Butterfly Rising

Chapter Seven

Silence envelopes the room. I'm sure Cal and Alexei are thinking the same thing as me with this whole goddess business. Their faces are blank though, revealing nothing. Ingrid is the only one confused by what the man has just said. I would be too if I wasn't used to it.

"Goddess?" Ingrid questions, looking around at all of us. She waits for an answer but receives none and huffs. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. What does is that this guy seems to have made a complete recovery."

"What do you mean? How?" I ask, crossing my arms and leaning against Alexei. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me close. "Has there been anything else like this?"

She shakes her head, pursing her lips and leaning against the counter. All the while, my attacker is staring at me, seemingly in a trance. I want to pull my eyes away from him as his blood smeared mouth is making me feel sick. I can still feel my neck throbbing and I can still feel the pierce of fangs on my skin.

"My goddess has healed me."

It takes me a moment to realize the man has spoken this. We all turn to look at him, not expecting to hear something as crazy and mysterious as what he just said. But before we can question him, he begins speaking himself.

"Her divine blood is what saved me. As soon as I had a drink, it was like fog was clearing from my mind." Each word he speaks is wispy, like he's reading from a poem. "I feel invincible."

Alexei leaves my side in an instant and grabs the man by the collar. She bares her fangs at him, moving her face close to his, but he doesn't even bother looking at her. Instead, his gaze remains on me, his look of wonder still present. That only makes Alexei angrier. She tightens her grip on his shirt and gives him a ferocious hiss.

"Are you planning to pay for your sins then?" she barks. "Since you've harmed your supposed goddess?"

The man finally looks at Alexei. For the first time since I've stepped into this kitchen, his face changes. Replacing the smile is now a sneer. No longer are his eyes full of admiration. They're now holding resentment, as if he's just been betrayed by someone close to him.

In an unimaginable act of strength, his binding snap as he pulls his arms apart. The pieces of rope fall to the ground in what feels like slow motion. With wide eyes, I watch as the man grips Alexei's wrists tightly and forcefully pushes them off his shirt. Once her hands are away, he straightens his disheveled clothing and stands from the chair.

He towers over Alexei slightly at maybe six feet. Though they don't have much of a height difference, he makes up for it by making himself seem larger. It's almost like a bird extending its wings or a cat raising its fur.

"That goddess was made to save us all," he says, spit flying from his mouth. No doubt Alexei has just been sprayed. "I saw heaven when her blood cleaned me. It does exist and she'll take us there."

His words frighten me. For a moment, I think back to Alastair. It's been a while since I've had any dreams where I'm able to speak with my supposed brother. What's more, the only phenomenon I had with those mysterious powers was during that mega fight. That's why it's easy to forget any of that mysterious stuff happened.

But the fact that he's bringing that up is just too uncanny.

Alexei scoffs. At the speed of light, she lunges for him and grips his arm. "I don't believe a word out of your mouth."

Cal whistles from the side before clapping. "Let's calm down, okay? I get that a situation has occurred regarding your beloved, Alexei, but we need to solve this mystery now. Let's figure things out first because we don't have much time." Cal takes a deep breath and shakes his head. "If it really is all humans who are carrying something in their blood, then it won't be long until every single vamp is like how this guy used to be."

We all nod in agreement, realizing that Cal is the only voice of reason. Things calm down drastically after his small speech. An awkwards silence ensues after that scolding from Cal, but I'm happy the atmosphere isn't as malevolent.

"Right..." Cal turns to the man, he motions to the seat he was occupying previously. "You, sir, take a seat. We'll hear you out, okay? But you need to calm down and you need to stop talking in riddles and tell us the full story. Who are you and what happened?"

This is why Cal is the third in command of our pack. Though he jokes and has a unique sense of humor, he gets things done. Really, he's rather reliable and I'd feel completely comfortable leaving the pack in his hands if something were to happen to us or Elijah. Though now I feel he would've really flourished and been able to help his fellow vampires if he had stayed here with them.

The man takes his seat and sighs. For the first time, he adopts a serious look on his face. Another heavy breath leaves him as he leans forward in the chair. Taking his head in his hands, he runs his cut up fingers through his black, curly hair. I hadn't noticed his features before because I wanted to avoid him as much as I could, but now I can see just who this man is.

His brown skin is pale and sickly looking, but not just because he's a vampire. I want to say it stems from whatever sickness is around. His almond shaped eyes are dark, appearing black. The curls in his hair are tight. He's a handsome man, but he still hasn't bothered to wipe his mouth clean of my blood.

He clears his throat. "My name is James. I came up from Florida after most of my coven had caught whatever this is. We thought it was just us. The vampires we called in other states were doing fine, but it seemed like all over Florida it was happening. So, whoever was left split up and went where we could."

Things were fine at first. It seemed like whatever disease was rampaging Florida hadn't come here. That was until people started getting sick just like there. I just... I thought things would be okay. When I got sick, it was like I couldn't stop. Every single day, I was feening for more and more blood. No matter how much I got, I just couldn't stop. Even as I told myself to chill out, my body wouldn't listen."

Last night, I smelled the most delicious scent. When I saw the goddess, I couldn't help myself, I had to have some. So... that happened. And when I came to, I was back like this. But one thing I know for sure, I saw heaven for a moment. It was practically a millisecond, but it was so damn clear."

Closing my eyes, I push aside whatever trauma I'm holding onto. Taking a deep breath, I ask, "What did it look like?"

When I open my eyes again, the man is staring at me. The amazed haze clouds his irises again, making me feel awkward and burdened. He then smiles widely and his gaze goes to the ceiling. Without a second thought, I follow where he's looking. In my head I facepalm myself for expecting to find something there.

"Pink clouds like cotton candy, a sky that doesn't grow dark. You can still see the stars even though there's no moon and maybe even no galaxy. There are fields and fields of green grass that look fresh and lively." Returning his eyes to me, he tilts his head to the side. "And in the distance, there's a castle."

Now there's no reason to doubt this man.

What he's just described is Elysium.