Page 26 of Jackal's Pride

I blinked rapidly as the memory faded. I glimpsed down at my hands in horror. I was the one that brought the plague upon them. Falling to my knees, I took a few deep breaths.

Why? I didn’t choose to be an abomination. I was created with a job to do, and I did it. But why did every life I claimed cause so much pain?

“It’s because you have a guilty conscience,” Maureen confirmed.

Her voice forced my eyes open. “What?” I sputtered. Had I spoken aloud? What did I say?

“Jack, you had no heart of your own, did you?” Her words were filled with awe. Or maybe it was shock. I couldn’t tell.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

“That’s why emotions are new to you.”

“They’re not new,” I denied. “I saw enough from watching humans.” I dropped my head in defeat.

She pulled me up with her hands. “Yeah, but seeing and experiencing are different.” Why was her expression gentle, almost caring? The soft pout of her lips was alluring.

I jerked away from her soft grip. She kept her hand lifted for a moment before frowning and lowering it.

“I’ve been aware for a while now,” I said.

“The witch wanted you to understand being human. She must have discovered you had no heart, so she gave you theirs.” My truths were causing her lips to twitch upward.

I grabbed my head. “Stop trying to figure out the witch’s actions. She cursed me. Her goal was to make me miserable.”

The pain dulled right about the time my anger rose. Maureen’s smirk was going to make me tear the entire building down. What was with this woman and her need to take pleasure in my discomfort?

I pinched my eyes shut, seeking calmness. “Maureen…” I growled.

“Are you gonna try or not?” She was done with me. Her attention was back on the dying man.

With a grunt, I focused on the task at hand. “Undo what’s been done?” I asked incredulously and observed the man. My eyes saw past his flesh. His liver was dried up while his lungs struggled to inflate. “His organs are already shutting down.”

“Then try something. If this one doesn’t work, we’ll go to a newly infected person.”

“It’s not going to work,” I said as I thrust my plague outward and into the man. There was a beeping noise from the machine attached to him.

“You’re killing him!” she shouted.

I wanted to correct her:I’m not killing him. He’s already dying.But I concentrated instead. I’d always been able to see vitality in others—the veins beneath their skin, the rush of air seeping in through their throat, the pumping organ in the chest—everything was visible to me if I observed long enough. There were also differences in their life force. If one glowed green all around, they were healthy. If red or orange blotched the green, it could be an infection of some sort. Black was a disease, cancer—death. I could see demise’s icky dark mass surrounding the man. I could see the disease festering inside him. He had no traces left of a healthy green soul. I rushed my own disease out and into him—a similar murkiness to the one inside him took root and rapidly spread. Only this one I controlled. I couldn’t save anything. But I knew how to attack and that’s what I let my plague do. Attack the other one inside him. It was easy. I watched as mine tore into the disease, shrinking it inside until there was nothing left. It was actually pathetic how quickly the other died out. This was the beginning of the end, and a part of it was destroyed just like that.

“It’s gone,” I said as my contagion retreated from his body. Around me, I took in the number of humans in the facility. I counted all the ones that were infected, then closed my eyes and did what I always did. Let my pestilence run rampant.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. Given she was an entity, the offspring of the Grim Reaper himself, she couldn’t see my poison. Truthfully, I didn’t know what I was doing but something guided me—a reason, a purpose. I let my scourge seep into everyone around us, even those not infected with the apocalyptic strand. One day, the pandemic might be needed, but for now it would sleep. As for the inflicted ones, my plague killed off the newbie like it was nothing. A satisfying purr erupted in my chest once I finished.

Panting, I opened my eyes and glanced down at my palms. My eyes were so heavy, the awful urge to rest them constant as I soaked in every little detail I was experiencing. My lungs hurt when I drew air, my joints ached, my heart throbbed, and my gums bled. So this was exhaustion? My already widened mouth broadened. It was strange. I didn’t feel good at all. Over-exertion felt terrible, actually. Why was my chest bursting with all this warmth along with the pain? I could remember my gums bleeding before, but unlike now, I could never process pain. Never sensed it. It was there, but it was like I was numb to it.

Not anymore.

I feel…

Maybe that didn’t mean anything to someone else, but to me…

As good as that experience was, I didn’t get to bask in it. The beeping machine next to the man alerted other humans who rushed in wearing strange suits covering them from head to toe. They slipped through me and pressed a contraption to his chest. A man barked out orders and people scurried to carry out his demands. Stepping back, I tried to process what I witnessed, and the beeping died down.

“It didn’t work,” I said confused. The hearts were eerily quiet, but I still experienced the disappointment.I failed.I could release a plague in the blink of an eye, and I thought I destroyed another in that same blink. But I was wrong. I wasn’t the cure. I was the disease. I hated the thought for entering my mind. I didn’t like how it made me feel about myself. The anger inside me got stronger until a hand touched my shoulder.

I saw the warmth in Maureen’s coal-black eyes. It only confused me until her hand grabbed mine, and she pulled me through the walls. We stopped at a different bed.