Shadows Kiss

I slept through most of the flight. When the plane landed in Charlotte I caught a cab to the nearest hotel. There I ran some hot water and eased into the tub. I leaned back, closing my eyes, playing the scene over and over in my head of what had happened.

This wasn't the first incident that had occurred. Matt had made it clear he was a jealous lover. I couldn't even count the times he had nearly killed men for simply looking my way. I loved him more than life, but the jealousy was really getting to me. I was still so upset and so confused. I just needed away, I needed to clear my mind.

I opened my blue eyes, sitting up in the tub to grab my phone from the table. I looked down to see thousands of missed calls from each of the boys. A frown covered my face as I scrolled through them. I exited the call log and began to dial. I called Anna and waited for her to pick up. As soon as I heard her voice I lost it. I was a blubbering mess as I tried to explain what had happened to her.

"Oh Alice, I am so sorry. I should have known that Matt would have turned out to be like that. He's an asshole babe, forget about him. I am on my way to get you right now!"

"No, just wait until tomorrow. I will be fine. I would like a little time to myself anyway. I just need to be alone to think everything over."

"Okay then. But remember if you change your mind, I'll be right there. I love you."

"Thanks Anna, I love you too." I ended the call, sinking back into the tub.

A few minutes later Jasmine called asking a million questions. She told me that Matt had been calling all day, trying to figure out where I was. I explained everything to her. She insisted on coming to get me but I told her the same thing I told Anna. Thankfully she understood and agreed to let Anna pick me up in the morning.

After exiting the tub, I wrapped my hair in a towel and threw on some PJ's. I crawled into the huge bed and turned on the TV. About half an hour later there was a knock on the door. I sat up, looking towards it. "Who is it?" I called.

"Room service!"

"Wrong room, I didn't order any."

"Umm, compliments of the chef!"

My brow furrowed, as I was becoming annoyed. "That's okay, I'm not hungry."

"Oh come on Alice, just open the door!" I heard a familiar voice beg.

"Zee?" I couldn't believe it.

"Yeah." I heard a deep sigh from the other side of the door.

"Zacky you tell him I said to go away, I don't want to see him. Do you hear me?" I yelled.

"He's not here Alice, it's just me. I promise."

Slowly I opened up the door, peering through to see the dark haired guitarist with snakebites. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to find you. I was worried about you." His green eyes looked sad.

"Really, he is here isn't he? But he sent you up first, right?" I gave him a serious look.

"I swear Alice, he is in Red Rock with the Aunts, it's just me." He held his hands up.

"But Zacky, I thought you guys agreed to do one last show tonight in England?"

"Not anymore, Matt cancelled it. All the other bands are still gonna perform, but us. The most important thing to us right now was finding you."

"Oh gods, I am so sorry. This is all my fault." I put my hand to my temple, feeling so guilty. I walked back into the room, flopping back down on the bed and Zacky followed.

"No Alice, it's not. You did nothing wrong. Matt's just so in love with you that it makes him crazy some times. It did look kind of bad this morning, but I knew what you were doing. Matt just can't understand that your magick is everything to you and actually getting to share it with someone else is such a surreal opportunity for you. You have to live your life in the shadows, hoping that no one catches on to what you can really do. He doesn't get that, even though he should understand better than anyone." He explained taking a seat beside me.

"Why? How could you expect him to understand that?" I looked back up to him, a frown covering my face.

"I...I just do." He said nervously.

"So how did you find me anyway?" I sat up, turning my body to face his.

"I called my mom, she helped me." His eyes looked out over the floor.

"And your mom knew where I was?" I gave him a look of disbelief.

"Umm, there is something that I have never told you, and maybe it's time that I did."

"What is it Zacky?"

"Please understand, and please don't be frightened. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I am going to anyway. You have to keep it a secret though, okay?" The serious expression on his gorgeous face was alarming.

I swallowed hard, bracing myself. "Okay Zacky."

"Alice, my mother is a witch, just like you."

"Really?" My eyes grew wide.

"Yes, I know much more about the craft than you thought I did."

"So you are a witch too?"

"Not quite." He shook his head.

"Okay, so then what are you?"

"Well like I said, my mom is a witch, but my dad is.....a...."

"A what? A warlock?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"No, something darker." He spoke softly, not able to bring his eyes to meet mine.

"What could be darker than that?" I wondered, knowing warlocks were evil, vile creatures.

"My dad is a vampire." He said the words so fast I barely made them out.

"A what?"

"A vampire." Zacky nodded to me.

"So that makes you...."

"A vampire." He nodded again.

"Oh gods." I whispered into the dead air around us. "My father isn't crazy after all."

"Yes, there really are vampires in this world. But please don't be frightened." He held his hands up in surrender.

"I'm not afraid of you Zacky. I know you would never hurt me."

"Good, because I wouldn't. I would kill myself before I brought harm to you. But Alice, there is a reason the five of us are friends."

"What do you mean?"

"Matt, Brian, Jimmy, Johnny, and I, we are all..."

"Vampires." I whispered again, my world shaking around me.

"Yes."

"I don't believe it."

"Believe it, it's very true."

"The Prince of Darkness...." I said, remembering the conversation between Matt and Brian.

Zacky gave me a confused look. "How do you know about that?"

"I heard Brian talking to Matt."

"Oh." He paused a moment, looking back to the floor. "Matt is the Prince of Darkness. His father is the King of all the vampires in the world. Matt's time is coming, the crown will be past to him soon."

"So what is the Angel of Death?"

"The Angel of Death is you."

"Me?"

"Yes. You see, Matt comes from a very long line of rulers. His family has always been over all the vampires in the world. There must always be a male heir to take the throne. Each King must rule for a thousand years. Once every thousand years demons come crawling from the depths of hell to try to take over the vampires. Since it is believed that both sides are dark creations of the underworld, the demons are to make sure that the next vampire king is worthy of the crown. The same story has been told that this year as Matt takes the throne, there will be a battle like no other before it. But the new ruler would have a companion called the Angel of Death. She would be so incredibly powerful like nothing else. She would be the one to join the King's side in the battle to send all the demons back to hell and the vampires would become stronger, faster, deadlier than ever. It will be a revolution like never before."

"But I thought they said the Angel of Death was a vampire?"

"Yes, that's the way the story has always been told."

"So then it can't be me. I am but a simple witch, I couldn't take on thousands of demons."

"I still think it is you though. I think you were sent to Matt with already incredibly strong powers, he is to turn you into a vampire."

"But I am a witch Zacky!"

"I know that, but I think you are meant to be both."

"I think you are mistaken. I have no desire to be a vampire."

"No Alice, it's you, I'm sure. You see the Angel of Death can only be the King's true love. You are Matt's true love. He loves you more than anything in this world. He would throw the whole empire away for you, if you asked him to."

"I don't know."

"Trust me." He smiled. "I have never been more certain of anything in my whole life. It's you Alice. It's you and Matt, Lord and Lady Shadows. Together you are to breath new life into our empire."

"Not anymore it's not." I looked out the window, not wanting to face him.

"Please Alice," He took my hand in his, "Matt loves you, you know he does. He just got out of control, but he is genuinely sorry for what he did. Please come back."

"If that's how he feels, then go to him and tell him to come to me and tell me that."

"Okay." He stood up and pulled his phone out of his pocket, he paced back and forth. "Matt! Hey man, listen I found Alice." He smiled over to me. "Yes, I am with her now." He covered the phone, looking at me, "Will you talk to him?"

"No."

"Dude she said no. Listen, she said that if you are sorry you need to come tell her that yourself. We are in Charlotte, it's the first hotel right off the exit. Yeah, room 201. Come as quick as you can. Okay dude, bye." He put his phone down on the table and sat back down on the bed. "He's on his way."

"Okay." I looked around the room nervously. I didn't know if I was really ready to face Matt yet. Did I love him? More than anything. Did I love his jealousy issues? Not at all. But the truth was, I was going to have to deal with them and help him work on them, because there wasn't a chance in hell that I could live without him now.

I called Anna and the Aunts back and told them not to come, that I would be returning with Matt. After I sat my phone down I turned to face Zacky. "So is that the rule?"

"What?" His green eyes met mine.

"If the mother is a witch and the father a vampire, the child has to become what the father is?"

"Well it's not exactly like that. Being a vampire is something that runs in your blood, being a witch is something you choose to do. It doesn't matter if the father is a vampire or the mother is, the blood of the child will be vampiric. That's something the child just has to live with. But the child can make the decision to follow in the foot steps of the mother and learn her craft."

"You just didn't want to learn?"

"Well, I was always very interested in my mother's craft growing up, she taught me all there was to know. The original plan was that I was going to be a Wiccan vampire. But as I grew older I seen a lot of horrible things, mostly caused by my father. I started thinking about the differences between the two worlds. I couldn't understand how my mother and father could even love one another, because they were just too different. My mother was this kind, loving earth goddess, one of the most powerful witches in the world. She is even the high priestess of her coven. She is all about nature and giving and sharing. My dad was this dark, cold, heartless monster who preyed upon the innocent. He's all about death and doom, always seeking power and is out killing with a vengeance for what he has become. When I was eighteen I found that I had more in common with my dad. I was killing the innocent just to quench my thirst and that's not what the craft is about. I am a monster. I am not worthy of the craft." He looked down at his feet, almost ready to cry.

"I don't think you are a monster, Zack." I pulled his chin up, forcing him to look at me. "Anyone is worthy of the craft. It is not Christianity Zacky, there are no set rules. Yes, you may be a vampire, but not by choice. Dark soul or not you have a good heart. You have the purest heart I have ever known." I smiled to him.

"Thanks." A tear ran down his cold cheek.

"I love you Zee, a whole big lot, even if you are a vampire." I joked, hugging him tight.

"I love you too."

.................................................................................................................................................

A couple of hours later there was a knock at the door. "Alice, baby I'm here. Please let me in, please!" I heard Matt's voice outside.

Zacky jumped up and opened the door, Matt acted as if he never even seen Zack. He ran right past him and Zacky simply exited the room, shutting the door behind him. Matt ran to me and knelt at my feet, enclosing his large hands over mine. "Baby I am so sorry. I love you so much, you know that don't you?"

I looked at him totally emotionless, having cried out all my tears all afternoon.

"Alice I love you so much more than any words could describe. You mean everything to me. I am sorry I got like that earlier. I am just that crazy over you, it makes me insane sometimes. Because I just want you by my side all the time, always. And to think that another man could be alone with you for even just a second tears me apart. I need you to survive. I have never loved anything in my life, never cared for anything. And you have taught me to love and it's such an incredible feeling. I never want to lose it, I never want to lose you. Please forgive me." His eyes were searching mine, waiting for me to speak.

"I forgive you." I turned my eyes upon him.

"Thank God!" He lifted me up high in the air, then bringing me down to hold my body close to his. "I'm so sorry. I love you so much. Please don't ever leave me again."

"It's okay baby. I love you too." I ran my fingers through his thick hair.

He leaned in and I just couldn't stop kissing him, no matter how hard I tried. I had missed him so much, his touch, his voice, his scent, his smile, his face, his kiss. How happy I was to have him here with me again. It felt like an eternity had passed without him.

"I have to tell you something." He pulled away, the mood became very serious. "I'm not what you think I am."

"What do you mean?" I pretended not to know.

"This is going to sound crazy."

"Okay."

"Please, I know this is going to be incredibly difficult to understand, but please try to. You think your craft is unheard of, wait until I tell you this. But no matter what is said, I need you to know that I would never ever hurt you. I never want you to fear me. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Okay, here it goes." He looked down for a moment, taking in a deep breath, then turning his eyes upon me again. "Alice, I am something you have only read about in books, you have only seen in movies. I am something you were taught to fear, but never to believe in. But the stories are true, they are all true, maybe not exactly like the stories say, but they are true. Your father is right to warn you about the real dangers in the world."

"What are you saying?"

"I am a monster." He looked at me seriously.

"Baby, you are not a monster."

"Yes Alice, I am. I am a vampire."

"Vampire?"

"Yes." He paused for a moment trying to secure his thoughts. "A vampire. My father is the King of the entire vampire empire. I am the heir to the throne. My time is coming soon. Alice I need you to know that I love you more than anything so there is something that I need to tell you, because it involves you."

"Me?"

"Yes, there will be a battle soon, to prove my worthiness of the crown. This battle will be a blood bath like no other. It will be dark and it will be difficult. I am to be the most powerful King to ever rule the empire, therefore my test will be much harder than that of any King before me. If I should win, the empire will be better than ever. All vampires all over the world will become stronger, they will be faster, they will be more powerful, their senses sharper, and they will be nearly impossible to kill. They will be built for destruction, yet they will be closer and kinder to one another. It is supposed to be a reign like nothing the empire has ever seen and this will all happen with me as their leader."

"And if you fail?"

"I will die and so will all the other vampires left in the world."

I looked away from his piercing gaze, I couldn't take that brutal truth. I swallowed hard, "So what do I need to do to keep that from happening?" I looked back to him.

"You must stand by my side, join me in this battle. You are my Angel of Death and I will only succeed with you there."

"But Matthew, I am nothing. I am a simple witch. How can I protect you?"

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, my dear." He laughed.

"What do you mean?" I looked up at him confused.

"You do realize that just hours ago you sent the most powerful vampire King of all time flying across the room with no problem at all, right?"

"That's only because your guard was down, you weren't expecting that from me."

"A true vampire is always prepared for an attack of any kind." He tone becoming serious again. I looked away from him, not knowing what to say. He squeezed my hands tighter. "But listen to me, if this is not what you want, we won't attempt it. I will tell my father to keep his crown. I don't want to put you through this, it's too risky."

"No Matthew! I would never let you give up your crown so easily! That is ridiculous!"

"No really, I would give it all up for you. I would be just as happy to live a simple life with you. I don't have to be King to be happy. You are all I need now."

"But Matt, you have been waiting for this your whole life. You have been working so hard mentally and physically. You have trained for so long. You can't give it up now."

"How did you know that?" He looked at me in amazement.

"I just did."

"Well that means nothing now. I want you to be honest, if this is not what you want, we don't have to. If it is too scary for you, I will understand. And if you should choose that even a life with me is not what you want, I will set you free." He looked as if he were about to cry.

"I could never live without you. I told you long ago, there is no turning back now. I will join you in your battle and we shall win. Together we will breath new life into your empire." I stood and held my palm out to him, so that my deathbat tattoo on my wrist was showing right side up. "Come Lord Shadows, there is much to be done."

A glorious smile broke across his angelic face. "Yes, Lady Shadows." He stood then, clasping his hand tightly around mine, and together we set out to take the vampire world by storm.