Rapture

Epilogue: Light

My heart broke when it left his.

I remember the first beat. A memory that cracks the dam holding all the others. And now the flood is upon me.

After the vampire had his way with my body, I wanted nothing to do with my own flesh.  Left alone in darkness, I stayed limp. Telling myself apart from the dirty stone floor seemed like a trouble not worth having.

I didn't eat any gruel, or drink from the water trickling along the side of the cell. I couldn't find the power of will to do either.

The only thought that could cheer me up is that of joining twin sister soon. It would calm me into numbness, as I had nothing more to lose. My only friend in the world was already gone.

I was ready to die. Then I felt it.

A heartbeat. Not the faltering thing in my own chest, but raw and deep inside my stomach. Tiny, but oh so powerful.

I cried and screamed, and drank and ate. Because I knew there's only one answer.

Power. 

My boy will have power. My boy will have my vengeance. My boy will bring light to the darkness.

I dedicated every bite, every sip, every breathe to him. Even my dreams were of his form. 

I smiled when it hurt. I knew I was making him strong.

And when fear came, that my baby will suffer like I did in this world, I learned that he's recreating me as much as I am creating him.

Give him power. Give him courage. Doubt brings suffering. Focus makes way.

In the darkness of my cell, there was no track of time but the growth of my son. And the time was coming.

I exercised and prepared my body for labor. I wasn't prepared to be snatched to a sunlit room, and held down screaming as I delivered the baby.

And even the pain of labor seemed dull and distant when they took him away, to the woman they called queen.

His heart parted from mine, and I didn't even get to hold him.

I was unable to contain the pain. Unable to even face it until I saw him again.

My boy pulls me up the cliff's edge, and I collapse. My heart wails out on its own as my arms rake his back over and over, trying to embrace him closer than possible.

After a long time, he slowly backs away, his thumbs wiping the streams along my cheeks.

"Can you stop crying, mother?" He asks me with a smile. I shake my head at him, my voice shaking with it.

"I can't. It hurts too much."

"Please," My boy rises, and tilts my chin so I look at him. He has grown into a fine young man. Stronger even than the king. "Let me make it better."

He takes my hand and lifts me to my feet. He gestures over my shoulder, and I turn around.

There's no sign of the new sun. The sky is dark with an impending storm. 

"Rain..? In the desert?"

"No." My boy laughs, and spreads his arms. "Fire."

The sky and the earth thunder as one. The mountains sunder open, and lava pours out, casting out in molten glow.

I would've screamed if I had any air left. But the camp below the cliff screams for me as waves of lava roll towards them from all directions.

"What is happening?!"

"Can you not see, mother?" My boy stares down with a smile. "The prophecy is fulfilling."

"What prophecy?"

"Yours, mother. Light has come to the darkness. This world comes to an end."

The screams silence and the camp disappears along with the sand underneath a rising surface of lava. I can feel the heat radiating all the way up the cliff. But I feel hollow and cold inside.

I caress my son's cheek, and stare at his eyes as they reflect the world-devouring fire.

"Is this what you wanted?"

"Yes. Is it not beautiful? The ending of all pains, the final release."

I stare with him at the pouring lava as forks lightning start splitting the skies.

"You're right. It is beautiful." I smile a little, and peer downwards. The molten surface rises rather quickly, steadily climbing up the cliff we stand on.

Unable to bear the thought of my son burning, I step off the ledge. 

He grabs and pulls me back, calling out in panic. "Please wait!"

"I want to be with you just a little bit longer." He smiles at me, and I squeeze his hand not to break-down crying.

"You're right," I smile back, looking from my son to the flames. "Let's watch it together."

He returns a soft squeeze around my hand. "See? It doesn't have to hurt so much,

We are together in the end."