His last words were spoken soft and delicate. His last words were spoken bravely in pain. His last words were spoken with eyes wide open. His last words were spoken with lips trembling. His last words were spoken as his last breath was drawn. His last words were spoken to no one but the sky before his eyes slipped shut
Izabella ran through the field, only slowing when she reached the beginning of the fallen men. Cautiously she looked over their faces, many had suffered being shot in a vital organ, the horses, while some had already passed, others writhed in pain, attempting to stand but failing. Blood filled the air, only this time she was too consumed with grief to feed no matter how the scent tickled her nose.
It was Charlie she saw first, his cap lying but a few feet away from his body. Dreading what she already knew to be fact, the vampiress knelt down beside the fallen soldier and placed her fingers to his neck. There was no pulse yet his skin was still warm. Blood stained his olive colored uniform, tears clouded her vision and as a final goodbye to her friend she leaned forward and kissed his forehead before standing and searching the bodies once again.
Lucius had gone for the moment for she could not feel his presence and for that she was grateful. Still she looked on, sickened by the sight before her until naught but a few yards away she saw the hair color of the man she loved and she ran once more. He was lying motionless and before she even sat next to him all hope had already left. The Germans were too preoccupied to notice the woman in the field, or to them maybe she looked to be a ghost.
"James." His name was nothing more than a hoarse whisper as it left her lips, her knees gave way next to his broken body and at first all she could do was stare down at him in disbelief. She counted the open wounds, three in total and was almost tempted to bind them. "Wake up, James." Izabella stroked his cheek which was cold, like hers, his blue eyes closed for eternity. Her body shook at the revelation that he was gone. There was no pulse, there was no life.
The scream that left her lips and extended to the heavens was filled with agony and sorrow. The birds flew from their perches in the nearby trees at the sound and the sun disappeared behind the gathering clouds of a storm. A once blue sky grew dark, like night had come hours early. With no regard for the consequences Izabella lifted her wrist to her mouth and tore open the flesh with her teeth.
Over each of his bleeding wounds, drops of her blood fell, extending the healing properties that she had and with the final shred of hope in her entire being and soul she pressed her bleeding wrist to his mouth until even she became faint. But nothing happened, it was too late. She was too late. Her skin had mended itself and with her sobs she rested her head beneath his chin. Pleading with any being of power that he be restored, that he be allowed to live.
If the Germans saw her while claiming their wounded they ignored her. In her grief stricken state she remembered his request that he had made on the Olympic not even two days ago. Izabella drew back and looked down at his pale corpse before leaning forward and kissing his brow, for even in death he had said he would feel her lips. "Come back to me, my darling." Her breathing was uneven and for a final time she leant down and gently pressed her lips to his, a final farewell.
"Izabella." She almost thought it was James who had spoken her name but Adam had appeared on the opposite side of her Captain, his head held low. The vampiress could not meet his eyes though, not even when he reached out and took hold of her hand. "I am truly sorry for your loss." And he was, for he never wished to see the ones he loved in pain.
"Why couldn't you have told me sooner?" Her voice was broken when she finally looked up at the vampire, her golden eyes rimmed with the original blue; a trait that only Izabella expressed with strong emotion. "I could've found a way, I could've made him stay. We could have ran away." There were so many possibilities running through her mind, so many what ifs. What if the war had never begun, what if she had not volunteered, what if she and James could have their day, what if they could have a love like Adam and Eve's?
"You know he would not have listened and to force a man like James to stay would cause him to hate you." She knew the words he spoke to be rooted in truth but it did not ease her heart any.
"I would rather him be alive and hate me than dead, Adam." That was when he realized the extent of Izabella's love because he felt the same way for Eve. Standing silently Adam moved and sat next to Belle, drawing her into his arms and the rain began. The elder vampire had rarely seen a person hold control over the weather but the woman in his arms was the cause of this. She had caused the clouds to gather and burst, it was a physical manifestation of what she was feeling.
He smoothed down her wet hair and kissed her forehead. "You are more powerful than you think, Izabella. Even I cannot control the storms." She hardly heard the reverence in his voice for the rain was deafening and her heart was beating in her ears.
"Take me to Eve. I need Eve." Izabella looked over his shoulder at James, one last time. And so Adam did as she requested, pressing his hands to her temples and muttering the spell he had used to come here. In a blink she was gone and he remained with the fallen man she loved. Frowning, the vampire looked around him and before the clouds could lift he had gripped the Captain's arm and repeated the same incantation. When Adam opened his eyes they were back, at the Brighton Estate, lying on the floor of the room that he occupied for his numerous experiments.
He was quick to gather the obsolete medical instruments from one of the chestnut desk drawers. It was a reminder of his past, a profession he had not told Izabella of, only Eve knew completely of his life before being turned. Keeping his mind focused was difficult as he kept thinking of Belle and her distress but somehow he recalled all the books he had read over the centuries, some of which he had recently given to her.
Undoing the buttons on the man's jacket he managed to pull off and throw it aside, Adam did not take the same caution with the shirt beneath as he cut it open. There he could see the extent of the damage and while the wound near his hip was undoubtedly the worst it was a miracle the bullet that had struck near his heart had not passed all the way through and ripped through arteries and blood vessels.
Gathering a small pair of forceps from the assortment Adam drew in a steady breath and started at the Captain's clavicle, prodding around until he could feel metal scrape against metal and with the stable hand of a practiced physician and musician he withdrew the bloodied slug and placed it in a glass beaker. He could tell by the smell of the metal it was lead, toxic to any being, even a vampire.
The same process was repeated twice as he had also been shot in the thigh, but with the three slugs removed Adam brought his wrist to his mouth and bit down, dragging his fangs and tearing the skin. He held his bleeding wrist over each wound and allowed a few drops to land, several minutes later the Captain's skin had come back together, healed, only small scars remained and it was a sign, a sign that hope was not dead.
Adam had sent Belle to Eve's home in Tangier, she appeared outside the ornamental door and though it was day and the sun was shining, she knocked on the wooden surface. The pale lady opened the door only on inch to peer out and at Izabella's tear stained cheeks she backed away and allowed the one immune to sunlight to step into the foyer.
The rooms were dark, but Belle could easily see Eve's tangled mess of beige hair. "Izabella. Come here, darling." The young vampire fell into Eve's open arms only now her tears were gone, and a void had formed within her aching heart. Fingers ran through her damp hair and after a long moment of silence passed Eve pulled the mourning girl into a room filled with books, the numerous volumes were stacked on shelves and the floor next to a four poster bed.
"You darling girl," they both sat on the end of the bed, Eve still running her fingers through scarlet curls. "Did you know that I think of you as my own, Izabella?" Her smile was thin but sincere. Belle looked up at the woman who for many years was one of her mentors and a mother figure to the estranged girl.
"You have mentioned it before, yes." Izabella's voice was quiet and before Eve stood and moved towards a large piece of furniture positioned next to the numerous books, she kissed her temple. It was a tallboy if she remembered correctly, made of rosewood with brass fittings and escutcheons, and was lifted off the floor by four cabriole legs. The elder woman dug around in one of the drawers only a moment before pulling out a purple djellaba, the robe was long and shapeless, a common staple in the wardrobes of those who lived in this area.
"I still do think that, darling girl." Izabella took the proffered piece of clothing and quickly stripped away her nursing gown and apron, pulling the robe overhead, the sleeves swallowed her arms and belittled her already petite physique as the decorative trimming dragged on the floor.
In near silence, Belle picked at the skin on her palm. Eve's comforting hand on her shoulder was the only motivation she needed to say they reason she was here. "James is gone." She had expected Eve to be shocked but she looked on at a wall of books, not speaking. Izabella realized that she too must have had the same dream, or Adam had shared his.
"Adam came to me the night after this vision. Izabella, you should have seen him. He was so conflicted on whether it would be wise to tell you, and if so how to tell you. Adam is a creature of habit with very few attachments in this world. You must know that, he cares for you and despite all he may have said or done he had begun to care for James as well." Eve pulled Izabella into her chest, like a mother would after a child had awoken from a nightmare. "I know this offers little consolation with your loss, but we love you Izabella and so did your Captain." Her nod was feeble yet still the eldest vampire spoke on.
"Time waits for no one. In all our memories love befalls us with the grief of no more tomorrow. If only we could turn back the hands of time and live in the wonders of our early lives with the wisdom of today. Alas, our minds and dreams shimmer only as our soul passes on." Any other time Izabella would have laughed at how easily the woman spoke words of wisdom, but now she could only nod, understanding that time would not even wait for the immortal, even she had an ending. "Stay here as long as you wish." Even though it was far from sunset Eve left the room for a quick moment, coming back with two glasses filled with blood.
When the thrill had subsided and reality consumed her, Izabella laid with her head in Eve's crossed legs, looking up at her and loosely fiddling with the string at the neckline of her robe. "Will you tell me how you and Adam met again?" She could not remember how many times she had heard the tale, but she loved hearing of how the ancient lovers met, and how through time they had evolved. The only wall space in the cramped room had framed sketches, portraits, and pictures. So far there was six, each one from a different century.
"It was in the thirteenth century; 1268, to be exact. It was stormy night outside of Cambridge. I, of course was wandering the forests but then I saw the overturned carriage. The horses had apparently slipped along the wet road. He was a marquess in the royal court, I found Adam bloodied and bruised and any other man I would have drained dry he stood out. His cargo was not weaponry or secrets but instruments. Flutes, lutes, vielles, a gemshorn, he even had a psaltery from Greece though it ended up being broken almost beyond repair, but not for Adam.
I took pity on the musician, unknowing of his nobility and pulled him aside, letting him drink from my lifeblood lest he bleed out. I suppose he did not know what was happening at the time but it worked, his body accepted the transition and he came with me with all his beloved instruments in tow.
It took a while to help Adam train his hunger, I might even daresay at one point in his younger days he was worse than Ava. Positively insatiable. In our time together he would play for me and speak of his wonderful theories and I would teach him the languages of the world. Did you know he can speak Sumerian and Latin flawlessly?" A reminiscent smile grew and Izabella managed to pull the corner of her lips up in a half-hearted smile.
"We did not realize it was love until it was mentioned that we depart, neither of us wanted to leave the other and now we had all the time in the world. We lived in a small cottage north of Amesbury for nearly a century before he proposed, and every century after that we remarry on the same day; June 23rd." Eve was still speaking and still she fiddled with Izabella's hair unaware that young vampiress had slipped into sleep.
Her eyes opened but were not fully focused yet, everything was in a haze. She laid on her side and when everything became clear she was taken aback by the face that was so close to hers. "James?" Blue eyes flitted open and he smiled, dashing as always, eyes bright and clear.
"Hello, darling." His words seemed to caress her skin and she knew that no matter how real it felt it was nothing more than a dream. A painful trick her mind was playing on her. James had died, her James was dead in a field and France, lost to a war that already appeared to be without end. Izabella was scared to touch him for surely it was an illusion and he would dissipate before her eyes but gingerly she rested her hand on his cheek.
"Oh James." The Captain did not know why his lady was crying, regardless of the reason he was quick to pull her into his arms and hold her close and yet she only cried harder. His fingers brushed through her tangled curls, working out the knots as he came to one.
They were laying outside, in the middle of a well-worn path in the forest, short grasses created a soft blanket and the small purple wildflowers bloomed on either side of the trail. The gown she wore was white and wrinkled but detailed with fine lace and elegant swirls of patterns across the bodice, the hem of the skirt however was nearly black due to the dirt and grime that had befallen her.
"Izabella. Why did you run?" Her brows settled in a deep furrow and James cupped her cheek, tracing his thumb over the small scratches that were healing with every passing second. "Why did you run from our wedding?"
"I didn't. This is a dream. You're dead James, you stopped breathing, your heart stopped. This is a dream." Izabella shook her head vehemently, not believing a single thing. She did not believe he was alive, she knew they would not have their picturesque wedding, she knew that she would never feel his touch again outside of the realm of dreams.
"I have loved you... killed for you and gone through pain and suffering. And you are the same... you have lost so much, your life, your place in this world, yet here we are. We have fought for so long, they having thought they have defeated us, but by being absorbed into this darkness, this void, they have given me the greatest joy, for I am with you again." Only then did she see the Captain smile and his canines and elongated to fangs. He was like her. But then everything faded away in a grand illusion and she was back in France, in an open meadow cradling James's body against her chest, silently pleading that the whole ordeal would be a dream and she could go back to before the war. But the bodies of men and horses alike surrounded her and she knew that it was real. It had happened.
"Izabella! Wake, my darling girl." She was shaking and it was Eve's calm and sweet voice that was coaxing her awake for she had begun crying aloud and scratching her own skin with fervor that in some areas blood had been drawn. "Shh, just open your eyes, sweet girl." Her mind was telling her James was not dead, he was not dead, bolting up right Eve tried to comfort the girl but she felt she was going mad, that her heart was too overridden with grief and her mind was against her.
Adam could feel is heart twisting as he slunk into a dark corner of the room, a flask of O negative in his hand. After the first hours he and cast a side glance to the uniform's jack and caught sight of something silver from the hole that had been made in his breast pocket. Withdrawing the small piece he smirked, it was the pocket watch he had repaired, only this time the bullet had damaged it beyond repair, unlike the man still lying unconscious. The small gift had saved his life. He looked on at the Captain who had miraculously gained color to his cheeks and only the slightest bit of warmth to his skin, his heart had not begun beating again but he would live. Adam would make sure he lived, if only to see Izabella smile once more.