Literary Lunes Magazine: November 2011 Issue

Methos was charismatic as I have mentioned and he had many friends. I didn’t know yet that he also had many enemies. There are parts of this story that I am glossing over. They are just too painful to yet share with you my new friend. Sometimes I doubt they even happened in my own mind let alone commit them to paper. What if you disbelieved me? Would that make it any less real? Would I then plunge back into the darkness I fought so hard to be free of? So I will start with the simple things. Hopefully you can believe that he was a vampire at least, born in ancient Egypt. I am a vampire now, born in the 1600’s. Of course, most of this story has been before I was turned or reborn, however you prefer to think about it.

  So reader, it was shortly after my wedding day that we learned some people who didn’t particularly care for my new husband had heard of the wedding and wanted … to introduce themselves to me. That is the polite way of saying that they wanted to rough me up a little in the hopes of teaching Methos some sort of lesson.

  So we reluctantly left Paris and hurried to a cottage that Methos had stashed in a quiet corner of Ireland. I realize that sounds odd to you since even in this century Ireland has been torn by war and strife but if you live there or have ever visited you will understand. There are places in that country that you could swear had never been touched before you stood there. We both thought there was plenty of time and we would remind ourselves that we would visit Paris many times over the years. “We’ll always have Paris” we would whisper to each other. It became a promise of forever and love for us along with the pet names of the sun and the moon.

  I loved being in that remote corner of Ireland. Paris is special with its movement and architecture. Ireland is magical. The feel of the ground beneath your feet, the way the mist crawls over the land to swirl around your feet. The stories and the myths are all amazing and bring such life to the fields and pastures around you. I would walk for hours during the day smelling the green grass and listening to the distant baaing of the sheep.

  They found me when I was walking. Two men on horseback during the day, it was daytime I never really thought about there being a danger. Looking back I see how naïve that was of me. So they rode up on beautiful horses and I smiled as they nodded their heads. They stopped and asked me how far to the next village and I gave them directions. They seemed like nice young men. Silly child that I was, I shake my head still when I look back on that day. The next thing I knew was I could feel their hands smacking me. A good hit to the head and I was down on the ground. That was when they used the horse’s hoofs to pound me. I am still lucky that they didn’t want me dead, they only wanted to injure me.

  The words they left me with were “Abrax sends his regards and welcomes you to the family”. I could barely groan in response to those words and I am not even sure how I heard them over the sound of the horses and then they rode off. I think I prayed for the strength to drag my broken body back to the cottage. The pain ripped through me and I know I had heard several crunches. I never did reach the cottage. The mist came up and surrounded me, called to me until all I could do was lay there and pant feeling the numbness crawl over my body. It wasn’t fair, why does innocence always have to pay? I tried so hard to save him but in the end it didn’t matter how hard I tried. Methos found me after the sun had fled the sky. I was alive, it was a miracle.

  He turned me that night. I never saw the sun again; never leaned back in a glade filled with sun light and watched the orange curtain through my eye lids. But I am alive and that is something that I cherish. Methos’ blood still pounds through my veins encouraging me to live long after I would have given up. I cried so hard as I clung to Methos that night. I can’t describe the pain both emotional and physical that wracked me. One day I will fully explain my heart ache of that day to you.

  We hoped that it would be the end of it. That the score had been settled though something lurked in Methos’ eyes. I think he knew that it wasn’t over and he just didn’t have the courage to talk to me about what life would be like if he wasn’t around. He did prepare me in small ways, he showed me where the money had been hidden and what properties he owned around the world. If he wrote to someone for help I will never know because they didn’t arrive in time.

  Two months later we had settled into a nightly pattern, I was learning my new gifts though many things were still hard for me to do. It was better that we stayed in that little cottage because I could contain my thirst rather than being thrust into the heart of people so soon. How I regret that decision now. We should have ran as far and as hard as possible. We would stay up and talk and make plans for the future.

  Methos looked at me, he must have smelled Abrax on the air or …. I don’t know how he knew, but he looked at me and reached out and touched my cheek. “My moon, underneath the floorboards with you, remain still, remain silent and he will not harm you. When this is done we will go to Paris and you can see the lights with your new eyes. “ He smiled sadly at me. I tried to argue but Methos simply moved me as he would and hid me beneath the floorboards like I was a treasure meant to be hidden.

  So I hid like a coward underneath the floorboards, a hand pushed to my mouth to keep me quiet but I watched through a small crack in the floor. Abrax strode into the room like a golden god. His hair was so gold it could put the sun to shame and it matched his tawny eyes. He moved like a lion that had been penned too long and the smile he gave Methos chilled my blood. “Brother too long have you been gone from me, come back and we shall rule the night” his voice was dark velvet and made me run cold with the cruelty that was barely concealed in it.

  Apparently at some point in history Abrax and Methos had been as close as brothers until Abrax had fallen in love with a mortal woman. They had vowed to never turn another creature into a vampire but Abrax broke this vow and turned her anyways. The vow broken Methos had threatened to leave. Abrax said he would kill the woman if Methos would just stay with him. Apparently the woman had been some sort of seer and told Methos that one day he would love a woman with a symbol of a crescent moon on her and if she died because of him then she would curse him and that love. So he told Abrax to leave the woman alive. To keep his relationship that he had fought for. Abrax killed her anyways. So Methos left him. Abrax blamed Methos for killing his love for the seer and then leaving him alone. Now Abrax wanted revenge, Methos could either kill me or leave me and return to Abrax. He refused and they fought. Abrax had been Methos’ maker and after what felt like forever Abrax won.

  I don’t know how to describe that fight. How does one describe the screech of preternatural flesh pounding into flesh that is just as strong; the speed with which they both flew around the room and dodged each other? It was horrific and beautiful and burned into my mind though my fingers and tongue go cold and refuse to describe it accurately. As I said, Abrax won. He held Methos head in between his hands and stared at my beloved’s face even as his body slowly slumped to the floor. I watched the horror play over Abrax’s features as he realized what he had done. I swear I saw him look right at me as he dropped the head to the floor. I didn’t care at that moment if he killed me as well. I watched the head bounce and roll, every movement like a pain lancing through my chest. The head came to rest close to my own and I could see his beautiful face staring at me. I tried not to scream as those sightless eyes stared into mine. A lock of hair fell over one eye and my fingers itched to sweep it away from his face as I had done so many times. Blood dripped through the floor boards and on to me. To be honest I don’t know how long I stared into his eyes.

  It’s different now and maybe you won’t understand but he was everything, Methos had been the one thing I knew every day for my whole life at that point. Especially in a time when women were raised to believe that they needed a man. I had forever but my reason for living was gone. Even now I watch the red stain the pages of this book as I write this. I suppose that’s a good sign that somewhere in here a soul does remain.

  The sun rose and as a young vampire I went to sleep as it crested acros
s the land. I don’t know when Abrax left for all I saw were Methos’ eyes staring back at me. I kept trying to will those eyes to light up again. I woke as the sun fell behind the world, there were no candles burning, I could see nothing in the darkness. I forced my way through the boards and lit a candle even as my eyes started to adjust to the darkness. I was desperate to hold him one last time. It is a myth that vampire’s turn to ash when we are slain. We have bodies as do you. We do not cease to exist just because there is no more life inside of us. His body was gone. I fear I went mad.

  I tore apart the cottage looking for something, any sign of his body, I even tried to track around the cabin in the darkness. I could smell something strange on the wind. I never found his body. As I said I fear I went mad. I stayed in the madness for so many years.

  If you love someone, truly love them and give them every part of you, then what would you give to have that person back? Would you give your soul?

  I leave you with that question reader as I leave you for the evening. Safe travels in the darkness reader.