The Spark, The Flames and The Ashes

Holy War

So this was it. I'd tried to save my country, but instead I'd pretty much started the vampire apocalypse. I slumped against the wall in despair until Elizabeth picked me up.

"Kier, you can't give up. Even if we fight and lose, at least we tried. Besides, together we have a chance to at least take one of them down with us." I looked up at her.

"You.. You really think we have a chance?" She smiled softly downwards.

"I do. And if we lose, at least we die together." She grabbed my hand and held it tightly. "Either way, I'm not gonna let you do this alone. We're in this together, until second death do we part." I smiled lovingly back up at my wife and stood up straight. I knew now that I owed it to her to at least try to destroy the Eternal. I called up Ashley and Victoria to try and formulate a plan.

"Now, we're up against three vampire gods. One of them can bring dead vampires back to life so naturally he'll be our first port of call. Elizabeth and I will try to bait him into turning up here so that we can take care of him. Victoria, you'll need to look around the cellars to see if there's any more information we missed. Ash, you're gonna have to run back to the palace. Lawrence worshipped the Eternal before the Cardinal was even turned, that means there might be something at his former home." He nodded and took off before I'd even looked away.

"Team dismissed?" I added weakly. Victoria ran for the stairs and I led Elizabeth to a control room. "This is where the Cardinal arranges his security patrols. He'll have every single guard in the building out looking for us right now, so we've got plenty of choice for god bait. All I have to do is use my authority fingerprint to override his routes, and I'll divert one to this corridor. Lawrence kept a few diamonds in the cellar of the palace, and since he's presumed dead they're mine to use as I see fit."

I pressed a few buttons on the screen to divert the weakest looking guard. I pulled on a pair of the Cardinal's leather and lead gloves and took a tissue-wrapped parcel out of my pocket. "Safety first. You might want to step back. This gets quite messy, and I don't want you ruining that dress." An alarm blared out and I grinned. Footsteps pounded down the corridor and I held my arm back, ready to release. As soon as the vampire came around the corner I hurled the diamond with all my might. It hit him right between the eyes, and I barely had time to register the look of shock on his face before he exploded.

A figure walked through the wall in front of us and I actually almost groaned in disappointment. With them being called gods, I'd expected something a bit more theatrical. Bright light, ominous music, at least an unusual form. The thing that stood before us looked just like any other vampire. Tall. Slim. Dark hair. How boring. Markrow glared at us.

"You disgust me, abomination. Vampirism is a second chance at life, a life that humans waste worrying about when it will end. Vampires have the ability to truly live. And yet you feel like you have the right to snatch that gift away from them like it was you who gave it to them in the first place. I think it's time I repaid the favour. An eye for an eye, so to speak." He held out his hand, and I grinned as I pulled out my secret weapon. Markrow raised his eyebrow.

"A Winchester hand cannon? A beautiful piece, I grant you. Quality craftsmanship, they don't make them like this anymore... I must admit, vintage weaponry is quite a fascination of mine. But I digress. A masterpiece though it is, it will be quite ineffective against any vampire, let alone a god such as myself." He spread his arms and levitated his body a few feet into the air. "If that's all you have to offer, then I'm afraid I must wish you goodbye." I smiled as I pointed the Winchester at him and pulled the trigger. The specially-crafted diamond bullet pierced his head before he even had time to notice, and Markrow fell to the ground in a mess of diamond dust and crimson rain.