The Children of Arnborg: the Prophecy

by Rene Barry

Chapter 4

conclusion

Boston District Attorney Stuart Morrow has enjoyed an unholy alliance with a group of vampires for years, but when his prosecution of a high-profile defendant goes awry, he begins to understand that it will take more than the legal system to put things right.

One night on a Boston highway, the company of a seductive vampire named Emma will plunge him deeper into the dangers of their world than he could have ever imagined and into a battle for his own survival.

Two weeks had passed. Each night since his new birth Stuart had left The Coven with Emma to hunt and feed, not out of pleasure but to assuage the ravaging hunger that gripped him, deafening him to any moral question that lurked in his mind. Rebecca had been told the story of Frouuina, and Arnborg marveled at the sun and the world of light in which she could now walk.

Tonight, however, was different. The world seemed to spin around Stuart, and the lights of the city dimmed and swayed in his vision. Pedestrians came up from the subway, walking past him, but he reached his hand out for one in particular.

“Matt? Matt?” he gasped, seizing the stranger with a bit too much strength.

The man looked at him annoyed. “Hey, what the hell, man! What’s your problem?”

He let the man go, startled. The stranger walked off, cursing under his breath.

“What’s wrong with me?” he sighed.

“You still see him, don’t you?” a familiar voice inquired.

He turned around. “Rebecca?”

She came up the stairs from the subway and sat on the bench behind him. “I’ve been watching you these past few nights. It’s all changed for us, hasn’t it? You, me, Arnborg, or at least that thing they brought back, I don’t know.”

“Why are you talking like this?” Stuart asked.

“Come on, you think I haven’t thought about it too? It’s all different, too different. I thought I’d be excited when it happened, you know? But now it has, and each night all I can think about is—”

“Who’m I gonna kill next?” Stuart injected.

“Yeah... yeah...” Rebecca whispered.

“I can’t live like this, Rebecca,” he sighed. “I can’t.”

“Then don’t.”

“What?”

She looked up at the sky. “I know why you asked Emma to let you go alone tonight. Why do you think I asked Josh for the same thing two nights ago?

Stuart peered at her.

“For the same reason,” she said, her voice breaking. “I wanted to see if I had the courage to do it, to end it. Well, I don’t. Not yet. But maybe soon... I hope so, before anyone else dies.”

Stuart’s eyes began tearing.

She sighed. “I never told you about Thomas, what I did to him.”

“What do you mean ‘what you did to him’?”

“Thomas died because of me,” Rebecca whispered. “I’m the one who bit him.”

Stuart stared at her, but it was not shock or anger in his face. It was simple weariness. “You bit him?” he asked, halfheartedly.

“Yes,” Rebecca replied, seemingly confused at his reaction. “I don’t remember it, exactly. All I knew is that I came to in a church, and Joshua was there with me. Thomas was over his shoulder, and there was blood on my lips. I asked Josh what happened. He wouldn’t tell me. A couple days ago, I asked him again. All he said was that I enjoyed it... And that was it. Stuart?” She reached out for him, “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered.

“What?”

“He put a spell on you to do it. Had to. He knew damn well, just like Emma: she knew damn well we couldn’t take life without puking all over our freaking selves the first time around. So he worked you over good and let you go on Tom.” He grimaced. “Doesn’t matter now.”

“I thought you needed to know,” she said sadly. “I wanted to tell you.”

He smiled at her, looking miserable and dejected. “Heck,” he choked up, “I killed Matt, so...” he sniffled, “it doesn’t matter now.”

Rebecca stood speechless for a few moments, not knowing what to say. “You’ve got three hours,” she whispered after a while. “If you want, I can stay with you and we can just, I don’t know... talk... just talk, maybe,” she smiled softly.

Stuart took her hand gently, and drew her close. She wiped the dripping tears from his face, and they sat and talked till the sky brightened.

“So how about it?” he asked her, looking up at the coming dawn.

She declined, “Not yet, not yet.”

He nodded. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “You know, Emma said she made me for a companion, but I’ve never truly had a companion until tonight. Thank you, Rebecca Morde.” He squeezed her hand, gently. “I’ll be waiting for you.” He disappeared onto the rooftop of the nearby restaurant before she could say another word.

The sky grew brighter. Rebecca stood by in the shelter of the stairwell, opening her ears to every sound around her. The harsh metallic cry of an early morning train called to her, but she listened till she could hear at last the nuance of Stuart’s breathing, his murmurs, and picked up his familiar scent. She listened. She felt the creeping warmth of the morning seep into the stairwell. She listened, and then she heard all that was once district attorney Stuart Morrow go calmly into the fire of the sun.