Chapter 52

Third Person's P.O.V


After an hour-long healing process, Jasmine's wounds were no longer there.

The sight of Jasmine's wounds finally disappearing provided some sort of comfort to her mates although their hearts were still aching for her. The pain wouldn't go away until they get to see the smile of Jasmine's again.

Steve in his hands had the large syringe filled with Elijah's blood waiting for the healing rays to fully vanish.

The room was fully dark and it was kept that way for the entire transformation to happen smoothly. Only one torch was there in the middle of the room that provided a mere amount of lightning helping to keep Jasmine's figure visible to everyone in the room.

Steve walked closer to Jasmine, he silently chanted the spells. Unlike Pierson, his eyes had turned black— Completely black to even differentiate his eyes and the tenacious darkness lurking inside the room.

Black smoke began to emerge in gusts from the dark corners of the four walls, a hazy wind began blowing inside the room even though all the windows were closed, and the temperature of the room lowered a few degrees in an instant. The unusual change that had draped itself around the atmosphere did not bother anyone, every gaze was waiting for the one scene.

Seeing Jasmine alive again.

The winds began to grow dense to denser, making it difficult for anyone to see anything it but the impatience eyes of the concerned did manage to make it through.

Steve positioned the thick needle in the middle of Jasmine's chest, fixing the spot to aim and the next second he raised the syringe a couple of inches before he stabbed it in with all his force.

Jasmine's motionless body shook at the impact before it went back into the same space all again.

Lucien, Micheal, and Archer were having a hard time staying there and witnessing all of these. They wanted to avert their but they couldn't, their feet and their entire bodies were stilled in horror. They had never thought they'd have to see Jasmine getting hurt and had to stand still and mum.

But how could they even say anything, this pain too was because they wanted to save her. Get her back to life.

Steve injected the blood into her body, and then pulled the needle back. A gush of blood managed to seep out of the fresh wound, and Steve did not try to stop it whatsoever.

The sight of blood concerned the grieving Vampires and Lucien attempted to walk toward Jasmine but his hand was held by his mother.

"Let him do it, he knows what he's doing— He'll not harm Jasmine." She softly informed her son hoping he'd understand.

Lucien's reluctance remained there, he nevertheless listened to his mother and did not make any other move to reach Jasmine. He knew Steve would not hurt her, but he did not know how to stay calm and bear the sight of his beautiful mate's blood flowing out of her body in such a way.

The sound of the empty syringe dropping on the floor cut through, and as though it was a signal for the hazy winds to stop and the smoke to surround Jasmine's body the winds vanished in less than a mere second whilst the thick dark smokes surrounded Jasmine's body.

Steve cautiously stepped back, the smoke began growing more till it totally consumed Jasmine in it, and nothing could be seen for the first few minutes. It was only the black smoke and darkness that shined under the light in an unnerving way.

What was the purpose of those dangerous smokes remained an unsolved mystery until Jasmine's figure finally began getting visible inchmeal, it started from the tip of her fingers where her skin started coming into everyone's views.

It was not under bluish shading anymore, the color was complete as it was— The very familiar gorgeous porcelain skin of hers.

Hope flickered in the desperate eyes of Lucien, Archer, and Micheal. The change in color indicated that the effects of the venom were vanishing. The blood that made its way inside the veins of Jasmine's body through her heart, was slowly making its way everywhere the venom had taken over and now it was gradually defeating the lethal substance.

Just as the smokes had emerged from the unknown depth, they began disappearing in a way where anyone can notice the bare minimum. All that could be seen was how the blue hue was disappearing from Jasmine's skin and how she was beginning to look the way she was before these disastrous events.

But even with all these positive changes happening, something did not feel right.

There was no movement from Jasmine, her body might not look as lifeless as before but the truth couldn't be ignored that it was still lifeless. With the way the situation existed, it was still unsure if the transformation was going to succeed or not.

And the way Steve's countenance was shrouded in disappointment and the mere reflection of defeat that could hardly be noticed it was at some point obvious that the lower chances of the transformation getting successful had proved its consequences.

As the smoke vanished with the hazy unsolved winds, everyone's eyes got fixated on Jasmine. Eager to see her breathe again, to see her open her eyes but no, she was still as motionless as before.

Her body and skin looked as flawless as the day her mates had met her, her beautiful skin shined just the way it used to but there was no movement. There was no sign of life in her, she remained laying on the bed the same way she had been laid down by Micheal a few hours ago.  

The truth was evident.

Except for the mere developments Jasmine's condition had not gotten any better, the wounds might have been healed but some damages were far beyond the periphery or maybe it was those very familiar chains of spells that did not let the transformation bring her back and.....awaken her feral.

"Steve, why is she not waking up?" Lucien asked, there was the barely notable tremble in his voice that expressed his inner fear more than his eyes could.

Steve found himself hesitating to tell them the truth, letting them know that why he'd feared had come true.

"Answer the damn question, Steve!" Archer nearly shouted, there was more dismay that showed on his face than impatience.

Micheal rushed towards Jasmine, holding her hand to check her pulse and his worst fear came true— There was no pulse.

They were not ready to hear the truth, they were not going to be able to bear the fact that the only option they had left to save Jasmine was unsuccessful.

"Your Majesty, I am sorry but it's too late. She's gone." Steve finally spoke.

"What did you say?" Lucien's voice dropped dangerously low, the grief had clouded his senses so much that the acceptance of the truth was in no way near him instead the rage had taken place.

All they wanted to hear was the news of Jasmine's recovery even if it meant living in the delusion that she'll be alive once again.

"She's gone, Your Majesty." Despite having to face the intense rage of Lucien who looked like a deranged animal ready to pounce at any time.

"You..." growling Lucien grabbed his collars ready to attack him with all of his force.

But his action couldn't occur as Archer tore him away from Steve, "You won't get anything by harming him, Lucien." His gloom-ridden voice buzzed around the room, "We have lost her."

"She can't leave us like this, She can't..." Micheal broke down completely, "Why did you do this Jasmine, why did you just not leave when we had told you to?"

The truth struck Lucien like a speeding truck.

The walls of denial he kept himself surrounded with shattered into pieces all at once. He could finally see the truth— Their mate was gone.

He slowly took a few steps closer to the bed, as he looked at her angelic face the truth became tougher and tougher to accept. His entire world has stopped, despite having everything he still had nothing.

The loss of their mate had made them lose everything, all these achievements, the power, faith, and respect meant nothing to them. They lost the true treasure, their love....

"We killed her....I can't believe we just killed our own mate..." Lucien let out, and the tears he had been holding for the whole time finally rolled down his cheeks.

Helena suppressed her sobs behind her hand. It was painful for her to watch her sons have to go through such a loss that'll never be fulfilled.

In front of Archer's eyes all the memories they had with Jasmine started playing like a projector— From the day they first saw her, her tiny little giggles, her ridiculous loud thoughts, and everything surrounding her that had made her the most precious soul possible.

She was indeed a gem who did not have a trace of malice anyway near her heart.

Archer's tears streamed down his face too.

They were built as warriors, taught how to be far away from the emotions that made an individual weak but even the toughest storms couldn't break them the way losing Jasmine did.

And then when everyone thought it was the end, a voice buzzed from the doorstep.

"Jasmine...." The horror-filled voice of Martha who had anyhow managed to escape from the guards.

She ran towards Jasmine in full step, her feet halting just right an inch away from the bed.

At first, the lack of injuries and wounds relieved her from the worry but then she noticed a lack of movement and absence of breathing.

She hurried towards her, her concern that could be seen through her troubled gaze.

She took Jasmine's hand to check her pulse, and at just that moment she was also forced to face the shocking truth.

She lost her balance, taking multiple steps backward until her back hit the pillar. The guilt painfully attacked her— It was her fault, it was her fault that Jasmine was in this condition today, it was her who decided to keep the respect of a promise more than the crucial responsibility; Letting Jasmine decided her own future.

"We are sorry, Martha...We lost her.." Micheal sniffled, never tearing his eyes away from Jasmine.

"No, she can be healed...I won't let her go like this." Martha rushed out.

Mistaking that it was Martha's grief that made her say this, Pierson spoke, "We have tried to save her, we had even tried turning her into a Vampire but her body is not allowing it. It's just too late."

"You have tried turning her into a Vampire? So you have used the sorcery spell and the blood of a Vampire?" Martha's question came almost immediately.

Steve skeptically eyed Martha, he could sense something radiating from that woman— She was a human but at the same time she wasn't and he could only sense it because he too had the powers that he could perceive from Martha.

"Yes," Pierson was dumbstruck by how fast Martha recognized the spell and the method they used.

"What happened after that? Tell me what happened after you finished the chant of the spell and injected the blood in her heart?" She impatiently asked.

Everyone's gaze had fixated on Martha at this point, she was behaving strangely and her eyes had started changing their shade— From the color brown, they had gone completely black the way Steve's had a while ago.

Pierson was frozen on the spot, noticing the sudden change in Martha's eyes had distracted his mind so much at he even forgot what was he talking about.

"Tell me what happened after it, Damn it!" She nearly shouted.

"Who are you?" Steve asked, till now he was seemingly aware of Martha's identity but all he wanted was for her to say it by herself.

The hesitancy instantly prompted within Martha, but that soon faded into nothingness once her eyes glanced at Jasmine— Nothing mattered to her more than Jasmine's life.

"I am a vampire just like you, Steve. My feral does not reside in my body, it resides in my eyes— I don't have the powers of a vampire yet I am a vampire." Her statement shocked everybody in the room, the disbelief flickered in Lucien's stare.

"What?" Lucien asked in mistrust, they had known Martha for years and they had never even gotten a mere hint of her identity or the truth he was hiding. How could it be possible that Martha mislead all of them into believing that she was a human?

"Yes, it is true. I was born without the powers of a vampire. The creator might have taken one opportunity from me but I was blessed with some special powers that take centuries for a Vampire to learn," Martha began, "And a few of those abilities that have helped me in keeping all of these a sea rest are—I can hide my identity and I know every single spell that has ever existed from the beginning. Vampires can't sense our ferals because it simply does not remain in our body, it stays in our mind."

"And why did you hide your identity? What was the purpose of it?" Archer asked, bewildered.

"That was for..." she paused for a second, exhaling a heavy breath, "Jasmine."

"What are you even talking about, Martha? You found her on the riverside— Jasmine told us everything. What does she have to do with you hiding your identity?" The question came from Micheal.

Martha's sudden confession was confusing everyone. It was just so unexpected and everything she was saying made no sense because the beginning of the story was yet to unfold.

"It was all a lie. I lied to Jasmine, I kept her in the dark for years. I did not find her on the riverside, It was all a lie." Martha's voice began getting heavy in guilt.

"But why?!" Archer asked, loudly.

"Because I promised them...I promised them that I'll never let her know about where she belonged, who she was. I promised them that I'll never let her know about that dark night that destroyed everything, thrown everyone's lives apart." Martha finally broke down and a sob slipped past her lips.

"Promised who?" This time Elijah was the one who asked the question, for some reason and the way the terror was visible in Martha's eyes made Elijah sure that there was something dark hidden in the depth of this story that Martha had not let them let reach.

Martha remained quiet for a moment, wiping her tears that had managed to slip out, and then she finally spoke— The truth that left every cell of the vampires present in the room shaken at the most unexpected discovery and revelation about Jasmine's past she herself was not aware of.

"Jasmine's parents— Lord Fredrick Winchester and Queen Katherine Winchester."