Apocalypse

Chapter One

As he put his hand to my face, I looked into his eyes and realized that he was truly all I had ever dreamt of. Everything about him, right down to the way his eyes lit up when he returned my gaze, was everything I'd ever wanted. He pulled me closer, ever so slowly. His eyes convincing me to get lost in them and his lips beckoning me to lose all thought and reason. He leaned in even more, closing the small gap between our lips. His lips nearly touching mine, his eyes moving to mine, smiling warmly for just a moment... tears welling in them. I took the hand that wasn't pressed into my bloody side and set it against his cheek, brushing away the tears as they fell silently.

"It's okay." I said shakily, knowing there was nothing I could say to make this any easier, but that saying nothing would be an even more unkind fate. "I love you. You'll be okay, you're going to move much quicker without my short legs to slow you down." I chuckled at the light hearted joke we always made, as did he, but a sharp pain caused me to wince, stopping the moment as quickly as it had begun. Damn that was funny too...

"I don't think I can do this. I need you, I-"His face contorted with pain as he started sobbing uncontrollably, burying his face into my shoulder as I wrapped my arm around him, wincing as I hugged him close. He looked up and glared at the creature's dead mate, his lips twisting into a scowl. "I will find him, and I swear I will make him suffer for what he did to you."

"Erik, no. You've already killed his mate. That's revenge enough."

"No Elizabeth! He will pay! I can't let him get away with this!" His rising voice made me cringe, a deep fear knotting my stomach as he spat each word.

"Erik listen to me." I said, as he continued angrily rambling about how he planned to make the beast suffer. "Listen to me!" I had to shout over him, making my breathing even more labored than it already was. "Listen," I managed to say again between gasps and bloody coughs, reaching for his hand. He took it and sat patiently, sadness and sorrow seeming to permanently etch themselves into his face. "You will not go after him." He opened his mouth to protest but shut it again when I squeezed his hand, telling him I wasn't finished. "Erik, sweetheart, you have a son at home. Atlas needs you. You're all he's got now. It sure as hell isn't going to help him if you go off and get killed by the same monster that killed his mother, or to abandon him trying to get your revenge. Honestly I'm not sure which would be worse. Its suicide, and you know it. Honey I love you and I know that you love me. But if you are still wanting to kill yourself over this, I need you to remember our son, who idolizes you. What are you teaching him? Not only that, why are you leaving him?"

"That's not-"

"That's exactly what will happen and you know it!" I interrupted him, tears now coursing down my face as well as my voice rises. "You just don't want to live without me and I get that, I do, but you're going to have to buck up because you still have your son. You still have your family, and the other hunters. Now Atlas? He has you. That's it, so if you can't give up that suicide mission for me, then you need to do it for him because I will not let my child lose both parents, especially if one is lost because of pure stupidity."

I only half regretted the harshness of my words. I hated hurting him, but I knew that he needed it. He didn't want to hear what he needed to hear.

"I love you Lizzy." He cried, the use of my nickname proving my harshness to be a necessity.

"I know. I love you too, so much Erik. I always will." I was now sobbing to my heart's content, no longer able to hold back the pain of losing him... Not only my lover, but my best friend. The thought of him losing me stung more than the agony of dying. I hated myself. How could I leave him like this? How could I go off and get myself killed right in front of his eyes?

"I'm so sorry Lizzy." He sobbed as he held my weakening body in his arms. "I'm so-"

I interrupted his words with an abrupt kiss, leaning into his lips as our tears met in the middle. It was funny. Even in my final moments he still managed to give me butterflies that seemed to tear crazily at my stomach. Holding him close, knotting my fingers in his hair... I almost forgot that I was in the process of dying. But of course the pain demanded to be felt.

"Ah!" I cried out, gasping as pain tore through my body, interrupting the blissful kiss. His eyes snapped open and I could see the torture return to his eyes as he was brought back into reality with me.

"What can I do?" He begged me, wanting desperately to just stop the pain.

"I don't think...there's anything you can do Erik. Just...stay with me." I gasped through gritted teeth.

"Always." He said, as he kissed my forehead lightly and wrapped his arms around me, holding my head to his chest to try to comfort me. I listened to his heartbeat as I felt the world around me melt together and fade away. At first, I could hear the crickets and birds singing along with the night, oblivious to the tragedy unfolding in the human world around them and the river flowing steadily beside us. Then they started to fade, slowly. First the river, then the crickets, then the birds. Until the only sound was that of my lover's heartbeat beating fiercely against his chest.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too Lizzy. Always." He choked.

Then there was