He shakes his head. “Once you’re bit, that’s it, Kayla. Day Taker or human, the bite affects everyone the same. Except you.”
“Do you know things, Cedrix?” I ask. “About me? About a cure?”
He shutters as he drops to the ground, begging his body to grasp onto his humanity. “I was a doctor at The Colony before I became one at the hillside,” he begins. “I came in a little later than the originals, but nonetheless I knew what was going on.”
“The original virus?” I ask, lowering myself to the ground.
He shakes his head slowly. “The original doctors. Only you know them as the Highers.”
“The Highers were once doctors?” I ask, remembering the people dressed in white-coats, watching me murder the girl in Cell 7.
He rubs his face tensely and some of his flesh crusts away. “You have to understand that, at the time, the world was obsessed with curing everything at whatever cost. Things from diseases, to looks, to misbehavior.”
“Everyone wanted this?” I question. “That’s really hard to believe.”
“No.” He coddles his arms to his chest. “Not everyone. Many people believed in being who they were, but there were some who didn’t agree—who wanted to make everything their way. Or as they say, they wanted the world to be perfect—controllable.”
I nod, understanding. “They wanted it like The Colony.”
He starts to smile, but hacks and blood splatters from his mouth. “That was the goal, but things didn’t end up exactly how they wanted.” A pause as he smears the blood from his lips. “Kayla, do you know what the term vampire means?”
I shrug, shaking my head. “Aren’t there multiple terms for them?"
“In our world there are,” he replies softly. “But back before this all started the majority of people looked at them as one way: beautiful, perfect, invincible. Of course, there were downfalls to all that perfection, something the doctors found out when they tried to create their own line of “vampire” medicine. The first and biggest one was greed.”
“What’s greed?”
He gives a soft smile, reaching for my hand, but yanking back at the sight. “It means you always want more. What started as a medicine to be shared with the world, ended up being for a handful of people.”
“So how did we end up in The Colony?” I ask. “And how did the vampires like… like the ones of the night come to exist if they were seeking perfection?”
“Greed, Kayla.” His breathing is slowing. “If you push something too hard, you might go one step to far, especially if it means saving yourself.”
“I still don’t understand what brought the world to what it is today,” I say. “How did the virus spread?”
He falls to the side, eyes shutting, heart stopping. “The world isn’t what you think. But if you’re asking what started the virus, you need to go back to Cell 7. That’s where everything began.”
I scoot to him and gently pat his face. “Cedrix. Wake up. Stay with me. I have one more question. That day when you tried to bring back my memories and you gave me the choice: forget or remember. Why did you do that?”
“Because you deserved the choice,” he says, his life leaving him. “The one Monarch never gave you.”
I gently shake his shoulders. “Cedrix.”
His eyes snap open and blood leaks from the corners. “Kayla, please help me. I don’t want to be one.” His body jerks and his mouth begins to salivate. “Give me your sword and go… please.”
I shake my head. “Cedrix, I don’t think I can—”
“I can’t become one,” he pleads grasping onto his last ounce of humanity. “Please…please.”
I press my lips together, scoot the sword beside him, but hesitate to let it go. He looks me in the eye and nods his head, letting me know it’s the right thing to do. But why is the right thing to do so hard?
I force my body to stand. “Good-bye, Cedrix.” I swallow hard and duck out of the cave. Then I run as the sound of his scream chases after me.
Chapter 22
“You couldn’t find him, then?” Aiden asks as I approach them at the top of the hill.
I shake my head and lie like a pro, choking back the feelings of guilt and sadness. “Maybe he ran off or something. Did anyone actually see him die?”
“No.” Aiden glances at the others. “But we saw him get taken out by a herd of vampires.”
“He’s dead,” Maci suddenly says. She takes Greyson and Aiden’s hand. “But don’t worry, he’s happy. And he wants us to go before darkness comes.”
Sylas surfaces over the other side of the hill. “Well, no luck down there. Anywhere else you want me to look?”
Aiden and Greyson stare at Maci and she smiles reassuringly.
“What do you think?” Aiden asks Greyson.
Greyson looks around and then runs his fingers through his bright red hair, tugging hard. “I guess we can go.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with leaving?” Aiden checks. “Because you and I can keep looking.”
“You’re sure he’s happy?” Greyson asks Maci and she nods. “We can go.” He starts down the hill silently with his head bowed, trying to stifle the tears.
Aiden sighs and follows, tripping inelegantly in the gravel as he sidesteps a large red rock. Maci takes my hand and leads me after them. Sylas walks beside me, eyes filled with curiosity.
“So what happened in there?” He motions back at the cave.
I kick a rock and it flings farther than I expected. “Nothing.”