Bloodstream

Chapter 30 Final chapter

This was the day I remember the most throughout my life. This day hovers around me every single day.

A mere 24 hours before, I was in a wedding dress. The White silk was replaced with black leather and slick boots. I zipped my jacket and tied back my hair then checked my appearance in a nearby mirror. Pleased with my figure dressed in black, I walked through the door into the corridor and walked towards the room where our journey to the afterlife began. I can't say I was particularly pleased with how we got there. Dying isn't a great experience but it's the only way.

"Remember, we won't be there long. We kill him, the afterlife is handed over, earth is safe." I nodded. That was the plan.
"And don't get killed. If you get wounded in there it won't heal. If it's bad enough you'll die. You won't be burned like James' body, so you won't be destroyed but you won't be able to come back if you have died again in there. We have lost so many men and women to this. Not today."
We stood in a line. Me, Ed, Mason, Rikka and a few more vampires. A firing squad stood before us. I took Eds hand and he squeezed it. We exchanged a quick glance then faced the guns pointed at us. I heard the shots then woke up in a dark room, dressed in white just like last time. Except I was surrounded by everyone who died with me. Ed helped me up and we set our plan into action. Rikkas 'friends' were waiting for us. It all happened quickly and was a bit of an expected blur. I knew James would know we were in the afterlife the second we got there and I knew he would attack.

He appeared from the side and unlike his usual tactic of talking, saying threats and manipulating everyone's thoughts, he used violence almost immediately. But Mason saw this coming, feeling James summoning his power, and he fought back. James grabbed me by the throat but Mason used some sort of quick mind control to pry his fingers from my windpipe and take him off guard. And in the moment of amazement of my child I forgot how powerful James was. Everyone attacked, Rikka, Ed, everyone but they instantly were thrown back by the mind control of James. Whatever plan we came in here with, it wasn't what I saw. What I saw was chaos, a room full of emotion. I saw the images of my life. I saw the James I knew, gentle and kind. I saw Mason who grew up to fast. I saw Rikka, her powerful spirit fighting back. I saw me. Everywhere. With Ed in the mornings in our big bed, my hair flowing down my back in natural waves. I'd wear one of Eds white buttons down shirts and listen to his guitar and muffled giggles, playing as background music to my ears as my love for him grew to unexplainable highs. Love, I realised, was everything. But in that moment, on that day, my world fell apart because in the struggle of fighting for my family and all I believed, everyone I have ever come to love was in danger. I was so lost in thought I almost didn't see the sharp blade in the hand of James fly through Rikkas stomach. I screamed and found myself by her side only to be lifted against my will by an invisible force. Ed called out to me and I reach for him but my slender fingers never contact his skin. Everything was going so quickly. I was afraid. If I was killed again, in the afterlife, there was no going back. I wanted to go back. Back to my mornings with Ed and my rides on the horses with Mason. I ached for it. And if it hadn't been for Mason I would of been killed. Rikkas body lay on the ground. I knew then that she was gone and even when the force released me and all noise was blocked out, I knew something was wrong. Then suddenly it was like all the sound hit me at once. Crackling fire and sobs. Nothing could of prepared me for what I saw. James was on the ground beside me and Rikka. Lifeless. Destroyed. A long crack in his skull and fire surrounding him told me so. And Mason had fallen into Eds arms, the blade in my sons heart sent a pain through my own that was unbearable. I stumbled towards him and looked at Ed, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Mum...I've got to tell you." I let a sob pass my lips. "I love you"

That was the last time I saw Mason. The afterlife was handed over, the powers rolling out of James' soul into the arms of the new ruler, a man called Luther, who held a bright presence about him. The room had turned white and I knew we had to leave our son behind.
There's a hole in my heart, the heart that only beats for Ed. We have our mornings together, that after a few years regained the laughter and smiles. Me and Ed didn't "move on". We remember Mason and we love him so dearly, but we can smile and say he was our son. He is our son. And on these days without him I take comfort knowing he is in a place sweeter than this world.