Chapter 3

Jamiya POV:

I bit down on my lip, tasted blood. The truth, stripped bare, was the only way. "The only fix," I said, my voice barely a whisper, "is a Life Source ritual. A full transfer of life energy. A complete re-calibration."

Hudson's grip on my arm tightened, his nails digging into my skin. "What are you talking about? How do you know such a thing?" His eyes, even in the dim moonlight, were wild with suspicion.

"Dr. Gates," I lied, the name slipping out easily. "He mentioned it once, a desperate, archaic method for extreme cases. Not for the faint of heart. Something about ancient texts, Holland family archives... a legend." I hoped the complexity of the lie would make it sound plausible.

Hudson didn't speak. He just stared at me, his face a mask of disbelief and dawning desperation. Then, without another word, he released my arm, his fingers leaving angry red marks. He grabbed my wrist instead, his grip firm but not painful, and pulled me towards the door. His long strides ate up the distance. He moved with a terrifying urgency.

We arrived at Dr. Gates' office in the secluded section of the hospital wing. Hudson burst through the door, dragging me behind him. Dr. Gates looked up from his desk, his expression unreadable.

"Gates!" Hudson barked, his voice raw. "Jamiya speaks of a 'Life Source ritual.' A full transfer of life energy. Is it real? Can it save Adaline?"

Dr. Gates looked from Hudson to me, a long, sorrowful gaze that lingered on my face. He nodded slowly. "It is real, Hudson. An ancient practice. Forbidden, almost. But yes, it exists." He paused, his gaze softening as he looked at me. "But it comes with a price. For the donor, it is... debilitating. Almost certainly fatal for a full transfer. Your... your previous donation, Jamiya, was just a small fraction of what's required."

Hudson stumbled back, releasing my wrist as if it had burned him. He turned his back to me, his shoulders hunched, his rapid breaths the only sound in the room. He couldn't meet my eyes. The man who had condemned me countless times now recoiled from the cost of my sacrifice.

"I'll do it," I said, my voice clear and unwavering. It was the only way to truly break free, to fulfill the promise of escaping the corporate plot that threatened him.

Hudson spun around, his eyes blazing with a conflict I'd never seen before. "Why, Jamiya? Why would you do this?" His voice was a guttural plea, not the usual accusation.

"Because I owe you both," I replied, the lie tasting like ash in my mouth. "I owe Adaline for holding your affection captive all these years, and I owe you for marrying me and taking away your choice. This is my penance. My final payment." It was easier to claim debt than love. Easier to claim penance than a desperate act to save a man who thought me worthless.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, his jaw clenching. The internal battle raged across his features.

"Dr. Gates," I pressed, not giving Hudson a chance to articulate his objections. "Prepare the ritual. Now."

Dr. Gates sighed, a heavy, resigned sound. He rose slowly, gathering strange instruments and bundles of dried herbs from a locked cabinet. "Hudson," he said, without looking up, "do you wish to observe?"

Hudson didn't answer. He just stood there, his back to me, but I felt his gaze, a burning weight between my shoulder blades. He wouldn't leave.

The ritual chamber was a small, unused room in the hospital's oldest wing. Dr. Gates swiftly drew intricate symbols on the floor with chalk, lit candles that cast dancing shadows, and arranged strange, humming crystals. The air grew thick, heavy with an unseen energy.

Then they brought Adaline in. She was a ghost, her skin translucent, her eyes sunken, her breath shallow and rattling. Her struggle to tear out her IVs had left angry red scratches on her arms. She was fading, fast. This wasn't just a rejection. This was her life force being consumed by her illness, the "dark magic" of her body turning on itself. My kidney had only bought her time before the full backlash.

Dr. Gates gestured for me to lie down on a stone slab in the center of the room. My legs felt like lead, but I lay down, staring up at the flickering candlelight.

Just as Dr. Gates began to chant, Hudson stepped forward. He pulled off his jacket, its heavy wool still warm from his body, and gently, surprisingly gently, placed it over my eyes. It smelled faintly of his familiar cologne and something else-fear?

"I'll make it up to you, Jamiya," he whispered, his voice rough, close to my ear. "Somehow. I swear it."

Then the pain began. It wasn't a sharp, sudden agony, but a slow, excruciating drain. Like an invisible force was pulling something vital from my very core. My muscles seized, my bones ached, my head spun. I cried out, a guttural sound I barely recognized as my own. Through the darkness of the jacket, I saw flashes, swirling lights, a torrent of golden energy flowing from my body towards Adaline's inert form. It was a river of life, being torn from me, given to another.

My body spasmed, my vision swam, and then, mercifully, darkness claimed me.

I woke to the soft hum of machinery, the scent of antiseptic, and the insistent beeping of a heart monitor. I was in a sterile white room, a different one this time. The world was blurry, my limbs heavy.

A figure sat slumped in a chair beside my bed, his head bowed. Hudson. He looked haggard, his usually immaculate hair disheveled, his jaw shadowed with stubble.

"Adaline?" I croaked, my throat raw. My voice was a thin, reedy sound.

He stirred, his head snapping up. His eyes, rimmed with red, met mine. "She's stable," he said, his voice hoarse. "Completely stable. Gates says she's out of danger. The procedure... it worked."

A wave of exhaustion washed over me, deeper and more profound than any fatigue I'd ever known. It was as if a part of my very soul had been excised. I felt hollow, lighter, yet infinitely weaker. The cost was real.

"Why, Jamiya?" Hudson asked again, his eyes pleading for an answer. "Why did you do it?"

I managed a weak smile. "Because now," I whispered, the words catching in my throat, "there are no more debts between us. None at all." My gaze searched his face. "You're free, Hudson. Truly free."

He stood up, his hand reaching for mine, then hesitating. "Jamiya, I... I can get you the best doctors, the best healers. We can reverse this. We can find a way to restore what you've lost."

"No," I said, shaking my head slightly, sending a jolt of pain through my temples. "This is... my choice. My ending. I want to leave, Hudson. Now. Go to Adaline. Be happy with her. That's all I ask."

He stumbled back, his eyes wide with shock. "Leave? You can't. Not like this."

"I can," I insisted, finding a strange strength. I looked him directly in the eye. "And I will. Go. She needs you. Be happy."

His phone buzzed, a jarring intrusion in the quiet room. He fumbled for it, his eyes still fixed on me. "It's Dr. Gates," he muttered, answering. "Adaline's awake? She's asking for me?" He looked at me one last time, a whirlwind of emotions in his eyes-guilt, confusion, something akin to fear. Then he turned and rushed out, leaving me alone.

Slowly, painfully, I pushed myself up. Every muscle screamed in protest. I fumbled for a pen and paper. A short note. A final, concise message. I left it on the bedside table.

Then, with a strength drawn from a future I hadn't yet lived, I slipped out of the hospital room, a ghost in the dawn.

Hudson found the note, crumpled in his fist, his relief at Adaline's recovery quickly turning to a cold dread. He searched my empty room, then the hospital, a growing panic seizing him.

Then, the news broke. A local station, then national. A long-distance bus, headed towards the coast, had veered off a mountain road, plunging into a ravine. Explosions, fire. No survivors.

The reporter, her voice somber, read the passenger manifest. Jamiya Morrow. My name, spoken over the airwaves, sealed my fate. The wreckage was too extensive, the fire too fierce, to identify the bodies. There was nothing left to find.

Jamiya Morrow was dead.