Chapter 180
I’ve never believed any of those people who had out-of-body experiences, or those who claim they went to Heaven for a visit. It all seemed a little ridiculous to me. Why were they so special the Big Guy would want to have a one-on-one chat with them? But then, until recently, I didn’t think Vampires were real either. Now that I’d had a face-to-face encounter with a couple of them, I wished I could go back to before, back when Vampires were monsters one only read about in books or saw in tragic, Gothic love stories.
I can also now testify that coming back to your body once you’ve left it feels a little bit like slamming into a brick wall. Not in the sense of pain but in the breathlessness it causes. The jar is unbelievable, especially when you don’t realize you’ve been gone.
Once I collided with my exterior again, it took me a moment to open my eyes. I could hear voices first, feel someone’s hand on my arm. I felt warm, like I was tucked in all cozy in my own bed, though the smell was more clinical, like maybe I was in a hospital or someone else’s bed who really likes things clean.
The memories took a moment to catch up with the rest of me. They hit a split second after I realized I was back inside of my shell, and I remembered I had done something incredibly stupid. I’d taken a train across the country, dragged Brandon with me, been kidnapped by Vampires, gotten scratched, and watched helplessly as Cadence traded herself for me. Finally, Jamie had given me the Transformation Serum, not knowing if it would kill me, in an attempt to keep me from Resurrecting into a Vampire. I realized he hadn’t killed me, but the second possibility was still unclear.
Part of my brain wanted to panic that my sister was taken away by a helicopter by two vicious Vampires to meet up with an even deadlier monster, and I would’ve been freaking out about it, except I distinctly heard my sister’s voice. I had no idea what she was saying, but I was certain Cadence was in the room with me, which made fighting the desire to keep my eyes shut longer and fall back into oblivion a little harder.
But I also heard Brandon’s voice. He was concerned, worried even. And he was very close. I realized it was his hand on my arm. It had to be. The scent of his aftershave mingled with his perspiration, the same scent I’d been surrounded by just before I lost myself, filled my lungs, and I knew it didn’t even matter what I discovered when I opened my eyes. My sister was safe, Brandon was here, and I was alive. Everything else was just frosting on my cupcake.
I realized I was moving about the time that Brandon called my name. I felt more hands on me, on the other side now, and imagined that was Cadence. Slowly, I opened one eye and looked up at them. There was a collective inhale and sigh as I watched their faces turn from concern to happiness. I thought this must be good news and promptly opened my other eye. My sister’s face shifted in horror for a split second before she regained control of herself.
“Uh, hi, Cass,” Cadence stammered. “How… how… how do you feel?”
Instantly, I knew something was wrong. I tried to sit up, but their hands held me down. “Stay still,” Brandon insisted. I shifted my gaze to connect with him. “You’re okay. Just… wait for Jamie.”
I wanted to agree verbally, but I was afraid to say anything. I had no idea what was the matter. Jamie was next to Brandon in a flash. “Hey, there, stranger,” he said, and I realized he was trying to be lighthearted. “Hmmm, interesting,” was all he said as he gazed down at me.
Unable to take it anymore, I asked, “What? What is it?” My tongue darted over my teeth. They didn’t feel any different. There were no sharp points or anything. I felt like this was a solid victory. I desperately wanted to sit up, to move, to see if I was a Hunter.
“Well,” Jamie said, “we are just… a little surprised to see that… one of your eyes… isn’t hazel anymore.”
I sat up then, bolted right up in bed, almost knocking Brandon and Cadence over. Jamie jumped back in time. “What?” I demanded. I realized I’d moved very quickly, and I was stronger, too. “What do you mean?”
“It’s okay, Cass,” Cadence said. “I’m sure….”
“What color is it?” I shouted, though in my heart I already knew. I looked at the four faces staring at me and realized Aaron was the only one who had not had some sort of reaction to what Jamie was saying. So I turned to him. “What color is it?”
My sister’s fiancé, the Guardian Leader, maybe the most powerful man in the universe looked right into my non-matching eyes and said, “One of them is gray, Cass. We don’t know what that means, but as long as you feel okay, it doesn’t matter.”
I didn’t know if he was doing some of his magic hocus pocus to make me feel okay or not, but I wanted to believe him. I took a few deep breaths. “Can I have a mirror, please?”
I realized we were in a hotel room and it might be hard to come by one that wasn’t attached to a wall. After a few minutes of scrambling, Cadence said, “Ah! My phone!” and set it so when I looked into it, I’d be seeing myself.
He was right. My right eye, the one on the side where Zabrina had scratched me, was steel gray, the same color her eyes had been. The one on the left was still hazel, possibly a little more vibrant than usual. Once again, I checked my teeth. I didn’t feel anything, but I didn’t think that mattered.
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