Immortal Love Book #1. Awakening

35. "She's gone"

Dennis Everly was losing his mind. He'd lived for 125 years but he didn't remember feeling that much pain before in his life. Stella was everything to him, and now she was dead. He wasn't completely sure she was dead, but the fact that she was laying on his bed without a pulse gave him a pretty good idea. He also wasn't completely sure she was gone for good, because in the case she was actually dead, she had his blood on her system, and she'd wake up a vampire. Dennis was sure he'd love Stella as a vampire as much as he did while she was human, but he didn't wish the curse of vampirism upon anyone, specially not upon the love of his life. There was also some uncertainty because he didn't know if an Imperium could turn into a vampire, or if she would just die. He was full of uncertainties as he walked around the room trying to avoid thinking about Stella being dead.

*

Alexander Ericson, contrary to his beliefs, wasn't feeling completely unaffected by the possible death of Stella, which made him confused. He was also avoiding thinking about her as he sat on Dennis' couch wondering what to do next. Stella had solved his problem by killing Darko, and he shouldn't care that she had died in the process, but for some reason he did, and he couldn't shake that feeling. He couldn't focus on that feeling for long, because he had to inform The Academy of what had happened and go back to New York to manage business there, as he did before all this happened. He wondered whether everything could go back to normal after everything that had happened, and he didn't know the answer, but the hoped it was a yes. He also wondered about what would happen if Stella woke up as a vampire. He thought Stella would be a remarkable vampire given how gifted she was as a human, but something told him that she wasn't ready to be one. He wondered about what he'd tell The Academy. If Stella was dead, then it didn't matter if they knew of her powers, but if she was alive, he couldn't tell them because they would kill her, and he couldn't let that happen. He wasn't so sure as to why he couldn't, but he just couldn't.

*

Jacqueline Wright couldn't care less about Stella, but she was worried about Dennis. She'd witnessed him losing somebody he loved when Mary Loise died, and she couldn't let that happen again. She secretly hoped Stella would live only because that meant Dennis wouldn't feel pain. She was sitting next to Alexander as she thought what she'd do next. Alexander would report the situation to The Academy, and they'd go back to New York like nothing even happened, but there was only one problem. The day Dennis walked into that room and she saw him after almost a century, something changed inside her, and she didn't know if she could go back to where she was before. She also knew Alexander better than she knew herself, and it wasn't hard for her to notice that he had taken a certain interest on Stella, and that maybe he couldn't go back to normal either, specially if she was now dead.

"I'll go check on him." Jacqueline announced to Alexander, referring to Dennis. Alexander nodded quietly.

Jacqueline went upstairs and she saw an image that made her heart turn and reminded her she still had one. Dennis was holding Stella's hand and looking at her like he was waiting for her to wake up, but Jacqueline knew something Dennis seemed to ignore; Stella was dead. It wasn't clear to her before, but it was now. Her eyes were shut closed, her skin was pale and lifeless, and Jacqueline couldn't hear her pulse. She was dead, and there was no doubt about it.

"Hey." she said, and Dennis looked at her and gave her a sad smile. "I think it's time to..." Jacqueline started talking, but she was interrupted.

"She's dead." Alexander's voice made her turn. She sometimes forgot how fast he could move. Dennis ignored him and went back to looking at Stella's lifeless body.

"Don't." Jacqueline said, and Alexander gave her a mischievous smile. She knew the history between them, and how easy it was for them to start fighting.