Reckless

Chapter 16 Part 7

Present Day

Character POV: Roxanne

The magic pours like a gentle trickle through me, not blasting like it did when I brought the dead witches back to life. Slowly, a slender trickle of pale green magic makes its way to Ariadne. I watch as it makes contact with her, as her eyes slowly shift to violet, and her mouth parts in an 'o'. Then, I see her shoulders visibly loosen. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, breathing in the restoring powers that I am bestowing on her and the other vampires through her connection to them. The other witches stay silent as they watch the scene unfold.

Gradually, the magic dissipates until it's just a trickle, and when there's no more to give, I lower my arms and stand there, staring at Ariadne for a long moment. Where she was pale as death before, now there's a slight tannish complexion with a splash of pink on her cheeks. When she opens her eyes, there is no trace of red in them, just this rich violet that I glimpsed thousands of years ago. Her voice is soft as she asks me, "What did you do?"

"I gave you magic, so you don't need to keep taking it from other people," I reply evenly. I step towards her on shaking legs, reaching for her. She grasps ahold of my arms when I'm within range, pulling them back down as she entwines our hands together. My voice shakes, tears burning at the edge of my vision as I say, "You still possess all of your abilities that you had before, the tricks you're so fond of, but you don't need blood to survive if you don't want it. You also won't be driven insane by fighting the plan of nature, because the very essence of nature now exists within you, like it does all of the witches." I find myself holding my breath, waiting to hear the next words out of her mouth, which could be damning or lift me to new heights. The power she has over me, has always had over me since I first met her, is extraordinary. Now that I'm with her, I don't understand how I was able to be apart from her for centuries. But she just stays silent, looking down at her hands which have a warmish feel to them from the lifeblood of magic that's now within her. My voice breaks as I plead with her, "Please, say something. Anything." Waiting for the blow to land is worse than if she actually were to hit me, I think. But she'd never do that.

She drags her gaze to me, her eyebrows still high on her forehead with surprise. Her eyes are round as she says, "I'm . . . I'm still processing." She releases her hold of me, running her hands through her hair with shaky fingers. A crunch of footsteps behind me, which I know were deliberate so I wouldn't frighten when I see who it is, has me turning to find Zebulun standing there. Ariadne leans around me, asking him, "You feel it, too?"

Zebulun's dark eyes are alight now in a way I have never seen them as he gives her a single nod and says with a smile, "It's like there is breath in my lungs for the first time in centuries. The ravenous hunger is gone. There's a clarity in my head, in my thoughts, without having to struggle for it or bat away unwanted thoughts and impulses constantly." He made it look so easy to be a vampire, like he didn't struggle with any of those things, so it's shocking to me to hear him say so plainly the ways that vampirism had impacted him negatively.

Ariadne stands there frozen to the spot, silent as can be. Eventually, she finds her voice as she says, "So, we're all free." Free to be themselves, to find their own places in the world. It's unclear to me if she's saying that they're free from Drusilla, the threat to their existence, or if they're saying that they're free of the costs of vampirism. Still, she is free now. The chains that were holding her down are gone.

The real test comes as I turn my head and see the orange on the horizon, the indication that the sun is rising. Ariadne freezes in place, but I know that she's ready to speed towards her car with the specially-tinted windows. She's fast enough that she could do that if she goes through the woods and hops from shadows to shadows. She stands there, hands knotted into fists at her sides as she looks with wide eyes at the sunrise. No one dares to say a word as we watch the sun rise, the sky lit up with yellows, oranges, and even shades of salmon pink.

After around ten minutes, the sun has gone up enough that the slanting sun rays break over the tree line. I watch as it lands on Ariadne, and nothing happens. Absolutely nothing. She turns her hand over, then the other, wiggling her fingers as if she can actually touch the sun physically. I stiffle a sob at the sight, at the whole world that's opened up to her and the others. I glance back at Zebulun, and I see he's spread his arms out wide, head tilted up to the sun as his eyes close. He takes a deep breath, as if he's breathing in the warmth of the sun. I watch as he slowly opens his eyes at the realization that someone is watching him, and he smiles broadly at me, a sight that I have never really witnessed before.

My attention snaps back to Ariadne as she gives a rough clear of her throat and says, "It's not as warm as I remember it being." She then winces a little and says, "Granted, that's because this is the first time in milleniums that I'm not starting to burst into flame at the slightest contact with the sun. That might be coloring my opinion on the warmth of the sun just a bit." I smirk at that, and she slowly drags her violet gaze back to me, shifting to face me fully.

We stand there in silence for a long moment before she crosses over to me and pulls me into a tight hug. I wrap my arms around her, breathing her in and being surpised to find that the blood scent is much deminished, and in its place is the new scent that does not advertise her vampiric nature: lilac and the smell of dew before it rains. I breathe it in, relishing the Ariadne who stands before me, more stable than she's ever been since we were together. I know that there will be no more murders of innocent girls because they look similar to me and her obsessive vampire nature will be diminished. There'll be no more impulse killings like what she did with David. Ariadne has her life back, and I can be in this life more easily in this modern world where you can't just kill people when they annoy you. Ariadne whispers into my ear, her breath tickling me, "Thank you." It's simple, it's not a clever quip, but it's authentic in a way that Ariadne typically isn't. My heart caves a little at that as I open my eyes and pull back from her, nodding back at her as I reach up with the sleeve of my shirt and dab at the tears before I become a sobbing mess.

There's a loud wooping noise from behind me, and I whirl around to see Sita pumping her fist in the air, dancing in a circle. She stops, putting her hands on either side of her mouth as she shouts into the trees, "Dumbasses, get out here. You haven't seen the sun in thousands of years-- well, some of you haven't. So, get out here before it starts to rain again and ruins the moment!" I laugh a little at the sight of her contagious joy.

Two vampires step out of the woods first. One is my niece. Her blue eyes connect with mine as she slowly makes her way over to us, completely leaving Sita. I smile at her, and then shift my attention back to the other one. His skin is a tannish brown, his black hair neatly combed and his black beared trimmed to within an inch of its life. Sita crosses over to him, pressing a hand to either side of his face, pulling it down, and pressing a huge kiss to his cheek. He jolts back once she releases him, pushing his thick-framed square glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Sita leans in and says in a conspiratorial tone that I can hear from even over here, "Come on, José. Live a little. Find your joy. Live in the moment-- isn't that what you shrinks are about?"

"Well, technically that's an oversimplification. . ." he starts, but Sita just laughs at him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and leaning into him. He smiles then, if not a little self-consciously, and says, "But yes. This is a good moment to live in." And I think his sentiment encapsulates the euphoria that lingers in the air.