Blood Lust

Chapter Twenty

Without Rosie this time, Ash Worthington found himself at the steps of the King's eerily symmetrical castle once more. He felt more vulnerable in this moment than he had been the last time he was here. There was no tether of humanity here, just Rosie in his memories while her mind was asleep. She had pleaded to be here, to support him but Ash didn't know what to expect from this process. He thought of the worst it could be and he couldn't subject that onto Rosie to witness. After all, he had dragged her into this world, meeting him, suffering Zach, the safety of Jessie and the rest of her family and friends, it seemed right to finish this once and for all. She had endured his world to be with him and now he was going to leave the world of immortality at this castle to finally be free with her.

A different servant let him in to the castle this time and he met the King in a study where there were shelves of books, ancient maps from generations before Ash had been born and blood where alcohol would normally be.

"I see you've made a decision." King Louis spoke with such assuredness that Ash presumed that he knew the answer.

"I can't live without her," he said, in the smallest voice which he hadn't heard since he was human, "not for another lifetime."

The King did not make any remarks or move at all.

"I hope you know what this means for the rest of us and for you."

"I'm ready to accept it regardless of the consequences." Ash hesitated before saying, "This isn't my world anymore."

A silence passed between them and in that Ash could hear from the castle to the town, the heartbeats of many, the wind that whistled through the clear air of the night and voices hushed inside their homes. With the vision of Rosie in his mind, he finally looked the King in the eye to see a smile on the immortal's face.

"It is not a painless process. You will endure the pain and humanity of all the while your heart was still." King Louis lifted the small blade that was left on the table among other objects and pressed it against his palm.

The deep red drops fell into the bowl, only three, before the King's wound healed.

"Your hand, Ash," the King commanded. Ash held out his hand and watched three droplets of his own blood fall in painlessly.

After that, the King whispered words in an old language that Ash couldn't understand but knew it was one used for ancient rituals. He was handed the bowl and told to drink the tiny pool in the bowl. In one sip, the blood was burning down Ash's throat and he felt himself lose consciousness.

When Ash stood, he was not conscious but in a void, watching his immortal life in reverse. From where he left Rosie, fighting Zach, saving Jessie, biting the girls on Halloween, saving Rosie, blood-sharing with Rosie, meeting Rosie... Then he walked down a darker path. Zach dying, coming back as a vampire, biting Ash... His mother and his father watching Ash and Zach as children with a young girl... falling asleep in a house that Ash could barely remember.

Ash gasped, life breathing back into his lungs, as he woke up in his car. He was in the driver's seat and immediately looked out of his window... nothing. It was an empty field and the sun was rising. He could feel his heart racing in confusion—

His heart.

Ash pressed his hand to his chest and took a deep breath. He was alive. He could feel blood rushing to his cheeks as he started to smile, then grin, then laugh.

He was human.

Starting the car, Ash sped away opening the window to feel the breeze against his face, unable to stop smiling and feeling his heartbeat in his chest.