The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO (FINAL)

The guards standing before Reed reminded him of Casper, Landon, and Jared, as they were all foolish, weak, and just begging to be killed.

"Shoot," Reed urged them, raising his hands into the air and above his head, "It'll be the last thing you do."

And that was exactly what they did. One bullet grazed the skin of his neck, while the other two nestled into his stomach. The bullets burned, a clear sign that they were made out of lamiacida. Despite this, he was not afraid, nor angered. Rather, a sense of peace found him in all of this chaos, but it was not enough to stop the beast raging within him. He still craved blood and death all the same.

As the guards desperately went to shoot him again, he appeared in front of them. Shots rang out as screams of the dying and the living intertwined. Then, three broken bodies slumped to the ground, and silence enveloped the air once more. The only other sound was of Reed's own beating heart that just begged to be set free, but as Reed looked from the guards and to his dead friends, he realized that would not be possible, as one cannot find death when there is no one else left to kill them.

His feet scraped against the ground as he slowly moved away from the guards and back to Ember. He stepped over the dead bodies of his friends, through their blood and death, until finally, he stopped before her.

Here he was, alive, and there she was, dead. If only those bullets had pierced his heart. That was all he could think as he looked down at her, trembling violently.

"What a shame."

A voice carried through the wind, burrowing its way into Reed's ears. It was a sick voice, one that even roused a sense of fear within Reed. He defensively brought himself in front of Ember's body as he turned in all different directions, searching for the owner of the voice.

"You loved her oh, so dearly, yet you never even got to taste her. Not her blood or her body."

His ears began to pick up on the sound of an object cutting through the wind. It was a large object that was gaining on him from behind, and fast. He went to turn around to face the oncoming attacker, however, he was far too slow due to the gaping wounds in his stomach. Suddenly, a hand fell onto his stiff shoulder, making him momentarily freeze in place.

The person behind him leaned forward, only stopping when they were close enough to whisper into his ear, "You missed out, Reed."

Nothing further needed to be said for Reed to realize that the person behind him was the one who was truly at fault. This person was the one who had dared to soil Ember with their fangs and hands against her will. The one who had driven Ember to choose death. The one who had caused all of this to happen. And for that, Reed would end them.

He moved out from under the weak hold on him, quickly appearing behind the vampire. As he drove his fist toward them, they turned to face him. Their yellow eyes pierced through his own, slowing his fist to a stop just before it reached their chest. Though their beastly features were not ones he was familiar with, he sensed the human that once was within them. It ultimately pulled him back in a short moment of weakness that allowed them to knock him off his feet and pin him to the ground.

"Cohen..." The name of what once was the feeble human Reed knew came tumbling from his cracked lips in the form of a breathless whisper.

"No, no, not Cohen. It's Reynard," Reynard slowly corrected Reed in a taunting voice. "However...'Cohen' was the guise I used to trick your little human. Ah, she fell for it so easily. But, God, the moment she realized who I truly was was so wonderful. You should have seen her, Reed." An angry first barreled toward Reynard but was quickly slammed to the ground by Reynard's hand. "She looked so pathetic as she wailed and begged me to stop, but, you know, that only made me want to hurt her even more. So, so much more until she was dead. And now, look..." He grabbed Reed's chin with his free hand, forcing Reed's head to turn to the left where Ember lay, "...she's gone, and you can't do a single damn thing about it."