Chapitre 2: Chapter 2
Even though the twins were born vampires, they could still eat human food, and apparently, it tasted normal to them. I wish human food tasted good again. I miss waffles so much, which is one thing my kids inherited from. I was making homemade waffles and my famous scrambled eggs; it was their favorite breakfast. Today they started their first day of kindergarten, I know only four, but they are brilliant for their age. They've been able to talk even from a few months old. All subjects came easy for them.
"Good morning, momma." I heard Aleksey say as he walked in with his bright blue-green eyes and full of energy. Not trailing too far behind him was his sister, Alyx.
"Mommy!" She flung herself onto Emma. She was definitely Emma's little girl.
I smiled at the moment they shared and watched the love reach Emma's eyes. She's a great mother. Alyx took a little more after me with dark hazel eyes. Aleksey took a little more after Emma. He had her blue-green eyes; however, he had just a little bit more green in them. They did have some physical traits in common; Alyx and Aleksey had freckles across the bridge of their nose like Emma and the same light brown colored hair.
"What? No hug for me?" I said with a little bit of a fake pout. Her eyes lit up again, and she smiled, rushing over to hug me.
"Of course, momma, I could never forget to give you a hug too." I held her close and smiled. Aleksey wasn't as much of a fan of physical touch, especially when it came to hugs, and I never forced him to give hugs. Whatever boundaries my kids set up, I respect them wholeheartedly, as does Emma.
They are allowed to express their emotions, have privacy. Hell, they even have locks on their doors. Of course, they rarely throw fits, but Emma and I are always patient with them when they do because we want them to know it's okay to express their feelings. They are kids, after all.
"I made both of your favorites! Homemade waffles and scrambled eggs." They both cheered with excitement. They had a glass of blood with their food because, at the end of the day, they still are vampires and require to drink blood.
They scarfed down their food as quickly as it was to take a breath of air. They took their dirty dishes to the sink, rinsed them off, and put them in the dishwasher. They were always so keen on cleaning up their mess. In fact, you should see how clean and organized their rooms are. Everything has a specific place, they hate clutter, and they hate the house being dirty. Safe to say, they help around the house a lot, and I never ask them to. One Christmas, they actually requested to each have their own small vacuum. Very strange, I know, I'm completely aware.
"Alright, you two, go get washed up. I'm sure I don't have to remind you, but I'm going to anyway; brush and floss your teeth." They both nodded and headed off. I know they were big on taking care of their physical health and their spiritual and mental health. I was a very proud parent. Well, I would be proud of them no matter what.
They soon returned with their backpacks looking excited to go to school. Again I don't know where they got it from. The only reason why I liked going to school was back when it was my only escape and chance to be safe from the monster that terrorized my mother and me. I shook old fears away; he's gone, forever. I didn't realize Emma had closed the distance between them and rubbed the small of my back. She held a look filled with concern. I just gave her a light smile and nodded, signaling I was okay. I turned to the kids with a wide smile that was semi-genuine.
"Alright, let's head out." They rushed towards the front door. Emma and I exchanged amused glances.
We all walked out together. Emma got Alyx strapped into her booster seat while I got Aleksey into his. Soon they will be outgrowing these and won't need them anymore. They were growing and fast. It seems like every few months I have to get them new clothes and shoes. I hated seeing them grow up so fast. It honestly made me want to cry. I closed the door, and before I could reach to open my door, Emma beat me to it. She gestured me inside with a big smile. We exchanged a quick, chaste kiss. Soon we departed, going in opposite directions.
I parked in the parking lot and decided to get out and walk them to their classrooms. They put them in the same class, per my request. I wanted Aleksey and Alyx to be able to keep their eyes on each other. Especially their first year of school. I didn't want to take any chances. Alyx gave me a quick hug, and to my surprise, Aleksey grabbed and gave it a heartbeat squeeze. It's where we squeeze each other's hands quickly twice in a row. It was another way we told each other, "I love you." I heartbeat squeezed his hand back. We exchanged small smiles. He started walking to class to catch up with his sister when he paused and looked back at me.
"Don't worry, momma. I'll take care of us. I'll keep us safe." I was taken aback by what he just said.
"Okay, love. I'll see you at 2." My heart clenched, watching him walk the rest of the way into the room. I could see him take a seat right beside Alyx.
What I saw next made me want to cry. He grabbed his little sister's hand and again, a heartbeat squeeze. Physical touch twice in one day; this isn't usually like him. He's very observant. I know he picked up on my nerves and anxiety. Maybe Alyx was nervous too.
Heading back, I only let a few tears being shed, despite wanting to cry hysterically. My babies were growing up so fast, too fast. Luckily I planned ahead and scheduled a few photoshoots, so I'll be plenty distracted till it's time to pick up the kids.
Emma's POV:
"Have we made any progress?" I questioned Lance as soon as I saw him. He looked exhausted.
"Unfortunately, no." He sighed out. I muttered curses under my breath in response.
"Okay. Let's go to the lab." We walked to the elevator and made our way in. Once in, we hit the floor number and descended into the lower levels that "didn't exist."
As soon as I stepped off the elevator into the lab, I felt a surge of many emotions. Frantic, exhausted, fearful, anxious... The list goes on and on. He was making my head spin. I had to quickly shut everything off within myself to make it out of here a sane person.
"What all can you tell me?" I found a short girl with big-brimmed glasses. She looked up at me, and I found that her eyes were bloodshot. It takes a lot for a vampire to get to this point of exhaustion.
"Follow me." She took off towards what looked to be some large bubble. As we got closer, I found that there were about 5 beds in there, all occupied. I furrowed my eyebrows at her.
"These are infected patients. We have them quarantined from the rest of the population. We are trying to get a hold of everyone they've been in contact with to do some testing. So far, The ones we've tested have tested negative for the virus." I nodded.
I took a chance to look at all 5 patients. There were three females and two males. The last female at the end of the row broke me. This little girl couldn't be older than 10.
"I know it's heartbreaking. This is the first child I've seen infected. That's her mom. That's her dad, and the other two are her aunt and uncle. She's only 8." She looked at me, and I saw the emotion, only a flicker before she went back to being stoic, but I knew she wanted to cry. She was slowly breaking.
"How many cases?" She sighed and looked down at her phone. I saw some charts.
"Just here in the United States, we have a little over 10,000 confirmed cases. Between yesterday and today, the cases rose by 2,000. Overseas altogether 70,000." I let out a gasp.
"This isn't good. It went from 1 to a little over 80,000 in just a month!" She nodded almost solemnly.
"And that's just confirmed cases. Who knows how many others are infected and don't even know it." I looked at her incredulously. I had to swallow my panic.
"Do we know any defining symptoms?" She gestured to the man in the middle.
"Look at his arm. Tell me, what do you see?" I took a moment to study the guy's arm. It looked like wavy black lines leading up his arm.
"What is that?" She glanced at me then focused back on the man.
"That's the infection spreading towards the heart. It's crawling up his legs and stomach too. It's almost there." I focused on the wall.
"What happens when it reaches the heart?" She sighed.
"They die." She bluntly stated. I looked back at the man. He looked very pale and sickly. It looked like he had cold sweat running down his face. Exhaustion was clear as he could barely keep his eyes open.
"What other symptoms?" She looked down at her phone again.
"Fever, chills, coughing up blood, vomiting, the white part of their eyes are yellow, and of course the black following their veins as the infection spreads. Their organs literally started failing them. It affects the brain, causing them to hallucinate, the fever spikes so high that their insides are basically melting. They are in so much pain that some have begged to be put out of their misery. Have you ever had someone crawl on the ground towards you, begging for you to kill them?" I couldn't even respond.
"I have, and it's sickening. It's traumatizing. Soon the infection will reach the heart, and they'll just drop where they are or never wake back up." I looked at the little girl and opened up to feel her emotions. What I felt crumpled my heart and ripped it into shreds. She was in pain, exhausted, but what fucked me up the most was the fact that she had accepted her fate. She sat there on the bed, just looking down at the bed cover. Her thoughts drifting over how she'll probably never get to see the rest of her family and friends again. She wouldn't get to see puppies, Diego and Bruno anymore. How she would never meet her soulmate, and they would be all alone. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I couldn't stop it from happening.
"We haven't found anything to help manage it until it runs its course or a cure?" She looked up at me and met my glossy eyes from unshed tears. Then, she snapped her head back down.
"No. We have had witches try to concoct something to help slow the infection or bring the fever down to a safer temperature, but the only thing they've managed to do is alleviate some of the symptoms. This relief is minuscule and quickly wears off, but I'm sure to them those few seconds, sometimes a minute feels very impactful." I just nodded. I turned off my abilities so that I wouldn't feel the little girl anymore.
"Can they at least say goodbye to their other friends and family?" Her eyes drifted off in the opposite direction and up, obviously pondering what I asked.
"Since they are quarantined, I suppose. I'll have my assistant get a list from them. Should we have them sign NDA's (Non-disclosure agreements)?" I shook my head no.
"No. I'm going to make a public announcement to all supernatural creatures about what is going on. I would like you to be there to explain the symptoms." She looked down at her phone again.
"I can do it at 2. It should give you plenty of time to run it by the council. It will also give you time to gather some witches to make sure the message only reaches the supernatural community." I looked back down at her.
"See you in the main conference room no later than 1:50. That way, we can start at exactly 2." She nodded in agreement, and I gave her a curt nod. Then, we went our separate ways.
Lance and I found our way up to the main conference room. I stopped in front of the door and looked at Lance. We both took a deep breath. As soon as we entered this room, we would be talking to every council member across the world.
"This is going to be utter chaos, isn't it?" My brother smiled slightly.
"Maybe just a couple... Million dumpster fires. Nothing we can't handle together." He patted me on the shoulder, and we made our way inside.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone