Heavenly Blood

22 - Alice

A month past. The time of my holiday was over. Yet neither Max nor I had returned to university. I found out later from Alec that she had several degrees along side her surveying degree, one of which was nursing which she slipped into fairly quickly in Truro. Alec too returned to his job, despite being part owner in what I later found out to be a club rather than a bar. I had accepted I was going to die, I guess he hadn't. I couldn't tell whether or not he was angry at me or the baby, but either way the quick kisses and flirty glances had stopped. And that was when I actually saw him. I would wait all night for him to return until I finally passed out and then would wake in bed with discarded bed clothes and his faint smell lingering in the air. The times I did see him, he told me he loved me and that he was needed at some place or another before leaving once again.

The cool waves lapped against my feet. The surf here was incredible, I wished I could surf or wind surf of bodyboard or something. I didn't want to be a ticking time bomb anymore. I knew I was getting pale, I had seen my skin fading everyday in the mirror, but it was his pale face this morning that hit home. Alec had been dressing this morning, tucking his shirt into his jeans. I watched him in the thin strip of light, not daring to move or let him know I was awake. This was the first time in a week and a half I had seen him. I couldn't bare it any longer.

"I love you," I had whispered.

He had turned to see me at last. He swallowed before coming and sitting next to me. He watched my face as I nuzzled into his hand which he had placed on my cheek, the cool metal of his ring a comfort to me. I knew that when I was asleep he would watch me, why else would he come to bed it wasn't like he ever slept, but we hadn't been this close in a while.

"I love you too," he murmured.

"Then kiss me."

He smiled weakly, "Calm down there Lucy. No need to get all vampire on me."

"You would know you nerd," I whispered in reply, "Have you read every vampire book in existence?"

He shrugged, "Forever is a long time."

It was that moment that haunted me. The pain in his eyes. Forever is a long time. Especially without someone to love. And that is was kept him up at night, so to speak. Either way I was going to die. If I miscarried I would likely die. If I carried, I could likely be too weak and die. If I carried to term, my body wasn't designed for birth therefore I could die. And if, by some miracle I survived all of that, both me and our baby would be slaughtered. It was a question of how not if at this point.

He had kissed me on the forehead and left. I barely had the energy to dress before I came down to the beach. It was rockier than Gwithian but had the added benefit of the fairytale like St Micheal's Mount. I had walked over there the day before and explored the gardens of the house, losing myself in the colour and aroma from the multiple species of flora. But nothing helped. Nothing could help. I was fighting a losing battle within my marriage and myself. Alec was falling away so the pain of my death would be less of a toll and my body was being drained as the baby grew stronger inside. Maybe there was no point in delaying what was the inevitable.

I expanded my wings, taking to flight one last time. I wanted to see Gwithian again. The tide would be in by now, crashing against the cliffs, swirling in its white swash. My still damp feet touched the soft grass of the edge of the cliff, maybe two miles from the Knight home. The beach where is all began and all ended. I took out my phone and dialled. No answer. My heart went cold. I called the only other person in my life.

"Hey, Alice. Can I call you back? Now isn't..."

"Wait!" I cried, "I only called to say goodbye."

"Goodbye? What? What are you talking about?" Max asked frantically.

I exhaled, "Please don't panic. I just want to be free. I don't want you and Alec to see me dying like this. This is better for us all. This way Alec will be safe. No more running from Dravon. He can be happy."

"Alice just wait! Think about this. You can't be thinking of..."

"Max don't make this harder." A tear ran into the corner of my lip, "Just...just..." I inhaled, choking back the tears, "Just tell Alec that I love him."

"Alice no wait..."

I hung up the phone and dropped it to the ground. I took off my jacket, folding it gently next to the phone before removing my ring and placing it onto the jacket. Instantly stinging burned my hand where my ring used to be, it was a reminder I broke the vow. I looked at it in shock, a red band where the ring previously was. I looked up, out towards the sea.

"Til death do us part."

"What are you doing?"

I turned slowly. Alec stood not two metres from me. His jaw locked with tension and his skin paled. His eyes overcast as he stared into mine. I felt the tears welling inside. He wasn't suppose to be here. He wasn't suppose to see me like this. The wind whipped my hair but I hadn't control of my body to push the stands away.

"Alec just go." My voice was cracked, barely audible, "I don't want you here!"

"Did we not make a vow to love and to cherish?" He asked, stepping closer towards me, "In sickness and in health?"

"What do you call the last month!" I screamed, "In total I've seen you for about an hour over a month. Don't you think that I also think this is shit? I never asked for this. I never asked for any of this. All I wanted was you."

"All I wanted was you," he whispered, "I love you."

"How did you know?" I whispered, "How did you know I was here?"

"My ring burnt me. The fact mine is still on my finger in the only thing keeping us both alive right now," he replied. He was standing in front on me, his hand brushed my face and cupped my cheek, "And I knew you were here because this is the start and the end. This is always the start and the end."

"Why did you come?" I cried.

"To stop you," he kissed me gently, "I love you, I don't want you to die."

My lip quivered, "What's the point? I'm going to die either way. Why not doing it now? Somewhere that means something. On my terms. With dignity."

Alec put his forehead against mine, the coldness of his skin making me shiver, "You don't have to die at all."

I smiled joylessly. I could feel the tears, "I have no halo and I'm pregnant. God cannot handle liabilities."

The wind up here harshly whipped my hair. The tears lifted from my cheeks as soon as they left my eyes. Alec turned me to face him and cradled my cheek in his palm. His unnatural blood red eyes staring unblinkingly into my own. His lips trembled ever so slightly.

"I will never let anything happen to you," he said.

I smiled, kissing him gently on his soft cold lips. The lips I knew well and loved so much. I couldn't let his go through this pain. It had to be now, "That's twice you have saved me. Let's not make it a third."

I pushed my body away from him. I crossed my arms and let myself fall backwards, the wind whipping my hair and whistling in my ears. I let my arms open. A sudden jolt stopped my fall. The shirt pulling against my chest as it was yanked from behind. I turned my head to see Alec, leaning over the cliff gripping my shirt. He pulled my back onto the grassy verge. Clasping me into his chest as we knelt on the cliff top. I fought against his grip, wanting to fall, wanting to sink into the abyss.

"Just let my die!" I screamed.

I could feel his jaw trembling as I felt a sharp stab into my neck.