A/N: I went to a dark place. I couldn't come back until I expelled the ghosts.
Nine Lives
He knelt on the freshly turned soil, testament to newly inhabited earth. Polished stones sat atop the grassy knoll enclosed by a white picket fence, lovingly tended by his hand. A valley of wildflowers spread out below him, the quaint farmhouse nestled in the trees at the top of the hill facing him. It was a place that held many memories, painful memories. Crystal waters still bubbled forth from the brook that ran through the yard, the banks edged with bright green shrubbery and peppered with towering trees that lent shade from overhead. It was a place of beauty, now marred by tragedy.
If he tried hard enough he could see the the faces that haunted his dreams, once happy and full of life. Hear the laughter and joy of family reunited and strong. But try as he might, he couldn't turn off the memory mid-play. And the iciness invaded his bones, making his blood run cold and his heart stopped again.
Nine lives and none of them mine.
The first one fell, shocking them from a quiet afternoon. A loud gunshot cracked and echoed through the valley. Heads turned, faces drained of color. A piercing shriek followed, propelling the others to action.
The fallen man's mate crumpled beside him, the father of her children, her lifeblood mixing with his as they both faded away.
Heavy footfall on the hardwood floor alerted them to the presence of the unknown assailant. Faces hardening, eyes glinting, rage surging through them all as they made their way as one unit through the house.
A sharp cry of surprise and then a thud sounded from the upper story. Silent ascension brought them upstairs. Twisted limbs at the bottom of the tub. Wordless pleas moving dry lips, one hand at her throat, the other pointing in the direction of the guest bedroom. Eyes begging revenge prodded the increasingly frightened group. No time to grieve, no time to think. Only act.
A shadow. Down the hall. Disappearing into the dark recesses of the room. Sudden wailing quickly silenced, and another gunshot. Three more lives snuffed out before their time.
A car door slamming. Laughter trailing from down below, feet crunching on the gravel drive.
And then, shattering glass. The attacker bolted through the open window, dropping to the grass. And he remembered, too late, his mate, his children, unaware. Silent screams - Retreat! Danger! Rooted to the ground, jaw glued shut, eyes wide and body shaking, he understood the term 'frozen in fear'.
Sudden animal ferocity unleashed. He leapt after the masked figure, but as he landed he didn't even try to right himself. He'd already seen them, his fallen angels. He fell to his knees, crawling toward his family.
Tears streaming down his cheeks, soulful howls ripped from his chest. He raised his gaze to the form beside him, saw the grinning countenance of the man he'd loathed from the moment he'd set eyes on him the first time, the man who'd hounded him and his kind relentlessly, ruthlessly. The man he was sure he'd outrun and outsmarted, who he swore would never get the upper hand.
He stared, eyes glazed and unfocused, chest heaving with broken sobs, arms full of the lifeless form of his firstborn son. Surrounded by the fallen bodies of his three daughters, his mate. His future.
"I always win, 494."
Alec opened his eyes. The serene calm that once settled upon him in this place was now replaced by the cold fingers of loneliness, regret, guilt and rage.
Nine lives and none of them mine.
Choked up, fallen down. A man broken beyond repair.
It should have been me.
- FIN -
