Falling From Eternity (A Paranormal Love Story) (19 page)

I promised her she wouldn’t be
alone!

I told her I wouldn’t leave
her!

Rage mixed with sorrow, brought me to
my knees as my hand reached for her. The cold, smooth wood of the
coffin was all I could touch. Frosted, damp earth soaked through my
pant legs, creeping across the fabric; threatening to penetrate my
defenses and freeze me in place. A small part of me was okay with
that. If I was going to live forever, then I would spend forever
beside her. I would keep my promise, no matter what the
cost.

The priest’s familiar voice hooked my
heart, pulling it from its abyss and forcing me to hear his words
as he laid my angel to rest.

“
Those we love must
someday pass beyond our present sight. Must leave us and the world
we know without their radiant light. But, we know, that like a
candle their lovely light will surely shine to brighten up another
place more perfect...more divine. And in this realm where they
shine so warm and bright, they shall live forevermore.”

Sobs traveled across the
perfumed air, as the priest stepped aside and nodded to someone in
the crowd. I lifted my tear-stained cheeks to see Maryann rising
from her seat. Fury ignited inside me while I watched her wipe away
her tears. This was all
her
fault! If she had told me Autumn was sick I could
have helped her sooner! She knew Autumn was sick all
along!

My fingers closed into fists at my
sides, and my eyes shot daggers at her. The monster inside me was
growing stronger and I wanted to kill her.

She walked on unsteady legs as she
stood at the podium, clearing her throat as she unfolded a piece of
paper. I could focus on nothing other than the pulsing vein in her
neck. It would be so easy to launch myself at her. No one would be
able to stop me. A laugh exploded inside me; I could kill them all
and nobody would ever know!

The muscles in my legs began to obey
the beast, lifting me slowly from the ground, but Maryann’s first
words halted me. I buckled, my breath catching in my chest as a
gasp escaped me.

“
Autumn asked me to read
this,” she said with a somber tone. Her eyes traveled to me,
locking on with such intensity that an eerie shudder crawled across
my body. Something told me Autumn had meant this message for
me.

“
When I must leave you,
please do not grieve, and shed wild tears or hug your sorrow to you
through the years. Start out bravely with the gallant smile I loved
so dearly. For my sake, and in my name, live on. Feed not your
loneliness on empty days, but fill each waking hour with the
happiness we shared together. Reach out your hand, and I will
comfort you. In life I loved you, and in death I do the same. Let
my memory be your serenity, my love your guide, and know that I am
always with you. Forever.”

My hands shook, reaching for Autumn
again. I wanted to crawl into the coffin with her. Her words
touched me, and for a moment I felt like she was still here with
me. I had to let her go, but I didn’t think I ever could. I didn’t
want to. She wanted me to live on, but that would be a promise I
doubted I could keep; at least not entirely. The William she knew
had died with her, and would be buried with her today.

Several other people stood at the
podium to speak, but their words drifted away into nothing.
Autumn’s words repeated over and over in my mind, and I imagined
her sweet voice speaking them to me. Forever…I could have given her
forever, but I was too afraid of destroying who she was. Turning
her would erase who she was, and destroy the beautiful being I had
cared so deeply for. The pain of transformation was excruciating;
threatening to melt a person’s flesh from their bones as the
fearsome heat burned from within. And when an eternity passes, and
the pain fades to a throbbing, constant ache, there will be only
one thing that could relieve it.

Blood.

Autumn would feed with an insatiable
hunger, gorging herself with the blood of any and every beating
heart she could find. Bile rose in my throat as I imagined her over
a pile of bodies, her angelic face and sunlit hair dripping in
crimson. Ravaged flesh torn to shreds by her razor sharp fangs, and
a deadly stare twisting her features.

But, I was different. If I
had turned her, perhaps she would be like me? What if she hadn’t
transformed into a mindless monster? It was a risk I should have
taken, and I felt guilt churning inside me at all the
what ifs.
Maybe I was
being selfish, but I’d rather she was here. It didn’t matter if she
remembered the kindness that had made her who she was; at least
she’d still be breathing. I could have guided her, helped her be
more than just a vampire.

I could have…I
should
have.

A hand reached out and squeezed my
shoulder, jolting me out of my thoughts. I jumped up, shoving the
intruders hand off me. I didn’t want to be touched. I didn’t want
anyone touching me ever again.

Maryann stumbled back; fear plastered
on her face at my reaction. She clung to her chest, breathing deep
breaths. I saw that the folded piece of paper was still clutched
between her fingers, so I snatched it away from her. She remained
frozen as I unfolded the wrinkled parchment to find Autumn’s
handwriting inside. She’d written the message herself, and I held
it against me as if it were her. I hugged it, wishing what she said
had been true. That she really would be with me, forever. I pulled
it away; wanting to read the words again when something caught my
eye. The upper left corner was folded over, so I peeled back the
flap with my thumb to see my name written in Autumn’s curling
scrawl.

She
had
written it for me.

Tears burned in my eyes as I clenched
my jaw, my fangs piercing the inside of my lips causing tiny drops
of blood to taint my mouth with their coppery sweetness.

“
She wouldn’t want you to
remember her this way, William,” Maryann whispered, stepping
forward to try and comfort me. Without even thinking, a growl
bellowed out of me and I bared my fangs at her as tears flew freely
down my cheeks.

“
What do you know of what
she would want?” I screamed at her as she tripped over her own feet
to get away from me. A tiny part of me was delighting in watching
her squirm before me, relishing in the fear in her eyes and the
thundering of her heart; but, there was something missing in her
reaction. Something that gave me pause.

I closed my maw, dug my nails into my
palms and tried to breathe deeply as I stared her down. Maryann was
terrified of me, locked in place as her body shuddered, but she
wasn’t at all surprised. At the sight of my fangs she didn’t look
the least bit shocked. She might have been horrified, but I knew
that this wasn’t the first time she’d seen a vampire…nevertheless,
it would be her last.

“
Who are you?” I asked,
kneeling down to grasp her arm and yank her to her feet.

“
W-w-what do you mean? You
know who I am, Will, we’ve worked together for years,” she
answered, stammering as her eyes darted about. There was no escape
for her and no rescue either. The rest of the funeral party had
dwindled away. We were alone in the middle of a cemetery, and I
held her life in my hands.

“
Don’t lie to me! You know
what I am, don’t you?” I barked at her, shoving her onto one of the
many empty seats. She avoided my gaze, grasping onto the cushion of
the seat as if it were going to launch her into oblivion. “Answer
me!”

“
Yes!” she shrieked in
fear. “I know what you are!”

“
How?”

“
That doesn’t matter now,”
she replied confidently, suddenly feeling bold.

“
I’ll decide what
matters.”

“
This isn’t the place.”
Her eyes wandered to the coffin, then back to me. “I came here
to…to…”

“
To
what?
” I snarled, interrupting
her.

“
To give you a message!”
she rumbled back, reclaiming her old fire from years as my
superior.

“
What message?” I asked,
as if I didn’t give a shit what she had to say, hiding the fact
that I was a bit intrigued.

“
Midnight, tonight,” she
replied, standing up and shrugging off the last traces of her
fear.

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?” I was starting to get annoyed. I had zero patience and with
every word from her mouth I wanted to kill her all the
more.

“
She left you something.”
Maryann strode confidently toward me, ripping the letter from
Autumn in my hand and shoving it against my chest.

“
What?” The word came out
in a whisper, betraying how easily just the thought of Autumn could
break me down.

“
Her place.
Midnight.”

With that, she walked past me,
brushing her shoulder against me smugly as she made her way to a
waiting black suburban that I hadn’t even noticed pulled up. What
the hell was going on? I stared after her, completely puzzled as
she disappeared inside and it peeled out of the cemetery. Nothing
was making sense. Maryann knew I was a vampire, but there was more
to it than that. How and why would she have a message for me from
Autumn? How long had she known what I was and who else was in that
suburban?

I pushed all those questions aside as
I stood alone in the cemetery with no other company than the
remains of the woman I loved. A light breeze fluttered the flower
petals on the coffin, threatening to rip them from their soft,
nestled bouquets. I gingerly slid my fingers across the wood,
playing with the edges as the urge to lift the lid tormented me. I
just wanted to see her one last time, to touch her face and give
her one last kiss. Before I even realized it, I was moving the
flowers aside before my fingers broke the seal of the lid. I lifted
it up an inch before closing it. I repeated this process three
times before I fell into my seat completely
grief-stricken.

Hours ticked by, the sun finally
settled behind the horizon, soothing my sunburnt skin and still I
sat beside her. I had to wave off the groundskeepers countless
times before I ultimately threatened their lives if they bothered
me again. I wasn’t ready to leave yet. I’d pulled up a chair,
rested my head against the casket and talked to her as if she could
hear me. I shared my every secret without reserve, my every fear
and every dream. I told her all the things I tried to
conceal.

“
I love you, Autumn. I
wish I could have realized it before, but I know it now. I’ve never
loved anyone before,” I confessed, drawing a heart against the
frosted wood with my index finger. “I wish I could have been honest
with you. If I had told you what I was…if I had given you the
option…you could have chosen. I took that choice away from you and
I’m sorry.” I repeated those last two words over and over until
they melted together into a trance.

The ticking of my wrist
watch pounded my ear drums, mocking me with every second. Time.
Time was the one thing that I had an eternity of, yet it was the
one thing I didn’t have enough of. I’d trade in all my years, and
give up my immortality all for her. Why would the world choose to
keep a creature like me alive, but take away an angel? I just
couldn’t wrap my head around it. The only thing I
could
understand was
that life was as wicked and malicious as the beast I had tried so
hard to destroy. There was no beating it; no avoiding
it.

The night swallowed the last rosy
ribbons of the sunset, before shadowing the sky in darkness. I
stared up at the starlit sky as the memory of the worst night of my
life flashed before me. I shot into Shady Willows like a bullet,
startling the sleeping receptionist as I sailed past her. Autumn’s
door was ajar as I barreled through it, implanting the knob into
the drywall as my strength forced it beyond its hinges. The next
few moments played out in slow motion when I found her lying,
motionless on the floor. Moonlight poured across her ivory skin,
and her head was turned up at a painful angle; tilting up as if her
last moments were spent starring out the window waiting for me to
come back.

I fell to my knees beside her, pulling
her body to me and screaming her name. With her head hugged against
my chest, I rocked her back and forth, begging her to wake up, but
she never did. I kissed her paint stained fingers, bringing them to
my lips and then pleading with her to squeeze my hand. Desperate,
and unwilling to accept her death, I swallowed my pain and tried to
think like a vampire. Maybe I wasn’t too late! I carried her to the
bed, and held my breath as I rested my ear against her
chest.

Nothing.

My fingers pressed against
every major artery in her body and I felt no pulse. I tried CPR
even though I knew it wouldn’t help, but I had to try. I
had
to do anything I
could think of until Ming arrived. His doctors could perform
miracles; I’d seen them bring a human back to life after being
completely drained. The man had been dead for nearly an hour, but
they’d brought him back, and they could do the same for Autumn.
Seconds before Ming arrived the thought to try and turn her crossed
my mind. I was so frantic to have her back that I brought her
throat to my lips, but I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t turn her
into a monster. Her goodness, and purity had been what I loved most
about her. I couldn’t destroy that.