This chapter is pretty short and not very good. My writers block has returned to haunt me.
THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY - THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY
His skin was burning away, the poison spreading quickly through his veins. The ink had dried up against his chest and formed a crusty layer. Malik chewed his lip, trying his hardest to ignore it.
"I've got it!" Mina called, as she finally managed to turn the fire alarm off. The vampires all sighed in relief and let go of their ears. Hundreds of slayers, as well as the Draculas, were sitting around in the hospital wing. Everyone was bleeding or bruised or injured, one way or another. Chloe and George weren't even conscious.
"I leave you alone for five minutes..." Grayson walked over to Chloe with a look of displeasure.
"It wasn't our fault." Malik put in, "We didn't ask for the Council to show up."
"I'll be talking to you later, Malik." Grayson growled at him, "I know that you led them into battle."
"They killed Emarni." Malik said. He knew that Grayson was going to give him a right telling off, no matter what argument he made. Because Grayson was the only proper adult vampire and he would consider it his job to make sure everyone learnt their lesson. Hooray.
"I know." Grayson said, his tone a little softer. He helped Chloe into a sitting position and ripped a blood bag open, pushing it under her nose.
"No..." Chloe muttered weakly, "Not thirsty..." Her eyes were dark, her skin paler than usual in the white light.
"Chloe, just drink it. Don't be a martyr." Malik rolled his eyes. Why did everyone have to be so good all the time? It was infuriating.
"You need your strength back." Grayson told her. She gave in and sipped the blood, splashing a little on her chin.
"You could try and be nice." Grayson directed that at Malik, who scowled at him and shook his head.
"I'm done being nice." Malik decided.
"It's about time." Ingrid smirked, wrapping her arms around him, "I hate it when you're nice." She waved an important looking letter with the United Kingdom flag printed on it, in front of his eyes. Malik tried to make a grab for it and Ingrid yanked it out of his grasp.
"Ingrid!" Malik said, sounding whinier than he intended to.
"Malik!" Ingrid mocked. But she let him grab the letter. It had already been opened by Ingrid, the top of the envelope torn to shreds. Malik pulled out the piece of paper.
"You've been selected for Team GB." Ingrid told him, before he could read it himself. She sounded surprisingly miserable.
"Oh..." was all Malik could think of to say.
It was dark, so very dark. And she couldn't see anything at all. Instantly, George began to panic.
"Georgina!" a voice said, "Please don't panic."
"W-w-who-?" George stuttered, rubbing her eyes as if it would help.
"My name is Mina Van Helsing." the voice said calmly, "And I'm going to look after you, okay?"
"I can't see! I can't see!" George was screaming, "I can't see!"
"Georgie, Georgie, it's cool." Vlad was there, but she couldn't see him.
"I can't see!" George held out her hands in front of her face. Nothing, just darkness.
"I'm sorry, George." Vlad sounded worried, "There's nothing we can do."
"You mean, I'm blind?" George was shocked. There was a pause, while the other two must've have nodded or something. Then, Vlad added helpfully:
"At least you're alive."
"I can't see." George replied surprisingly bitterly.
THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY - THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY
Malik was standing in the hallway, peering through the glass window on the door. He wasn't being a creep though. Honest.
"This might hurt a little bit." Mina was saying.
"Is it really necessary?" Ingrid asked in a dry tone, "I don't remember Mum getting any injections when she was pregnant with Vlad."
"That was different." Mina's tone was sharp. There was a small cry of pain, as Mina jabbed Ingrid's arm with the needle. Malik pushed the door open a little so that he could see better.
"Ow!" Ingrid was sitting on the bed, a scowl plastered across her face, "This baby better be worth it."
"I'm sure she will be." Mina said.
"You really think she'll be a girl?" Malik couldn't stop himself from pushing the door open all the way. Why did everyone want him to have a daughter?
"I want a son." Malik said, sharply.
"You want an heir." Ingrid corrected, "Why can't we have a daughter as an heir?"
"Because it's not allowed, you know that!" Malik snapped. The slayer looked at him distastefully, as she dabbed the blood off Ingrid's arm.
"Why not?" Ingrid protested.
"It's just the way it is, Ingrid." Malik shrugged. Eventually, Mina finished cleaning Ingrid's arm and looked Malik over. He was covered in the bizarre green poison, green covering his chest and arms.
"Right." Mina looked at him hopelessly, "I think it will wash off, Malik. Does it hurt?"
"It stings a bit." Malik admitted.
"That's because it's turning you." Grayson was leaning against the doorway, frowning at Malik, "The demon venom is working on you, the same way that vampire venom would."
"I'm turning into a demon?" Malik's mouth dropped open. He didn't think there was anything left to surprise him now. He'd seen everything now.
"Half demon." Grayson corrected.
"Whatever!"
"You're still in a lot of trouble." Grayson told him. Here he goes, Malik thought, the telling off. But that wasn't what Grayson meant exactly.
"The Count found out about your human side." Mina told him. That was it: Malik snapped.
"I don't want any of this!" he shouted at them all, "I don't need any of this, or any of you! NOBODY HAS ANYTHING ELSE TO SAY TO ME TODAY!" It was all much too much. As he walked away, Malik kicked open the door and broke it off it's hinges.
He walked for a while, smashing down every single door that came across his path and punching every wall. His knuckles were bleeding the green ink, leaving marks when he grazed them against the wall. His shoes were rubbing his feet raw.
"Stupid baby." Malik muttered, as he kicked down the front door. He didn't want a daughter or a son. He just didn't want children. He couldn't be a father- he would fail just like his own anonymous father. Maybe he would run away like his own father too. No, he was being stupid. He had to be here for Ingrid.
"Stupid Ingrid." Malik mumbled as he reached the electric fence. He was expecting it to electrocute him; instead, the fence broke away in his hand. The metal melted in his hand.
"I'm turning into one of them already." Malik growled. The sun hadn't risen yet, but it would soon. He climbed through the hole in the fence, stalking down the street. There were breathers nearby. Instantly, he was drawn to them. Two girls, one of them crying and the other one comforting.
"Hello." Malik said, his tone smooth. The girls both jumped, looking at him in surprise. The comforter smirked, eyeing him up. Perfect.
"H-h-h-hi." The one who was crying said weakly.
"Hey..." the other one said, stepping towards him.
"Kelsey..." The crying one said, reaching out to touch her arm, "Let's go." She was unnerved. How amusing.
"You go." Kelsey told her. Her friend didn't move, clinging to her arm.
"Kelsey..." Malik liked the taste of her name in his mouth, "I'm Malik." He leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets.
"Malik." Kelsey smiled, "I like that. It's... Dangerous."
"I'm dangerous." Malik removed his hands from his pockets and leant towards her. She smelt nice, in a teenager girl sort of way, like strawberry bubblegum and sweat.
"Kelsey!" Her friend insisted.
"Oh yeah?" Kelsey raised her eyebrows daringly. Malik felt his fangs lowering and heard the girls' confused screams.
"You don't have to kill them." What the hell was that? Malik turned, expecting to see Chloe or Ingrid standing there. Nobody else cared about him. Well, someone else did. But Emarni was dead. Malik had seen her die. So, why was his sister standing underneath a street lamp, the yellow glow lighting up her face?
THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY - THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY
It took George a while to remember where all her limbs were and that she could move them without using her eyes.
"George." Vlad took her by the hand and helped her up, "How's the empathy?" She had told him everything, about the demons and the empathy and her mum.
"I can't feel anything." George's voice wobbled, as she stumbled along the floor. Not being able to see was terrifying, like she could bump into anything. It was like walking through a haunted house.
"Nothing at all?" Vlad sounded confused. He had an arm around her and was pushing her gently along.
"Where are we?" George asked, nervously.
"Your room." Vlad told her. He helped her onto her bed, where she flopped and began to mope.
"Life sucks." George said into her pillow. There was a sigh and a creaking of floorboards, as Vlad sat next to her.
"I know this feels like it isn't fair." Vlad said, "But you did a good thing."
"I saved the world and I'm being punished for it." George muttered.
"I know the feeling." Vlad said.
THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY - THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY
"But... But..." Malik was taken aback. His sister smiled at him, her white teeth glinting in the light. She was wringing her fingers together, looking a little nervous. Exactly like Emarni always had.
"You can't be Emarni. This is a trick by the Council." Malik decided, "You're just a demon in disguise."
"Or a venom induced hallucination?" Emarni suggested, "Or a ghost? Hm, shall we find out if I can shove my hand through your chest?" She raised a hand and was about to give it a shot, when Malik grabbed her by the arm. She groaned, like he had just taken her favourite flavour of biscuit before she could eat it.
"How are you here?" Malik asked. His younger sister just shrugged, pulling her arm out of his grip.
"I do not know, Mal." Emarni said, "But I believe you have a lot of explaining to do. I have been watching you all for a while and Ingrid..."
"Is pregnant with my child. Don't lecture me." Malik said, "Can we sit down somewhere?"
And that was how Malik ended up sitting on top of someone's garden shed with his dead sister. What a bizarre turn of events, even for a vampire.
"And now, Ingrid is pregnant with my child, I'm turning into a half demon and The Count knows that he's not my father." Malik finished bringing his sister up to date on the recent events. Winding a strand of blonde hair around her finger, Emarni looked at him with interest. She was sitting with her legs crossed and had been looking up at the stars.
"Tell me what to do, Em." Malik said, "I don't know what to do anymore."
"Well, I do not know what to do either. I am dead, remember. Maybe I am a ghost, maybe I am a hallucination. But I do not know." She slapped Malik hard across the face, "But I hope that cleared your head. Man up." She looked at Malik a little pathetically. And then she added, in a small voice:
"Is Chloe okay?"
"What? Yeah. She's missing you. A lot." Malik said.
"Malik!" It was Grayson, of all people. He leapt on top of the shed easily, nearly sitting on top of Emarni.
"Hey, watch it!" Emarni squeaked.
"Yeah, don't sit on her." Malik agreed. For that, he received a very strange look from the elder vampire. Grayson frowned at him, looked at where Emarni was sitting and back at him.
"What are you looking at?" Grayson said.
"Emarni." Malik frowned, "Can't you see her? You can't see her, can you?"
"Emarni?" Grayson looked around in confusion, before realising something. And he started using his calm tone of voice.
"Malik, I understand that you miss your sister, but she is not coming back." Grayson said.
"I am right here!" Emarni waved her hands in front of her face, "Grayson!"
"I'm not making this up! She's right there!" Malik pointed at her and Emarni nodded eagerly.
"It's okay. Let's go back to the Slayers Guild." Grayson wrapped an arm around Malik, who struggled. Eventually, Malik gave in and let himself be led away.
"I know you're real." he said to Emarni.
"Even if I am not real, he should be able to see me." Emarni said.
"That makes no sense!" Malik hissed, "And now, I look crazy!"
THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY - THE ANGELS WILL ALWAYS CRY
Please read and review.