“I guess you could say that we are some sort of freak crossbreeds.” We all spun around.
Chapter 16
H
enry walked toward me, Sophie at his side. I was confused as to how she came up from behind, but I realized she must have come in through the broken side door. I turned back around to Nick so I could try to decipher what was taking place right in front of me.
I looked at Henry, then at Sophie, and then I spun around and looked at Nick. The same eyes. Oh, my god. They had the same motherfucking eyes! I started to back up, away from Henry. “Oh no. Fuck, no…” I stepped back further.
“Elaina, please, let us explain.” I raised my Sig at Henry, and then at Sophie, and then I swiveled on my heels to Nick. I didn’t know what to do, or where to go, or who to shoot first. My mind was racing, my heart was pounding out of my chest. I began to feel a little lightheaded.
“What the fuck is going on?” I swallowed hard. I was trying not to freak out, trying not to faint, and trying not to run all at the same time.
“I was hoping to be able to tell you in due time, and I certainly hoped it wouldn’t happen like this.” He held out his hand and touched my Sig. Ballsy move, motherfucker. I could have pulled the damn trigger. “Give me the gun, love.” I held it with a firm grip. I stood there, shaking all over. “Please. I promise you no harm. Trust me.” I wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet.
“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Holy shit. He was an undead. Holy fucking shit. Henry and Sophie just stared at me. I looked at Nick again. He was leaning over the counter, rubbing his temples, much like Henry did. Claire had no words, either. The punk ass kid stood there with his mouth hanging wide open like he was goddamn fly trap.
“Elaina…please. Let us explain.” He swallowed. “Then if you want to shoot me, so be it. I will accept my fate. Whatever you want to do, love.” I looked at Claire and grabbed her, pulling her close to me. I lowered my Sig down at my side, but I was on guard, watching Nick in my peripheral.
“Wha…what do you think we should do?”
“I think we should listen to them, at least for some sort of explanation.” Her voice was so quiet and meek. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear their explanation, either.
“I, for one, want to know what the hell is going on.” I turned, and Nick was resting his elbows on the counter with the heels of his palms pressed into his eyes. His voice was clearer, but he still looked like death warmed over.
“We need to get him some blood soon, or we will be in trouble,” Sophie said to Henry.
“We will. Just give me a second. Tie up his wound for now.” Henry pulled off his bloodied shirt and tore a section off of it. He handed it to Sophie, and she went to attend to Nick’s arm.
Henry looked back at me and stepped closer. I stepped back. We repeated the movements a couple of times. It was like we were dancing. For each move he made, I made the opposite.
“Elaina…please. I won’t hurt you. I love you. I’m the same person I was a week ago. The same person I was two years ago. I’ve been like this for years. Sophie, as well.”
“Okay, then. Explain. But I expect the whole truth this time. No more bullshit!” My last nerve was tweaking.
“You have my word, my love. I will give you the whole truth. This is what I’ve been struggling to talk to you about. I’m just going to start from the beginning so bear with me. It will be easier this way.” I nodded. He inhaled and exhaled a long, loud sigh, all while pacing in front of me.
It felt like an eternity before Nick growled, “Out with it!”
“Yeah, sorry. My mother was murdered when I was five. On my fifth birthday, actually.” That would explain why he didn’t want to celebrate his birthday. He looked down and bit into his blood-stained lips. He looked up at Nick apologetically. I could see him fighting his emotions already, and we hadn’t even gotten to the meat of the conversation yet. Losing his mother before his eyes affected him at a tremendous level. He took another deep breath.
“I can still hear her calling me by my given name. Luke. My father was absent from my life so I was shipped off to an orphanage. I spent my days and nights angry with the world. I rebelled at everything…school, life. By the time I turned fourteen, I had already been in ridiculous amounts of trouble with the law, and in and out of school.
“I was approached by Roger, the head of this whole fucked-up program. He told me he ran a military-style university, and promised to turn me into the man that I wanted to be. So I agreed to go. There were several new recruits when I came in. We,” he pointed between him and Sophie, and then shoved his hands in his pants pockets, “arrived at the training complex at the same time. He told us we were throwaways, and society would not want us anymore. He said that when we finished the training portion of the program, we would be accepted by society. Little did we know that once you were in, you were in for life.