Allison was slow to open her eyes, unwilling to let them part on the world around her. In the darkness, there had been such peace, an incomprehensible feeling of serenity in the calm and embracing darkness. In the world, beyond the heavy and protecting eyelids, there was chaos, light, and strife. It was so much easier to simply drift back again.

But there was a delicate pulling towards reality that would not desist until she finally peeled her lids open to soft sunlight in a cozy room. The covers that had been carefully tucked about her were swiftly kicked to the floor as she swung her legs over the edge of a huge four-post bed. The room was chill, the type of cold that had a way of seeping into one’s bones after a long sleep, and she was hesitant to place her feet on the frozen wood floor.

But she never really had the option.

Barely had she drawn a breath (a phenomenon that seemed to escape her notice) than the door opposite her flew open. Maverick was framed in the doorway, but only long enough for her to register his presence, then he was wrapped around her. His arms pulled her close, crushing her against his stationary chest.

“You’re home, you’re safe,” he whispered, burying his face in her hair, fingers reflexively gripping and releasing her. Again and again he repeated the mantra, as if its constant repetition could hold all ills at bay. Finally, laughing weakly, she pulled away. It was almost more than she could handle, and she soon found her seat back on the edge of the bed, the silver and blue sheets wrapping about her as well as they could.

“Maverick,” she whispered, her hoarse and raspy voice making it almost painful to speak. “What happened?”

He fell to the bed beside her, taking her hand in his. There was a moment of silence as he played softly with her delicate fingers, twining them in and out of his own, then he looked up to her eyes.

“With Kappa gone, we were able to leave. We grabbed you and got the hell out of that place. Ali went back after they left to survey the damage. No deaths besides the ones we all saw. We were lucky.”

Lucky, she mused without speaking. It required too much to do so, but it never stopped the cynical thoughts. Lucky because they were not brutally slaughtered like others. Like Marcus. Misguided, grief-stricken, and alone, she had to wonder how much was really his fault at all. And Kappa. Even that one tugged on her conscience, refusing to let her free of that blame. After all, Allison continued, she was the murderer in that instance.

“Allison? Are you okay?”

She smiled and nodded. “Just—thinking,” she croaked, leaning her head onto his shoulder. “Mourning the unlucky.”

“Don’t trouble yourself about it. There was nothing you or any of us could do. They made their decision.”

I know, she mouthed. It was becoming far too difficult to actually speak. She was thirsty, she was tired. And…she shouldn’t be. It finally struck her that all of this wasn’t right. From her fatigue to the cold. To the thundering echo in her chest.

“Rick,” she chanced again to speak, even quieter this time, “what happened to me?”

There was a sad, but accepting look in his eyes for the moment they made contact. Then they flew directly to the floor, not willing to hold her gaze.

“I had to ask Alivar about that. I was perfectly clueless. You collapsed, right there. And when we got away, you were-you were alive. Allison, you’re human again. Perfectly normal.”

He paused as if that was a perfect explanation, but her gaze continued to probe for the answers, waiting for him to continue. Why? She mouthed, and his brow furrowed.

“I guess you would want to know, huh?” He smiled, then stood slowly from the bed, pacing. “It’s really archaic. Something I had never, and I mean never, heard of. An escape clause sort of thing. A fledgling, should he, or in this case she, kill her sire before the full moon after the turning, she or he will revert back to the human state. You killed Kappa three days bfore everything was final. So, if there was any doubt as to who did this to you…” He left his final phrase hanging, smiling wryly at her. “So, you’re back. Feeling alright, now?”

She tapped her throat and grimaced, a sign which he immediately understood. “Oh, right,” he sighed. “Well, the humn stomach doesn’t handle blood well. It ought to feel better very soon. Can I get you anything? Something to drink?”

She nodded quickly and swallowed the glass of water he brought with startling alacrity. “Thanks,” she replied, her throat feeling slightly better after that.

He took a seat beside her again, wrapping an arm tight around her shoulders, as if she would fly away in at a moment’s notice. “And the choice is yours again. To remain as you are, or become like us. I think you have a pretty good idea of what both entail. I mean, it’s not like you have to answer right now. Once you are feeling better, we can start moving. The world still isn’t safe. And, whenever you know, tell me. You have eternity.”

His eyes begged her to agree, but she knew the answer was not going to make him happy. “I’m happy with who I am right now,” she forced out, smiling at him. Fortunately, it did not seem to hurt him as much as she suspected. Later, she could explain everything. How she couldn’t stand living off others, how the thought of eternity, even with him, scared her, how the darkness had been so alluring.

“But you’ll stay with me. We can travel the world. We can stay together, right?”

“Forever,” she whispered, wrapping her arm around his and snuggling into his grasp. She slowly let her eyes slide shut, still weak from everything that she really couldn’t grasp. Soon, she was asleep. But he was contented to hold her there forever, if that was what she wanted. Because even that meant she was in his arms for a lifetime, the most precious lifetime he would ever spend.

­­­­­­--O! Death, Where Is Your Sting? --

The coffin was slowly descending, smoothly carrying its cargo into that last sweet sleep. Maverick watched its creaking descent, his eyes glued to it. The tears were cried out, his eyes red and hollow after all was said and done. A hand on his shoulder made him start, to turn and look at the sympathetic visage of Atticus. Alivar slipped from the shadows beneath and willow to join him, the Twins watching from tombstones nearby. And many other faces. Justin, Jac, other faces he had not seen in decades, centuries even. It made him smile, even though it was a bitter and pained grimace.

He still saw her peaceful face in those last moments, content in the end of all things. Her hair, turned snowy and soft, lay spread against the pillow. Her eyes were closed, but he never saw the fire diminish at all from them in all the years. Her skin had become thin, delicate, and nearly transparent. Oh, but she was beautiful. He couldn’t close his eyes without seeing her pale lips turn up in a smile, a laugh. Every breath of air carried her scent; every whisper in the trees was her airy voice.

His eyes squeezed closed on tears that did not flow, teeth biting against his lips. “Maverick?” whispered Atticus at his elbow. This supernatural horde was the only creature watching the saddest day in history, the indifferent gravediggers excluded.

Maverick pulled his arm away and peered over the hole that seemed endless. There rested the heavy and dark beast that had devoured his life when it hid her face from him. The diggers watched him, preparing to begin refilling the hole. It meant nothing to them; they wanted only to be done with it all.

He had to move on, he realized. To push on with life, because that was the only hope. The hope that, somewhere in eternity, he would find her again. That he would hold her again. He had lived a lifetime to count the days to the end of the world. But, he would find a way to continue. And he would never be free of the ghost that haunted every memory. He would never want to.

Turning away from the bitter hole, he let a single rose drift from his fingers to the lid of the coffin, but could not watch as the dirt slowly piled on top of it. It was no time to mourn a lifetime fully lived. And, as long as he could make himself believe that, perhaps there was a way to go on.

End.