Gehenna Through My Eyes

by Ender Elementalis

A vampire tells her tale of living through Gehenna and unselfish sacrifices.

It was one of those nights that the moon is absent from her watchful post above the world, leaving it in almost complete darkness except for the occasional city streetlamp or lit sign. It was one of those nights where children sleep with their lights on in fear of the monster that lives under their bed. The cool night air was as still as death, and pair of eyes followed passerby on the street. That pair of eyes was my own.

A scrawny and nerdy looking man walked by on the sidewalk just past the alleyway where I was lurking. He was of middle age, and had downcast eyes that noticed nothing of his surroundings. With nobody else around him, I slipped from my hiding place and shadowed him. At this time of night there weren't too many people out, most were tucked away snug in their beds unknowing of a world that shadowed their own. Adjusting my step, I soon overtook the lone man who still noticed nothing other than the cracks in the sidewalk as he walked along. At the next ally I grabbed him from behind, cupped my hand over his mouth and pulled him into it with me. His eyes looked up at me with a mixture of surprise and fear as I tilted his head back and sank my fangs into his jugular vein.

The man would remember nothing of this incident. My kind have adapted to exist only in the imagination and stories of the mortal prey we stalk. Yes, as you may have guessed, I am among the Damned. I am a vampire. No, we are not just Halloween stories, or tales to frighten children. We exist – take it from me. Yes, we burn in sunlight, and yes, we need to drink blood to survive, but no, we are not affected by garlic and wooden stakes to not kill us, but they do paralyze us. You think you've seen horrid things in your day? Those are nothing to the nightmare I live every night. I have seen and done things that would make your blood run cold…things I will not mention…for your sake.

The curse of vampirism is a cold and lonely one. Each of us carries a Beast inside of us. In a sense, it is a part of our damned souls that gives us our predator taint. When it is in control, we are not. It arouses when we are humiliated, starving, or near fire, and it is in a sense, a sort of defense system, much like a mortal's immune system. It keeps us going. It is also the thing that we fear most. The Beast can eventually gain control and make us into bloodthirsty animals with no sentient thoughts at all. We can attack and kill both our friends, enemies and innocent bystanders without a second thought when the Beast is in control. It also frightens us because under the rules of the 'Masquerade' we, meaning all vampires are supposed to keep quiet and out of the way so that mortals are none the wiser. This rule came about as a result of the Spanish Inquisition and other such incidents which involved 'purification' or 'witch burnings'. Many innocent people died, as well as many vampires during these dangerous nights.

Vampirism as I see it is more of a curse than a blessing. You can't ever watch another sunset or sunrise, you must drink blood to survive, you can loose control of yourself, you cannot eat real food and drink real water, and perhaps the part that I hate the most is the emptiness I feel. Vampires you see, are unable to feel emotions. We are as empty as an egg with the yoke drained out, though hardly as frail. The part I do have to admit that I enjoy are the new powers I have found, I can do things I know that I would never be able to do in real life. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes all I have just to stay alive (or undead…you know what I mean).

For all of the smaller parts that I do enjoy about being a vampire, it was not my choice to become so. Before I became a vampire, I was a veterinary assistant in Cleveland, Ohio. One winter night after staying late to assist with a surgery I found that my car just wouldn't start. It was so cold outside that I was sure that had something to do with it. I thought to myself, I don't live too far away, I can walk home and pick up my car tomorrow when I come back to work anyways. Fighting the chill, I started to make my way back home, and several times I thought I saw a pair of red eyes peering out of the shadows at me, but when I turned to get a better look, I saw nothing but darkness. 'I must just be tired,' I thought to myself and continued along my way. After about the third time of seeing the imaginary eyes, I heard laughter coming from all around me. This was not imagined laughter, I it sounded mocking and sadistic and it got louder as I passed by an ally with a bunch of big Harleys parked out front. Suddenly I felt two pairs of hands grab both of my arms and pull me into the alleyway. Inside, sitting on a bunch of garbage was a group of about six men. They stood up when the two men behind me shoved me into the middle of the circle of these eight men.

"Well," one of them began, "look what the cat dragged in!

Reaching into my purse, I pulled out my can of pepper spray and hid it in my hand. The men started to close in their circle. I struggled briefly, but in short order they had me pinned down and had their way with me. The one who had spoken first then bent close and whispered softly in my ear:

"You aren't going to tell anyone…are you little one? Of course you won't. Since you put up a good fight, I will leave you to a different fate."

He bent close, tilted my head back and sank his fangs into my neck. The last thing I remember is floating towards a bright light, then as I was almost there, I saw the pearly gates close and I returned to my earthly body, looking up into the face of my abuser. That was the last feeling I ever felt, and it remains the saddest feeling I have ever had. Then the inhuman hunger hit me, the lust of revenge coupled with this threw me into a frenzy and I killed all but one of the men that tormented me. That one escaped and called a hunt on me all over the city of
Cleveland. Thus I had to leave my home and old life behind forever. I moved to Pittsburgh to figure out what had happened to me.

Several of the events that are written about in the ancient vampire texts about the Final Nights, the Apocalypse of our kind, have already come to pass and it seems that I should begin to put my affairs in order for the protection of the mortal population for after we are gone, the end of the mortal's world is sure to come too. That is what all of this is about…a diary of my experiences at the end of the world. My name is Aurora Bostis, I have been dead for 24 years.

I watched as the man stood up after I licked the puncture wounds closed and his eyes clouded over as he walked calmly out of the alleyway. I hopped on my motorcycle and rode off towards the Elysium, a place where vampires can meet without fear violence of any kind. This is also where the Prince, the 'ruler' of the city's office is located. This is who I have come for tonight as I have business with the others of my clan, a bloodline that has the same kinds of powers. If I were to have a family in my unlife, clan Gangrel would be it. I sat down at a table and ordered a glass of blood (for that's all that we can drink), waiting for my brethren to arrive. I looked over and saw an old man watching me, something about him unnerved me, I just couldn't put my finger on it. I looked away, but he kept his eyes on me, and I was just about to go up to him and say something about his odd behavior when the primogin, the second in command under the prince and in charge of his or her own clan in the area, of the Gangrel arrived. Several others around me stood and followed him up a high, elaborately carved wooden staircase. We walked through the oaken double doors, and past the startled secretary who tried to stutter out 'do you have an appointment'. Ignoring her, our leader walked straight into the prince's office.

Looking around with a partially curious, partially annoyed smirk on his face the prince said, "Yes Dante…can I help you?"

The leader called Dante tried to respond, 'We as a – a ……clan…." He tried, and then trailed off into unintelligible squawking sounds. I looked at him weird; it is unusual for Dante to do anything but keep his cool around the prince and other high-ranking officials in the Camarilla.

The Camarilla is an organization of vampiric clans much like clan Gangrel that work together to promote peace and the secrecy of vampires as a whole. Unfortunately, the Camarilla has been encroaching upon hunting grounds and with vampires, especially territorial ones; it isn't really that wise of an idea. The Camarilla is also becoming corrupt in its government and I know what we are here to do.

I step forward, I was a scourge for the Camarilla at one point, which is pretty much the vampire police or SWAT team, so I have a decent enough standing with the prince. I even took care of several personal problems for him at various times too. "Sir," I said sounding confident and authoritative in my soft-spoken elegant voice, "what master Dante means to say is that we, Clan Gangrel, as a whole have decided that it is in our best interests to leave the Camarilla at this point in time." With that, I set all of the equipment and weapons that they had loan me on the desk in front of the prince, turned on my heel, and walked out of the office. The other Gangrel followed me out, and making the scene even more impressive were the fearsome qualities of my brethren. You see, whenever a Gangrel enters a frenzy, we gain an animal feature, ranging anywhere from cat-like pupils to lion tails, and reversed knees. I walked out of the Elysium and got back on my motorcycle and rode back towards my home in Mount Washington, contemplating what would happen now. I wondered whether the prince would get angry and call a hunt on us or if he heard reports that Gangrel everywhere had left the Camarilla, leaving the course of action, if any to those higher up in the command chain.

On my way home, I passed an ally with a girl that looked to be in her mid-teens standing in front of it screaming something about the end of the world. I pulled over and went to talk to her discovering several other grungy looking hobos with her. "Hello," I ventured to say.

"Wha…who're you?" she asked me.

"My name is Aurora, what's yours and what were you just yelling about?"

"I'm Lyla…and I…I can't remember yelling about anything…"

I turned to the other hobos standing around a barrel fire to keep warm in the chilly summer air. "Who is this girl, and why can't she remember what she was just talking about?" A particularly grungy old woman left the circle around the fire and came over to me. She looked over my thigh boots, torn jeans, tight t-shirt and leather trench coat. Something about her look made hair on my neck stand up.

"As she said, her name is Lyla. She cannot remember the prophecies she speaks. Lyla speaks for Her."

"Her? Her who?" I inquired.

"The Mother, the Betrayed." The hobo replied nonchalantly. This did make some sense to me. Since I became an immortal vampire, I've had a bit of time on my hands to do some reading about my affliction, to say the least. I read deep into the ancient lore of the vampires, and I found out that they believe that they are descended from Caine, the first murderer. After Caine was disowned and cursed by God (thus the things that hurt us now) he was visited by a dark lady named Lilith. She watched over Caine and granted him the vampiric powers that we now have. Caine's bite created his children, and his children's children were created by their bite, and so on. The further the new vampire is away from the original, the weaker their blood becomes. Lilith was eventually cast out by Caine and betrayed, and none have heard of her since. The prophecies say that in the Final Nights, Gehenna, the founder will awaken to take back his gift. Apparently, Lilith will have some hand in these Final Nights, I thought to myself as my gaze wondered up towards the growing Red Star in the sky. Another sign of Gehenna. "Listen to her. She will show you the way. Large battle come."

"Battle? What battle?" I asked. I didn't remember any battles in the prophecies.

"She will fight Him." The hobo replied again. "Week from now, Her allies come." That was all I could get out of her. She turned and went back to the fire. The firelight and the headlights of passing cars I looked at Lyla again, her fear was apparent in her bright blue eyes.

"Come with me, Lyla. Stay at my house, I'll watch you to make sure that you don't get hurt because you cannot remember anything during your prophecies." She nodded her head and followed me back to my motorcycle.

The next evening there was a knock at my door, and the old man that had been in Elysium the night before was standing there. "Can I help you, old timer?"

"Actually yes…you remember me from Elysium yesterday, yes?"

"Yeah, what of it? How did you find me anyways?"

"I have my ways…anyhoo, you left your leader there, he's fluttering around the prince's office, and if he isn't removed by tonight, the prince will have him left out for the sunrise. I just thought you might want to know." He turned, and with no visible vehicle in sight, he walked to the end of the street and turned the corner. 'Well, I thought to myself, I'd better go and play heroine for now, and then decide what to do about him afterwards.' So I set off back towards Elysium, slightly annoyed at the idea of having to save an elder's butt.

When I got there, and collected the wandering bat, the prince gave me a look that said 'I hope you burn in hell.' I guess he wasn't having a good week with us leaving and all. Frankly, I didn't care what he thought, the feeling was mutual. I walked back outside and got on my bike and pulled off the curb. Several stoplights later I saw something big coming up behind me, and fast. I careened into a side ally as the giant motor home shot by. That pissed me off. I took off after it with nothing but the smell of burning rubber lingering behind me. Several blocks later, police sirens started wailing, and several cops were racing after the out of control motor home. I'm sure, if I had been watching, the scene would have been quite amusing to me. At the time though, I didn't think it too funny I had almost been a splat on the pavement. I followed the motor home closely, weaving in and out of traffic, my brown hair flying in the wind behind me. When it stopped, I'd be ready to have a word with the careless driver. It pulled into club Matrix's back parking lot, and lost the police in the process, not me though. I got off my bike, and walked up to the door, and gave three loud knocks.

"Yes?" answered a very calm, and nonchalant man in a business suit.

"You almost ran me over, you freaking idiot!"

"I'll handle this," said a very bedraggled man dressed as a gypsy, "you didn't care for my driving? Too bad, this was one of my good days too…oh well, what's your name pretty miss?"

"You crazy, son of a –"

"You really should learn your manners missy," his eyes glowing evilly at me. I was too angry to care myself. Then I saw his fangs extend. He was a vampire too. I recognized the challenge, whether willingly or unwillingly, it didn't matter, I grew my fangs too as a red haze started setting in around my vision. That startled him.

"Oh! I'm sorry Miss Aurora…I thought you were just some prissy mortal!"

"This is just another example of your recklessness taking form and biting you in the butt, Raphael," the stranger in the business suit replied. "my name is Jack, and I am of clan Tremere. Raphael here is of clan Ravnos." Tremere and Ravnos I thought to myself. Clan Tremere is a group of blood magicians, and clan Ravnos is full of illusionists. I'd have to watch these two closely.

"Here is my card ma'm, if you need us, just give us a call and we will help in whatever way we can to repay our carelessness. Have a nice evening." With that, he turned and went back inside the motor home and closed the door. 'Well,' I thought. At least I have some contacts now if I need anything.

I returned home and let the bat go in my basement, leaving a few pints of blood bags on the steps in case he got hungry and went to bed myself, exhausted and rethinking the night.

Several days later I awoke to a shrieking coming from Lyla's room. I ran over to see what was going on, and she sat up in her bed with a blank look on her face. "If you wish to survive, you must help them…" she screamed, and then fell back asleep. I shrugged, every night I began to believe more and more that she must be crazy and considered sending her back to the ally way to have some peace and quiet. I flipped on the news and walked to the basement door and opened it. Suddenly I feel like I'm on all fours standing at the top of the stairs. 'Well, that was weird…' I thought to myself, shaking off the feeling. "Dante?" I called down as I had been doing every night now for some time hoping that his strange condition didn't happen to me anytime soon. I can feel the strength of my blood weakening as every night passes, and even though I don't want to believe it, I know somewhere in the depths of my soul that the end is on it's way.

"Yes Aurora, I am here," a strong masculine voice answered back. He emerged from the shadows and started towards the stairs. He had an untidy look about him, even for a dead man. Well, I guess I would too if I spent a week as a bat… "thank you for feeding me while I was trapped in my bat form." He walked towards me with unearthly grace and I felt something deep inside myself stir. Something that I had not felt for quite awhile.

Then I overheard the news. It was talking about some squid-like alien plant things that were crawling up out of the three rivers at the Point and all over Pittsburgh. 'Crap!' It's been a week, and the hobo's prophecy is coming true! I watched the screen with utter intensity as the many armed beings…slithered…I guess you would call it all towards the seemingly same place. They were headed towards the alleyway where the hobos lived!

"Friends of yours?" Dante asked looking over my shoulder. He was good looking, but probably much older than I am. In fact, in vampire society, I'm still considered a child. Most vampires have been dead for centuries. Of course, that can also work to my advantage. I will always appear as if I am 23 because that is when I died.

"Yes – I mean," I sighed, "I have no freakin' idea." I related everything that had happened in the world while Dante was locked away in my cellar. "I wonder if they will come again…?" I wondered aloud watching as all of the monstrosities were cornered and killed by mostly astonished police, but with several grim ones who seemed anything but surprised.

"TWO DAYS!" shrieked a voice from upstairs. I couldn't help but laugh. That was just timed perfectly. Dante's light laughter joined my own. If I could have blushed, I probably would have.

"Is she always like that?" he asked.

"Don't ask her, she can't remember a friggin thing!" That made both of us howl with laughter. Another news story stifled the fun with my newfound friend though.

"…In other news, a mysterious shadow house has appeared on Mt. Washington. This house does not open for anyone, and although it seems tangible, nobody seems to want to go up and touch it. It also does not dissipate in direct light, but it does disappear during the day. FBI and CIA agents have been called in to investigate both strange occurrences.…"

"That, does not sound good," I said to Dante, "I know where that place is, you can walk there from here. I'm going to go and check it out. It reeks of vampires."

"Not without backup you're not."

"Oh, ok. So now that you're actually a person again, you think you are in charge in my house? No sir. You sit down right here and rest up. I don't want you wiggin' out again. However, I do know of just the team to call up here to help me out…" I don't like to take orders or work with a group at all. Other people just get in the way of my own operations. I do on the other hand realize that there is strength in numbers.

Half an hour later, Jack and Raphael show up and with another in tow – the old man that came to my doorway about a week ago to tell me about Dante's problem. They introduce him as Ivan, who in turn lets his image dissolve and there is a hideously disfigured man standing in front of me. His open sores and grey, wrinkly skin tell me he is of clan Nosferatu, the clan cursed with hideous disfigurements. Then the smell hits me. Most Nosferatu, since they don't fit into society very well, live in the sewers and stink something awful. I let him know this quite promptly, as I never have been one for niceties. He holds up a bar of soap and says, "I have soap!" For all their inconveniences, they are masters of staying hidden when they want to and traffic all sorts of information. If you ever need to know something, ask a Nosferatu, just make sure you bring some Febreeze with you.

The trio was already aware of the mystery house, and we go to investigate it. Several short minutes later, we arrive, and the house looks just as strange in real life as it did on the news. It seemed that light just wouldn't approach the house, and the mind did a number to wreath the house in an aura of uncertainty and foreboding. We walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. As I looked closer, I could see that the entire house looked to actually be constructed out of shadow but before I could ponder the strange origin of this house, a tidy looking man in a suit answered the door

"Ah, yes. Good evening, my master has been expecting you…this way please." We all looked around at each other surprised. How could someone know we were coming since we had only planned to meet a night before…unless…no we mustn't think about those possibilities…. We followed the butler, I guess you would call him down into the basement of the house where he told us that his master would be with us shortly. I guess it was a cozy place to live, if you liked black, as the color was everywhere, matching the solid black exterior.

After about five minutes of waiting, we began growing impatient. After living through many situations that would make your hair curl, you start to get worried after several minutes of waiting for someone.

A thought intruded upon our own though as we awaited the arrival, "That may have something to do with the headmaster's absence…" the voice belonged to Ivan, the Nosferatu. I looked where he indicated and saw a growing pool of darkens. This, I knew could not be good. As we watched, the pool rose and took on the vague shape of a man, who then proceeded to grow tentacles reached one towards all four of us. Suddenly, his four tentacles sprang from his body at each one of us, dispersing the shape in the middle. Upon impact, instead of hurting us, they melded with us, a situation I liked less than being hurt.

A voice resounded inside our heads and our hearts then, "I am Lasombra, the founder of an ancient line of vampires. I have awoken in these end times to bring tidings from several of my brethren to you chosen four. You shall play a part in tomorrow's future that is yet to come. Take care, and ally yourselves correctly or you will be forever lost." The shadow then flew out of us, and into the very walls of the house.

"Well, I think I've had enough exploring for one night," I said "would you all like to join me in helping the green squid-like things tomorrow?" and following is an explanation that they will help Her and how I believe that She will help us. When they ask me how I know, I reply that I have found a prophet of hers. They agree to help, and all of us are happy just to return home and try to forget about the strange warning us 'chosen' had received.

I finally get home and tell Dante about everything that happened, and he just seems surprised.

"Lasombra?"

I nod. "There was no mistaking his power, Dante. It definitely was a force beyond anything that I've been exposed to in my entire life and unlife."

He didn't look happy. "If Lasombra is truly awake, then there must be others too of his power and they mustn't be too happy about this weakness. Yes, I can see the surprise in your eyes. I have and still am feeling the effects of the Withering. It is another part of the prophecy; that the power of our blood to sustain us will decrease over time and beings of ancient power will walk the earth again. Our undead bodies will start to malfunction too. This is why I was stuck as a bat, and indeed, your hair has changed while you slept last night."

I walk to the mirror and look at my usually dark brown hair that looks almost black. It is lined with orange tiger stripes, and my eyes have dilated into vertical slits just like a cat's. Not a bad look, it is something I could actually get used to, but I wonder to myself that time I felt like I was on all fours…maybe I was, and I actually transformed into an animal without willing myself to do so…. "So, what am I supposed to do about this?" I ask Dante.

"Choose a side and help it win. Or rather, it seems that a side has already chosen you."

"Dante?"

"Yes?"

"How old are you?"

"I am 672 years old, Aurora, why?"

"N-nothing…it's just that…just nevermind." I turn my back on him and go up to bed with strange thoughts that have become all but alien flooding my mind. 'Vampires,' I thought, 'do not have feelings…is this part of that Withering he talked about?' With that final thought, I crawled into bed to sleep away the day.

But it seems fate had other things in store for me. When I awoke the next night, I smelled something burning. My room was filled with smoke. I ran out of my room on the top floor, and looked down the stairs. My house was on fire. FIRE! My vampiric instincts tried to kick in, throwing me into a frenzy to save myself from the inferno, but I fought them back, I knew I had to. Dead flesh, you see, is very flammable. Filling my limbs with blood, I called upon the unnatural strength that vampires can imbue themselves with, and ran from my room, leaping over fiery holes in the floor to Lyla's room. She wasn't there. I then ran to Dante's room and found him still fast asleep on his bed. I scooped him up and ran to the window in his room and jumped out of it, landing neatly on the ground. I ran far away from my house, and down into the emergency shelter in my backyard that I had created years ago incase of an attack on my home. I laid Dante down and woke him up, screaming at him more in an uncontrolled rage at what was happening. I raved and worked myself to exhaustion and passed out.

Coming to, I found myself looking into the face of a confused Dante. "You saved my life…why…how did you…fire…"

"Well, Dante," I said looking up into his face and smiling, "I decided I liked you enough to keep you around for awhile."

"…thanks…you risked yourself for me…why would you do that? That's twice you've saved me. There's got to be more to this story." I didn't look at him. I stood and looked at the smoldering remains of my home and the mortal firemen putting it out. The chief came up to me and told me that it was no accident. I asked if there were any bodies found in the wreckage, and he said no. Somehow, I knew this had to be related to Lyla.

Fuming, I called Jack at club Matrix and he promised to help me investigate it, but he was busy at work on a ritual that would, he promised, in the end to be very useful to all of us. He did promise to send Ivan and Raphael to help me investigate the crime though.

Night after night passed, searching for Lyla proved fruitless. Every other night, they both helped me collect the alien-things and take them back to the alleyway. Raphael it seemed, had some recent experience in distracting the cops, turning his RV from everything to a rock, to just a part of an alley's wall, he made their worst nightmares, and more amusing delusions real. He created the State Puff Marshmallow to terrorize downtown, for example, while we snuck the aliens to the ally way and even made mutant food attack the city. No harm was done however, because every night, the city appeared fine again, as if no attack had happened the previous night. This, I realized was because of all the power that Raphael wielded, he could only create illusions, and illusions could do no real harm, but they did do quite a deal helping us shuttle the creatures back and forth in his RV.

Weeks passed, and one night we just knew the time had come. I awoke again on this dreary night of no moon and stepped outside. The air was still, and dead, like the deep breath before the plunge, or the calm before the storm. I called Jack, and he agreed. This was the night, and that he would meet me downtown at the alleyway and see what happened.

"Well Dante," I began, "ready to see what the end really has in store for us?"

"I guess there's no better place than the front lines, right?" I smiled at him and we both climbed in my car, one of the few things not destroyed by the fire, and drove off towards downtown Pittsburgh, not sure what lay ahead.

Upon reaching the alleyway, the hobos seemed to know that it was time too, and all of the monsters were concentrated on the abandon streets. It seems that the mortals knew that something was wrong too, they finally saw the large Red Star in the sky above us, and they shook in its light. I readied myself for the 'final battle' as it was foretold. I flooded my limbs with blood again, and also to my eyes this time, making them glow with an unearthly red. This however, allowed me to see in the darkness as though it were as clear as day. I also pumped blood into my fingers, growing a set of wickedly long claws, and powered by my very own Beast they could inflict great wounds with just a single swipe. I scaled the walls as Jack, Ivan, and Raphael entered the alleyway to see approaching things. Jack looked up at me and called, "Aurora! Here!" he tossed two flasks of a green fluid up at me and I caught them. "Drink it!" he called as he handed out similar flasks to his comrades. I tossed one over to Dante, who had climbed the wall on the direct opposite side from me as I looked out over the alley, and drank it. Instantly, I felt a renewed strength flood my body as I felt the weakness leave my body which had plagued it for such a long time, I forgot what it felt like to be a full strength. I looked at Dante, and he too seemed relieved to be at full strength for a final stand.

"Good job Jack!" I cried down to him, and he grinned up at me.

"I told you that was important!" and he went to stand at the back of the alleyway.

Looking down over the alleyway again, I saw a new female figure standing amid the hobos. She radiated with power, and I could make an educated guess that this was Lilith. Next, I heard a great roar rise up from the beasts as another being appeared on the opposite end of the alleyway, and I marveled at how the fate of the world could come down to a fight in a forgotten Pittsburgh alleyway. The pack of monsters which we had saved surged forward and began attacking the man I knew could only be Caine. He radiated with an unholy aura and the very air around him seemed to be both sad and furious. The monsters did little to slow him down, as the Sevenfold Curse placed upon him by God himself made any damage they did to him come back and deal it's damage worth seven times as strong on them.

While the monster's stand would only have lasted several minutes, four more figures appeared on the other side of them and began attacking their rear flanks. I looked over at Dante, and he nodded. He knew too that these were ancient vampires, and the founders of the clans who were attacking the monsters. I nodded back to him and we both jumped down into the fray. On my way down, it seemed that Ivan had chosen his side, and he was blasting away at the squid – things. Raphael I noticed had taken up my spot on the rooftop and was mowing down squid –things too. After that, all I remember is a lot of hacking and slashing on both our parts with our formidable claws against the ancient vampires, Lasombra, I recognized was among them. When I realized that everything in front of me was gone and I was between Caine and the hobos guarding Lilith, I knew somewhere deep inside that this was only because of the Withering, and the ancient vampires were so weakened that it became possible to beat them. The hobos then surged forward and began attacking Caine, and they too were being obliterated by the Sevenfold Curse. They were weakening him, I saw this clearly.

"Aurora, you have saved my life many times, now it is my turn. I am sick of this half – life of leeching off of humanity to stay alive. I thank you for your kindness, and I ask you to remember me. This I do for you as a last thank you. Perhaps we shall meet again someday…thank you…" I heard these words as though through an icy wall. They seemed distant unreal. I turned and looked into his emerald green eyes, my own filling with tears. …tears? Vampires cannot feel emotions. What was going on? I saw as if in slow motion Dante focus on Caine and crouch down on all fours as if he were an animal waiting to spring on his prey and then he jumped before I could utter the word "…no…". He flew through the air and extended his claws forward, groping for his prey's chest, and hid dead center. Caine fell over, dead, and Dante exploded in a brilliant flash of blood and gore.

It was Lilith's turn to yell my name this time. "Aurora! Jack! Here, drink!" She tossed me a packet of blood, and I drank it. A rift in the ground opened and a man with wings emerged, spread open his wings suddenly the world was a burning, shining ball of light. In the brightness, I heard Lilith again, and I went blindly towards her. It felt as if my eyes had been burned out of their sockets and my very skull was on fire. Then I blinked, and the world was gone. I was standing beside Jack in front of Lilith, who looked pleased.

"You two are of a rare breed. You aided me in my time of need, and showed nothing but selfless passion for your companions. You two have earned my pardon of the cleansing of the world.

"What was that?" I ventured to ask the question that seemed to be on both our minds.

"That was Lucifer, he bathed the world in sunlight, and all of the vampires still existing on the world were destroyed. Because you partook of my blood, it transformed you into something else. Part vampire, part mortal. All of their strengths, but in your mortal bodies."

Indeed, I reached my hand to my chest and felt a pulse. I collapsed on the ground, dizzy from my experiences of losing a tie to humanity that I had clung so desperately to, and only to gain my own mortality back. I fell backwards with a smile on my face and dreamt my first real dreams in 24 years. I could begin a new life, and I was myself again. I had learned much from my time in death, many lessons I could not and would not forget. Including an unselfish sacrifice, and a real bond to the society I had left behind. As I drifted off into a deep sleep, my mind relaxed, and I dreamt of the people left behind and the future yet to come.