by R.A Cullison
Four
I was settling into my new life as a vampire. I didn’t like the idea that I wasn’t going to be able to holding my children again or be with my husband again.
I waited until my children where grown and on their own before I even thought about going over and seeing Matt. No matter how much I longed to be in his massive arms.
I was making my way over to the big house to finally see Matt. I jumped onto the roof of the next house over. I could see him moving around in the bedroom. He was getting ready for bed, in his underwear. I chuckled a little, even after all these years he still looked good, like he did when he was in his 20s.
He disappeared into the bathroom which gave me the opportunity to sneak into the house to surprise him. I snuck into the bedroom through the balcony. I could see traces of me all over the room. I walked over to the dresser where my perfume was still placed on my silver tray. I heard water running and the sounds of him brushing his teeth. I tip-toed into the bathroom. I stood behind him, the smell of his aftershave sent chills down my body.
I stood where he could see me in the mirror. He went to spit and rinse, when he rose up he saw me and smiled.
“Hey handsome.” I greeted him.
“Hey, babe.” he smiled. I haven’t been called that in years. He turned around and wrapped his arms around me, I did the same. I teared up alittle, just being in his arms was so emotional. It was like finally coming home.
“I missed you.” I choked out.
“I missed you.” he pulled back. “why are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you.”
“I had to see you.” I smiled sweetly.
“Oh really now. So now I know what you missed about me.” he joked. I would of blushed if I could.
“No, I missed you.” I wrapped my arms around him again. I pulled back a little to look at his face. He pulled me up to kiss him. That sat me a blaze inside, I knew what was going to happen.
*******************************************************
We laid there naked, like we have done a hundreds times before. The house was quiet, it was just us. “This is weird.” I finally spoke.
“What is?” he asked leaning on his arm.
“Last time I was here we had 2 small children and now our daughter is a parent.” I said looking at him.
“So is Travis, well soon he will be a Dad.” he sat up on the bed.
“I missed this, being here with you.” I moved over to lay on his chest.
“I miss it too. You can move back now, this is still you home.” he grinned.
“I was thinking about that, but how are we going to explain it to the kids. ‘Oh you know the mother you thought was dead is back and oh guess what she is a vampire.’ I don’t think that will work out very well.”
“Ok, well lets not stay away from each other anymore, even if you don’t move back. I get so lonely here.” he ran his hand over my head. “Your so beautiful.” he whispered.
The phone rang, he reached over and picked it up. “Hello?” he answered. I could hear the person on the other end.
“Hey Dad. Wanted to see how you were holding up.” Travis asked.
“I’m good, I actually have company.” he smiled, I smiled too.
“Oh, a woman?” he asked.
“As a matter a fact, it is. So I have to go I don’t want to be rude.” he was enjoying being sly.
“Alright Dad, you stud. Talk to you later, let me know how it goes.” Travis hung up.
“He’s a good boy.” Matt hung up.
“Yes he is.” I agreed. I was there for 3 days and it took all I had to leave. Travis was coming over with his new son and was letting Matt see him so I left. I got back to the hide out.
“Where have you been?” Gabe chuckled.
“None of your damn business.” I poked.
“Pete wants to meet with us, something about wondering werewolves in town.” Stephen said strapping a gun to his side.
“You two can handle it, I want to take a bath.” I ran up the stairs and bathed.
I was in the library reading a few books on vampire and werewolf relationship. When Gabe came into the room, obviously upset. “Nora!” he yelled for me.
“What?” I answered.
“Matt and the pack are under attack!” he yelled. I didn’t let him finish, I dropped the book I was holding and went to run out the door. “South Bridge!” he called out.
I knew Matt couldn’t win and he was getting too old to fight. I knew he was feeling better and thinks that he can handle this kind of stuff. I was about a mile away from the battle, I could hear some tearing and growling, then it suddenly stopped.
I leaped onto a nearby building and what I saw was something from a war movie. Corpse spewed across the ground. Dark crimson puddles were forming everywhere. The smell of the blood made my throat burn. I could ignore it, I had to find Matt.
I scanned to see if I seen Matt among the bodies, but no sign of him. I Jumped down and began to look closer. I didn’t see him outside where the bloodiest fight took place. I went into the only standing building. At first I didn’t see him, then something gleamed, making me look in its direction.
If I still have a beating heart if would of broke, Matt was leaning against the wall.
“Matt!” I yelled. I ran to him. I bent down to check his wounds.
“Nora.” he breathed. He was still alive, but I knew he wouldn’t last much longer his wounds were deep and were unable to heal. The silver sword that laid next to him gave me a clue why he wasn’t healing. “Their all dead.” he pointed down to his feet. I looked to see what he was pointing at and seen the mangled bodies of Josh and Ariel.
“Shhh, don’t speak.” I whispered.
He shook his head weakly, he rose his head to look at me. “I love you.” he lifted his bloody hand and touched my cheek. I stared into his big blue eyes. He was staring into the distance at something behind me that I couldn’t see, he gave a weak smile. His pupils were getting bigger covering his irises making them look black. Death was taking him and I had to sit there and watch. A long breath came from his chest and his hand fell, streaking his blood down my cheek.
“No, don’t go.” I begged. He was already gone. Lifted his hand back to my cheek and tearlessly cried into it. I reached over and closed his eyes then kissing him. I placed his hand back down on his leg and called Gabe and Stephen to come help me. I wanted to get him out of there. They showed up with a few extra people to get Josh and Ariel out of there too. Leaving no trace of the pack was even there.
We took him home to the big house. Gabe and Stephen laid him on the floor so I could clean him up. I took off his shirt to wash this wounds. It was strange to see cuts on him that weren’t healing. I ran a wet cloth over his chest and stomach. I washed his face and hands. When I got to his left hand and seen the wedding band. Memories of our wedding day came flooding back.
It was one of the happiest days of my life. Seeing Matt‘s lifeless body laying there made the memories seem so surreal. That wedding day was in another life. That moment I realized that I wasn’t human anymore. Even though I wasn’t, I refused to be a monster. I was going to protect people not hurt them.
Gabe and Stephen laid him on the bed. I brushed his hair and covered him up. His wounds were still bleeding and were beginning to seep through the blankets. I gave him a final kiss good bye and left.
Sitting in the car with the boys, I gave Gabe the all clear to call 911.
“911 what’s your emergency?” the operator answered.
“Yeah, you better check out 419 Oak Lane.” he hung up. I composed myself and left the car.
I climbed into the thickest part of the tree. I watched the police run into the building, run back out and make their call to dispatch. Then a few minutes later the coroner showed up. Travis was the first one to show up, he ran into the house but was stopped short by an officer.
“I cant let you g
o in there, son.” he said placing a forceful hand on his shoulder.
“That’s my Dad in there. What happened to him?” he asked.
“Sorry son, but your Dad is dead.” the office spoke with no emotion.
“Dead…..” I watched Travis pace around shaking his head. April ran in next, she was crying before she even knew.
“Travis!” she called after her little brother. “Whats going on?” she asked. The look on his face must of told her everything. “NO!” she kept shaking her head.
The coroner and several officers came out with the black body bag containing Matt‘s body. The kids began to hold each other and cry. “I know this is a hard time, but was he married?” an officer asked.
“No, our mother died when we were babies.” April answered. I couldn’t see or hear anymore. I headed back towards the hideout.
Gabe and Steven didn’t say anything to me when I got back. I wondered what happened. Who was to blame for this massacre? I went into the bathroom to take a shower and wash away the day.
I flipped on the light in the bathroom. When I caught myself in the mirror and the faint red streak that was running down my cheek. I touched it and began to cry. I had to get a grip on myself. I jumped into the shower and scrubbed myself with very hot water.
I went back down to the main room, I need answers. Gabe was welding something. “Gabe!” I yelled to get his attention. He finally heard me and shut off his welder.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Who was it?” I asked.
“Who was who?” he answered.
“Gabe!” I scolded.
“Ok, Ok.” he sat down the welder. “Pete called and told us about the werewolves, remember?” I shook my head. “Well he then called again and said there was a big fight and he seen Matt. The other werewolves were passing through. Well so we thought. They were turned by Noah.”
“Noah’s dead how can they still be werewolves?” I questioned.
“Good question. We don’t know. What we think we know is that Noah was transformed into another form of werewolf. With each time he died or came close to it, he changed the disease alittle each time.”
I looked at him confused. “Changed it? How” I asked.
“Well the only person who can answer that lives in another country.”
“Wolfgang Warchec.” I sighed. Gabe just shook his head.