Undying Love

by JD Penley

  Lucas could feel a wave of sadness and darkness wash over him as he listened to Dante’s tale. He and Galen sat with him for hours as he poured his heart out to them. Dante was kind-hearted, yet so jaded by his experiences. He had so much love to give to others, yet he was so wary of others and their ill intentions. His past had taught him three things: everyone seems to lie, everyone leaves, and no one knows what true love is. He had sought Lucas out because he hoped that he could renew his faith in such things. He had hoped that Lucas could tell him, or show him even that love was real, that it was out there, and that life had purpose and meaning. After hours of talking, Dante fell silent. Lucas could hear his breathing slow, his heart rate dropping, and he could hear the silence in his mind. “Dante, are you alright?” Lucas asked. “I don’t know anymore Lucas. I’ve fought for so long, but I don’t even know what I’m fighting for anymore. I have nothing and no one to call my own” Dante replied. “Lucas, we need to think about heading out soon, the sun will be up soon” Galen said silently to his brother. “I know, but this human needs help” Lucas replied. “Bring him with us then, but we must be going. We cannot be in the city when the sun comes up and the cops begin looking for him” Galen said quietly as he glared at Lucas. “Very well brother. Let’s convince him to leave and head home” Lucas said with a nod. “Dante, I want you to come with us. We can take you away from here and we can talk more about this. My daughter is a doctor, and I think she should examine you and make sure you didn’t suffer any injuries when you fell” Lucas said softly. “I think you’re right, I’m not feeling very good all of the sudden” Dante replied. Lucas and Galen helped him to his feet and walked with him onto the terrace. They nodded to each other before they each grabbed an arm and then carried him into the sky. They barely reached the clouds before he passed out from shock.

  Dante awakened hours later in a strange bed, wearing different clothes than he remembered having on. He could hear voices and he struggled to make them out as he attempted to open his eyes to take in the room and begin to piece together the puzzle of what happened. As he slowly opened his eyes he felt as if he were being blinded by the brightness of the sun peeking through the blinds in the room. His eyes struggled to adjust to the light, and he wondered where he was and how he got there. The last thing he remembered was seeing a man’s face and falling backward off the roof. When he was finally able to open his eyes the first person he saw was Alice. At first he thought he was dreaming, that he had died and that she might be an angel. He was amazed by her beauty, and so distracted that he didn’t even think to ask who she was or where he was. “I see you’re awake now Dante, how are you feeling?” Alice asked. He struggled to make sense of everything and stuttered as he attempted to speak. “Wh-wh-where am I?” Dante asked. “You’re at my father’s manor, specifically in a room we set up in case a guest needed medical treatment. You’re very lucky Dante, you had quite a night. Do you often attempt to walk off of rooftops, or do you just have something against stairs and elevators?” Alice teased. “How do you know my name, how did I get here, and who are you?” Dante asked. “Calm down Dante. My father brought you here and told me your name. My name is Alice and I’m a doctor. I’ve been taking care of you” Alice replied. “Why? You don’t even know anything about me” Dante replied. “You needed help, and I was able to provide it. What other reason do I need to care for you?” Alice asked. “I’m sorry for being crass. I’m just not used to people helping me. I don’t mean to sound rude and ungrateful. I’m so used to people seeing me as an inconvenience that anyone willing to help me usually wants something. It’s sadly the truth I’ve come to live with. I don’t even know how I got here, and all I remember is looking down off the ledge, and then feeling something behind me and when I turned around I saw a man behind me. I panicked, stumbled backward, and fell, and I don’t remember anything after that. I should be dead, but yet here I am. So how did I survive the fall?” Dante asked.

  Lucas entered the room and closed the door behind him. “You didn’t survive the fall because you never hit the ground. I got to you before you could get anywhere close to the ground” Lucas said as he approached Dante. “Daddy are you sure that’s wise?” Alice asked. “It will be fine little one, I’ve got it from here” Lucas replied with a nod. Alice exited the room and left them alone to talk. “Wait, you said you got to me before I got near the ground. I remember your face vaguely but how did you stop me from hitting the ground or even know where I was?” Dante asked. “You told the police you wanted to speak with me after you broke into my office building, or did you forget that?” Lucas asked. “Wait, I asked for you? God, I must have been drunk or out of my mind. I don’t remember much of anything from last night” Dante replied. “You did seem to be quite distressed, but you seemed to be aware and alert. They called me last night after they discovered you broke in and barricaded the door so that no one could get to the roof. They said you asked for me specifically and they were afraid you were going to jump. I wasn’t sure if I would make it in time, but I got there as quickly as I could, and then when I went to reach for you to pull you away from the ledge you turned around and got startled and fell backward off the roof” Lucas replied. “I still don’t understand how you kept me from hitting the ground from the roof” Dante replied. “Well that part is complicated, but if you will come with me I can explain everything” Lucas replied. Dante got up and followed him out of the room. They walked through the manor towards the gardens, and it was there he revealed his secrets to Dante. It would be the first time he had told a human his secret since Krystal, but he felt it was worth the risk. “Sit down and join me, Dante, it’s time your world view got a bit larger” Lucas said with a grin. “What do you mean?” Dante asked. “Well I’m going to explain everything to you, but you have to understand that what I’m about to tell you cannot be shared with another soul. It’s going to sound strange and unbelievable but I promise you nothing but the truth. Do we have a deal?” Lucas asked. Dante swallowed what felt like a lump in his throat and nodded nervously to Lucas.

  “I’m about to tell you a story that no other human walking this earth has heard before, and once you hear it everything will begin to make sense” Lucas said. “Very well, I’m listening” Dante replied. “Well let’s get the obvious out of the way. I am not human, nor am I from this planet” Lucas said before pausing. “I was raised here as a boy, but I come from another planet where my parents rule as King and Queen and have done so for millennia. I myself have walked the earth for over four hundred years” Lucas said with a pause. “Wait, so you’re over four hundred years old?” Dante asked with disbelief. “Yes, I am” Lucas replied. “How is that even possible? You don’t even look like you’ve hit your 30s yet. What are you a vampire?” Dante asked with a laugh. “Yes, I am” Lucas replied with a serious look on his face. “Wait, you’re actually serious. You aren’t kidding. I always wondered if it could be possible, but I never thought I would ever see the day that fantasy became reality. I imagine you can prove this?” Dante asked. “Indeed I can, but being a vampire is only a small part of what I can do. I have magical abilities as well” Lucas replied. “Why would you tell me all of this? Aren’t you worried I could expose you and your family to humans?” Dante asked. “Why would you do that? What would you have to gain? I suppose the bigger question is, why would you risk it if you believe what I’m telling you is true? Would you dare incur the wrath of an immortal?” Lucas asked. “No, I would never tell a soul. I simply don’t understand why you would trust me with something so important” Dante replied. “I trust you because I sense something different about you. I trust you because I see kindness in you, even hidden behind all the dark humor and your tragic past. I see who you really are, not the mask you chose to wear” Lucas replied. “How could you possibly know anything about me when you haven’t even asked me anything?” Dante asked with confusion in his tone. “Well one of my many gifts is the ability to read minds my young friend” Lucas replied with a smug grin. “Well
by all means then, tell me all about myself” Dante replied defiantly. Lucas sat back and took a deep breath, and exhaled. He looked Dante directly in the eye and paused for just a moment before he spoke his next words.

  “You love meat, pizza, and coffee. You have no tolerance for other people or their drama as you’ve dealt with a lifetime of it yourself. You stay a hair away from going postal on good days, but you’d give the shirt off your back to someone in need. You have a hard time being loved by anyone because you grew up in an abusive household. You were severely beaten by a babysitter when you were two and spent time in the foster care system because of your family. You can’t fathom why anyone would love you nor can you comprehend what true love actually means. You have a dark sense of humor about it all but you still have an abundance of love to give everyone else, yet you are still wary of other people and their intentions. Does that about sum it up for you?” Lucas asked as he took a breath. He looked at Dante who was at a loss for words. He sat in silence for minutes with his jaw agape and his mind was a complete blank. “How did you manage that?” Dante asked. “I told you I read minds” Lucas replied. “But that was beyond reading minds, it was as if you looked into my very soul. You saw things about me that I’ve never told another soul” Dante replied. “I told you, vampire, magic, immortal. You still have doubts?” Lucas asked. “Well can you blame me?” Dante asked taking a deep breath. “You’ve basically told me that things humans only believed were legend or myths are actually real. Humans have been creating stories of magic for ages, and you tell me you possess it yourself. Humans can only dream of immortality and yet you claim to have lived for over four hundred years. My mind can barely fathom the complexities of day-to-day life sometimes and now you come along and shatter my preconceived notions of what life really is. I can only imagine the things you could tell me about life and love. Do you understand and feel love the way that we do?” Dante asked curiously. “Not only do I understand it and feel it the way that humans do, I feel it much deeper than you do. I found true love in another, and I have a family. I have loved and lost just like any other man in this world, and I have spent several lifetimes searching for answers about a great many things. I’ve studied abroad, learned of history and life and love. I’ve learned cuisine and culture from countries all over, learned various self-defense tactics from various disciplines, and I’ve been a doctor, a lawyer, and a writer. My experiences alone could fill several volumes worth of books, and yet no human has ever heard the tale and lived” Lucas replied.

  Dante sat in silence for several minutes, taking it all in and trying to process it. He had spent his entire life believing that magic and vampires and who only knows what else were things of fantasy. Now as he sat in silence he was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was sitting in the garden of a huge manor owned by a vampire. A man that walked among humans, and yet no one knew the truth. He had spent over four centuries walking the earth and yet no one ever came close to knowing the truth. “How?” Dante asked. “How have I hidden my true nature from humans for so long?” Lucas asked. “Yes. How have you stayed hidden all these centuries? How is it you’ve managed to feed without leaving a trail of bodies in your wake?” Dante asked. “It’s quite simple actually. I’ve lived in plain sight all my life and I’ve only fed on the wicked. As for the bodies, well they get disposed of very discreetly. I found that staying in plain sight draws less attention than hiding in the shadows” Lucas replied. “So you’ve lived this way for centuries? Have you always had a family?” Dante asked curiously. “No, for quite some time I was alone. I spent almost two centuries alone, moving from place to place until I found Alice. She was the one to free me from my prison of solitude” Lucas replied. “Why were you alone for so long?” Dante asked with a hint of sadness in his voice. “Would you really care to hear my story?” Lucas asked. “You said no human has ever heard the tale and lived. How do I know that I would be the first to do so?” Dante asked. “Well, I guess you’ll have to determine if you feel it’s worth the risk. I will make you a deal Dante, I will tell you the tale and you can decide where we go from there” Lucas said with a grin. It was Lucas’s calm demeanor that scared him more than what he perceived as a thinly veiled threat. It was in the way he sat so cool, calm, and collected that startled him most. He made no threats, and yet it was as if he had the utmost confidence that nothing could touch him that made Dante fear for his life. “You seem nervous, even terrified perhaps” Lucas said. “So let’s say I wanted to hear the tale, how do we begin, and what happens after you finish your tale?” Dante asked nervously. “Well, first you’ll want to calm yourself before you worry yourself into a heart attack. Next, we shall start at the beginning of my story and work our way to the present. Lastly, what happens after that, well I guess that all depends on you” Lucas replied. “So where does your story begin?” Dante asked softly. Lucas sat back as a smile crossed his face, and Dante prepared himself to hear the tale. He didn’t know what the future would hold for him, but this was the opportunity of a lifetime for him. He had waited his whole life to be a part of something bigger than himself, and he had to see it through no matter the cost. “Are you ready?” Lucas asked. “I believe so” Dante replied. “You’re certain that this is what you want?” Lucas asked. “I’ve come this far, no point in turning back now” Dante replied coolly. “Very well then, let us start at the beginning…” Lucas replied.

  To be continued…

  About the Author

  I’m a father, an author, a publisher, a gamer, a car nut, and all around nerd. I currently live in North Carolina with my wife, and my daughter who served as the inspiration for two of the characters in my first book. Since the first book, we have added a little boy to our family. I enjoy writing fantasy stories, with particular focus on the supernatural such as vampires and magic or immortality. I am currently working on my first series called “The Book of The Immortals” with Volume 1 already released in several outlets.

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  Also by JD Penley

  No Peace In Death: Book of The Immortals: Volume I

  Privilege. Death. Immortality.

  It can be both a blessing and a curse.

  Lucas was born into a life most could only dream of only to have everything ripped away. Broken and in despair, unable to cope with spending eternity alone, he does the unthinkable—he takes his life. Only instead of the death he craves, he is transformed into a creature of myth and legend.

  In his new reality, Lucas begins to travel the world in search of peace only to find none awaits him. Until another kindred soul crosses his path—a child alone in the world just like him.

  Confronted with the impossibility before him, Lucas ponders the journey he chose and sets out into the unknown, hoping to quiet the whispers in his mind and give the child the one thing he has been denied for centuries: love.

  But Lucas soon finds himself confronting a past he thought was lost, and quickly learns that not all secrets stay buried. Now, he must face demons that could destroy him and the child he wants so desperately to protect.