Chapter Twenty-Five: The Comfort of Knowing

A/N: Here it is! The moment you have all been waiting for...the final chapter. I nearly cried when I was writing it last night. It really was a whirlwhind to write, but I enjoyed every word of it.

There isn't much going on with the other characters, really. Most of it is about Kate and her thoughts on this entire expereince.

I also thought I would make one last attempt at giving Madeline and Andrew some character depth, because I know all of you are dying to know more about them.

And so...here's the final chapter. :)

The sun had just dipped over the horizon, and out on the rocky beach were all my vampire friends. Lorraine and Michael were splashing about in the water, while Chandler was allowing Jade and Henry to bury him in the sand. It was sort of like a semi-picturesque scene like on the back of a post card from Old Orchard Beach, only the people were much more lifelike and not cheesy looking.

It was still hard to believe that just a few days ago I had died. But in reality, I had simply been reborn as something even more spectacular and beautiful.

It was sort of like being reincarnated.

Adrian led me out across the rocky beach, and I was surprised that the rocks did not hurt my feet. In fact, I could not feel them…for I was gliding over them as if it was a large sheet of black ice.

Henry was the first to notice us and he got up from the sand and came over to us, his steel leg visible under his cargo shorts.

"Kate, I see you're finally awake. How are you feeling?"

"Better." Henry's hazel eyes examined me, and he stopped at my neck.

"I see Damian left you a parting gift," he said with his eyes focusing on the scar on my neck.

"Kate's awake?" Jade jumped up from her spot, and Chandler attempted to turn around in the packed pile of rocks and sand to see me.

Jade took both my hands in hers and hugged me gently, in a sisterly way.

"It's so nice you're okay," she said. "Clarence is happy you're okay too."

"Clarence?"

"The large rock over there," Henry said pointing to a large granite stone.

"I should have known," I said laughing.

Chandler dug himself out of the sand and rocks and ran over to us, all the sand pouring out of his shorts.

"It's nice to see you made it out just fine," he said.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Not really," he said. "But we're going to start a game of Frisbee if you guys would like to join us."

"Sweet!" Lorraine shouted running out of the water, wearing a one-piece bathing suit. Michael followed closely after her and both of them each gave me a hug.

"It's good to have you back, Kate."

"Same here," I said. "But what about everyone back at home?"

Adrian and Michael stopped, and looked at each other for a second. Adrian turned back towards me, and held my hand.

"They all think you died in a car crash…at least, that's what your mother thinks."

"What about Cassie, or Brenda? Do they know about this?"

Lorraine shook her head.

"We had to alter everything…so they wouldn't know."

"So Brenda and Cassie think we're dead?" I asked her.

"Kate, we had to. I know how much you confided in them, but the fact is; no human can ever know. Madeline had no choice but to erase their memories."

That hit me very hard. Did that mean that they thought I was dead?

Or did they never even know me at all?

In the minds of all my loved ones, did I even still exist.

"The murders? Do they remember those too?"

Michael looked at Henry, and Henry turned to face me.

"Yes. But that's all they are. Like we said, everyone thinks you died in a car crash."

It didn't relieve any pain whatsoever…but it was better than telling everyone I became a vampire.

Not really.

I felt bad for leaving everyone behind.

'But I saved them.'

I don't know why Damian said I was sent here by God. In my mind it was crazy.

'Why would God even send me?'

As far as that was concerned, this God was out playing golf, not even stepping in between.

'Why would he even waste his time anyway? He's got better things to do than try and control everything.'

The true reason Damian wanted to kill me would always remain unclear to me, but from the look on his face I knew that he thoroughly enjoyed it. He only brought harm to me because I was in his way, and it was nothing but a game for him.

But this was a game nobody won.

I returned as a vampire, and Damian went back to hell where he belonged.

That was that.

After trying to push the small amount of guilt aside, I just had one last question.

"Adrian."

His green eyes flickered, and he was now looking directly at me.

"Will everyone be safe now? I want to know…is it finally over?"

"That's hard to say," he said. "Damian will want revenge…but he can't get it. He can't kill you…at least, not with us in his way."

"Then is it possible for him to come back?"

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like this happen. He might come back…but next time we'll be ready for him."

In an attempt to reassure me, Adrian held my hand in his and brought my body close to his.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you ever again. That's a promise."

I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed his lips, telling him that I believed every word of what he said.

"Okay, whose playing?" Michael asked picking up an old orange Frisbee from the rocky beach.

Everyone ran over to play, while Adrian and I sat and watched.

I didn't feel like playing Frisbee at the moment. For now, I simply wanted to relax.

After everything that happened, I felt I deserved at least some rest.

In the back of my throat, I could feel an odd drying sensation beginning to form.

Was this the thirst that had been described by other vampires?

"Kate, what is it?"

I grabbed at his wrist and brought him close to my face, so he could see the look in my eyes.

"It's time that you and I went hunting."

He got up from the sand, and took me away from the beach, both of us traveling at speeds I had never traveled on foot.

In a short amount of time, we came upon many small streams that were engraved in a large field. All the water came from the rivers and drained into the oceans, with me being no stranger to such a sight.

Of course, hunting out here would not be a good idea. It may be night, but it wasn't that hard for humans to see us.

"Let's keep going," he said. "The trees get thicker up ahead."

I was relieved to hear that.

Eventually the trees were too thick for mortals to navigate, which was perfect for us to hunt in.

A few minutes passed, and a small fox came by, scraping for food. It was about the size of a large dog, with reddish fur, a bushy tail and dark paws.

It was rare for me to have seen a fox during my human life, but that was before I had my vampire senses.

I could smell the fox from here, and I never thought it would smell so good…although human sounded much more appetizing.

Adrian's dazzling green eyes lit up to a pale sky blue, yearning to feed upon the small fox.

He sunk down slowly into the bushes, and leapt out in a flash, chasing after the fox.

Before the fox even had so much as a chance, Adrian had pinned it down to the ground, the animal struggling to get away from his grasp. He bit into the fox's neck, and slowly began to drain all the blood from it's body, using it as his own means of sustaining himself.

Blood dripped down his chin, appearing so bright compared to his pale eyes and even paler skin.

In a way, it was hauntingly beautiful.

That was when I caught my first scent of blood. I looked up, and over to the trees.

Something was there, and it was unsuspectingly heading towards its predator. Adrian reappeared behind me, and I saw a rather large raccoon running across the forest floor.

As a human, I wouldn't have seen it, but I could now. It was very tan, with a very bushy tail.

Sure, it was cute, but I couldn't help myself. I lunged out of the bushes, and grabbed the raccoon by it's neck before it even had a chance to run up a nearby tree.

In just a few seconds, I had the young raccoon on the forest floor, twitching under my grasp as I had my first taste of fresh blood.

Adrian came out of the bushes, and stood over my shoulder as I drank, watching every move I made. I wondered what he thought of me as of now. Did he find me to be ruthless? Sexy?

I honestly hoped that I didn't frighten him.

"Adrian, would you like some?"

The raccoon had filled me up, and I wanted to be nice and let Adrian have the rest.

"No thank you," he said. I drank the last drops from the raccoon myself and got up from the ground, and wiped the crimson blood from my lips.

"Did I do well?"

"Yes," he said. "Very well. Are you all set now?"

I nodded, and gently wrapped my arms around him, feeling his sweet embrace. My eyes focused up towards him, noticing his lips were still stained with blood.

That little drop of crimson…I was tempted to taste it.

"Am I tempting you?" he asked.

"How did you know?"

Adrian sent me a very dark and sexy smirk.

"I just do," he said in a soft velvety voice.

His lips met mine in a very romantic kiss. This wasn't the first time we had kissed, but for some reason it felt much more special than before.

"I love you," I told him.

"I love you too."

Upon returning to the beach house, we sat together in the room where I had awoken hours earlier as a vampire.

It was nice to be alone with him, and I didn't mind that both of us were quiet. It didn't matter what we did, or what we spoke about; we had forever to do everything.

"Adrian, I'm curious about something."

"What are you curious about?"

"I've been meaning to ask about Andrew and Madeline. How did they meet each other?"

"Andrew was human during the time of the American revolution. He was a young doctor, working to help people for a living, mostly helping deliver babies and take care of children. During the French and Indian War, he was on the battlefield taking care of wounded soldiers and seeing a lot of dead bodies. After that, Andrew lived in Boston during the time of the uprising against the British."

"He was there? That sounds so cool. Did he help with anything important?"

I thought it was fascinating that Andrew had seen so much history unfold before his very eyes. He had seen the birth of our country, but also many other things that he probably never wanted to see; like the Holocaust or the Great Depression.

"Andrew was lucky to be one of the colonists on the ships the evening of the Boston Tea Party, and that was also the same night he was turned into a vampire. He was trying to escape from the British soldiers, just like everyone else, when he was pulled into an alleyway and bitten. He never saw the face of the vampire who killed him, but when he woke up he was no longer human. After that he went into hiding for many years, and eventually he came back to the human world. Andrew went back to work as a doctor, this time taking care of wounded soldiers in the Civil War. That was how he met my brother Henry and they became good friends.

But eventually, Henry found out about Andrew's secret. At first he didn't want to believe it, and when he tried to tell everyone else, they wouldn't believe him. Henry didn't even want to believe that Andrew was a vampire until he lost a leg to an infection after being shot on the battlefield. He didn't want to die, so Andrew agreed to turn him into a vampire. Not long after they found Michael. He was on the verge of dying, and begged Henry and Andrew to save him so he could find me. And you know that Michael turned me into a vampire afterwards.

For a couple decades the four of us traveled the country, in sort of a nomadic way, not staying in one place for very long. During the 1920's we settled down in Chicago for a while so all of us could make some extra money. Andrew found a job as a doctor, Henry went to work at a law firm, and I went wherever Michael could find work. I couldn't tell you how many people turned him away just for the color of his skin. And when they asked me if I wanted the job, I would refuse. I wouldn't work for anyone without Michael there with me. We ended up getting jobs at a thread factory as delivery boys. It wasn't the best pay, but it was one of the few places in the city that would take both of us.

The factory was where we found Madeline. She had come to this country in hopes of becoming an actress, but the only job she could get was in the factory during the day. At night she worked in the streets as a prostitute in an attempt to escape her abusive husband."

The tale of how they all met made better sense than ever to me, especially since Madeline didn't want to talk about her human life.

I was also glad to know that Adrian and the rest of the coven weren't rich for nothing. Each one of them had to work for a living for many years to get to where they are now, while still hiding their true identities as vampires.

"So how did you save her?" I asked.

"Michael and I were bringing in a shipment of spools when we noticed that Madeline wasn't there. We found out that she was sick with pneumonia, and there would be a very unlikely chance she would be coming back to work. Back then there wasn't any way to treat common diseases, and at the time an epidemic had killed off hundreds of people in the state of Illinois.

At night while we were hunting in the streets, we found where Madeline lived. Her husband was out for the night, and we brought in Andrew to help her. I don't exactly know what happened at that moment, but we all knew that Madeline had fallen in love with him. The look on her face…it was kind of like yours. It was like something was missing, and that she needed someone to fill that hole for her."

"Was I really that easy to read?" I asked him.

He turned to me and smiled.

"I only know because I felt the same way. Everyone needs a companion, even vampires."

"Well, what happened after that?"

"Madeline recovered and went back to work, but began to make less rounds at night. Instead she would come visit us, but mostly as an excuse to see Andrew. That was when he started to fall in love with her as well. The only problem with that was the fact that she was still married.

Her husband found out about her night job and Andrew, and he divorced her a month later. The divorce itself was nasty, and Madeline ended up without even so much as a penny to her name. For a while she wasn't at work during the day, but she was still wandering around at night, trying to make money as usual. She didn't have any problem making money off of men, but her customers were just as bad as her husband.

I'm not going to tell you the details of what happened to her, but Andrew found her under a bridge and she badly hurt. He took her in and all of us took care of her, bringing her extra blankets so she'd stay warm, making sure she had food to eat, and keeping her company at night. Madeline had never slept soundly, and for the first time she could knowing we were there for her.

"Did she ever find out that you were vampires?" I asked him. "I mean, it didn't take long for me to figure it out. You guys don't eat, you never sleep and your body is colder than ice. Surely she must have found out?"

"By the time she did, she had fallen ill again. This time it was tuberculosis. We used to call it consumption. She would be coughing all night, and began to run a very high fever along with it. Andrew tried his best to care for her, but he didn't want to loose her. On the last night of her human life, he proposed to her and she said yes. But she didn't know that when she agreed to be his bride that she would also become a vampire. From that point on, she stayed with us and she's been like a mother to us since then. I guess it's her way of paying us back for everything we did for her when she was human.

Does that answer your question, Kate?"

After hearing that story, I thought of Madeline much more differently. She didn't have an easy life, but she somehow pushed through every obstacle just to survive. And the universe, being cruel and unforgiving…it ended up working in her favor by sending her a man that loved her, and the loving family that she never seemed to have.

"Yes. It does answer my question…thank you. But I have another one."

"Okay…"

"You never told me about your mother."

"I really don't know much about her. She died when I was born, but I do have a picture of her."

He reached into his back pocket, which until now I assumed was a chain wallet attached to the belt loop of his pants.

Instead it was a very old watch, and inside was a picture.

"This is my mother, Evelyn."

In the small frame was a young woman with curly dark brown hair, fair skin, and those same piercing, almost unnaturally green eyes that Adrian had.

"She's beautiful," I said. I was in complete awe, and was glad that her son turned out to be so handsome.

Adrian closed the pocket watch and placed it back in his pocket.

For a few moments we sat there on the bed, staring out the window as the sun began to rise. A new day had started, but also a new life had begun as well.

It would be my life with Adrian, and no matter how many days, years or even centuries passed…

We would always have each other forever.

Epilogue: Kate's Thoughts

When my journey began, I was a teenage girl, on the horizon of a new chapter in my life. I was a seventeen year-old, high school senior at Bristol High School, and my life was great.

But through that time, I was also searching for something. It wasn't fame, or fortune, nor was it that lead role in the school play.

It was love.

The kind of love I already had was very fulfilling. I had my mother, and my younger siblings, Grace and Joshua. I loved them so much.

I had friends who would always be there for me (whether I liked it or not) and in return I would do everything for them.

The kind of love I was looking for was companionship. I was at that age where I was hoping some amazing guy would appear out of nowhere and take me away.

And by some miraculous miracle, it happened.

Out of all the possible guys out there, there was only one that could truly complete me and love me for everything I am.

That guy was Adrian Daniels.

He was the thing that was missing in my life, and his love filled that empty space in my heart.

And through being with him, I also found myself.

Like every teenager, I was wondering who I was.

I thought I knew who I was when I was a child, but then everything changed and I was left rather puzzled and confused as to where to go.

Through this past year, I actually felt more grown up. Before I met Adrian, I was depended on others, and naïve in many ways.

But If I learned anything at all from this experience, it was that I'm loyal, caring, determined, and willing to do anything for those I care about.

That is who I am now.

It doesn't matter if I am dead. Apparently, the world didn't want me to disappear.

Vampire or not, I will continue on with my life.

My journey from light to darkness is over, and now I can re-enter into the light once more.

Kate Sofia Brown,

March 23, 2012

The end. That's it.

I want to thank everyone for reading this story, reviewing, favoriting, etc. Your support was very much appreciated.

If you want more romance and vampires, try reading Odd Attraction (But if you're sick of Twilight, you might not want to).

I'm also starting another story called Pandora's Box, and you can go to my profile for the summary.

FairyofEarth