Leave Out All The Rest
The Lonely Executioner
Summary: Skyler gives the unmated Carpathian males a reason to hold on for one more day. Her actions also make Dmitri understand why he has to wait just a little longer for her...
Disclaimer: Song nor Carpathians belong to me, dammit. The song 'Leave Out All The Rest' is by the band Linkin Park, while the Carpathians are copyrighted by author Christine Feehan. :((
Author's Note: On the off-chance that the story uploads funny, I offer apologies.... My laptop hasn't got Microsoft Office and as all of us remember, WordPad sucks major arse...
Skyler Rose Daratrazanoff smiled shyly as she walked onto the stage with her Aunt Savannah. This was going to take Aunt Savannah's incredible magic to make it make sense to the Carpathian males... Most of the lifemates were participating in some form or fashion, be it contributing memories of lost lifemates who didn't meet in time or memories of the old Carpathian couples from Vlad Dubrinsky's time or earlier.
"Warriors and ladies, may I present, for your entertainment, Skyler Daratrazanoff?"
Skyler took a deep curtsey before the gathered crowd of several dozen... So few... So very, very few... She hoped that what she was doing tonight would help some of the nearly lost warriors hold on for a little longer. She hoped that it would help him understand her a little bit better...
The music started and Savannah began weaving her magic, flashes of the old lifemates appearing before their very eyes.... Beautiful couples, sometimes holding babies, sometimes standing with children, grown men, grown women... The Carpathian families. Close ups of the mother's sad eyes, especially after she had lost a baby or discovered that her beloved son had not sought the dawn... There was a kind of death in their eyes, like the sweetest, most precious part of their soul had been murdered...
Skyler let her voice lilt into the song.
I dreamed I was missing
You were so scared
But no one would listen
'Cause no one else cared
They had chosen to show the lives of the Malinov brothers and of a vampire Destiny had met as she was discovering what it meant to be a lifemate... The only vampire they knew of that had met his lifemate, only to have his lifemate kill him...
There were images now of ten little boys, playing warrior, sheriff and robbers, shapeshifting... These were borrowed memories from the De La Cruz brothers, who had been so generous as to assist with Skyler's 'little project'.
After my dreaming
I woke with this fear
What am I leaving
When I'm done here?
Some of the warriors that were near to turning weren't looking too impressed and Skyler used a bit of her empathic abilities to push echoes of the emotions she was feeling into their heads as they watched the images passionlessly.
Destiny's memory of Pater and her old friend, their confrontation was the next scene Savannah wove before the crowd...
So if you're asking me
I want you to know
When my time comes
Forgive the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed
And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory
Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
Skyler's own memories of humans who were possibly even worse than the vampires, the men who had hurt her so deeply that she felt she'd never be worthy of a lifemate, were shown next and Skyler closed her eyes. She knew she was dirty, tainted, unclean... She felt like she'd never be clean again, but she had to do this.
Don't be afraid
I've taken my beating
I've shed but I'm me
I'm strong on the surface
Not all the way through
I've never been perfect
But neither have you
Images of the heros, Lucian and Gabriel, her uncle and father, were shown, their centuries of deceptions and Lucian's own twisted way of keeping his brother from turning... She meant for them to show that no Carpathian male was perfect, except in the eyes of their lifemate.
Next were someone's memories of Ivory Malinov, the Malinov brothers, and the De La Cruz brothers. Something about the way the crowded around her protectively made Skyler feel warm inside.
So if you're asking me
I want you to know
When my time comes
Forgive the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed
And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory
Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
Savannah drew on the memories of the lifemated males who remembered the darkness, the numbness of being without the one that made them complete. They had planned this down to the second...
Forgetting all the hurt inside
You've learned to hide so well
Pretending someone else can come
And save me from myself
I can't be who you are
Each of the female lifemates had contributed their own memories of inadequacy, of being smothered alive, of wondering why them. The magical memories of realizing that their lifemate did love them, was willing to accomodate them. Skyler had even contributed the memories of her first encounters with Dmitri.
When my time comes
Forgive the wrong that I've done
Help me leave behind some
Reasons to be missed
And don't resent me
And when you're feeling empty
Keep me in your memory
Leave out all the rest
Leave out all the rest
Forgetting all the hurt inside
You've learned to hide so well
Pretending someone else can come
And save me from myself
I can't be who you are
Skyler's voice went begging as her eyes searched for Dmitri amongst the crowd...
I can't be who you are....
