Look out for the <>!

Gray POV

I couldn't tell Stella that our healing methods didn't work for humans. I couldn't say that she was going to die just because of this simple scratch. self-hatred kicked in as I knew I should have never taken her into the woods. I should have just showed her the grounds. But there hadn't been a Darking sighting in days. I thought it would be safe. I should have known better, I knew what Darklings could do to humans. But I risked it just to show her a few more things. I was ridiculous.

"Gray, can you please tell me what is going on?" Stella asked as I lead her through the castle halls to get to Else's living quarters. I knew that maybe she would have answers, she would know what to do in this mess.

"I'll explain things in a moment but you will have to wait out here," I explained as I knocked on the door of Else's apartment, hoping she was already back from her meetings that she told me she had. I couldn't allow Stella to hear the questions I would ask Else. I didn't need her to know her fate yet. That was why she would wait in the hall for the time being. I just wanted to sort out some answers before I came up with something to tell her.

Else opened the door a second later with a frown on her face. "What?" she snapped at me as if I just messed up something incredibly important.

But what she didn't know is that my issue was more important than anything she could have currently been dealing with. Without saying anything, I pushed her back into her place and left Stella outside. I closed the door, shutting Stella from the conversation and turned to face Else. "Are you sure there is no cure for darkling poison in humans?"

She frowned as she realized what I was asking. Silently, she paced the floor, thinking about the predicament. Finally, she stopped as she gave a tired sigh and shook her head. "There is no cure."

I swore loudly, unable to control my anger. I knew this fact; they taught me this fact, but yet I thought everything would be fine. We were only in the woods for 30 minutes. But there had to be more than this simple statement. There was so much I didn't know about Churchwell and I was trusting Else for answers.

"The best we can do is make her comfortable until the poison stops her heart."

Until her heart stops, that was what the poison eventually did for everyone, magical or non-magical, but that couldn't be it. I wouldn't take that as an answer. I shook my head as I looked at her. I couldn't let that happen. Stella was my everything. Even if I could never be with her, someone else deserved her just as much. "It was only a scratch," I stated as I ran my bloodied hand through my hair, not caring if it got messy.

Else put her hand on my shoulder in a failed attempt to comfort me. "You know it only takes a scratch," she sighed as she looked at me with sympathetic eyes.

I shook my head again as my world started to crumble. "Don't give me that damn sentence."

"Gray, there is nothing I can do, you know this as well as I do."

My hands went flying in frustration as I tried to come to terms with what she was telling me. All my life I was told that Darklings could kill humans, and I believed them. I had seen it happen with my own eyes. But now that Stella was scratched, I couldn't accept that statement. Darkling poison would not be her fate. There had to be something to stop it, to cure her, to save me from his torment.

<>

"Where is she?"

Silently, I pointed towards the door.

"Let's get her in here. She can have my bed until..." her voice trailed off, but I knew what she wanted to say.

With a deep breath, I opened the door to see Stella looking back at me with wide eyes, as if she heard everything that was just said. "You can come in."

She nodded as she stepped into the small living space. Quietly she looked at Else, then at me with a frown as if she knew something was wrong. "You know, the doors here are paper thin. It didn't do much for holding the conversation from my ears."

I frowned back at her as a flood of emotions hit me like a torrential downpour. I didn't know what to say; I hadn't thought this much ahead, but quietly, I stared, waiting for what she would do next. She breathed in and out slowly, as if making sure she was still alive. Silently, she looked back at me, waiting for me to react. "We will find something to cure you," I finally spoke up, not willing to hear silence any longer.

She nodded as she sat down on the couch as she let out a heavy sigh. "How much longer do I have?"

Else was the one that spoke up this time. She walked over to Stella and pointed towards her ripped sweater. "May I look?"

She nodded again and pulled the sweater off her shoulder to reveal the scratch that had blackened and black ooze came from it. It was only a scratch, but the poison was already starting to take its hold in her body.

The sight of it caused me to look away as I knew what would happen. My mind went to the darkest of places as I imagined her in Else's bed until she died. Anger welled up within me as I looked at my shoes on the wood floor. I tried so hard for none of this to happen. I pushed her away; I told her I was a killer. I warned her to stay away, and this was what happened after all my attempts. Everyone was right, I was still a killer. Stella would die because of me.

Else looked at me, as if telling me what I already knew, then at Stella again. "Does it hurt?"

"It stings currently," Stella said as she looked at her shoulder.

Else nodded with a frown. "Maybe 27 hours." But we both knew it would be less than 20. Poison always effected humans faster than Churchwell people. 27 was just her giving her false hope when there was none to actually give.

Stella's eye welled up with tears as the weight of the situation fell on her lap like hot coals. "And there is nothing you can do?"

"We will find something, I promise," I told her, confident that I would do all that I could do to save her.

Else shot me a look, not approving of my false promises. But for now, that was what Stella needed. She was young. She never thought about death before, I was sure of it, and how that was the only thing in her near future.

Stella nodded as she wiped her eyes in an attempt to pull herself together. She stood up from the couch, then looked at me. "Well, tell me what I can do and I'll do it. I'll do anything."

"Gray, can I speak to you?" Else asked as she pulled me into her bedroom without waiting for a response from me.

I looked into her worried eyes and knew what she was thinking. She didn't want me wasting time on this when we both knew what would happen to Stella.

"Please let me just try," I begged her. "I can't lose her."

She nodded with a sigh as my begged touched her stiff heart. "You really do care about her."

That was all I did. I pushed her away because I cared too much about her. Stella was such a beautiful human and the world could not live without her. I couldn't live without her, even if I never talked to her again. I couldn't let another human's death be on my hands, not again.

"Fine then, I can go to the royal family. Maybe they have some information about curing poison from humans. After all, humans used to travel back and forth."

I nodded, remembering the stories she used to tell me about kings and queens from earth coming here to meet with the royal family. Although I thought those were just bedtime stories, told to help me sleep better, however, Else made me think otherwise by her comment.

Darklings have always lived in Churchwell, haunting the shadows of the night and the shadows of the woods. They attacked anything that moved, Churchwell creatures and humans alike, so there had to be something out there that could cure a human if they traveled here. "Thank you."

She nodded as she looked at my arm that was bleeding. "First, let me get this healed." She opened the door back to the living room and walked into a small cabinet that held powders and pre-made mixtures.

I had been to her living quarters very few times, but I never realized she held such mixtures ready to go. It was as if she was expecting attacks constantly and she needed to be ready. Back in Jackson, she always made the cure paste from scratch. She made me think that something like a cure couldn't be held in storage, but as she took it out and mixed it, I realized that there were a lot of things that she kept from me.

Silently, she ripped my sleeve and rubbed the paste on my arm. Instantly, the stinging started to fade, and I could breathe a little better. "You know the deal. Leave this on for 20 minutes." She looked at Stella who stared at us silently then said, "this doesn't cure humans, but it could help with the pain."

That was enough motivation for Stella as she got up from the couch and to the counter beside me. Else then quickly put some paste on her, then closed the lid of the mixture and put it away.

"I won't be long," Else said to me as she slipped on some shoes. She then looked at Stella as if seeing what state she was in. "Keep her comfortable." and without saying another word, she left her small living quarters to get to the royal family in hopes of some answers.

Stella gently poked the paste on her shoulder, then watched as Else left. Seconds ticked by in silence until she spoke up. "Where is she going?"

"To find a cure."

She frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't trust her," she muttered, as if it was common knowledge.

I knew that Else wasn't warm towards her but I didn't understand why Stella didn't like her so much. Else was practically my mother. She constantly reminded me that she was on my side which was more then anyone else would say. "I trust her and I know she will do all she can to help you."

Stella stood up from the couch and looked me dead in the eye. "Well, let's try to find our own cure."

There was such determination in her eyes, as if she knew together we could find something to help her out of this mess. She still had hope, but a part of me wondered how long she would have it until it was eaten up by pain she will feel in the next few hours. I have been attacked by Darklings enough to know that soon all one would think about is the pain. I didn't have the heart to tell her that though, if she felt like she was in control of her future, then I would let her think that for as long as she could. "Fine, let's find our own cure."