Beyond Twilight
By SHIYARI
This is a Romeo & Juliet narrative with a different twist.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wrote this as article for a high school supplementary reading material. This is the revised version, though it really isn't that long. I might make this a prologue to evolve into a series of chapters, but then again, I might have to change a couple of the characters I inserted for this fic, having just read about the request of some authors not to be *fan-fictionalized*, which included Anne Rice. Gomen nasai, but I must emphasize that this is Shakespearean fanfic. So am not sure if this is a violation of the request. Guess I just have to brace myself for reactions.
DISCLAIMER: Romeo and Juliet was a work of William Shakespeare. I really wouldn't be credited with that tragedy but am obsessed with Prince William. Uuh.no connection there but for the first name. ^-^ This version, however, is mine. Louis and Lestat belong to Anne Rice. For critical comments and violent reactions, jot some notes on the review, nee? ^^
Rating: PG
Beyond Twilight
"You may go in now." The usually authoritative voice was devoid of emotions, though still as cold as the mid-December winds.
Romeo arose from his seat. Refusing to acknowledge the old tyrant, Juliet's father, it took him less than five steps to reach Juliet's room-- to her deathbed.
"Forgive me," Juliet could barely whisper, but Romeo's heart will always be attuned even to the faintest sound made by his beloved.
"Hush," he entwined his fingers with hers, his lips a breath above her own. "There's nothing to forgive."
Juliet's mother who was softly crying at the foot of the bed opted to leave, albeit that was the last thing she would have done under ordinary circumstances. She had never approved of this match. The whole clan of Capulet will never consent to it. Not ever. They even resorted to faking her death, forcing her to drink a potion that made her seem cold and lifeless. Then they had staged a funeral, and made sure that everyone who's in the camp of Montague would know. And they succeeded.
Romeo, upon hearing of the apparent suicide of Juliet, tore into the Capulet tomb where Juliet had been laid. And there, proceeded to drink a venomous poison-- no one ever knew where he got it.
A commotion ensued. The Capulets found Juliet weeping beside the still warm body of Romeo, and whisked her away. Her cries were agonizingly silent and she could not find her voice for days. She was beside herself with grief.
They thought they had succeeded. Romeo was dead. Juliet will survive and her marriage to the Prince shall finally proceed. But now.
"Juliet, don't fade on me yet," Romeo whispered fiercely. He could feel Juliet's breathing slowly wane, the faint sound growing even weaker. "I have to tell you something. Something that happened to me, and I need to know. I want to give you a choice."
He knew all of them had been shocked the moment they saw him. alive. *Horrified* was more like it. The Capulets were on the verge of a festive celebration, even at the expense of Juliet's mourning. All the details of her wedding were meticulously conceptualized, and prepared with utmost sophistication and grandeur.
Even his family was in doubt. Hurrying to where he had been left by his kin, who had informed them -- quite hysterically -- of his death, only to find him alive. and yet not quite alive. He was sitting up, his glazed eyes focused at nothing, and his clothes were stained with blood. Behind him, in the shadowed corner of that morbid place, stood a man--dark, tall and garbed in all black. Then in a blink, he was suddenly gone. They had not been able to even discern anything about his face. It was as if they had just imagined him. And they had neither the time, nor the patience to dwell on that facet of this mystery. There was only one question filling their minds: How did Romeo survive?
*****
Louis saw him, abandoned. Unmoving. He had followed him for days. His journey was disrupted; but it did not matter, he didn't have an inkling where he was headed anyway. He was just like an ordinary vagabond, except for the fact that nothing about him was ordinary. All the things that had been happening to him, everything that he had been doing for years. no, make that centuries.could not be called normal. He didn't even know the meaning of the word anymore. He had been moving, and moving. With no awareness of the time, or the places he'd been in.nothing but void he was feeling inside, ever since.
Even now he has yet to realise what made him do it. From the first moment, when he'd seen him from afar, he was instantly drawn to him. He didn't wear the sophistication, the aristocratic arrogance that was eminent in Lestat; but something in his eyes, his gestures. they remind him. Oh, how they remind him.
That Lestat was gone. And he was alone.
He went nearer to where he lay and touched him. He was still as a corpse, and yet still warm. His hand reached his neck and felt his blood flowing, not yet frozen.
'Romeo.' The voice called him back; kept on pulling him up from the abyss in which he wanted to descend.
'Romeo.' It seemed like he was sleeping a deep sleep. And the voice called to him in his dream. Soft and cajoling.
Who are you?
'My name is Louis,' the voice answered.
Louis, he said the name like a benediction, the words rolling off his tongue. What do you want?
'I want to give you a choice.'
Choice? He was confused. But this was already my last choice. I had chosen to be with her. With my beloved. in death and beyond.
'No, Romeo.' Again the voice seemed to seduce him. 'You still have a choice. We, both of us, have yet to reach the true deathness of death. This is only its twilight.
*Twilight*. But I care not for it. I care not for time, nor for any
place. Be it heaven or hell, I just want to be with her. Only with
her.
'You can be,' the voice had every inclination on convincing him. It became more seducing, intent on making him capitulate. 'If you choose it, you can. Romeo, she is neither in heaven nor in hell. She still lives.'
*********
"Do you want it, Juliet? Do you wish to be with me forever?"
To be with him, to finally be with him. She thought of the war, her own personal war and all that she had suffered. She thought of her family, and his. The endless feud, the hunger for revenge, murders. To survive them all.
"Yes," she whispered. Her heart, all her longings. shown in her eyes and revealed to him.
He smiled. His eyes gleamed. He bared his teeth and sank them onto her neck.
We'll be together, his heart said. For all eternity.
Yes, together, her soul answered. Forever, and beyond.
She embraced the twilight.
By SHIYARI
This is a Romeo & Juliet narrative with a different twist.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wrote this as article for a high school supplementary reading material. This is the revised version, though it really isn't that long. I might make this a prologue to evolve into a series of chapters, but then again, I might have to change a couple of the characters I inserted for this fic, having just read about the request of some authors not to be *fan-fictionalized*, which included Anne Rice. Gomen nasai, but I must emphasize that this is Shakespearean fanfic. So am not sure if this is a violation of the request. Guess I just have to brace myself for reactions.
DISCLAIMER: Romeo and Juliet was a work of William Shakespeare. I really wouldn't be credited with that tragedy but am obsessed with Prince William. Uuh.no connection there but for the first name. ^-^ This version, however, is mine. Louis and Lestat belong to Anne Rice. For critical comments and violent reactions, jot some notes on the review, nee? ^^
Rating: PG
Beyond Twilight
"You may go in now." The usually authoritative voice was devoid of emotions, though still as cold as the mid-December winds.
Romeo arose from his seat. Refusing to acknowledge the old tyrant, Juliet's father, it took him less than five steps to reach Juliet's room-- to her deathbed.
"Forgive me," Juliet could barely whisper, but Romeo's heart will always be attuned even to the faintest sound made by his beloved.
"Hush," he entwined his fingers with hers, his lips a breath above her own. "There's nothing to forgive."
Juliet's mother who was softly crying at the foot of the bed opted to leave, albeit that was the last thing she would have done under ordinary circumstances. She had never approved of this match. The whole clan of Capulet will never consent to it. Not ever. They even resorted to faking her death, forcing her to drink a potion that made her seem cold and lifeless. Then they had staged a funeral, and made sure that everyone who's in the camp of Montague would know. And they succeeded.
Romeo, upon hearing of the apparent suicide of Juliet, tore into the Capulet tomb where Juliet had been laid. And there, proceeded to drink a venomous poison-- no one ever knew where he got it.
A commotion ensued. The Capulets found Juliet weeping beside the still warm body of Romeo, and whisked her away. Her cries were agonizingly silent and she could not find her voice for days. She was beside herself with grief.
They thought they had succeeded. Romeo was dead. Juliet will survive and her marriage to the Prince shall finally proceed. But now.
"Juliet, don't fade on me yet," Romeo whispered fiercely. He could feel Juliet's breathing slowly wane, the faint sound growing even weaker. "I have to tell you something. Something that happened to me, and I need to know. I want to give you a choice."
He knew all of them had been shocked the moment they saw him. alive. *Horrified* was more like it. The Capulets were on the verge of a festive celebration, even at the expense of Juliet's mourning. All the details of her wedding were meticulously conceptualized, and prepared with utmost sophistication and grandeur.
Even his family was in doubt. Hurrying to where he had been left by his kin, who had informed them -- quite hysterically -- of his death, only to find him alive. and yet not quite alive. He was sitting up, his glazed eyes focused at nothing, and his clothes were stained with blood. Behind him, in the shadowed corner of that morbid place, stood a man--dark, tall and garbed in all black. Then in a blink, he was suddenly gone. They had not been able to even discern anything about his face. It was as if they had just imagined him. And they had neither the time, nor the patience to dwell on that facet of this mystery. There was only one question filling their minds: How did Romeo survive?
*****
Louis saw him, abandoned. Unmoving. He had followed him for days. His journey was disrupted; but it did not matter, he didn't have an inkling where he was headed anyway. He was just like an ordinary vagabond, except for the fact that nothing about him was ordinary. All the things that had been happening to him, everything that he had been doing for years. no, make that centuries.could not be called normal. He didn't even know the meaning of the word anymore. He had been moving, and moving. With no awareness of the time, or the places he'd been in.nothing but void he was feeling inside, ever since.
Even now he has yet to realise what made him do it. From the first moment, when he'd seen him from afar, he was instantly drawn to him. He didn't wear the sophistication, the aristocratic arrogance that was eminent in Lestat; but something in his eyes, his gestures. they remind him. Oh, how they remind him.
That Lestat was gone. And he was alone.
He went nearer to where he lay and touched him. He was still as a corpse, and yet still warm. His hand reached his neck and felt his blood flowing, not yet frozen.
'Romeo.' The voice called him back; kept on pulling him up from the abyss in which he wanted to descend.
'Romeo.' It seemed like he was sleeping a deep sleep. And the voice called to him in his dream. Soft and cajoling.
Who are you?
'My name is Louis,' the voice answered.
Louis, he said the name like a benediction, the words rolling off his tongue. What do you want?
'I want to give you a choice.'
Choice? He was confused. But this was already my last choice. I had chosen to be with her. With my beloved. in death and beyond.
'No, Romeo.' Again the voice seemed to seduce him. 'You still have a choice. We, both of us, have yet to reach the true deathness of death. This is only its twilight.
*Twilight*. But I care not for it. I care not for time, nor for any
place. Be it heaven or hell, I just want to be with her. Only with
her.
'You can be,' the voice had every inclination on convincing him. It became more seducing, intent on making him capitulate. 'If you choose it, you can. Romeo, she is neither in heaven nor in hell. She still lives.'
*********
"Do you want it, Juliet? Do you wish to be with me forever?"
To be with him, to finally be with him. She thought of the war, her own personal war and all that she had suffered. She thought of her family, and his. The endless feud, the hunger for revenge, murders. To survive them all.
"Yes," she whispered. Her heart, all her longings. shown in her eyes and revealed to him.
He smiled. His eyes gleamed. He bared his teeth and sank them onto her neck.
We'll be together, his heart said. For all eternity.
Yes, together, her soul answered. Forever, and beyond.
She embraced the twilight.