Chapter 33 – The Offering
Claire's POV
"What do you think is happening at the Elder's Council Building?" I asked after a long (and strangely not awkward) silence.
I thought of Shane, fighting his battles and winning them all without the knowledge that soon his child would be born and he would be dead – we would both be dead. Was there a chance that we weren't ever going to see each other again, that we would die without one last kiss, that we would die without even a straightforward goodbye?
The answer was too horrifying to bear, although I knew what it was. Yes, there was a chance that we would die without a goodbye hug or a goodnight's kiss. I had always imagined dying on my death bed surrounded by the people that I loved and cared about; Eve, Myrnin, Amelie, Michael, Shane, our child that had actually been born, possibly even Oliver. These were the people that I had always imagined would be here by my side. I had two, and those two were a great choice, although I knew exactly who I would ask for was I to have a third choice.
After my question I had gotten so lost in thoughts of death that the answer that Eve had provided had been a small hum at the back of my mind. She was staring at me now, saying over and over, "Claire, Claire? Hello, you in there?" I hadn't actually realised that that's what she had been saying until my thoughts evaporated like a tray of melted ice and I exited dreamland and returned to reality. That was what my dreamland consisted of, how bad is that?!
"What did you say?" I asked Eve.
With a heavy sigh she repeated, "I said that they will be kicking the other side's ass like only God knows how. That's what is happening!"
I smiled slightly, and I didn't actually know whether it was a real smile or not. Then I turned to Myrnin, "Do you think that's true? Do you think we're winning? You were there for a large part of it."
"I think we are trying our complete best over there, and I think that we need to keep our faith in the ones we love most. They are doing all that they can, what that is we do not know so far, but we will be informed soon enough."
That was probably one of the most reassuring things that he'd said to me that day, and that was pretty funny considering that everything he'd said to me that day had consisted of mid-wife careers and a survival that wasn't going to happen.
By the end of tomorrow, I would be dead, and Shane would be dead, and everyone else would be writing our eulogies.
Amelie's POV
He sat in the chair with a smile slowly creeping up his face and eyes glittering with a small tinge of red.
His arm suddenly raised and he made a 'come here' signal with his finger. I didn't want to obey his rules, but where it was his rule it was also mine. I wanted to saunter over there and stick that ugly silver stake into his heart, and this time I would remember to pull it out, allowing the silver nitrate to fill his heart and take over his bloodstream and flood to every other organ in his body.
Okay, I really needed to calm down.
"Amelie, you look... different."
"I'll take that as a compliment. What on earth are you doing sitting back here?"
"I wished to quarrel somewhere a little less public. Look at the amount of people here!" he exclaimed, gesturing toward the crowd that neither I nor Shane even dared to glace at.
"Yeah, well most of them are dead, so not much to worry about is there?" Shane said. Any emotion had certainly been extracted from his voice.
"I assume that was a dig in my direction that I will happily take as constructive criticism," Sam replied in a tone that made it obvious that the chirpiness in his voice was as false as a fake tan.
"I was thinking you could take it as more of a full on insult and discouragement," Shane remarked, although he sounded completely sincere, which probably meant that he was, in fact, completely serious. He hated Sam in a way that I never could, although, there was no doubt that I hated him with much more passion that Shane would ever be able to accomplish throughout his human life span.
"Well, that wasn't very nice, was it Amelie?"
I replied, "I think they describe it as 'a taste of your own medicine.'"
"Am I being ganged up on here?" Sam demanded in a strangely childish tone, however, he received no answer from either of us.
Finally I asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Considering that there is an entire army fighting because of their fury they hold toward you for plunging a silver stake into my heart, I thought it was only respectful that I attend."
"Attend? This is what you call attending?" Shane asked from beside me, "Your 'army' is beating the hell out of our people and our people are beating the hell out of yours, but all you can do is sit here and watch. That isn't respectful, is it Amelie?"
Instead of answering Shane with a remark, I said, "No, I do not believe it is."
"You are ganging up against me!" Sam stated accusingly, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"You always did have a strange concept of friend or foe," I began, "and now you can't even work out the difference between your alliance and your enemy. Just in case you need reminding, we are your enemy, and we would appreciate it very much if you could understand that and get down to business instead of droning on for no such reason."
"Well alright! Is there a place in the building that is more quiet, I do not wished to be interrupted by my people during what I am about to do."
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, but nodded my head and gestured toward the front door. He voluntarily walked in that direction and we followed closely behind.
Claire's POV
"Come on, Claire, breathe, just breathe!" I tried with all my might to complete the task that Eve asked of me, but I couldn't think past the howling pain that coursed through my body.
"It hurts!" I bellowed, and then realised a moment too late that I had yelled right in Eve's ear.
She didn't seem bothered, "I know, Claire Bear, just hold on!"
I felt like I was giving birth already, but we all knew that this was just an unbearably painful contraction. I was beginning to wish that I had been a boy. I wouldn't have been the one to fall pregnant, I wouldn't have to care about what I was wearing each day of the week, and I would have been able to pee standing up! Unfortunately, it was a bit too late to change the fact that I was female and currently in child labour, but a pregnant woman could dream.
"It's wearing off," I told them with a voice full of relief. "How could any woman go through this more than once?" Eve started laughing at me. "No, I'm being serious! You see these women who have eleven or more children. A true fact is, if you have that many children, you wouldn't feel a thing if you were to get a tattoo."
"That's an interesting fact, CB," Eve said.
I was about to say 'thank you' when another contraction came...
Oh, just what I needed.
Amelie's POV
As we made our way through the door, Sam turned back toward me and asked, "Where to now?"
"It depends how private you wish this discussion to be," I replied.
"As private as possible. The boy is lucky that I am allowing him to come, not many people would have the privilege."
"Then why allow me to come?" Shane asked.
"I consider it best that you witness for yourself what is about to take place," and once all had been said – and after I told Sam which direction to take for a completely private meeting – we walked; Sam in front and Shane and I trailing behind.
We reached a small house that I had never had the heart to sell. It had been Sam's house – not this Sam, Sam Glass, my last love.
The inside looked as it had when I first sold it to him, when he had looked at me and nodded his head politely meanwhile containing his feelings as I did mine. I had intended it to be this way; he hadn't once moved a piece of furniture. He had thought that it would take away the unidentifiable beauty of the household.
I kept my emotions to myself as we stood in a terrifying silence. I hadn't realised until then what I was letting myself – and Shane – walk in to. Sam may have hired a group of people to ambush us, although, I had trusted that that was not Sam's intention. He seemed to be losing his mind in a more thought-processing way, not in a way that said 'Hi everybody, I'm so crazy that I'm gonna hire a bunch of guys to kill these people'.
"What is this business about?" I asked Sam, and he turned around to face me with a face filled with (surprisingly) sorrow and determination.
"I am here to apologise," he stated simply.
I didn't know how to reply, but I didn't have to as he continued to speak.
"As you probably both know I am losing my mind. It began in violence, and now has continued in thought. I am no scientist, but I am bright enough to realise that I have the vampire disease.
"When I was doing my research to bring you all down, I discovered this disease in the many papers that I had to read. I also discovered that you found the cure, although, that is not what I wish to ask of you.
"Your words from the other day, when you discovered that the child... Claire, that's it. When you discovered that Claire was pregnant, you told me that I had already lived a long enough life. I didn't believe it at the time, but the thoughts that have been circling through my head over the past few days since have told me exactly what I was too blind to see before.
"I have lived too long, you were right. And I intend to die here and now to allow Claire and Shane to survive and have their beautiful child." He took a silver stake out of his pocket and handed it to me. "I want you to be the one to kill me, Amelie. I want you to end my suffering."
Claire's POV
After the many contractions I had gone through, I could tell that the pain I was experiencing now was no contraction.
I was in labour, and now I was giving birth.
"Claire! Listen to me, you will be okay!" Eve had begun to shout as the tears streamed down my face. I couldn't get past the fact that I was going to die so very shortly, I didn't want to get past the fact that I was going to die so very shortly. But in a way, it was a privilege.
So many people died suddenly – both awake and asleep. I, instead, had the knowledge that I was about to die, more than so many other people had before they left the world...
And I hadn't even used that information to say my goodbyes!
I wouldn't ever see Shane again, or Amelie, or Michael, or even Monica! I wouldn't see Oliver, or Father Joe. Every person that I considered a friend wasn't close enough for me to say goodbye to, only Eve and Myrnin. So I decided to use that privilege in my last moments.
"Eve," I said.
"What is it, Claire? What's wrong?"
"I'm just dying, don't worry too much." This earned a not amused laugh from Eve. "I wanted to say thank you, for everything you've done for me. For taking me in when I was in a bad way, for loving me like a sister – not just a best friend. And for this last day, a day that I will always remember, even after death. Goodbye, Eve, and thank you so much for everything." Tears weren't just strolling down my face, but now hers also. She grabbed me and took me in to a gentle hug, ensuring not to hurt my stomach at this moment. "Can you tell Michael the same thing, not the sister part, of course." This caused another, more amused, laugh. I was happy (well, as happy as I could be) that I wasn't going to die in a boring environment – as weird as that sounds. "And since I can't say bye to Shane, I guess there's no message I can leave behind for him."
"Give me the message, just as if you were saying it to him. It might help with this... situation."
She was finally accepting that I was going to die, that Shane was going to die along with me. I decided to take her advice, so I took a deep breath...
And then a blinding pain passed through my body. I screamed.
"Claire, you're okay, it's okay."
"Eve, it... it... it hurts!"
"I know, but you can do this, come on, the only thing left to do is push!"
I did what she asked, and I couldn't describe the pain that followed.
Amelie's POV
"Excuse me?" I demanded.
"I'll do it!" Shane suddenly piped up as he reached forward to try to grab hold of the stake.
"I don't think so," Sam whistled, pulling the stake away from his reach. "I want you to kill me, Amelie. Not anyone else. I realise that what you did back then – both giving our son away and locking us in the Crypt – was for the best, and I did not repay you the way I should have. Please, Amelie. Just end this."
I was too shocked to take the stake, even though I knew that Claire was close to giving birth just a mile or so away. I looked at Sam and saw the sincerity in his eyes.
"Well, alright then," he said to me, "I guess I'll begin this." With no further ado, he shoved the silver stake into his heart – the only sign of his pain showing in his widening eyes.
I gasped, even though I knew that vampires did not need air to survive.
"Pull it, Amelie. Do what you forgot to do the first time."
I looked at him with sympathy before pulling the stake out of his heart. I heard the silver flood his heart and make its way through his veins.
Before collapsing to the floor, Sam looked at me and whispered, "I'll always love you."
Claire's POV
The pain was an endless river, becoming more concentrated and rapid at every moment. I had pushed three times so far as I sat on the floor with my head against the sofa. "I see the head, Claire," Myrnin told me, "Just a little bit more and this will all be over."
That was an understatement.
Eve crouched beside me and clasped my hand, "You're doing great!"
I continued to push, and within ten minutes the pain began to fade. The baby did not cry as I delivered it, the baby did nothing that showed that it was alive.
With tears staining my face, I passed away.
Amelie's POV
Sam was dead on the floor and Shane was still alive, standing there, right beside me.
And then suddenly Shane collapsed on the ground, not as if he were fainting, not as if his legs had buckled under him or he had tripped over something.
He just fell.