Falling From Eternity (A Paranormal Love Story) (6 page)

A single tear cast down my cheek and I
brushed it away with a gloved finger. My legs finally obeyed me and
I rose from my seat before allowing them to carry me beside the
grave.

“
I guess this is goodbye,”
I whispered quietly, my eyes burning. “Thank you for everything you
taught me. I hope that it’s everything you thought it would be. I
hope that your husband is waiting there for you.” I dug my hands
into my pockets not knowing what else to say. I was suddenly happy
that I would be leaving Denton soon. I’d grown too connected to
this town, to close to the people in it. Losing a friend like Hazel
was just another reminder of why I hated my life. I would have to
watch everyone I cared about die. They would find peace in heaven,
and I would be left behind. Alone.

Snowflakes began to fall as I
staggered back to my SUV. The flakes stuck to the nape of my neck,
melting on contact with my flesh and dripping down my spine with an
icy tingle. I shoved the key into the lock and pulled myself up
into the driver’s seat. I was ready to go home, but instead of
starting the engine I just sat there. I sat and watched as the
grave digger heaved each shovelful of dirt into the ground. I could
hear him grunt with effort as he stabbed the shovel into the frozen
earth, and then the sound of soil clattering against the casket.
Maybe it was time I gave up, and went back to being what I was? I
looked around the cemetery at the dead trees, and lonely
tombstones; at the long deceased flowers and desolate landscape,
and realized that maybe there really wasn’t anything more than
this. You live and then you die. My immortality wasn’t some gift to
make a difference in the world, or to give me time to find purpose
in life, but simply a curse. A curse to wander around in a stagnant
void. I could be nothing more than what I was, a creature of
nightmare. My existence had no meaning, no point. I lived only to
feed, to gorge myself on blood and satisfy my every desire no
matter how dark or cruel. That was what I was, and trying to change
that was…useless.

I spent the short drive home gripping
the steering wheel with as much force as possible, and clenching my
jaw tight enough that my fangs were piercing into my bottom lip.
I’d finally had all I could take. I was going to leave Denton, and
go back to my own kind. I wouldn’t return to Ming, he and I could
never be allies again, but I could find a new start somewhere else.
I knew I could. I resolved to get my affairs in order, collect my
last paycheck and then never look back.

It wasn’t quite evening yet, but it
was already moderately dark so I flashed up the stairs to my
apartment not caring if anyone saw me. I didn’t care about anything
anymore; I just wanted to get away.

A paper bag sat at my
doorstep, crinkling as Tom sniffed at it hungrily. Marie had
brought me up some food. It was kind of her, though I wouldn’t be
eating it. I picked up the bag and unlocked the front door letting
Tom scuttle inside. The bag clanked on the counter loudly, and I
opened it up to find a bottle of red wine. Now
that
I would enjoy. I kicked the
front door closed with my foot before walking into the kitchen and
opening the cupboard. I grabbed the stem of one of my two wine
glasses and went to the fridge. The box I’d gotten from Ming sat
inside on the middle shelf. I dug my hand in and yanked out one of
the bags. I poured the glass half full then topped it off with wine
before putting it in the microwave. I repeated this process until
the bottle was empty and my mind was swimming.

~

4

Happy New Year

At some point during my sloshed pity
fest I had decided to chuck some of my favorite novels into the
fireplace and use them as kindling. Needless to say, if I could
kick my own ass I would have.

I’d let my emotions take control of
me, and mixing alcohol with blood didn’t help at all. I could very
well have gone outside and revealed myself or even worse, snacked
on a local! I shouldn’t have let myself lose restraint like that.
That’s how bad things happened.

I dropped to my knees in front of the
fireplace, and began sweeping out the remains of my most prized
possessions with a small hand broom while cursing myself under my
breath. The funeral had affected me more than I had thought it
would. And now my fireplace was a graveyard for literature. There
was nothing left, but tiny remnants of the antique, hardback
covers. At one time the scent of parchment filled my apartment with
a wonderful aroma, but now all I could smell was the stench of
burning glue and ink.

“
Why didn’t you stop me?”
I asked Tom, who found my sweeping incredibly interesting. He
looked at me, tilting his head to the side before meowing angrily
and trotting over to his empty food dish. “Oh, all right, no need
to get so bossy!” I emptied my sweeping tray into the kitchen
trash, before pulling out a can of cat food. I didn’t usually feed
him wet food, but I had no doubts that I wasn’t particularly
friendly last night so I figured I owed him. And by the way he was
prancing around his dish, he knew it too.

I pried open the lid and spied the
clock on the microwave. I’d slept a lot longer than I realized and
would need to head into work soon. At least I had the night shift
this time, and it was a holiday so that meant overtime. With a move
in my immediate future I could definitely use the money, not to
mention my trip to Ming had been costly. Another reason to sever
ties with him, I just couldn’t afford it anymore. It’s funny how
every modern vampire story has us living in opulence with a fat
bank account. It wasn’t like that at all for most of us. Unless, of
course, you were Ming, and you owned the top blood supply bank in
the northwest.

Tonight was New Year’s eve, and while
everyone else was partying, getting drunk and hooking up with
people they’ll regret waking up next to, I’ll be at work. I
preferred it that way. I’d celebrated many a new year, and after
the first fifty or so, it really started to lose its appeal.
Besides, there wouldn’t be anything different or special about next
year. It would be just a repeat of this one, till it was replaced
and forgotten with the next.

I stripped down and stepped into the
steaming shower, the pipes screaming with effort as it forced the
water out of my expensive shower head. Perhaps my next place should
be a little more modern. I pressed my hands against the wall and
allowed the scalding water to travel down my back and across my
body, relaxing the muscles that ached uncontrollably. I grabbed the
soap and lathered myself up, trying not to focus on the fact that I
wished I could wash away who I was and be someone else. Something
else.

At six o’clock, on the
dot, I punched in my time card, and headed for my ward. The halls
were like a ghost town, everyone having taken the night off so they
could celebrate. The walls were decorated with streamers, banners
hung crookedly over doorways shouting
Happy New Year
in obnoxious colors,
and balloons were tied up at random places, which only made me
shake my head. I knew the staff thought they were brightening up
the place, allowing the residents a chance to celebrate the
holiday, but it truly did more harm than good. Still, I couldn’t
blame them for at least trying, but the people who came here liked
structure and order. They enjoyed the peace and quiet; cheap
balloons popping in the night and the distant sound of fireworks
was only going to disturb them. I would be in for a long night.
Last year, Mr. King ran, or more accurately, hobbled, around the
building using his cane like a bayonet. The fireworks had triggered
some memory of his WWII days. It took me hours to calm him down,
but luckily, he hadn’t hurt anyone.

“
Hey, you workin’
tonight?” one of the nurses asked as she turned around a corner
pushing a food cart. I had to steal a quick glance at her name
badge, because I couldn’t remember it. Lisa. She always worked the
night shift and since I rarely did, I hardly ever saw
her.

“
Yeah, you?” I asked,
trying to sound cordial.

“
No, I’m about to head
out. I just finished dropping dinner off for everyone.” She pulled
her cart to a stop and smiled at me. Lisa was a good nurse, and was
actually one of the few that I felt genuinely cared about the
residents here. People like that were hard to find.

“
Alright, I’ll get started
on meds then. Is anyone else here?”

“
I think Jason is here,
but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ducks out,” she said with
annoyance. Nobody liked Jason, but he was the manager’s nephew, and
got away with way too much. “Maryann and Dawn should be here in a
couple hours. Looks like it’ll be a skeleton crew
tonight.”

“
Thanks.” I gave a half
smile before marching back down the hallway.

“
Hey, Will!” Lisa called
out to me after I’d only taken about a dozen steps.

“
Yeah?” I stopped and
turned around.

“
Happy New Year.” She
smiled sweetly before turning around and disappearing around
another corner.

“
You, too,” I whispered,
listening to the sound of her sneakers squeaking in the distance
against the cheap linoleum floor.

When I reached the pharmacy door I
grabbed my keys and fumbled through them till I found the one I
needed. I turned them in the sticky lock then let go as I pushed
the door open, sending them reeling back to the spring cord on my
waist with a loud jingle.

I snatched the red clipboard that hung
from a hook on the wall, which was color coded for what medication
the residents needed in the evening. It could be very bad if
someone gave the resident the wrong pills at the wrong time. Blue
was for morning meds, green for the afternoon and red for the
evening. I flipped through the pages noting how long a list it was
and decided I had better get started. We had over sixty residents
and all of them needed night time medications, so I set out all the
pill cups first to make the process faster. Knowing that there was
no one around to see me, I kicked it up another notch and used my
unbelievable speed as I popped open bottles and flicked pills into
the cups. They came in an array of colors and sizes; from purple to
green and from small pea sized pills to large horse pills. Some of
them even had odd smells to them that weren’t particularly
pleasant. By the time I was done I had a rainbowed buffet of pills
precisely separated, and labeled for each resident.

I stocked up my cart, doing my best to
put everything in order, and stashed a stack of paper cups before
filling up a pitcher of water from the sink. Everything looked to
be ready so I pushed the cart out the door and headed down the
hallway. I passed by the employee break room along the way and
could hear the sound of the television blaring through the closed
door. Jason was probably in there sleeping on the sofa like he
usually did, which meant I’d have to carry all the duties he’d be
neglecting tonight. I didn’t mind the extra work, it was the reason
why I had to do it that made me angry. For as much as they charged
people to be here you’d think they would provide better care. But
that would defeat the purpose of why the board of directors kept
this place. It was a cash cow, and the only place like it in the
entire state. The sick and the dying came here to spend the rest of
their days in peace, others to remove the burden from their loved
ones, and some because their loved ones couldn’t care for them
anymore.

My first ten stops went by smoothly,
most of the residents already prepared to call it a night. Not many
of them stayed up past eight o’clock, even on a night like tonight.
However, when I reached Edgar Thomas’ room I wasn’t surprised to
find he was wide awake. He was sitting in his favorite rocking
chair, staring out the window and listening to his antique radio.
The station was locked onto some news radio that was launched deep
into an in-depth debate on the effects of global
warming.

“
Don’t just stand their
gawking at me boy,” Edgar grumbled. “You here to ask for money
again? You know your mother and I can’t keep bailing you out
son.”

“
Uh, no sir.” I picked up
Edgar’s pills and stepped further into the room. He often mistook
me for his late son. I corrected him at first, but I promptly
learned it was easier if I just went along with it.

I took a seat on the edge of his bed,
and listened to the radio with him for a while. The discussion had
converted into the price of gasoline, and then to the war in the
Middle East. Edgar muttered obscenities at the radio as if he were
part of the discussion. “These damn politicians think they rule the
world!” He grunted as he leaned over to change the station,
settling on a classical music station that brought a smile to my
face. I couldn’t remember the last time I smiled. His hands began
to shake, but he squeezed them together to try and control the
tremors. He had Parkinson’s disease, and although the medications
had greatly improved his condition, he was still slowly
deteriorating. On top of it all dementia was starting to rear its
ugly head. As if one ailment wasn’t enough, fate had to be sure she
was being particularly cruel.

Edgar had admitted himself years
before I had come here, not wanting to be a burden on his family.
They came to visit him during the day sometimes, but it always
ended in an argument. They wanted him to move in with them, and he
always refused. I understood their desire to be his caretakers, but
I also understood his pride.