He looked up at me as I entered, and smiled apologetically. "I have to do that paperwork, sorry. But I've been putting it off and I can't anymore. Pam would have done this, but it has to be done by area sheriff, and the sooner I do it the sooner we can spend time together." He probably expected me to argue, but I only sighed and nodded.
"I knew you'd have to, just try to hurry. I'm going to get a shower."
I walked out to see him smile to himself, and went to the master bedroom.
When I stepped out onto the tile floor, I could hear soft music playing from his office. Peeking in, I was surprised to see Eric still working, but he was mouthing the words to himself in sync with the song.
"I'm going to go up to the lighthouse." I told him, and he simply nodded as he made progress with his paperwork. Hopefully after a few hours he would be free for the rest of the trip.
I jogged up the path quickly, and scaled the marble staircase. The light was on just like when I'd first seen it, and spun slowly around the top. I looked out over the cliff, and just enjoyed the view in the moonlight for several minutes, before descending and going inside the lighthouse. On the inside, it was completely modern with full lighting and a set of fully stocked bookshelves on every wall. Lots of soft chairs were scattered around tables with lamps and in a corner I could see a wireless internet device.
I browsed through the selection of books and found a multitude of good choices. Finally I picked one, and went to the lighted outside table to start reading.
When I saw the view out over the cliff, I decided it was beautiful and moved a chair to set just a few feet from the edge, where the light still reached from behind me. The book got off to a good start, and I was just finishing the first chapter when I heard noise behind me. Standing up, I expected to see Eric coming up the path, and instead, there was Bill.
He had on a light brown suit and a bouquet of wild flowers was in his hand. There was a strange look in his eyes, like he was extremely hungry, and almost…feral.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded, throwing my book down onto the chair. "Bill, we are never getting back together, and you need to accept that. I am married for god's sake! To Eric! So just move on, please." I pleaded with him, at my wits end about his behavior, and he seemed sad for a moment before smiling.
"It's okay. I forgive you for making the wrong decisions, darling. But it'll all be over soon. I found a way for us to be together…forever." He got closer, and took my hand in his. "Just like you said in your vows."
Reaching toward my heart, I called to Eric through the bond, and opened his emotions to my viewing. He was trapped, and enraged, while also slightly fearful and worried.
I heard Bill's fangs click down. "I'm going to turn you, and Eric will never be able to control you again. You'll be able to see clearly soon enough." He smiled as though I would be happy about it.
My mouth fell open, and I was speechless, but outraged. "You're deranged, crazy! Let go of me!" I demanded after a second, and ripped my fingers from his grasp. His face flashed with fury, and very quickly several things happened all at once.
He lurched forward to grab me, and I countered by jumping back away from him. I was just ready to pop to Eric when I realized that my foot hadn't met ground. Bill's face froze in shock before me, and it was the last clear thing I saw as I fell backwards down the short cliff face. I reached out, desperate for anyone to save me, but no one did. Not even Bill. I tried to pop, but my mind was too scattered, and I couldn't picture where I wanted to go. My back hits the jagged rocks first, followed by the rest of me, and blinding searing pain seems like the only thing that exists in the world for several seconds. I come back to the world, and from the bond I can only feel Eric's panic and determination. Pushing, I tried to close myself off to keep him from feeling my pain, but he forced it to stay open.
I slide down the sharp face of the river bank, rolling a few times, and jolts of pain hit me from all sides. As I go I see flashes of the river getting closer, and suddenly I'm in it. The river is shallow and rocky, and the water is flowing at a fast pace. I'm thrown around in the icy current, unable to control it when my head hits a large jagged rock embedded in the river's bottom, and I'm suddenly in a daze. No longer can I control my limbs, or fight against the water carrying me. The water warms suddenly, and I know that I've been dumped into the ocean by the river current. I feel soft sand on my legs for a minute, before I'm swept away from shore, and I can't stop it.
The water fills my lungs quickly, choking me of air, and then all I felt was numbness. I could no longer feel my arms and legs or chest…I couldn't feel anything. But oddly enough I could still see. The water in the moonlight was the most pristine and perfect blue I had ever seen. It's strange how, in what you know to be your last moments, everything is absolutely clear. I'm drifting toward the coral reef, and the vibrant colors capture my attention. I see the few fish that would come out at night as they swim about, and I picture all of the beautiful ones that would come out in the daytime. I wished Eric would be able to see them with me in the sunlight.
When he enters my mind, I quickly do the only thing I can by sending him a wave of love. But I can no longer feel the bond, and I don't know if he gets it or not, but I hope so.
Black spots start to bloom over my vision, and I can feel myself slipping away. It's the only thing I've felt for a few minutes. The few clouds that had slightly covered the moon before move, and the light is stronger on the water. It lights the bay up like the flashes from lighthouse, and then I wonder what is wrong with the lighthouse, because it's not lit. Perhaps Bill turned it off so help would have trouble finding us in the dark.
I can see a few larger fish swimming farther out, and I wonder what they are. Maybe their sharks. Maybe they'll get me before the lack of air does. But then I realize just how strongly I need to breathe.
I can't fight it as my body tries to heal itself, and I try to breathe. My feelings return as the last of my adrenaline pumps through me, and I struggle toward the surface for a moment, as one last ditch effort. But it only lasts for a few seconds, and then I am still. My vision fades as I go unconscious, and just before my world goes completely black, I think I feel someone grabbing me from behind. Then again, I could just be hallucinating.
...
I should be dead.
I know I should be dead.
If I'm not dead, then I should at least be in agony.
Everything that happened plays through my mind and I remember in perfect clarity, and I realize that I should not be okay. I shouldn't at all be thinking coherent thoughts, and I most certainly shouldn't be lying on something without even a prick of pain.
I open my eyes, and then, I'm standing. Looking down at myself, I find that I am just fine. Not even a single drop of water on my clothes, and no gouges in my back from the rocks. Eric stands across from me, but he doesn't say anything, and just smiles. We're in a pure white room with no doors, and when I try to speak, nothing comes out. He steps closer, but doesn't touch me.
I should be dead.
But I want to live. I want to keep going, and spend the rest of forever with my vampire, who just stands there and stares at me. Sitting down onto the ground, I start to cry, and realize that this must be death. "What can I do?" I say it before I even realize that I can speak.
Eric comes over, and places his hand over my heart on my chest for a second before removing it.
"What does that mean?" I question him, and he shakes his head.
"Am I dead?" I ask, and he shakes his head again.
"Am I dying?" He nods.
"Is there any way I can live?" Another nod.
"Can you help?" I watch him for any sign of a response, but there isn't one, and it confuses me. "What do I do?" I ask, and he puts his hand back on my heart, leaving it there.
"The bond can save me?" Again he nods, and I feel hope.
"How?" I question him, but he doesn't directly answer. Instead he stands up and goes over to one of the walls. He pulls a black sharpie marker from his pocket, and starts to draw a picture. After a few minutes, he steps back, and reveals it to me. It's an image of the Fae world I had disappeared to for a year.
"I have to use my fairy powers?" I ask, and he smiles, so I know I'm right. "If I use my powers, can I get back to Eric, alive?" He smiles and nods, happy that I am starting to understand.
Raising my hand, I look at it, and try to use my light on the floor. But nothing happens. I stand and try to pop across the room, but nothing happens, and I look back at Eric who's still standing by the wall with his marker. He's drawing again.
He shows me a picture of myself after a moment, and I wonder what it means, until I notice the strange marks on the picture of my face. They look almost like cuts and gashes in my skin, and then I realize what it is. "That's what Eric is seeing, isn't it?" He nods. "How do I use my fairy powers to get to him?" I ask, and just like before, he puts his hand over my heart. Then he disappears in a puff of smoke.
I'm frustrated, unsure of what to do, and set down against the wall beneath the dream Eric's pictures.
I close my eyes and calmed myself, and suddenly I feel a strange pressure on my heart. Reaching out with my mind, I find a ball of golden light surrounding my heart, and I realize what the dream Eric was trying to tell me. As though I had already known it, a knowledge filled me, making me shudder. The golden light was my inner fairy light, and was where all my known powers came from. I suddenly knew that if I went into my inner light, then I would become more fairy than human. I would with practice be able to mask my scent, and the light that I shot from my hands would become stronger. Maybe I would even be able to create things from thin air.
The possibilities for what I could become and gain were endless, but few were likely. I hoped with everything that it wouldn't change who I was inside. I wished for it to only heal me and then release me. But with my new knowledge, I knew what was going to happen next.
Using all my strength, I threw myself head first into the shining radiance.
I stood there, looking into the golden light, and suddenly I was filled with the most amazing heat.
It wasn't the type of heat that makes you feel sick, or thirsty, or uncomfortable. Quite the opposite actually. It was the type of warmth that surrounded you, filled up every pore on your body, and left you wanting more. Like curling up under an electric blanket on a snowy winter day, with the love of your life beside you.
I let myself drown in the magic. I let the human blood in my veins succumb to the power of the fae. Not only that, but I pushed it to happen. I wanted this.
The radiance tingled over my skin, and the experience branded itself forever in my memory. I would never forget this, and I would never regret the decisions that had led me to this.
I looked past the light at Eric, and smiled from ear to ear. He did the same, and as I felt the light release me, I rushed forward to embrace him.
For one shining moment, everything in my life was perfect and right and I reveled in the feeling of it. But then like a dying spring flower, the moment was suddenly gone.
The next moment was when everything went to hell.