I woke up later and gave one last look towards the horizon. Dim rays of light breaking through the clouds illuminated the debris of what once was my home, Santa Maria. I had committed a horrible act in the name of the common good.

"What else could I do?" I faced two terrible options: to abandon the town and leave my people at the mercy of the newborns, hoping that the Volturi would arrive before they spread to the surrounding villages? Or to purge everyone, humans and vampires alike, with Dr. Petrov's bomb before those newborns attack the nearby villages?

I only had seconds and chose the safest option. It wasn't the most humane, but it was the most practical. Nacho was devastated, and it would be difficult for him to forgive me for it. Tomás and Amalia took Anastasia to Africa, searching for a new place.

"Can Anastasia redeem herself? Will she be a danger to my friends?" Her amber eyes gave me hope that she could change, but it wasn't a guarantee. It was simply Amalia's wish, who always saw light in everyone, but Anastasia's actions deeply wounded both my heart and that of my cousins.

Only one thing seemed to remain standing, and that was the church's cross where Father Rafael lived. I saw debris moving, and from there, a newborn quickly emerged. He seemed to have fed recently, so I prepared my saber and headed towards him.

Upon seeing me, he quickly attacked me, as if I were taking away his prey, and with a single slash, I finished him off. Then I heard groans.

"Father Rafael!" I thought and quickly went down.

There he was, looking towards the ceiling and trying to take his last breaths. He seemed to be in shock, so I immediately went down to try to help him.

"Father! You have a bite on your shoulder! Let me help you, let me see."

I saw that he had been bitten multiple times; the vampire was trying to turn him.

As he screamed in pain, he said, "No! Kill me! I beg you, Gonzalo... Don't let my soul die... I don't want to be a demon!"

"Father! I'll see if I can remove the poison, but I think I might have to, perhaps... you know... I'm sorry..."

"Listen to me, listen to me! I won't be like you or Tomás. Don't let me become a demon... no, better... let's leave it to God, let the Lord decide."

Then, with what little strength he had left, he pointed to a shelf where there were several books, and then he looked carefully at the cross my father had given me.

The place began to shake, and the father begged me to take the books. I took out a Bible and a couple of notes I had in a notebook; the notes talked about various sacred objects.

"Lance... lance... destiny..." He murmured as he looked at my saber.

I didn't understand anything, but I had to decide quickly whether to take him before the basement collapsed or leave him there as he pleaded.

"Go... go... the Holy Grail... the blood of Christ," he murmured, me not understanding absolutely anything.

I couldn't kill him; it was against his principles, and although he didn't like the idea of becoming a vampire at all, he didn't desire suicide either; it would be a mortal sin for him.

After the basement collapsed for the last time, Father Rafael smiled, and conveniently pointed to the ceiling, saying, "Go... God has come to rescue me..." Finally closing his eyes, not without marking a cross on my forehead with his own blood, he kissed my hand and murmured, "Now... it's just you... may God bless you."

I quickly left the basement, and the large stone blocks began to collapse, burying and finally ending Father Rafael's life.

"Some things are worse than death..." I thought as I looked at him, but I needed to think, to give myself a pause. I have already accepted my fate as a vampire, but I don't know where it will lead me. "Where should I go?"

I walked south and began my journey towards Valparaiso. My mask, semi-functional, gave me the data I needed from the ports and their directions, and I found the right one. I will go to the Antarctic continent, to meditate on everything, to review what Father Rafael had given me, and why he trusted me with such things, using what little remained of his last strength to give me those documents.

I hid among the containers, in a dark corner, remembering my precious moments with Kaori, exactly as they were those times, the conversations, our past, and finally how she had managed to let me love again.

We arrived at port, and I quickly left the place. This icy wasteland was perfect for me to meditate and take cover in case the Volturi began to investigate what the heck had happened in South America, and tried to find me. I only hope they wouldn't try to go after my friends if there were any clues that could lead them to them.

As I wandered and ventured further and further into the Antarctic continent, I came across what seemed to be an abandoned laboratory or research center. Upon entering, I realized how small it was, but there was some material with which I could improvise to repair some things.

I could only fix my mask; the dagger and the saber remained partially functional, but the rest was really damaged. As I sat in that dark room no larger than a container, I went through the photos and books they had. I saw some family photos of people I didn't know, remnants of canned food, tools, some rusted, and debris everywhere.

The place was in a valley, between two mountains, and seemed to belong to a group of explorers from different parts of the world. I opened Father Rafael's notes and the Bible next to it; there were marked points and numerical annotations in the notebook.

John 6:54

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

"What is this?" I thought. "Did Father Rafael have such appreciation for me that he left me what he valued most? Did he like to quote passages from the Bible? Are these notes he used for his masses?" I don't understand anything.

John 19:35

"But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water."

"Okay," I thought. "I appreciate Father Rafael's gesture, but I don't know what all this will do for me."

My mind and my inquisitive instincts seemed to sense something behind it all, something was trying to tell me, and I seemed unable to see it.

Revelation 7:14

"And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

I kept reading and taking notes:

Psalm 31:15

"My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me."

I searched for more papers to extract information from; I found others lying around, strips on the floor, plus some that didn't mark anything. After trying combinations and seeing where things were going, I gave up and went outside to get some fresh air.

I looked towards the horizon, sitting, thinking of my wife Marie and my little Lucero. The flashbacks began to torment me again, and I looked at the sky trying to make them stop, requiring all my strength.

"The past is gone, returning won't change anything, focus on the present, on a goal, look ahead," I muttered.

"But what goal? What is my purpose? Do I have to hunt vampires for all eternity?" Those questions troubled me because violence wasn't my thing; maintaining the delicate balance between protecting and avenging was difficult, and in many extreme situations, the line between defense and murder was mere millimeters away.

"A man's life is what his thoughts make of it," I thought, as I contemplated all the events that had led me here, to this moment, but I had no idea of the revelation that lay right in front of my own eyes.