Evol

chapter thirty-eight

Friday 4th July, 2019

Julian.

I caught her before she hit the ground.

Her whole body went limp, crumpled in my arms. My legs went weak, and I sat in the middle of the wet road, staring silently at her face. The rain splashed on her closed lids.

Brooke's black eye makeup was streaked down her cheeks, lipstick smeared around her mouth. She was sickly pale, and yet I was sure I'd never seen anything so beautiful in all my 918 years.

In the corner of my eye, I saw blood pooling on the ground.

"Shit!" I whispered, and hoisted her up. Jogging to my car, I flung the back door open and laid her over the seats, making sure her torn side wasn't touching the leather.

Then I jumped into the front seat, dialled a number on speaker, and started to drive.

It rung three times before Daniel picked up. "Where are you, man?"

"Listen to me," I said, and my voice shook.

He'd never heard my voice shake before. "What's wrong?"

"Brooke. . ." I choked on her name, and glanced behind me. Blood dripped from the leather seats she was lying on. I felt my stomach twist sickeningly.

Daniel spoke over the music in the background. "What? Brooke? What about her?"

"There was a crash--" I sucked in a breath. "She got in a crash, and she'd badly injured. I don't know if I should take her to the hospital, she's losing a lot of blood--"

I was a mess. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't remember the last time I had no idea what to do.

"What kind of crash was it?"

"Motorbike."

"Motorbike?" Daniel shouted. "What the fuck? How did that happen--"

"That doesn't matter!" I yelled, punching the steering wheel. "It's bad, okay? Where's the nearest hospital?"

"It's not close," Daniel muttered, and I heard him call for the others. "Bernie's is closer. Head there, and we'll meet you."

He disconnected the call.

I yanked the steering wheel around, making a sharp U-turn, and shot down the empty highway at a speed that would get me thrown in jail. But I didn't care. I was petrified - I'd never felt like this before, but my stomach was flipping, my chest hurt, and I was struggling to breathe.

I could smell the blood, thick in the car. There was a lot of it. . . A lot. . .

Brooke's smiling face came into my mind, healthy and happy and beautiful. I stepped harder on the gas.

Five minutes later, I tore up Bernie's drive, a well-known Underworld doctor who treated vampyres and humans alike, but mostly our kind. His house was huge, nothing short of a mansion made of dark stone, hidden a mile into the woods.

Two more cars were already there - I slammed on the breaks, and leaped out.

Three boys ran out of the house, and I yanked the back door open. Brooke's face was covered in blood from the head wound, but beneath the blood, her skin was ashy-pale.

I swallowed, and reached inside to pull her into my arms. I kicked the door closed.

Carter was next to me, and after a quick survey of Brooke, he went completely pale.

Daniel was shouting in my ear, "how the fuck did this happen, Julian? Why was she on a bike?"

The stone house loomed above us, the only point of light was dim and came from the open door, held by Bleu, who was quiet for once.