“Good one.” he had quipped in laughter. He had believed in her, had loved her, and she had loved him so much in return. He had l
oved her enough to come for her even though she had kept the truth hidden from him. He had loved her enough in both this time and in the last to accept her for all that she was, and it had cost him his life both times. Would he live again? Would she stumble across Jack Stone again a hundred or so years from now?
It seemed like forever to wait, but she would wait, expectantly, and the next time, if there was to be a next time, there would be no evil to stop them from being together. Wherever you are, Jack, she thought in the strength of the emotion she still felt pulsating through every inch of her body and soul. “Wherever you are, I love you.” she whispered just as the sleep claimed her. As she slept, she dreamt, dreamt of Jack’s smiling face, dreamt that she was smiling back at him.
Epilogue
The creature stood over his fallen victim. It had come there to destroy him, to take his power, but he had gotten the better of it first. Of course, he had leveled the playing field with the gun still smoking in his hand. He had practically blown the son of a bitch
’s head off before devouring its blood, its power. He felt it now, seeping into him, giving him strength, and something else quite curious. What was this, he wondered as his feet came off the earth to hover a few inches above the ground? Weightlessness? This was new, but he was learning that anything was possible in the nightly world. Anything was possible. He would learn and he would grow, and he would make her pay, make her pay for his existence. It was all her fault!
“You have a rather unusual way of doing battle.” A curious voice called from before him, and he looked up meeting the bright blue eyes of the one who had made him. She cocked her head to a side, raven wing hair spilling over her slender shoulder.
“It worked, didn’t it?” he challenged, and a small smile touched her lips.
“You’re learning fast.” she said, and he grunted. He could still taste the salty blood on his tongue, the human blood though he had taken it from a vampire, one of his own!
“I think perhaps you have an agenda?” she said, leaning against the dirty brick wall with her shoulder.
“You can read my mind. I’m sure my intentions are evident to you.” he stepped over the body of his victim, and started out of the dark alley, but she grabbed his arm to halt him.
“Your intentions have no merit. She is not the one who made you. I am. If you want revenge for your existence then take it from me.” His dark mother reminded in a stone serious voice.
“You did what you had to do.” he returned thoughtfully.
“No. I could have left you there as dead as I had came upon you.” She argued.
“Then why?”
“For her.” She said straightening to her tall height. “I brought you back for her, Jack.”
Jack Stone glared over at the vampire, Gina. If not for her, he wo
uld not be here, walking, alert with the same thoughts in his head that had been there when he had been mortal.
“Then you brought me back for naught, Gina, because
if I ever see that bitch again I’ll kill her.” he vowed through clenched teeth as the white of his eyes faded to a dark amber. He felt the emotions as they raged through him. All of the lies, all of the betrayal, if that had not been enough. Now, Gina told him that he could not go back, that he could never see his brother again. It was forbidden to reveal themselves, she had told him. He was told to leave his mortal life in the past. Gina planned to take him to Italy, her birth place. She promised to teach him everything she knew. She had done this before after all with Lilly. He had loved her. He thought of the woman, of Lilly. He had thought to spend the rest of his life with her, but he had never known her at all. She was a vampire, a cold-blooded killer, and it was all her fault! Everything was her fault. She would pay! One day, he would get his revenge, he vowed.
“Jack, you do not mean that.” Gina cried, obviously having read his mind. “We can go to her. She will be so happy to see you alive and well.” Gina boasted.
“Alive?” Jack scoffed. “My heart is now as dead as her own! Take me to Italy, Gina. Take me there, and teach me all that you know, and I will learn what I can myself along the way.”
“So that you can kill her.” Gina accused. “This isn’t why I brought you back, Jack!”
“No, but the vengeance is set inside of me now.” Jack returned hotly as they walked side by side down the deserted street. He thought of Lilly’s sweet, seemingly innocent pale face, her soft blue eyes that had seemed filled with emotion.
“I love you, Jack.” she had told him. “I love you.” her soft spoken words echoed in his head now. She had tried to get him to leave her the night that he had died. She had begged him to go, but he would not. Deep down, he knew that he was just as responsible for his own death as
she herself was, but none of it would have happened if she had just stayed the hell away from him. Perhaps, she was just as much a fool as he was? Perhaps, she could no more resist the pull between them than he himself could? No! It was her fault! Someday, when he was stronger he would find her. He would find her, and he would make her pay! The need for vengeance burned inside of his chest, replacing any emotion that he had ever felt for the vampire, Lilly.
“Come, my son, there is much to learn this night.” Gina whispered on the breeze. Forcing the vengeful thoughts from his mind, Jack Stone followed his dark mother into the night.