Alexander quickly caught Elaina in his arms before she dropped to the ground but when he did, the parts of his skin that touched hers burnt immediately and he winced. This was hotter than before but he didn't drop her.
He carried her and rushed out of the kitchen, "We need ice, Mum," he said to his mother who was coming down the stairs and ran past her to the guest room.
Mya was confused at first but when she saw Elaina's unconscious body she understood immediately and she rushed to the kitchen to get the ice.
Alex kicked the guest room door open and ran to the bathroom. He turned the cold tap on with his foot and the water spilled into the bathtub. After the water had reached a high level, he placed her into the tub, keeping her head above the water level.
The water in the tub turned warm after a minute and Mya rushed in with bags of ice, ice-cold bottles of water, and a change of clothes. She emptied the packets of ice into the tub while Alex poured the water on her head.
He placed his hand on her head to check her temperature. It had gone down a bit but it was still too hot, "It's not working," he panicked. At this rate, she was going to die of heat exhaustion!
Mya placed her hand on Elaina's head, unfortunately, this wasn't something that could be healed, "It will work, relax," she assured her fretting son.
Five minutes passed but there was only a subtle change, Mya's heart rate spiked but she kept her composure. "Bring more ice and a bowl, Alex," she sent him and he ran out of the room and returned a second later with two bags of ice.
Mya emptied one bag into the tub while Alex emptied the second bag into a bowl. He filled the bowl with water and passed it to his mother which she poured slowly over Elaina's head.
It wasn't until after two long minutes that her temperature started to change. It reduced rapidly, returning to its normal degree.
Alexander's tense shoulders relaxed when he checked her temperature and he released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Finally, he sighed, he could rest easy now. He sighed in relief and then dropped to the floor.
"Alex?" Mya called but he didn't respond. His body was crouched in pain so she bent to his level, "Look at me, Alexander," she ordered and he obeyed.
She placed her hand on his face and asked, "What's wrong?"
His gray eyes were glowing and his teeth were clenched, it looked like he was trying to control his instincts. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought as she wondered what the cause could be, then she saw him clutching his arms and her eyes widened.
There were burns on his arms that looked like they had spread from his wrists to his shoulders and we're slowly moving to his neck. Were those from Elaina? She placed her hand on his shoulder and a second later, the burns started to fade until they were completely gone.
Mya thought everything was fine so she patted his back and said, "You're fine now," while turning to Elaina but he wasn't. Another growl left his mouth and her eyes widened when she saw the darkness flowing out of his body.
"Go to your room, Alex," she told him, knowing full well what would happen if he didn't isolate himself.
"Now!" she ordered when he hesitated. Alexander stood and ran out of the guest room and up the stairs to his room where he closed the door shut before falling to the ground.
Mya lifted Elaina out of the tub when her temperature was low enough. After drying her hair and changing her clothes, she tucked her into the bed of the guest room.
She couldn't leave Elaina without supervision but she had to check on her son. Mya sighed, she couldn't do this alone. After giving her daughter one last look she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.
She walked up the stairs and through the hallway, to Alex's room to check on him. "Alex?" she called and was about to open the door when she saw darkness slipping out from underneath the door.
Mya's eyes widened, she released the door handle and took a step back. Now that was bad. She walked to her room in a trance, "It will be fine," she repeated to herself.
She entered her room and walked straight to her bedside table where her phone was. She picked it up with shaky hands and dialed a number.
It rang thrice before the call got connected where it was silent on the other side.
"H-home," Mya stuttered. She hardly ever lost her composure but now, both of her children were in danger. One was suffering from the after-effects of an awakening while the other was trying to keep his instincts from running out of control and there was only one parent.
"Come home now," she said to the person on the phone before ending the call. She picked up a knife on the table and the red pendant of her chain glowed when she held it to her chest.
**Ding dong**
Mya heard the doorbell ring continuously. She had hoped the person would leave after no response, but five minutes later, the person was still there and the continuous ringing was starting to get on her nerves.
She threw the bloodied knife out of her hands and pushed herself up from the floor slowly. She wobbled as she walked towards the bathroom to wash her hands. Seeing her reflection in the mirror, she looked pale, as white as a ghost. Nearly dying did not look good on her.
After washing her hands, she went to her wardrobe and got a change of clothes then she walked out of her room. She held the wall as she walked and her eyes moved to Alex's door where the darkness was still seeping out and was slowly filling the hallway.
"That isn't good," if that darkness got out, it would be chaos. She staggered down the stairs and through the sitting room until she reached the front door.
Turning the knob, "Who is it?" she asked as she opened the door and when her eyes fell on the person, she immediately wished that she hadn't bothered.
"Took you long enough, you look pale, am I that scary?" the man rambled.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"What do you mean? To see my niece of course," he chirped. "I even brought a gift," Aziel flashed the bag in front of her.
"You seem to have a lot of free time lately," Mya said sarcastically. His fiery red hair was now black but his eyes were unchanged and they shone with the same fiery intensity.
"Now, now, sister, this is just my second visit. Is my niece home?" he peeped into the house.
"Now is not the right time, Aziel," she told him, hoping he would listen.
"I didn't ask about that, did I? I asked if my niece was home," Aziel said with a wicked smile.
Mya sighed, she wasn't in the right state of mind to deal with her pain of a brother right now, "Look, if you can-"
"Do you always leave your guests outside? It is quite rude," he cut her off.
"To be a guest, you have to be invited," she retorted, making him chuckle.
"Quite the joker, aren't you? I'm coming in," he pushed past her and entered the house.
"Your husband is not home as usual," he commented after observing the decent house. It had barely changed and he hadn't been here for quite a while. "Not that it's any of my business," he removed his coat and threw it on a couch along with his gift.
"Is my niece not home?" he turned to his sister and asked.
"No, she isn't," she replied while closing the door behind her, "Please leave,"
"You say that, but there are three distinct heartbeats in this house, excluding mine," he turned to the stairs.
"There's one upstairs which belongs to the filthy night creature, then there's yours which is irregular, it makes me wonder why,"
"Aziel," Mya called but he continued.
"And the calmest is coming from your guest room if I'm not mistaken," he turned to the guest room that was just past the stairs.
"Is that my niece perhaps?" he questioned and he heard her heart rate quicken.
"You have always been a bad liar, Mya," he stated as he started walking towards the guest room.
"Aziel, please," he heard his sister's plea and it made him stop in his tracks. He turned to her, his expression showing that he was surprised. There was only one reason why she would hide his niece from him but for her to beg him? that hadn't happened in decades.
"Did you perhaps hit your head, Mya? I didn't hear you right,"
"Big brother, please," she pleaded. Her fists tightened, she hated herself for this, never did she think she would turn to pleas, it was pathetic.
Aziel watched his sister's pained expression, he could tell that she wasn't in the right state of mind.
"This is for the betterment of our land, for the protection of our people, Mya. It is an honor to have the guardian born from your bloodline. Take pride in the fact that she is able to achieve something you can't."
"We don't want a part of it, Aziel,"
"As long as the blood runs in your veins you do not have a choice as this is the way that was decided for us by the creator, the only method that guarantees our survival in this cruel world." he concluded then turned around.
"You should be glad, Mya, this will help to bolster your reputation and perhaps leave the gates open for your return." he added.
"Wait," Mya tried to call but footsteps echoed through the home making the both of them freeze. A voice came from the stairs which said, "Like my wife said, we want no part of your world, brother-in-law," as the person advanced down the stairs.