Jack drops to his knees beside Alexandre’s lifeless body. We just look at each other, both exhausted. There are a million things to say and no way in which to say them. We’ve won, I can’t quite believe it. I push myself up, leaving Jack. I need to get to Annie. She is just beginning to stir, when I reach her. I gather her up in my arms.
“We’re alive. How did that happen?” Still able to keep things light, this is a good sign.
“You saved me from having my head popped like a champagne cork. You bought us the time we needed, for me to fight Alexandre, and for Jack to save the day.”
“Sweet, so I’m the hero. You can thank me after you help me up.”
We stand with our arms around each other and walk back to Jack, who is still kneeling next to Alexandre. Annie and I look at our maker. I know what she is feeling, because I am feeling it too.
“I wish it could have been different.” Her voice cracks.
I couldn’t agree more. If only he could have been who I thought he was. Jack finds a rusted shovel and a spade, in the same dilapidated shed where the ax came from. I tell him to sit down, he is still human, and in worse shape than us. Besides, this is for Alexandre’s children, alone.
We dig a hole, next to a stream, behind the property. When Alexandre has been placed inside and covered up again, we sit next to him in silence. I find myself overcome with emotion. Annie and I hold each other as we cry over a friend who was once so dear. We don’t speak any words over his make shift grave. What would we say? Grief like a heavy blanket, more smothering than the thick, humid air, settles over me.
With dawn approaching once more, we know we aren’t going to make it back home, or to any other shelter we could trust. This place seems abandoned enough. We find a root cellar to serve as our accommodations for the day. Jack volunteers to do his best to keep watch from above. He hasn’t had any food or water, but insists he’ll live one more night.
When it is time for Annie and me to descend, Jack takes my hand, and kisses the knuckles. We have yet to have a conversation. I suppose now we know we have all the time in the world ahead of us, there is no rush.
“I’m so sorry, Millicent,” he says to me.
“I’m sorry, too. Sorry he chose this ending.”
Annie and I make ourselves as comfortable as possible. God knows what is down here. I try not to think about it, as we curl up next to each other and black out with the rising sun.
I wake to something licking my neck, which isn’t pleasant, since I’m positive it’s a rat. The poor thing never has a chance, I’m famished. Annie and I are mostly healed. This is another benefit of being a powerful, immortal being. My neck is still sore, but since it was almost dislodged from my body, it’s not hard to understand why.
We decide the best course of action will be to put Jack in a taxi, while Annie and I return home the same way we came. The two of us look the worse for wear, covered in dried blood. Our clothing is in tatters. Best to avoid humans, if it all possible.
We beat Jack to the house and clean ourselves up. We manage to fill our bellies on the way. Our triumph isn’t feeling very triumphant.
After my shower, I knock on Annie’s bedroom door. She says to come in, and when I do, I find her in tears at her vanity. I’ve seen more vampire tears in the last forty-eight hours, then I have in over two hundred years of life.
“I don’t feel very good about what happened, Mills.”
I sit down on the bed. “Neither do I. How can we feel good about going against Alexandre? But, all you did was save me, you didn’t lastingly hurt him. If that helps.”
She doesn’t answer. It will take us all time to get over the events of last night. As it turns out, Alexandre was a monster, but he was also our maker, our family, and that means something. Was he a monster before I knew him? Or was it loving me that ruined him? These questions will haunt me.
“Where will you go?” I ask my only friend in the world.
“Somewhere far away. I need to distance myself. Will you sell the house?”
“First chance I get. Everything will be put in storage, so don’t worry about leaving your things behind. I’ll take care of them.” I pause, needing a moment to keep my emotions in check. “When will we see you again?”
“Soon, I promise. You and Jack will need time, too.”
“I’m holding you to it.”
“Annie, one more thing. Do you think we should have buried the head somewhere else?”
“What are you talking about?”
“We know so little about ourselves. All we know about our nature and powers, we learned from Alexandre. We have come to find out that he hasn’t always been truthful, about a lot of things.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” she says.
After a few minutes of contemplation, Annie adds, “I don’t know. Losing your head seems pretty final. This isn’t a movie. Do you want to go back and move it? We can, if it will make you feel better.”
“No, you’re right. This isn’t a movie. I can’t imagine how he could still live,” I reason.
“Agreed. Let’s leave Alexandre in peace.”
Annie pulls herself together, re-gathers her things, and leaves. Ever the independent, she needs to go off on her own now. I completely understand, I wouldn’t have her any other way. By the time Jack arrives, I am more than ready to put Savannah in the rear-view mirror myself.
Taking a breather, we sit on the loveseat in my beautiful living room. There is still blood from the tears of two vampires on one side, but I don’t care. Jack stretches his arm around my shoulders and pulls me to him. I relax against his chest. I can’t quite believe everything that happened. I try to tell myself it was all worth it, I now have what I always wanted. However, the ghosts of Kathryn Hart and Alexandre, will forever lurk in the background. While he was a monster, there was so much more to him.
“How are you feeling, Millicent?” Jack asks, breathing into my hair.
“I’m ok. I’ll be ok.”
“Yes, you will. We have a lot to do, with all the time in the world to do it. We’ll go slow, and we’ll heal.”
I hold him tighter. Sitting on that bloodstained loveseat, we make plans for our future.
We’ll travel to London, so Jack can close out his life. There are bank accounts, a house, and a career he will formally retire from. As soon as he is ready, we will find a small isolated place, far away from the world. A place with a room for Annie. I think of Alexandre’s little cottage in the French woods, wondering if it’s still there. Disappearing won’t be easy for a man with a familiar face, but time will help us.
I am interested in researching our origins. Finding out, if I can, where we came from and especially how Alexandre came into his immortality. I have known other immortals briefly. Never have I bothered to ask about our origins, or Alexandre’s mysterious “ways”. I have been apathetic for so long. It feels as if I am waking up from a long nap, no longer content just to exist and pass the time.
Once we have disappeared, I will share immortality with Jack and my life will begin, in earnest. Jack isn’t unsure or nervous, one bit. This is his destiny as much as it was mine. He is ready to move into another realm of life. And what a life, it will be.