The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Finally, all the red from within Reed's eyes disappeared, leaving only a pool of yellow for the thin slits of his pupils to rest in. No longer was he a vampire, but, instead, a beast. A vengeful, raging beast that desired to cover his hands in blood. This thirst for carnage should have instilled fear in him, yet he found a sort of peace within the chaos thrashing around inside of him. He embraced that chaos, slowly raising his closed fist to rest it against Ember's cheek.

The warmth on her skin caused him to retract his hand immediately, as he now knew that warmth was only a false sense of the life that once was. It was a painful reminder that she had been alive just a few minutes ago, but now, here she was, dead. Yet, she should be alive. There was so much time to save her. So much time to heal her.

Reed whipped his head upward and to the left where Landon was crying into Jared's chest. His yellow eyes bored into the blonde, almost burning Landon with his gaze."It's all your fault!" Reed screamed. The words scorched his throat as the beast within him forced him to turn on the only ones he had left. He stood on his unsteady legs, swaying slightly as he turned toward Landon. "You should have done something, anything to save her! But...but instead, you just let her die! You let her die, Landon! How could you?! How could you do that to her, to me?! I thought you cared about her!"

Finally, Landon ceased his sobs, ever so slowly facing Reed. "I did–...I do care about her! I do, Reed!" Landon yelled back, "And that's why I didn't save her because the only way would she would have lived was if I died. I couldn't bring myself to do that to her! I just couldn't. You have to understand me, please!" Reed shook his head, unable to accept Landon's reasoning. His rejection brought Landon forward and into Reed's face. "We all love her! It's not just you who lost someone, so stop this! Don't make this any harder on you, me, or the others!"

"No, you guys didn't love her like I did." Reed brought his hands over his face, nails digging into the skin of his cheeks as he spoke. "I didn't just love her. I was in love with her entirely, to the point where I lived not just for myself but for her as well. But now, now she's gone!" He pointed toward Ember's dead body, then to Landon. "She's gone because of you! You wanted to save your own ass, so you let her die!" His harsh, angry words became intertwined with actions as he shot toward Landon, hands extended outward. "No selfish bastard like you deserves immortality!"

The yellow-eyed, crazed remnants of what once was his friend were Landon's punishment for living on. Landon knew that, and he wholeheartedly accepted it as Reed shot toward him. Though, Landon was abruptly thrown backward before Reed could grab onto him.

A sharp sting of pain bit at Landon's side as he slammed into the unforgiving ground, however, that pain was the least of his worries. Before him was a sight he had only ever thought would be possible to take form in his nightmares.

There, only a step or two from him was Jared. His body was suspended in the air, feet barely touching the ground as Reed lifted him by the neck. Short bursts of air expelled from Jared's mouth as his throat became crushed by Reed's hand. Although Jared tried to glare into Reed's eyes, all he could do was solemnly stare down at the beast that was vying to kill him.

He did not wish to raise his hands against his friend, not then or ever. Such a thing was the epitome of kindness but also of cruelty, as the one who loved him so dearly had to see him have the life squeezed right from him.

Unable to do much of anything, Landon sat frozen on the ground, too wrapped in his own fear to move. Fortunately, Casper had been able to recover from his initial shock, quickly shooting from where he stood by Ember's side to Reed.

The element of surprise was on his side. All he had to do was hit Reed on the back of the neck with enough force and this nightmare would end. They could mourn properly, they could heal, and they could live on together. That was all he wanted and needed after losing Ember. It seemed that his desire would become a reality as his hand cut backward, then shot forward toward its intended target. But, it all became a hope that once was as Reed released Jared and turned around.