A Dream's End {10}

Chapter 10

This is my favorite chapter to write (so far anyways). I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Thank you guys for all the wonderful comments! I hope to read more of them for this chapter!

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[Eric]

The smell of blood is so powerful…No…it can’t be hers. It can’t be!

But there is no reason for me to deny it. Her blood is one of a kind. It is hers. I felt the monster within me rising, rising fast. At this moment, all I wanted to do was to kill. I want to kill Amon slowly and painfully… Yes, that’s all I want to do…

I felt my claws ripping through my fingers, my fangs extracting, and the wings on my back thrusting from my back.

There was only one thing on my mind: revenge.

I yanked his head back and I heard the bone breaking in his neck.

"Let her go!" I hollered.

He hurled in pain.

"You think you can trick me, Marcus? I saw right through your plan. Calling me out so late at night and sending her off on an errand through your slave knowing that only her heart knows pity. How cowardly... Let her go!" my blood was boiling. I am losing my last strand of humanity.

Amon looked at me with hate in his burning crimson eyes. He raised his sharp claws.

In the blink of an eye, I twisted his hands back and pinned him on the floor before he could deliver the last blow on Talia.

My blood boiled painfully…I want to kill. I want to kill!

"You asked for this, Marcus…" I snarled through my fangs, "This was your fate ever since you dared to lay a finger on Talia and now you will pay…"

"That human bitch…why does she mean so much to you? So much that you are willing to sacrifice the purity of the vampire bloodline…"

"I too, was once a human," I snarled, "I suppose you would have killed me? No," I breathed, "you are too much of a coward. You only have the bravery to kill off the weak…how pathetic…you don’t deserve to live, Marcus…"

I tightened my hold on his neck. The anger inside of me was boiling over. It was scary for me to even think about it.

There was fear in his eyes as he looked up into my face.

"Don’t do this…not for that mortal…"

"I don’t care if she is a mortal," I snarled, "She means more to me than anything in this world…"

"I don’t understand…"

"Of course you don’t, Marcus," I snarled, clinching my other fist in order to hold down my raging fury, "you’ve never loved anyone beside yourself. You’ve never had a heart from the moment you were born…"

The fear faded from his eyes. He cackled wildly, his eyes unfocused and hateful, "better than falling in love with a mortal…at first, I thought it was just lust and your insatiable appetite for power…"

"It was." I replied bitterly.

"So you dragged her to the underworld. And then the mere human seduced you and you fell for that! And they call you the prince of hell!" he laughed. I tightened my grasp and he chocked in mid laughter.

"Shut up," I snarled, "I don’t have time for your idiocy."

"Who’s the idiot?" I looked into his eyes, there was no amusement and no light in them as he continued, "Should you be the one calling me an idiot when you are the one who always stand guard by her bed at night like a wretched lapdog? And yet, she hates your guts…"

This vampire really knows how to sign his death contract…I yanked his head back even further. He chocked on his words.

"How do you know this?"

"It’s rather easy to piece two things together, Lord Asmodeus, once one figures out that you are in love with that mortal girl…" he laughed mirthlessly, at the same time, gasped for air, "unfortunately for you, I will not rest until that damned bitch you love dies in my hands…"

How dare he say that after what he had done?

"Since you know about that, I have even more reasons to kill you." Talia must not know that it was I. She would be heartbroken…

The wrath in my heart consumed me at that moment. I didn’t care about the consequences. I just have to kill him. He dared to touch Talia; he dared to hurt her like that; and he dared to not repent. I will crush him and his heart, so there is no hope for his revival. I will avenge for what he had done to her…He shall the ultimate price pay…

The hate blurred my thoughts. I couldn’t even think…

In an instant, before he could even react, I ripped opened his head and plunged my claws into his chest. His leadened heart felt cold against my hands. I felt his body growing limp. With my hand I crushed his heart and let the dust burn in the fire next to him.

Lord Amon is now dead forever.

With his passing my inhuman fury slowly subsided.

As I felt my human heart returning, I realized that I had neglected Talia. Slowly, I turned toward her.

At that moment, I did not really want to see her. I was afraid that I had brought this upon her. I was afraid that she was never going to forgive me and I would never have the opportunity to forgive myself. I was afraid that I came too late. And most of all, I was afraid…afraid that I would never be able to see her face alive with her heart wrenching smile again.

I gently lifted her up from the floor. I can hear my own heart thumping frantically. There was blood everywhere, on her face, and on her body. The white dress she was wearing had turned crimson with her gushing blood. The dirty around her was stained with pools of her dark red blood.

She was hurt badly. I reached over, surprised at my shaky fingers, to touch the large and messy puncture mark on her neck. It was deep and venomous. He had released so much poison from his body and soul in her blood. I unraveled her stained dress from her torn body and wrapped her in my wings in order to shield her lovely pale skin against the unforgiving scorch of the sun. I had wanted to see her bare skin and feel her heart beating gently under my fingers; I had wanted to hold her in my arms, but not in like this. I never wanted this to happen.

In the distance, there was buzzing galore. The other vampires are on their way… The alluring scent of her blood was attracting all of them here.

I licked the blood away from the deadly wound on her neck, hoping that the healing power of my saliva would at least stop the bleeding.

Her blood should taste like ambrosia. But seeing her in this state, it tasted like bile on my lips. It burned my tongue with every spasm of pain she endured.

Her pain was so overwhelming.

It’s all my fault. All my damned fault.

She had been suffering for so long. All her strength was merely a façade. She only dared to show her pain in the dark, alone. And I was the one responsible.

Her heart was beating so faintly that I was afraid that it would stop…It was fading fast…too fast…

I must turn her into a vampire now! There is no way she could survive this! I have to…

But she told me that she had rather die if this were her fate…I can’t hurt her like that. No, she would never ever forgive me. And for that matter, I would never forgive myself.

I already owe her too much. I cannot owe her any more. I have already hurt her. I can’t and I don’t want to hurt her anymore because she’s the one that I really do love her…

There is only one thing to do. No matter how much I hate it; it is still the only way. I will do whatever it takes to grant her wishes and satisfy my heart. I know the price and I’m willing to pay it.

I held her in my arms and flew her up toward the heavens.

[Heaven]

"Master, Lord Asmodeus is pounding at the gate demanding your audience! He is going to knock down the gate!"

"Well, we don’t see that very often," the old man that the angel was speaking to replied, "We used to have to pound down his door to see him," he turned away from the messenger and said, "we will let him get a dose of his own medicine," he smiled wryly, "beat down his despicable pride a bit…"

"But he is almost to the point of pleading, sir," The messenger replied, "he is pleading that he would do anything if you would see him…He has a girl, a human mortal, who is badly hurt. He said he’d do anything if you could heal her…"

"Why doesn’t he just turn her into a vampire?" The old man said, pretending to not care, but there was an undeniable interest on his part from the gleam in his eyes, "He does that to all the girls he was infatuated with."

"I don’t know," the angel shook his head, "I should go and ask…"

"No need," the old man said, "I am coming with you. It is not everyday that the god of lust cares about the well being of a mere mortal, especially to the point of bending his pride to beg with the likes of us. This should be interesting."

Sure enough, the vampire was at the gate. He looked too tousled to be the vampire lord Asmodeus, but there is no mistaken the haughty demeanor as he held his head high and stared at the two angels with contempt in his eyes.

"What is it that you want, Lord Eric Asmodeus?"

"Please open the gate," his voice was low and urgent, there was a look of reluctant pleading in his eyes.

"I want to know what business you have here first," the old man said.

"I need you to heal this girl," he declared hotly, obviously annoyed and exasperated by the continuous pestering on behalf of the angels. The old man smiled a small smile. This is getting interesting. Seeing the high and mighty vampire lord squirming around in discomfort like a fish out of water is really quite an intriguing part of his boring day.

"Why don’t you turn her into a vampire? You could easily save her life that way," he said.

"Don’t you think I’ve thought of that?" he said coldly, "I’m not an idiot, Raphael, though you might think I am."

"Then why the special treatment for this one?"

He looked at the old man defiantly, "That is my business," he said, in his icy voice, "now will you help me?"

"What shall be your payment to Heaven?" the old man asked, half expecting him to turn away from him, half expecting him to sneer at him, telling him that he must be out of his mind to think that he would ever sacrifice for anything for a she-slave.

What he did not expect to see was a look acceptance, as he had already accepted this, "What is your price?" He asked, his face impassive but his voice betrayed his anxiety and urgency.

The old man was taken aback. His surprise was displayed on his face like a neon light on a dark night, "I have to add ten centuries to your term of service in hell."

To mount to the old man’s surprise, Lord Asmodeus nodded impatiently; "yes, stop wasting time already and open the damned door and heal her!" he was angry.

The old man Raphael led the vampire lord through the gates of heaven. The domineering personality of Lord Asmodeus was evident by this point in time. There was no need to show a trace of compliance and humility now that he had gotten what he wanted.

"Can you walk any slower?" He demanded, gliding speedily and gracefully down the path, "She is dying…don’t you self righteous angels care about living creatures?"

"Of course we do," the old man said, "just not living creatures in Hell."

"What do you mean by that?" he demanded haughtily, "She got dragged there by me. It was not her fault that she ended up in Hell. She had not sinned in her lifetime."

"It doesn’t matter. She is still stained with the filth of hell and there she must stay. We cannot allow…"

"Just be quiet and lead the way, I don’t have time for your incoherent gibberish," Lord Asmodeus’s voice was venomous. He obviously wanted to argue but was too preoccupied with the dying girl in his arms.

Out of the corner of his eyes, the old man looked at Lord Asmodeus. The way he was cradling the girl was so much like a lover. There was this inconspicuous manner which he held her demonstrated his excessive care for her. He held her like she was his most beloved possession, with such gentleness and love as if he was afraid that she might break, or vanish from his arms.

His lips moved soundlessly and urgently next to her ears. His eyes never leaving her face, his hand always on top of hers, stroking her fragile looking fingers as if reassuring her his presence.

Is this the God of Lust? The old man shook his head in disbelief. Right now, his image, his behavior resembles more of angel than a vampire. It is not possible…

The old man opened the door to the fountain of healing, "there, Lord Asmodeus, just put her in this fountain and let her heal." Without a single word, the vampire lord laid her gently on the rippling water, using his arms as a cushion to bolster her head.

"I can only guarantee that her body will be healed," the old man continued, "But whether or not she wakes up will be up to her. I can see that she is very far-gone and she had been suffering for so long. I don’t know if she will be willing to come back."

Lord Asmodeus flashed him a wild look. His eyes were black with anger and scorn, "Leave us," he ordered.

The old man nodded, "To think that I thought he had changed…he is still the arrogant and domineering God of Lust."

Then suddenly, Eric turned around, "if she dies, I will burn this whole damned place down." his voice was solemn.

"You would not dare," Raphael declared.

"Just watch me," he whispered.

"You will be killed in the process," Raphael said harshly, "I would think you would be smarter than this…"

"If she dies," his voice, his eyes, his face had never been so grave, "do you really think I’d care about death?"

[Eric]

Her body was growing steadily cold. She was not going to wake up…

I undressed quickly and plunged into the water, holding her naked body close to my own. Her heart was beating so faintly.

The blood was slowly washed away, staining the pure water a dark pink. Beneath the blood unveils her perfect ivory skin.

I was afraid. I don’t think I have ever known such acute fear in my life until now. I felt as if my heart was being sliced piece by piece…so unbearably painful! I can’t lose her. I can’t. I don’t care if she doesn’t love me and that every time I hold her in my arms she mistakes me for someone else. None of that matters. I understand very well that she spite me and despise me for putting her through all this. I understand very well that she would never love a vampire, especially not a vampire lord. This world is too painful for her pure soul. She is tired…

Maybe I’m being selfish, but I want her to live. I will do anything to be able to see her beautiful and heart breaking smile, even if it is not directed at me. I don’t care, I just don’t want her to die and fade away from my world forever. She is the last piece of my humanity, the last and only reason for existence. Life will be forever meaningless for me if she disappears and never come back. She is all that I had ever known, all that I know, and all that I will ever know.

I carefully washed the punctured wounds on her neck, and the deep gash on the side of her hips and arms.

I held her delicate body gently and firmly in my arms. Despite the situation, I was unable to help myself but marvel at her unsurpassed beauty, even so close to death. With a shaky finger, I traced the line of her cheekbones and the slender lines of her collarbone. I might never get a chance to do this again.

I cradled her head in my lap and leaned down involuntarily and kissed her eyelids, lined with her long, downy black eyelashes, and then her soft lips, pale with her massive lost of blood.

Her heart was growing fainter…

My heart felt like lead—so heavy and painful in my chest that I want to rip it out and crush it.

"Don’t leave me," I whispered in her ears, I didn’t care that I sounded so desperate. All I care is for her to come back, "don’t leave me alone, please. I…I love you, Talia…"

Yes, I said it. I had told her of the nagging feeling in my heart I had felt ever since I kissed her for the first time. I had tried to deny it, defy it, scorn it, belittle it, ignore it, but in the end, I cannot lie to myself. It was the truest thing I’ve ever said, but unfortunately, it will never even matter.

She had conquered me completely. Without her even knowing, she has enslaved me forever. She unconsciously controls my actions, my emotions, and my feelings so much that I was no longer myself. And yet, I was happy. Just seeing her face, her fiery green eyes looking at me makes me feel alive…

And now, I suddenly felt so empty…I felt that somehow, my life was exhausted and unworthy of my effort. What is the point of living on now? With her gone? I had never felt so desperate and forlorn in my whole entire existence.

"I don’t think I can go on like this, Talia," I whispered.

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what do you guys think???

IMPORTANT: next chapter contains some stuff that might not be appropriate for younger audiences, so if you are uncomfortable with more adult content, don’t read chapter 11. I might not be able to write chapter 11 for a week or so because I really have to study for the upcoming SAT. Sorry about that. Wish me luck!:)

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