Instead, there was only a hollow, lonely pit growing ever wider inside of her. A pit she was beginning to fear would never fill up; a pit she worried might just swallow her whole with its rage and emptiness.
Taking ragged, pain filled breaths, she shoved Isla’s corpse off of her. Though Isla was dead weight now, Cassie barely felt her weight against her trembling arms. Slowly she rolled to the side, digging her hands into the snow as she managed to lift herself onto her knees. Her muscles and bones shook, her whole body trembled and quaked. She was numb with shock and horror; there was no feeling of justice or vindication in her. There was suddenly nothing inside of her, but the empty pit, and a growing sense of something else, something wrong and very out of place. Something that did not belong in her body at all, but was growing inside of her, taking her by force.
Consuming her.
Cassie moved one hand forward, placing it back into the snow as she attempted to crawl away from the monster she had just killed because of pure hatred. A hatred the likes of which she had never experienced before and hoped to never experience again. She couldn’t shake the lingering remnants of the hate, couldn’t rid herself of the feeling. Couldn’t get away from whatever was inside of her.
Pain exploded through her. It pulsed through her muscles, tightening them, convulsing them. Cassie gasped, her fingers clenched in the frigid snow. A frigid snow she could no longer feel the cold of because of the pain tearing through her. A fresh wave of agony washed over her. It locked her extremities in place at the same time that all her bones seemed to shatter. It felt as if the fragments of her shattered bones were ripping through her veins, muscles, and skin. She was being torn apart from the inside out. The pain engulfed her, consumed her. It rocked through her with an intensity that left her broken, hollow.
Wheezing for breath, a low, ragged groan escaped her. She heaved, shook, yet she remained completely locked in place in the snow. Snow skidded up around her, plowing outward as Devon slid to a stop in front of her. “Cassie,” he whispered, grasping hold of her shoulders.
His touch, normally so soothing, only sent fresh fire through her overly sensitized, traumatized skin. It burned through her. Unable to stop it, a scream of pure torture ripped from her throat.
***
Devon skidded to a halt in front of Cassie, panic pulsing through him as he took in her unyielding form. She was bent over, gasping for breath, her muscles rigid. Her pain beat against him, her terror and disorientation radiated outward. “Cassie.”
He gripped hold of her shoulders, knowing instantly that he had made the wrong choice. A scream ripped out of her, echoing through the silent night. She recoiled from him, but didn’t get far as her body was frozen in pain, her hands curled into tight fists. He released her, a feeling of helplessness rolling through him.
“Cassie, Cassie look at me.”
Her head remained bowed, her body curled in on itself. He knew this feeling, vividly recalled what it felt like to die. Vividly recalled the pain that had encompassed him, it had swamped him and driving him to the brink of madness before blessed release finally took him under. Except, she wasn’t dying, not completely. No, what she was doing was something even worse.
“No,” he moaned softly, hating the vulnerability of his situation. He needed to reach her, needed to stop this before he couldn’t bring her back. “Cassie.”
He reached for her again, this time barely grasping hold of her chin. He felt the inflexibility of her muscles as he gently lifted her chin. Dread filled him as her eyes met his. The normally bright, beautiful violet blue of them was gone. It had been replaced by a violent, malevolent shade of red. His breath froze in his lungs, she didn’t seem to see him, didn’t seem to focus as she stared unblinkingly.
“Cassie, you need to focus on me,” he said softly, reaching out with his mind to try and grasp hold of hers. He had never knowingly exerted his power over her, had never intended too. Even when she had left him, he had never seriously considered taking control of her mind. But now… well now he had no choice. She could not make the change completely, not without his blood, and he was not willing to do that to her.
He would not condemn her to his life unless she made the choice willingly. Something that she was not doing right now. Now it had been forced upon her by birth, and by who she was. This was not a choice that she had made, this was a cruel twist of fate, and he could not allow it to continue.
“Cassie,” he said softly, pushing through the waves of agony washing over her. “Focus on me, look at me.”
She shuddered again, a soft mewl of pain escaped her. Her muscles contracted tightly, her teeth clenched together. It took everything he had not to drag her against him to soothe and comfort her. But his touch would only hurt her more. Frustration filled him, but he continued to reach out to her, probing gently against her mind, trying to force his way in. She was awash in the painful sensations consuming her; reasonable thought was all but gone.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong with her?” Chris demanded.
Devon spun defensively as Chris and Melissa raced toward them. Their hair was still standing slightly on end, the smell of burnt hair and flesh radiated from them. Devon’s lips pulled back, his teeth elongated. A snarl ripped from him as his protective urges sprang forth. If they came any closer they would hurt her, they would ruin everything. If they came any closer they would see her like this, something he knew she would hate. And he could not allow that.
“Stay back!” he snarled. They skidded to a halt a few feet away from him; their eyes were wide in shock as they took him in. Dani slid to a halt beside them; her mouth parted slightly, her eyes widened on Devon. “Get away from her!”
They remained frozen in the snow, unmoving as their eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Cassie moaned again, a tremor wracked through her. Devon moved closer to her, trying to shelter her from their worried eyes without touching her. Luther appeared suddenly, his face hard, his eyes knowing and sad as he met Devon’s gaze.
“Get inside,” he ordered the others.
“Luther…”
“I said get inside!” he interrupted Melissa sharply. “There is nothing that you can do here. You’re only making it worse. Get inside!”
He pushed and shoved at them, turning them forcefully when they still would not move. “What is going on?” Chris asked softly.
“I’ll explain later. Go.”
“The boy,” Melissa reminded them.