Chapter Nine
*Ariya*
My eyes begin to open up. They feel heavy. My body aches all over. My chest throbs. There’s a burning in my throat and I feel hunger. A type of hunger I’ve never felt before. Like if I don’t eat soon I’ll go crazy. As I wake up more, I try to figure out what’s going on. I’m moving. But how? I’ve been out cold this entire time. I lift my head to see better. Someone is carrying me. They noticed I woke up, so they stopped moving, set me down and turned to face me.
“Hey. How are you feeling?” He asks.
“Weak. In pain…hungry.” I replied.
He nods, “Do you know who I am?”
I nod, “Drake.”
“So, you didn’t forget me then, Ariya.” Drake smiles.
“I couldn’t. Though, I started to think you forgot about me.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ve been looking for you. There’s a lot to talk to you about. First, do you know what happened?”
I’d almost forgotten. I try to think back. The last thing I remembered was pain. Link and Mya… I panic. I look at Drake. What did they choose? Drake has dried specs of blood on his hands and shirt. The burning in my throat intensifies. My lip curls above my canines as they form more into fangs. My vision changes. Everything becomes sharper, brighter.
“Where are they?!” I growl.
Drake doesn’t answer. He stares back at me with a blank expression.
I glared at Drake. “Where are they?!”
“They had to make a choice, Ariya. You know that. Think back hard. What do you remember?”
I looked at Drake unsure. I was more worried about Link and Mya.
“Just answer me, Ariya. I need to know what you remember with the first thing that pops in your head.”
“We were attacked. The guy tried to get Mya but I saw through his plan. Then he went after Link. I didn’t have enough time. I held my hand out to save Link as if I could reach him. Something clicked and a black dome appeared over him.”
“Do you know what it is called when those two things happen?”
“No. But I know it means I activated my abilities.”
“We have a lot to discuss and a lot of ground to cover. Your friends have been very useful to you so far. When you went to save Mya, you activated your first ability. It is called the Dragon’s eye. You didn’t predict what he was going to do using your eyes. You saw it. A micro twitch of a muscle is what you saw and that’s how you knew where to run. That is what the Dragon’s eye does.”
“So that’s also what happened with Link?”
“Yes, but the rabid was faster, which is how you activated your second ability. Everything inside of you wanted to save Link which when you focused and reached your hand out activated it. It is called Energy Manipulation and takes the color of your Aura.”
“Does the color change?”
“Rarely…it takes a lot for it to change. Let’s continue with what you remember.”
“I remember saving Link. Then I remember flying through the air. A lot of pain. Being suspended in the air. Mya and Link were crying. The rabid still alive. Warning them. Then you killed the rabid. Then a lot more pain. Then you told them that they had a decision to make.”
“There are quite a few gaps in your memory. Not as much as I thought there would be, but that’s good…”Drake paused.
“What?”
“We have to go. They might catch us if we don’t. Caleb or I will fill the gaps of your memory but we have to move.”
“Where is Caleb? Who’s they?”
Drake looked at me with a mix of concern and confusion on his face. “They are the people you were working for. Either they caught a trail or you guys didn’t meet the check-in time so now they’re trying to look for you. Does that make sense?”
I nodded. Drake sighed, relieved.
“As for Caleb, he’s with your friends. You can’t be near them or him right now.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because you just turned, Ariya.” Drake said, pulling a knife out of his pocket. He sliced his hand open. Bright red blood poured out. I couldn’t stop myself as my eyes changed. Drake held his hand out, the blood on his hand seemed to call at me, coaxing me. My tongue slid back and forth across my canines as they grew into fangs. My throat burned. My lip curled above my fangs as a low growl escaped from me.
“You can’t control yourself right now, Ariya. If you go anywhere near them, you’ll kill them and you won’t be able to stop yourself.”
Drake moved his hand away, breaking my concentration on it. I looked at him. His appearance had changed as mine had. His eyes were different. A slit for a pupil, red for the color and black where there would normally be white. His canines were in the form of fangs. Drake’s eyebrows pushed together as he tried taking slow, deep breaths. I could still smell the blood in the air. A low growl escaped my lips. I was hungry and I knew what my body wanted…needed. Drake’s body tensed and a growl escaped from him.
“More importantly Ariya. You’re new. You’re hungry and you can pull me into a frenzy because at the moment. I’m hungry too.” Drake said, his body tense.
Drake’s resistance to feed was fading. It would only be a matter of time before Drake lost control. When that happened, the frenzy for both of us would begin. The target being our pursuers, or our friends.
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