First Death Pt. 04

"Jesus," I said it ironically as a swear, "you're kidding."

Lily didn't take her eyes off the road, "No. By all accounts he wasn't anything extraordinary, a con artist at best but he was successful at his purpose and as a reward, Good ordained his mother with its blessings."

"You're trying to tell me I'm the descendant of—"

She cut me off, "No. That child was touched by Death; he died and rose again and spent his second life under Death's charge and he met his third end before producing an heir. Where the truth differs from the rewritten lies that now serve religion, is that the mother had a second son, to whom she passed on Good's blessing—immortality. The legend says that the second son, of the only daughter of the second son is who the blessing is passed down to. I am sure if there were accurate records of your true family history, you would be the only occurrence of this in several thousand years."

"I'm...immortal?" This was way fucked up and too much to for me to wrap my head around.

"Honestly, I do not know what you are. There is only ever one immortal, or at least that is what has been told through the years. He lives in Japan. If we have to give credence to the myth, then by all means you cannot also be immortal. Regardless, you could still possibly be a distant, mortal descendant."

"That is why Lucas wanted to drink my blood," I thought a moment, "but you already did so whatever it is that you think it could do for you, you must already have it."

"Again," she sighed exasperatedly, "following the word of the legend, if one is able to drink of the immortal under three full moons then one gains a piece of the blessing. Mind you, that legend does not say anything about blood, vampires or distant relatives of the immortal, so it is entirely speculation. A false prophecy held onto by fanatics of the past in a desperate attempt for a never ending future."

"If you don't believe the legend is true, then you have no reason to kill me," I retorted. This drew her head in my direction and her eyes flickered over for a moment.

"I did believe it, a long time ago. In fact, I am the reason Ian and Lucas even know about it. It was a memory that I collected from a very old vampire that I made the mistake of sharing with them. For centuries it was an obsession of mine—I even found the immortal, so I knew some of it was true. He is a very hard man to get near and the fact that he let me live was not a kindness lost on me. I heeded his warning and when the time came, I changed sides to Good and I never looked back. I know enough that you cannot give eternal life to someone that is already dead, but that partial blessing in your blood has the potential to lend a powerful vampire even more abilities and that is not something I would let Ian or my brother have. If I must, I will kill you to prevent it."

She spoke coldly, matter-of-factly so much so that I knew it was the truth. If she was forced to do it, she would kill me without hesitation. "Lucas said that you could change me into one of you, is that not an option?" I was wildly grasping at straws—I didn't want to die.

"No. Lucas said we could have someone else change you. He and I have never changed anyone and never will no matter which side we are on. Lucas and I combined are an unstoppable threat to everything. We share a collective knowledge spanning almost back to creation itself—it is a dangerous treasure trove. Regardless of what we fight for, we both know that our knowledge needs to die with us. We still abide by a moral code of conduct—that is not something we could guarantee someone else would follow. Be that as it may, Matthew—I would not wish this upon anyone else. It took me years to gather the knowledge I have and I'm not even positive if someone would be able to comprehend a massive data dump. I even struggle with it, at times. To view the memories of a person's entire existence is akin to absorbing their soul—who they were, what they did, what mattered to them, all of it gets transferred. When I was evil it was easy much easier to ignore but now," she paused. I could almost see it in her face, "when I silt my wrists all those centuries ago, if I knew what this would really be like, the toll it takes on a soul—I would have refused Death and let my soul drift off into nothingness."

There was sadness in her voice, a burdened heartache that made it clear she wouldn't change me because she was protecting me.

...

It was almost dawn when we pulled up to a house; I wouldn't have imagined that was where we were going because it was tucked so deep into trees that I didn't think it would have been possible. It was a beautiful, massive stone cottage of old architecture and despite its place in the trees it was clearly up kept well.

She shut the SUV off and grabbed her bag from the back before Jinx jumped out and ran to the door. I did the same and followed her up the front stairs; it was locked, but obviously that didn't stop her. She pulled a knife out and pried the panel off of the electronic lock near the door frame. A few crossed wires later and I heard a large bolt slide before it opened into a dark house.

Lily replaced the panel while Jinx ran inside; I followed behind her. It was clear she had been here before because she detoured past the entry way and to a steel door that led downwards. When she finally flicked on the light, I saw the large basement of the house; there was a vast living area that was filled with vintage looking furniture—slender couches and chairs with angular lines and thin legs, warm mahogany wood tables and funky shaped lamps. We walked pass the main area and down a small hallway; she pointed me to one room before walking into the one across the way, "I'm going to shower. I suggest you do the same." She shut the door behind her.

The room I entered was a decent size; it had a king size bed, a small desk, a plush chair and a flat screen tv mounted on one wall. Jinx bolted into the room before I could shut the door; he jumped on the bed, kneaded the comforter and laid down.

I set my bag on the desk and pulled out toiletries and new clothes. I discovered an adjoined bathroom and hopped into the shower. I was exhausted and hungry; it was very difficult work following a vampire around who seemed to forget that I needed to eat and sleep at some point.

After I finished and got dressed in the designer jeans that Teddy had picked out, with a t shirt and green v necked pull over, I opened up the door to discover that Lily's room was empty. She wasn't in the basement living area either.

"All right, where did she go?" I asked the cat. I felt like I was going crazy but Jinx yawned, stretched and jumped off of the bed, sauntering out of the room. I followed him back up the stairs, through a narrow hall and into a kitchen.

It was dawn now and though the sunlight was visible beyond the curtain windows, she was steering clear of any path it might have fallen on. She stood at the counter with her arms wrapped around her, looking out the opened window above the sink. Its view was of the back wooded area, a small clearing containing a fire pit and several chairs.

"There's food in the fridge, help yourself," she said without moving.

I wasn't about to object—so I made short work of another sandwich before following her out and into the dark living room. There was a chill in the air and while I sat in a large, plush chair to eat my sandwich, she built a fire. We didn't speak—there didn't seem a need for it. I knew she was going after Ian now, though I wasn't exactly sure where that would happen or if she would take me along, all I knew is that her regard for my future was minimal. The only one looking out for me now, was me. I needed to figure out a way to survive her, her brother and Ian and there weren't any good looking possibilities.

I had just finished my sandwich when the front door opened and slammed shut. A gruff voice with an Irish accent echoed into the room, "There is only one person stupid enough to break into my house."

A man appeared in the entry to the room; he was tall and built like an ox with wide shoulders, thick arms and legs and a slender waist. I recognized him by his wavy, reddish brown hair and red beard—the Alpha of the Outlanders. And he looked pissed.

Lily rose up from her crouch in front of the fire and turned to him, "Hello, Evan."

Ah fuck, Evan McGowan—the man she told me to go see if she died. The man she said would help me—he was a wolf.

He said nothing but stormed forward towards her. She immediately did the same and I thought that they would start swinging fists but instead she threw her arms around his neck and he gathered her up, lifting her off of the ground like a doll. Their lips crashed into one another's and it was clear that I was a third wheel in a very intimate moment.

He set her down, still holding her with one hand while running the other over her face, "I never thought I'd see you again." There was an ache in his tone, a longing, a relieved sadness. It was a very personal moment that I knew I shouldn't be watching but I couldn't rip my eyes away. She had told me that vampires and wolves didn't get along, yet they clearly were the exception and I had fucked her just hours before. And she tried to kill me. And now we were at her ex's/Alpha wolf's house to hide out. Awkward doesn't even begin to describe how I felt.

She didn't have a response for him nor an apology, instead she just laid it out like it was, "I need to kill Ian and I need your help."

"It is about time someone put that bastard down," he growled.

"Meow," Jinx jumped on my lap. I swear I was going to kill this fur ball.

Evan's eyes snapped over to mine—he must have been so caught up in seeing Lily that he didn't notice I was there, "Who's the kid?" he asked.

I was slightly offended—I mean, he looked like he was in his mid thirties and sure Lily was over six hundred, but still...I wasn't a kid.

Lily sheepishly glanced over her shoulder at me, before dropping her gaze, "Matthew, why don't you go get some rest?"

Sent to bed after dinner like a child. It stung and I would have bothered to say as much but I could hardly keep my eyes open, "Yeah, all right. Wake me up when you are ready to kill me," I snapped at her. I got up and walked past them—fuck, Evan was a massive dude.

Jinx, who despite being an annoying shit, followed me. At least I had someone. I wandered back down the stairs, into the room and shut the door. I stripped to my briefs and climbed into the bed—Jinx took up post on one of the corners, purring. Despite how exhausted I was, even when I closed my eyes sleep evaded me. I kept replaying every moment of last night over and over in my head—but the part that stood out most was her soft, naked flesh, the way she felt inside, the way she tasted. I didn't want to admit it but I was pissed not because she tried to kill me, not because she was probably upstairs fucking her ex doggy style, but because I felt something for her. She kidnapped me, put my life in danger multiple times and was the craziest, oldest psycho chick that I knew but yet I was drawn to her, pulled towards her like gravity. I wouldn't call it love—that is sappy, high school bullshit and it wasn't even just physical attraction. It was something beyond words, something beyond my control. It felt like the events of my life were meticulously plotted out so that at the right moment in time, our paths would intersect. It was Fate.