“You’re right,” I say to Nichelle, collecting my knife from the table. “We do need to go get them, but you need to stay here.”
“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” she says harshly. “Besides, you may need my help.”
“Nichelle, Kayla’s right,” Mathew interrupts, placing his hand over hers again. “You need to stay here. The vampires are becoming more aggressive and it is becoming more difficult to keep them out of town. We need your help here. Kayla and Aiden are more than capable of doing this by themselves. They just need to be careful not to run into any Highers.”
Greyson looks at both Aiden and I. “What about me and Maci?”
“Is it all right if they stay with you?” I ask Mathew, hoping upon hope that I’m not making a mistake. That he’s trustworthy and won’t hurt them
He nods and relief washes over me because, even though I don’t want to say it aloud, I don’t want to have to take them with us. They’ll only slow us down.
“You have to promise me that you’ll let nothing happen to Maci,” I tell Mathew with a warning in my tone.
He nods. “I will make sure nothing happens to her. I promise,” he says truthfully.
I turn to Aiden who is watching me with curiosity. Before I can even open my mouth to ask him if he wants to go, he says, “When are we leaving?”
When he says he’ll go, I almost want to tell him to stay behind, but at the same time, if something happened to me, it’ll be good if he’s there to step in and finish the job; to save the world. It’ll be getting dark and the vampires will be roaming, yet for Aiden and I, that doesn’t matter. So weird.
“Now,” I say, the strangeness of the situation even more evident.
He stands up and waits for me by the door with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
I get to my feet. “Give us two days,” I tell Mathew. “That should give us enough time to get there and back.”
He nods and then I motion for Greyson to come over to me. Nichelle and Mathew give me a strange look, but don’t say anything as he winds around the table and huddles up with me.
“If anything weird happens at all,” I tell him in a low voice, “get Maci out of here.”
He squirms uneasily, scratching at the back of his neck. “Where should I go?”
“To the caves back up on the hill. And hide out there until Aiden or I return.”
He reluctantly nods and then Aiden and I open the door to head out, unsure of how dangerous it is, though certain that there will be dangers. Not with the vampires, but with the abominations; the unknown. Plus, we’re walking into the Highers’ territory.
“Kayla, Aiden, please be careful,” Mathew calls out as I’m shutting the door. “We need you to return; we need those papers.”
I nod and then we leave, walking down a hall, and moments later, we’re outside. The sky is dark, the air chilly, and the vampires’ cries greet us from the distance; however, we don’t have to be afraid.
The town has a wall built around it made from old vehicles and scraps of metal. Guards are posted on top of the barricade with knives, ready to kill anything that threatens to try to break through. Aiden and I climb on top of one of the barricades so we can jump over to the other side. There are two guards posted there, one short and round, the other tall and sturdy. The tall one steps in front of me as I attempt to hoist myself over a smashed-in car and to the other side.
“What do you think you are doing?” He walks up to me, his boots crunching against the dirt and rocks and he almost steps on my fingers. “You can’t leave town now. It’s getting dark.”
“Your rules don’t apply to us,” I tell him as I push myself on top. Rules. I hate rules.
“Leave them alone, Earl,” the other one says, moving his knife to his other hand as he stares out at the opposite direction from us. “They’re part freak. Can’t you tell?” They both laugh at us.
Aiden jumps back over onto the car, heading towards them, fist clenched and raised. I quickly stand up and latch onto his arm, pulling him towards me as I back to the edge of the roof. I keep backing up until we reach the edge then I tug him with me as I hop down to the other side, landing with a soft thud in the dirt.
“Let me go.” He jerks his arm away from me and starts back towards the wall where the guards look down at us, still laughing under their breath.
“It’s not worth it, Aiden.” I grab the collar of his jacket and drag him backward then I take his hand and start to walk away out into the hills and desert.
“Yes, it is.” He grins as he looks down at our hands that are clasped together.
I shake my head, wanting to smack him. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
I try to let go of his hand, but he tightens his grip. “Can’t we just enjoy it for a second?” he asks as I wind downward into a group of towering rocks.
I resist the urge to pull my hand away and try to find the enjoyment he suggests, wondering if I can get there, but I can’t. Honestly, I don’t really feel anything at all, except the slight chilliness of his skin. My mind wanders back to Sylas and the kiss we shared before Gabrielle captured us. A spark of sadness hits me as I think of what he has turned into. How he no longer exists and has become a monster, that he might have been one of those things running around on the street.
“You look sad… what are you thinking about?” Aiden asks, his eyes sweeping the path in front of us—the rocks, the bushes—his body tensing with every vampire cry, as if he’s still not used to being able to walk with them.
“Nothing important,” I mutter. “I just hope we’re not too late to find the papers,” I lie. My thoughts are still firmly planted on Sylas and the kiss. I can almost visualize him changing into some unknown horror of a monster and I simply left him. What the hell? Why did I do that? Why am I so worried about it now? Why do I feel so… so guilty?
“You know we don’t need to go back to the colony; we don’t have to get the papers and take them back,” he says, tugging on my arm and moving me to the side as a snake slithers across the ground in front of us.
I gape at him, slamming to a stop. “Are you being serious right now? Because getting those papers is pretty much the only hope for humanity.”
“Who says humanity is worth saving? Maybe this,” he points at himself and me, “is what is really supposed to happen to the world. Maybe we are perfection,” he says smugly and starts walking again, pulling me with him.