Just as they were in the living room, Uncle PP came out of the room. Both friends stood up almost immediately at the same time.
"How is she?" Faye asked. She took a quick step forward..
"Did it work, or should we get a goat or rabbit for her to drink?" Malo asked. His heart was hammering a rapid, worried rhythm against his ribs, his lungs pulling in short, frantic puffs of air as he gestured wildly toward the hallway.
"She is asleep right now... but Faye, I need your blood," Pali said. He rubbed his temples with a slow, exhausted movement, his broad chest heaving with a deep, incredibly heavy breath that made the two friends freeze instantly.
"Why would you need my blood?" Faye asked curiously.
"We offered her different varieties of blood, but she rejected them." Pali explained, his voice low and grim in the quiet house.
"She refused to drink blood?" Malo asked,
"No. She drank them, but her system is rejecting them." Pali countered, shaking his head slowly as his chest expanded with a frustrated breath.
Then Dre came out looking completely covered in blood. Even on her black leather jacket, the blood stains were clearly visible. The dark red fluid was dripping from the hem of her sleeves, coating her pale hands in a slick, metallic layer that made Malo’s lungs catch in horror.
"Quit with the questions. She is supposed to be awake by now." Dre snapped, her smooth voice cutting through the room like a cold blade, her eyes filled with a fast, mounting panic that she was trying desperately to hide.
So Faye followed them into the room, and to her surprise, the whole room was covered in blood.
"What did you guys do here... a bloody bathing ritual?" Faye muttered. She covered her nose, her chest rising in shallow, cautious breaths as she looked at the red fluid dripping down the headboard.
Then she noticed a book on the table beside the bed. It looked like it was made from animal skin, and it too was stained with blood.
"What is this?" she asked, picking up the animal-skin book. Her fingers gripped the rough cover, the weight of the volume surprising her as her heart pumped a fast, curious beat.
"It’s a diary from one of the first Night Walkers ever created. It shows the steps to create a Night Walker," Uncle PP explained. He stepped closer to the bed, his shoulders slumping with total exhaustion.
Faye looked at Martha lying on the bed. She was asleep and wasn’t waking up. The sick woman’s chest was rising and falling in a slow, deep rhythm, her face perfectly still against the stained pillows.
"Did the book say she was going to be like this?" Faye demanded, her eyes shifting back to the pale vampire girl.
"We followed everything in the book," Dre said. She stood rigid against the wall, her breathing shallow and fast as she stared down at her wife’s motionless form.
"Have you ever created one before?" Faye asked because something about the room didn’t feel right.
"No." Dre admitted through her teeth.
"So, without even knowing if it was a foolproof method, you tested it on her first instead of someone else?" Faye snapped, her lungs expanding with a sharp, furious breath as she glared at the arrogant girl.
"Just give the blood and get out of here. Khushi’s book has created a lot of Night Walkers in the past. This isn’t a failure." Dre barked back...
Faye said nothing else and simply gave the arrogant walker her blood. She rolled up her sleeve with a quick, irritated jerk, her pulse pounding against her skin as they drew the dark red fluid into a small glass container.
As they fed Martha the blood, Faye stayed in a corner that wasn’t covered in blood because she wasn’t comfortable with her surroundings. She leaned her back against the clean section of the wall, her breathing remaining short and guarded as she watched Pali carefully pour the fluid between Martha’s lips.
She was still holding the book, so she opened it.
It was written in symbols she couldn’t understand. It looked like a Morse code language. Weird dots, dashes, and ancient lines covered the yellowed parchment in long, messy rows.
"This isn’t even English," she muttered, her eyes narrowing as she tried to make sense of the strange text.
Uncle PP walked over to her. He let out a long, weary sigh through his nose...
"Yes. It was written by a God-Eye. Only someone with the Eye of the Gods is capable of reading it. We hired one to help us translate it, and that’s how we got the steps and were able to gather the materials." he explained quietly.
"Can’t Dre just bite her or give her her own blood to change her?" Faye asked, her voice dropping into a whisper as she turned the page.
"Night Walkers are different kind just like Werewolves. Dre doesn’t have the capability to turn someone, so we had to create it from scratch." Pali stated, his chest deflating as he watched the bed.
After a few minutes, Martha finally opened her eyes. The sudden movement made everyone hold their breath, their hearts stopping for a single, breathless second.
She looked perfectly fine. Her eyelids fluttered open smoothly, the deep, dark circles that had been around her eyes completely gone, her breathing turning even and strong.
She looked beautiful than before...
When Pali checked her condition, he couldn’t quite tell what had changed, but Martha looked much healthier than before.
Everyone smiled at the woman. The heavy dark cloud that had been hanging over the house seemed to vanish instantly.
She was better now.
So the room was cleaned up, and Dre helped Martha freshen herself up. The bloody towels and sheets were thrown into large plastic bags, the metallic scent finally fading away as the fresh air blew through the open window.
Dre was happy that her wife was okay and no longer suffering. A rare, genuine smile broke across the pale girl’s face, her shoulders finally relaxing as she wrapped her arms around Martha’s waist, her chest rising with a deep, contented breath.
Everyone wanted to give the couple a moment to themselves, but before they could leave, Martha suddenly collapsed in the living room while she was talking to Malo.
One second she was laughing at something the boy had said, her eyes bright and full of life, and the next second, her knees completely buckled beneath her.