The Sickness Within (Sehkmet and Shekel)

Sehkmet was not feeling very well at the moment, she hadn't been for a few days, she felt more tired than she had done in a long long time, and she wondered if that was because she had not been consuming as much human blood as she used to do. After all she had just eaten what she needed and not the amount that she wanted. Humming a little bit in her sleep she rolled over and looked at the clock, it was 2pm and that fact alone shocked Sehkmet, she normally never slept in this late even when she had been in a fight the night before.

Tilting her head to one side, Sehkmet sat up in bed and yawned, rubbing at her eyes, she stood up and wobbled for a few moments before blinking, she normally never wobbled or yawned, she had more than enough energy to just get up and ready to face the day. This thought alone was more than a little worrying to her, and she wondered if she should call upon Shekel, he would know what was wrong with her, if anything was in fact wrong with her.

Sitting back down on her bed she flicked on her TV and she didn't feel like moving, she wanted to lay here and not get up, maybe a lazy day was what was needed for her at the moment, she had been expending a lot of energy in the past few months...

Shekel flitted into the home and looked around immediately. There was something not right with this picture. Namely that not only was in quiet but there wasn't much movement going on at all. Most nights Sehkmet would be up by now and would be doing something, if not trying to multitask and do as many things as possible,

"Sehkmet?" he called out cautiously as he made his way slowly around the home, "Sehkmet where are you?"

Entering the bedroom he blinked a few times when he saw Sehkmet laid down on the bed watching TV. This was wrong. Sehkmet never just laid still! She was always full of energy. He sat down on the bed beside her and pressed a hand to her forehead. His face grew even paler. Her forehead was hot. It shouldn't ever even be warm! It should always be cold,

"Sehkmet can I ask you a question my love?" he whispered, trying to keep the panic out, "How long did you sleep? And do you have a lot of energy?"

Sehkmet looked up and she saw Shekel enter the bedroom it was strange because she had just been thinking about him coming here to help her out but now she didn't even need to phone him, she just needed to be able to get the energy to actually want to speak, at the moment she was just content to be watching TV.

"Hello Shekel, I was just about to summon you I guess I don't need to any more." she laughed lightly, sitting up in bed she smiled at the other vampire, she felt better now that he was here with her, she always did.

When Shekel pressed a hand to her forehead Sehkmet blinked and she wondered why he was doing that there was no point, she wasn't ill she was just tired. Hearing his voice being slightly panicked, Sehkmet blinked again and she yawned lightly, rubbing her hair.

"Well I went to sleep around five in the morning and woke up a few minutes ago actually...I'm still a bit tired but...I'm okay, why what's wrong?" she asked with a slightly confused expression.

Shekel chuckled a little bit when she mentioned wanting to summon him. Although she probably didn't think too much of it, the fact that she had wanted to summon him was rather telling. She didn't summon him unless there was nothing she could do about the problem she was facing,

"No you don't, I have a direct line to you." he said with a rather strained chuckle, "Besides, I'd come to check up on you in light of the recent... troubles."

He sighed a little bit, biting his lip slightly. Biting his bottom lip was a nervous trait he'd never grown out of, even five thousand years later,

"Well... your forehead is hot Sehkmet. You have a severe lack of energy and you feel much more tired that you should do." he listed off quietly. He touched her arm, "You're sweating slightly. If you were human you'd be drenched in it. Sehkmet I think... I think... I think you might have that new virus..."

Sehkmet blinked a little bit when Shekel told her that she might have that new virus and immediately she felt herself trying to get more energy from somewhere, anywhere to show him that she hadn't got that thing, she didn't even know that vampires could get the virus in the first place!

"W-what? Don't be ridiculous Shekel, I'm fine, I'm just suffering some symptoms of not drinking as much blood as I'm used to, I'll be fine in a few days you'll see." she stated with a harshness to her tone, she would not have this thing, not after all these years would she allow them to come to an end.

Shaking her head slightly she bit down on her lip and moved her arm swiftly away from Shekel looking at him with blazing emotion in her eyes and she placed herself back under the covers.

"Shekel..." she whispered "If I do have it...you have to leave. I don't want to...to give it to you as well." Sehkmet stated, blinking a little bit, she knew, inside, that this is what it must be...

Shekel closed his eyes as Sehkmet tried to gather the energy to show him that she was fine. The only problem was that she was gathering the energy to move at a human pace. Which, for a vampire as powerful as she, was pathetic. He looked away,

"You and I both know that the blood you've been drinking should be more than enough to stave off similar symptoms." he told her, not taking offence at the harshness, "It's transferred to vampires Sehkmet. Five of our brothers and sisters have already fallen."

When she placed herself back under the covers he shook his head and wrapped his arms around her,

"If you do have it then I will stay by your side." he told her, determined, "I have stayed by your side for three thousand years... If this is... if it ends here then I will be with you. But I won't just sit by and let us end Sehkmet... I'm researching a cure with the humans. I'll find a way."

Sehkmet felt for once in her long lifetime, powerless, what good was all this power if she could do nothing to save her own life at the end of it, why was she falling prey to this disease? Was it punishment for her mistake, for her killing so many of the creatures on this earth, of the slaughter of the human race?

"How long...?" she asked softly, her voice caught before she coughed and she tried her sentence again, this very rarely happened but Sehkmet couldn't find the will to be annoyed at herself she couldn't find the will to be anything but accepting "How long did they last with the disease? Does it depend on the amount of energy they hold?"

Placing her hand on Shekel's chest, Sehkmet used what could be the last of her vampiric strength to push him backwards away from her, her brow furrowed in a glare and her teeth clentched tightly together, it had hurt her to use so much energy.

"I said GO Shekel." she growled "There may be nothing that can be done for me...and I wont have you watching me waste away...I wont have you waste away with me. So go." Sehkmet emphasised again, with a small frown still on her brow.

Shekel could see the pain in Sehkmet's eyes and it wasn't to do with physical pain so much as it was about feeling something no vampire felt. Powerless. He didn't have the disease and he didn't know why. But if he did have it then he was pretty sure it would make him feel exactly the same why. It was like that radio play. The War of the Worlds. The martians, vastly more powerful in everyway, defeated by the common cold,

"It depends on something, of that we're sure." he told her, looking down at the floor. He wasn't able to look her in the eyes while he told her this terrible news, "We're not sure what the deciding factor is yet. All five of them were almost completely different... and all died within a few weeks."

The push she gave him was weak, pathetically weak. With almost no effort he moved her pushing hands to the side. He held onto her still and looked her dead in the eyes,

"And I said I'm not leaving you." he told her softly. But there was steel in his voice. He was resolved to do this and would not stop, "I will not leave you Sehkmet. You cannot make me leave you anymore than you can take the stars from the sky."

Sehkmet didn't know what to think, they didn't know how to fix this? They didnt even know how to cure it?! How on earth was she going to be able to hold out that long while they came up with a cure, if they came out with a cure that was, it seemed that Shekel was saying that it was unlikely that they would find one soon.

"So you have no idea how to fix this at all?" she asked, her tone utterly shocked, Shekel had always been the person who had all the answers, the only one she knew older than herself, and if he didn't know...what could she do, what could others do? "You're not going to be able to cure me...are you?" she asked, softly.

Seeing that she couldn't make him leave, Sehkmet shook her head and she gritted her teeth laying down on the bed with his hands still holding her arms, Sehkmet closed her eyes and she couldn't help but feel a sense of complete...dependance.

"Damn you Shekel." she whispered softly "Why won't you leave it's for your own good...you're going to have to leave anyway aren't you...to try and find me a cure? Or are you not...?"