The Hybrid (34 page)

Edyn’s body tensed, shocked into a frozen state, but
Tru could still see the anger raging in his face. Kayne
laughed his evil cackle once more as he straightened his
posture.

“Don’t just stand there, Edyn!” Tru shouted, but he still
did not move. She tried to stand up, in an effort to run
toward him, to help him, but her body was still too weak.
All she could do was sit there and watch everything unfold.

Slowly, Kayne raised his arm into the air, his palm
open and facing the ground. In an instant, Declan’s blade
exited the guard’s chest⎯ making Airi jump⎯ and landed gently in Kayne’s open hand. The guard’s blood still
dripped off of the silver blade as Kayne clenched his fist
tightly around the hilt of the short knife.

Edyn, still shell shocked, had not budged an inch. He
stood silently, with a blank stare on his face.

“NO!” Tru shouted, finally finding the strength to rise
from the ground. She ran as fast as she could to Edyn, to
try and push him out of the way, but she was too late. The
knife struck Edyn’s chest in full force, though Kayne
hadn’t moved from his spot nearly six feet away.

Edyn fell back into Tru’s arms instantly. The unexpected weight of his body caused her knees to buckle beneath her, pulling the two of them slowly to the ground.

“Edyn!” Tru shouted, as she lowered him gently to the
damp ground.
30
Say Goodnight

“I told you I was going to kill him,” Kayne said with a
sinister laugh.
“You monster!” Airi shouted, standing up from beside
the guard.
Tru turned around quickly, shocked at Airi’s sudden
change of heart. She watched as she walked closer to
Kayne.
“How could you kill your own family? You do not have
a heart at all! You only care about yourself!” Airi was now
standing just inches away from Kayne’s face.
“Of course not. Why
should
I care about anyone else?
They mean nothing to me!” Kayne said, menacingly, as he
slapped Airi to the ground beside Tru with the back of his
hand. Part of Tru wanted to reach out to her to protect
her too, but something held her back. She knew she
couldn’t leave Edyn’s side.

Tru looked down at
Edyn,
grabbing
his
hand
and
squeezing it tightly in her own. His chest had now been
completely covered in blood, but he still looked as beautiful as ever.

Tears began to well up in her eyes as she lightly, and
hesitantly, pulled the blade out of his chest. Edyn groaned
in agony as the blade was removed. His chest rose and fell
slowly as he took short shallow breaths. And each time he
inhaled, bubbles of blood spurted out of the hole in his
chest.

“He has a punctured lung,” Declan said, hurrying to
Tru’s side.
Tru looked down at her hands that were stained with
Edyn’s blood.

“Here,” Declan
said,
kneeling
to
the
ground
as he
pulled his black shirt over his head. “Just press this
against the wound. I’ll take care of
that
guy.” Declan
handed Tru the shirt, but she hurriedly threw it to the
ground and grabbed his arm before he could stand up.

Tru looked at Airi and Edyn carefully as she spoke.
“No, Declan. You stay here with them.” Quickly, Tru rose
from the ground, and looked down at Airi who instantly
picked up the shirt and tried frantically to stop the blood
pouring out of Edyn’s chest. Then, after looking down at
the knife that was still clenched tightly in her fist, Tru
looked over at Declan. “Please?”

“I am so sorry for all of this!” Airi sobbed, looking up at

Tru. “This is not what I wanted! I did not know he was
going to do this to Edyn! I did not know he could do what
I can!”

Hurriedly, Tru wiped away the tears that ran down her
cheeks, smearing some of Edyn’s blood across her face,
and then looked over at Kayne, who had his arms crossed
over his chest, with angry eyes. Behind her, Tru could
hear Edyn coughing up blood, but she knew that if she
looked back at him, she would just start crying again.

“The
world
is a
different
place
now, Kayne!”
Tru
shouted. “Your people wouldn’t have had to hide anymore! But now you’ve gone too far. You’re going to pay
for all the hurt you’ve caused!”

“What are you going to do,
half-breed
?” Kayne asked.
Tru could see that he was hoping his snide comment
would be an insult, something that might make her give
up, but his remark only made her even more ready to kill
him.

“Your
powers!” Airi
shouted
through
her
sniffling.
“Use your powers!”

Tru immediately remembered the conversation that
she had back at the house with Edyn. The only problem
was, she had no idea what powers she possessed. She
knew she had become stronger, and had gained a better
sense of sight, smell, and hearing, but she still didn’t
know what else she could do. Edyn had never told her
what powers she could end up with, or even how to use
them. And as far as Tru knew, she would only gain one a
year. Tru closed her eyes, thinking of anything that could
have helped her in her current situation.

I just need something,
Tru thought.

All of a sudden, Tru could hear the faint sound of
wings flapping, followed by the sound of chirping and
cawing. She opened her eyes abruptly, just in time to see
about fifty, maybe even sixty, birds orbiting clockwise
above their heads. Within seconds, they swooped down to
the group, encircling them completely.

Tru watched on as the circle grew tighter and tighter,
eventually surrounding only Kayne. Finally, the circle of
swarming birds was so tight and so dense that Kayne’s
body was barely visible anymore. Every now and then,
only the faint glimmer of his gold-flaked wings could be
seen through the flock.

Kayne cried out in agony as the birds pecked and
clawed at him. Tru quickly turned her head away, unable
to watch the birds peeling him apart. She could hear the
sounds of his wings ripping, as well as the occasional
sound of a bird falling to the ground. But Tru didn’t make
them stop. She wanted him to suffer. He needed to suffer
just like all his victims had.

As the birds finished him off, and the screaming eventually stopped, Tru ran back to Edyn’s side, grabbing his
hand once again. Declan’s shirt resting on Edyn’s chest
had become completely saturated with his blood.

“It’s not stopping!” Tru began to cry once more. She
knew they had to help him somehow, but what would an
ordinary human say if they had carried him into the hospital looking like this? And would they even be able to
help him?

“We can’t do anything Tru, no matter how hard we try.
The blood just isn’t letting up,” Declan said, a bit of worry
in his voice.

“We have to help him!” Tru shouted through her tears.
“I can’t just let him die here!”

Tru knew she was on the verge of hyperventilating
⎯ it
was getting harder and harder for her to breathe. She
could feel the clearing of trees getting smaller and smaller
around her. Her head began to feel like it was spinning.
So, she slowly closed her eyes. Suddenly, she could feel
Edyn’s hand tighten around hers.

“Gertrude,” he whispered softly, before coughing up
more blood. “Please, I will be alright.” He paused to
cough again. “This is how it all has to end.” He slowly
placed his other hand, which had been resting on his
chest, gently on Tru’s cheek, leaving a large, cold, bloody
handprint behind when he let it fall back against his
chest.

“What will our villages do without a king?” Airi asked,
leaning in closer to them. “They need someone to protect
them, Edyn!”

“You were my bride-to-be, Airi. Please, take over as
their
queen.
I am
sure they will
understand.”
Edyn
coughed once more⎯ blood bubbled up out of his mouth
and chest⎯ and then looked over at Tru.

“And what about me? You can’t just leave me! I love
you, Edyn!” Tru shouted. “You said you would never leave
me!”

Quickly, Tru released Edyn’s hand, and grabbed his
head in both of her own. He placed a bloody hand on her
cheek once more, rubbing his thumb weakly against her
skin as he looked up into her eyes. Tru could see tears
beginning to form along the edges of his lashes. And as
she looked down at him, she smiled a forced grin, letting
the tears roll down her cheeks freely.

“Gertrude,” Edyn whispered as one of Tru’s tears landed on his chest.
She looked away momentarily, wiping her damp cheek
on her bare shoulder. “I’m here,” she replied.
“There is no easy way to say goodbye,” Edyn said as he
glanced at Airi, who scooted her knees across the moist
ground to get a little bit closer to them.
As Tru looked across Edyn’s body, still resting a hand
on his cheek, she could see a tear trailing gently down the
edge of Airi’s face. But Airi did not wipe it away, nor did
she show any other real signs of sadness.
Slowly, Edyn shifted his gaze back toward Gertrude.
But instead of looking up at her, he focused on something
past her right shoulder. He knew what he wanted to say
to Declan, but he wasn’t sure if he had the strength for it
all.

Declan watched Edyn carefully
⎯ the way he was
holding Gertrude’s hand close to his chest, the way she
didn’t seem to mind, and the way his finger twitched
slightly, as if he were signaling Declan to lean in closer to
them.

Hesitantly, Declan moved closer to the three on the
ground. And as he knelt beside Tru, he couldn’t help but
place a hand on her shoulder. But as she jumped from the
touch of his cool fingers against her warm skin, he removed them instantly. Edyn looked at him with a bloody
smile on his face as more liquid bubbled out of the gash in
his chest.

Quickly, Edyn turned his head to his side and spit out a
large mouthful of blood before he looked back at Declan.
“Protect her,” he whispered.

Tru glanced back at Declan in time to see that he had
nodded in agreement. And as she turned away from him,
she could hear the faint sound of a gasp and shallow,
short breaths escaping from Edyn’s mouth. She knew he
was growing weaker, and she knew she didn’t have much
time left. She had to do the one thing she had wanted to
do since she had met him.

Tru leaned in gradually, pulling Edyn’s face toward
her. His hazy expression smiled up at her, and his eyes
widened. Tru squeezed her eyes shut as their lips interlocked, kissing him as passionately as she could.

She tried to hold on to the moment for as long as possible, storing every detail in her mind, but it was over too
soon. His hand slowly softened its grip around hers ⎯
falling to his chest quickly after⎯ and his lips no longer
moved with hers. Tru couldn’t even feel the warmth of his
breath anymore. All she could feel was the coolness of the
bloody handprint that had been left on her cheek just
moments before.

Tentatively, Tru released his face from her grasp, and
laid it gently on the ground. Tears flowed more violently
as she rested her forehead on Edyn’s damp chest. After a
few short moments, she sat up, pulling his body close to
her, feeling the cold puddle of blood on his chest seep
through the sports bras she had been wearing. Tru continued to cry loudly, with Edyn’s limp body in her arms,
as the rest of the forest remained deathly silent.

“Tru,” Declan
said
quietly
after
a
long
couple
of
minutes, “he’s gone.” He fell silent again, gently resting a
hand on her shoulder once more.

“NO!” Tru shouted back at him, shoving his hand away
from her. “I can’t leave him here, not like this!” Her voice
echoed through the forest. As she continued to sit, Tru
pressed her face into Edyn’s neck, and closed her eyes,
before slowly rocking their bodies back and forth, like a
child cradling a small toy.

“Gertrude,” Airi spoke this time, also placing her hand
on Tru’s shoulder. “We can bury him somewhere if you
wish. How about in your meadow?”

Tru looked over at Airi. Her eyes were puffy and completely bloodshot. Tru could instantly tell that she had
been crying just as much as Tru had been. Slowly, Tru
nodded as the three of them all looked back at Edyn.

Declan had proved to be much stronger than Tru had
originally thought. He lifted Edyn’s lifeless body from the
ground and over his shoulder with ease, and followed Airi
and Tru as they walked back to the meadow where Tru
had first laid her eyes on the fairies. But though he was
strong, he had difficulty navigating through the dark forest⎯ the fallen trees and dozens of rocks caused him to
stumble every now and then. Tru, on the other hand, had
a much harder time. Her leg felt as though it was broken
in more than one place, causing her to limp slowly behind
the others, but she tried to keep up as best as she could.

Once they were in the meadow, it didn’t take long for
the three of them to dig a hole that was long enough and
deep enough for Edyn’s body. As Declan and Airi tenderly
lowered Edyn into the hole, Tru walked around the edge
of the meadow, picking up flowers and rocks as she went.
She could hardly watch as the two of them carefully covered his body with the damp soil. And about half an hour
later, he was completely concealed under the earth.

Tru looked down at the mound of dirt sitting in the
center
of
the
meadow.
Carefully,
she
bent
over,
and
placed the rocks at the head of the mound, laying the
flowers down beside them. As she stood back up, Declan
wrapped
his
arms
tightly
around
her
aching,
broken
body. Tru quickly wrapped her arms around his waist,
shoving her face into his warm chest. She couldn’t help
but let the tears stream down her face as she began crying
again, but it didn’t seem like it bothered Declan at all.