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“All these people really respected Sebastian, huh?” I commented, watching the steady stream of people filling the room his funeral was to be held in.
Fiona smiled at me. “Everyone loved him.”
My heart wrenched in pain, like it’d been doing constantly over the past two days. Everyone now knew what had gone down at the Rutherford’s mansion. Everyone now knew Sebastian was dead. Everyone now knew I was a Blue Blood. Everyone now knew someone new had to receive the throne.
“Fiona, I have to tell you something,” I started quietly, my eyes dropping to the floor. “I haven’t told anyone else yet.”
“What’s that?”
“Sebastian… before he… before he…” I trailed off, swallowing deeply before continuing. “He told me that because I’m a Blue Blood, I’ll only live until I’m eighteen. That’s six months away.”
Fiona gasped deeply. “What? Are you serious?”
I glanced up at her. “Yes.”
“Six months? But that’s no good! You can’t die! Not you too!” she cried, her eyes starting to water. “Emily, no, you can’t!”
“If I die, I bet I’ll meet Sebastian again…”
“Don’t think like that! I need you, Emily!”
I half-smiled at her. “You need me?”
“I’m going to need your help in the future! I need another girl my age.”
“For what?”
Her hand drifted down to her stomach. “Actually…”
My eyes widened in realization. “Don’t tell me…”
“I think my baby could use a God mother.”
“You’re pregnant?” I whispered, frantically gesticulating with my hands. “Is it- is it Sebastian’s?”
She nodded.
“Did he know?”
Again, she nodded. Giving me a watery smile, she patted her stomach. “He already named him or her.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“Just you,” she told me, lowering her eyes. “I’m kind of embarrassed to tell Solomon and Luella…”
I leaned closer to her. “You have to tell them! They’ll be so excited!”
“What if they’re ashamed?”
“They won’t be!” I told her confidently. “Not when there’s a part of Sebastian still on this earth. No one would be unhappy with that. Besides, I’m sure they already realized you two were still in love.”
She smiled at me. “You think?”
“I know!”
“If I tell, you have to tell everyone you’re going to die in six months.”
My stomach dropped. “That’s a little different…”
She shook her head. “No it’s not, Emily. Are you planning on just fading out of existence without a word?”
“Well…”
“You still have a chance to live,” she continued, her pale hand snatching up mine. “If you want, you can live forever.”
I swallowed nervously, my stomach shifting uncomfortably. “Fiona… I can’t…”
She squeezed my hand. “Please, Emily. Just thinking about. I’ve already lost someone I love… I can’t lose another.”
“But I’m human,” I whispered pathetically. “I can’t… I want to stay human. It’s my nature, Fiona.”
Her expression dropped and she let go of my hand. “Have you been thinking a lot about this?”
.
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I nodded. “I have,” I told her honestly, “for the past two days it’s all that I’ve been thinking about. It might seem unfair that I’m going to die, but isn’t it unfair to everyone who dies young? They wouldn’t have a chance to become a vampire like I do. It wouldn’t be fair to them if I lived. And… Well, Sebastian told me to do what I want. All along I’ve said I didn’t want to change.”
“I understand,” she told me, putting a smile on her face. To me, it looked fake. “We forcibly dragged you into this world, you should have the right to make your choice about leaving or not.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
“Just do me a favor.”
“Yeah?”
“If you see Sebastian, tell him we’re doing fine.”
I laughed. “Whoa there, Fiona. I still have six months.”
She tilted her head to the side. “You’re staying for those six months? What about your family?”
“Um…” A lump rose to my throat. “If it’s possible, I want to be erased from everyone’s memory.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“It’s too much pain for everyone to bear,” I explained, my hand going to my heart. “I don’t want anyone having to experience that. Not my mom, not my dad, not my brother, not my friends… I don’t want them going through it. Not when I’m so young. I don’t think my mom could handle it. That’s why I want to be erased from human existence. If that’s possible.”
“It is… but…”
I stood up a little taller, giving her a confident smile. “I’ll be fine knowing they’re fine. So please, Fiona. Try to convince Solomon for me.”
She nodded, smiling again. “I understand. I wish I was as strong as you, Emily.”
“You’re stronger,” I pointed out.
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
“No, you are.”
“How about we’re even?”
She grinned. “Okay, that sounds about right.”
Silence fell in the room below us, causing my heart rate to spike. “I’ve got to go,” I murmured, gazing at all the vampires in black now seated on the benches below. “I don’t want to be here for this.”
“Okay,” she responded softly. “Vincent should be outside somewhere. Don’t waste time, Em. Tell him right now.”
Reluctantly, I nodded. “Right. See you later.”
The atmosphere outside the dark house that was holding Sebastian’s wake was a lot lighter than the heavy, somber one inside. I breathed a deep breath of fresh air, letting it out slowly. It was lightly drizzling, coating my bare skin with a light glaze of water. Crossing my arms over my chest, I started across the field that led to the main Rutherford estate.
It’d been surprising when I realized a little further behind the mansion was a town. A rather large town at that too. All people that lived in it were somehow related to the Rutherfords as well- whether it be relatives or workers. The town had everything: a school, a funeral home, grocery stores, a cemetery, and so on. It was actually pretty impressive.
“Hey, stupid. If you don’t watch where you’re walking you’ll trip in one of these gopher holes.”
Startled, I stumbled back a few steps, my heart leaping into my throat. When I noticed Vincent smirking at me, I scowled. “Don’t call me stupid.”
“Why aren’t you at the wake,” he questioned, moving closer to me. “Don’t you want to be there?”© NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
I shook my head. “It’s too sad. I’ll go to the burial, but I… I can’t look at his body again,” I finished in a whisper, swallowing forcefully. It was too hard talking about him.
.
.
Vincent wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Shh, let’s talk about something different, okay?”
“How much trouble is Joel in?”
He shrugged. “Not as much as he would’ve been since he helped us out in the end. He’s still a bastard though.”
I half-smiled. “It’s nice to know he wasn’t all bad.”
“Hmph,” Vincent grunted. “Now I don’t have anyone to play video games with.”
“You have me,” I told him, pretending to be offended.
He rolled his eye. “You suck and you know it.”
“Not-uh! Sebastian…” I cringed. Why was it so hard to try to avoid thinking about him? At least I knew he’d be in my mind forever. “Never mind.”
Silence fell between us. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but it was still strained.
“Come with me,” Vincent suddenly requested, his hand enveloping mine. “You have something to tell me, don’t you?”
“How’d you know?”
“Your expression,” he told me, leading me away from the manor and toward the woods.
I followed him, feeling wary about the forest. No one was after me anymore, but it still made me nervous. “Where are we going?”
“To my special place.”
“You have a special place?”
He glanced back at me. “It’s a secret though, so if you tell anyone, I’ll have to kill you.”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Sure.”
Together we made our way through the wet woods, walking carefully so we wouldn’t slip on any roots or leaves. We traveled for around ten minutes before we came upon a lake. He stopped by the edge, gazing around it for a moment. I stared at the water; surprised it was a crystal clear blue. “Wow,” I commented after a moment. “I didn’t know we had water like this around here.”
“I told you. It’s my special place. This way.”
Hurrying after him, we started walking around the outer edge of the lake. Our hands entwined again and I gazed at his back, spacing out. Six months was all that I had left… Six months before I had to say goodbye to everybody. Did I really want to go through with it? Did I want to die? I gritted my teeth. No, I didn’t want to die, but I had to. This was what fate had in store for me.
“Here we are.”
Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked around, my gaze falling on what seemed to be a log cabin. “What’s this?”
“My getaway cabin,” he responded, leading me up the steps to the door. “I come here when I want to be alone and not have anyone bother me. We can talk here.”
The inside of the cabin was surprisingly warm. It was much nicer than standing outside in the cold. We went over to the couch where I sat while Vincent went to hunt down a blanket. When he came back, he spread it over us, sitting next to me. I snuggled into him, letting out a deep sigh.
“I’m going to guess whatever you have to tell me is bad?”
“Kind of.”
“I hate waiting.”
I turned my head so I could see his face. Stretching my neck a little, I gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Before I say what I want to, I have something to ask you.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you going to become the next king?”
For a moment he gazed at me thoughtfully, but then a grin spread across his face and he shook his head. “Nope.”
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