CONFESSIONS OF A VAMPIRE PRIEST

Resolving a piece of the past

In that whiteout, I met her again. She wasn't as young as she was when I killed her. She looked older, like I did. She wore a white dress and had her hair tied up in a wild ponytail. Her green eyes were soft and kind, her charming smile lovely and warm. She extended her arm towards me, opening her hand to reveal a golden ring. "This ring is special, Khain. This way, you and I will always be together."

I took the ring from her hand and slipped it on immediately. "Elizabeth... Am I really talking to you? Are you real?"

"If you can't tell the difference, does it matter?"

"..."

"I'm just messing with you. It's me... or at least, a part of me. But as you know, the rest of me is already gone."

"I promise you, I will bring you back."

The whiteness began to fade. Elizabeth smiled. As she began to fade away with the whiteness, it looked like she was about to cry. "I know you will."

And that was it. The whiteness faded, revealing the world that it had concealed, the fragments of Elizabeth fading forever. I thought I would feel an unspeakable sadness, seeing her disappear again. But having put that fragment of her to rest, and having the ring on my finger, brought me the strangest sense of fulfillment. It was as if... a piece of me that had been missing from me all this time found its way home. For once, in an incredibly long time, I didn't feel so empty.

"You did it," Zed said. "When you casted that spell, the other one disappeared."

"I'm sorry you had to get involved," I said, turning to face Zed. "I'll make it up to you someday."

"I chose to help you," Zed said. "You don't owe me anything."

"I imagine conversations with Eldaren regarding honor are very interesting for you," I said.

Zed paused. Then smiled and said, "They can be. He's always about paying back debts, which I can logically understand, but honor should never be used as a leverage to demand something from another person. At least, that's how I see it."

"We're all free to live our lives the way we want," I said as Zed and I walked down the hallway. The emptiness in my heart seemed fleeting, something that I've suffered for such a long time now seemed to be growing into a distant dream. "And we'll have all the freedoms and consequences that come with it."

A bunch of women peaked into the halls at that point. I hated being so exposed, but there was no helping it. In the distance, I could see Chance, Eldaren, Trivistine, Iona, and Bekah running down our way.

"The hell happened?" Chance yelled.

"Nothing much," I said. "Just a corrupted apparition of my sister trying to kill me in the middle of the night."

"Ah yes," Eldaren said. "The usual business. Sorry we weren't around to help."

"It's okay," I said. "It all worked out for the best. All in all, it was one hell of a night."

Trivistine asked, "So if everything is resolved now, can we go back to bed?"

"We'll probably have to explain things to master Elmarath, first."

"Old man's probably still passed the fuck out in his room," Trivistine turned around and started to walk away. "I'm going to bed. Whatever fallout there is, let's just deal with it later."

For once, I agreed with Trivistine. I promised myself I'd already pay for the damages, and Elmarath was reasonable enough that he would understand what happened. I ended up explaining the story to Chance, Eldaren, Zeddicus, and Bekah and Iona. Trivistine didn't care, opting to go back to bed instead. The sun wasn't out yet, but the moon was setting. We headed back to bed, giving our bodies much needed rest. While I was with Bekah and Iona, I did end up disclosing that I was a dhampir and that I had worked hard to bring my sister back to life. I left out the part of me murdering her, of course. They were very supportive of my grief. Both of them were kind, sensible people. It was nice to be in their company.

That night, we needed it more than any of us could have truly appreciated at that time. And while there was still a ridiculous amount of hardships ahead, I was able to fall asleep feeling more hopeful of the future than before.