Chapter Fifteen: Mortal Bonds

Megan and I land, for lack of a better term, like total badasses. We’re used to being in sync, and my feet meet the ground only a few seconds before hers. I look back from my kneeling crouch to see the her red hair in her face as she grins, she landed on her knee with enough force to crack the rough pavement, not that you would really be able to tell- the pavement here was fairly cracked anyway. She tosses back her hair and laughs,

“God, I missed this!” She exclaims.

“Hm?” I stand up and smooth back my violently windswept hair. Yeah- falling through the Gap tends to leave one with a bit of whiplash, and some crazy hair, speaking from a female standpoint.

“You and me….we’re a great team, ya know? Perfectly in sync. I feel like you and I could take on the world together.” Her words resound in my head, like an echo, for a moment- ‘I feel like you and I could take on the world together...’. An imperceptible shudder ran up my spine- If I had to face the world- I wouldn’t want Megan beside me. I have decided that, if I had to face an insurmountable foe- I would rather face it alone. Nothing to be taken advantage of. Nobody else to get hurt. I have sentenced myself to a lonely death when my time comes- I will have it no other way. And I look forward to my lonely death, many a night I have pictured it, an odd thing to do but a figment nonetheless. I have loved few- and I will not have tears shed for me, for my only purpose was to seek and destroy. I will not have a funeral, because I do not want a gathering of people who never knew or cared for me mourning over a girl who lived not to care, but rather to try and feel nothing at all. A girl who lived each day and strived to feel nothing at all. I am not certain if I would like my corpse buried- but if it is, I want no words on my headstone. I want only my name. Leave me the sake of my name, set in stone. Set in stone, against the elements, standing until it weathers  away, crumbling and washing away only with the wind and rains of time. And I know that one day that name too will be washed away, and I will be glad on that day- because it means that I have been long forgotten, that my face and namesake will no longer cause any emotion to stir- but rather it will be the things that I did, and the lives that I changed, that will be the only things faintly remembered. I want no headstones beside mine, I want to be eternally alone, separated from all others- I want to be able to do in death what I found was inevitable in life. It may seem an odd request, this mind of mine, it may seem so strange- but I tell you that I will have it no other way. I see death as the final escape, the ultimate punchline to the joke of life. A joke too drawn out, and with too many painful jabs for some- but a joke all the same. In death, I will not fear. I will not bat my eye. In death, I will finally be able to be alone, to be without turmoil and emotions and a hurt inside my chest and mind that never goes away- but most importantly? Most importantly- I will never have to hurt anyone ever again. Because that’s how it is, you see? In life, in the toughest times, you either get hurt, or cause the harm...there isn’t any more to it….And I have dealt out more than my fair share of harm.

“Yeah….great team.” My mouth burns at the words, and I closed my eye for a moment, giving myself only three seconds to clear my mind of thoughts. Three seconds, I found, was the optimal amount of time for many things; clearing thoughts, cracking one’s fingers, staring at puddles of blood, looking back on mistakes you’ve made….I give only three seconds because I know that if I dwell too long, I will shut down mentally. My mind is a sharp thing- too sharp in some cases, and sometimes it rambles so much I fear it will destroy itself. But then, something has to make up for that frigid thing in my chest that some would call a heart, now doesn’t it?

“We should look around. Speak to people.” We start walking towards a town’s lights in the near distance.

“Aye-Aye!” Megan chirrups.

Reaching the town of GlennHollow was not remarkably hard, as the portal dumped us fairly nearby. If one’s mind is strong enough, they can somewhat manipulate the ripple between dimensions into depositing them relatively close to their desired destination. And lets just say Megan and I had some pretty strong power of mind. It made jobs a lot easier, considering we didn’t have to spend two days finding out where to go because it decided to send us to Hawaii or Bermuda- but on the brighter side, Bermuda was rather fun. They kept saying something about a triangle, but we never saw one to speak of- and we actually got away with a lot of stuff there- good ole Bermuda….

“Whatcha thinking of?” Megan asks, shouldering up to me.

“Bermuda.”

“Oooh! We should go there again sometime! It was really fun!”

“We should go again sometime, maybe find that ‘triangle’ people kept ranting about. I’m still a little surprised we didn’t get in trouble for sinking a ship while taking out one of the sea serpents.”

“Probably because there were so many other shipwrecks nobody really noticed. And we made sure people got out safe.”

“Yeah, but we kind of broke one of the rules there- never willfully exposing Muortum to mortals.”

“Yeah, but the idiots kept blaming it on the ‘triangle’, and they call us strange!” Megan lets out a half-crazed laugh that brings a smile to my red lips.

“We’ll definitely go again sometime.” I hesitate as we reach the town, the toe of my boot in the light given off by a lamppost. The town is nothing special, not particularly large nor remarkably small, it is not impeccably clean nor dismissively filthy. The roads are cracked and in need of some repairs, the buildings are fairly cookie-cutter and in need of fresh paint- though none direly so. There is a train track that cuts through and appears to be the so-called “life of the town”, and just a small distance away I can see what appears to be the adolescents of the town trying way too hard to be ‘edgy’ and ‘cool’, trying to rebel against parents without giving up everything that the adults give them; they are leaned against a brick wall in the dim light of a flickering streetlamp.  

“We talk to them?” She asks rather disappointedly.

“How many people do you expect to find to talk to in the dead of night, Megan? It’s not like we can break in somebody’s house and say ‘hey- tell me everything strange that’s been happening in this town’, besides- the young mortals tend to keep better track of stuff like that than the elder ones do, even if it is a bit...diluted.” Megan shrugs, accepting my rationale with a bit of a huff. I’m about to call out to the young ones- when something strange happens, they call out first.

“Hey you- in the shadows, come on out here. We can see you.” One of them says lazily, he has shaggy blonde hair that is cut lopsided, though the way he turns his head, it seems intentional. He dresses in black, like the rest of his group, and has dyed the shaggy bangs of his blonde hair a sickly candy-like red. I rather dislike the youth of Vietellam, or at least the adolescents, but I have learned to put up with their entitled and somewhat stupid tendencies.

When I step out into the dim pool of light, I can see his eyes bulge in their sockets- these kids were trying to look “hardcore”. Megan and I looked more hardcore than these wimps at any time of any day, even when we were painting our nails and going shopping. Vietellam children have had visions of Muortum in their dreams when they were younger, though they have never known it- and from this, they also have a good instinct for death and danger. Usually, they can sense when one of us, one of the sangmêlé (or mixed bloods) are around, though they always stifle it and crush that instinct deep down within them- they call it stupid, irrational, paranoia- anything to get away from what they have known since infancy is true.

Megan and I must have been quite the sight for this small town, dressed all in leather with weapons in plain sight, our expressions alone are sharper and more gaunt- shaped by the world we live in. If we did not look so distinctly human- I am sure some would call us aliens. Our eyes are just the slightest bit larger than a normal human’s, and this is because we must take in as much light as we can, while we can. It is not extremely noticeable, but it is something that humans are mesmerized over. I only have one eye, but Megan has two- and many people have told her that her eyes ‘have an unearthly look to them, they’re so breath taking I feel as though they’ll hypnotize me...’. Which wasn’t true, in all reality. The eyes of a sangmêlé cannot hypnotize anyone or anything, unless it is in their blood. But to that there are very few who possess such an ability- certain gorgons being one of them, and the Sirena- or Sirens, the other, some dark witches- but I have never encountered one who had mastered such a talent yet. Of course- to some extent we were aliens. We were not, in fact, of this realm. We were just…”visiting”.

“Who….are you?” The boy with the candy-colored bangs asks, his friends are giving us venomous looks that seem to chastise us for “showing off”. By now I am well accustomed to the mortal custom of pleasantries and introductions- but that does not mean I particularly like them.

“Aura.”

“Aura?”

“Yes. Just Aura. Aura Nightingale if you really want to know.”

“So- Aura as in the air or….vibe that surrounds somebody?” he seems intrigued now, I don’t see why he finds my name so fascinating.

“Yes. Per example, an Aura of Darkness.” I say what I know his silent ‘friends’ are thinking.

“Kol Geran.” He extends his hand and I shake it with a firm grip, one that surprises him. I don’t think that is his real name, but I am not about to nit-pick him for such a small thing.

“This is my friend Megan Azalea. I call her Pyro, or Firecracker, Redhead- a lot of things actually.” I gesture towards her, and Megan gives a reluctant little finger wiggle that could pass for a wave, you know...if you were half blind.

“Cool- You two have cool names, Aura and Pyro. This is Zander, Yura, and Angel.” Zander was a scrawny little kid, much like Link, who was trying way too hard to act like he didn’t care. Yura- I wasn’t sure if that one was a boy or a girl, they had piercings all up one ear and none on the other, they had a slender frame that had no curves to speak of- but I couldn’t be sure if it was just an unfortunate female or emaciated male, and their hair was cut in a rugged bob that was very ambiguous as it tickled their chin. And then Angel- who most certainly did not look like an Angel, I had no doubt this was not her real name either. She had mousy long brunette hair that was color streaked with white in an attempt to live up to her name, but her thick lips were painted a charcoal black, and even though angel wings appeared to have been tattooed on her back, her heavily pierced face begged to differ.

“Nice to meet you.” That was such a common lie, it didn’t even hurt. Angel gives a glare in response, Zander makes a grunting sound that may be passable for acknowledging my existence, and Yura lets out a “hey” that really doesn’t help at all in the case of decoding their gender. Why were mortals so weird?

“You too- you look pretty cool, how do you do it? Like, what do you and your friend do all day?”

“We’re pest control experts.” I tell a very shrouded truth.

“No- really.”

“Ever heard something in the night you can’t explain?” Megan chimes in for me. “Something you knew wasn’t a mouse, wasn’t a roach, wasn’t a rat? Something that made your blood run cold until you just couldn’t stand it anymore? Those are the pests we exterminate.” She retorts snappily, she always gets snippy in the mortal realm- god knows why.

“So you’re….paranormal investigators?”

“You could say that, Kol.” I say smoothly.

“How old are you two…?”
“You ask a lot of questions. But we’re seventeen, Megan turns eighteen in two months.”

“No way!”

“No way what?”

“You guys don’t look anything like-”

“We’ve had to grow up pretty fast.” Megan snaps. I’m getting the impression this guy’s posse lets Kol do the majority of the talking.

“What are two...paranormal investigators...doing here?” Kol remarks.

“You tell us pal, anything strange been going on in this town? Could have been going on for a while, could have been fairly recent…”

“Zander crashed his car last week.” Yura states with a nod. Gee- if that was the strangest thing this town had to offer, I was going to kill the admin who put out the “urgent” tag.

“That’s...not really the sort of thing we look into.” I try not to scowl too hard. I’ve learned that scowling gives the humans a very bad impression- and then they won’t want to help you. But technically they would be helping us help them- though they don’t exactly know that. And we aren’t allowed to tell them. Good old Slayer Law number eight- ‘I shall never willfully inform mortals of the existence of Muortum.’. That even means taking such embarrassing measures as claiming to be paranormal investigators- the mortal form of which are such frauds, idiots, and moreover- attention seekers who were never talented enough to find a true calling in the entertaining business.

“Ms.Jones’ husband died last week?” Yura tries again.

“And how old was her husband?”

“Ninety four…”

“I appreciate you trying to assist- but he lived a full life, there is absolutely nothing paranormal about an elderly man passing away.” I try to keep the irritation out of my voice,  but some leaks through. Patience is no asset of mine.

“The electrical wires at the mill got replaced yesterday?” Kol pipes in, furrowing his eyebrows as he tries to think- I’m not really sure these wannabes would know paranormal if it bit them in the tush. And right now- I was really hoping it would come up and bite them.

“How is that strange?!” Megan shouts, causing the kids to cringe.

“Well- they lasted 20 years so-”

“No No No!” Megan stomps. “You’ve got it all wrong!” Unfortunately- Patience is not one of Megan’s assets either.

“Megan!” I snap at her, “Walk it off!” She grumbles something under her breath that sounds rather insulting, and I can make out something about a new place she could find for my tracker before sulking off. I ignore the comment, I know Megan doesn’t mean what she says when she gets flustered.She hovers nearby, grumbling around in circles, kicking at the gravel so much that she wears the exact shape of her path through the layer of small rocks to reveal the dirt underneath. It’s rather funny- seeing her pout like this, but I knew that if I made a comment about that she’d do the metaphorical equivalent of breathing fire.

“Guys- lets just tell them what they really want to know.” Angel huffs, with a glint in her eye. She is trying to act as though she doesn’t relish the attention- but she does. I can feel it in her. I have an inexplicable way of ‘feeling out’ people. Which is how I also have this inexplicable way of dismissing people when they claim I  ‘don’t really know them yet’. It’s fairly easy for me to pick out the whiners, drop-outs, and snakes in the grass. And Angel? Angel just wants to be noticed, maybe this little town just isn’t spectacular enough for her. Maybe she never got enough attention at all. Maybe she just has a narcissistic mind- It isn’t for me to say.

Angel takes a deep breath and the others give her stares that almost seem full of warning.

“You don’t want to tell them about that-” Zander says in a low tone.

“They have a right to know.” Angel smirks, “Everyone around here knows about it- but nobody’s willing to speak.” She looks over at me, “You want to know, don’t you?” I was skeptical towards  her, making a show out of this, but I nod slowly.

“I’ll tell you, if you do something for me.” Angel taunts, the others have their lips pursed shut tightly, I can already tell that whatever she is about to talk about, will never willingly pass the lips of the others in the group. Her, playing like she was having the upper hand, made me quite angry. Irrationally angry, actually. I ground my teeth and my nostrils flared.

“What did you have in mind?” I force myself to maintain composure.

“I want you to kiss my feet.” She holds out her foot, clad in a strappy heel, and I look down at it as though it were a drowned rat. This girl has a sick narcissistic mind after all- she wants to establish dominance over a girl she has just met, even though there is nothing she could possibly possess nor do that would make her superior to me.

“And why would I do that?” I take a step closer to her, and the rest of the group takes a step back.

“Angel- I don’t think that’s smart- you should just tell her-”

“Let me have my fun, Kol. Besides- it’s not like we’ll see her again after this, what will it matter? Hurt your pride, will it- Aura?”

“I don’t think my pride is the problem here.” I take yet another step forward, only a foot of space between us now. “I do, however, have something else in mind.”

“Oh?” Angel raises her eyebrows.

“Yes, I do. But it’s very secret. You have to promise never to tell another soul in the world, any of you.” I lean in close to her, bending down a little bit- I can smell her musky perfume, it smells like apples and spice. We are so close she has no choice but to look into my eye, my deep blue eye, hooded by thick lashes that beckon only silence. I can see her lips quiver, and I smile, if she were smarter, she would have seem the malicious aspect to it.

“Promise? Do you promise?”

Angel and her ‘friends’ just nod in baited silence.

“Alright then.” I lean close to her, so close my face is just centimeters from hers, my crimson painted lips a breath away from hers, if I had wanted, I could have kissed her- and then I smile. Not a tight-lipped-closed-mouth smile like I usually do, but a smile baring teeth- a smile that shows the immortal side of me, the side that has razor filed fangs that drip with a diluted venom. Up this close to a mortal- my fangs produce the venom of their own accord, ready to sink into the tender flesh of this girl’s neck. I never give in to that urge, I have lived with it so long,  it scarcely even disturbs me these days.

“What is that…?” There is the slightest quiver in her voice. I open my mouth a bit more, and I let out a snarl that sounds absolutely monstrous, it’s a cracked and guttural sound and comes from a place deep within my throat and heart, a primal part.

She lets out a shriek, but I clamp my hand around her throat, ramming her back against the rough graffiti-ridden wall.

“Tell me what I want to know. Or we’ll get so much more closely acquainted.” I threaten, my breath brushing against her pierced ear like the whisper of doom itself.

“G-GlennHollow Asylum-” Her voice is shaking so badly, I would almost feel sorry for the girl- then I remember that she had wanted me to kiss her feet. Any apology evaporates from my mind with that single thought.

“Go on.”

“It-It’s up on the hill- to-to the south….It was v-vacated half a c-century ago...b-but p-people still hear strange th-things up there...people still v-vanish from t-time to t-time….”

“See, cheri? That wasn’t so hard, was it? All you had to do was tell me what I wanted to know.” I release her, and she stumbles to the ground on her knees, trembling like one of those chihuahua earth dogs.

“Does anyone else know anything of this ‘asylum’?” I look back at the rest of them.

“Did you file your teeth to be pointy, or are they naturally like that?”

“Lets stay on task here, Yura.”

“Are you a real vampire? Or just one of those people who pretend to be-”

“On. Task.”

“Nobody around here likes to talk about it very much...the asylum is a dark spot on the past of this town…most asylums are.” Kol admits, “Do you know what an asylum is?” Images flash across my mind of the mental institutes in Muortum, back in the day there were many. Back in days when people had hope that they could recover the lost minds of the reliquit- but now very few remain. I went to one once- only once, because Miss Kay had taken me to see an old man there, she never told me why. I can still picture the nurses taking care of those hollow eyed people, hair white and wispy, the scent of cleaning products and flowers hanging in the air. Families, or more like what was left of family, of the reliquit, if they had any, would bring flowers to the ailing. I remember well, the gap-toothed man we went to see had an expensive bouquet of earthland flowers, lavender and apple blossoms. I thought it was stupid at the time, why bring flowers to a person who will never be able to see them, smell them, enjoy the beauty of them? Only with age did I realize, that this was their way of bringing flowers to a grave- except at this grave, there was some inkling of hope that the dead would come back to life. And I still think it is stupid. There is no hope for the dead.

“I know what an asylum is.” I snap, remembering the meticulous care the nurses gave the reliquit in their crisp clean beds, I could see them every time we walked past an open doorway.

“I bet she does…” I hear Angel mutter, I ignore her bitter comment.

“Tell me more about it.” I cross my arms over my chest.

“You’d have to go to the library for that, all we know are rumors…” Kol’s face is paler than when we first met a few moments ago, and his outlook has changed too- he would rather claim that he knows nothing useful than help me now.

“There is often a grain of truth behind every rumor.” I look over at him, those silly candy red bangs certainly do not help the color of his face. And then- Zander steps in.

“Nobody really thought much about it until a few years ago- when people from the homes near the asylum started vanishing. First, it was a little girl; Annette, everyone called her Annie. She vanished three years ago, would’ve been turning seven this year. And that’s when people really started talking. Annie liked to play on the grounds near the asylum, there were trees and obstacles- but she never went inside. Rumors started brewing up that Dr.Franz reached out and pulled her in.”

“Dr.Franz?”

“He was the doctor of the asylum, bad dude. He did unspeakable things to those people, some say he was even into devil worship.” Apparently this topic is something that fascinates Zander, I can’t imagine him speaking this much regularly.

“Do people still disappear?”

“Yeah- from time to time now, every few months or so; the police investigations never lead anywhere though. They just become cold cases. No body, no blood, nothing. Some people say they hear things, strange noises coming from the old building at night, but only a fool would be stupid enough to go in there at night.”

“Aren’t the people….disturbed by these disappearances?” I ask, my questions, void of ill intent, seem to ease the minds of Angel and Kol- Yura however, looks like he/she just wants to ask more questions about my teeth.

“Of course- especially the parents but...there isn’t anything they can do. Go to the police? They never find anything. The press? You’re just another headline. We’re a small town, we keep to ourselves mostly anyhow. We have to face that no help will ever come for us. We just have to stay away from that place as best as we can. Nobody is coming to save us.”

‘I’ve come to help you, though’ I think, blinking slowly as I draw a deep breath, for a moment my mind flashing to Kurai, and wondering whatever he may be doing. It must have been a great deal less sinister feeling than what I was up to.

“Are there any patterns in the disappearances? All female? All male? Mostly one or the other?”

“Nono, Not like that. They’re just...all children. Kinda creepy, right? I mean...I think the oldest one taken was twelve. For us though, that’s kind of a relief. It means that we’re safe- right?...”

“Yes….creepy indeed…” I muse. The abduction of children and mention of ‘devil worship’ does not sit well with me. I have an inkling of what may be going on- and if I am right, as I so often am, this does not bode well for anyone in this little town…

“Do you really think you can stop the disappearances?” Angel speaks up, even though I likely just scared the living daylights out of her, she is quick to speak out. I feel a small amount of respect for her, however tiny. I know well how daunting the presence of a slayer can be- and courage these days is something very few are willing to display.

“We have as good a shot as anybody.” I emphasize the ‘We’, looking over at Megan before I look back at them.

“What makes you say that?” Kol asks.

“Tell us the truth, come on- It’s not like we’ll ever see you again.” Zander begs, I almost expect him to do Link’s butt wiggle thing.

“I can’t say.”

“Oh come ooooon, you’re the only interesting thing that’s happened to this town in years!” Yura and Zander chime in unison, and I frown for a moment. These teens, as much as they may want to deny it, are still kids inside. Kids that, should they get hurt, I would feel guilty for. And I feel terribly guilty- because for a moment I doubt Slayer Rule no.8, I wonder why I should have to keep my true existence a secret, why I should have to keep anything a secret. The truth bubbles behind my lips, but I shove it back down with a brutal force. However, I cannot swallow it completely;my tone turns low and threatening. For some reason, I have hope for these kids- I feel that someday, they will make an impact; they will change the course of the world. And in order to do that, they must open their small minds- even if they are never fully exposed to the truth.

“I will tell you something that you must tell your children, and everyone who comes after you-” Even though we are likely the same age, I feel as though I am a million years older than them. As though I have lived an eternity of lives and they have just begun to breathe. They are like infants, sweet, innocent, pure, infants. They all nod- for some reason, they feel compelled to listen to me, to trust me. And this is good, because I scarcely lie at all.

“The world will never truly be as you perceive it to be- there will always be another side that you will never see, never know. And perhaps that is for the best, because it is so much darker than your minds could ever fathom. I entreat you; stay away from the darkness, from the sadness and suffering- because there are those who live it for you. Stay away from corruption and chaos, and those who would seek to drive you to it. Everything you know, it is a lie. But it is a blissful lie; a lie you should be completely content to live in. Do not go searching for answers you will never find. Do not tempt the hand of fate into revealing her cards. Love your families, and do not rebel because you insist you hate them. There are those who would murder to be in your shoes, and do murder so that you may stay that way- together. But most importantly? When you meet Death, at the end of your mortal lives- Greet him like an old friend. Greet him like an old friend and do not be afraid; for you can say that you have met one of his kind before. You can tell him that you have met one of the weapons of his creation, one of the weapons created intended to protect all of your kind from unspeakable things. You can die knowing that he is a good, kind man- however frightful he may look. And you can look him in the eyes, and you can tell him that you have met Aura Nightingale- the weapon of torment. If you say this to him, say that you have met one of his warriors, he may let you pass peacefully into the next life.” As I say this, my hand grips Bloodlust’s handle. ‘The weapon of Torment’, that is the name given to me- because I am the apprentice, the student, of the reigning weapon of torment- My Mistress Kay. Megan is the Weapon of Fury- for she is the apprentice to Madame Rouge, the reigning weapon of fury. In the end that is all we slayers are- weapons. To be used and discarded, It is why we never truly like to speak of our weapon titles. It reminds us that we will eventually gather dust, and shatter.

I turn away to go back to Megan, who is pacing in circles about another streetlamp, when a voice calls after me.

“Are you human?” Zander calls softly.

“Human?” I ponder the question for a moment. “I am human.” I decide with a nod, “And yet, in the way you are thinking- I am not.”

“Are you crazy?” Angel asks, and I laugh. Of course she would ask that question, I am sure they were all thinking it.

“I suppose it would seem that way to all of you, yes? Well then, let’s say I am crazy. Crazy in the sense that my mind does not, and will not, function like yours. I admit that I am warped beyond recognition.” I chuckle and shake my head as I start walking again.

“Can you die?” Kol asks before I can take another step.

“I can die.” I state strictly.

“I don’t… I don’t want you to die.”

I look back at him, “Don’t want me to die? Have you any idea what you are saying? Speaking in a way to a person you’ve just met.” I chastise.

“I know it sounds...positively insane. But...for some reason I trust you, and I don’t get the feeling you’re lying. You speak the truth- don’t you, Aura?”

“I am no liar.” I admit with a curt nod.

“This may all be some freaky dream but...It feels so real….Aura, if you’re from this dark world you talk about….I want you to be careful. I really don’t want you to die, I can’t explain it. But...I do believe you when you say you can stop these disappearances as good as anybody. So just...be careful. Be careful and don’t die. When I ‘speak to death like an old friend’ I want to see you there beside him, ok? I want to know you weren’t lying.” It’s strange, and baffles me for a while- that these humans will cling to me because they feel as though I am otherworldly, as though I am powerful, as though I could save their very souls. I shake my head and smile; I never knew one could form bonds and never see such people again. They feel almost like ‘friends’, and yet they do not. I know not how to explain it.

“When you die, I will see you again.” I nod.

“You promise? You’ll prove you weren’t lying? You’ll be standing right there beside this ‘Death’ guy? Can you do that?”

“I’ll pull a few strings.” I accept this as a challenge, because I know that if I perceive this as a challenge, I will pull through. Maybe this is why I fight for the humans- as annoying as they are, they can be rather charming. Perhaps the mortals allow me to form bonds without ever risking myself for them a second time.

“Then I promise to do as you say.” He states, as though he had leverage on me the entire time. “I will not go searching for answers I will never find. I will stay away from chaos and corruption and those who would seek to drive me to it; so long as means I get to see you when I die.” If I didn’t know any better, I would say Kol had formed a sort of crush on me in the short amount of time we had known each other. I force a smile and blow a crimson kiss.

“See you then, kiddo. Bit of advice though; change the bangs. The red isn’t a good color for you.” I go and hook onto Megan at the elbow. It is unlike slayers to meddle in the hearts of humans, mixing two worlds that were never intended to mix. But I walk away today knowing that I have changed a life, and both mended and broken a heart. I will see Kol, Angel, Yaru, and Zander again- that I am sure of. Even if it is only when I myself perish. To those who say we fight for nothing- they should come to Vietellam and interact with such people. Then they will understand why, and what, there is to protect. I will never see these children again for as long as I live, but I will forever know their names and faces, and they will forever know mine. There is something almost magical in this moment- Magical….I have hinted at the existence of our world, and that in itself is a bad thing, but I do not feel guilt. Rather I feel accomplished, and very nearly...very nearly...happy. And the dull ache of happiness weighs in my heart like a lead weight.

Reviews

[EmaleighLynn]

Oh my god. This is fabulous. And I'm happy we get to see more of Megan! :)