiled and gently brushed the little girl's hair out of her face.
"She's such a sweetheart. And she's getting so big." He whispered, being sure to be quiet enough not to wake the baby. Ivory nodded in agreement.
"Francis has become her best friend. And Zoey and Rochelle adore her." She told him.
"Really?" Daniel asked, surprised. He had been worried about how Myracle reacted to humans.
"Yeah. She loves them. She calls them her aunts and uncles. And yes, she can talk now. She's so smart, it's amazing." Ivory answered. Myracle stirred and looked up at her parents with sleepy yellow eyes. Then she smiled brilliantly and reached up at them, opening and closing her little hands.
"Mama! Daddy!" She squealed loudly. Loud enough to wake the survivors. francis walked into the part of the room first, closely followed by Zoey and Ellis.
"Nice to see you finally awake, man." Francis said gruffly, patting Daniel's shoulder. The Hunter cracked a smile.
"You have no idea how nice it is to be awake." He said. Ivory picked Myracle up, but it was obvious that the child wanted her father.
"Do you think you can hold her?" Ivory asked her husband, worried about him straining himself so soon after waking up.
"Of course I can." Daniel answered, taking the Infected child from her mother. Myracle immediately threw her arms around his neck.
"Daddy!" She squealed again, kicking her feet in excitement. Daniel smiled, burying his face in his daughter's hair.
"I love you, sweetheart." He told her quietly.
"Love you too." Myracle said, not letting him out of the hug.