Last Request13:19 Jul 10 2008
Times Read: 687
The cold November wind swept nightfall in quickly as Lance shivered near his grandmother's freshly covered grave. He stared around the cemetery once more. All of the mourners had long since gone, and he stood alone next to the wreaths of pitiful fake flowers that his grandmother would've hated. He sighed, and feeling like a fool for promising his grandmother, he tried to fulfill his last promise to her.
He pulled the cold night air into his lungs and bellowed, "Raven!" He stood stock still for a minute, afraid she might actually answer.
Three nights ago, he had visited his grandmother on her deathbed. Her body was emaciated and her mind was questionable at best. The cancer hadn't been kind or swift and she'd suffered long and hard. She'd told him a remarkable tale that he didn't believe, and made him promise to try to apologize to her best friend. The problem was, that according to Grandma, her best friend was a Vampire.
So, Lance found himself standing alone in a graveyard yelling into the night. He felt like an idiot for doing it, but he owed it to his grandmother to try and fulfill her last request.
Raven stood under the cloak of darkness under the protection of an ancient oak tree just past the edge of the cemetery. It shocked her to hear her name coming from this stranger's mouth. Who was he to be summoning her? And more importantly, how the hell did he know her name? Her preternatural senses detected no one but the lone man shuddering in the icy stillness beside the grave. She heard her name called once more, but didn't answer.
As the man turned and looked down at the pile of flowers on the freshly turned earth, her powerful hearing detected the words that were meant for the dead. "I'm sorry, Grandma. I tried. I did what you asked, but she didn't come. I love you, Grandma." Then he slowly turned on his heel and started to walk away.
Ability to overcome curiosity was never Raven's strong point. After all, it was what had gotten her into this undead life to start with. She couldn't let the man leave without knowing.
Lance started walking with his head down away from his grandmother's grave and felt a shiver of fear slide up his spine when he saw the woman's black high heeled boots directly in his path. With apprehension bordering on terror, he slowly drew his gaze upward. Skin tight black leather pants were tucked into the boots and a black silk shirt clung to the breasts of the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Her blue eyes literally shone in the dim moonlight and her pale skin glowed with a vitality he had never beheld. As the wind whipped her dark curls around her face, one thought flew into his subconscious: raven hair; and he knew who she must be. He stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and horror.
Lance found himself taking an involuntary step backward. His mouth had gone bone dry and his every instinct was screaming at him to flee. As he tried to tell his frozen legs to run like hell, she spoke.
"Who are you and why were you calling my name?" The question coming from her silken lips, slid effortlessly into his mind like rainwater into a river, demanding an answer. Her voice had a musical quality, almost hypnotic in its tone, but there was an edge to it, one that commanded the truth.
It was a full minute before Lance swallowed and found his voice. His feet were still rooted to the ground and his blood had turned to shards of ice in his veins, but he managed to stammer, "LLLance. My name is Lance. I pppromised my grandmother."
Raven could smell the sweat and fear on him and the scent was titillating to a vampire. His blood would have the excitement of fear coursing through it, making it taste so much better. She flicked her tongue languidly across her brutally sharp fang and asked the question to which she already knew the answer, "And Lance, just who would your grandmother be?"
"TTTTina MMills."
Raven shook her head slightly. "Now, Lance, you really must stop your stuttering. It's making me not like you very much." She flashed him a brilliant smile, fully exposing her ivory white fangs. Raven listened for the heart palpitations that she knew would follow. She heard the thundering of blood stopping and starting in his chest and the vampire in her screamed in anticipation of the meal that was to come. She licked her lips wantonly as she took a step toward him.
Lance seemed to sense that his only hope of survival was to deliver the message that his grandmother wanted so he launched into it. "SSSShe said she was sorry. She wanted me to tell you that she was sorry. She wanted me to apologize to you for her. She said she never forgave herself for abandoning you when you needed her most. She said she was the worst best friend in the entire world and she went to her grave with one regret. She never got to apologize to you. So, she made me promise to stay out here tonight in case you might come. She thought that you might come to her funeral because she said you were a better friend than she was and she made me promise. She was really sorry." His voice trailed away and Lance looked right into the sapphire eyes of the vampire before him.
Was he just kidding himself or was some of the predatory hunger gone that he had glimpsed just seconds ago? Had she understood his message? What in the hell had he gotten himself into, and damn his grandmother for putting him into this predicament! What had she been thinking? Hell, he answered himself, she hadn't been thinking. She'd been on so many drugs and in so much pain it was a wonder that she could put a coherent sentence together, much less worry about consequences.
The vampire's next words stunned him. "She never forgave herself?"
Lance couldn't believe he was standing in a cemetery having this conversation with a vampire. "No, she really didn't. It was her last request… for me to try to apologize to you. She said she never got to tell you she was sorry." He felt like a complete and total imbecile, but he just kept repeating the same words over again.
Raven seemed to be taking his words to heart. "I never knew she regretted anything. I thought she hated me. I've lived fifty years thinking that the person closest to me in the entire world hated my guts. Can you imagine how that feels, Lance?"
Lance shook his head quickly and his straight blonde hair flew back and forth.
"Well, Lance, it makes you feel like shit. It makes you feel like you are unlovable. Unwanted. Shunned." She paused to take a deep breath. "I still loved her anyway, you know. That's why I came here tonight… to say good-bye. And the fact that you are standing here tells me that she never gave up on me. That means a lot to me. More than you could ever know."
Raven looked up at the sliver of moon as the clouds rolled past it, obscuring her view. "We used to be inseparable, you know. We were best friends from grade school through college until…" She shook her head to cast off old memories.
Time ticked by slowly. When Raven finally looked at Lance there was a sadness in her eyes the likes of which he had never seen. She took a deep breath and sighed. "You've fulfilled your obligation, Lance. You can go now. Thank you."
Lance wasn't sure how to take her dismissal. The part of his brain that still had some sanity urged him to turn tail and run for his truck, but another part of him wanted to stay and get another glimpse at the woman underneath the vampire. "What were you like before?" He asked. "She never told me. All she said was that she'd hurt her best friend and I had to try to make amends."
Raven looked at him with a raised eyebrow. How long had it been since anyone wanted to get to know her? She felt her nose flare and she battled back the first tears that she wanted to shed in decades. "It was a long time ago, Lance. That naïve girl is long gone. That part of me is as dead as Tina is."
Lance heard the sadness in her words and saw the glint of liquid pooling in her eyelids and the urge to reach out to this beautiful woman overcame him. He took a step toward her and uncertainly touched her upper arm. He wanted to stroke the cold silk under his fingertips. "She still loved you, you know."
Raven stared at the hand on her arm. No human had voluntarily touched her since before the night she was turned. She couldn’t believe such compassion for her damned soul was possible. She hung her head for a long moment.
Lance began to slowly caress her arm and stepped toward her. Before he truly knew what he was doing, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her beautiful form. Raven hesitantly snuggled her head against his warm chest as he reassuringly stroked her back. She exhaled deeply, wanting to savor this moment for all time. God bless Tina's soul for sending her grandson to her.
As Rachel looked up into Lance's handsomely chiseled face, her eyes pleaded up to him. Delicately, Lance took his thumb to wipe away the single tear that had escaped to run down her cheek. Slowly, he continued to caress her face. Lance was overcome by her ethereal beauty as he found himself desiring to press his lips to hers.
I must be insane, he thought, but he found himself mesmerized by her splendor and as he bent his head to capture her lips a thought came unbidden. I wonder if she'll be my last request?
COMMENTS
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wayne
16:19 Jul 10 2008
awsome story but you left me kinda haning at the end othwise it was very good . have you ever had any published ??