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

Chapter Sixteen - The Truth & Lies

Cain threw himself off the cold leather sofa, peeling his eyes open as he forced himself up. He hadn't slept at home since he and Nicole's fight but he couldn't bring himself to sleep in Jack's bed. His flat was an odd comfort, his beer helped dull the pain but everything else was as Jack left it, as in Cain believed he'd come home one day, just magically walk in like nothing had happened... like he wasn't one of them now, or a pile of ashes as Cain knew but struggled to believe.

"Excuse me?" a woman's voice questioned.

"If you're one of those vultures looking to see if this place is vacant, you can get lost. This is my brother's place, I'm paying rent on it," Cain snapped. He caught sight of her as she stepped inside, her hair an unusual shade of blonde, a shade he'd seen before. It took him a few minutes for him to realise, and all he could say was, "you were that blonde... at my brother's flat."

"Sophie and I'm pretty sure I've not been the first he's had in his bed... had. I forget that he's gone, he was really brave, doing what he did."

"How do you know?" Cain snapped.

"My father's a councilman, he told me why Jack was going to be... you know."

Cain looked up at her, his mind filling with so many questions. As far as he knew she and Jack were not close, he rarely chose to get to know anyone, said it was easier that way, less of a chance of losing someone he loved that way. He stuck to Cain, hoping he could protect his brother, but the fear Cain had, the panic about his daughter, became a reality for Jack, something he suffered before his death.

"Why did you come here?" Cain asked quickly.

"My brother died in a similar way... when I saw Jack's execution, it was like seeing his all over again. I can't believe you though, not only did you volunteer, you were going to make him suffer blood loss. How cruel can you be? You want to know why I came here? Because someone should mourn him properly, respect him for the hunter he was, not the vampire he became."

Her words stung coldly, shaking his head, he refused to believe it, to hear it. he cared, he loved his brother... the suffering he put him through was to try and save him, not to damn him. He didn't want his brother dead, he didn't want to see him suffer as a vampire or a human, he loved him, would do anything for him as Jack did for him but he was the reason Jack had become a monster, he was the reason Jack was damned to live with the lust for blood, to be hunted.

If Cain had been stronger, rebellious like his brother, if he had the guts to stand up to them and tell them they were wrong, he would have but part of him was like a child, terrified of what would happen to his family. He had to think about Katie and Nicola too and Jack wouldn't have wanted them to go back on the deal they made just so they'd spare him, he'd see that as a waste of a sacrifice, an insult to all he'd done, tried to do for Katie.

"I cannot believe he's gone, a part of me... just doesn't believe it, refuses to accept it," he admitted as he looked at her, her soft blonde hair, beautiful features. He could see why Jack was interested in her, there was nothing ugly about her. Her cupid's bow lips parted, she inhaled, ready to talk but bit her lip as she stopped herself. "What is it?" he asked her.

"He... Jack... isn't dead, he's undead... out there somewhere," she began.

Cain stood up in disbelief. He shook his head repeatedly, refusing to accept the truth even as she blurted it out to him. Alive? It wasn't possible, Cain found his ashes, his clothing, his cross... Jack wouldn't go anywhere without that, he'd never just force it off like that, he was part of the order... he wouldn't turn his back on that, or those he loved.

"You're lying," Cain snapped. He continued to shake his head, "you... you're lying! Jack would've come home, he'd have told me, he'd have found a way to... to tell me!"

"You?! Why would he?! He apparently attacked your wife, then you left him to die! Why would he want anything to do with you?!" Sophie snapped with a look of fury.

Cain's fury came to a halt as he looked at her. He never realised how it would look to Jack, like he was being abandoned, accused... killed. Jack must've believed it, believed that they'd left him there to suffer in darkness before the end. He must've thought that Cain, Nicola... everyone no longer cared, therefore left to hide himself from the world and the world from him.

He had to find him, find Jack but he had no idea where to start, where he'd go, be drawn to... there were so many places, hunter's hideouts he could use, or people he could prey on, it wasn't going to be an easy task, but Cain had to do it, for Jack.