Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Single Rose Garden ❯ Rebirth ( Prologue )

Prologue

Rebirth

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Lightening crackled outside, flashing the room in a blinding light before settling back down into a pitch black prison, the smell of alcohol based cleansers and the nurses' perfume stifling to the doctor sitting in the room as he checked on his first patient. His eyes skimmed over the chart that had been pressed to his chest seconds before the previous doctor grinned smugly and wished him good luck. The rain thundered relentlessly on the windows, its sound matching perfectly with the beep of the heart monitors and the T.V across the hall. Oddly soothing, eerily peaceful, out of place in the tiny room that was overbearing full of the presence of death.

"Will he live?" A nurse asked.

"Who can say? Even if he survives . . ." Jake McLewan shook his head and glanced down at the sleeping boy that lay in the bed.

Found covered in blood and sustaining injuries that would have killed most adult men in a matter of minutes, his skin was pale and alarmingly cold to the touch. Nearly all of his ribs broken, three bullet wounds to his chest and shoulders, bruises covering every inch of his body, as well as two puncture wounds on the junction between his neck and shoulder, the boy's strength and his vigor to survive was nothing short of a miracle. Other doctors were baffled, and they dumped the case on Jake. 'Better to have a death on a rookie doctor, than one of the top dogs, huh?' He scowled, walking around and placing the back of his hand on the boy's forehead.

The top doctors were perplexed; he seemed to be healing, his vitals improving on their own with minimal help from the hospital. There were whispers between the nurses that had drifted past him. A monster they had deemed the boy; a non human abomination that shouldn't be saved. Jake had felt a surge of shame and anger; what kind of doctor would he be if he watched someone die, just because they might not be human?

'There's no such things as demons,' He scoffed and placed the boys chart back at the foot of his bed with a sigh. The boy whimpered, his silver haired head softly falling to the side of the pillow, and his eyes squeezed as though he was in pain. He hadn't seen the color of his eyes, but his pale skin, the color of his hair, the extent of his injuries and his miraculous survival, Jake began to wonder if maybe there were things that went bump in the night. He rolled his eyes and jammed his hands in his pockets, turning away from the bed. Maybe he had been swayed by the nurses' assumptions after all.

"Stop the doses of morphine. It may be cruel, but we need him awake," He called to one of the nurses.

"Yes, Dr. McLewan," A nurse chirped back obediently, softly adjusting the boys head more comfortably on the pillow and turning his arm so that it lay face up on the mattress. "Doctor! He's regaining consciousness!"

Jake hurried over to the other side of the mattress as the boys eyes slowly opened, blinking a couple of times against the soft light. Jake stared into shocking ice blue eyes that captivated him, as if the boy was trying to relate something to him. His slight breathing erupted into a soft wheeze, and the boy's eyes flashed moments before his body convulsed and he cried out and squeezing his eyes closed again, digging his blood stained fingers into the mattress beneath him. Jake jumped up, shocked by the boy's scream, and struggled to pull one of the hands out of the mattress.

"He's crashing!" One of the nurses called out.

Jake froze as his eyes took in tears in the mattress, and the blood stained claws that he now held in his hand. His eyes snapped up to the boy's face, who was now watching him, his teeth---or were they fangs?--- clenched together in pain. Snapping out of his stupor, Jake whipped his head around. "Get the crash cart!"

"What is he?" One of the nurses screamed, jumping back after his claws ripped out of the mattress and took a swipe of her skin. She clutched her bleeding arm in her opposite hand and backed away, the blood drained from her face. Everyone in the room stiffened as the boy sat up, his ice blue eyes flashing red for a moment as he stared at the bleeding nurse with a blank look on his face.

"Leave the room," Jake hissed through clenched teeth as the boy's skin rippled, his eyes narrowing on the bleeding nurse.

The nurse's eyes flashed to the doctor before focusing back on the boy, and the boy responded in kind with a low growl, his body gripping forward, taking on a defensive position. Jake hurried around the bed, placing his body between the boy and the nurse, and he pointed to the door.

"I knew he wasn't human," She whispered, her voice dripping with contempt. "We should have just let him die."

"There are no such things as monsters," Jake snapped at her, slowly taking his arm and pushing her back towards the door. The boy's eyes flashed to him and didn't waver, and he took another step forward. The boy flinched and growled again, pulling his lips back, and Jake was shocked to realize he hadn't imagined the fangs in the boys mouth before. No matter what he chose to believe, how much he wished his father truly was a bumbling fool as he had exclaimed when he left home, here was his proof.

The nurse stood firm where she was for a couple of moments, before turning on her heel and rushing out the door. The boy's posture relaxed a little, no longer tense, but not so trusting either. He eyed Jake warily before his body jerked and he wrapped his arm around himself, screaming.

Before he thought about it, Jake rushed over to him, taking his shoulders gently and laying him back down. Using his hands he ripped the bandage from the boy's chest and placed his head to the boy's chest, listening for what might be causing the boys pain. "What hurts?" He asked frantically, his voice roughened with desperation. The boys screaming died down, and he stared at the Jake with distrusting eyes, his breathing labored, skin now covered in sweat.

"Tell me, so I can help you," Jake whispered, pleading.

"He thinks your going to try to kill him too." A voice called from the doorway.

"You can't be in here!" Jake bit out, whirling around and blocking the boy from view. The man in the doorway stepped into the dark room, the harsh shadows doing nothing to hide his impossible size. His frame blocked the light from the hallway; he was so large he had to stoop down to step into the room. Huge shoulders, large powerful arms, an impossible large chest, Jake took a step back as dark eyes gazed at him from head to foot. Most of his face was hidden, but he didn't miss the smirk that covered the man's face.

The man made a noise that resembled a dark chuckle and stepped forward. "Human medicine can't help him," He said, his dark baritone voice menacing, with a ring of finality to it. Snapping his fingers, three men rushed in, the movement so fast Jake hadn't seen in coming, one man grabbing him and using his leg to bring him down, slamming his face against the floor and locking his arm behind him in an iron grip. The other two went to the bed and carefully disconnected the little boy from the machines and I.V. It began to frantically alarm the loss of data being recorded into it as one of the men carefully cradled the boy in his arms, and large man turned around and stalked out.

The doctor was lifted to his feet and dragged out of the hospital, and no one had seen a thing.

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"What's going on in Daddy's study?"

Chuckling softly, little Melody's brother ruffled her hair and stared at the large cherry oak door in question, his face bending into a frown. He had been wondering the same thing ever since they had been forbidden to enter the study, their favorite place to keep their father company, three days ago.

'Something's fishy,' Jade thought, feeling his face bend into a frown.

Melody twisted from under his hand and stuck her tiny tongue out at him, crossing her arms over her chest. Her long curly black hair pulled back into a simple plait that now lay casually over her shoulder, and dressed in a simple day dress, red and covered with flowers, she looked the picture of innocence. Her brother grinned at this thought; he and his sister got into more trouble than the entire village children put together.

"What are you two doing?"

They whirled around and faced their mother with nervous glances at each other. Dressed in a soft blue dress that barely covered her knees, she placed her hand on her distended belly and rubbed it absently as she watched them with a smug look on her face. They had been caught.

"Mother," Jade said slyly. "You look lovely today."

She clucked her tongue and smirked. "You may win over your grandmother with that, but I know better." They glanced at each other, and she shook her head. "You know you aren't allowed to enter the study right now."

His sister pouted again and sighed, stomping her foot. "It's not fair for Daddy to keep secrets," She complained.

Kelly Cartel's smile softened and she walked forward a little more, her walking a little awkward being so near to the baby's birth. Jade hid a chuckle behind a cough, knowing how his mother always reacted to his jesting.

She shot him a dark look and turned back to his sister. "Your father's a busy man," She said to her, tucking a piece of curly hair that escaped the braid behind her ear. Melody unfolded her arms and pushed her face into her mother's hand, breathing deeply. A soft wind blew through the window at the end of the hallway, sending his Kelly and Melody's hair blowing softly in his direction, their scent swirling around him, comforting. He sighed and wallowed in the feeling of peace flowing within him, and felt her cup his cheeks and placing a soft kiss on his forehead. He blushed and shuffled his feet, and his mother giggled, bringing his face up to look at hers. "Jade, you and Melody run off and play. And stay away from his study," She added firmly.

He rolled his eyes and reluctantly nodded as she finger combed his black curly hair, her green eyes softening as she smiled. He turned and shot Melody a wicked grin. "Beat you to the pond!"

She shrieked with laughter and took off running. "I doubt it!" She called back.

"Hey! Cheater!" He yelled, taking off after her.

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Melody kicked her feet happily in the water and sighed, looking up above her to see Jade leaning back in a tree branch, his hands folded behind his head and one foot swinging lazily, staring at the sunset. "What are you thinking about?"

He glanced at her and shrugged. "Father's hiding something," He said softly, scowling. "He never hides anything."

She sighed. "Maybe we don't need to know," She whispered. "When we grow up, you'll have to know everything. Can't you just wait until then?"

Jade sat up in the tree and looked down at her. Her glossy black curls swirled around her body and face as the gentle breeze pushed against it. Even from up above he could see the reflection of her face in the water, eyes bright with tears and face darkened with pain. In one fluid gesture he dropped down from the tree, settling next to her and shoving his feet in the water with an obscene splash against the tranquility of the pond. She gasped and looked at him, and he stared at her. "I'm sorry for upsetting you Mel," He mumbled, looking away.

She dashed her hand across her eyes and laughed weakly. "Pretty soon, we won't be able to play together. And then . . . I won't get to see you at all."

"That won't happen," Jade told her fiercely, clenching his fists. "No matter what, they can't separate us. When I become King, I'll protect you and Mother."

He looked at Melody who was staring at her tiny hands with a disgusted expression on her face, tearing streaming down her face. "We don't look any different, so why? Why do they hate us?"

Jade placed his hand next to hers, the ivory colored skin matching exactly, and felt a trace of emotion, old and familiar and painful and resentful ache in his chest, and he took his sisters hand and forced a smile, just for her. "So what? We're the prince and princess. They can't touch us."

Melody blinked at him, and smiled sadly. "Right."

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