Chapter 14 CHAPTER 14: Price of Power

Chapter 14 CHAPTER 14: Price of Power
Andy''s POV 

I walked in just in time to see the end result of everything that had happened. Jasmine on the floor Elizabeth standing upright with blood dripping down her arm. 

That told me everything I needed to know. 

The circle that had formed slowly started to scatter, and that was when I stepped forward. The moment Elizabeth saw me, she walked away. I didn't even want to talk to her. 

Not now. 

“Jasmine,” I called out, and she groaned. Not even one person came to help. It was just me and her in the courtyard. 

One thing that Elizabeth didn't know was the fact that power was a balance. And she was tipping it. 

Jasmine managed to open her eyes, and I could see the pain written all over her. 

I didn't even think twice as I carried her in my arms. She wasn't dead, but she was broken enough to send a message. 

“I'm going to kill her,” Jasmine muttered, and I couldn't hold back the snort that escaped. 

“She almost killed you Jas. Maybe it'll be better if you keep your mouth shut for a while.”

“She cheated. There's something she's hiding. How did she manage to manipulate the school testing system?”

That was another thing that I couldn't understand. How did the system not pick up the excessive powers that she had?

And with everything that was happening, I could only hope that it wasn't going to get to the Elders. If it did, I didn't know if Elizabeth was even going to survive it. 

I kicked the door to the doctor's office open, and she flinched in shock. 

She cocked her head to the side, at the sight of me. 

“Andy, you again?” She asked, and I couldn't even bring myself to say anything. “What happened to her?”

“She's hurt,” I said, and she walked over, touching Jasmine's arms. Jasmine screamed in pain, writhing in my arm. 

“Hurt?” The doctor asked. “More like left seconds away from dying.”

She ordered that I follow her, and I did that immediately. I placed Jasmine down on one of the bedsheets, and stepped away for the doctor to take a look at her. 

I was just about to step outside, when Jasmine reached for my arm. 

“Please don't leave me here,” she whispered, and I pressed my lips into a thin line.

“I'll just be outside,” I said, and she gave me a small nod. 

The moment I stepped outside, I saw Lance. He was the last person that I expected to see there, but he was there. And he was furious. 

“I heard about what happened outside,” he said, and I gave him a small nod. 

“Too bad none of us were there to even help Jasmine out.”

“It was all planned out. That weirdo girl. She took out the perfect time to beat Jasmine to pieces. To show that she had been deceiving the whole school about being powerless.”

He was annoyed, yes. But I knew that part of it was because he had his back slammed into a locker just a few moments ago. 

I frowned..Elizabeth wouldn't just look for trouble unprovoked. It didn't matter if she was finding it hard to control her powers. She wouldn't just lose her mind all of a sudden. 

“Knowing Jasmine, she would have been the one to approach Elizabeth first.”

Lance's jaw tightened. “It. Doesn't. Matter. She's new. And she's supposed to know where to draw the line.”

I looked away at that point. 

We couldn't control her anymore. And that was what would have worked better. She wouldn't have been able to walk freely. But of course, they didn't listen. And this was the result of thinking they were too smart. 

“One of the vampires also heard everything that happened outside,” Lance continued, and I turned to look at him. When he was starting to break news like that, it was barely ever a good thing. 

“And?” I asked, and he licked his lips. 

“He suggested that we take revenge. Or submit her to the elders.”

I almost yawned. The other vampires had a habit of sending Lance to me whenever they wanted to lay their complaints. It was getting old. 

“What else did they talk about?” I asked, and his eyes seemed to light up. I could tell that he liked the idea. 

“Confinement,” he said, and I felt a tingle on my skin. 

If they wanted confinement, then it had to be something more serious. They weren't joking about it. They wanted their revenge.

I didn't like the direction the conversation was going at all. 

“I'm sure we'll be able to figure out something better,” I said, dismissing Lance. 

I headed out of the hospital building, just in time to see Elizabeth sitting near one of the bushes. I didn't know why she was there. She was alone. 

But then, of course she was. 

Did she come to check if Jasmine survived? I knew that she still has that nice heart somewhere. 

She lifted her head, watching me as I walked towards her. I expected her to walk away anytime, but she didn't. Instead, she stayed fixed to that spot, until I stood in front of her. 

“You made your point,” I said, and she shot me a glance. 

“I wasn't trying to make a point,” she said in a whisper. 

“No,” I said, agreeing with her. “You did it because you couldn't stop yourself.”

That managed to get full attention, and her eyes snapped to mine. 

“Careful,” she whispered. 

Being careful was the last thing that I wanted to do at this point. I stepped closer anyway. 

“You’re losing control. You can't handle what you have within you.”

If the others weren't going to tell her, I was. 

The silence stretched between the both of us, and I knew that she was thinking. I could almost taste the tension in the air. 

She opened her mouth to speak, and I heard her say the most delicate words I've ever heard her say. 

“I don't know how to control something that I didn't even know existed.”

I blinked, and her features seemed to soften. She wasn't battered. She was just scared. She looked nothing less than a fragile child that just wanted to be shown the ways of the world. 

There was nothing about her that was power hungry. 

She was just trying to survive. 

I sat down beside her, and she didn't fight it. 

“That makes you dangerous, you know,” I said, and she pressed her lips tightly. 

“I'm aware.”

“And you're not the only one watching yourself now as well.”

The look on her face told me that she knew that as well. But now, she knew that I knew as well. 

She turned to look at me for just a second, and I couldn't look past the softness. 

It only lasted for a few seconds.