A Touch of Scarlet

Epilogue

*Dedicated to everyone who has read this story (thank you all!)*

The bittersweet chime of a bell rings as we walk through the door hand in hand. My eyes instantly racking the room for familiar faces. Memories come swarming back to mind as I take in the candlelit restaurant. "Jordan and Lydia Adams?" a man asks, I turn towards the counter where the waiter stands looking back at us expectantly. I step forward, "that's us". The waiter looks us 'up and down' before pulling two menus out from behind the counter. "Please follow me, your friends are already seated," he says. We follow the waiter through 'Scarlet Dining': the fancy vampire joint in my old hometown. "Here we are" the man states, gesturing towards the booth closed off by a dark-velvet curtain. Jordan takes the two menus from the waiter with a simple "thank you" and then the waiter walks away.

"You ready?" Jordan asks me, I look up at the piece of fabric that separates the two of us from our past.

Years ago after Jordan and I's 'mating ceremony', as well as our graduation, we left my hometown to travel the world. In the end we settled down into a small town by the sea.

I let out one last contemplative breath before looking to Jordan, "I'm ready".

With that I reach forward and push the silk-curtain aside however before I've had the chance to open the curtain completely another hand has taken hold of the fabric and is throwing it open to reveal a group of familiar faces.

"About time, its been awkward just sitting in here, pretending that this curtain is a wall and that we can't hear the two of you talking" Reece states sarcastically. Jordan and I take in the group of familiar faces. "Good to see you too" Jordan states his voice full of emotion as he pulls Reece into a brotherly hug. I scan around the large table: Reece sits with his mate Amelia. Amelia sends me a smile "long time no see", 'yeah its been too long" I reply sincerely before looking over to the next couple.

Nate sits at the far end with his wife Elliot; Jordan and I attended their wedding about two decades ago, then again when Elliot had started her vampire trans two years later.

Finally I look to the final couple sitting at the table, seated across from Reece and Amelia.

"Carter" I breathe, "Lydia" he replies before standing up and stepping away from the booth. He walks towards me and pulls me into a tight-brotherly embrace.

"Sweetheart if you don't let go, my poor sister in-law is going to snap in half ... even if she is a strong vampire" a voice from behind Carter says. I look to the second half of what was for me: the most surprising couple of the century.

"Hello Valentina" I greet, watching as Carter walks back towards his seat beside her. "Hey Lyd, we missed you two" she says, "Jordan and I missed all of you too. How's your daughter? I reply. "She's great actually, she just turned twelve last month" Valentina answers. A few years after Jordan and I moved away, Carter sent me an email basically saying that he and Val had been dating for about seven months. A few years later they ended up getting married because Carter wanted a 'human' wedding however the deal was that after the wedding he would get the 'bite' for her. So after his trans had been completed and he'd learned complete control they adopted a beautiful baby girl. Over the decades that Jordan and I have been away, Reece Found his mate: Amelia, one of my old friends. Elliot became a vampire and married Nate. Carter too became a vampire, married Valentina and together the two adopted a baby girl in which they named Alexandra Peters.

⋆⋆⋆

I drive through the familiar forest-surrounded road. My open widows allowing gusts of wind to whip through the vehicle, causing my hair to flow out from behind me.
As I pull over to the side of the road it's as if I've driven into a wall of emotion.
I glance out the window and over to the section of the road where the burned pavement lays.
I unlock the door, swing it open and cautiously step out.
I tune into the area making sure that no cars are nearby.
Once I've checked that it's all clear I slowly make my way to the middle of the road. I glance down at the pavement beneath me.
Long burn marks stain the ground; left from an event that happened years ago.
My head shoots up as I hear someone stepping out of the forest towards me: a hiker.
A woman steps out of the forest, no doubt on a morning hike.
"Are you alright dear?" The woman asks, her eyebrows scrunched-up in concern. "I uh- yes I'm fine" I reply, clearing my throat as I speak.
The woman looks as if she could be in her ... late fifties? I watch as she looks over to the ground beneath me, where she caught me starring at the burn marks.
"Those are sort of a memorial spot in our town" she states, a sad smile morphing on her kind face.
"Oh really?" I ask: deciding to go along with it rather than trying to explain that I know the event that occurred here all to well.
"A couple of decades ago two young girls- sisters I think ... around your age, got into a terrible accident here. Their car caught fire, taking one of the two girls to heaven" the woman explains; her tone one of sadness.
"That's terrible" I reply, "do you know what happened to the other sister?" I ask curiously.
I watch as the woman taps away at her chin in thought before look back at me. "No I don't know what happened with her, or where she is but I hope she's doing well" the woman replies sincerely.
I crouch down, running my hands along the burn marks that bring back so many memories of both physical and emotional pain.
Then looking up to the lady I send her a small smile, "I'm sure she's doing just fine".

⋆⋆⋆

Three decades ago I was in a car crash that took not only my sisters life but my human one as well. Due to that crash my vampirism gene was activated and I started my transition into a vampire. However I was not alone in my journey. I met three supernatural beings that flipped my averagely boring life upside-down.

We've fought alongside each other, created eternal friendships, found our mates and have settled down. We now live our lives from day to day as present-day vampires.

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Final Authors Note:

This is it! 'A Touch of Scarlet' is officially over [this version at least ;) ].
Writing this story has taken over a year of my life and reading all of your comments and private messages has been quite the highlight of it. Once again thank you all so much! I'll still be reading and responding to all of the comments and messages once this story has been marked as completed.
I'm not sure if I will be writing anymore books that involve 'ATOS' characters. However I am hoping to start and post 'A Touch of Scarlet: Rewritten' sometime in the next year. As well as make a  good and polished enough version to hopefully publish one day.

(My new book 'Among the Stars' has been posted please check it out.)

So stay tuned for that and everything else to come in the future. I love you all and am so glad you all took the time to read my book!