THE SON
Sarah loved her son. She didn't care that he was a vampire- why should she? A mother's love is unconditional. Sure, there are those who would say that she was wrong to change him but how could she not?
Zach is her baby boy.
She remembers him throwing a football around with her. Her throwing arm might suck but damn can she catch.
The leukaemia had been devastating. She'd been forced to watch all that happen to her child. She's not sure which part had been worse- was it when his gums had started bleeding? Or the bruises that just appeared randomly?
Maybe it was that moment of diagnosis.
A mother shouldn't have to see her child dying at twelve.
He's always healthy now. A few regrets are worth that.
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THE MUSE
Art goes through phases, but it always has muses.
Mina has been a muse for so many people. She likes it; artists are often strange people on the edges of society but they are interesting.
The fourth artist she stood for was the one who turned her. At the time everyone was into romanticism and he'd decided that she would be perfect for something he was painting for a poet. In the picture Mina is knelt beside a river. She likes that painting a lot. Two hundred years later and it's in an art gallery now (watercolour, subject unknown). Strange to think, that.
Art nouveau had been fun. There was absinthe, Oscar Wilde and cars were still things of wonder. They're all over the place now.
I was the twenties that had been her favourite. She still dresses like a flapper sometimes. In another gallery there's another picture of her, though you'd never realise it. She actually got painted by Picasso. Mina laughs at how unimportant it had seemed at the time. He was just another artist in those little places around Paris. In Madrid there hangs a painting (oil on canvas, subject unknown) where her limbs are jagged and angular and her nose seems to be halfway down her cheek.
She's seen a dozen artistic movements grow and fade.
She'll see a dozen more, right?
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THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER
Lily has been five for a long time. John doesn't care- it's not like he'll be going anywhere either.
She's his little princess.
He remembers the first time they went to Italy. Lily had loved the ice cream in Rome. They went to Venice during carnevale and he'd bought her masks, beautiful ones.
He loves to spoil his little princess.
He adores the thought that he might be able to do it for centuries to come.
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THE BROTHERS
Alex and Will are brothers and best friends. They've been in New York for a while- big cities are easier to go unnoticed in- and they're loving it.
Why wouldn't they? They have eternal youth and a city like this is surely the perfect way to enjoy it. They can drink, meet girls and sometimes reminisce about the things they've seen and the other times they've lived.
The psychedelic movement- remember that? They do. They find it funny that it was technically funded by the CIA. They remember how easy it was to just talk and keep on talking when you were high. And the good trips were awesome.
The eighties were pretty good, too. All those bright colours and the cheesy music. The girls who had come through women's lib and were ready to party.
Sure, there might be more productive ways to spend eternity but at least they could choose to change if they wanted.
They just keep saving that option for later. They have time.
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THE HUNTER
He paces in front of a fire.
Isn't killing the original supposed to kill off all the vampires their bloodline had sired? Why isn't the mark growing?
He ignores the others fighting around him and stares at what little of the mark there is.
Around the world thousands die every second.
He lets out a startled yell. There it is, it's happening.
It's growing.
Strange branches snake up his arm.
Sarah screams.
"Zach?" He just fell to the floor and is… oh God, he's vomiting…
"Zachy baby, oh God oh God…"
His eyes close and he's dead.
Sarah clutches what's left of him close and cries.
Runes fade into focus on the branches.
Mina's crying. One moment she's fine but now… what's going on? Why's she in this pain? All she was doing was taking a shower…
The branches keep growing. More details are appearing.
Lily's scared.
"Daddy?" she coughs out. "I'm scared…"
John hates that he can't help her. She's his little girl- but how can he tell her that he's scared too? That he doesn't know why this is happening to them. That he doesn't know what is happening to them.
The mark has reached his shoulder now.
Alex and Will lie on the floor of a club in New York. People are screaming and their skin is already turning grey.
It's complete. All it took was killing Kol- they didn't have to see the others who died.
Why should they care? It was only thousands of vampires who died. We all know that vampires don't really count.
This cure will totally be worth it.
Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large group of people.
Yes. It will definitely be worth it.
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Author Note: Do you think it was worth it?