Escaped the Night (54 page)

We found Gabriella
just outside the house, feeding under the tree where Jayce and I had argued
days before. I was glad that
day
was behind us now.

“Ga
briella,
I’d like to ask you
for a
favor
,” I said,
approaching
her.

She stopped eating
to look
in my direction.
My breath was momentarily caught
when
the
sun shimmer
ed off her silky white hair and her
horn sparkled like
a thousand
diamonds. ‘Yes, Shanntal
,
my
dear friend, what may
I do for you?’

Jayce remained in place as I advanced towards the enchanting beauty. As I got closer
I saw her sadness. Her blue eyes
hel
d a d
arker tinge of grey in the cent
e
r
of them
.
I remembered Jayce had
explained
that
the other unicorn
died from her injuries
.
I
wrapped my arms around her neck. “I’m so very sorry for your loss. This wasn’t how I thought things were going to go. Please forgive me.”

‘Forgive you?’

“Yes, this is all because of me
. It’s my fault
things
are
go
ing
wrong.”

‘That i
s quite a heavy load to carry and it
’
s one
you shouldn’t have to lug around. Fate and des
tiny decide what happens and the time it
will come about
. Child, there
’s
nothing you could
’ve
do
ne differently that would
’ve
change
d
the outcome of all that’s been done.
This is what’
s
meant to be.’
S
he nuzzled her nose against me.

“But, if I hadn’t fallen down. If I’d only…”
Her touch made
my negativity disap
pear and
I felt at peace.
We stood
silent for a few minutes, enjoying each
other’s company.

Jayce sat down on the ground and watched as the healing
process
began. He was
absolutely mesmerized by
Gabriella and her magical ways.

‘
Shanntal, if I remember correctly, you came to
ask
me for a favor. What can I do to help you?’

I
felt
better than I had in days
. During our visit Gabriella
had
managed to heal
more than
my head
wounds, she
healed
my guilty cons
cience
too
. I was
ready for action
and prepared to do whatever
was
necessary to rid this world of Donovan
.

“
Could I bother you to use
your magic
in order
to help heal
some of
the
wounded? I don’t want them suffering
on my behalf. This was my fight
and they
’ve
risked
everything in order to protect me. I’d like to return the honor, with your help of course!”

‘I wou
ld be more than happy to
help you with
this
. However,
please
remember
, it’ll
be
the
only time
where I’m
able to
step in like th
is. Destiny
has
already mapped
everything out for
each one of
us
.’

“Thank you,
Gabriella.
I
promise, I
won’t ask again,
” I
said, hugging
my friend
tight
ly
.

Every
thing about her amazed me. The fact
that
she
was
in my dreams
before I knew her
, but
mostly
because she was
the one
creature who was
in every little girl’s
imagination
.
I
couldn’t quite wrap
my head around the fact
that
she was
here
with me
now
. Without a doubt,
she was
the single most magnificent cr
eature and t
o be able to call her my
friend was the
greatest gift I could’ve
ever
received.

I walked over
and
assist
ed
Jayce
as he
tried getting
himself
up
from
the ground. Gabriella remained still as I
delicately
brought
him over
.
He was in
pretty rough shape
and seemed to be getting worse
.
Gabriella
shook her long flowing white mane as Jayce leaned hi
s arm on her for balance. W
ithin a few seconds
,
his healing treatment
had begun to take effect
and
he
stood
upright
.
His
ha
nd
remained
on her for healing
now and no longer
for support.
Within another minute,
most of his
visible
wounds disappeared.

“Thank you
, Gabriella,” h
e said
,
feeling
good enough to let go.

‘My pleasure
,
Jayce.’

“We will be back soon
.
We’ll j
ust
gather the others
and bring them out
. Thank you again for
doing
this!”
I smiled over at Jayce as we
ran into the house.

We rounded up the least injured so they could
help us carry out the ones
in worse condition.
We
managed to
get the wounded daywalkers to
form a line
in front of Gabriella
. Graciously
,
she took the time to heal each one.

A ste
a
dy flow of thanks came from th
e
mended. The healing
from
a
unicorn left you feeling b
etter than imaginable.
It left
you
with a sensation
like you could jump up to the stars and dance along the clouds.
Our momentum was back and better than before.
Everyone was in good spirits,
full of life and filled with love.

I looked around
and
saw that
a
nother evening was
quickly
arriving. I wa
lked over to Gabriella. “
Thanks
for helping
out like this
.
”

‘It was
my pleasure.’

“
I…
umm…
we
can’t thank you enough.
As soon as
the nightwalkers arrive
, we’
ll gather
up
the
ir
wounded
so
you can heal them as well.”

‘
I
’m sorry, but I
won’t be able to help them
,
Shanntal. My magic only help
s
those
who
have pure hearts. I’m afraid the nightwalker
s
aren’t pure
anymore. T
h
ey roam
the night
,
meaning they
live another way.’

“Oh,
” I said discouraged. Our worlds were still torn. What she said made sense, but I wished there w
as
a way to change it.

‘
They
have the means to mend themselves,
so try not to worry.
I just can’t assist them
with this process
.’

“Thank
s
for
everything you’ve
done
for us
.
I do appr
eciate it, as do
the others. I underst
and
that
you can’t help the nightwalkers
, i
t’s unfortunate, but I do understand.”

This
set
back
made
me wonder if t
he plan to join our two worlds c
ould even happen. It all boile
d back down to good versus evil and th
ere was no way around it.

The nightwalkers had a reputation and
for just cause. They killed;
i
t was as simp
le as that. They killed to survive
, but
they chose
to feed on
mortals
rather tha
n animals.
Once mortal blood
was spil
led
, it
signified
the
end of their pure heart
. They had a choice,
but
it
was
what they decided to do with their immortality.
Some killed for fun
,
while others
did it
for survival
.
Either way, there was no way to forgive them
for taking the lives of the innocents. It wasn’t their fault,
just
part
of the curse. They
received the gift of beautiful, ageless immortality
, but with a hefty price
—
death.
Death
surrounded and
consumed
them; t
here was no escape
because they
were in
fact
dead
themselves
. The venom killed
once it
made contact,
but blood fed the immortality
,
allowing them to rise once
again.

A
puzzling
question came
in
to
my
mind. I
f I
was
i
mmortal because of a vampire,
w
hy was she able to heal me?
I turned to ask
but
found
she
no longer stood under the tr
ee
.

The sky was
getting rather dark
,
and
it was
earlier than usual bec
ause of
thick cloud cover
arriving
from
an
incoming storm
.
The
cool
breeze picked up
and started
blowing
quite
fiercely
.
I pulled my sweater
together
tightly around me and hurrie
d
to
wards
the house.