Chapter 24

This is the moment I've been dreaming of the past couple of days since I found out about this doctor, this monster. I don't even know why he wants to target supernatural creatures, to begin with. Maybe he'll give that classic supervillain speech where they go off on a long rant about why they did what they did. As long as I get some damn answers, especially about the cure, I really don't give a shit why he did it just as long as I know how to stop it.

"Okay, team alpha and beta, are you ready?" They nodded. "Team Charlie, are you ready?" I heard a yes come over the radio. "Let's head in. Move, move, move, move, move!" I gave the command for us to head into his house.

What I found was particularly alarming. He was just casually sitting there in a comfy-looking chair in the middle of the room, with his feet propped up in the air. He gave off this vibe that was cocky and nonchalant. He didn't care that he could die at any moment.

"Finally. You all have found me." He started clapping as he put the footrest down and stood up. "I've gotta say, Mrs. Ambrogio; I can call you Emma, right?" He said cooly with a smirk on his face. I'd love to rip off of him right now. "Well, Emma. Welcome to my humble abode." He outstretched his arms and gestured at the surroundings around him. "I do have to say though, Emma. You took a lot longer to figure out it was a man-made virus and to figure out it was me than what I originally expected. But, that's understandable because your wife is dying, right?" I growled out and started heading towards him. Lance immediately held me back.

"Not yet, Emma." Lance voiced out to me. I shook my head out of its rage-induced fog and focused on the task at hand—the main reason as to why we were here in the first place.

"How do you even know that? Never mind that now; what's the cure?" I cut straight to the point.

"What cure do you speak of?" He looked at me, feigning ignorance to the topic I was addressing.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. The cure to the virus you unleashed on supernatural creatures. How do you stop it and save people?" He just started laughing maniacally.

"You sill, stupid girl. There is no cure. I designed it to where it will continue to evolve so no matter what you find to help, it will still ultimately end in the death of the host." He said this with a serious facial expression. By the steady beat of his heart, I knew he wasn't lying.

"Then I have absolutely no use for you." I shrugged and zipped over to him. I stuck my fist through his chest and started squeezing his heart. He gasped out in pain, and the vampire side of me awakened. The best inside of me thrived off him, withering in pain.

"How do you feel being in pain and this close to death?" I asked him, truly curious.

"Peachy. Get it over with." At that moment, it felt like Mila was there. I took my fist out of his chest.

"Patch him up; I want him to suffer." He laughed maniacally again, only this time clutching his chest and blood dripping down from his mouth.

"There's nothing you can do that will scare me." I raised my eyebrows at this.

"I said nothing about scaring you. I just want you to suffer. I'm calling my doctors and scientists right now to make a variant of the virus you made to where it will affect you in the same way." His eyes widened a bit, and I closed the distance between him and me once again. "And I will thrive off your suffering. My heart will rejoice while watching you wither in pain. I'll enjoy every plea you have for us to just kill you instead." I gave him an evil smirk. I knew at this point that my eyes had taken the characteristics of my vampire side taking over fully. I could hear him gulp loudly after I was saying this. I could feel a little bit of fear rolling off of him.

"So much for not being scared." I gave him a sly smirk before turning to the rest of the task teams.

"Alpha team, patch him up and bring him to the jet. We live to go back to the United States within the hour." They all gave me a nod and grabbed the doctor roughly. He definitely seemed to be a lot more concerned about his fate now, which flourished the sadistic side of me. I'm so excited to watch him experience the pain and suffering he created. The only problem now is that we still need to find a cure.

Mila's POV:

"You're taking more blood?" I sighed out. The doctor gave me an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry. You're the first vampire with healing powers in a very long time. You cured your daughter and are hoping that you can be the key to the cure." I held back another sigh.

"Yeah, I know you're right. It's just so much blood. I'm surprised you haven't taken all of my blood yet." I joked lightly. They just gave me a brief smile before walking away.

I got up and moved my bed right up against the window. I sit on it with my legs criss-cross applesauce style. She perked up and smiled at me, scooting her chair closer.

"How are you feeling, Mija?" I shrugged.

"I feel okay. Lots of discomfort for sure, but it's bearable right now. They are running some more tests to see if my blood can aid in finding the cure. I really hope it does. Not just because it'll save my life, but mainly because it will save millions of lives. My mom put her hand up against the wall, and I did the same.

"Oh, my beautiful Mija. You are so sweet and kind-hearted. You are always thinking of others before yourself. It seems that the infection hasn't traveled up your arm, really." She looked at my wrist. I looked down at it as well.

"It's still progressing, though; I can feel it growing stronger inside of me. I think because I'm a healer, it is slowing the infection down, but I don't think it will stop it from accomplishing its main goal." I dropped my hand down to my lap, feeling my mood kind of deflate.

"You're going to get through this." I gave her a sad smile.

"I'm not too sure I will, but I've accepted that already." I looked at the empty chairs next to her. "When do I get to see the kids and Emma?" My mom looked down at her phone.

"Emma is still up in the air, but I can have Julia bring the kids by now, and she'll be here in about fifteen to thirty minutes. Is that okay?" I nodded enthusiastically.

"Sounds perfect to me. I miss them so much." My mood went down just a bit at how much I missed the kids, but the thought that I'd see them very soon brought my mood right back up.

Seventeen minutes on the dot is when they finally arrived. I felt their energy and could smell their scents from here. This brought a huge smile to make its home on my lips. I hoped it would take up permanent residence too, but we both know that happiness in this situation will most likely be short-lived.

"My little bears! How are you?" I shot up out of my bed and squatted down till I was at their eye level. "I wish so much that I could hug you both right now!" I said while holding both of my hands up to the wall. They both put theirs up, matching mine.

"We miss you a lot, momma, and we definitely wish we could hug you too." Alyx was the first one to speak as usual.

"I agree with Alyx; we have definitely missed you an immense amount. I would very much like to hug you too, momma. Hopefully, we'll be able to soon." I gave him a smile I could give without showing how sad I felt about his comment. His hopes were set high, and I was afraid the crash would be a bad one.

"I really hope so too. It would be a dream come true. So how are you both? You never answered." They both looked at one another.

"We are doing as well as can, momma, given the situation right now." I nodded along with what Alyx was saying. She had a sad expression on her face. I truly hated seeing her or Aleksey upset. It broke my heart.

"Hey, there, my little bear. Please don't be sad, okay? Right now, I'm right here. So, let's make the most of these moments, yeah?" She smiled at me and nodded enthusiastically.

We spent the next few hours talking about their days in detail and how school was going. It was refreshing to hear them and see them again. There for a slight moment, I didn't think I was coming back. I thought there for a second when I blacked out I was truly dead. So, when I opened my eyes and was still alive, I knew not to take these moments for granted.

I knew in the back of my mind that I might not make it through this alive, but as I said before, I've accepted it. I've accepted the possibility of my demise. I know that sounds absolutely gruesome, but unfortunately, that is the morbid truth. I can only control what I can control, and living or dying is out of my control right now. With that, I will keep those thoughts in the back of my mind and be fully present in these precious moments. These may be the last moments I have with the ones I loved and Intended on making the best of it.

I heard the ding of the elevator, and my senses picked up on who it was immediately. My heart was thumping, and a huge smile was plastered on my face. If I were a dog, my tail would be dusting the place. The sweet and enticing smell of her and the steady pace of her heartbeat brought much-needed relief. The love of my life was finally back home and here with me.

"Hey, there, my love." I put my hands up against the wall and leaned my head against the wall. She matched me.

"Hello to you as well, my love. I missed you so much." My smile just kept growing at the sound of her voice. The sound of her voice melted my heart. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up." I leaned back and waved her off with a smile.

"Don't be sorry at all. I was perfectly happy and content that I got just to hear your voice. Do you think you can ask them if I can have my phone?" She scoffed and turned towards someone walking by her.

"Hey, you! Yeah, you. Come here." They made their way over to Emma. Emma reached into her purse and pulled out my phone. "Make sure this phone gets to her." She pointed at me. They looked up and looked back at Emma.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll do that right now." He scurried away, and he did it quickly. Not even a minute later, I was having my phone handed to me.

"Thank you, baby." She waved me off.

"It isn't a problem whatsoever. Alright, get comfy on your bed, and I'll sit down in the chair. I'm sure we have a lot to catch up on." I sat on my bed, and we immediately jumped into the conversation.

She was right, and we did have a lot to talk about. More on her side than me because I've just been stuck in here. It's crazy hearing about this evil doctor. I wonder what his beef is with supernatural creatures. Oh well, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. She was in the middle of telling me about how she was squeezing his heart when one of the main doctors showed up by my bedside. He cleared his throat to get our attention.

"The tests have come back. Unfortunately, even though the infection is moving slower, it still won't stop it from reaching your heart. I'm sorry." I sighed out.

"It's okay, doctor. It isn't your fault. I'm sure I will be talking to you tomorrow." He gave the nod and left.

"Well, that dampers the mood." I shook my head at her.

"Don't think about it. Just be in these moments with me. As morbid as it may sound, we don't know how many we will have left." Emma held her hand up to the glass and squeezed her hand together twice, showing me she was giving me the heartbeat squeeze, and I returned it back.