The Darwin Chronicles, Book One: The Mountain Ranges
Chapter 19

Emmett woke up, red flashing in front of his eyes, rage flaring in his gut. A fang hung around his neck.

Oh, god. The Ciis. Resist! he thought to himself, trying to fight the rage. Red washed over his view, and he leaped out of bed, banging his bedroom door open.

Rage. Kill! A voice nagged him. It sounded like his. No. Get Amy! Another voice, also his, argued.

"Emmett?" Norie's sleepy voice came from down the hallway. "What are you doing?"

Kill, the voice whispered. It's your little sister. Don't! Emmett started towards Norie and stopped, confused.

"Norie-" Emmett started to say. The rage flared again, and he grabbed the girl by the throat, cutting off her terrified shriek abruptly.

"What's going on?" His mother came out. "Emmett! What do you thinking you're doing?!" She started to pry Emmett's fingers away, but he tightened his grip on Norie's throat as her struggles started to weaken. He suddenly let go and dropped to his knees, trying to fight the redness and anger.

"Get Joseph. Get Amy!" He choked out before the red overtook him again. He fought against it, blindly hearing Norie recover and run out of the house.

"Emmett! Emmett!" His mother's voice called to him. It sounded far away. Time slowed down so much, then the front door flew open, banging against the wall.

"Emmett!" Joseph shouted at him. It sounded faint.

"Get away!" Amy's voice called. "Let me see him." He distantly felt two hands gripping him firmly. Emmett! Look at me! Her voice pierced the red fog, strong and clear. His hands were taken into somebody else's, and his chin was forced upwards. Grey eyes pierced into his, and the fog completely overtook him.

Emmett opened his eyes, feeling completely normal and fine. The rage and fang was gone, and so was the red fog in his mind. His mother, Norie, and Joseph were all crouched around him, staring down at him with worry.

"Emmett," His mother said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. What happened?" He sat up, shaking the dizziness away.

"The Ciis somehow slipped you a fang. But we now know a cure for it. Amy transferred her health and strength to you," Joseph told him.

Norie's eyes widened. "It was scary. She literally started to smoke before you were healed." She moved a bit, and he saw Amy lying on the couch, unconscious. The front door opened, and Rosetta, Andrew, and Alexandra came in, immediately going to Amy.

"What's wrong with her?" Andrew asked.

"She gave all of her health and strength to Emmett. She won't be waking up for a few days. He was being possessed by the Ciis, but luckily she got here before he could do any major, permanent damage," Joseph said. Rosetta's brow creased in anger. At first Emmett was afraid that she was angry at him for taking Amy's energy, but she glared down at her daughter and crossed her arms.

"We'll take her home," Rosetta said curtly. Andrew carefully picked up his sister and stood up. She looked worse than ever, gaunt and pale, the shadows under her eyes even more prominent. The family opened the door and left.