Chapter 16 The Journalist
Cressida's POV
My brother is killing people and I'm going to help murder him.
The thought repeats in my head as Thaddeus and I race through the city streets. His car moves impossibly fast, weaving through traffic like we're flying.
"How do we stop him?" I ask, my voice shaking.
"We don't." Thaddeus's knuckles are white on the steering wheel. "I stop him. You stay back and don't interfere."
"He's my brother!"
"He's a Stage Four Hollow One. He doesn't remember being your brother." His mismatched eyes—one green, one gold—flick to me. "If you get close, he'll kill you too."
My phone won't stop buzzing. News alerts. Messages from Isolde. Emergency broadcasts. I force myself to look at the footage.
Landry—or what used to be Landry—is a nightmare. His body twisted and wrong. Black veins covering every inch of skin. Eyes like empty pits. He tears through hospital corridors, and people scatter screaming.
"He's killing innocents," I whisper. "Because of me."
"Yes." Thaddeus doesn't sugarcoat it. "This is what happens when contractors don't understand what they've done. The infection spreads. Transforms. Destroys."
"Then why didn't you just kill me at the coffee shop? Why talk to me at all?"
He's quiet for a moment. "Because I made a mistake three years ago in Chicago. I killed a contractor without trying to understand her first. Found out later she had a young daughter. The girl watched me execute her mother." His jaw clenches. "I still hear her screaming sometimes."
My chest tightens. "You're not a monster. You're trying to save people."
"By killing them before they become monsters? That's a fine line." He pulls into the hospital parking lot. "Sometimes I'm not sure which side I'm on anymore."
The hospital looks like a war zone. Police cars everywhere. Ambulances. People fleeing in terror. And from inside the building, I hear screaming.
Thaddeus pulls out his glowing blade. "Stay in the car."
"No." I open my door. "I need to face what I created."
"Cressida—"
"He's my brother!" I turn on him. "You said the only way to break the contract is sacrifice. To give up what I value most." Tears blur my vision. "Landry is what I value most. Saving him is why I made the deal. So maybe... maybe letting him go is how I break it."
Thaddeus studies my face. "You understand what that means? You'll have to help kill him. Actively participate. That's what makes it sacrifice instead of just watching."
Can I do it? Can I help kill my own brother?
I think of Isolde with black veins crawling up her wrists. Of all the people I've infected. Of the city that will burn if I don't stop this.
"Yes," I say. "I can do it."
We run toward the hospital entrance. A security guard tries to stop us but Thaddeus flashes some kind of badge and we're through.
Inside is chaos. Bodies everywhere. Some dead, others injured and transforming—black veins spreading as they scream. The infection is accelerating.
"This is worse than I thought," Thaddeus mutters. "He's spreading corruption through his attacks. Everyone he touches—"
A roar shakes the building. From the stairwell, something crashes down.
Landry lands in front of us.
I barely recognize him. He's eight feet tall now, body twisted and muscular. His face is stretched wrong, mouth too wide, filled with razor teeth. Black eyes fix on me.
"Sister," he growls. "I smell you."
"Landry." I step forward even though every instinct screams to run. "It's me. It's Cress."
"Cress." He tilts his head like a curious dog. "Yes. I remember. You left me. You let me suffer." His voice is grinding metal. "Now I make everyone suffer."
He lunges.
Thaddeus moves faster, blade flashing. It cuts across Landry's arm. My brother screams—a sound that's not human anymore.
"Cressida, run!" Thaddeus dodges another attack.
But I can't run. I caused this. I have to end it.
I feel the devil's power surge through me. My own transformation responding to danger. My teeth sharpen. My fingers grow pointed. For the first time, I don't fight it.
I let the monster out.
I hit Landry like a missile. We crash through a wall into another room. He throws me off, and I land hard. Pain explodes through my body but I heal almost instantly.
"You're strong now," Landry laughs. "Good. I like it when prey fights back."
We circle each other. Brother and sister. Both monsters now.
"I'm sorry," I tell him. "I'm so sorry I couldn't save you."
"Save me?" He spits black blood. "I don't want saving. I want chaos. Pain. Death." He grins with too many teeth. "The devil showed me what I really am. What we both are. Predators."
"No. I'm not like you."
"Liar." He points at my hands. At my own black veins. My sharp fingers. "You love the hunt as much as I do. I can smell it on you. The hunger. The joy of causing pain."
He's right. Part of me does love it. But another part—the human part that's shrinking every day—remembers who Landry used to be.
My little brother who brought me flowers. Who defended me from bullies even though he was smaller. Who told me I was his hero.
"I love you," I whisper. "Even like this. Even now."
Something flickers in his black eyes. Just for a second.
"Cress?" His voice sounds almost normal. "Help me. Please. It hurts. Everything hurts."
"I know." Tears stream down my face. "I'm going to help you. I promise."
Thaddeus appears behind Landry, blade raised. He looks at me. Waiting for permission.
This is it. The choice. The sacrifice.
I nod.
"I love you, Landry," I say again.
Thaddeus's blade plunges into my brother's back.
Landry screams. The sound tears through the hospital. His body convulses, black energy exploding outward.
But before he dies, he looks at me one last time with eyes that are suddenly brown again. Human again.
"Thank you," he whispers.
Then he's gone. The body collapses. The monster disappears. All that's left is a sixteen-year-old boy who's been suffering for seven years.
I fall to my knees beside him. My hands shake as I touch his face. The black veins are fading. He looks peaceful. Finally free.
"I'm sorry," I sob. "I'm so sorry."
Thaddeus kneels beside me. "You did the right thing. You released him."
"It doesn't feel right. It feels like murder."
"It was mercy." He puts a hand on my shoulder. "And maybe... maybe it was enough to break the contract."
I look at my arms. The black veins are still there. Still pulsing.
"It didn't work," I whisper. "I sacrificed everything and it didn't work."
"Give it time. Contract breaking isn't instant—"
A cold voice fills the room. "Oh, how touching."
We spin around. Standing in the doorway is my father. Or something wearing my father's face.
Sable smiles at me. "You really thought it would be that easy? That killing your brother would break our deal?" The devil laughs. "Silly girl. The sacrifice has to be willing. Landry wanted to die. That's not sacrifice. That's mercy killing."
"What do you want?" Thaddeus raises his blade.
"I want to congratulate Cressida on her first real kill." Sable claps slowly. "She's been dancing around it for weeks. Hurting people but never finishing them. Now she knows what it feels like to take a life." The devil's eyes gleam. "How did it feel, dear? Watching your brother die?"
"Shut up!" I lunge at him.
But Sable disappears like smoke. His voice echoes from everywhere. "You're mine, Cressida. Forever. And soon, you'll stop pretending to be a hero. You'll accept what you really are."
"A monster," I whisper.
"No." Sable's voice is almost gentle. "A god."
The devil's presence fades. Thaddeus and I are left alone with Landry's body.
My phone buzzes. A text from Isolde: Are you okay? The news says there's a monster at the hospital. Please tell me you're safe.
I stare at the message. Sweet Isolde who thinks I'm a hero. Who has black veins spreading because of me.
"She's next, isn't she?" I ask Thaddeus. "Isolde. She'll transform like Landry did."
He doesn't answer. He doesn't have to.
I stand up. My whole body feels numb.
"Teach me," I tell Thaddeus. "Teach me how to hunt Hollow Ones. Because when Isolde transforms, I'm going to be the one to stop her." I meet his eyes. "I'm going to kill everyone I infected before they can hurt innocents. That's my penance."
"That's suicide. You're barely holding on to humanity yourself."
"I know." I smile, and I feel too many teeth. "But at least I'll die doing something good."
Thaddeus studies me for a long moment. Then he nods. "Okay. I'll train you. But first, we need to get out of here before the police arrive and find you standing over a body."
We leave through a side exit. Behind us, sirens wail.
In my pocket, my phone buzzes with another text. Unknown number: You killed your brother and learned nothing. The contract still stands. Your transformation continues. In two weeks, you'll be just like him. And I'll be there to watch. -S
Two weeks. Fourteen days to save Isolde, cure myself, and stop the devil.
Fourteen days before I become a monster who can't be saved.
The clock is ticking.