Eternal Night

(III) Chapter 37: The Fall

"Lower them down a bit," a familiar voice said from somewhere behind him.

"What?" he struggled, but then he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He heard a gasp and managed to look away for just a second to find Antón Bernardini standing beside him.

No – not Antón in the flesh – but some kind of being that was part corporeal, part spiritual manifestation.

It couldn't be! He couldn't believe it. But then he saw Mariella at his side as they both peered over the edge of the chasm and into the abyss together.

"Are they all right?" a decidedly unfamiliar feminine voice called out from behind and that's when he heard it. The sound of Jacob choking back a sob.

"Margot?"

A beautiful woman with chestnut brown hair appeared, standing beside Mariella as she too glanced down into the hellish cavern below.

"Lilith is still holding on," Mariella explained, and she looked to Vlad, those emerald eyes of her both ghostly and yet so real. "Vlad, you need to let go."

"What?! No!" Rémy shouted from the end of the chain.

"It's okay, Reynaud," Margot replied, looking to her brother with a reassuring smile. "It'll only be for a moment. They just need to fall a little further so they can shake her off." She then marched over to Jacob who had taken to openly weeping as he stared at her in disbelief. She gripped the space of chain just above his hands.

"You're not real... there's no way you can be real," the man was muttering through his tears.

"Oh, get it together, Šarić," a booming male voice called out. "You can blubber later."

Vladislaus recognized the owner of the voice as soon as he stepped into view.

It was Louis de Chacier – Francesca's father.

The man gripped the space of chain just above his daughter's hands before glancing behind him.

"Come on, Vita! I saved you a spot!"

Elisaveta de Chacier practically drifted across the snow-laden lawn. She was beautiful – almost elf-life, with her regal figure, dark hair, and warm eyes.

"I'm coming!" she called out.

"Maman?" Rémy breathed in disbelief, eyes welling with tears of his own now. Elisaveta looked at her eldest son and smiled sweetly at him.

"Later, Reynaud. We need to save Francesca first." After taking her place just in front of her husband, she then looked over at Alayna who was positioned in front of her. The woman looked like a doe caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. "Hello, Lana."

"Aunt Vita? Is it really you?" Alayna whimpered.

"Think you can make room for your mother?"

Alayna's grip nearly slackened completely when Cecilia de Chacier stepped into the garden, a sob catching in her throat.

"Cece, darling – there's room for you here by Lana and this handsome young man," Elisaveta called out, but then she looked to Niklaus. "Terribly sorry, dear – I didn't catch your name."

Niklaus looked between the female and a on the verge of hysterics Alayna with equal parts confusion and disbelief.

"Niklaus, ma'am."

"Niklaus," Elisaveta repeated. "A pleasure. Would you be so kind as to move up a little to make some room for my sister-in-law?"

"Of course," and Niklaus scooted forward on the chain just as Cecilia bent down to grab hold of the links next to her daughter's hand.