Fangs of Desire (Book II) (Completed)

Chapter XXIX - Epilogue

The air was cold, reality and dream mixing into each other as Emma tried to feel her fingers. It felt like she hadn't moved her body in years, her throat dry like she hadn't drunk a single drop of blood in her lifetime. Where was she? Why did everything feel so far away? She tried to open her eyes, get rid of this feeling that her body wasn't real.

She was staring at the ceiling of a room. A room that felt familiar, yet awfully strange. She almost threw up and hunched over on her side in pain when she tried to get up. What was happening? She blinked a few times to try and get her eyes to see better. Her weak hand held onto the sheets that wrinkled between her fingers. It was hard to get air into her lungs, it was relieving to remember she didn't need to breathe air to survive anymore.

Emma pushed herself up and stood up on her shaking legs, trying to take in her surroundings. Her far view was not good, and her near view was barely enough to guide her through the room. The interiors of the room... The style definitely belonged to the mansion. She walked over to a body sized mirror nearby, wanting to take a look at herself and get grounded a bit.

She stared at the mirror, and another woman stared back. A woman with long, beautiful red hair, fair skin, and a smile that reminded her of the cold embrace of her mother. Emma opened her mouth to scream and stumbled, falling back on her butt. Her throat was too dry, the only sound she was able to make a mere wheeze followed by a cough. When she looked up again, she was staring at herself in the mirror. Her brown hair was matted and long, her cheeks sunken in and her body trembling with the after-effect of waking up. It looked like she hadn't moved from her place in a very long while. She wasn't able to focus well, but she heard the distant rushing of footsteps coming from the staircase. The door opened and someone ran in, staring at Emma trembling on the ground in disbelief.

"Emma...?"

It was Jean, followed by Danielle that had ran in after her. Emma was still too shaken to do or say anything.

"Kat, bring me some fresh blood!"

Jean yelled before rushing next to Emma and getting on the floor on her knees, carefully taking her in her arms.

"I thought you'd never wake up..."

The cold embrace... The sweet voice that called out to her... Despite everything seeming like a dream, Emma really wanted this to be the reality that she was in. She had wanted Jean to hold her like this in so long, it felt way too sweet to be real.

"Can you hear me?"

Jean held her chin and gently lifted it up,

"Can you understand anything I'm saying?"

"Give her some time."

Danielle stepped in, crouching next to the two of them on the floor and putting her hands on Emma's shoulders, rubbing them comfortingly.

"It's okay, you're okay now."

Danielle smiled, her eyes a bit watered up.

"You're back, you'll be better in a moment."

* * *

It had been a few hours, yet reality didn't seem to settle in no matter how long Emma waited. She was looking at her hands that were on the table, trying to comprehend the reality that she was in and stop them from trembling so much. Fresh blood had helped her calm down a bit and lessened the burden on her body, but even then she felt like she had been ran through a meat mincer. Every part of her body was hurting, it was hard trying to get adjusted to being awake and functioning again. She had been in a state of trance for a really long time, from what she had heard from Danielle, but how had she even come to that point?