Chapter 7: Life and Death
"For a well-organized mind, death is just the next big adventure" – Albus Dumbledore
***
"What did you bring with you, Amaris?" a man asked a girl who carried another body on her shoulder.
"It's something new, big brother!" Amaris exclaimed.
"What do you mean something new?" the man asked again.
"This human still alive despite having her blood mixed with our blood? Don't you think it's amusing?"
"What?! What did you say?! For God's sake Ris, we should hurry to help her before she dies because her body rejects our blood. Hurry!" the man exclaimed after he heard Amaris' explanation. He should have known something that can make his cousin interested is not an ordinary thing.
"Yaaay, it's time for an experiment!" Amaris cheered happily.
The man just shakes his head when he sees his cousin antics. He followed her inside the building ready to helps her if necessary.
"What are you going to do with her Ris?" he asked when he sees Amaris brought some vial with an unknown liquid.
"I'm going to feed her my potion someone gave her a slow-heart serum to make her look dead. I will give her the antidote. Oh, right can you fetch me some meat brother? I think the fastest way for her body to accept our blood is to eat our food."
"Alright, I will be back soon," the man answered before his figure can't be seen in the room.
"Now let's take this silicone mask first," Amaris pulled the unconscious girl's face. The face or the mask came off easily, revealing a girl with long white hair, Alma.
"Oh, white hair? Maybe she's from that family? Hmm… it's going to be more fun than I expected," Amaris grinned.
Amaris takes her potion vial one by one, pinched Alma's face, and poured it down her mouth one by one.
***
On a big building, two guards are patrolling the perimeter. One of the guards spotted a man walked in their direction.
"What are you doing here, Zach?" the guard asked the man.
"I come here to ask for some meat because I don't have time to hunt," the man answered.
"Alright, since you never take your portion, you can take one full-body," the guard said and opened the building's door.
"Thank you, I will be quick."
Zach entered, inside there are big shelves with many body bags on top of it. The room temperature is ice-cold, just like a big freezer. He takes one bag without looking at the content and walks out again.
"I'll be off then," Zach waved before he hurried back to Amaris' place. He hopes his cousin hasn't scared the poor girl yet.
***
"Ugh…" Alma groaned. Her body feels worse than before, she can feel her bones creak with every move she makes.
Alma squinted her eyes, trying to adapt to the bright light from the lamp, she remembers that Rey injected something in her and asked her to die. So where is this? Is this heaven or hell? But how could she still feel pain if she's already dead?
"You're finally awake!" exclaimed someone.
Slowly Alma turns to the voice, a sixteen-year-old girl standing near Alma. This girl has wavy copper hair and enchanting golden eyes. For a moment Alma holds her breath, admiring the beautiful girl in front of her.
"Did you hear me?" the girl waved her hand in front of Alma's face.
Alma quickly snapped out of her mind, she can't help but curse at herself. How could she admire other people's beauty when she was on the verge of death?
"I'm sorry," Alma whispered with a hoarse voice. Her throat feels strange, it's like she can taste weird things but she's not sure what is it.
"Oh, before you wake up I gave you my potions to negate the effect of slow-heart serum in your body. So if you taste something weird, that's probably my potion. Here, you can drink this water," the girl explained.
Alma drinks the water and feels better, she looked at the girl with curiosity. "Who are you?" Alma asked.
"My name is Amaris, I found you in the forest."
"I'm Alma, thank you for saving me."
"You're dying," Amaris stated. Her face looked calm despite the thing she said.
"I know," Alma whispered. She can feel her body breaking down inside.
"I can help you out, if you want," Amaris offered.
Alma looked to Amaris with shock countless questions sprang up in her mind. But Alma tried to keep herself calm, she can't expect anything yet less she become disappointed again.
"What do you mean?" Alma asked warily.
"I mean I can help you survive, that is if you want it."
"Why do you want to help me?" Alma inquired. She doesn't understand why this girl wants to help her despite not knowing her.
"Because it looks fun," Amaris smiled for the first time. Her smile looks innocent yet dangerous at the same time.
Alma gulped, her mind racing between trusting this strange girl or surrendered to fate. But then she remembered her family, her parents, and brother. She can't die here, not before she gets revenge for them.
"You said that you can help me, that's mean you know what happened with me."
"Of course, your body is dying because it can't bear the collision between human blood and Aeternum blood, right?"
Alma's eyes shook hearing her answer, "You… who are you, no… what are you? How do you know about that?"
"Me? I am Amaris, my brother and I are Noctacian," Amaris grinned.
"What is Noctician?"
"Whatever your family called a monster."
"You are Aeternum?!" Alma jumped from the bed, but her body quickly falls due to pain.
"Ugh…" Alma groaned again and for the second time cursed her stupidity for forgetting her condition. But how can she stay calm when she is in front of the creature her family always called enemy?
"Oh, come on. Don't use that word, it's just a name that your family gave us. Don't worry I don't want to eat you, you smell like a wet cat," Amaris stated with disgust.
Alma doesn't know whether to laugh or cry hearing her words. But she calmed down and thinks if Amaris wants to eat her, she won't be alive right now.
"Did I miss something?" a man voice suddenly interrupted their chat.
"Big brother Zach! Did you bring what I asked?" Amaris asked when she sees the man.
"Yes, I brought it. It's in the kitchen now."
"Yaaay! Thank you big brother!" Amaris cheered and get out of the room.
"So, how are you feeling ….?" Zach asked Alma.
"My name is Alma and I feel pretty alive."
"You got quite a strong will there, other humans already writhed in pain if they're in your condition right now," Zach commented.
"Are you also an Aeternum?"
"Did Amaris tell you already? Yeah, I'm also an Aeternum, but I prefer if you call me Noctacian instead. Don't worry we don't plan to eat you. From the look of it, you seem to be another experiment subject of Visa's family. So, how did you get to the forest alive? They usually don't take out an experiment subject unless they die."
"My friend saved me, what do you mean by another subject?" Alma asked.
"It's simple, the Visa family already experiment with humans since two hundred years ago. I have seen many experiment subjects like you, of course, all of them die."
Alma's face paled upon hearing Zach's explanation. She knew that the family experiments with humans from her uncle, but deep downs she still hopes that it's only her uncle's lie. But what's the use in denying the fact? The Visa family willingly sacrificed everything to win against Aeternum, even killing their own family.
"I'm back!" Amaris exclaimed while holding a plate with some meats.
"Did I miss something?" she asked when she sees Alma's expression.
"Nothing much, I just told her the truth about Visa's family," Zach shrugged.
"Ooh~! How do you feel when you know that your family is not as good as you think, Alma?" Amaris asked.
"Wait, do you mean she's someone from Visa's family? Then why did you help her?" Zach interrupted.
"Because it seems fun!" Amaris cheered.
"Haaah… whatever then, we already reached this step. It's better to do it until the end," Zach sighed.
"So Alma, what is your decision. Do you want to be alive or not?" Amaris asked again.
"I want to be alive," Alma answered with determination.
"Good, now the first thing you have to do is eat. Eat until I told you to stop."
"What is this?" Alma takes one of the meats and sniffed it. It smells good, she nearly drools.
"Just eat that, I put some of the medicine inside. So you can digest it easier," Amaris smiled mysteriously.
"Come on, it's just the first step. I guarantee, after this, you will feel better. It's your choice, eat that and survive or not eat and die," she urged when she saw Alma hesitates.
Alma steeled herself and put the meat in her mouth. She doesn't notice Amaris smiled once again.
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