The door stood shut before me now, hauntingly familiar. What had Kain hinted at when he mentioned seeing my beloved again? Could it be that the man I had kept locked away out of love so long ago might still linger here, forever trapped perhaps as a haunting spirit? Did I create another pitiful Ariel, a mourning specter bound to a single place? A part of me feared such was the answer, yet another feared no such chances at reunion existed.
The door bellowed a great plume of dust as I proceeded. The main hall was much like the assembly area; broken, dull, and long abandoned. The winding stairs, at least, had remained largely intact. An old effigy of my vampire self guarded the final landing of the steps, mysteriously pristine and whole as though someone or something had taken great pains to preserve it. A sign of hope or dread, my mind twirled in anxiety.
The library, conjoined with Nilec's room, had remained pristine as its inanimate guardian outside. Books of every age and structure Nilec had collected over the ages were set in accordance to name amongst the shelves. A fireplace was situated against the wall and a simple armchair just paces away from it, ominously inviting.
One of the bookshelves served as an entrance to Nilec's chambers. It already stood open, the glimmering gold and velvet of the room's interior reflecting off my hide as I approached. The tonic design was of my own making, crafted for my most noblest of patricians and beloved of victims. A glass chandelier still shined as it did centuries ago high above; the crimson carpet was rich and vibrant, gentle to the touch; and the bed, Nilec's and my beloved bed, was always a large and neatly prepared thing.
Easing the shelf shut behind me, I saw Kain standing near the bedpost across the room, his expression an indecipherable veil. He seemed to be in a moment of peaceful reminiscence, his arms loosely crossed and his eyes sleepy, reflective globes. "I'm afraid his spirit has…Taken flight."
"Nilec was here?" I asked.
As I approached him, he tossed me a worn journal compromised of torn pages and maddening scribbles. Although no words could be comprehended, the larger message was clear; Nilec had gone mad.
"He always grieved he lived a tragic fairytale, even in death."
Some feral paroxysm within me blazed alight at Kain's accusing tone. "What could you know of Nilec?"
Kain seethed with equal rage. "And why were you so compelled by a petty romance to risk your life and reputation? Why had you felt so obligated to build this fortress, this prison, to guard a single man whose life was as insignificant as the next squandering mortal?"
I realized with certainty this was the very argument I feared to confront centuries ago. Long before, I had reprimanded myself with the same questions and wondered why I clung to a scandal that could have easily led to my downfall. As I gazed upon the true slayer of my glory now, however, such frivolous concerns seemed but a stark reminder of the fear Kain's tyrannical rule instilled even in me.
Silence was answer enough.
A strange satisfaction twinkled behind his predatory gaze. The echo of his abrupt chuckle reverberated throughout the chambers, "Ah, do not muddle your mind with fantasies of romance, Raziel. Seeing as Nilec is too much of a coward to face you, I shall be the one to enlighten your misled illusions.
"Nilec is like a leaden pebble many overlook in a mural, a diminutive detail with a significant purpose. That purpose, Raziel, had everything to do with you."
"Let the past be, Kain!" There were only so many memories that he had yet to taint with his "truths", and I was not willing to let him ruin what little I had left.
He continued without remorse, stalking closer and closer with each terrible revelation. "His destiny-his very existence-intertwined with yours, and because you chose to keep him alive, he was the one to truly set your destiny in motion. Without him, you may not have been cast into the Abyss at the time you did. Without him, I would not have seen the signs of fate when I did. Without him, the inevitable prophecy could have possibly been forestalled.
"So you see, Nilec was nothing more than a tool. A tool that was designed, in the end, to serve me."
