Vlad The Impaler (VAMPIRE-ELF)

42. Where It All Went Wrong

Erinna’s body was becoming more feverish, her hormones were more frayed than usual and she wasn’t entirely sure she could go through everything alone but she had made her decision.

With this spirit, she woke up very early at dusk to return the clothes Vlad had provided her with to Miya, since the witch had been the one to sew them in the first place. She could not take them with her and leaving them at the castle would just be a cruel reminder to Vlad of what could have been and she was not a malicious person.

She was also going to tell Vlad she had forgiven him because even without her inability as a Pure Being to hold a grudge, she could not allow him to go on thinking she hated him. It had been a moment of weakness and she was not going to fault him for eternity for that. She wanted him to go on with his life, to remember their time together with happiness not pain or self-loathing, even though her decision about forfeiting their bond remained unchanged.

Little animals and birds followed her as she walked to Miya’s cottage with Jonathan and three other vampires carrying the heavy suitcases with clothes. Vlad would probably have refused this but he was out of the castle, trying to find who had tried to murder her. Erinna didn’t find it necessary since she was leaving anyway but it kept him out of her way so she didn’t argue.

She said goodbye to the birds and the animals and they left as she entered the cottage. Miya didn’t allow any vampires inside her house except for Alexander and Dracula so Jonathan and his friends left too. Without them, Erinna’s headaches which increased in the presence of vampires lessened.

Miya floated the suitcases inside and made coffee which they seeped in front of the fireplace.

“Are you positive this is what you want, dove?”

Positive? No, she was not but it was what needed to be done. She had tried following her heart but look where the treacherous organ had led her. It was time to think with her brain so she brushed the tear that fell down her cheek quickly.

“Yes I’m sure. I’m not angry with him, not anymore. It just...it hurts, that’s all. But I’ll be fine, him on the other hand...”

She shrugged because she had felt the pain inside Vlad, had heard it in his confession.

“I’ll take care of him. As always.”

There was no bitterness in Miya’s voice, just understanding.

Erinna nodded, she couldn’t ask for more.

“Thank you. He’s telling the truth, about that night. Whatever happened, he truly regrets it. He said he has been getting flashes and he was distraught when I talked to him. I don't want to make excuses for him, but I believe him. I believe this,” she said, touching the Recognition Mark but it was way more than that.

The previous night had made her learn a lot more about Vlad than three months had. Whatever everyone thought, he understood her. She might not have known it herself before the previous day but she now did.

It was because of how much he understood her that he had brought her back from the edge. He knew how much she hated her hurting people, how she hated losing control to her powers and doing things she would regret later.

Anyone who knew Vlad knew how much he wanted to die, how much he craved it even. Four thousand years was an entirely too long a time for someone to live but especially long for someone haunted daily by demons of their past. Last night it could all have ended, she could have freed him, from all the guilt and hatred that held him prisoner but he had stopped her.

And even when she had been weak, he had not taken advantage of her. It would have been too easy, especially with the way he had been mindless with blood lust but he had seen to her needs, giving and asking for nothing in return.