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Review please. This is just a snipet of the manuscript I've worked on.. |
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CHAPTER XI: Last Number, No Encore Raisa looked at the floor, sitting hushed on the love seat next to her embodiment, Basira. Basira was looking off to the side, silent, as Raisa was, the awkwardness growing as the moments passed. It didn't help that both women AND Judas were awaiting the arrival of the key to unlock the portal out of their prison, after all the turmoil Luci and Vivek went through to awake them from their dormant state. Judas looked up at the two, finding it hard not to go over to Raisa and Basira and tell them how much he loved them. His only question was how. How did the varnished Firstlings manage to bring back a woman who had been dead for so many centuries? No power on earth could do so... unless they had made Raisa into a vampyr after her death and was dormant for all these years. Judas opened his mouth to ask, but the words were caught in his throat, as if they refused to be spoken in front of his current wife. He tried again, this time accomplishing only a bit of an "Aa" sound. "Hmm?" Basira and Raisa murmured, glancing at him simultaneously. "What's the matter, Judas?" Raisa asked, beating Basira to the question. "Is your voice still frozen from the dormant state?" "No," he said listlessly, his head hung. "I have a question," Basira spoke up, glancing at Raisa, who gazed back at her counterpart. "Yes?" "Why are you here? Are you a vampyr and we've just never met you, or did you come back from the dead?" "I'm... dying off, slowly," Raisa, answered after a long pause. "I'm supposedly a vampyr, but I have limits and I'm going to die soon. My time here's almost up. I got my wish." She smiled at Judas, indicating what they both knew. "I've seen my love again, and I'm contracted to stay only till then and I'll die." Judas' eyes wandered to Raisa's neck, where there was a long, jagged scar where her father had slit her throat while she slept. The memories flooded back, making Judas wince in pain as more and more agonizing reminiscences allowed them to creep out of the dark corners of his mind. All the while, Basira had begun to feel increasingly inferior to Raisa. She was what Judas wanted in her all along and she knew it. Raisa didn't seem to care, and was even seemingly unsuspecting of this fact. She merely thought Basira was a look-a-like or her descendant off her family. Raisa looked confused, now that her two roommates seemed more sullen than before. "Basira, I hope you know how lucky you are to have him as your husband," Raisa noted, smiling guilelessly. "I always told him that I'd love him till my dying day, and I'm holding true to it." Basira cracked a smile, and nodded. "So did I. Put in a good word for us on the Other Side, okay?" Raisa's face broke out into a bigger grin. "Of course. Its what everyone looks forward to, isn't it?" Judas stayed silent, as if he was meditating or praying. The two watched him, feeling powerless to aid their lover. He seemed more downcast and morose then ever; biting his lip and letting his sanguine tears run down his face and plop to the floorboards. "I can't tell either of you how much I love you," he whispered hoarsely. "You are the same person with only a few differences; I've seen it from the start." He swallowed the lump in his throat, only to feel it reemerge. "I can honestly say I can't love either of you more than the other." The two smiled softly. "God said he'd always watch over his little one that chose to perfect himself differently than others. I can't imagine why he let me do such a horrible thing to others to make them suffer like me..." "Because they chose to let you," Basira consoled softly, slipping off the love seat and placing her delicate hand on his shoulder. He put his hand over hers and pulled it off, fingering her palm blandly. "Its time to make peace with that fact, Judas Iscariot," a masculine voice added tenderly from the left side of the chamber. "So many people love you enough to join you in your excursion." Judas whipped his head to the leftward wall, and there stood a young man in his early thirties dressed in first century clothing, robed in white and red. His hair hung to his shoulders, perfectly groomed, as was his scarce beard. His smile, in fact his whole body, seemed to light up the cell. "Jesu pie..." Judas breathed, wide eyed. "It's been a while since I last saw you. How are the masses treating you now?" "They seem to like using my name as a metaphor to the world's betrayers." Jesus laughed, his laugh making everyone instantly calmer. "So I've witnessed." He turned his head towards Basira, who was standing in awe at the messiah who shown him before them. "I take it your keeping him happy, Basira?" Jesus inquired; smiling in such a way that seemed pure and divine, yet so childishly happy. "Yes," she answered quietly, smiling back shyly. "I missed Home the second I realized I was back on earth, like you said I would." Jesus laughed again, then turned to Raisa, his smile never wavering. He extended his gleaming hand to her, and she nodded, gliding toward him. She turned and bent over to kiss Judas for the last time, then continued her march to the Christ. She grabbed onto his hand, and a bright light shone, blinding the Judas and Basira. Opening their eyes, they saw the two were gone, but a necklace with a silver and gold bond lay on the ground, adorned by sapphire, emerald, opal, pearl, bloodstone, quartz and aquamarine stones. Raisa's angel necklace. Basira bent down to pick it up, tears rising to her eyes. Death is but a portal Home. Come home soon, Judas. **** "NO!!" Luci shrieked, wriggling from James' grasp. "VIVEK!!!" Vivek let out a faltering gasp, then collapsed into the sandy soil, gasping for air. Luci reached her fallen beau, and held up his head, only to see immense pain in his eyes. "Lucia..." Vivek choked out, blood seeping from the incisions on his face. He smiled sadly, swallowing his sob. He couldn't spend his last moments with Luci crying. "You're the only one who understands what it's like to be like this. Don't go." "I can't help it..." he coughed, blood erupting from his lips. The hole where Discord had stabbed him was bleeding profusely, the fabrics of his skin slowly trying to close the gaping hole. "James..." "Yes, Vivek?" "Once I'm gone, set me afire and keep the remains." Luci's eyes widened. "Vivek..." "Don't cry for me. Please," he whispered, closing his eyes. He reached for her hand, his own palms sanguinary, red with the precious source of life. "I love you until the end of time. I'll see you again, I promise." Tears plopped onto the gritty soil, disappearing into the earth. "Daddy can make you okay. You can become a full vampyr at last, and you'll finally be like the rest of them; it's what you wanted, right? And-" "No, Luci," he breathed, shuddering from the pain of his slow lapse towards his passing. "I want to go Home. I've been on this earthly hell long enough; everyone has. God's calling me back after all these years and I don't want to turn from him ever again." Vivek looked down swallowing hard again. He looked back up at Luci, with the undiminished faith in himself and his Creator and smiled the tragic way he always did. He seemed to be emitting radiance beyond anything Luci had ever seen, golden and calming. At once, Luci felt tranquil, almost at peace for the first time in ages. Her heart, which had grown heavy with all the suffering and death that had occurred throughout her entire lifetime, seemed to revitalize itself. She felt weightless, almost as if she had been lifted by a zephyr, feeling Vivek rise with her. She looked to her left, and there stood Vivek, smiling once again, this time with a genuine bliss and tranquility he had not found on earth throughout his centuries of life there. Luci discovered both of them were standing next to a wonderful garden with a resplendent pond, the whole area seeming to be filled with a pure, gentle brilliance. Looking into the pond, she saw her image, an older, more ravishing version of herself. She quickly looked up to see Vivek, unscathed and cleansed, his eyes soft and tender. He was robed in an ivory garment, decorated in gentle needlework of a sapphire hue. His face was a healthy color, his cheeks pink, all the while, his lips never twitching from their elated smile. His hand, colored the way flesh is supposed to be, reached out and stroked Luci's cheek fondly. "I wish you could come with me," he stated, seeming confused on whether to be glad he was going Home or to be dejected to leave his dear Luci. "With all my being, I want you to." "I know," Luci whispered, letting Vivek pull her closer. He lifted her chin, letting Luci gaze for a moment into his eyes, letting her etch his face into her memory. Vivek bent down closer, and gently kissed her, letting her wrap her arms around his neck. When the kiss was broken, she lay her head onto his chest, and heard his heart thumping calmly. "I want you to promise to come Home, Lucia. No matter what anyone says, you must come back. I won't wait forever for you." "All right." "And Luci?" "Yeah?" she asked tearfully, looking back up at the man who had won her heart for the rest of eternity. "Just remember, you are my soul mate. You have to come back, or we'll never be whole again." "I love you Vivek. I knew from the moment you first protected me," Luci stated quietly. Vivek just smiled, and dropped Luci's hands. He kissed her on the forehead one last time, and slowly walked towards a bridge with a dazzling light like no other on the other side. For a moment--just a moment-- Luci wanted to run after Vivek and pull him back to his earthly form. Instead, she stood unmoving as he walked further and further away, knowing that he would be unharmed and satisfied until the end of time. |
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