The End of the Count's Tale: The Cliff

NOTE TO THE READER: This entry is Rated R. Don't tell me I did not warn you. If you are weak-hearted or conservative, forget you've seen this. Believe me, it's for your own good.

The Final Chapter of the Series. Wow. I can't believe I'm ending this story with this entry. I'll miss writing this "Count's Tale". I've grown fond of the Count and his emotions. I'll miss everything about this. Feeling writer naman ako. Here goes... I'm writing this in the point of view of the Count for a more dramatic effect (kuno).

***

I pressed him against the wall, against my body. We were sweating.  My eyebrows seemed to have disappeared completely for sweat kept getting into my eyes, stinging them.

"Do it now!" the Hunter told me. "Now!"

"I... I can't..." I was trembling, and holding him was the only thing keeping me from falling down on the floor in an incoherent heap. "I can't do this!"

The hunter's already scared eyes searched mine. "This is your plan. This is our only chance. You have to do this. Do you get me?" We were so close I can feel his breath on my face.

I nodded, but further movements seemed beyond me at the time. Dying for him was easier than what he was asking me to do. Still, I did nothing.

"Please," he added. "Be strong. Do this for me!" And he pulled my head towards his neck roughly. "Do it now before I lose my nerve!"

I was crying. It was the only way, I kept telling myself. The only chance we have. I simply have to... but his smell filled me. Filled me, like in my dreams. My tears mingled with his sweat. I can feel the beating of his heart. I can feel the skin of his neck with my lips. I can feel his body tensing for what would come. I can hear his ragged breathing. All these were the last living moments of his life. Of my hunter's life.

A jingling sound, then the sound of footsteps hurrying towards us.

"Now!" he whispered hoarsely. And with a cry, I punctured his veins with my fangs.

He struggled, but I kept him trapped within me. His blood flowing in a warm current towards my mouth. I am slowly... slowly killing him. Killing my hunter. The only man I loved...

"Hey!" somebody from faraway shouted. "Get off..." but the voice seemed to dwindle into an indefinite buzz. It was unimportant. Everything was unimportant. There was only me and the hunter. And death.

I loosed the grip I had on his arms, and he sagged a little. His heavy head was pressing against mine. My eyes were closed all the while, and I could hear no more breathing. I can feel no more tension in him. The heartbeat I felt against my chest was... gone.

I fell on the floor, and he fell with me. I handled him like a newborn baby, cradling him in my arms. The first step is done. I should take the next.

Hands were forcing me up. Trying to tie my hands. Pulling the hunter away from me. "NO!!!"

I gave whoever was behind me the strongest blow I could deliver with my newly-replenished strength. Chaos followed. Shouts for help mixed with curses. In a flash, I transformed myself into a crow and the hunter into a hawk. Carrying his limp body with my talons, I flew high, escaping their attempts to hit us. My mind intent on only one thing - carry him to the witch. The flames of the torches flickered as I flew past them towards the distant light.

---

Panting, I knocked on the witch's door, calling out her name. Normally, the witch was already outside to greet me. Sometimes even before I landed. This time, it took a few minutes before she finally peeked through the door.

"You need to help me," I immediately blurted once she opened the door. "I need to bring him back to life." I pointed her the hunter's body, leaning on the nearest tree. "Please teach me the spell! I don't care if I die in return. Just please teach me!"

She held his hand up to silence me, and took her time covering her shoulders with her shawl. She wasn't able to look me in the eye. For a moment, I thought I detected something in them. Was it pity? But it was gone in an instant. Mostly though, she looked pensive.

"The spell," she calmly said. "Has limitations. You are a..." Suddenly, she changed her expression. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her face was like a stone. Emotionless.

"Please," I said. Unstoppable tears leaking down my face. "Please don't take him away..." I've known the witch for a long time already and she never hesitated before. She gave help, or denied it at once. She doesn't dawdle. Something was wrong, I knew it.

"Please!" I cried, holding her hand. "I'll do anything in return! I need to see him alive! He doesn't deserve this. I should be the one dead! He didn't do anything... I was the vampire... I... I..."

She touched my lips with a finger, and caressed my face. She gave me a look of pure sympathy, turned her back, and closed the door.

"No!" I pounded at her door. "Please help me. Bring him back. You're the only one who can! You don't understand. He's... He's everything to me!!"

I ran back to the hunter's body, sobbing. I held his already white hand, and mourned. He's dead, I thought. He's dead, and I was the one who killed him. Life is bitter, I thought. It isn't worth living for vampires like me. God brought me here in this world to experience pain. Then more pain. The hunter is gone. He is dead. Dead. Dead!

The cry of the ravens was my sole companion.

---

I buried him near the cliff. It was not a suitable place for graves. For one, the wind never stops there. The trees were scary-looking. The place looked wild. No flowers there, just tough-leaved thorny bushes.

I sat beside him, my hunter. Dead now. And talked to him. Talked to him about my life. About my struggles. I talked to him about things which makes me happy. Besides him, I amended. And I laughed at myself. He laughed, too. Shyly.

I laughed. I fell silent. I cried beside him. I can see him beside me, listening to me. We decided to stand nearer the cliff and look at the view below.

The mountains were blue. The sun covered by clouds. The wind brought us the smells of the forest. Wildness. Untamed love. I smiled at him, and he smiled back... It was beautiful.

A strong wind blew on the now quiet cliff, taking with it the Count's secrets. There are no more stories to tell about the Count. No more tales to tell about his struggles, because the Count, like the dreams he cannot have (including the hunter) is no more.

***

But, you know reader, deep within the grave, next to the hunter's heart, lies a single black feather. It was a love that lasted 'til the end. Whatever that means to the Count. :)