Midnight After Midnight - Nanowrimo 2022

Chapter 11 - Regret

Mere minutes after Adelaide had woken up, Lionel did as well without her noticing. Thus, she was startled when he walked over to her with a feeble smile on his face as the sun faintly shone over them through the curtains, leaning against the edge of her coffin. Biting her tongue to prevent herself from gasping, she rubbed her eyes and feebly smiled back at him, tilting her head while she wondered how to start the conversation.

"Good morning, my dear," he spoke suddenly, preventing her from having to do so. "Are you feeling alright now?"

She nodded sheepishly.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "So, what was it last night? It's nothing serious, it's just that I'm worried about you. I've got some rather important news for you, but I don't know if you could handle them."

She shook her head. "You don't have to tell me anything, my beloved. I already know whatever you might say."

He smiled serenely. "Oh, I was really concerned for a moment there, but it now seems as if I've got nothing to be concerned about. I should've known that you'd be clever enough to figure it out on your own. After all, you've learned a lot about the world recently because of all that's happened to you, and it's been nine months since you've come here. I don't know why I've underestimated you so much."

She glared at him. "Oh no, I'm not clever at all. That's why I've made the sacrilegious choice that I have. While I was heading towards the ballroom, I heard you and the rest of the court having a conversation that wasn't exactly normal, so I eavesdropped for a while, and that's how I discerned the information. How could you have lied to me like this, Lionel? How could you have kept me in the dark about such important matters?"

He facepalmed. "I seriously don't know what you were expecting. We're vampires, Adelaide, and we're simply doing what we've always been destined to do. You were the one who chose to abandon your God-fearing life and become a creature of the night. I thought the fact that we feast on the blood of innocent humans might've given you a clue, but I suppose you didn't think about that, did you?"

"I don't fear God," she stammered. "You seem to have some pretty unsavoury assumptions when it comes to Christianity, but not everyone uses religion as a justification for their superstitions and prejudices. Those who fear God tend to be those who only do good deeds so they'd go to Heaven or those who prefer to view him as judgmental rather than forgiving and thus are deathly afraid of every sin.

The latter often drag those around them down with them, making them hate religion because that falsehood of religion is the only part of it they've known for their entire lives. In reality, God has sacrificed himself for humanity for a reason, giving us an opportunity to do kindness in His name and repent for our mistakes, and as long as we repent, we shall be forgiven, eventually reaching His kingdom. I'm sorry if this looks like a sermon to you, but some people truly do give Christianity a bad name, which I'm pretty sick of."

He rolled his eyes, and she knew that he had a very good reason to do that. She was an idiot, and her defences and excuses must've been tedious for him to listen to, especially because they were vastly connected to Christianity. After all, why did she think that a worshipper of Satan would care about any of that? Because he loved her? She knew that he did, and this disappointment of his would surely only last for a little while, but it wasn't his disappointment that hurt her the most.

In her wretched obliviousness, she'd betrayed God and fallen into Satan's trap. It wasn't so much about the entities themselves, but what they represented. The kindness she'd always loved to show to the world would now conflict with her new, evil nature that loved to prey on babies and other such precious souls. And what did she do that for, again? 

To feel loved and appreciated, to see a world that appeared to be wonderful, to be happy and admired for her dancing as she'd never been ever since the deaths of her parents?  It all happened, and she thought her problems would go away. Misery can never be avoided by running away from it, it only causes more misery, which she should've known before! Ugh!