GFD 12: Blood Ties - 16. Chapter 16

I felt my tears running warm down both cheeks...as I felt my best friend's hand clasped gently in mine. So lifeless. I had never felt him....so lifeless. It was the first time since he had first gotten sick...that Richie didn't greet me with a smile.

He simply didn't have the strength. Not even for me.

He lay unconscious in that bed, his breathing was so faint. I used my other hand to lovingly pet the top of his head. Then feeling his cheek. He had lost even more weight, and his skin was almost transparent now...showing veins and arteries where his skin used to be so flawlessly smooth. His eyebrows were more 'suggested' than visible, and his lips had lost the ruby color...now dried to a dingy and brittle shade of pink. It hurt my heart to see him so unwell. This couldn't go on. I know what he said that last time I came to visit...and I know that he just wanted me to be safe...but I wasn't about to let this continue. I can't leave him in pain like this.

I know what it's like...being left behind. Forgotten. Left to rot in misery by the people who were supposed to care for you most. And I swore I would never be one of those people. Not if I could help.

I have to help.

But first...I had to get him out of here.

I must have spent the next fifteen minutes trying to read Richie's chart. I couldn't make sense out of ANY of it. I'm no doctor. Every medication had ten syllables each, written with weird measurements, and there were terms used that might as well have been in a whole other language as far as I was concerned. I kept looking at the machines...not knowing that to leave hooked up and what to disconnect. What was helping him breath, and what was just being used to help him sleep. If I thought it were possible...I'd take the whole set up, bed and all back to the lot and try to figure out a way to keep it all going. But that just wasn't going to happen. God...he was hooked up to so much....'stuff'.

I couldn't even wake Richie up to ask him if he had seen the nurses or doctors do anything to maybe give me a clue as to what everything was. I just....I....I had to STAY with him and try to figure things out. Don't worry, Richie...I'll get you out of here.

I considered, maybe 'hiding' him in another room entirely, but something tells me that wouldn't distract Alec for very long. "He'd go door to door, room to room, until he found him. And God knows what other tracking extras he's picked up by now. I thought about just disconnecting and unplugging everything at once. If I was quick about it...I might be able to get him home before any serious damage was done. But...I knew so LITTLE about his treatments! What if I end up killing him? What if I unplug one wrong wire and he stops breathing? I was so confused! SO very confused!

I'm...I'm TRYING, Richie! I just...I need time to think!

Shit...looking at the clock, it was fifteen minutes before the hour. Meaning that security would probably be doing another walk of the building soon. If they find the little 'mess' I made downstairs, they'll come looking for me. They'll mess up EVERYTHING! I had to be quick.

I looked over the whole network of machines keeping Richie stable...and I tried to look for the most...'harmless' one to begin with. I just took a guess, found a small electronic box, and followed the cord back towards the nearest outlet. I wrapped my fingers tightly around it...and took a deep breath as I tried to get the courage to pull it. Ok...on the count of three...

One...

Two...

Three...

I pulled the cord from the wall, and the little light on the box went out. I held my breath, watching Richie for any signs of distress. I put my hand on his fragile chest to see if I could feel his heartbeat. That one moment felt as though it lasted ten eternities. The whole room fell silent, and I felt myself trembling at the thought that I might have done something wrong. I shouldn't be doing this!!! I can't screw this up! I CAN'T!

After a few minutes of checking everything about him...I didn't see any signs of him fading. The only thing is...now that I've started, I had to hurry up and finish. Because if I disconnected something important, he was living on borrowed time.

I was just gonna try to wing it, and found the second least 'threatening' piece of his equipment. The dripping IV that was attached to his arm. I carefully took a hold of the plastic bag above me, and I saw a way to disconnect it from the tube in Richie's arm. My fingers were still shaking, but I tried to work fast. However...the second that I took the tube out...a loud beeping noise went off, scaring the living shit out of me! The silence was shattered, and I thought that maybe I had killed him! The beeping continued, loud like a siren! And in a panic, the only thing I could do to stop it was to hook the tube back up. Even then the beeping continued, and I tried screwing it back in tighter, tried looking for an off switch or a plug or something that would shut off that damn ALARM! But I couldn't find anything...and as the confusion built up inside of me and I worried about someone hearing all of this ruckus...and electric spark shot out of my fingertips, surging up through the machine and causing it to short immediately. I jumped as the current continued, and the rest of the machinery started to go haywire. Much like Doc's laptop back at the lot. I tried to pull the energy back, but it was out of my control. It was almost like the machines were 'sucking' it right out of me. And as the breathing machine and all began to short out as well, I quickly moved away from Richie's bed entirely and ran back to the door, just to get enough distance between us to make it stop. I watched from a distance as the machines tried to recover from the malfunction...and I stared helplessly as I realized that I was only doing more harm than good.

I balled up my fists in frustration. All this power at my fingertips...and I can't use *ANY* of it because I don't know what the FUCK I'm DOING!!!!!

It was then...that I heard the sound of the elevator doors opening on this floor from down the hall...followed by footsteps outside of Richie's room. Again, I was forced to hold my breath. Had security made it's rounds early? It wasn't on the hour yet. I thought I would have more time. I quickly shut off the light, and stood with my back against the wall....my eye on the door, just in case. I don't want to do it...but I'll hurt more people if I have to. I WILL! I'm NOT leaving Richie here to be slaughtered like an animal! I heard whispers outside, but couldn't make them out. I waited....as the footsteps got closer.

They were trying to be quiet...and that meant they knew I was here. As I heard someone approach the door to Richie's room, and saw the knob begin to turn...I raised my fist in the air...ready to make this as quick and as painless as possible for the person on the other side. God help me.

Then, as a head peeked into the room, I reached out and dragged them inside before they could scream for help! And I nearly punched them right in the face, hoping to knock them unconscious with the first blow. But I stopped when I looked closer, and saw Taryn turtling up in shock, trying to protect his face as he gasped for air! "TARYN???"

"Justin???" He whispered loudly, still almost afraid to let his guard down after being 'manhandled' by surprise.

"Taryn, what are you DOING here???" I said loudly, and just then, I saw Dion come in the door, along with Jenna, Rain, and Jeremy.

"We had to come. We were trying to help." Taryn said, and even though I was compelled to embrace him tightly and crush his soft body up against mine, I couldn't help but to be slightly angered by the fact that he was here.

"Taryn...you HAVE to go! Do you hear me? Alec is on his way here. You CAN'T be here when he arrives! Do you understand!"

"I'm not leaving without you..."

"FUCK, Taryn!!!! We can't DO this right now!!!" I said angrily, unable to control my tone until I saw the hurt in his eyes. "Sighhh...why don't you listen to me?"

"The same reason you don't ever listen to me." He said. "You needed help, Justin. We're here to help."

"How did you guys find me?"

"Bryson." Rain said. "He made us remember your friend's name and what hospital he was at after you ran away last time. Well...that and your little 'orgy' of beat up victims downstairs. Violent much?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Dion stepped forward and tried to see what was going on as Jenna turned on the light. "What are you trying to do here?"

"We've got to get Richie out of this hospital." I said, and Dion looked at me like I was crazy.

"And how, exactly, do you plan to do THAT?"

"I'm gonna unhook him from all of these machines and then...I'm gonna...take him home with us." I almost had to look down at the floor when I said that last part, and all the others stared at me in amazement. Taryn especially.

"Home? Did you say home?" Dion stepped closer to me, looking me directly in the eye. "Justin...what are you doing? Huh?" He asked. "What are you saying?"

"I can't just leave him here, Dion. He's gotta be moved."

"He's SICK, Justin. We CAN'T move him."

"Yes we CAN! Dion...once we get him out of here, he'll be safe. I can't protect him here, and Rage is already on the way..."

"You don't seem to understand what I'm telling you, Justin...Richie is *SICK*! Meaning that we CAN'T move him away from the only things that are keeping him alive. As long as he's in this condition, taking him away from his medications and life support systems could kill him."

"I KNOW..." I said...a bit of hesitation in my stance. But I knew what I wanted to say...so I just came right out and said it. "...But Richie....he won't be 'sick' for much longer." I heard Jenna take in a deep breath, and Dion stared at me in disbelief. As though I had said something so blasphemous, that it created an offense for every other vampire in that room. I had to look away from Dion's eyes to avoid the shame of even suggesting it. I didn't have time to convince them. This had to be done, and soon. "Here, help me disconnect him from the rest of this stuff..."

Dion put out his hand to stop me. "Do you know what you're saying?"

"I know exactly what I'm saying."

"Justin...." Taryn said, giving me a pathetic look. They ALL were! Looking at me as if I didn't understand.

"What?" I asked, looking around at the rest of them. "WHAT???" Aggravated, I stepped up to look Dion in his face. "You want me to just let him die, is that it? When I could help him?"

"You don't know that, Justin."

"Yes, I DO!"

"NO, Justin! You don't!" Dion snapped. "If you bite him and he crosses over, he might be sick like this for the rest of his life. He may wake up even sicker than before, hell, he might not ever wake up at ALL." He told me. "Turning somebody into one of us isn't a 'paint-by-number' situation. You don't just bite somebody and 'hope' that they turn out ok. There's an exact science involved in the release and acceptance of the toxins needed to make the crossover successful. Justin...if you give him too much juice, he could end up as some kind of a monster. Too little, and he could be a half awake mindless zombie. And even if you got the toxins just right...there's still no guarantee that he'll magically get 'better' through his transformation."

"Napoleon got better when you bit HIM...isn't that right?" I said. "He was dying by the side of the road, and you bit him, and he healed up while he was crossing over."

"Justin, Napoleon was a lucky turn. A one in a million shot in the dark that just happened to turn out for the best. This isn't the same scenario."

"If I don't TRY...then Richie dies. Not a couple of weeks from now from the cancer eating him alive...but right here, right now, tonight." I said, defying any one of them to say that they'd be able to live with that. "Do you think Alec is just gonna walk in here and have any mercy on him just because he's sick? Do you think he's gonna give a shit?" Dion tried to hold his emotions up, hoping to persuade me to come to my senses. But I didn't back down, not an inch. "You can either help me, or you can get out of my way. Either way, I'm getting him out of here."

I started to move around Dion to get to Richie's bed, and Jenna tried to talk some sense into me. "Justin, this is CRAZY! There's got to be another way."

"I'm not hearing you right now, Jenna. Not one word."

Then Taryn stepped in. "Justy? Baby? Listen, ok? You can't just...'take' him."

I looked at Taryn with watery eyes. "So you're not gonna help me either? Is that it?"

"I know what you're feeling, baby. I DO. But you can't just snatch somebody out of their life and turn them without consent. It wouldn't be right."

"He'll thank me when he wakes up again."

"Are you so sure?" Taryn asked softly. "Knowing what you know now, Justin...never seeing the sun again...having to hunt in order to stay alive? Will he forgive you when he realizes he wasn't given a choice? A chance to say no." Taryn came closer and kissed me on the lips, as he held both sides of my face and looked me in the eye. "He can't just vanish, Justin. Richie has a mother, friends, family, that care about him. He's got a life."

"I had a life..." I whispered. "...And I seemed to vanish just fine." I didn't want their words to penetrate. I didn't want to consider anything they had to say as being sane. But I have to admit...it was starting to make sense. Even when I tried to block it out.

I attempted to find something else to unplug so I could distract myself long enough to ignore their pleas to stop. And that's when I heard Jeremy say, "Not that one. Try the other cord instead. That machines helping him breathe. Save that one for last." Everyone in the room turned to look at him, and he seemed almost sheepish from the attention. "What? After all the lives I've taken...maybe it'll do my karma some good to help save one for a change."

Jeremy? On my side? Wild.

"Do you know what this stuff does?" I asked him.

"Not all of it, no. My specialty is in corpses and blood dealing, but I've learned a few bit of medical mumbo jumbo along the way. Blood impurities and medications are a no no in my business. One allergic reaction and I'm finished." He replied, moving closer to the bed. "Here...let me help you get him unhooked."

Dion hesitated. Trying so hard to hold his stance. But seeing my determination in doing this...he had no choice but to help. "Jenna...get some extra blankets out of the closet. We'll need to keep him warm. Get as many as you can."

Rain rolled her eyes, but she didn't try to halt the operation. Instead, she began looking around and gathering up some of Richie's clothes and personal things from the drawers and closets of the hospital room. Taryn went to help her, and an emotional rush washed over me as I saw everyone working together to help get Richie out of here. It looked like this was really going to happen.

Another five minutes, and Jeremy had disconnected everything but the few major machines left. Dion wrapped him gently in the collection of blankets, and Rain found an old baseball cap to put on his head to somewhat hide his face. Dion and Jenna held him up as Jeremy used his cell phone to call a taxi. "I hope you folks have enough pocket change in your little lot 'treasury' to cover this." He said, and then readied himself to pull the final two plugs. We won't have much time after that. We'll need to get him back to the lot quickly and hopefully find a way to sustain him there.

Jeremy nodded, looking us in the eye to give us the signal that we were just about ready to practically make a run for it.....

But as he prepared for that final 'yank'....

I 'felt' something....

Dark...and cold....sudenly enveloping the whole hospital in its suffocating grip. The pain was unmistakable. So deep. So unapologetically wicked. I felt it in my HEART...and it nearly shut it down.

"Justin?" Taryn asked, seeing me slowly back away from the bed, and heading towards the door. "What is it?"

"This is the end..." I said. An entirely different sensation taking me over now...as I tried to gaze upon a truth that was just outside of my understanding.

"What?" Dion asked.

And by then, I knew it was too late. "This is the end of this circle....." I mumbled, and reluctantly opened the door to Richie's room, stepping out into the hospital hallway....

...And seeing the shadowed figure of another teenage boy...standing at the far end.

Waiting....in silence.

He was wearing black jeans, a black jean jacket, and a glaring white shirt that was already spattered with blood. I take it he had much less compassion for the remaining security guards than I did. It was almost uncanny how much he and Taryn looked alike, from the reddish brown mop of hair to those same sweet ruby lips. But one thing that set them apart was the eyes. As long as I live, I could never forget those eyes. Dead. Empty. With a fire that was always one spark short of burning out of control. Even from a long distance, their fury filled gaze haunted me. And that's when the most demonic smirk appeared on Alec's deceptively alluring face, and his eyes began to glow a deep shade of crimson as he saw the boy he had been searching for standing right there in front of him.

Immediately, I began to quake inside, and realized that he was blocking the path back to the elevator.

"Well...well...well..." Alec said, his voice hoarse with restrained madness. "Look who came calling before I got my chance to make a house call of my own? You're a hard one to find, you know that?"

I looked back in the room at the others, and said, "Get Richie out of here. Do it now!"

"Justin, what's happening?" Jenna asked.

"NOW!!!" I shouted, and that caught Alec's attention.

"Mmmm....just how many foxes do we have in this hen house tonight?" He asked. Already, I could feel the tension within him building up. Gaining strength. Ready to attack at a moment's notice. The hatred inside of him radiated off of his shoulder like Summer heat off of the blacktop asphalt in the street. Practically visible, even from here. This was going to be bad. From what I could tell...'Rage' had gotten a LOT stronger since the last time we fought.

Jeremy pulled the last few plugs, and I noticed Dion handing Richie over to Rain and Taryn to carry instead. Jenna making sure her hair was tied back as they prepared to fight alongside me. I didn't want them to. They could get hurt. SERIOUSLY hurt! And it was then that I caught flashes back to the vision I had in the Laundromat...

The long metal pipe...

The glaring white walls...

And Dion...on the floor...looking on in horror as he saw the copious amounts of blood dripping from the spear's jagged metal tip.

I saw the picture clear in my head...and I knew...THIS was the place where it happened!

"Taryn, you and Rain stay behind us at ALL times, do you understand!" Dion ordered, but I had to stop him.

"NO! Dion...you go with them!" They all stopped. "Take them downstairs, and make sure they stay safe..."

"What are you talking about? Justin, you're going to NEED our help! You're going to need all the..."

"DON'T *ARGUE* WITH ME!!!!!!!" I shouted, and that's when I saw Alec step forward...now scanning the rest of the floor for the other people with me. "Dion...." I pleaded in a soft voice. "Dion, please...?"

I don't know why I expected him to listen. Not Dion. There were so many times that he broke the rules to give me guidance and friendship. So many times when he gave me more leeway than I probably deserved...just to give me some peace of mind. But when it came to defending the ones he loved most...he maintained the heart of a lion. And there was no WAY that he was going to back down now.

Jeremy rushed towards the door as Taryn and Rain carried Richie out into the hallway...and once Alec caught sight of his brother...his evil smirk faded, and he returned to a level of hatred that nearly caused ALL of us to tremble from the arctic cold it brought to us. And without further hesitation...'Rage' began quickly coming towards us!

"Shit! Shit shit shit!!!" Jeremy said, recognizing him the second he saw the dark red glow of his eyes...and remembering what happened the last time he faced off against it.

"MOVE!!!" Dion shouted! "Go go go!!!" Taryn's eyes remained focused on his brother for a moment longer, the pain and guilt in his heart growing to almost unbearable levels as tried to support Richie's weight on his slim shoulders. But Alec just kept coming, and the only thing standing between him and my friends....was me.

My extras all began to power up, activating themselves both offensively and defensively...as I only had seconds before Alec was on me! He ran at me top speed, a high pitched scream burning in his throat as I braced for the impact!

I was knocked off of my feet and the both of us fell to the floor, tussling and clawing at one another furiously as I tried to buy my friends enough time to get Richie out of there. But I was distracted as I saw Dion and Jenna take a stance to fight as well, and Alec nearly dislocated my jaw as he smashed his fist into my face!

He hopped off of me as Jenna and Dion formed a wall to block him from going any further. I saw him strike out at them with so much ferocity that they were both pushed back from the attack. I struggled to get to my feet again, and shook off the pain so that I could return to the battle.

Jeremy searched around frantically for an alternate exit, and found a set of stairs to get back to the ground floor, but the door was locked. He tried repeatedly to kick it open, ramming it with his shoulder a few times, but it wouldn't budge...and the only other set of stairs was in the other direction. He helped Taryn and Rain drag Richie's unconscious body towards the door, hoping the three of them could open the door if they all tried together. But seeing them try to escape only enraged Alec! He was NOT going to let his big brother get away again. Not this time. He lashed out at Jenna kicking her back against the wall and sending her sliding to the floor. Then he tried to leap up towards the wall to bounce over Dion's head and go after Taryn!

Luckily, Dion was quick enough to spin around, grab Alec by the back of his shirt collar, and yank him backwards, sliding him down the hallway to land at my feet. I pulled him up and delivered a few harsh blows of my own...but it was like he didn't even FEEL it. The anger alone kept him going on an adrenaline high that wouldn't quit. The two of us went blow for blow, practically destroying the walls around us...and every time I got a shot in, he just seemed to get FASTER! STRONGER! ANGRIER!

"TARYN!!!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed, and without warning, a burst of flames shot out of his mouth, covering me from the waist up! I jumped back patting the small fires out of my shirt and hair, feeling my palms nearly blister up from the heat! But by the time I had regained my focus, Alec was spinning around to roundhouse me to the floor. He began to kick and stomp on me, every inch of my body absorbing the pain as I tried to think. And I saw Dion tackle him from the side, as Jenna reached down to help me to my feet again. And soon, all three of us went to work on the little demon as he basically took everything we had to offer and then some.

Jenna attacked from the left, and he pushed her backwards. Dion attacked from the right, but then he pulled Jenna in front of him to make sure he pulled his punches, out of fear of hitting her by mistake. And as both Dion and Jenna were knocked back into Richie's room, nearly tearing the door off of the hinges, it left just me and him to fight it out once again.

"You're quite a 'talented' boy, Justin!" He sneered. "But you're not good enough."

"We'll see...won't we?" I answered, and with a scream that shook the walls...we charged one another and locked ourselves in the combat that had been coming since the first night we tangled in that club. He wanted me...now he's GOT me!

For every punch he got on me, I delivered two kicks. For every kick I got on him, he delivered three punches. And the battle increased in intensity, as his hatred for Taryn and my love for him clashed without mercy! The tiles broke beneath our feet, the lights above us began to spark up and explode, showering us both with glass! Alec spun his way around me and elbowed me in the back, hoping to get enough space to run after Taryn, but I leapt up to the wall...running down the hall sideways with Chad's speed until I was able to cut him off. He fought me some more, absorbing the extras right out of me as the spinning vortex of fear and pain inside him drained me from the inside. But I was able to remain strong despite his vacuum, and once I had built up enough energy, I let loose with a brain geyser blast that sent Alec reeling back against the large hospital windows, cracking it out in all directions as he fell to the floor.

Unable to open the door at the other end of the hall, Jeremy and the others tried to take the split second opportunity to go around us and get Richie to the open emergency fire exit staircase instead. Once Alec shook of the daze of my blast....he seemed PISSED! I saw Alec's eyes turn white with rage, and before Jeremy and the other could get down the hall with Richie, I saw a series of electrical wiring snake down from the ceiling and tangle them up tight until they couldn't move. The wires wrapped around Taryn's arms and legs, around Rain's chest and waist, around Jeremy's neck...and it held them still, pulling them back against the walls of the hallway as they let poor Richie's body fall to the floor. The machines had been unplugged...I didn't know how much time Richie had LEFT! But we were WASTING it!!!

I couldn't let Alec get back to his feet, so I attempted to keep pressing an attack on him while he was down. But with a simple flick of his head, he caused a chair to fly directly at my head from the side, cracking me hard before I could protect myself. Alec got back on his feet, and started mentally throwing hospital furniture at me from all angles, while I ducked and dodged as best as I could! It took him a split second longer, as he concentrated on a large television that was attached to the wall, and that short pause allowed me to get my thoughts together JUST in time. Because just as his powers disconnected it from the wall, hurling it directly at my FACE...some extra inside of me activated itself..and then, as if in slow motion...I saw the television explode right in front of me, the pieces being ripped apart into a million shards of glass, plastic, metal, and microchips. And yet, I was completely protected from it somehow. The pieces hovered in mid air in front of my face as my eyes began to turn black...and I felt those dark shadows coming back to take hold of me.

I think even Alec himself was surprised, but it didn't stop him from getting up from the floor and preparing to have another go at me. With just a thought, the many shards of debris began to circle themselves around me...faster and faster...until they all at once shot out in Alec's direction, threatening to cut him to SHREDS from the impact.

But thinking fast, Alec somehow created a thicker, almost impenetrable layer of skin on himself. It was an extra that I had never seen before. I literally saw his skin puff up and quadruple its thickness as the shards sliced and diced him from every angle...none of them penetrating deep enough to do any real damage. And once the shower of metal and glass was over...his skin 'deflated' again, and he came right back at me.

God, he was fast! His movements were so psychotic that I could hardly follow them at all. I felt scratches on my face, chest, back, and arms, and noticed that his nails had been suddenly lengthened, and made razor sharp. I was taking some heavy damage when Jenna came out of nowhere and pulled the son of a bitch OFF of me! But she paid for it dearly. Alec showed her no mercy at all, and before I could even wipe the blood out of my eyes...I saw him take a hold of Jenna's arm, and practically break it in HALF! Bone shards came bursting out of her skin as she cried out in horror, and he kicked her over the nurses desk. Then...he began running forward...to go after Taryn again.

"NOOOO!!!!" I shouted, and ran after him as Taryn, Rain, and Jeremy, were still confined by the wires above. Alec looked back, and caused giant ripples in the hospital floor that tripped me up and made me fall flat on my stomach. But I couldn't let him reach Taryn. I COULDN'T! I stretched my hands out, and thick webs of burning acid webs shot out from my fingertips, wrapping themselves around Alec's wrists and ankles, causing him to fall as well. He screamed from the burning sensation, but kept crawling forward, doing ANYTHING he could to reach his target. I grabbed him with more webs, and even though I could see the acid burning through his clothes, he ignored the pain, and kept crawling forward.

But...for some odd reason...I felt that other 'strange' presence again. It was unmistakable, as the signature didn't fit anything else that was with us before. Not even Alec. And that's when I noticed the wires around Taryn and Rain being loosened. Then Jeremy's. But I couldn't figure out why.

Alec struggled even harder to get to them, and I thought about Jeremy's extra...hoping it would work. I locked onto Alec's vibrational pattern, and I began to increase it all around him while he shouted and began to twist and squirm in a series of seizures. I kept raising the vibrations....higher and higher...until it nearly caused his bones to crack. I saw Taryn look away with tears in his eyes, but Alec just turned his focus back on me, and I saw his eyes flash brightly as I was suddenly thrown backwards. The blast was almost like a copied version of my own brain geyser, no doubt absorbed from me already during our struggle. My head ached, my limbs went numb, and I felt almost paralyzed by the agony of it all. I slid back down the hall, the energy still pushing me backwards. I had to dig my nails into the floor beneath me to keep from sliding any further, and when I looked up again, I was just in time to see a very hurt Dion step back out into the hallway. I was so far away...so far. And when he saw Alec going for the others...he jumped in to defend them. With every last ounce of strength he had.

Dion....ugh! Lionhearted Dion!

I watched as they traded blows with one another. And even though Dion was one of the strongest of us...his speed, his precision, all of his muscle and training...it was clear that he was no match for Rage. Blow after blow was delivered, each one stronger than the last, and as I lay on the floor with my ears ringing and my arms and legs almost too weak to push me up off of the floor...I watched as the horrific prophecy began to play itself out right in front of my eyes.

No...this isn't happening! I won't LET it happen!!!

I can STOP this!!!

It was almost as if I felt that darkness sweep right over me again...feeding off of every bad experience that I've ever lived through in my entire life. And that 'other' side of me began to rise to the surface without my permission. Almost smiling at my inability to stop it.

A choice had to be made. I could either try to save Dion...or my own sanity. With Alec hurting Dion, Jenna out of commission, my boyfriend unable to run and get to safety, and my best friend Richie lying unconscious on the floor...losing his ability to BREATHE with each passing second...

What other choice did I have?