Only Two Of Us

by Cassandra Russell

using.

  - Beautiful...

  I could not say anything else. What to say at such a time?

  - Do you wear it for me? He asked again, exhausted.

  He knew deep down how important this was to him. Already abandoned before marriage

  and now, on the verge of death, I would be again without the memory of seeing myself in the same way. also

  I knew how much it would tear me from within, how much would this act destroy my soul, and yet,

  would not be able to deny your request.

  I removed the dress from the box and put it there right in front of it. He sighed softly, turning his face.

  sideways and closing the eyes with suffering. You did not have to be too intuitive to be sure

  thoughts that tormented him at that hour: he would have me no longer in his arms. And it hurt so much in me

  how much in it.

  I did not lock my hair, remembering how much I liked them loose. At least I had washed them before

  practically fainting by the side of the bed and they dawned with a handsome look. I just combed them,

  putting the tiara trapped by some staples. I also put the necklace. I decided that I would look the most beautiful.

  Richard deserved it. I finished with a soft makeup and a silver sandal on my feet.

  I laid my hand on his face and said:

  "Open your eyes, my love.

  He did a little strength to do so and I could see a last trace of gleam in those eyes that

  He loved her so much.

  "As I imagined ... Perfection!" She smiled and closed her eyelashes again.

  How difficult it was to hear him speaking like that!

  "Was it how you dreamed?" I asked, but he did not answer. - Richard?

  I waited another second and repeated, kissing him on the cheek:

  - Richard?

  The silence prevailed.

  "Richard, please, talk to me!"

  A crack was opened instantly at the place where I kissed him, right in the center of one of his

  cheeks The image was shocking. I even jumped back, scared. I had seen other

  but none of them broke like this, so fast or before my eyes.

  Losing control, I immediately called my father's cell phone.

  - Father, come here now! I ordered, completely panic-stricken.

  "I'm almost at the corner of your house," he said.

  - Run, please! - begged.

  He appeared two minutes later, asking for one of those bags of blood of good origin, and entered

  in the bedroom. I supposed Richard had said something again, for I heard a silent whisper. In

  then my father locked the door, leaving me out.

  Why did he have to do this to me? Did not you see my despair?

  Far from accepting the situation, I knocked several times at the door and no one answered.

  - Dad? What is going on? Let me in, for God's sake!

  Dad opened only a crack in the door, propping it up with the rest of his body.

  "Stephanie, I'm sorry, I have to respect his wishes. Richard does not want to be seen this way.

  for you, "he lamented.

  "Father, please do not exclude me like this!" I begged one more time.

  And despite so many entreaties, instead of answering my plea, he closed the bedroom door one more

  turn. It was hours of anguish, despair, apprehension ... There were not enough words to describe

  that moment. Any second seemed like an eternity.

  And how it lasted ...

  Leaving the room after so much that I waited and I lost the temporal notion, my father locked him

  momentarily outside.

  What the hell! I was barred from doing what I wanted inside the house where I lived! This does not

  looked right!

  - What's it? I asked, afraid to hear the answer. - Dad, please, speak up!

  - Do not know yet. He's not breathing, but he's a vampire. And vampires do not breathe while

  sleep, at least that's what he explained to me ... I also can not be sure if his body will go

  to react. His cells, while they seem dead, remain intact. Let's have to

  Wait, daughter. Be patient!

  Bah! Patience!

  If there was some way to find a way to get it, someone would let me know, please.

  I would buy them all and pay the gold price!

  "He ... keeps disappearing?"

  "Better not to know," he objected.

  - I need to get into the room.

  "No, daughter!" Respect the moment of it. I know it's unbearable for you too, but it was your

  desire. I have an obligation to do what I promised, "he reprimanded me.

  "Why this, just now?" I complained.

  "He said he saw how the other vampire died and did not want you to suffer with that

  Horrible image, smashing.

  "I'm going to suffer a lot more every second than stay away from him, Dad.

  "If it's any consolation, I told Richard I did not know if the drug in my research would really be

  able to save a vampire, but that if he really loved her and did not want to see her suffer

  of sorrow, I would fight until the last moment to be with you.

  - Oh, no! I exclaimed in panic, imagining that a dying pressure like that might

  cause even greater pain. "Is that a consolation?" He will not take it!

  - It was necessary. He demonstrates accepting death peacefully because deep down he does not believe that

  have the right to be happy, even if they are reciprocated.

  - Dad, I need to get into the room now!

  "I'm sorry, my dear. I understand you perfectly, but I'm a doctor and I'm here as a professional.

  I have to respect my patient. It would be unethical.

  To beans with ethics! How could I agree with her, when what she loved most was being

  ripped from me by default? Nothing that my father said would be convincing or

  conformity.

  Absolutely nothing.

  Epilogue

  I spent the whole dawn sitting on the floor in the hall, waiting for some news. It seemed

  a true Mexican soap opera scene, except for the sad fact that the drama was real. The only

  movement I noticed occurred around ten o'clock in the morning, when I heard my father make several

  from your cell phone to several people. I could not hear what he was saying, but why I was speaking

  with everyone except me? I shuddered to think of the rare possibilities for response.

  Unhappy, I knocked for the umpteenth time at the door begging for a miserable word.

  Anything.

  I looked at life becoming empty again, and in a way I had never been before. a

  true vacuum. I felt like a puppet, an inanimate and useless object, ready to be

  loaded and dispatched in some city dump.

  Silence began to take over my mind and hours crawled unnoticed. I had no more

  conditions for counting them. Time is no longer important to me, just like everything else around me.

  It was as if it were being abandoned in full outer space, floating without direction, light-years of

  any planet. Also the various pains that he felt before ended up merging, provoking in the body

  almost complete paralysis.

  A noise from the room interrupted the torpor, causing me to leave myself.

  I staggered up and rested my elbow on the railing of the stairs, down some steps to see the

  which was happening down there. The entrance door was open. I fixed my disbelieving eyes and saw my mother

  coming in with flowers in her hand, accompanied by Juninho.

  Rewinding the tape: did Mom fall from Rio? Why? "I asked.

  The worst came later, when I saw Ava wearing a fair black dress, doing the honors of the house and

  allowing Dora and Father Joseph to enter the room.

  Wai
t there ... Father Joseph ???

  What did this priest, a distant cousin of my father, do there? An intense shock hit me when

  I understood what only I did not have the courage to announce.

  Ended. End of the line.

  He left me. And they brought a priest to watch over a body that had already died before !? A body that

  would disappear quickly, leaving no trace of existence, except in me, that I felt it with all my

  love.

  I climbed the stairs of the house for the last time with my legs shaking, staring for some time at that

  closed door.

  Ended. And I could not even say goodbye, declare that I loved him again. I knew I would never be

  enough and still wanted to do it. He wanted to repeat to his ear a thousand times how much he was

  important to me, to tell him that being a vampire did not detract him from anything at all.

  well, determination and dedication that drove him to heal so many people. I wanted to scream at four winds

  monstrous or contemptible was to kill, steal, deceive, pretend we do not see the

  suffering from others, and not be different from the one, unique. Special.

  How could he believe that someone so pure did not have a soul, if he saw it enlightened,

  transparent and clear like no other?

  Never have my tears descended so painfully on my face until then. It was a cry without words,

  empty, lost. There was no more to fight for, much less to live for. I did not have the strength to

  breathing, a huge chasm opened beneath my feet. Maybe he was right about this:

  I could not see him go, there was no more excruciating pain than that. Only now he could in fact

  understand how much my mother suffered when she lost Octavio; to Iris, when she saw his love

  collapsing; and even my father, when he feels changed. The only problem was that I did not function as

  they had bases of support or a greater reason - as children - to move on. I already

  dragged through life before, pretending to live. He believed to be strong, balanced, resilient ...

  Everything is flushed.

  A perfect lie to cover up all the others. In fact, I was weak, empty, cowardly, not

  was bearing the brunt of his own guilt. Or, who knows, without wanting to judge the suffering of others, the

  mine had extrapolated the limit of bearable, being humanly impossible to face.

  So the only thing hammering in his head was the conviction that he had to do something. Something

  that it was ... definite, capable of pulling out at once the pain that had torn my chest.

  Then, without even wavering, I went into the examination room and picked up a scalpel I found inside the first

  drawer. What crossed my mind was the worst example anyone could give to any human being.

  of this planet. I wanted to leave with him, to destroy this lifeless body in which there was inevitably

  I became.

  I mentally asked God and my parents for the unforgivable sin I intended to commit,

  though I was fully aware of how selfish and cowardly I was being for caring only for

  my own pain. At last I placed the scalpel in my heart with both hands. It would be a

  Quick death so there will be no way for anyone to save me.

  I did not want to be saved.

  When I tried to express the force necessary to perform the act, a hasty hand prevented the

  my behind. I continued to do a lot of strength, fighting with determination and yet she was more

  strong. I bowed my head, defeated, inwardly disgusted by the weakness of my fist.

  This was so unfair! My father had no right to stop me. Life belonged to me and only I

  he would have to account for God later.

  "Father, do not hinder me," I said to the weeping sobs inconsolably. - It's my life. I can not

  more live without Richard ...

  And a voice whispered in my ear,

  - Your mistake. Your life is mine too. And it's me who can not live without you.

  Complete paralysis.

  The lifeless carcass went into shock, and for a moment the only sound I heard was the

  the trembling that struck me. That, until I heard one last whisper:

  "I love you, little witch." Was it some sort of delirium?

  Had my hallucinatory state been such?

  No, of course not. You would recognize that voice anywhere in the universe!

  And before I had enough energy to turn my body, the same hand that held me

  scalpel of mine and cut his own wrist. Although blurred by her own tears, I managed to turn

  and finally to see the blue-violet eyes he loved so much, even more beautiful than before.

  He was totally healed!

  Richard stretched his bleeding arm in my direction, staring at me intently and

  mix of emotions. Through its blue ocean, I could see admiration, agony, fear, happiness,

  apprehension, all shuffled in a sea of confused feelings.

  "Drink my blood," he begged, staring into my eyes. - I know I'm being selfish.

  too much to ask such a thing, but I never want to have to think about separating from you again.

  again...

  Still loud and sharp, I just gripped her wrist tightly and sucked as hard as I could. I

  knew exactly what he was doing, did not lead me by his plea or by a momentary bewilderment. THE

  The primary and vital need to join him left no room for doubt in the face of such

  decision.

  I chose love.

  At that moment, he bid farewell to mankind to live a reclusive life full of limitations,

  but complete, happy and eternal at your side.

  He felt a kind of frisson as I sucked his blood. And when I lifted my face

  again, his eyes burned hot. The impression I had was that some magnetism of your body

  had passed to mine and vice versa, as if we had mixed our souls. As you

  I swallowed that cold blood, it seemed that it was expanding through my veins, taking possession

  furiously of the human species and radiating a kind of electricity. It took me a few seconds to

  control the tremors that followed immediately after, until that sensation ceased to be

  propagated.

  Then, in an almost sudden movement, Richard pushed me against the wall of the examination room and

  held my face with both hands, wiping away my tears and touching my lips in the

  mine to lick the remnant of blood that dripped from them. I almost went into ecstasy, closing my eyes,

  certain that he would finally receive his kiss. My heart cracked, my size made mine.

  out of control

  Ledo mistake.

  Instead, it strangely stopped. When I found myself, I was being carried in a hug

  pressed to the edge of the stairs where my father was waiting for me.

  Richard came running down the stairs with a smile on his face and watching me from the corner of the

  eyes that returned to their original color. I, however, remained catatonic. My head kept spinning

  without understanding anything.

  He did not die, much less I ...

  And after he offered me eternity, he ran away?

  Had he just gone mad or dreamed of something so authentic that it seemed

  reality? The way my dreams were fertile, I would not doubt anything.

  It took me a few minutes to lower my eyes and finally realize what was happening below:

  it was a wedding, not a funeral ... My wedding ?!

  Only now did I realize that she was still dressed as a bride and that Richard also wore a suit

  formal. My dad had just put a blazer over his clothes, probably borrowed. In

  I then saw my mother climbing the stairs quickly, after whispering something with

  Richard on th
e way.

  - Oh, daughter! She exclaimed. "Have you been crying before you reached the altar?"

  You can not go down like this, with your face all erased! Come here with me a minute, I'll give you a

  straighten it in your hair and highlight this makeup ...

  I followed in her footsteps, holding her by the arm, half disoriented. She was still mute and that way.

  I stayed indefinitely, taking advantage of the excuse of prenuptial nervousness.

  Also, what could I talk about? That I did not know I was going to get married today, let alone some day? That when

  Instead, she thought it would be veiled and buried?

  What madness!

  Not even in my wildest dreams could you imagine me marrying this way.

  The strangest thing of all was having to listen to questions like, "Why did you decide to get married the last

  hour? "or" Daughter, did you forget to prevent yourself? "

  And before she left the room for her to ask anything more and I was forced to lie, only

  I argued that I needed to brush my teeth and take a quick shower to remove sweat from my neck

  down - I spent many hours off the world and did not remember doing it yet in the day.

  Until Mom was light, she was very skillful about being a role model when she was young.

  I was ready and scented in a few minutes.

  As soon as she was finished, she returned to her prominent position in the room, letting my father

  the control from then on. He offered me his arm, smiling, probably proud of himself.

  for having achieved something that I knew I wanted so badly. I tried to thank him verbally, but

  I believe that my gaze had already said everything and that he had once again understood. No words would be

  enough to express all the gratitude he felt.

  Added to that, she could not deny that she was still stranger, in a state of shock. By the way, by all

  the senses, only the eyes obeyed faithfully my command, the rest acted instinctively or

  automatic transmission. I went downstairs feeling numb, floating. Hands tingled, did not hear

  a sound, not even breathing. I could only see the people in the room through

  confused images that came to my mind.

  There they were: my mother, Juninho, Ava, Anne, Dora and her husband, Iris and her boyfriend, some

  nurses and other physicians, such as Dr. Roberto and Luciano. In the center of the room, Father Joseph and ... Richard.

  Yes, it was my love that was waiting for me there, with a radiant smile!