The Confrontation Part 5

Josef exited the elevator in Mick's apartment building and walked slowly toward his waiting Ferrari. Although moving about and seemingly functioning as usual, his thoughts were transfixed on the events that had occurred just a short while ago. When Beth had first entered Mick's place, Josef had been thrilled. It was a chance to suss out exactly what type of person had penetrated Mick's seemingly impenetrable walls that he surrounded himself with. His young friend had begrudgingly told him everything that had transpired between this mortal and himself. To say that Josef had been less than thrilled would have been a monumental understatement. Unless under vampire control, any human's knowledge of their existence put their population as a whole at risk. Josef knew that. Mick knew that. Every vampire that ever walked the planet knew that. And yet it always happened. At some point in every vamp's preternaturally long life, they'd slip up……they'd let a mortal in. Maybe it was a longing for something they could no longer have? Maybe it was a hope of hanging on to something that had died within themselves? But whatever the reason, the conclusion was always the same. These things never ended well. There truly was no happily ever after when the story never ended.

Sliding into his ridiculously expensive sports car, Josef stopped suddenly and sighed forlornly. His eyes drifted closed as he allowed himself a simple indulgence. He let himself think about her, if only for a moment. He knew exactly what Mick was going through right now, for he too had once fallen in love with a human. Her name had been Victoria, and a slight smile graced Josef's lips remembering how her beauty alone had been enough to captivate him. She had been gentle, kind to a fault, and almost ghostly ethereal in her grace and presence. He had been enraptured, and soon found that he couldn't exist without her. He had hung on every word out of her mouth and had lived for her smiles alone. He had needed her as surely as he needed the blood that sustained his immortality. After almost 300 years of existence, he thought that he had found the way to make his eternally long life bearable, maybe even joyous.

Their relationship had grown and flourished, his love for her growing daily. He had told her everything about himself…...almost. He still had not confessed his deepest, darkest secret. But soon, in a moment of weakness……a moment when he had been swept up in emotion, he had finally told her the lot.

Back in the car, Josef opened haunted eyes. Eyes that stared vacantly at nothing at all. Even now, even after almost 100 years, he could still see the look of abject horror on Victoria's face. The more he had tried to explain, the more she had pulled away from him. And with each inch of distance that opened between them, he felt any wished for future get further and further from his grasp. He thought he had found the perfect mate to share his eternal life. Instead, he had found yet another reason to curse the so-called gift that had been bestowed upon him. Her words….her screams still reverberated in his ears. Eyes that had once looked at him with such love and longing, now only accused and showed repulsion.

Any part of him that had been holding on to what had remained of his humanity died that day. Died with the looks of disgust and the tears flowing down the face he loved now twisted in terror. As he fled, no longer able to face her accusations of ungodliness and monstrosity, he felt the beginnings of cynicism and coldness grow within him. He had trusted once. Never again.

Back in the car, still caught up in his reverie, Josef flashed forward some 30 years, and remembered another painful day. He recalled standing under a rather majestic oak tree, as he watched the proceedings. He was far enough away to be discreet, but close enough to hear what was being said. He heard the minister ramble on about the mysterious workings of God, and how everything happened for a purpose under His reign. A derisive laugh escaped Josef's lips as he listened to the priest continue on. If God had a purpose, he wondered how vampires fit into that equation.

Soon the gathering cleared, all of the attendees fleeing in their hope of dodging the rain that had minutes before begun to fall. Josef waited a few ticks more before walking slowly across the now deserted cemetery. Stopping finally before the freshly dug grave, he stared into the abyss. He had no words to say, no flowers to toss onto the beautifully carved casket. In fact, he really had no idea why he had come to the funeral that day. Perhaps just to close a painful chapter in his life. He had loved Victoria with every fiber of his being and she had rejected him. He had thought that she had been his savior, only to find that she had instead been his downfall.

Looking up into the sky, Josef had closed his eyes and let the rain wash away what was left of his hope for his own humanity. He grieved for more than just what could have been but also for what had been lost.

Turning then, he headed away from Victoria's grave and absently wondered when rain had begun to taste like salt.

To be continued………