TWENTY-THREE: Dead Again

SHE COULDN'T REMEMBER a moment in her life that was that frightening. She had never been put in a situation where she saw someone's life fading from their eyes. And Cornelia knew she would never be the same afterwards.

A part of her hoped that he was just unconscious, that he wasn't actually dead. Trying to check his pulse she found none and she wasn't sure she could do CPR with the arrow in his chest. She thought about calling the cops, and say what? She wondered. That there was a flying arrow which insisted on stabbing either of us?

She knew it wasn't an option and more tears fell down her face. Cornelia was startled into another scream when Lucien suddenly gasped loudly and jolted up from her hold.

"Jesus Christ!" She exclaimed loudly, jumping away from him.

Lucien came to reality; it wasn't his first time dying anyway, nor was it the first time he came back from the dead. A perk that came with his curse. He saw Cornelia panicking while staring at him with a mixture of relief and sheer terror. He didn't think anyone could have those two feelings at the same time, but she seemed to hold it pretty well.

"You were dead." She said with wide eyes, pointing at him.

He sat up, but then pain shot up his chest. "I can explain."

She shook her head, "Dude! Explain what? You were dead, like dead dead."

Had he not been in pain and in a sticky situation, he would have laughed at the look on her face. He would have found the whole thing quite comical in every sense. "Let's get out of here first."

She narrowed her eyes, "A fucking flying arrow and then you coming back from the dead, I think I have the right for some answers."

"Cornelia for God's sake! This isn't the time!" Lucien was really losing it, and his temper was getting the best of him.

He tried to get up, but the pain intensified and he was crippled once again to the ground. Cornelia wasn't sure what to do at that point. She moved forward trying to give him any kind of support. She wrapped her arms around his waist and tried to support his weight. However, when his knees gave up on him again, she almost fell to the ground with him.

"The arrow." He mumbled weakly and pulled away from her, then sat down under the tree. Lucien groaned in pain, "I have to take it out."

His arms were beginning to feel numb, and no matter how hard he tried to move them, he couldn't. "You might bleed to death." Cornelia said scrunching next to him.

"I think… I think it's poisoned." He said, and then Cornelia noticed the black veins rising again to his neck.

"Does that have to do with those black lines?" She pointed at the lines she was beginning to see. "I've never heard of a poison that could do that!"

"Take it out." He ordered between gritted teeth.

"God!" She exclaimed once more. But she wasn't sure what else to do. She breathed in, and her hand hovered over it, breathing in and out. "Holy shit!" There were a series of profanities that left her mouth as she pulled the arrow out. Once she did, blood splattered out of the wound and to her face.

She stared for a second longer, then threw the arrow on the ground next to them. Her eyes drifted to Lucien, "You're going to bleed to your death."

Lucien was already beginning to feel better. The tightness in his chest lessened and he could finally breathe again. He weakly shook his head, "No." He stated simply. He knew his wound was already closing. Werewolves generally healed fast, and he was even faster.

She tried to support his weight and help him up, "Were going to get out of here, then you have a whole lot of explaining to do." She said sternly despite every single part of her insides shaking.

No sooner had the two got up, than than the arrow began floating once more, and they both knew what would happen next. In a quick movement, Lucien realized that the only way it wouldn't attack them was for it to be plunged in his body. He didn't think Cornelia, being human and all, could take such a poison, even if she survived the stab wound.

He gathered that once the poison reached his heart, he would fall dead once again. Realizing that he needed to slow the process, Lucien moved in time for it to stab his leg. "Son of a bitch." He cursed.

"Why did you do that?" She asked him, then turned to look at the arrow, "How did it do that?!"

"Give me your cell." He said before falling to the ground once again.

She obeyed without asking any question and unclocked it for him. He called a number, and ordered whoever on the other end of the line to come over. He briefly explained the situation then he hung up.

"Do you know someone who can handle this?" She asked with doubt clear on her face.

"The arrow is infused with magic, poisonous magic. If we get it out, then it will attack us again. We have some time until Daniel gets here. If the poison reaches my heart, then I die."

"But you'll come back again?" She asked hesitantly.

"I will, but I'd rather not die again if you don't mind. It's quite the painful process." He retorted.

…

This is just a dream, a nightmare actually. She thought to herself as she sat next to Lucien's bed. He was lying unconscious, waiting for the doctor, or as Daniel called her a healer, to come and help him.

Daniel came to them, and he carried Lucien to a car then drove them to the mansion. She could hear them talking, but she didn't understand anything. It was like her mind couldn't even process what they were saying.

She saw Daniel stride into the room with a woman who looked in her late forties. Her blonde hair was tied in a high bun and she wore a simple white day dress. "I'm not sure if my help can be enough in this situation. I can only heal him if the arrow is out."

Cornelia looked at Lucien with worried eyes, she saw him paling again. So, she checked his pulse and found nothing. She saw Daniel and the woman talking to each other, "Guys." She called them with a low voice. When neither of them even glanced her way she raised her voice, "Guys!" She yelled.

"What?" Daniel snapped.

"I think he's dead again."