My Most Precious Human novel Chapter 79

I was one step away from losing my sanity. I ran out of my chamber and ran straight to the south wing, where I knew I would find Martha. As soon as I saw her sitting in the corridor, right outside the kitchen, I sighed in relief.

"Martha, please… Call Doctor William Duarte and ask him to come. Tell him it is urgent," I said while panting heavily.

Martha jumped up from her seat and started frantically looking me up and down, searching for signs of any injury.

"A-are you sick? Do you have a fever? Are you hurt anywhere?" she asked feverish questions while walking around me.

"No," I said firmly, "Just do as I said. Quickly, Martha. This is important."

She nodded and ran somewhere to make a call. I exhaled heavily and walked back to my room, hoping that Will would take my request seriously and show up as soon as possible. As soon as I closed my door, I started wondering if I should try testing my strength as well. I somehow managed to smash the glass in my hand, and I lifted heavy boxes of documents without any problem…

"Should I try lifting the closet or something?" I wondered, looking around the room.

I walked closer to the antique wardrobe and reached out my hands to grab it, but then hesitated. What if I had become stronger? I didn't even know how strong I was or if I could control this strength. I instantly imagined myself turning into a Hulk-like creature, crashing the furniture I wanted to move.

"This is ridiculous, Lilith." I tried to direct my mind towards rational thinking. "Sit and wait for Will. Don't do anything stupid in the meantime," I lectured myself.

I sat on the bed and nervously stared at the clock. I would most likely lose my mind if Will decided to delay his visit to the castle. I couldn't describe how happy and relieved I was when I saw him standing at my door.

"What is going on? Are you hurt?" He rushed to my bed and immediately started examining my body. "Martha said that it's something serious…"

"It is serious." I nodded, then I ran to close the door behind him.

"You don't look injured," he said, looking me up and down.

"I'm not injured. That's the point," I sighed, taking the knife from the table.

Will looked at me curiously, "Are you going to stab me or something?" he chuckled.

"It's not for you, it's for me," I replied, then swung the knife along the skin on my palm, making a wide cut.

As the smell of my blood reached Will's nose, his fangs came out in an instant.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he called out, covering his mouth and trying to hide his instinctive reaction. Then he headed towards me, pulling out a tissue from his pocket to stop the bleeding.

I gestured to stop him then stretched out my bleeding hand in front of him, "Watch closely."

I could see him raising his eyebrows as the wound on my hand healed itself. He looked at me suspiciously.

"When was the last time you drank Sariel's blood?" he frowned.

"Two nights ago," I answered, "He let me drink a few drops to heal the cut on my cheek."

Will rested his arms on the back of the nearest chair and then sat down. He kept his eyes locked on my hand while a thousand question marks appeared on his face.

"Could I be still affected by his blood?" I asked, putting all of my hope in him.

"Impossible…" he muttered.

"Then… what is wrong with me?" A hysteric chuckle left my throat. "You said that the blood bond after he gave me his blood for the first time lasted over three years… Two days is not too long. His blood might still be inside me, right?" I made my assumptions while walking around the room and making feverish, wide gestures.

His eyes kept track of my aimless steps around the chamber while he gathered his thoughts.

"It doesn't work that way," he said, stopping my nervous movements. "The bond can last much longer, but the healing ability is a different matter. Imagine taking a painkiller. Taking a pill will stop the pain for a while, then you might feel the pain again. Vampire blood, even huge amounts of it, can only give you a short-time effect… a few hours at most. Of course, unless you die after drinking it because then you will turn into a commoner," he explained.

"A few hours…" I repeated, feeling how the world around me started to spin.

"Lilith, focus." Will snapped his fingers to get my attention. "Have you found anything else that changed?"

"I… I think I have become stronger…" I smiled wryly, overwhelmed by my loudly speeding heartbeat.

Will sighed heavily, looking closely at my face and body.

"I will collect your blood for tests, and you will come over to my lab tomorrow to do more tests," he said, then he formed a smile on his face and patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, I will find out what is going on with you."

I grimaced in the form of an inept grin while forcing myself to stabilize my breath. Will took my hand, leading me to sit down, then he took some of my blood to the test probe. He kept telling me that it would be fine, and I held a faint smile on my face, pretending that I was dealing with all this just fine.

As soon as he left, I glued my eyes to the window, hoping to see Sariel's car in the driveway. I saw nothing but an empty road. I started to have hectic thoughts, wondering why he still hadn't come back. I had a feeling that something wasn't right. He had been gone for more than a few days before, but I knew that it wasn't just some business trip; he was called by the King, and I couldn't even contact him. My anxieties grew within me the longer he was gone. The restlessness was devouring me, taking my sleep away once more…

I remembered every minute of the sun rising. I could recall it because my mind was too occupied to allow me to close my eyes. I was lying on the bed with my face turned towards the window. I was numb from stress and exhaustion. Once I saw it was 7:30, I forced my muscles to move, and I threw myself under the shower. The water was freezing, but it didn't help me compensate for my lack of sleep. My skin strangely didn't react with goosebumps, as if the water temperature did not affect me. Weirdly amused by that fact, but keeping my blank, indifferent expression, I turned on the hot water, exposing my naked flesh to its flow. I could feel the warmth, but it didn't burn, not as I knew it should. I was probably too sleep-deprived to care about yet another strange change within me.

At eight o'clock, Martha brought me breakfast. She knew I was going to Will's lab, and she was more than eager to know why I was going there.

"There is nothing wrong with me. I am not sick," I assured her.

"Then… perhaps…" She locked her eyes on me while raising one eyebrow. "When did you have your last period?"

"I am not pregnant, Martha!" I called out, annoyed.

"Then, what is so urgent?! Why do you need to do some tests?!" I could see she was completely freaked out.

"It's about my blood… I promised Will that I would give him some of my blood when Duke wouldn't need it, and now Sariel is away, so…" I lied.

I thought that using some made-up excuse would be better than explaining that I feared that I was turning into some kind of monster. She looked at me suspiciously, but I shrugged and smiled, trying to convince her that it wasn't a big deal. She didn't ask more questions, but I doubt it was because she believed me. I think she simply decided to respect the fact that I wished to keep the real reason to myself.

At nine o'clock, Mike came to drive me to Will's lab. The blank expression on my face made him ask me more than three times if I was certain that I was feeling all right. I confirmed that time and time again, but my zombie-like face denied my words.

As soon as I entered Will's facility, I felt as if I had turned into his lab rat. He prepared all kinds of endurance and strength tests while monitoring my heartbeat and other parameters. After a whole day of running around the lab, he finally asked me to go to his doctor's office.

"I have all the results, and I think I know what is going on…" he started.

I locked my eyes on him in anticipation.

"I already know that some of your genes were activated once you entered adulthood. However, other super-genes in your cells stayed silent until recently. Something activated them. That is why you started to change," he explained.

"Change into… what? Am I turning into a wolf now?" I asked, panicking.

Will grimaced reluctantly and sighed, "You are not turning into a wolf, Lilith… You are becoming something else…"