The love note rests in ashes on the table, evidence I desire to get rid of as soon as possible. Elijah's like a statue by the wall, his brilliant mind clearly spinning in overdrive. Everyone's noticed. Last they saw of him, of us, we'd just made the decision to disappear together, and not a single soul could have torn the smiles off of our faces at the time.
Deep in thought, they no doubt see the vampire we're all very familiar with: the one anticipating a foe.
"You both have caused quite the stir. Walk into any vampire lair and you'll hear the most absurd theories about you two. It grew rather tiresome to have to sway them all."
I smile, squeezing Paris' hand. "So, that's why you're here?"
"No, turns out we're rather bored without you two creating messes for us to clean up."
Damien chuckles nervously when Elijah doesn't crack up at Paris' humor. "He's just kidding, of course."
I glare at Elijah while shaking my head. "Don't worry about him. He's just overreacting."
"Overreacting, really? Am I?"
I knew that would get a rise out of him. Erika, who has been uncharacteristically quiet since arriving, smirks at the outburst. He is the only person on edge in this room, so he sets out to enlighten them all.
"Has she told you of her visions? The new frequent ones?"
My mouth drops unsurely, caught off guard. "Elijah, you don't know that it's..."
"Who else would get in here without forcing entry? Who else would dare test me this way? No vampire would."
Paris frowns. "The space visions, you mean? The shadow she sees? Is that who you speak of?"
"Yes."
"What did he do?"
I roll my eyes. "We don't even know—"
"Whoever it is claims to love Cassandra, claims she's his thoughts in the night hours."
Erika touches the roses, gently, blinking as I did to find them soft as the surface of water. "These are real?"
"Another oddity," Elijah grumbles.
"There must be some wires crossed. Perhaps the roses were brought here on accident, a simple mistake."
"The room was locked."
"Anyone can make a key nowadays."
I nod. "I agree."
Elijah glowers at me. "Of course you do. You just want me to ignore this."
"I want you to ignore this because it doesn't matter! You cannot be replaced, Elijah!"
I've never heard him so unsure of himself, of us. Clearly, neither have his closest friends and companions. They have become mute, their features alarmed to find us in such disarray.
If only they'd found us last night, they would truly be alarmed.
Elijah's arms remain crossed. His eyes won't sway from my own.
"This man is in your mind," he whispers, his teeth clamped, his face tight.
"And you are in my heart. Which do you think has more power over me?"
On top of Erika and Damien's inner monologues of curiosity that I can hear over my own turbulent thoughts, Paris is the only one thinking as rationally as I am.
"I think we should go wait in the hall, darling," Paris insists to Damien, who is already moving to his feet, reaching out for Erika, who actually hesitates leaving, enthralled by the commotion they've conveniently walked in on, commotion that leaves Elijah, a confident powerful vampire, feeling unbalanced, unsure of his power... which is greater than he even knows.
Damien blinks at Elijah's stone-cold face, shocked, his thoughts flurrying. This behavior is unlike him.
Paris glances to the black roses on the table, thinking to himself on whether he should take the vase with him to dispose of them. Not wishing him to know I'm inside of his mind, I rephrase my answer to his mind.
"Take the flowers with you please, Paris."
He scoops them up, passing by Elijah, who hasn't looked away from me, yet won't speak.
We are much changed from the people we were a year ago in Russia, or in Italy, or in Vienna. Egypt has been a place of exploration, not just of the world, but of ourselves. Paris senses what a month's training of my mind has amounted to.
It's made Elijah doubt me.
As soon as the door is closed, Elijah speaks.
"Tell me, do you know who he is?"
"No, and even if I did, it wouldn't matter."
"Have you had visions you haven't told me of?"
"The last one I had was in the Sahara."
Leaning back on the mattress, I squint at him, aggravation flaring. His features slim to mirror mine, both of us clashing in a way that is so natural and yet so off-putting for us both, especially after the sordid night we just had.
"I don't like being doubted," I say.
"I don't like having to share you," he counters, just as harshly.
"He is the reason you are here. He is on our side."
"All you have told me is that he guides you, that he was this ominous spirit that comes and goes as he pleases. Like how I know your soul, he knows your mind."
"I never said that!"
"I'm saying it," he snaps. "Cassandra, those are real roses. Materialized. He isn't some fucking figment of your imagination. He wants you."
I throw up my hand, surging to my feet. "This isn't just some creature I can do away with, Elijah! I didn't ask for any of this! It happened to me! What do you expect? I'll summon him and tell him to fuck off?"
He is riddled with tension, his muscles straining to keep himself composed. His new green eyes flicker with anger as he stares at me, having fallen completely silent.
"I'm just as in the dark as you are, Elijah," I whisper, turning away from his intimidating gaze. "I don't know what else you want me to say."
"I fear the path you took to bring me back to you is the path that will eventually attempt to drive you away from me."
I spin on him, wide-eyed, his words stabbing deep to a sore insecurity. "Are you saying you'd go?"
His gaze softens, unsurely. "You know I wouldn't go."
"But I would? That's what you're saying?"
"What if he—"
I make it to him fast enough that he doesn't expect it. My hand presses over his mouth, refusing to hear the words I know are coming, words that he knows are impossible.
"I want this to be the last time you ever doubt our love in front of me, Elijah. You died for me. I died for you." I release his mouth, grabbing his hand, holding it to my chest. "You can feel me. You are apart of me."
There's a distracting amount of jealousy behind his eyes. "I want all of you."
"You have it, god damn it. You do." I grab his nape, hoping to squeeze some sense into him. "Stop this."
He stares down at me long enough and hard enough that I feel the release in him, his unwillingness to push me back to anger. His hands move up the backs of my arms, pulling me in close. I settle my cheek onto his chest, exhaling, shocked I feel relief to be defusing whatever this was. Our arguments are frequent and full of passion, but no matter how heated, there's no risk of disrepair. Our devotion to each other always remains as fiercely as before.
This relief is frightening.
It means I fear an outcome we cannot return from... it means I sense a discord.
It should not be happening. Elijah should not doubt me. I should not be doubting myself.
And that leaves an important question: could he be right? Could darkness be befalling us both?
My arms slacken round his neck and wind around his waist, my fingers digging into his shirt, desperately needing the grounding.
"Tell me what you're thinking," he whispers.
Keep your mouth shut. Keep your mouth—
"Are you doing this because you think I'm becoming like her?"
Sensing the rupture to our calm, he makes me look at him. "Her?"
My insides twist while mentioning her name. "Angelica."
I watch his eyes widen then grimace with disbelief, and it does please me. He looks completely caught off-guard by the comparison. "How does anything going on here have to do with her?"
"You left her because she became evil... what if..."
He shakes his head, not allowing me to finish. "Angelica wasn't you. We didn't share what you and I do. We made no sacrifices for each other. We were never faithful or even kind. From the very first day I met her, she was pulled towards the dark."
"I am the dark, Elijah. It's only been a month and look what's happening. Look at us!" I pull back, planting myself a few feet from him. "Something bad is coming. I need to know you are with me in it."
His stare slowly, glacially returns it's accusing flare. "Who told you something was coming?"
"Elijah!"
"Cassandra!"
I pull my eyes away from his glare, aggravated that we're about to be interrupted. The door slams open, crumbling some of the wall in the impact. Erika is looking between us, her eyes buggering from her beautiful, forever young face.
She's wearing the look of pure fear.
"You need to see this. Outside. Now!" she gasps, disappearing as fast as she came. Elijah moves first and I follow. Both of us could travel through the tunnels in seconds, and yet we don't. We walk towards the exit, dread expanding within our bodies, signals of alarm paralyzing us both.
By the time we reach the great hall, we can hear commotions, excited commotions. When we're discovered, everyone stops what they're doing, bowing their knees to the ground. The room comes to a complete halt.
Elijah glances back at me, the malice completely gone. We continue past the devoted vampires, scaling the steps for the mortal world. When we get high enough, we start to hear the roars. They are bone-chilling, inhuman roars, the same from the night of Elijah's resurrection.
With those howls are also screams, screams from the humans.
I can hear their panic.
In the small tunnel we climb, Elijah's hand opens behind him for mine. I take it instantly, too terrified to speak as we reach the top and Elijah guides us into darkness.
Egypt is dark... and it is morning.
Damien, Paris and Erika are standing a few feet from us, eyes set on the sky. While the roars of the undead emanate from the ground, Elijah and I witness the phenomenon that has brought the world to a halt.
An eclipsed sun.
A world shrouded in perpetual night.
The temperature has dropped. The streets are chaotic. There are people shaking the gates a few feet away simply to get onto holy ground. The roars are so loud it's almost impossible to think.
No meteorologists will never be able to explain this.
No scientists will be able to pinpoint where the noises are coming from, other than with an ear to the ground.
Elijah releases my hand, and I see the way his expressive eyes begin to widen in horror. The way his hauntingly perfect features fall understanding the consequences of a prophecy left unfulfilled.
"No," he whispers, shaking his head. "No."
Damien looks back at the both of us, all of us feeling the same sense of purpose.
As creatures of the night, we should be feeling a sense of freedom. A thirst for bloodshed.
I don't just see Egypt's panic. I see America's. I see Russia's. Italy's. India's. China's.
I see it everywhere. This is happening... everywhere.
It's time. Prepare.
The ominous warning is all I can focus on while my new skin tingles, unable to experience the same sense of terror they do. My heart is at war with my mind. To drown out the cries is easy, but the guilt that comes with it is suffocating, even without the need for breath.
Paris disrupts my inner turmoil. I can hardly see him in the darkness.
"Cassandra."
I look away from the imprisoned sun, looking at them all. All except Elijah. He isn't looking at me. He's probably terrified by what he'll see.
"Is this...?"
"Darkness has befallen Egypt, and has spread throughout the world."
Damien steps closer to me, needing more. "What does that mean?"
The words come from Elijah's reluctant mouth. Not mine.
"It means we failed. It means they are all doomed. It means... it means the world as we have always known it has just ended."
I gaze at the man I love imploringly, wishing he'd look at me. But he can't. He won't.
He won't because I did this. I brought him back. I stole him from his purpose, damn the consequences, and have now put the world's despair on both of our backs.
They are doomed because of us.
Without looking away from him, I cease the riddles, speaking plainly to ensure they understand what is coming. "This is the apocalypse, Damien."