Page 7 of The World Undone

“Hi Max.” A small mousy girl emerged behind Izzy, her expression hesitant as she studied my best friend. We weren’t sure how old she was—no more than nine or ten, most likely—or what exactly she’d been through, but it took her a while to warm up to strangers.

For a vampire, she was incredibly timid.

I smiled at her. “Hi Ellie. This is my friend Izzy. Without her, we would have never gotten everyone out of The Guild labs. She could use your help and expertise today; think you can show her the ropes?”

Ellie’s posture straightened, her expression growing both serious and eager with the promise of an important task. She’d been released from the med ward a few days ago, but she didn’t seem to have any family or friends here. None that were conscious anyway. And she still didn’t trust us enough to give up many details about her life.

Instead of claiming one of the free rooms in the resort, she asked to stay at the med ward, insisting on helping everyone here. Most of the vampires wanted out of this building as soon as possible, what with all the blood around, but Ellie seemed largely unbothered.

She was too young to be of much use with the medical side of things, but she’d grown fond of reading stories to the patients who got restless and fetching things for Greta and the others.

“Nice to meet you, Ellie.” Izzy extended her hand to the girl. “Where should we get started, boss?”

Ellie’s eyes widened, brimming with admiration and the first spark of excitement I’d seen from her since she arrived. She grabbed Izzy’s hand and led her towards one of the supply trays.

“I’ll catch you guys later,” Izzy called back with a wink. “I think Ellie and I have things handled here for now.”

Izzy didn’t have a ton of healing experience, but she’d do whatever she could here, offer as much of her assistance to the people who did have training. It was her first day of freedom outside of her containment, and I wasn’t even remotely surprised that she’d dedicate it to helping out until she fell over with exhaustion.

Eli pulled off his gloves and I followed him over to the sink to wash our hands in silence, the heaviness of our next stop settling around us both.

“Can we stop by Sarah’s room first?” I bit my lip, trying my best to ignore the ball of fear already forming in my gut at the mere mention of her name.

“Of course we can.” Eli’s thumb pressed gently on my bottom lip, releasing it from my teeth. He lingered there a moment longer, stroking the soft, sensitive skin. “But don’t get your hopes up. There haven't been any changes since yesterday.”

I nodded, blinking back the film of frustrated tears clouding my vision.

Leading the way, I carved us a path through the various hospital beds, winding down the hall until I got to the familiar wooden door. My stomach gripped at the sight of it, my body long familiar with the hours of failed attempts at healing I’d wasted in here.

I knocked softly, but I knew there was no point. Sarah wouldn’t answer—or even respond to the sound.

Trying not to startle her, I opened the door slowly. This was the only relatively empty room in the med center. Other than Sarah, there were only two other people in this room.

Two days ago, there had been three.

I did my best not to wonder if there had been more locked in The Guild labs, prisoners trapped in the dark recesses of their own minds.

I was able to call to Atlas, to heal him enough to startle him awake and, together, we brought Sarah back with the rest. But in the darkest parts of the night, when I woke up trembling from my own nightmares, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from lingering on the possibility that there had been more than the other three we’d found—shattered by the drude’s power, fighting their way back to the surface.

An ache, deep and angry pulsed in my chest.

“There weren’t any others,” Eli said, his hand rubbing comforting circles on my back. I hadn’t realized I’d spoken the fear aloud. “Darius cleared the cells. There was only Sarah, Atlas, and the other three. Any others who were down there had already met their death from the Nightmare, not your fire.”

And now one of those three was gone.

I sniffed, wiped a stray tear from my cheek, and nodded before I walked over to Sarah’s bed.

Not her.

I refused to let her meet that same fate. Atlas, Wade, Dec—they’d lost too many people already. I couldn’t let them lose her.

Plus, a small part of me wondered if, when I was gone, when the ritual was completed, they might be able to bond with her again—their original team reformed and whole. As much as the thought cut through my chest like a knife, the possibility that I wouldn’t leave behind total desolation, that they’d have the chance for happiness again, soothed some of the weight on my shoulders.

So, unsurprisingly perhaps, this room was where I’d devoted most of my time and healing work. Still, I’d made very little progress.

These were the only injuries we weren’t sure how to heal.

The paralysis poison from the wendigo-like creatures would disperse with time, and Greta and some of the others here had been trained in the med wards at The Guild.

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