He looked up and saw it too. He froze for a just moment. Quickly, he grabbed Effie and ran down the stairs to the basement. She objected, but there was no time.
There was certainly something falling to the Earth, except this object didn’t grant wishes like a star. It stole them.
Chapter 40
Leon
Leon was left alone in his cell of a room overnight. After a while, the drug moving through his veins started to subside and he was able to break his restraints. To his surprise, they had dug into his skin, leaving red bracelets on his wrists.
There hadn’t been any sounds until the booming thunder of an explosion, coming from the direction of Essen, and it filled the tiny room with blinding red light. Leon moved swiftly to the small basement window and watched the cloud which grew by the second, forming a mushroom and expanding across the horizon, eliminating the sun in the process.
A pit formed in his stomach. Anna had gotten out, he told himself, she was in town. He wasn’t sure in that moment if that was a good or a bad thing.
In those few seconds, the cloud made its way towards Leon and blew out the window in one gust.
It didn’t matter that his body still felt weak, he pulled himself through the opening that was suddenly presented to him. The buildings and trees around the facility were damaged by the blast, some trees even reduced to ash. If the destruction was that bad here, how bad will the town be?
He rose from the ash surrounding his cell and ran out into the night.
The town was destroyed, decimated to stone, wood, and ash. Buildings collapsed where they once stood, and a heavy dusting filled the air, which made it hard to breathe. But for Leon, of course, that didn’t matter, he could breathe just fine.
The earth was unchanged, only the built world had been impacted by the explosion. There were remnants of trees standing up straight and dead winter grasses poking between broken cobblestone streets. No matter the wars of men, nature prevailed in the end. Even if the town was destroyed, the gardens of Earth would cover every building, erasing the history of human life that once thrived there. Fortunately, the town had been far enough away as to not be completely destroyed—only mostly. It would be possible to rebuild.
But, what couldn’t be rebuilt was the lives lost.
Looking around, Leon saw people in the streets and he heard them crying in agony as many were being crushed in their own homes. The worst part, he could smell their blood, and the amount of it was overwhelming.
He came across a train car filled with distressed passengers. The whole thing was blown apart, leaving pieces of it scattered amongst its occupants who were in an assortment of stages of consciousness and realization. He smelled the blood from the different bodies, all converging in his nostrils, tempting him to feed. It would be so easy to give in...
The temptations reminded him that he needed to find Anna. He had been away from her for too long. The curse could remove his soul, but she also brought it back out.
He now believed that love was the eighth wonder of the world.
He searched Essen but couldn’t find Anna. He looked for her in each face he saw. She wasn’t there, he knew that. His heartbeat quicken with fear. Maybe she’d headed home—seemed like a bad idea for her to head there, but he had to try everywhere.
He made his way through town toward the Kleins’ home. As he traveled, he saw debris everywhere and where he could, he pulled people out into the streets so they wouldn’t be stuck under collapsing structures. He knew the destruction wasn’t over, but many people were in shock and unable to comprehend that.
When he reached Anna’s home it was in shambles. The door was jammed when he tried to open it. It was stuck at an odd angle from part of the roof collapsing in. After a few tries, he was finally able to force it open.
Frantically, he searched through the debris until he saw her, crouched in the corner of the kitchen and covered in rubble. She was stuck under a fallen piece of wood.
Leon moved swiftly and methodically through the house to reach her. Seeing her face helped him to push the blood-lust to the back of his mind. He wasn’t just a creature, he was a man. He moved the wood off her with little effort. He uncovered her body and dropped the wood against the remaining wall. Something was off. His heart sank to his stomach when he saw wood protruding from her stomach. Briefly, his animalistic needs began to peek out again. He closed his eyes and thought of her as she was, a person, not her blood. He thought of the night they kissed—the night he fell for her.
He breathed in deeply, and out slowly. It didn’t feel natural, but it was healing, like new life. He could feel others staring at him, but he didn’t care.
The others. Gwen and David.
Their bodies, their blood, called to him. All the pain and injuries were distracting. He needed control—he needed to feel his soul. His face contorted; he was disgusted with himself. She was his strength, but clearly also his weakness—a kryptonite for a not-so-superhero.
He pulled Anna upright, leaving the wood in her center for fear of blood loss. Her eyes opened slightly and she looked dreamy, like a child waking up from a nap.
“Anna.” He cradled her head in his hands. She smiled weakly. He had to keep her attention. “Don’t close your eyes,” he said. “Look at me. There you go, beautiful.” He smiled.
“You may look like a monster, but you aren’t all that bad,” she whispered.
“I missed you.” He leaned toward her to help her up, but her blood was draining, and her sugars dropping, he could feel it. When was the last time she’d eaten? She would pass out soon enough and go into shock.
Anna reached up with one hand and touched his face. She was cold.
He sat her upright slowly and she pulled herself up straighter despite his resistance. She tried to take a step forward, but her body rejected the motion.
“I don’t feel right,” she whispered to the ground and she began to sway. She was growing hot and her body shaking. He grabbed her before she fell, the darkness coming into her eyes, and lifted her in his arms. He glanced at David, who nodded encouragingly, telling him to do what he had to. He carried her quickly out of the house, racing back to his home.
He noticed the SS officers coming from a mile away, emerging from the haze that had settled over the town. They, of course, were unharmed and walked where the others could not. The bomb that was meant for them instead hurt everyone else. It was hard to say if they were on a mission to help the wounded or secure their facilities—or perhaps something else. They looked angry, though, guns positioned out in front of them under the lead of one who had a familiar animalistic gait. He, a stranger to Leon, marched in front of the pack looking determined, for what, he did not know. He thought it better to leave with Anna, who continued to bleed, then stay and find out.
With one final look behind him, he sped off into the approaching night, under the cover of darkness and the trees. He would come back for the rest of her family, hopefully, in time.
The castle was beautiful, but its inhabitants were miserable—contrasting for the first time. The sky however remained gray and dreary.
Leon sat at Anna’s bedside, torn. He had brought her to his bedroom immediately upon arrival, laying her down where he thought she would be most comfortable while he contemplated what to do. He removed the wood impaled in her stomach and tried giving her sugar, but she wasn’t responding to it. It was hard to make someone eat or drink when they were unconscious, and he had no other way of giving it to her.
Through his extended life, Leon had heard the legends and folklore surrounding his curse. Much of it was false, he’d learned through trial and error, but there was one legend he’d tried only once, and since then he had never been so inclined to try it again.
He had read about it in books, though it had not worked with his family. It was the possibility that he could give Anna his blood to heal her.
Leon felt her pulse waning. Whether he was able to heal her or not, giving her his blood was the on
ly possible solution. Even from a medical standpoint, there was no way that he could force sugar down her throat or replenish the blood loss she’d suffered.
His rose rested on a nightstand beside the bed and he peeled one of the thorns off the stem. He slit the bruised skin along his wrist and held it to her mouth. Ironically, he thought, part of it was probably her own blood.
He leaned over her, holding her hand in his free one, and watched as a small drop landed in her mouth. Then another. Finally, the blood ran swiftly out of his wrist and down into her throat. The extra blood flow almost felt pleasant, he thought oddly. He waited for something to happen, but nothing did. She remained peacefully asleep on the bed.
He pulled back his hand and wiped the blood on his shirt. His wrist did not heal immediately, as it normally would, but he had needed it that way. The thorn was the only weapon that could cut him without healing almost immediately.
She laid still, her pulse continuing to decline. It hadn’t worked.
Why?
The Mare’s poison. They injected her so that I could not heal her.
She was going to die.
He grabbed the nearest object to him, a glass full of his blood mixture, and crushed it in his hand. The cracking glass felt good. The shards briefly pierced his skin and the red liquid washed his blood away immediately. All that was left was his skin, unblemished. Unthinking, he took the glass and threw it as hard as he could against the wall in front of him and it shattered into dust.
He gripped his head in his hands, pulling at his hair, but he couldn’t even feel it. All he felt was the screaming from somewhere inside of him, radiating through his body. Something hard formed in his throat and his eyes pooled with something unfamiliar. His body felt stiff and wild at the same time, with sudden heaves of breath that he couldn’t seem to control.
“You were supposed to break the curse. I thought …” He paused and lay his head down on her arm, feeling its heat, and her heartbeat ebbing away slowly.
How long will it be? Hours? Days?
He had never believed it was possible, and then it was there, just out of reach. She could have done it; she had the heart of an angel. She trusted first, everyone had a chance in her eyes. But he was a monster after all, he surmised, and would never be worthy of such a gift like her—like humanity.
How could I have been so stupid to think the witch was wrong?
He grabbed Anna’s hand in his. Her eyes were closed, and she breathed slowly, methodically. It calmed him. She didn’t look as pained in sleep as she did awake.
There’s one other thing I can try. He swallowed hard. After all, vampires aren’t born, they are made.
He had never tried it on a human, only on Luna, and that was an accident. He played with the options in his mind, and wondered if it was selfish to make such a decision.
She could be with him forever. If she still cared for him at all. He could do it, but he couldn’t give her that life, too. Could he?
If the SS find her again, they will kill her on sight. That is if she survives this to begin with.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he trailed his lips down her neck, following her pulse. His teeth grew in anticipation, disgusting him. He sunk in his teeth, her body twitching at the pinch.
“I’m saving you,” he whispered to her, though perhaps he was really telling himself.
He watched her serene face and moved quickly, but gently, away. He was afraid of hurting her. Now he knew she was dying—immediately. He enjoyed every second of it and hated himself for it. He had never killed a human since he’d taken control—since he found Luna. He had learned to be less invasive, instead opting to make a quick incision and drain some blood for future use and store it in his wine cellar. This time, he had to invade, to kill—to be a monster.
No matter what, he told himself, he would always be a monster. He hated what he was doing, but he couldn’t live knowing he let the light completely fade from her eyes. Not like he had with his family. They had come far enough, hadn’t they?
He realized he was gripping the rose so tightly he caused his hand to bleed from the thorns. He placed his torn palm over Anna’s mouth, letting the blood drip through her lips once more, but this time it was the only blood that traveled through her veins, taking over and pumping more of itself. Though she did not drink it, the dark liquid entered her body, which reacted for her. Her veins lit up and pulsed its new venom through her body. Leon was mesmerized—in pain and awe.
He leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead, pulling back slowly and observing the flicker beneath her eyelids. It was working. The injection could prevent humans from healing, but not vampires.
She will be with me forever.
Chapter 41
Anna
Anna sat up and her body moaned miserably. Her senses were on fire. She was in her bedroom at the castle. The bed sheets were softer, the birds outside the window louder, and the smells more enticing. She looked around in awe of everything appearing brighter and clearer than before. There was even a tingling sensation in her fingers and toes, as if she had too much coffee. She was aware of a warm throbbing sensation just beneath the hollow of her chest.
She moved to get out of bed and spotted Luna at the end. The black dog sighed and licked her hand. Why is Luna here? She shuffled across the floor.
She peered in the mirror and pulled down the loose collar of her nightgown. Her heartbeat quickened, and her hand jumped to her chest. There was a crescent moon shape, black and veined, peering at her through the glass.
It’s the mark. I’m dead.
She traced her fingers along its edges. It hurt, like touching a bruise. She looked down at her arm, where her other mark remained—1347. That one didn’t ache anymore.
The camp. The rescue. The bomb. She was regaining her memory. She’d been at home when the bomb struck, and somehow Leon came for her, again. She traced the mark on her chest. I am a monster.
It was relieving to be alive, and it made her satisfied to know that Leon did care. He came for her not once, but twice, putting himself in danger both times. Part of her was angry with him for turning her into … this … but she also realized in that moment that she felt no different. She was still Anna. That meant that part of Leon was still human too, even if he had become tainted over time.
She wanted to talk to him, to clear her head a bit, but he didn’t seem to be in the castle. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she knew.
In the reflection, she saw a glimpse of the black roses, and a piece of paper tucked under it. She ran over to the table, almost instantaneously, and unfolded the paper, picking it up with shaking hands. There was a note, and it was addressed to her in Leon’s handwriting.
Anna,
You will probably never read this, but I want to tell you in some way, in case I never get the chance.
You are more beautiful than the sun— you are the moon.
A beacon of light in darkness.
You brought light to the darkness that harbored in my heart.
A full moon tugs at the tides, and your heart tugs at my soul.
You have and will always be, my only hope.
I love you.
Anna hadn’t truly cried since her mother died. Her death had scared away all her tears and made her numb, content on holding everything in and not dealing with it. But finally, she was at a breaking point. A lump formed in her throat, and the tears flowed like rivers down her cheeks and onto her shirt.
Her mom.
Her friend.
Her illness.
Her betrayal.
Her family.
The camp.
Her curse.
Her love.
It was like her own death was finally a burden worth feeling. It was the crack in the glass, and all her feelings flooded forward. She knew it was in part because of what she was, but her feelings were real—just intensified. It was a release way past due.
Luna tickled her palm, and Anna sat on t
he floor with her. She seemed to understand. That was the wonderful thing about animals. Luna didn’t ask why she cried or try to talk about feelings, she just sat. Her presence was comforting.
After a while, Anna moved over to the window, it was snowing over the castle again. Still, it did not affect the gardens. Beyond the snow, a haze covered the town. Her home was at the edge of the attack, and with her new eyes she could see damage extending much further and much worse in the distance. As much as she wanted to stay nestled in the castle, she couldn’t.
Her family.
The castle seemed smaller to her suddenly. She could trek it much faster now. She didn’t even need to walk down the stairs from the second floor. In a rush, she jumped the railing instead, landing on all fours. She sprang back up quickly, bolted out the door and down the dirt road.
She heard the gunshots from the train as she traveled through the woods. And though she was some distance from the train, her new hearing made her feel as though she was there already. She could even hear the crying and shuffling of passengers.
The trees began to thin, and Anna saw the back of a man in uniform. He wasn’t participating in the shooting going on in front of him. Officers were shooting passengers. The train itself, in pieces, resembled the one that brought Anna to the camp. The man appeared to be in pain, with his face twisted and his hands gripping his weapon a little too tightly. She snuck through the trees to avoid his gaze.
Anna wasn’t quite fast enough that time, and the man turned with a pointed rifle into the trees. None of the other officers noticed so he headed into the woods alone. He shot once into the dark, and Anna moved out of the way. She wasn’t used to her body and the speed made her clumsy. She tripped over a root and landed with her palms on the ground. The movement alerted the officer who moved further into the woods as she tried to regain her footing.
The second shot rang out, and Anna wasn’t so lucky — it hit her right in the arm. She whimpered, but the pain only lasted a moment before her body pushed the bullet back out and sealed itself. The oddity paralyzed the officer and Anna smirked. She could heal. She was stronger than this man. Faster. More intuitive.
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