Shadows Kiss

It was the next day after we had arrived home and I awoke to a beautiful morning. The sky was so blue and the sun was shining bright. I had to get outside. I wanted to know what Sully's sacred space looked like in the light. I got dressed and headed downstairs. All the guys were gathered in the parlor. "Hey boys!" I called to them.

"Hey baby." Matt said, a gorgeous smile breaking across his face.

"Hey Alice!" "Good morning Alice!" The rest of the room greeted me.

"So what are you boys doing?" I asked.

"Just talking." Zacky answered.

"About what?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You." Jimmy looked up, his blue eyes meeting my own.

"Me?"

"Yes, and how amazing you are." Matt stood from his place on the couch to hug me.

"Hmm, I hope so." I laughed. "Hey I am going to go for a walk. I will catch up with you guys later."

"Okay, I'll come with you." He said.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but I kind of want to be by myself for this." I tried to break it gently, placing a hand on his chest.

"Oh." He responded, looking disappointed.

"Magick." Zacky smiled.

"Something like that." I nodded to him with a giggle.

"Go on your way witchy woman!" Jimmy smiled.

"Okay, see you guys later." I waved. "Love you." I kissed Matt.

"I love you too." Reluctantly he released me, dropping his arms to his sides.

"Oh Alice," Sully called to me just as I was about to exit the room.

"Yeah?" I turned to face him.

"Don't go too far, I don't want you to get lost." He cautioned me.

"Ha! Lost? I would never get lost." I laughed.

"Well, just stay close okay?" He warned again.

"Yes, father." I teased.

"Please do be careful beloved." His tone was very serious.

"Goodness Sully, you talk to me as if I am a child." I rolled my eyes. "I will be perfectly fine!"

"It's just I saw blood on the moon last night. I'm only worried." He admitted.

"Yeah, yeah." I waved a hand at him and headed out the door. Usually I take blood on the moon more seriously than most witches, but the day was so radiant I couldn't miss out on it.

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

Once inside Sully's magickal realm, I sat on the ground in the very center of the meadow. I crossed my legs and closed my eyes. Breathing in the sweet scent of the wild flowers slowly. Smiling as I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face. I loved it here. Everything was so peaceful, so serene.

Suddenly I could no longer feel the sun on my skin, I could no longer hear the sound of the birds chirping around me. I opened my eyes to see that the sun was now hidden under clouds and everything became still and quiet. I began to smell a strong odor, something decaying.

"Meditating, witch?" I heard a husky voice from behind me. I jumped up, turning to see the most horrifying thing standing over me. It was almost like a man, or what was left of him. The creature was mostly a skeleton, with bits of rotting flesh hanging from its bones. Much like a classic zombie, but more terrifying than any movie depiction or book description.

"What do you want from me?" I shouted, rushing to get to my feet.

"Your soul." He held out a sword, pointing it at me.

"Leave me be!" I screamed.

"I've come here to kill you and won't leave until you've died!" He stepped closer to me, "I know who you are, witch! I know what you are!"

"I am nothing to you!" I nearly spat the words.

"You are his Angel of Death!"

"No, I am not. I am a simple witch. Now leave me, before I banish you back to wherever it is you came from." I warned him.

"Forget your magick witch! It is no use against me!" Again he came closer. I pushed my energy out and created a barrier, he simply walked through it. "I told you witch, your silly magick is nothing against me! In my presence your magic is too weak!" He cackled at my failed attempt.

He pointed the sword at me, closing his eyes he paused a moment. The silence was deafening. Everything was still for that moment in time. I wanted to run, but was paralyzed by fear. Suddenly he moved, pulling the sword back and thrusting it at my side. I jumped back dodging the hit. He charged towards me and I created a barrier that the blade ran into, sparks flying. I moved over and he pulled the blade back, again thrusting it towards me, aiming for my throat. I pushed it back with my energy, causing him to drop it. He picked it up and came back with a vengeance. He kept cutting at me, each time I built a new barrier. The sparks kept dancing about my body.

The wind was beginning to blow stronger. The dark clouds rolled in and the rain began to fall, lightening crashing all around us. It looked as though we were dancing in a storm. He stopped to look into sky. "Matt!" I cried out as the thunder rolled, drowning out my screams. He looked back to me, with an evil grin. Once more he attempted to sear my body with the blade. I ducked just as the sword nearly cut into my arm. He swung aiming for throat. I knocked the sword from his hands. He growled at my move.

I stood still, summoning all of the power I had left. I watched as he lifted the sword, letting out a battle cry, coming right for me. I blocked it once more. I could feel my energy beginning to fade. I was tired and growing weak, but I had to try and push harder. Each time the blade became closer because my magick couldn't fight it off like before. It was then I realized, he was draining me. The Aunts had taught me about beings like him, but I couldn't remember exactly what they had called them. I stopped and tried to concentrate, trying to find all strength within myself.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain run through my arm. I let out a piercing scream and looked down to see the blood pouring from my arm. "Stop!" I heard the sound of Matt's beautiful voice far off in the distance. The creature went to attack me again, I turned to run. Slipping in the mud, I fell to the ground. I screamed out again as I fell on my wounded arm. He walked closer to me, he swung for my side and I blocked the blade just as it was an inch away. "Stop! Get away from her!" Matt screamed, terror in his eyes. He was running as fast as he could down the hill to me, the guys flying behind him.

I tried to get to my feet and he knocked me back on the ground, kicking me in the side, he held the blade incredibly close to my throat. I let out a cry of pain as I could feel the last remaining light of magick escape from my body. He then fell to the ground and the sword went flying out of his hand. I watched as the monster crawled through the mud, the storm still raging. He grasped the sword tightly in his hand. We both stood and he came running towards me, swinging the blade at my body harder than ever. I jumped back, but it was too late. There there was no more magick left to call upon. It was gone, all of it, and I felt the blade cut deep into my chest.

"No!" Matt screamed into the storm. "What have you done!?!?" I fell to the ground with a loud thump. Blood was running out of my body at an alarming rate. Everything became fuzzy and I knew I was losing consciousness. Matt destroyed the evil monster, tearing him apart limb by limb. I watched as he became a true monster himself. His eyes were a fierce red and his skin now paler than ever. His fangs came out and his growls were blood curdling.

I could hear the boys screaming and everyone came running towards me. "Alice hold on, please hold on!" Zacky cried out. Everything around me was growing darker. I knew I was about to let go of my last breath.

"Alice!" Matt called. "Alice, answer me!" He was by my side then.

"Now Matt, now!" Zacky screamed. Matt bent down close to my neck.

"Wait! The curse! Remember?" Johnny cautioned. "They will both die!"

"No, it's okay! I talked to my Mom about it! She said that only in a life or death situation, like this that a transformation could be possible if done in time! But the bite can only come from the dying person's true love! That's you Matt, so do it while there's still time!" Zacky tried to explain.

"No, Matthew no!" I opened my eyes again to see Sully running towards us as fast as he could. "Stop! No! She is a self-healing witch! She can heal herself! Stop! Don't do this to her!"

"What?" Jimmy stood staring with wide eyes.

"She is a self-healing witch! She can heal these wounds!" Sully repeated himself.

"It's too late! She is dying! She doesn't have enough power to heal herself now!" Zacky screamed over him.

"Yes she does! You can't do this!" Sully was shouting and shaking with fear and anger. "You cannot turn her! Her blood is too pure to be a vampire! You will only kill her! Don't you see that?"

"It's too late! She is dying anyway! Matt do it now! You are her only hope!" Brian yelled at his best friend. Matt was caught in the middle, looking back and forth from his brothers to Sully, then back to me. "Damn it move!" Brian came rushing over, shoving Zacky out of the way.

"Wait Bri, what are you doing?" Matt panicked.

"Look, if you're not going to do it, then I will!" Brian screamed over the storm.

"You can't! You are not her true love! Matt has to be the one!" Zacky yelled out.

"It might kill me, but still, it might save her! We don't really know what happens, but I'm willing to give it a try!" Brian began to lean down. I felt his breath on my neck when, Matt grabbed his shoulder to push him back.

"Move!" Matt shouted. In a blink of an eye his face was lowered to my neck. Suddenly I felt an even stronger pain.

"Matt stop!" Sully grabbed him, trying to pull him off of me.

"Sully it's too late! The venom is already racing through her veins!" Jimmy gave him a sharp look.

"She will surely kill you if she lives through this!" Sully turned his now black as death eyes upon Matt. "She will kill you all for this you, you monsters! She will not understand this new body! If she survives she will come back as something much darker! And she will kill you all for what you've done!" He began to cry, dropping to his knees. Leaning down he scooped me up in his arms, rocking me back in forth as the cold rain fell across my bloody body. "What have you done?" He cried. "What have you done!?!?" He screamed at Matt.

All of sudden I felt my body begin to jerk uncontrollably , the most horrible pain I had ever felt in my life begin to burn deep inside my neck. "Stop!" I cried out. "What is that? Make it stop!" I screamed into the raging storm. "It burns it fucking burns! Make it stop! Make it stop!" I ripped at my neck, scratching and tearing. "It fucking burns! My heart is on fire! I am dying!" I was out of control. What was this horrible pain that was now running through my veins? I could feel it moving down from my chest into my legs and out to my arms. "Make it stop! It burns!" I kept begging. "Please help me! Please!"

"I can't watch this!" I heard Johnny say.

"I have to stop it, I have to get it back out!" Matt cried out in a panic.

"No!" Zacky yelled over him. "You can't! She will die if you do!"

"It's too late anyway Matt, it's in her system now!" Jimmy screamed.

"But it's killing her!" Matt shot his best friend a look.

"Make it stop! It hurts! I am dying! Don't you see I am fucking dying! I am burning alive! Oh please make it stop! Why isn't the rain putting out the fire?!?!" I called out to them.

"Oh gods, do something! Matt please do something!" Johnny yelled over to his friend.

"I can't! I don't know what to do!" Matt was still in a panic. "Oh gods, what have I done? What have I done to her?"

I felt my body jerking involuntarily, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't put out the fire. I kept screaming into the dead air around me. My head was spinning, all my thoughts swirling about. The rain falling on my cold skin felt like needles going through me. The fire in my body was burning stronger. I couldn't take the pain. Why wasn't I dying? Why did I still feel the pain? The sharp pain lasted what felt like an eternity. Finally my body became still. I was too weak to move. Everything grew dark, the fuzzy images were fading away. I took a deep breath, knowing that it would be my last. Then it happened.......I was gone.