*trumpets play happily in background* This is it! The part you have all
been waiting (so patiently) for! Again, mucho sorry for the delay.
College better not get in the way of my next story. Anyway, HUGE thanks to
everybody who stuck with me through this one. Did you like it? Hate it?
Like the idea but hated the way I wrote it? Contact me! I love suggestions
and praise! Now, for the finale! *curtain slowly rises*
Chapter 12
Pale moonlight turned Connor's dark maroon carpet to a deep red. Piper slowly looked around at the flat she had fled from just over an hour before. His business ethics paper was still on the computer screen. Dirty dishes filled the sink. The sketchbook.
Piper dropped her duffel bag with a thud. Her hand slowly reached behind to close the front door. She hadn't needed a key to get in. The doorknob had come off easily under her unnatural strength.
Now she walked across the small living room to the worn sofa and sank to her knees before the cushions. Her lips trembled as she ran cold fingers over the pencil strokes.
It hurt. Oh, God, it *hurt*.
Piper grimaced at her own pathetic prayer for mercy. God didn't look twice at soulless murderers like her. She was on her own -- she always had been. Apparently it was supposed to be that way. Connor's death was proof enough of that.
Piper drew in a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut against the tears -- and the pain. It was more than a broken heart. Her soul had been torn in half. She was bruised and bleeding inside and no tourniquet in the world could stop it.
Piper stretched her legs out in front of her and sank to the floor, hair fanning out around her like liquid gold. Piercing green eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling. Images were filling her head like a song she had almost forgotten, but suddenly remembered the chorus. Connor frowning over a difficult chess game. Connor blushing when he admitted that he was broke. Connor laughing at dinner. Connor whispering 'I love you'. Connor dancing in his boxers. Connor caressing her skin. Connor crying. Connor singing. Connor running. Connor sleeping. Connor dying.
* * * *
"I'm not sure how long I stayed that way - collapsed on the carpet. Time seemed to stop as a lay there. There was no outside world, only myself and the pain. It must have been three or four days later that there was a voice at the apartment door." Piper casually reached a pale hand up to wipe away the tears that streaked her cheeks.
"Was it Adrian's guards? Did they come to take you back with them?" Ash inquired quietly. He had become extremely uncomfortable at Piper's recollections. How would he feel if Mary Lynnette died on him? Ash shuddered at the thought. *I'd be in no better shape than Piper. No,* he corrected his thoughts *I'd be worse*.
"That's what I thought at first. Then I realized that they had no reason to chase me down. I can't imagine the chaos going on in Adrian's house after his death. No, I was insignificant compared to the problems they had on their hands. It was Connor's landlord." Piper grimaced at the memory of a middle-aged, slightly pudgy man. His balding head had gleamed under the sunlight through the window.
"Apparently Connor was a few weeks behind his rent payment. I heard a knock and slowly turned toward the door. It wasn't until I saw the man's face that the hunger hit. I hadn't fed in days. Before I knew what was happening, the man was passed out underneath me. My hands and lips were covered with his blood." Piper's voice cracked. "How could I do that? Had I not changed at all? I was still a blood sucking monster.and I realize now that I always will be. I can't change what I am, but I can stop my existence. I felt so guilty. I knew that I didn't want to live anymore, didn't *deserve* to live when Connor was rotting on Adrian's driveway.
"I knew what I had to do. I picked up Connor's desk chair and snapped off the front left leg. The end splintered, just as I'd hoped. It was a make- shift stake, but I wasn't looking for a gallant death. I held it up in front of my chest, my breathing rapid. I stared at the landlord that was cut open on the floor in front of me, throat ripped open. Was he even alive? Wait.His chest was very slowly rising and falling. Should I call the police? 911? I grabbed Connor's black, cordless phone. After leaving a cryptic message to the police about a man being attacked by an animal in the hallway, I threw down the phone. I was still clutching the stake. What a coward I turned out to be. I have no problem fatally attacking others, yet I can't even shove a chair leg into my heart." Piper grimaced with self disgust.
"I don't think you're a coward." Thierry said quietly from behind the large desk.
"You're the only one." Piper replied.
"No, he's not." Ash squeezed Piper's upper arm. She gave him a faint smile.
"Obviously, you didn't kill yourself. What happened then? How did you find out about Circle Daybreak?" Thierry leaned forward in his chair and put his hands on the desktop.
"I wanted a sense of closure before I killed myself. I know there's no heaven for the undead. Who knows if there's a hell for us? Maybe we simply get snuffed out of the universe and just cease to *be*. It terrified me. I needed something peaceful before my death, and I needed to get out of there before the ambulance came. So I threw the stake into a wastebasket and went to the park where Connor and I first met." Piper frowned from the effort of holding back so much emotion.
"I sat on the bench where I'd watched Miss Emma beat him in chess every day. The breeze was light, the trees rustled as it swept across their green leaves. The chess tables weren't very busy. I remember thinking how Emma would feel when Connor wouldn't show up for their game the next day. She'd never know what happened to him.
"I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn't pay attention when someone sat next to me on the bench." Piper let out a shaky laugh. "It was Emma."
She remembered exactly what the homeless woman had told her. ~"You look so sad, Lady, but don't cry. One has gone, but another will find you. He'll help take that sadness away. You go see Lord Thierry Descouedres. Go, Lady. Go to Las Vegas to see Lord Thierry. He be a good one, one like you. He knows others. They help you, Lady, but don't cry. "~
"I thought she was crazy or drunk. I'd never seen Emma drink, though. I scooted a little away from her on the bench and demanded to know what she was talking about. I'd never even spoken to her before. How did she know me at all? Had Connor described me to her?" Piper shook her head. "She mumbled something called Circle Daybreak and just kept softly repeating your name. I looked deep into those cloudy, brown eyes. They shocked me. Her eyes were *ageless* -- as if she carried the knowledge of the world inside herself and nothing could phase her anymore. I think that's what reached me. There was more to this old, homeless chess player than I thought."
"An Old Soul perhaps." Thierry ventured.
Piper looked up at him questioningly. "Do not think me stupid, but I have been very sheltered from the rest of the Night World. What is an Old Soul?"
Ash quickly explained how certain people's souls just kept coming back. He finished with a nod towards Thierry as he said "Hannah is an Old Soul."
Piper's eyes widened. "Yes. I think... I think I could sense in her what I sensed in Emma. Peace and wisdom. So I grabbed my duffel bag and got on the next flight to Vegas. If you'd asked me where I was going or why, I couldn't have told you. I just knew that I had to find Thierry Descouedres in Las Vegas and something called Circle Daybreak. A guy at the airport gave me sketchy directions here. Fortunately, the cab driver seemed to know where it was. You are a famous man." Piper looked sardonically at Thierry.
He smiled faintly and then stood from his chair. "Piper, I run an underground society of humans and Night people. This alliance is for all species who want to live in peace with each other. We oppose many of the Council's laws and are considered rebels by other elders. What we do is very surreptitious, and it is of the utmost importance that no one knows of my involvement."
Piper felt overwhelmed. An illegal organization that the Council hadn't caught yet?
Theirry locked gazes with her and continued. "Many couples come to us because their love is illegal. Humans and Night people who are soulmates. Just like Ash and Mary Lynnette. Just like Hannah and I." He moved to stand beside Piper's chair and lay a hand on her shoulder "Just like you and Connor."
Piper stood quickly and glanced between Ash and Thierry. This was too much all at once. Did these people really want her? She wasn't a soulmate any more. She was... worthless. "So, what are you saying?" Ash walked over to Piper's side and grinned. With a hand on her other shoulder, he informed her "He's saying: WELCOME TO CIRCLE DAYBREAK!"
Piper burst into tears. *We're home, Connor* she thought *We're finally home*.
**Fìn**
A/N: Done! Comments are extremely welcome! Charlatte18@aol.com Keep your eyes open for an original I've got coming out on fictionpress. Thanks so much to everyone! Especially Katy, who is an awesome beta reader ^^
Chapter 12
Pale moonlight turned Connor's dark maroon carpet to a deep red. Piper slowly looked around at the flat she had fled from just over an hour before. His business ethics paper was still on the computer screen. Dirty dishes filled the sink. The sketchbook.
Piper dropped her duffel bag with a thud. Her hand slowly reached behind to close the front door. She hadn't needed a key to get in. The doorknob had come off easily under her unnatural strength.
Now she walked across the small living room to the worn sofa and sank to her knees before the cushions. Her lips trembled as she ran cold fingers over the pencil strokes.
It hurt. Oh, God, it *hurt*.
Piper grimaced at her own pathetic prayer for mercy. God didn't look twice at soulless murderers like her. She was on her own -- she always had been. Apparently it was supposed to be that way. Connor's death was proof enough of that.
Piper drew in a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut against the tears -- and the pain. It was more than a broken heart. Her soul had been torn in half. She was bruised and bleeding inside and no tourniquet in the world could stop it.
Piper stretched her legs out in front of her and sank to the floor, hair fanning out around her like liquid gold. Piercing green eyes stared blankly up at the ceiling. Images were filling her head like a song she had almost forgotten, but suddenly remembered the chorus. Connor frowning over a difficult chess game. Connor blushing when he admitted that he was broke. Connor laughing at dinner. Connor whispering 'I love you'. Connor dancing in his boxers. Connor caressing her skin. Connor crying. Connor singing. Connor running. Connor sleeping. Connor dying.
* * * *
"I'm not sure how long I stayed that way - collapsed on the carpet. Time seemed to stop as a lay there. There was no outside world, only myself and the pain. It must have been three or four days later that there was a voice at the apartment door." Piper casually reached a pale hand up to wipe away the tears that streaked her cheeks.
"Was it Adrian's guards? Did they come to take you back with them?" Ash inquired quietly. He had become extremely uncomfortable at Piper's recollections. How would he feel if Mary Lynnette died on him? Ash shuddered at the thought. *I'd be in no better shape than Piper. No,* he corrected his thoughts *I'd be worse*.
"That's what I thought at first. Then I realized that they had no reason to chase me down. I can't imagine the chaos going on in Adrian's house after his death. No, I was insignificant compared to the problems they had on their hands. It was Connor's landlord." Piper grimaced at the memory of a middle-aged, slightly pudgy man. His balding head had gleamed under the sunlight through the window.
"Apparently Connor was a few weeks behind his rent payment. I heard a knock and slowly turned toward the door. It wasn't until I saw the man's face that the hunger hit. I hadn't fed in days. Before I knew what was happening, the man was passed out underneath me. My hands and lips were covered with his blood." Piper's voice cracked. "How could I do that? Had I not changed at all? I was still a blood sucking monster.and I realize now that I always will be. I can't change what I am, but I can stop my existence. I felt so guilty. I knew that I didn't want to live anymore, didn't *deserve* to live when Connor was rotting on Adrian's driveway.
"I knew what I had to do. I picked up Connor's desk chair and snapped off the front left leg. The end splintered, just as I'd hoped. It was a make- shift stake, but I wasn't looking for a gallant death. I held it up in front of my chest, my breathing rapid. I stared at the landlord that was cut open on the floor in front of me, throat ripped open. Was he even alive? Wait.His chest was very slowly rising and falling. Should I call the police? 911? I grabbed Connor's black, cordless phone. After leaving a cryptic message to the police about a man being attacked by an animal in the hallway, I threw down the phone. I was still clutching the stake. What a coward I turned out to be. I have no problem fatally attacking others, yet I can't even shove a chair leg into my heart." Piper grimaced with self disgust.
"I don't think you're a coward." Thierry said quietly from behind the large desk.
"You're the only one." Piper replied.
"No, he's not." Ash squeezed Piper's upper arm. She gave him a faint smile.
"Obviously, you didn't kill yourself. What happened then? How did you find out about Circle Daybreak?" Thierry leaned forward in his chair and put his hands on the desktop.
"I wanted a sense of closure before I killed myself. I know there's no heaven for the undead. Who knows if there's a hell for us? Maybe we simply get snuffed out of the universe and just cease to *be*. It terrified me. I needed something peaceful before my death, and I needed to get out of there before the ambulance came. So I threw the stake into a wastebasket and went to the park where Connor and I first met." Piper frowned from the effort of holding back so much emotion.
"I sat on the bench where I'd watched Miss Emma beat him in chess every day. The breeze was light, the trees rustled as it swept across their green leaves. The chess tables weren't very busy. I remember thinking how Emma would feel when Connor wouldn't show up for their game the next day. She'd never know what happened to him.
"I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn't pay attention when someone sat next to me on the bench." Piper let out a shaky laugh. "It was Emma."
She remembered exactly what the homeless woman had told her. ~"You look so sad, Lady, but don't cry. One has gone, but another will find you. He'll help take that sadness away. You go see Lord Thierry Descouedres. Go, Lady. Go to Las Vegas to see Lord Thierry. He be a good one, one like you. He knows others. They help you, Lady, but don't cry. "~
"I thought she was crazy or drunk. I'd never seen Emma drink, though. I scooted a little away from her on the bench and demanded to know what she was talking about. I'd never even spoken to her before. How did she know me at all? Had Connor described me to her?" Piper shook her head. "She mumbled something called Circle Daybreak and just kept softly repeating your name. I looked deep into those cloudy, brown eyes. They shocked me. Her eyes were *ageless* -- as if she carried the knowledge of the world inside herself and nothing could phase her anymore. I think that's what reached me. There was more to this old, homeless chess player than I thought."
"An Old Soul perhaps." Thierry ventured.
Piper looked up at him questioningly. "Do not think me stupid, but I have been very sheltered from the rest of the Night World. What is an Old Soul?"
Ash quickly explained how certain people's souls just kept coming back. He finished with a nod towards Thierry as he said "Hannah is an Old Soul."
Piper's eyes widened. "Yes. I think... I think I could sense in her what I sensed in Emma. Peace and wisdom. So I grabbed my duffel bag and got on the next flight to Vegas. If you'd asked me where I was going or why, I couldn't have told you. I just knew that I had to find Thierry Descouedres in Las Vegas and something called Circle Daybreak. A guy at the airport gave me sketchy directions here. Fortunately, the cab driver seemed to know where it was. You are a famous man." Piper looked sardonically at Thierry.
He smiled faintly and then stood from his chair. "Piper, I run an underground society of humans and Night people. This alliance is for all species who want to live in peace with each other. We oppose many of the Council's laws and are considered rebels by other elders. What we do is very surreptitious, and it is of the utmost importance that no one knows of my involvement."
Piper felt overwhelmed. An illegal organization that the Council hadn't caught yet?
Theirry locked gazes with her and continued. "Many couples come to us because their love is illegal. Humans and Night people who are soulmates. Just like Ash and Mary Lynnette. Just like Hannah and I." He moved to stand beside Piper's chair and lay a hand on her shoulder "Just like you and Connor."
Piper stood quickly and glanced between Ash and Thierry. This was too much all at once. Did these people really want her? She wasn't a soulmate any more. She was... worthless. "So, what are you saying?" Ash walked over to Piper's side and grinned. With a hand on her other shoulder, he informed her "He's saying: WELCOME TO CIRCLE DAYBREAK!"
Piper burst into tears. *We're home, Connor* she thought *We're finally home*.
**Fìn**
A/N: Done! Comments are extremely welcome! Charlatte18@aol.com Keep your eyes open for an original I've got coming out on fictionpress. Thanks so much to everyone! Especially Katy, who is an awesome beta reader ^^