Disclaimer - All recognisable characters belong to their original owners. I do not make a profit from writing this; I simply do it for my own amusement. No copyright infringement intended.
PROMPT: THE BIGGEST LIE
WARNING: VOMIT AND INJURY
Every single day, we lie to ourselves. Little things such as "I don't need to write that down, I'll remember that"; "I'll do that in the morning", "Tomorrow, I'll exercise". We all do it. Sometimes, we tell lies to others; "Of course, I've washed up", "I'd love to see you for another date", "That outfit looks cute."
Lies aren't great. As kids, we know we shouldn't lie. And yet, we still do. Sometimes we lie about the small things, and sometimes we lie about the big things. What happens when we lie about a small thing, and it turns into something big?
I hissed as I applied the freshly made chamomile tincture to the deep gash on my right-hand side. It was in between my lower rib and hip. It burned and fizzed, the stench of rotting skin permeating my small kitchen. My mouth watered as a wave of sickness overtook me.
I knew I shouldn't have gone alone. I fucking knew it. I should have waited for Alice and her coven, but I was too impatient. I wanted the problem to be dealt with. This particular pack of vampires had been running riot over the last two weeks. The morgue had run out of room for all the bodies. The pathologist was at a loss as to why this many people were being killed, and he had no idea by what. I couldn't tell him the truth, could I? That some moronic vampire with blood rage had decided to sire a small army of creatures just like them. And for what purpose? These poor vampires had been left alone in an abandoned apartment block to fend for themselves. Driven by nothing but blood lust, they wouldn't survive long.
Killing them was not something I enjoyed. But I was left with no other choice. I was the Warden of the town, and I needed to protect the people. Blood rage was an incurable disease that was becoming increasingly common among the vampires. It was a shame, really. Vampires had a bad reputation from the books and movies (sparkling in the sunlight… really?). Most people didn't even know that they'd met one. They were rather inconspicuous.
"Fuck," I muttered as I dug my fingers into the wound and pulled out the large black blob of vampire venom that was causing me such a problem. These vampires really left a nasty bite. Luckily, my magical abilities would help me heal, but this would still take a week or so, and I'd need to take it easy.
Feeling sluggish and hot - no doubt from the venom - I forced myself off of the dining room chair and into my bedroom. I needed to rest. I didn't even bother to get undressed. I simply lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, my stomach rolling with queasiness. I just wanted sleep to take me.
/
The next morning, I was vaguely aware of the sound of a door shutting, followed by the cheery greeting of my friend, Alice.
"Ro! Where are you?" she chimed out, her melodic voice far too loud for this time of the morning.
I licked my lips, hating how dry and cracked they felt, ready to politely tell Alice to fuck off, but a wave of nausea struck me. It rushed over my body and had me gagging as I hastily threw myself to the side of the bed and vomited. I held my eyes tightly closed the whole time, my head pounding.
"Rose?" Alice called out, alarm now lacing her voice when I didn't respond. She was so light-footed that I only realised she was in my bedroom when I heard her gasp.
Forcing myself to open one of my eyes, I swore. "Fuck." This was the last thing I needed right now. My vomit was black and sludgy, an absolute sure sign that I hadn't pulled all the venom from my body last night.
With shaky hands, I pulled up the hem of my t-shirt and cursed again. The smell of rotting flesh hit me, and I gagged. The wound was dark red, pus oozing out.
"Oh shit," Alice swore as she covered her nose. She was over by the bed in a flash. "You went by yourself, didn't you?"
"Yep," I croaked out, entirely regretting my decision. What did I have to be such a fuckwit?
"You stupid bitch," Alice said, shaking her head - at this point I agreed with her. She sat next to me, the movement of her slight frame making my head spin.
Examining my wound, her face turned from annoyed to concerned. "This is not something I can fix."
Alice was a brilliant witch, far more advanced than her age, but I knew this was too much for her.
"I thought I got it all," I told her, coughing and attempting to sit up on the bed. I needed to move. To do something.
"Well, you didn't, and now we need help."
My eyes - which had been threatening to close - shot open. Because I knew exactly who Alice was talking about, and there was no fucking way I was getting help from him. The price would be too high.
"Nope," I told her. "Not going to happen." I'd find another way. Anything would be less painful than what Alice wanted me to do. Even letting the wound fester and kill me would be preferable.
"I'm not giving you a choice," Alice said, standing up and twirling her hands around, a portal starting to form.
"No!" I shouted. I was too weak to close it. Too weak to stop myself from being dragged through. I was sent cartwheeling out of my bed and onto a dusty floor. Nausea rolled through me as I fought for breath, wheezing and coughing.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A deep voice asked. I wanted to throw up.
Gracefully, Alice stepped through the portal and closed it, turning to face the colossal shop owner. "We need your help."
"I can see that," he said, his face wrinkling up in disgust as he looked me over. His blue eyes roved over my body, no doubt taking in the damage already caused. Part of me wondered what he saw. Could he see the little droplets of sweat beading on my forehead? Could he see the way that my eyes span in my own head, vertigo having hit me hard? Could he see how I struggled to breathe, my chest heaving as everything felt too tight?
I hated how he looked at me with such sympathy because that wasn't what I wanted. I didn't want to look weak in front of Emmett. He was older and more experienced than me, and I knew for a fact that when I became Warden, he thought it was a joke.
"We were just passing through," I spat out, moving myself upright as I prayed the room would stop spinning.
"She was bit by a vampire with blood rage," Alice said. "But I think he had more than that going on."
"You think?" I asked without humour. I wanted to laugh. Because really, this could only happen to me. Being bitten was the least of my concerns yesterday. Much scarier vampires had bitten me, but at least they were healthy. This one who had taken a chunk out of me clearly had more going on than what I could see.
"He looked healthy," I justified, feeling like a complete novice.
"There's a new disease going around," Emmett said. "It progresses faster than the others and has no physical symptoms until the very last stages."
"Great," I said sarcastically. "Yay for me." I wanted to ask why I hadn't been made aware of this. Why nobody had informed during our last council meeting. But I felt awful. I felt like absolute shit. The room was still spinning, and I was so hot. I was burning up. My legs ached, and my head pounded. I felt a ball of sick in my throat, a stinging sensation clawing at my skin where the bite was.
Wanting to see what was happening, I once again lifted the hem of my t-shirt. "That's not good," I mumbled, my mouth not wanting to form words.
The veins around the wound had turned black, spreading upwards and outwards across my body.
Emmett clicked his fingers, and a piece of parchment appeared in his hand. "Read this, then sign it, and I'll save your life."
"How generous of you." For someone who was dying, I was feeling very brave. Really, what did I have to lose?
"Rose, just sign the damn piece of paper," Alice told me, wringing her hands together as she stood over me.
"This is why I didn't want to come here," I said, raising my neck to look at her and then wincing when I did so. "He's known for his contracts."
"I don't give anything out for free," Emmett told me, kneeling on the floor.
"I'm the Warden and-"
"I don't care," Emmett responded, cutting me off. "You got yourself involved in something stupid and didn't stop to think about what you were doing. Now I have to fix your mistake."
"Fuck you!" I spat back. I wanted to stand up. To get to my feet and leave, but I couldn't. I was suddenly feeling so tired, so weak.
"That comes later," he retorted with a wink.
Unironically, I chose that moment to throw up, more black sludge wrenching itself free from my mouth as I hunched over and clutched at my stomach. Part of me was slightly impressed that I'd missed myself and managed to coat Emmett's floor in it.
"Great," he muttered. "You'll be getting the cleaning bill for that."
I let my head hang. I was done. There was nothing left in me.
"I'll sign the contract," Alice said, moving forward, but Emmett snatched it away.
"No," he told her firmly. "This is Rose's life, so it's her decision."
"Rose, please," Alice begged. "Please sign the contract. You can't die. Not yet."
Truth be told, I didn't want to die. And whilst my pride may have been wounded, I stretched my hand out. "Give me the fucking contract."
"Don't forget to read the terms and conditions," Emmett said, raising his eyebrows at me.
I scoffed. With all the energy I could muster, I flicked over the pages, my eyes not taking anything in. Who knew a contract to save your life could be so fucking long?
"Where do I sign?" I asked, not even bothering to turn my head.
"Have you read the terms and conditions?" Emmett asked.
"Yes," I lied. Because, in all reality, I hadn't. But who reads the terms and conditions? "I'm a fast reader."
"Fine. If you say so." There was a twinkle in Emmett's eye, but I dismissed it because I couldn't be bothered to deal with whatever little game he was up to. I was starting to feel very tired.
I pressed my thumb to the contract, the paper pulling at my skin, my fingerprint serving as my signature. I pulled it away and watched the dark swirls begin to form as my head began to lower and my eyes closed.
"Just in time, too," Emmett muttered seconds before a pleasant warmth swept over me.
THREE MONTHS LATER
Staring at the map in front of me, I wanted to curse because it felt like we weren't getting anywhere. More and more vampires were developing blood rage in conjunction with a disease we had labelled virus-x. It was the same thing that nearly killed me. The disease appeared to not only make the blood rage a lot worse, but it killed most of the people it came into contact with. As vampires fed off humans, this was pretty devastating. The humans lasted only a few hours after coming into contact with it. They died a miserable death full of pain and torment. The only reason I was saved was because of my body's natural healing abilities. It managed to stave off the worst parts.
"I don't suppose it's useful if I tell you we discovered another nest," the alpha of the local pack told me.
"Not particularly," I told Rachel as I handed her a red pin for her to place on the map.
"It's not a large one and hasn't been there very long. We'll take them out when you say."
I scrubbed a hand harshly over my face because I knew the answer I had to give. It had to be sooner rather than later. Before they hurt anyone else. The local mayor - one of the only humans to be allowed to know what was going on in the supernatural world - was already pissed as hell at the amount of people turning up dead. I got it. I really did. But having to kill droves of vampires wasn't a nice experience. They didn't ask for this life. They didn't ask to be infected with blood rage. This was all down to a mysterious vampire - known only by Vamp Zero at the moment. We knew they were responsible for the turnings of so many people. They left a calling card, a single bite on the wrist, the upper canines missing. Every infected vampire we came across had this. There was no way it was a coincidence.
"You should take a break from these raids, Rose," Carlisle told me. He'd been my friend and mentor for a long time. It didn't matter that he was a druid and I a mage; we got on well, and I found his counsel invaluable. "They don't do you any good."
"If I'm giving the instruction, surely I should be there to carry it out?" I countered back. I wouldn't be accused of hiding away from the hard decision I needed to make.
"Everybody needs a break sometimes," Carlisle told me, giving me a stern look. I knew from that simple gesture that he could see how tired I was. How utterly draining it was to receive terrible news every day; that another nest had been discovered, how many people they'd killed, how many more families were grieving over the sudden death of an otherwise apparent healthy individual.
"I could probably do with one," I confessed.
The meeting concluded not long after that. A new pathologist was coming to town, someone Carlisle had worked with before. As he was a vampire, there would be no need to hide the truth from him. Apparently, he was a loner but excellent at his job.
Rachel was going to work with the local coven to try and come up with an effective way of disposing of the nest. She was drafting in a few extra shifters, too.
I shut my front door and turned around, going into the living room. The map was still there, and I felt like it was taunting me slightly. The numerous red dots spread across the state a testament to the fact that I was currently failing in my job as Warden.
Suddenly, I felt a tingle caress the back of my neck. I froze. There was someone behind me.
I turned and shot a bolt of purple magic out of my hands, strong enough to incapacitate whoever had broken into my home.
"Whoa!" A deep voice shouted as they reacted with their own shield of magic, the purple sparks quickly dissipating. "That's no way to treat a guest."
"What the fuck are you doing here?" I asked Emmett, slightly relaxing when I knew there wasn't an immediate threat to me. Then, a more pressing question arose. "How did you get in?" The wards around my house should have been enough to stop him.
"Oh please, Rose. I'm a very old and powerful mage. Your weak little wards don't hold up to me." I hated how he said it with a smirk.
"I'll have to change that then," I spat back. I was feeling very uncomfortable with him here in my home. We hadn't spoken since he'd pulled the vampire venom from my system. I'd passed out and woken up in my own bed, Alice reading quietly beside me. As far as I was concerned, that was the end of it.
"You can try," he retorted, moving to sit on the couch and place his feet on the coffee table.
With a sweep of my hands, purple tendrils curled out and pushed them onto the floor. "Show some respect," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why are you here?"
"We have the small matter of our contract to talk about."
"Do we?" I sighed. "Okay then, what do I owe you?"
"A baby," Emmett said with a smile on his face.
"What? No. Absolutely not." A small laugh came out of my mouth but quickly died down when I saw that Emmett was completely serious.
"You agreed." He waved the contract at me. "It's all in here."
"I most certainly did not!" Against my better judgment, I stormed over to Emmett and ripped the contract from his hands.
"Page four, paragraph seven. Read it and weep, Angel." His voice was so even and steady, there wasn't a hint of laughter across his face.
"Oh fuck," I whispered, my hand coming up to cover my mouth because this could not be happening. "No… I didn't-"
"You didn't read the terms and conditions," Emmett surmised. "Despite saying you did."
I couldn't speak. Only air was coming out of my lips as I tried to form a sentence, tried to think of something to say.
"Why-why would you put this in?" I asked, licking at my suddenly dry lips.
"Because I want to have a child, but I don't want it to be with just anyone." He got to his feet, towing over my five-seven frame with his six-four one. "You're the perfect candidate."
I was speechless. There were no words. There were so many questions flying around my head. So many things I wanted to ask and say. But nothing was coming out. I was frozen, staring at the words. This was a magical contract if I broke it… it was unthinkable what would happen.
"You told yourself the biggest lie, Rose; I have read and agree to the terms and conditions."