the clone, and I was about to take control. Every atom in my body tingled, my head as light as a feather. I wanted this more than anything, and I would do anything in my power to get her under my command.
“Thayen!” Soul shouted.
Something tickled my lip. Instinctively, my tongue flicked out and caught the taste of blood. This was supposed to mean something, but my mind had slowed down, and I couldn’t process it. For only a second, I looked to the right, where they’d all gathered just behind the glass pane, each of them worriedly focused on me. No, not worried. Terrified.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice barely audible.
“Your nose is bleeding,” Astra replied, pointing at me.
“Yeah… I can taste it.”
“I think you need to stop for now,” Soul said. “I don’t think that’s supposed to happen, kid!”
I shook my head and chose to keep pushing instead. “Nah, I’ve got this.”
She was squirming in her seat, and I could feel her agitation in my chest. Astra was banging on the glass, but I ignored her. I was too close to achieving something here, and I couldn’t bring myself to lose this opportunity. Not with what was at stake.
“I’ve got you,” I said to the clone.
“Thayen, stop! I think bending a fake soul is having a negative side effect!” Astra reached me in a matter of seconds, and I felt her hand gripping my wrist, but I was sliding down a strange spiral of weird sensations. I had lost control, and I wasn’t even sure when it happened. A second earlier, I’d managed a perfect hold on the clone’s faux spirit, and now… I was flailing and coming apart at the seams, unable to pull myself back into the present.
“What’s happening?” I heard myself ask. An infinity of white covered my eyes. I couldn’t see anything anymore.
“You’re passing out, Thayen,” someone said. Maybe Astra. Or maybe Soul. I wasn’t sure anymore. It was as if my body had suddenly divorced my soul, leaving me behind at the crossroads between consciousness and eternal sleep.
My sense of space vanished, and I felt like I was floating for a split second before I hit the ground. The light was quickly replaced by darkness, a deep sleep sneaking up on me and pulling me deeper into the abyss.
My consciousness slipped through my fingers.
Astra
(Daughter of Phoenix and Viola)
Thayen was on the ground. I kneeled beside him, listening to his slowing heartbeat. A sense of urgency came over me, and I placed my palms on his chest. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, merely following my instincts.
The clone’s breathing was ragged. Thayen’s control over her had come to a sudden halt. He’d really pushed himself this time. Soul was checking her vitals, though she seemed to improve with every second that passed.
“How is he?” Soul asked, giving me a worried look.
“I’m not sure,” I replied, allowing the energy within me to reach through Thayen and jolt him back into consciousness. The surge was sudden and powerful enough to make him gasp sharply as his eyes popped open. “There we go.”
“What the…” Thayen managed, blinking rapidly as he tried to assess his surroundings. A glimmer of familiarity was evident in his gaze as he quickly scanned the hospital room. He remembered where he was and what he’d been doing. That was a good sign. “How long have I been out?”
“Half a minute, tops,” I said. “Are you okay?”
He nodded faintly. “I think so.” I helped him into a sitting position, checking his pulse in the process. “How did I black out? I mean, I blacked out, right?”
“There’s some confusion persisting,” Soul noted. “Not unexpected, considering how your lights went out. You overexerted yourself, Thayen. You pushed too hard, and your body couldn’t take it. Plus, Astra might be on to something. Bending a fake spirit might take more practice and strength than what you currently have to work with.”
“It makes sense,” I said. “A fake soul would function much like a normal one, therefore making it susceptible to glamoring. The “moral codes” are learned, along with the concept of right and wrong, and therein lies the true difference between us and them, I suppose. At least we know I can, in fact, glamor a fake soul… but its toll is worrying.”
“I thought my vampire nature was good enough to hold my power,” Thayen replied as we both got up. He frowned as he stared at Isabelle’s clone for a moment. “How is she?”
“She’s fine.