Ella’s POV
I was frustrated. This was another failure. This would be third attempt at getting the slave mark erased. I had worked on three different potions but none of them had cleaned the mark.
What the hell had been used to make that damn slave mark and why was it more concentrated than before? I suspected that it was due to the slaves having the habit of running away recently.
Even if we didn’t want to get the potion to erase the mark, we had no choice but to do that now if we wanted their skin reaction to go.
Avila and I had given the people the medication for their allergic reaction. They would stop scratching for a day and then start again. It was then we realized that what we really had to work on was erasing the slave mark on their wrists if we wanted to save their lives and that was why I was more than frustrated that things weren’t going the way I wanted.
“How is it going?” Avila said as she walked, dressed in a lab overall and covered from head to toe.
She had to be that way if she loved her life. She was a human with the slave mark like these people were and could contract the disease if she wasn’t careful. It was frustrating working on a vaccine even when it was the two of us. I didn’t want to have to do this alone because my partner is down with what we are trying to get rid of.
“It’s frustrating.” I confessed with a sigh, dropping a dose of the new vaccine I just made on the wrist of the child we were using as test subject.
I started rubbing at the mark but it wasn’t coming off still. Damn it, I growled as I rolled my eyes and sagged into the chair. What was in the blasted mark and why was it so hard to remove? Will these people eventually have to go to the jungle? I hoped not. That would be like taking a stroll to the abattoir.
“I know you are tired too, Cary.” I said to the child as I stared at him.
He smiled and shook his head. “No, doctor. I’m not tired. I know you are trying your best to help us.”
“Liar,” I said but chuckled despite how I felt.
I knew the child was tired and lying to cheer me up. I knew he wouldn’t like being quarantined as we had done to them. He would want to play with the other kids here and make new friends. He would want to join in the drills and trainings that the others were having instead of being cooped up here in a makeshift laboratory with two boring old ladies. I could hear the sounds of the others training outside and saluted Cary for his endurance.
I might not know much of kids but I knew others would have jumped out of the lab at the opportunity to play or start throwing tantrums so they could leave.
“You are a good boy, Cary.” I said, patting him on the head.
He smiled.
“Can’t we make something they can ingest instead of rubbing it on their skins? How did you feel when you rubbed the sap of the Arok tree on your wrist?” Avila asked.
I winced. “I fainted. There was too much heat. Let’s not make something they can ingest and kill them off.” I glanced at Cary. He was a sweet boy and I minded a lot about risking his life that way.
Avila smiled. “I think that is it. A vaccine that can eat deep into the skin when we rub it on to clean the slave mark ink from the inside.”
Oh my! Why hadn’t I thought of that? The answer was right in front of me all along and I didn’t know. I hoped this idea worked this time because I had spent three days on this and would definitely spend more trying to make a potion that will burn from the outside into the skin.
I was grateful the men weren’t grumbling though. It seemed they were having fun training the people how to fight for themselves.
The training was in two batches. Some of our men were training the old slaves at a place while others were training the new sets at another so they wouldn’t have to miss together. The werewolves weren’t susceptible to human disease and didn’t have the slave marks on them so they didn’t have to worry about the risk of getting infected.
As much as I knew that the werewolves couldn’t be affected, I still wondered which of the groups Kevin was training.
“Let’s do as you say.” I turned to Avila.
With a smile, I turned to Cary. “You can go out to play or to the training. I will send for you again when I need you.”
Cary smiled as he hopped off the chair. “I will go to the training. I want to see Kevin.”
I watched with a smile as he raced out of the lab. There! I had my answer. Kevin was training the infected slaves. The more I got to interact with him, the harder I fell for him.
We found it. We had found the cure and it had worked. I moved around the people, putting a portion of the cure on their skin directly over the mark and rubbing it over their skin. I did that on everyone, both the former slaves and the new ones who had just joined them.
Some of them winced as the liquid got on their skins while the others cried out when I rubbed it against their skin as the potion started to seep through their skin pores and work.
They wouldn’t be hurt for too long though. Avila and I had worked on reducing the pain as much as we could and that was why we didn’t administer the cure two days ago when we found it out.
We had used the remaining daisies that were used to treat Liam, cloves, garlic and three of the strange herbs that I had brought with me. Who could have known that the daisies would help in situations like this?
I smiled to myself at the thought in my head. I wondered if the cannibal knew he was eventually going to help us when he bit Liam. If he hadn’t bitten Liam and made him at risk of turning into a cannibal, we wouldn’t have had to go in search of the daisies which was what we finally used for a cure people had been looking for for a long time.
Avila had grown the daisy somewhere so they wouldn’t have to go to the Dale river to get it. I had told her of the mean guardian spirit and she didn’t want to face and fight him before she could save people.
I was proud of myself for what I’ve done. I watched with a smile as the people stared at their wrists with awe and delight. They could finally go out into the utopia town and live as they wanted without having to hide away here. Avila also had the record of how we made the cure so she could make more and help the other slaves in the town to break free.
I thought of the cat ladies at the count’s house and shook my head. Those ones wouldn’t ever want to leave even if they were told that they could escape and get rid of the mark.
I also thought of my angel friend and wondered if she had gotten home and was doing well.
I was also going home soon and feeling good about it. Finally, I was leaving utopia and all it stood for behind with no regrets.
I didn’t believe much in fate but I wondered if this was why I was here-to help the people here break free from the shackles of slavery and live a better life. With the mark off their bodies and the self defense trainings they had all received, I could see the extra confidence brimming through them.
Now that the identification tag was off their wrists, no one could ever tell that they were once slaves if they go back to town now. Even if they get seen by their former masters, there would be no physical proof that they were slaves as no one would expect them to be able to get rid of the mark.
I stood by and watched as the people celebrated.
“Thank you.” Five women walked up to me and bowed. Soon, more people flocked to me and I had a hard time waving them off.
Finally, I was alone and sucked in a breath. I jumped as I felt hands around my waist. I relaxed and placed my head on his shoulder, leaning into him.
“I’m proud of you.” Kevin said, his breath tickling my ear.
“Thank you. We go home tomorrow.”
“Yes.” He nodded. “We go home tomorrow.”
The next day, we had our loads packed and ready for home. Our loads were triple of what we had come with as the people gave us numerous gifts to show their appreciation.
“Are we really going to go home?” Andre asked.
“Yes. Why?” I asked. “Do you want to stay?”
“No. I just want to confirm the Luna doesn’t have anyone else to save.” He teased me.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Andre.” I rolled my eyes and we all laughed as we waved our hands to the villagers who were waving goodbye at us.
We were on our way home and I was glad to be. I saw the joy on the faces of the men and was relieved that I had found a cure quickly even though it had taken me a week.
Looking at them, I breathed in relief that they didn’t seem mad I had delayed them for an extra week.