The Silver Cross - The Path Of A Monster (Book One)

Chapter Fourteen - A Promise

Cain sat in silence just staring at the silver cross. It must've been agonising for Jack, for him to have ripped it off in his final moments and yet he still hoped that somehow he survived, that the ashes were not real, that Jack had placed them to fake his death but if it were true, he would have called, he would have found a way to let them know he was alive but instead there was silence, with Cain not even daring to shed a tear in case it was a lie, that his brother had somehow survived, despite losing all that blood... despite the ashes, the impossibility.

If there was a way to bargain with death, he would've swapped places with his brother, without giving it a second thought, just allowing himself to trade places, so Jack could live, fight and breathe another day, he deserved that after everything he'd done for Cain, helped him through everything, taught him when others gave up on him and yet when Jack needed him, Cain couldn't help, couldn't save him in time.

Nicola handed him a cup of tea, he took it slowly but just stared into it, as if he'd been in the tea somewhere, or something would happen... he'd awaken from the nightmare or there'd be a knock at the door and it would be him, or a phone call to say he was alive and well, that he couldn't come back but he was safe.

He stood up, putting the cup on the side as he walked over to Katie, crouching he hugged her gently, thinking about how he could have lost her, how he could be losing his daughter and keeping his brother if Jack hadn't done one of the most selfless things on the planet and there was no way for Cain to repay him, they couldn't even give him a funeral, The Silver Cross wouldn't allow it, to them it would be mourning a vampire, not a hunter. 

"I love you," he whispered to her as he held her close, shielding her.

"Cain..." Nicola began.

"Don't try and comfort me, not about this, not about Jack. We should've been there, argued for him, gotten him out sooner... anything but this! He's dead and it's my fault, I couldn't save him, I couldn't protect him and what's worse is that he's a vampire because of me, because of his sacrifice!" Cain snapped as he cried, putting Katie down onto the ground, the oblivious child with such sweet innocence.

Anger flashed in Nicole's eyes as she shook her head at him, "don't you think I loved him too? He was our friend, your brother, Katie's uncle. I'd have done anything to protect him, anything! Yet I thank him for his sacrifice, because without it, I'd be left raising Katie on my own!"

He didn't reply, he couldn't. She was right, yet she was selfish, she wouldn't understand, she didn't seem to understand what was taken from them anyway. Jack was gone, he wasn't coming back in any form and that killed him inside, twisting his insides until they were nothing but mush. How could he look upon his daughter's face and tell her that her uncle died to save her? It wasn't right, none of it was right, the order was wrong, they didn't even want to give Jack a chance. 

"Do you I'm wrong because I don't mourn him? Is that it? I can't. I can't mourn him, not when I see what good he's done, everything he's done for us, all the love... the hope, it was all for us. He died protecting you, loving you, his brother," she snapped.

"He died because of me, I'm the one who killed him, I'm the one that stabbed him in the chest and let them leave him to die!" Cain shouted, causing Katie to cry.

He looked at her sympathetically before he turned around, heading to the door. Nothing mattered to him at the moment, other than finding those beasts, murdering them all to prevent the same thing from happening to other families, to stop them from losing loved ones to the beasts that took on a human appearance, that thirsted for human blood desperately, feasting on every drop if they were hungry enough. Cain couldn't save Jack, couldn't help him but he could avenge him, saving others from Jack's fate, no matter the cost.