Shadows Kiss

"How are you holding up?" Jimmy walked into the room.

"I can't believe it." Matt was still crying hysterically. "What have I done? I killed her Jim, I killed her."

"No, Matt. This isn't your fault, she was dying anyway. The damage was already done my brother." Jimmy rested a hand on Matt's shoulder, gripping it tight.

"Well then it's still my fault because I didn't protect her like I should have! I should have been there with her in the field. I should have known he would come for her! Better yet I should have left her alone when I seen her on the beach that day. I should have stayed away, I knew better. If only I would have left her alone, she would have never got mixed up in our cruel world, she would still be alive. She would be laughing with her friends back in North Carolina. She wouldn't be laying in this coffin now, cold and lifeless!" He covered his face with his hands.

"Matt, this is not your fault! You have got to stop blaming yourself for this! Do you hear me? You had no way of knowing that any of that would happen!" Jimmy yelled at him.

"But it is! It's all my fuckin fault! I killed the woman I love! The only woman, the only thing in the entire world I have ever loved!" He leaned back over the coffin, gasping for air.

"Matt, you were only trying to save her. That was the only thing you could do. You did your best man. She would understand." Jimmy patted his friend's back, trying to ease the pain.

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

Breath, I could feel breath upon me. I could hear the air rushing in and our of their lungs. Slowly I opened my eyes. There sat Matthew in a chair, with his hands clasped together leaning his head against them with his eyes closed tightly, tears streaming down them. We were in a very large room with windows all around. The beautiful sunshine shown through the windows, making his pale skin look radiant. He looked like an angel here in the bright light, dancing across his features. I could see that I was laying in a coffin, which alarmed me. I moved my hand and reach out to touch his arm.

He jumped, opening his eyes wide, staring down at me in shock. "Alice?"

"Matthew...." was all I could barely whisper. My throat was horribly dry and very sore.

"Yes, yes baby I'm here. I'm right here. Everything is fine. Okay?" He brushed my hair back. "Do you understand?" I nodded my head as best as I could. "Okay, good." He smiled.

"Is she awake?" I heard another voice say, but I didn't even have enough energy to turn my head to look at the door to see who it was. Suddenly I seen Jimmy walk over to Matt. "Oh my gods! I don't believe it! Alice, beautiful, sweet angel Alice! You are finally awake!"

"Yes." I whispered.

"Wow Matt, she's radiant." He stared at me in amazement.

"She's awake! Guys come here, she's awake!" I heard another voice yell loudly. It was so loud, too loud. I made a face because the noise hurt my head.

"John shhhh, you're too loud." Matt warned him.

"Oh, I'm sorry Alice." Johnny whispered, tip-toeing to the side of the coffin. "I told you she wasn't dead!" He shot Matt a look. Then he turned back to me, leaning down in the coffin he kissed my forehead. "I love you. You look really beautiful."

I smiled at his sweet words. Soon enough Zacky and Brian came running in and over to where we all sat in the giant room. "Angel Alice." Zacky ran his soft hand up and down my arm, a single tear escaped his eye.

"Are you feeling okay?" Brian took my hand in his.

I tried to nod again. "She's really weak." Matt stated.

"Up." I faintly said.

"You want up?" Zacky cooed.

"Yes."

"Okay." Matt lifted me up and Zacky fetched several pillows from a couch, propping them behind me. I grunted in pain. "Are you okay?" Matt stopped, looking concerned.

"Yes." I whispered. I eased back into the pillows gently. "That feels better." I smiled. Then looking down I remembered I was in a coffin. I looked back to the guys confused. "Am I dead?"

They all laughed. "No baby, you aren't dead." Matt smiled back to me.

"Well, she kind of is." Jimmy shrugged.

"Shut up!" Matt hissed, as he shot Jim a look. I stared back and forth at them, wondering what that meant.

"Alice, can we get you anything?" Zacky asked.

"Water, please." I begged, my voice was so hoarse and so weak I could barely hear myself.

"Okay, be right back." Zacky disappeared. A minute later he returned with a glass of water.

"Thanks." I said, then taking a deep gulp.

"No problem." He smiled, crossing his arms over his chest, continuing to stare at me like everyone else.

"I...hurt." I managed.

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry baby." Matt whispered softly, offering me a weak smile that said everything would be fine.

"The fire!" I suddenly remembered, my eyes grew wide.

"It's gone now darling, the fire is gone." He patted my hand.

"But....I was burning. I was on fire and I was burning alive." I protested.

"No baby, you just thought you were."

"But the pain was so real." I looked up at him in a panic, trying to make him understand.

"I know, it just felt like it though. There really was no fire." Matt kept his voice calm and soothing.

I reach up and touched my sore neck. I felt two distinct open wounds. "Mirror." I pointed to the wall.

"No baby, you don't need that." He rubbed his hand up and down my arm again.

"I need....mirror." I held out my hand to him.

"Ughhh." He groaned. "Go get her the mirror." He ordered Brian.

"Are you sure?" Brian gave his friend a worried look.

"Yes." Matt let out a deep sigh, waving him away with his hand.

"But what if she-" Brian began.

"I said go get the mirror!" Matt cut him off quickly.

Brian walked to the wall and lifted the huge mirror, turning and walking towards me with it. I looked into the mirror puzzled at what I saw. Who was this woman? She was stunningly beautiful. Her skin was so pale, almost translucent. Her eyes were deep red and her hair a lovely white blond. Her lips were just as red as her eyes. Her body was adorned by an elegant white dress. She sort of looked like me, but she wasn't. She was a very glamorous version of me. She was perfect in every way. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Slowly I touched my neck and so did she. I jumped, startled by her movement. "Who?" I turned to the guys, nearly terrified.

"That's you." Matt smiled brightly.

"No." I shook my head.

"Yes Alice, that's you." Zacky laughed.

"Me?" I looked back in the mirror as the woman mocked my every move.

"Yeah, see." Johnny leaned over me and waved into the mirror. I watched as his reflection stood over the enchanting beauty waving. I looked back up at him, confused. "See Alice, it's you." He pointed to the mirror again.

I looked back at it once more and I could see a horrid black discoloration on my neck. I pulled my hair back to reveal the fang marks. A huge black bruise covered the area around them. I looked back to Matt, horrified.

"It's okay baby." He grabbed my hand. "It's alright, don't get upset. We will discuss it all as soon as you are feeling better. But right now, please don't stress yourself out about it."

"Am I?" I whispered, feeling my world shake around me.

Matt let out another deep sigh. "Yes." He answered.

"Vampire?" I looked back at the mirror, really only talking to myself.

"Yes." He answered anyway.

I watched as a single tear fell from the beautiful woman's crimson eye, staring at my own reflection. My body was trembling with fear.

"No baby, no please don't cry." Matt begged.

"Alice, don't cry. It's alright beloved." Zacky said sweetly.

"No, no don't be sad." Johnny held my hand.

"Who am I?" I stared wildly into the mirror at the strange reflection peering back at me. "Who is this woman? Why does she mock me so? I don't know this strange body! I can't feel my heart beating anymore! Who am I? I can feel everything dying around me! What have you done?" I turned to Matt. "Who am I?" I stared around the room to the other guys, waiting for someone to answer me. I couldn't stand to look at myself anymore.

I motioned for Brian to take the mirror away. Then I felt the storm building inside of me as the flood gates opened, I began to cry hysterically. He walked back to the wall, to rehang the mirror. "No!" I yelled at him. He turned around to look at me. "No." I said again, this time a bit more calm. "Away." I whispered, motioning him out the door.

"You don't want the mirror in here?" The dark haired guitarist asked.

"No." I said.

"Why?" He looked puzzled by my request.

"No....away!" I pointed to the door.

"You want it out there?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Out."

"Okay." He shrugged and made his way out the door.

The guys all stood staring at me in complete wonder. "Why baby? You are beautiful, you always have been." Matt asked me, stroking my hair.

"No." I simply answered.

"Yes! You just seen yourself, you are amazing!"

"Yeah Alice, I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you." Zacky agreed.

"You are the most beautiful vampire Queen of all!" Johnny squealed.

"No." I rolled over, not wanting to face them anymore.

"Guys, just leave her alone." Jimmy cautioned his friends. "You don't understand what she is feeling right now. It's just not her. Don't upset her even more than she already is."

"Baby come on now. I had to, you were going to die." Matt tried to explain his actions.

"You should have let me die then!" I pushed his hand away from my side.

"Please listen to me." He begged.

"Leave me." I warned him.

"No, I am not leaving you!"

"Leave me!" I shouted.

"But Alice-" Zacky tried.

"Leave!" I turned back to face them, my red eyes now glowing with anger, my words sounded more like growls. "I just want to be alone!"

"Okay." Matt sighed. "Come on guys." They all did as they were told.

I laid there in the empty room as the cold tears finally fell from my eyes. I watched as they danced across the hardwood floor. I didn't want to be a vampire. I wanted to be a witch. I was a witch, not a vampire. How could he do this to me? I was willing to join him and live in his world, but I wanted to remain a witch. I didn't want to be a monster. I was a healer, an earth goddess, just like Zacky's mother. This is not the life I wanted for myself. Now I was trapped in this foreign body. My skin was so cold. I couldn't feel my heartbeat. All the life was stolen from my veins. And he had been the one to take it. The man I loved, the man I trusted more than anyone in the world, had stole all the life right out of my veins. Now I was empty, cold and empty, just like him. How could he?

I looked out the windows at the beautiful life that waited just outside those walls. The beautiful, sweet, pure life that I would never be able to feel again. I would never feel the warmth of the sun on my face again. I would never feel the cool breeze of the wind rushing through my hair again. I would never smell the sweet scent of the flowers again. I wold never feel the cold rain against my skin again. I would forever be numb to it all. Everything was lost now and I was alone.

I stood up, my body still weak. My legs were shaky, as I grabbed the side of the coffin and held myself in place. Slowly I walked to the window. I stood staring at the beautiful landscape. I needed to go, I needed to be free.

Suddenly I heard a knock on the door. I turned to see Sully holding a cup with a black straw in it. "Hello my beloved." He greeted me with a small smile. "You are stunning my dear. Lucky Matthew, as if you weren't already extremely gorgeous before. But now you are....something else." He whispered the last part, setting the cup down and hugging me tight.

"I know." I frowned.

"You don't seem happy." He gave me a knowing look.

"I'm not."

"You don't like the new you then huh?"

"No, I hate it."

"But why my darling?"

"Sully, this isn't me. This isn't who I am. This is vampire Alice. I am a witch Sully, not a vampire. This isn't what I am meant to be. I didn't choose this, I chose Wicca." I was ready to cry again. "Any my powers, they are gone now."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. I don't feel them anymore. I don't feel anything inside this lifeless body."

"Why don't you try something?"

"Like what?"

"Why don't you try your trick?" He pushed Matt's old coffee cup along the windowsill towards me.

I concentrated on the spoon, trying so hard to move it with my mind. Nothing, I felt no rush of energy. The spoon never budged. "See?" I looked to him.

"Well, I'm sure you still have your powers. Perhaps it will just take you some time to find them. You remember how when you first began to work spells and it took you forever to find your powers and it took you even longer to learn how to use them?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Well maybe now that you are in this new body it will take you some time to find them again."

"But I don't want to! I want them back now! I want my old life back now!" I began to cry.

"Oh sweetheart, please don't cry. Everything will work out in the end, I promise." He held me tight and brushed his hand down my hair. "Hey I brought something for you." He lifted the cup again.

"What is this?" I took it in my hand.

"Something that will make you feel better. Drink it." He nudged.

I lifted the straw to my lips, taking a small sip at first. It was the best tasting drink I had ever had. I didn't know what Sully had put into it but I began taking in great gulps. I could already feel my body growing stronger. I looked past Sully to see the guys standing just inside the door all staring with wide eyes. A few seconds went by and I was sucking air through the straw.

"Good?" Sully questioned, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." I smiled, I reach the cup back to him. "More?"

"More?" He turned to look at the guys who all stared to him, breathless. He smiled brightly back to me. "Okay Alice, I will be right back with more."

"Okay." I smiled, seating myself in a chair by the window.

"How do you feel now?" Matt walked to my side.

"Good." I said simply.

"Good?"

"Yes." I seen him out of the corner of my eyes as he slowly turned to look at the guys, then he turned back to look at me.

"Okay Alice, here you go." Sully reach me back the cup.

I grabbed it and began to drink faster than before. Finally I decided to take a breath, sitting the cup down on the table. "What is this?" I looked around at the guys waiting for an answer.

"Ummm, something to help get your energy back." Johnny smiled innocently.

"Okay, but what's it called?"

"You sure you want to know?" Jimmy asked.

"Absolutely."

Everyone looked to Matt then. He knelt down in front of me, resting a hand on my knee. "It's blood Alice." He answered honestly.

"Blood?" I whispered, making a disgusted face.

"Yes, but don't worry, we didn't kill anyone!" He held his hands up.

"No, of course not! I have a friend who is a doctor. He got it from his lab and brought it over." Sully explained.

"Oh my gods." I put my hand on my chest. "I just drank someone's blood?" I couldn't believe myself.

"Alice, you have to! It's what you are now. If you don't drink it sooner or later you will never get your energy back. You will never get your powers back if you don't have your energy." Zacky informed me. "You need it! And no one died for you to drink it. It's fine." He patted my back.

"Oh gods, I can't believe this." I leaned over, putting my head in my hands. "I am a monster now!" I stood up with a rush of energy. "What have you done?" I turned back to Matt, just as I had done before. "What have you done to me? I don't know who I am anymore, what I am anymore. I am trapped in this, this, this strange body! I am drinking blood like a monster!" My eyes were a fierce red, like his had been when he ripped the creature apart. "Do you see what you have created? You took a pure soul and ripped it from my body!" I felt the energy begin to fade and my body grew terribly weak again. I grabbed on to the chair and positioned my back against the wall. Slowly I slid down, covering my face, no longer wishing to look at him.

"Alice, please understand." He whispered as he knelt in the floor in front of me. "I had to do this! If I hadn't of you would have died! I can't live without you! You know that! I love you way too much! I just found you, I couldn't let you go! Please understand." He pulled my hands away from my face so that he could look deep into my crimson eyes. And I could see his were the same matching color then. "I love you Alice." He was trying so hard to get through to me, to make me understand. I watched the tears streaming down his pale face.

"I love you too." I whispered into the thick air that moved around my words.

"I'm sorry." He pleaded. "I'm so sorry." The tears sliding from his beautiful face onto the floor.

I sat completely still for a moment, thinking everything over in my head. I didn't want to be a monster, I didn't want this new life, I didn't have magick anymore, I was no longer a witch, but at least I still had him. And that made all the difference. "I forgive you." I whispered, taking his face in my hands.

He looked up at me, stunned by my words. A glorious smile broke across his face and he leaned in for a kiss. It was so wonderful, I felt like I was kissing him for the very first time. All my senses came alive and I could feel the sensation of his cold lips on mine like I never had. The scent of his breath on mine was intoxicating. The sound of his tongue moving with mine was the most amazing sound I had ever heard. The taste of him was so enchantingly sweet. When I finally pulled away I stopped to stare at the perfection before me, that was Matt Shadows. He was without a doubt the most beautiful thing I had ever been blessed enough to witness, and for that I was eternally grateful.

He got to his feet and lifted me up and walked down the hallway to our room, placing me on the giant bed. "Rest now, my Lady Shadows." he smiled sweetly.

"Drink." Sully handed me back the cup. I took it in my hands, looking down on it a moment. Then I began to drink it slowly again. I could feel a new life rushing through my veins. This life was so different; it was strong, powerful, strange, intense. I finished the cup off with no problem. I took a minute to close my eyes and process all the newly found energy, settling it within my being. Finally I opened my eyes to see everything in a new light. Everything was so sharp, so clear, so bright, so radiantly beautiful.

I turned to look up at Matt, "I feel...."

"What baby?" He waited.

"Amazing." I responded, as an almost sinister smile spread across my face.

"Good." He smiled back to me.

"It's finished." Zacky said enthusiastically. "The transformation is complete! The time has finally come! Lord and Lady Shadows and their new empire!" He shouted and the rest of the boys cheered as well.