Page 96 of Fighting My Demons

Latham falls to his knees, his hands reaching for her charred remains. Blaine is rocking back and forth with her in his arms when I notice the crowd we have suddenly drawn from the street. I can hear the sirens of the emergency services racing to our location, yet none of us moves. All of us are in shock. None of us believes she is gone.

Time seems to stand still. Eons could have passed. I would never have noticed. All of us are numb and deaf to our surroundings until I hear a gasp, making me look at Latham, who is looking at me.

The blank look on his face resembles how I feel. Turning my head, Blaine is still rocking back and forth.

"You're choking me," rasps a voice I thought for sure I’d imagined.

"I don't mean to," Blaine answers before freezing.

His head lifts, and he peers down at Bella, her charcoal skin turning back to fresh skin, her plump lips turning pink. I blink in shock as her body changes from black charcoal to white flesh.

Though her hair has not survived too well, she is suddenly whole, and Blaine is choking her, his arms crushing her. She taps his arm.

"My throat is burning," she chokes out, her fingers touching her throat, which is soft, white flesh.

Blaine lets her go, and she lurches forward, only to be snatched by Latham and crushed against his chest.

She groans before sniffing him. However, I am in disbelief. She was charred remains, now a living corpse. Her skin still burns in parts, but she slowly returns to us when Latham hisses, and I hear her growl, her entire body healing rapidly. Latham's hand goes to her short hair, and a tear slips down his face. My hand opens to see the vial, and I chuckle.

"Bella, you will drain me," Latham says, stroking his fingers through her hair.

Bella, controlled by bloodlust, ignores him, and I grab her, prying her from him. His blood stains her mouth, and she blinks at me and wipes her mouth, staring at her blood-coated fingertips.

"My little monster," I chuckle while she seems shocked at what she’s done.

"I didn't mean to," she gasps, looking at Latham.

I kiss her cheek when Blaine comes over to her, holding his arms to her.

"Well, I don't fancy explaining this to the humans so quickly. We need to get out of here," Blaine tells her before grabbing her.

He takes her, kissing her lips, his face still stained with tears.

"And you can bite me all you like. I'm not a sook like him," Blaine tells her, nodding to Latham, earning a growl from Latham and making her chuckle.

"My brother?" Bella asks, looking around for him when Blaine suddenly disappears with her, misting home.

I suppose that is something we will have to tell her when we get back. But her brother is definitely gone, just like the rest of the place. Latham walks over to his brother, who is now just in the vessel he has possessed. I touch his shoulder, and he looks at me.

"Let's go home," I tell him, and he nods as I mist us both out of there.

Epilogue

Bella

One Week Later

The house was explained away by a gas leak. Only two victims in the tragedy, the news had told the world. Yet as I look down at my brother’s grave, I know there are so many more victims than just two. My entire family is gone; the life I used to know is gone. And now, every day is a daily struggle to get a grip on the new life I am living. I turn my attention to the grave next to it. It is for Isobella, though it lies empty. We found nothing of her remains, yet the headstone reads her name. Isobella. I didn’t know Latham had done that until I got here. Not only did she have a resting place, but so did the old version of me that died when my brother did. Now I was just Ari. A new beginning.

Addie has been trying to help, yet I still struggle. She promised it would get better, and I believe her, but for now, I remained close to my demons, safely tucked away in Latham’s apartment in Soya.

Latham had Brian’s body brought here for the funeral, and today is been the first day I have left the apartment. Who would have thought craving blood would have this much control over somebody? I have no idea how Addie works around humans all day, how she keeps herself under control. Because even here, with not a person in sight, I struggle not to hunt someone down and feast on them.

Latham’s hand fall on my shoulder. “You ready?” he whispers, and I nod, looking at the grave of my brother one last time.

Addie stands by the car under a tree. She has flown straight to Soya the next day and has remained since, but today she is going home to her family. I would miss her, but I know Blaine, Xavier, and Latham would keep me in check.

Turning around, I Ieave the cemetery and walk toward Addie, who is leaning against the car, talking to Blaine. They stop talking when they see me approaching. Brian may have been a shitty brother, but he was still my brother, and I loved him regardless. However, the thought of now having no one gnaws at me. Not even my own identity, yet I have my demons. And not just physically; I now fight demons I never thought possible, the demon that craves blood and has an appetite that can't be satisfied.