Sheila never thought she’d know what it felt to be a Dark One. It was strange, because no matter how much she thought of them as “soulless”, and “demented”, she felt…smarter. As she sat in her chair, strapped down by strong, tight ropes, her eyes whipped around the room, observing, watching. She was suddenly starving, and all she could think was, “Food...”
“Hang in there, Sheila! The antidote is almost ready!” Sheila heard Oswald the Priest yell from the back of the church. She wanted to yell for him to stay away, because she liked this feeling. The feeling of intelligence, thinking that you knew everything and it felt good. That’s what she felt; an unlimited amount of intelligence, but at the same time, an unquenchable hunger for… human flesh. Oswald walked into view, holding a needle with green liquid in it.
“Ah, there you are! Time for some antidote…” Oswald said, walking up to Sheila with the needle in hand. Sheila suddenly snapped at Oswald, growling,
“Get away! Get away from me!” as soon as the words were out, Sheila realized her voice was nearly identical to the Dark One she encountered while she was trapped in the sandpit. But she didn’t care, the feeling she had now was making her feel invincible, and she didn’t want it to go away. Oswald ignored the sudden snap, and instead, with gritted teeth, charged at Sheila with the needle,
“I know what you’re going through!” he said as he injected the needle into Sheila’s bite wound from the Dark One, filling her with the antidote.
“No you don’t!” Sheila barked angrily in her raspy Dark One voice. “Mortals don’t know anything!” Oswald ignored the remark, retracting the needle out of Sheila’s arm.
“There you are,” Oswald said casually. “You’ll be back to normal in minutes.” But Sheila didn’t want to go back to her normal self. She felt like she needed the unexplainable feeling she was having…and she didn’t want it to go away. Sheila shook violently in her chair, screaming in anger. Slowly, she felt the feeling leave her, and to her surprise it didn’t feel unpleasant like she expected, but rather peaceful. Her eyelids felt heavy, and as she slowly quit screaming and fell silent, she slumped forward in her chair, sound asleep.
“Sheila! Wake up, dear!” Sheila heard a voice call. She opened her eyes to find Oswald looking at her. She was lying in a bed, the wonderful feeling she had had before was gone. It was strange, because looking back at it; she could’ve sworn the whole thing had been just a dream. But telling by Oswald’s face of worry, it was most definitely real.
“W…What was that?” Sheila asked, dazed. Oswald must’ve known what she meant,
“It was the feeling of immortality, Sheila. Those demons are smarter than we think they are. Once you’re bitten, the immortality slowly flows through your body, giving you a feeling of invincibility. I know how it feels…” Oswald explained, looking off blankly as if he were having a flashback.
“How?” asked Sheila. Oswald sighed and grimaced, showing his left hand. He lowered the cloth covering his hand to reveal a terrifying bite wound, green and infected. It looked like it had been treated before though, because the greenness had settled down into a permanent scar. He also pointed to his neck, where a long white scar connected the top of his chest to the bottom of his jaw.
“I was once bitten,” Oswald said, his face dark. “I know how it feels. I also didn’t want to turn back into my normal, mortal self, but I forced myself too. Face it, Sheila. Would you rather be an evil, demented, bloodthirsty creature that feels intelligent and invincible, or a normal, not-evil, real human being, like you were born to be?”
The question struck Sheila hard, making her think silently for several seconds, before she suddenly remembered…Jonathon! She gasped and told Oswald about how she became separated with her brother. When she finished explaining to the priest, he nodded silently,
“We’ll head out looking for him first thing in the morning, I’m sure nothing could’ve happened to the lad.” He revealed a door, which led down into a secret shelter. The two walked down the dusty stairs to find a room full of supplies, weapons, ammo, food, water, and sleeping bags. “We’ll sleep here till morning,” Oswald said, “You need your rest. I’m sure you’re tired from a long day.” And within minutes, the two were settled into their sleeping bags.
Sheila stayed wide awake hours after the two settled into their beds, like she used to when she was back at her fortress with Jonathon and Max back in the junkyard. She couldn’t help but worry about the whereabouts of her brother, and finally, as the distant howls of the Dark Ones finally died down from the close arrival of dawn, she peacefully fell asleep.