Athan 

The sound of a gun going off into the endless void of violet hues sends into a paroxysm of hysterics. My heart is preparing to explode as the thought of sweet Betrys lifeless on the grass, some part of her masked in coat of red agonizes my brain. Sweat runs down my shoulder. My bones repudiate any movement. 

Loud, strident footsteps approach the hard threshold. Lowell took care of Kyran, Eileene and Betrys, so there's no doubt she'll also get rid of me. With a moment, I soften my quavering breath. And with what energy I have left inside me, I hurl myself onto the chair spindle, its metal cold as ice.

Death. It seems so nigh yet so distant at the same time. Is death a feeling of eternal emptiness and gloom, or is death a passage in which I'm to be born into a life devoid of misfortune should I be so lucky as to have the right to enter the gates of heaven? Am I even worthy of entering God's dwelling? Should someone of my ilk be deserving of such cleansing? 

If I'm about to die, I think to myself, at least let me make my peace with God. As I close my eyes, I whisper a small prayer so I can die knowing I at least tried. 

"Are you praying?" I don't even finish the sign of the cross when I hear Llwyd's familiar voice. I hear his follow up with a laugh. "Seriously, the moment Lowell put foot into our town, I had the Bureau of Paranormal Activity on my phone. You have nothing to worry about. She's going to be behind bars for a long time." 

I let out a hesitant chuckle. I let go of the spindle and fall onto my back. In constant struggles, I pull myself back onto my feet. I brush some dust off my shoulder. "Why are you helping me?" Upon hearing my question, his brow arched in a heavy steep. I prying away from gaze, I drag my teeth across my upper lip. I then spin around to contact him again. "I thought you execrate the Resistance." 

"I don't," Llwyd corrects me. A heaving sigh escapes his tongue like steam does from the chimney of a factory. "I was only following Lowell's orders to disband the Resistance. I didn't know she wanted to burn Howl Falls to dust." He clenches his fist and grunts louds. "How could I have been so stupid?" He delivers a swift kick to the chair and let out an even louder grunt. "So stupid!" 

I pull him away from the chair with all the might I have in me but he wriggles out of my grip, ergo I get in front of him before he can destroy the chair. "Dude" - I clear my throat and correct myself. "Sir, the chair isn't going to make the situation any better. It's just life - sometimes you want something because you know you can't have it. 

"I should know. I'm always finding myself yearning for something because I know it can never be mine. When it slips away, or it turns out to be a huge mistake, fustration with yourself and anger aren't gonna solve the problem. But you know what will? Picking yourself up and move on with life.

"You can go about in life picking out every last detail before deciding if you're making a bad decision by wanting it, but what fun is that? Life is all about those little mistakes you make because those are what make memories that last a lifetime. And you know what? I let myself live in the past for so long, I let the best thing that ever happened to me slip away."

I've been so busy soliloquizing, it hasn't hit me until now. "Betrys. Where's Betrys?"  

"Wellings." Llwyd turns around to face me with a solemn look. My heart quenches tight. He conceals his face with his hands in the shape of an 'X.' "You do not wanna see 'er, trust me." 

"I do," I say, my voice going dull and dark. I feel my eyes narrow into crinkled slits. That's when I'm sent back into a state of hysteria. "I wanna see her. I WANNA SEE HER THIS DAMN SECOND!"  

Wide-eyed and lips pressed tight together, Llwyd's hands throw up into the air. "Fine." He gives me several slight head shakes. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn ya." 

Grabbing me tight on the arm, he leads me out into the nearby field where a body lays, no sign of breathing coming from the stomach. Her shirt has been cut off midriff. A red cloth wraps around her abdomen. A thick bag has been placed over face. 

I fall to my knees shaking vigorously as my breaths starts hitching and heaving. My hands can barely make it to my face as my soul begins pouring out tears as my mouth lets out a moaning screams that shake just as violent as the rest of my body.

"They shot her in the stomach." As he continues my sobs get even louder and louder by the second. "Luckily, she was in her wolf form because then I can revive her with a little surgery." 

As my eyes go wide, I'm shouting, "Whatever it takes to bring back my dear, Betrys. Do it. She's the beating of my heart. I'm not sure who I am without her.'

~

I sit next to Betrys in a chair. She's unconscious, hooked up to a monitor that is permanently set on flat. As I wait for the results to come out, I caress her arm. Under dark lashes, her eyes rest, but I can't see those beautiful specks that are her eyes. 

Llwyd comes into the room. Eagar, my gaze raises to him. A line crosses his face as he draws in a deep inhale, and I bite down on my lower lip. "Her abdomen was shot in her wolf form so to fix it, I would have to remove some of her DNA. The possible side effects include amnesia." 

Looking at Betrys, I squeeze her hand. For you, babe. I then turn back to him, and nod slowly. "We'll do it." 

"Anyways, you have a visitor." 

A shadow appears in the door, towering about an inch above me. Aurelia. Her face is embedded with sweat as her arms shake like an erupting volcano as do her legs. Llwyd helps her stumble all the way over to where I sit. She can't even get her words out clearly. "Brother. Help." 

With that, she's falls to the ground at the foot of the hospital bed. My body races to her side almost immediately. "Aur." I put my hand on her back it's coldness. I can't tell whether it's vampire cold, or dead cold. "Aur. Stay with me. I can't lose you too."

All of a sudden, I feel her body becoming warm. I hear a deep inhale. "Brother, you could never lose me. Blood or not, we're siblings. I leave when you leave." 

"Aur." I pull her into a hug with a giant laugh. As I hold to my chest. I hear an odd thing. Something that I only heard when I was hugging Betrys. I hear a heartbeat. It beats like a steady drum, with a melodic hum that makes me smile every time I hear it. "You're human." 

"Yes." Her voice is breathless. "My veins have been put to use now." A gasp escapes her mouth as she continues to say, "Oh my gosh, I can now eat. I really wanna try that cheesecake you're crazy about." 

"When this is all over, that'll be the first thing we do together," I tell her. I help her up onto her feet, and we make our way to the side of the bed. She takes my hand as we gaze down on Betrys, the monitor still flat. My breath hitches. "Catch me up on what I missed." 

"Lowell burned the Association down when she came back." Her voice wavers with every turning thought. "She swore that she'd hunt us down if it were the last thing she ever does. Calamity, Caleb and Maxwell fled to Rome. Her henchmen are after them, but Lowell herself has been arrested by the Bureau and has been sentenced to life in solitary." 

"Cute," Llwyd interjects, "but I wanna get this surgery done pronto. So, shall we?" 

I look down at Betrys and squeeze her hand. I can't hear anything over my heavy breathing. My soft whispers. "I love you, Beatrice. More than you may ever know." With that my hand drops to my side, and Llwyd rolls her off into the darkness. 

Even if she does forget me, I'm going to do everything in my will to help her remember. 

~

Say what?! The end of book one?! It's really here. Yup. It has been so amazing getting to write this story. But don't worry, we have one more book left. If you loved this book, come back for Project Remembrance, told through the view of Athan Welling. 

It has meant so much to me. All the support. Thank you for reading Project Hybrid, and I hope you come back for Project Remembrance.

Here's one final gif: 

Don't forget to vote and comment. I'd really appreciate it. Thank you for everything. 

X Shay