The Vampire's Shadow

i'd gagged myself
so i wouldn't complain
to anyone else
about this pain

Matt’s POV

“She’s …dead.”

Grace’s corpse lay before me, pale and lifeless. The rosy color in her cheeks was gone.

“No,” I whispered, taking her small hand and putting it to my lips. “Grace, you can’t be dead…”

“Well, her blood is of no use to us now,” David snapped. “The angel must have killed her. Guess he didn’t want another vamp in the world. Tough sacrifice to make, though, killing your best friend.”

“How could he?” I muttered. “How could he not have loved her? How could he have willingly taken her life?” I felt a surge of emotion.

Her icy blue lips, lips I had once kissed, now were slightly parted, and I bent down to kiss them one last time.

“I know she went to heaven,” I said mournfully. “Which means I’ll never see her again.”

David clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Well, she’s just one girl in what, 3 billion? There’ll be another. Don’t worry about it.”

I sighed. “You don’t get it…but oh well. I guess I shouldn’t just stand here…I should take the body somewhere besides this roof.”

“Put it somewhere where her family will find her, so they can bury her.”

But I had a better idea.

*~*~*

Using the vast resources available to a vampire, who conveniently has forever to spend building wealth, I was able to build a monument for her, far away from the city.
I laid her in the patch of flowers and watched her in grief. I decided then that I’d visit her sometimes…until I got over her.
One day, as I sat hidden by the monument, I saw the angel land by the monument. He looked very ill…like he was about to throw up. And feverish. Basically, he looked like shit.

I thought he was going to throw up, no lie. He had that same sick look, shaky knees, and I saw him bend over Grace’s body. He was going to vomit on her? I thought incredulously.

But instead of vomit, a silvery vapor passed through his lips into Grace’s dead ones. Color slowly started to return to her face and spread through her body.

Exhausted, the angel crumpled at the base of the monument, having completed his ritual. He looked drained…and I saw him pass out.

Now would have been my chance to kill him.

Except I knew that what he had done took so much effort…he’d eaten a soul, but not to take it. He had carried it inside of him – despite the temptation – and then forced it out. A lesser fallen angel would have gone mad from the endeavor.

I took him to Grace’s house, where a confused mother agreed to help nurse him and Grace to health.

I carried Grace back to the house, and laid her on her bed.

Both had serious fevers and were unconscious.

*~*~* 3rd Person Matt

Matt approached Grace’s bedside. “Mmm…” she moaned and stirred.

“Grace?” Matt whispered, stroking her face with his fingers.

“I…love…you…” she mumbled.

“I love you, too, baby,” Matt murmured, and he kissed her softly.

“…Shadows…”

Matt swore.

*~*~*

Shadows’ POV: 3rd Person

“She keeps saying your name, over and over. I can’t get her to wake up…”

“Where’s the va – Matt?”

“Well, he left a while ago. He seemed to be in a bad mood. I don’t know why.”

Shadows shrugged. “You can never tell with…Matt.” It was unusual calling him by his name.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” her mom said, and closed the door.

Grace lay still. Shadows approached the bed, then knelt.

She stirred slightly. “…Shadows…”

Shadows put a hand on her hand. “I’m here.”

Her chest rose and fell.

“I…love…you…” she breathed, still not awake.

He closed the door softly on his way out.

His lips met mine…not in a kiss, then.

But to save me.

Does he know I love him?

Shadows, I love you…

Grace’s POV

“How are you feeling?” Shadows asked.

I walked up to him. “I know you,” I declared.

“Uh…” he grinned. “I should hope so.”

“No, I mean I knew you a long time ago. Dante Stonewall was your name. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before – you’re the boy I knew years ago…”

He hugged me. Tightly. Strange, these hugs were usually the other way around.

“I know,” he muttered, and his fingers moved through my hair, sending my heartbeat skyrocketing.
“Shadows, I have something else to tell you.”

“I have something to tell you, too.” He looked at me with his intense green eyes.

“What?”

He grabbed me, pulled me close, and I felt his lips merge with mine. The rest of the world melted away…but this time, I stayed conscious. His hands moved around my waist, and we made out.

Breathing hard, in between kisses, he gasped, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered, “Dante.”

We kissed again, and he held me and held me, as if he’d never let me go.

*~*~*

Matt saw the two, bodies entwined, Dante’s lips moving across the lips he’d once kissed. But never with this passion.

Beside him, David watched as well. An ache burned in his heart…a distant jealousy, for that kind of love.

Matt turned away from the scene. “I’m leaving,” he spat darkly.

“You want her to be happy, don’t you?” David asked.

“Yes…”

“Well…this is the best thing for her. Just let her go.” David watched his friend.

Matt sighed. “The one good thing that came out of this…could be the first song I’ve really meant in a while.”
if i had the strangth
i'd forget you completely
but i can't push you away
because you're still a part of me...

just when i thought i'd seen the sun
the light i thought i saw in you
just when i thought day had come
i saw that it was just the moon.

Dante and Grace fell asleep that night, with Grace tucked under Dante’s wing.
don't hold back this time
because we've got one life to spend
you know i'll never cry
as long as you promise to be my friend THE END <3 Dante+Grace<33