Hey guys this is the final chapter of the book. Damn. I can't believe it. However please read the author's note. ESPECIALLY IF THIS ENDING DOES NOT SUIT YOU OR THE EVENTS OF LAST CHAPTER ARE NOT HOW YOU WANTED IT TO END. So please read, comment, and vote:)
Dedicated to all the readers that stuck by me. Love you.
Unedited
The soft breeze went through my scarlet hair as it caressed my soft skin. The sun shined down between the tree branches upon me in my black dress as I stared down at the fresh soil on the ground.
Micheal had said it would have been a bad idea to bury him somewhere public. Too many questions brings too many lies, and why would we want that as his legacy.
I stared down at the fresh grave in the woods. Surrounded by flowers with a pathetic stick made crucifix.
This wasn't supposed to happen. None of it.
It has been weeks since it happened. And I felt worse than before. Not even Beth's prescience, Calum's reassurance, my spring spectacular gold medal, or high school diploma was able to change my mood.
I was supposed to play dumb. Put on that fake smile. Pretend everything was alright. It fooled many, but there were some who saw through my ruse.
My brother didn't understand and would ask me what was wrong, why I was so down, and, of course, where was Luke.
I guess that is why my mood never wavered. I held it in and let it manifest. Why else could I have done? Reveal what Luke is? What Calum has become? What world we truly live in?
My eyes stung as my gaze remained transfixed on the burial site.
It was ironic really. Luke had gone on and on about killing me. And here I was, alive and well because he sacrificed himself for me.
Soft footsteps became audible as another body stood beside me.
"How long have you been here"?
I looked over to the newly blonde vampire as he stood in his black skinny jeans and black jacket.
I didn't look at Mikey when I replied. "Since the service".
He didn't react to my answer. I had expected him to chuckle, to say something contradicting or sarcastic, hell I expected him make fun of me. But he didn't. He stared at me and nodded, ignoring that I had revealed that I had been there for two hours.
"It's funny", Mikey said, "as a vampire, death is something I see everyday". He paused. "But no matter how often I see it, it still impacts me the same way".
"Besides maybe the deaths you caused", I said under my breath.
My statement did not escape his supernatural hearing as he chuckled.
"Actually those still do affect me, oddly enough".
I looked over at him, intrigued.
He smirked. "When I see someone I don't know or care for leaving this earth, I feel empty. It freaks me out as I realize my humanity is deteriorating with time. Have I grown so accustomed to death that it doesn't affect me anymore? At first I thought it was a side effect of being a vampire, but I was wrong"?
His smile faded. "It is a side effect of tragedy. After experiencing so much trauma and misery, you become hollow. An empty shell. You try to feel remorse because you look heartless to others, but really you feel nothing. Sometimes you take so much pain that you become numb to the future".
He waved his hand over the grave. "But there is always one thing that has the power to reach past that numbness, as it becomes a new form of pain you never expected possible. As often as I have seen death, and as accustomed I have to being surrounded by death, there are still exceptions that manage to take a stab past my defenses. It is the weakness of humanity. We are emotional creatures. At one point, you will feel no matter how much you think you have become numb". He looked back to me. "That is when I realize, I truly am still human".
I stared back at Mikey, my expression unreadable. "You cared about him".
He snickered. "Of course I did, I created him".
"Why did you"?
The question caught the vampire off guard as I elaborated. "Why did you turn him and save him from those vampires all those years ago? Why didn't you just leave him"?
Mikey's grayish green eyes stared at me. His face unreadable as he bit his lip.
"I don't know", he answered honestly.
"I guess no matter how much a vampire thinks they have left their past life behind, there are moments that prove otherwise".
I looked away from him, looking back at the grave that held that blond haired vampire.
"What about you"?
I snapped back at Mikey, confused by his question.
He expanded on it.
"What is you felt towards him"?
I hesitated. That was the question that bothered me for a while.
"I'm not sure", I said, "Luke and I had a complicated relationship. At first it was fake, then it was real, and then it was gone".
There was a pause as our conversation seized for a moment as we kept our eyes downward.
(A/N: read the author's note ;) )
I was the first to break it. "There had to have been a better way. Why did he put himself in that situation"?
Mikey laughed. "Because he loved you, you stupid human".
My heart ached at the third word Mikey used.
"No he didn't, he couldn't have", I said shaking my head no, "how could a human girl he knew for a few months make a vampire of two hundred years love her".
"Simple", Mikey said, "she was something that the vampire only experienced one other time in his lifetimes of life".
Another pause came as it sunk in.
"So it's my fault, then", I said, my voice croaked, "he is dead because of me. I killed him".
"No", Mikey said. "You saved him".
I looked over to him.
Mikey continued. "Life is complicated for everyone, mortals and immortals alike. It has many poisons that are unique to each individual. Poisons that can either kill you, or change you".
Mikey's gaze remained on the ground as he spoke. "Marcus's poison was grief and vengeance, Aleisha's was love and addiction, and Luke's was regret".
Mikey's eyes found mine as he continued. "Aleisha perished greatly as her poison and Marcus died 2oo years ago from his poison. Luke was almost died as well. He never forgave himself for murdering his family, for causing Aleisha's accident, for taking away Marcus's sister. So he tried to distract himself. Act like how he thought he should act. Like a monster. Maybe then his poison would be erased".
I listened intently as Mikey eyed me, his face void of humor.
"But he was wrong. He wasn't exterminating the toxin, he was helping it as it ate away at him. He went after people that reminded him of her. Knowingly or not, he was reliving that moment. To him, it was the best way to be rid of the guilt. Enough repetition will make the pain less severe".
His eyes scanned me.
"Until he met you. You broke that cycle, Katherine, he couldn't kill you. And with the prevention of your death, came the prevention of erasing Aleisha and the pain all over again. He had to see it, he had to feel it. He wanted to suffer like she did. Because that was what he thought he had to do. He was a vampire after all, a destroyer of innocence. But as time moved on, Luke met you. Saw you. And realized he could be more. Perhaps that is why he pushed you away after your little incident. Stupid boy should have realized and SI can't be drunken by nor can they drink from a vampire. He saw your death, but it wasn't caused by him. He saw the death of someone he grew to care for that he hadn't prepared himself for. It made him feel things he hadn't felt for centuries. It made him feel human".
He paused before continuing. "You may have been an SI, Katherine, but you were never his poison, you were his remedy".
"But he died", I croaked.
"No, he was freed".
The air grew still as we stared at one another until I looked away.
"What will you be doing now"?
"I will be going east, Calum will need my help training him for what's come. He is impressive you know, not many newborns have the control he has".
He smiled to himself. "It is interesting really, Marcus is the one that transformed him, but Luke is the one that completed him. I almost feel like a damn old grandpa".
Mikey looked back at me. "You're heading to Juliard in the morning"?
I nodded. "Yes, my brother and I are leaving early morning. I wish had told me he dropped out of university. I guess I should have know with all those deliveries for him".
Mikey's hand went to my shoulder as his eyes met mine. "This will be a new start for both of you".
I laughed, which shocked me, because I haven't laughed in weeks.
"You expect me to just move on from all of this"?
He shrugged. "This feeling you have right now, will be there, and get worse. But at one point, it will get better til it no longer hurts".
"You're poisoned right now, Katherine, now are you going to die, or are you going to live out to your remedy"?
We stared at one another before I nodded. "Thank you, Michael".
He smiled at me, as he patted my shoulder and walked off. "Don't stay out too long, the cold will kill you before your poison does".
I chuckled at his remark and brought my attention back to Luke.
It was silent. Just me and the grave. As I sighed.
"You definitely flipped my life upside down Luke Hemmings. Made me realize I'm not normal. That the world is not normal."
I swallowed a lump in my throat. "You made me experience joy, sadness, anger, heartbreak, and perhaps, even love".
"You had lifetimes of experience, but managed to make have them in months. Were all of them good, no, but the ones that are there. I will hold on to".
A tear rolled down my face. "I don't regret meeting you Luke. I never will. You were not a monster Luke, you were just fractured".
"But you were never broken Luke".
I looked up towards the sky and smiled as the light shone down my face.
"Thank you". I said, "see you again"
And curtain call. To think this book went on for so long. Thank you so much for all those he have stuck with this book for so long. I really love you. Now let's get on to the good stuff.
Many of you were...shocked...with what I chose to do with the last chapter. Many of you had suggestions and wanted me somehow continue on despite with what occurred. Let me be the first to say I loathe forced sequels and I don't like people just randomly coming back from the dead (cough cough vampire diaries cough cough I still love you though)
That being said, this book is done. But if you guys want there to be another installment, perhaps with the possibility of the return of a character, I may be able to do it. Her were my options:
A prequel (perhaps showing Luke and Aleisha's story)
Or a sequel.
Like I said, I hate forced sequels, they don't always work. And I may choose it to do it. But if you guys want it I may be able to. I have an idea but please tell me yours and maybe I will take notes.
For about 2-3 weeks I will give you time to tell me whether you would want a prequel or a sequel and/or what you would want from them. I will also have that time to have you ask me questions about the book, myself, the possible sequel/prequel, or whatever you choose. Afterwards I will post my answers and tell you what I choose to do.
If you want me to leave it as is and leave the book alone that is cool too.
Give me feedback and don't forget to hit that star button. Thank you so much. :)