“When we reach our top speed, us and everything moving with us becomes unable to see by the human eye.”
I fall silent, watching the boy go into convulsions. He thrashes, agony inflicting upon him like a barbed whip. Xavier stands over him, examining him coldly. The boy turns his face my way, and I get a glance at his pair of eyes. His eyes…
Fiery red.
“Cover your eyes,” Xavier commands me, “this will be rather… um… dirty.” Wes grabs my arms, his movement solemn.
“What are you going to do to him?!” I nearly scream in alarm. I have never seen Xavier so… bloodthirsty.
“A Shifter cannot be vanquished without the killing of its host,” Jake says slowly.
Sadness overwhelms me like a tidal wave, encompassing my mind until nothing else is left. Not now. They can’t.
No.
“Let me see him!” I scream, my voice uncannily high.
“It’s not safe, Mona. It will be over soon,” Xavier tries to sooth me, but there is nothing left in my mind. I have to touch him.
They will NOT kill a human in front of me.
“If you don’t let me,” I yank against my bondage, “then I will hate you for the rest of my life.” I make each word bite into his skin, rip into his heart. He freezes, his foot on the teen’s chest. Resignedly, he backs up, fear amount.
“Hold him to the wall,” he orders, and the four race to do his bidding. The boy yaps, his eyes filled with fire, his actions meant to hurt. He is hefted against the brick, blood slipping out of a gash on his cheek down with his sweat onto his shirt. I shrug off pure disgust, and edge closer.
A light drizzle begins, the darkness I had perceived earlier dawning upon us all. I reach him, standing only a few inches away from the boy fated to death. Sorrow rips through my heart, and I reach out with one tender finger…
As I make contact with his chest, I am suddenly enveloped in voices. Strange sounds occupy my thoughts, my mind. There is one overwhelming boom resounding, so loud and cold that it makes me shiver. KILL, it demands repeatedly, like the beating of a drum. My senses are overloaded with this one command.
However, a small voice, rippling with fear, pain, and hurt, begs to become dominant. It screams for help, like a wail in the fleeting night. It is horrible, invoking my deepest compassion. The boy is still there, even though the Shifter has taken over. He is still fighting, still waging an internal war for his mind back. Hope floods through me, and with it, determination.
“Take him with us.” I take my hand off him, realizing suddenly that I had dropped to the ground. My head pounds with the scalding fear, the overbearing order that blocks out most else.
“What?!” Ray asks furiously, “we can’t!”
“What happened, Mona?” Xavier asks gently, coming by me. He rubs my back again, and this time it does nothing to ease the pain.
My breath comes in short gasps as I stare at the ground, at the water now dancing towards the drain, flooding past my feet. In one sudden movement, I force myself to meet their gaze, their questions.
“That boy is still alive,” I murmur, looking at my hand. It still tingles from when I touched him, shock resounding throughout my body. “We can save him.”
I know I can. If I am able to reach out a little bit more, I can purge him of the internal devil. Cleanse him, and most likely others.
Xavier grabs me in his arms as I slump, the blackness overcoming me like a blanket until all is lost.
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