Ancient Darkness

by D. A. Alexander

  Sleep finally rescued me from those thoughts, but it would not protect me forever.

  Chapter 46

  “You come to my home, you come to kill me?” Pietro said to Cerene, for the moment he ignored me, but I did not know how long that reprieve would last. I was still held captive by some kind of supernatural hold that he had on me. I hoped against hope that I would make it out of this, but I knew either way that I did not deserve to.

  “Your terror has lasted long enough,” Cerene said. She held her position, but I could see the muscles in her legs tighten in anticipation as the wind blew the bottom of her dress. The dark jacket that covered her arms made her look like a church going biker chick. It was both ridiculous and splendid at the same time. The audacious look that she could pull off in such a flattering way.

  “What terror might that be? Oh, do you mean the kind that you begged for in order to be released from the slavery of this man to whom you claim to love?”

  Cerene stepped back at the remark, anger did not register on her face, it was something else.

  “You know nothing of which you speak, monster,” Longinus said, anger was evident in his voice, though.

  “Are you certain of that, God killer?”

  Longinus glared at him for a moment before withdrawing his blade from its sheath. The reflection of dim light made it appear to glow. The holiness of Christ’s blood once touched its tip. I wondered what else had been affected by that blade. I knew I was about to experience it myself.

  “I see. That’s how you want to handle this reunion, is it? Well, I must say, I do not appreciate being outnumbered. I think it’s time to even the odds a bit, what do you say?”

  With that, another dark form stepped from behind the tombstones and appeared in the shadowy midst of the cemetery. It was a woman; her hair was lighter than Cerene’s and she stood a few inches shorter than I did. Her pale skin shown from the moonlight that reflected from it and I could sense a hatred in her being.

  “You changed the girl I see,” Longinus said. Disgust spat from his words.

  “I did. I’d like you to meet my new daughter, Magdalene.”

  The sleep was both restorative and comforting. The silence of my mind for those hours calmed me, though, it was most likely the calm before the storm. All five of us crowded into Maggie’s truck for the trek that led us to our maker. “Pietro was not who I had thought he was when I met him,” Longinus said from the back seat. “He was indwelt with the demonic soul of Lilith, possibly since he was created. I had no way of knowing what I was getting involved in at the time, and unfortunately, that ignorance had led to Cerene being stolen from me.”

  “How long did it take for you to find out that he was actually Lilith?” I asked.

  “Centuries, Cerene told me when we finally found one another again. She knew that my purpose was to slay the dark children who fed upon human blood. She feared me because of it, but I refused to kill the one I loved. Because of that, my curse grew darker. I began to age, not dramatically, but enough to slow me down. I am only immortal to the point that I will not naturally die. I am now susceptible to dying from wounds inflicted by the cursed. On one hand that makes things worse, on the other hand, I hope to one day find peace.”

  I looked back at them to see the two lovers holding hands. I could see his age in his eyes, if nowhere else. There was a pain in them, one that I would never want to know.

  The drive to mobile took only two hours and we soon crossed the bridge onto Dauphin Island. Cerene led us to the exact place where she was sure that Lilith resided. “I can feel her here,” Cerene said.

  I could feel it too, it was like a sense of anxiousness crept into my being. I could see Maggie tremble as she tried to shake the sensation from her bones as well. Robert breathed heavily in the back seat, his pulse quickened, I knew what he feared, death at the hands of someone who was possibly God’s greatest enemy, Lilith.

  “The two of you are the only ones who really have a chance of fighting. Once you have Lilith pinned down, then Cerene will take my blade and severe the head from the body. At that moment, you two need to flee so that she will not take control of your bodies. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” Maggie answered for the both of us.

  “Well, let’s get this party started,” Longinus said with only a hint of a smile creeping against the dread in his voice.

  Fear now bound me more strongly than any blood lust I could have ever imagined. We followed Cerene who was more in tune with Lilith’s essence, her lure was not a strong but was more recognizable for what it was. The wooded land along the small island concealed the old church that was buried in the brush that now grew recklessly around it. The church was severely damaged, yet still stood as a testament to modernized construction. The entire back end of the church was collapsed under the weight of fallen trees, most likely from a hurricane. It was the sanctuary portion that stood defiantly, against the odds of the storms and the evil that now resided where once the consecrated land had been holy.

  “This is it,” I whispered as Maggie stood next to me. I felt her hand on my own and the gentle squeeze that accompanied it. The fear was unnatural, yet so were we. Now was the time for answers, and revenge.

  Chapter 47

  Pietro smiled at the concern stretched across our faces. The blood of my maker now flowed in another immortal being. She winked at me, knowing why I was there, to kill our “father”. She stepped between us, her brown hair was curled and fell about her shoulders. Her slender frame hid the truth that her strength as a new vampire rivaled my own.

  “Noah, I’d like for you to say hello to your sister.”

  I was dumbstruck. I stared at her and she winked at me. Was it a welcoming gesture, was she on our side? I did not know. I could only hope that she recognized the monster who had defiled us so.

  “Noah,” Cerene said, drawing my attention back to her. Her eyes told me what I must do. I reached behind my back and gripped the silver blade that Longinus had given to me before we entered the cemetery. Its cold metal burned my flesh. It was only through my own suffering that I could end the madness. Without thinking a moment longer, I leaped towards Pietro and struck Magdalen as I did. She fell away from the impact and I drove the blade deep into Pietro’s chest.

  He looked down at me and spoke, “You fell for the religious fool’s story, did you? I bet you feel like you’ve just won, but all you have done is proved your ignorance.” His voice sounded different, more feminine. “With these words I submit my spirit, using the strength of the one who shares my suffering to transport my being into another.”

  My eyes widened as the chant fell into my ears. I could smell bile and burning flesh as I looked into those cold eyes. The spirit of Lilith was leaving Pietro, but where would it go? Was I about to be consumed by the demonic forces that Longinus and Cerene told me about? I could feel the trembling of Pietro’s body, the spirit passed through me and a scream fell behind me. With that moment, the body beneath me engulfed in flames. I could feel the burning flames lap at my own flesh, but I was powerless to move.

  Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw two figures pull me away from the flames. I could barely hear their muffled words, but it sounded as if someone had escaped. I could no longer control my body anymore, my eyes swelled shut. More words from my companions, something about finding a place to store my body so that it would heal. There was no coming back from this. The doors of a mausoleum opened and I felt myself thrust into a dark, confined space. More words, but they fell on deaf, uncomprehending ears. I struggled to dull my own pain and in so doing I lost myself to the darkness.

  For all I knew, the pain was finally over.

  My ears perked at the sound that echoed through the darkness, it was haunting, malevolent, close. In a flicker of movement from the corner of my eye, I could see them approaching. It was a woman with pale features, the blood lust was visible in her eyes, even from the distance we were standing. I swallowed hard and gripped Maggie’s hand jus
t to be sure that she was still standing next to me.

  “Hello, daughter,” the newcomer said as she stepped into a clearing, the moon and stars back lit her figure, keeping her shrouded in darkness. It wasn’t enough to disguise her to my eyes, not when she unrecognizable to Maggie. I felt the slight shake of my friend as realization crept into her being. She was not looking at her sister, but her own mother. “Don’t be afraid, child. You are home now.”

  I looked down at Maggie, thinking that I would have to steady her under the shock of the situation. “Mother?” Maggie asked with pause. She dropped my hand and stepped forward, I could feel the awkward emotion that emoted from her. The tension in the air was thick enough that it almost smothered me, and I didn’t even need to breath to survive. I dared to glance back at Longinus, Cerene, and Robert who stayed behind them, cautiously. That was probably for the best.

  The vampire who looked eerily like Maggie answered, “Yes, I am your mother. In more ways than one.”

  I felt Cerene step closer to me, Longinus remained behind to help protect Robert. “Who are you?” I asked, wanting to put a name to the evil figure in front of me.

  She glared at me, “I have had many names in my life, Noah. The human vessel by which I appear now was named Magdalen, she was Maggie’s mother. But she is no more, her entire entity was lost except for her body thanks to you and the corrupt, religious fervor of the Christ killer behind you. I am Lilith, the first woman, the only woman truly created in God’s image. I’m sure that the monster standing next to my grandson has told you very little of the truth. It’s a pity really,” she said to Maggie. “That you were not strong enough to change him, to put my blood into his veins so that the three of us could conquer this pathetic world.”

  I looked back at Robert and could see him move his old hand to his neck, pulling down at the collar of his polo shirt, revealing the pale wounds of Maggie’s fangs. He looked at me and I knew at that moment the real rift between them. She had tried to change him, but was it Maggie who desired to change him, or was it Lilith trying to control her?

  “It took more strength to restrain myself,” Maggie said defiantly.

  “Oh? You must be referring to the human condition you still attach yourself to. Love is a weakness, child. You would be best to understand that. Even your attachment to your dark brother will destroy you,” Lilith said as she glanced at me. She could see our attachment, our love kindled by our situation, our loneliness.

  “Love is not weakness,” Cerene said, interrupting the impact of Lilith’s words. “Love is a powerful force in which you know nothing of. You refused it since time began, and you will never know it.”

  “I have known love,” Lilith charged and in a flash of pale movement she stood in front of Cerene, her hand to her throat. “Lucifer loved me, he sacrificed himself for me in order to preserve me in this wretched form. Do you think I want to still live knowing that my love will go untouched for thousands of years?” Lilith gripped Cerene much harder, Longinus looked on angrily but was powerless against this demonic entity.

  I could not help myself, I lunged at her and pulled her away from Cerene. She moved like light, and I found myself back to the ground with her form spread atop me. “You like to play rough, Noah? Adam liked to play rough too, do you know where it got him? I’m sure you don’t, the holy books don’t mention the fact that I tried to kill him. The rib by which Eve was created was removed because I tore it from his body to spite God. I would not be his slave for his lust. He could not truly love me, so he tried to dominate me. Would you like for me to demonstrate the way that I left him for dead?” she asked as I felt her cold hand pierce my flesh with long fingernails. Dark blood seeped from the wound and I could feel her grip the dead organs of my body, squeezing them. The pain was unbearable, my vision blurred. All I could see was her cold eyes flash in the darkness, and then I heard the scream.

  Chapter 48

  “Noah!” Maggie shrieked, I could feel the gentle fall of her feet run towards me through the soft earth below me. Lilith maintained one grip on my throat and the other hand was inside me, toying with my insides like some kind of sick surgeon. My vision was blurred through blood stained tears, but I could see my surroundings, Longinus retreating back from horror that he now beheld. Cerene covered her mouth, powerless against the villain who had overpowered me so easily. Robert stood beside Longinus, his stoic expression betraying the fear that had to pulsate through his body with each beat of his human heart.

  “Get off of him, bitch,” Maggie scream as she planted a foot to Lilith’s head. She had obviously been distracted by the discord of pain that she was inflicting upon me. I felt her hand tear away from my body, heard the slurp of bloody appendage pull through the soggy wound below my chest. I dared not to look down at what had happened, I prayed silently for the pain to lessen, but like most of my prayers, it seemed to go unanswered.

  I watched through tear stained eyes as Maggie leveled off with Lilith, the later looked so much like Maggie, it was eerie, sadistic in a way. I felt my head now cradled by Cerene’s cold hands as she whispered a prayer over me in Latin. “It’s useless,” I said, pissed that I was in the state that I was in.

  “Shh, this is not for your healing, but for your passing,” she said as the silent marionettes danced a violent dance in the foreground. The moon light danced from flesh to flesh as Cerene spoke over me, begging God to restore my soul before the darkness overcame me. My mind thought back to the poem, left for me in the mausoleum, “For thee, darkness weeps,” it had read. I caught a glimpse at Cerene, her own tears fell from cheeks and moistened her hands that held me.

  Was the poem more prophetic than it was a clue?

  I shuddered under the pain that choked the second life from my form. Maggie was kicked to the ground no more than thirty yards from me, I could see her fight, feel her pain as if it were my own. She looked over at me as Lilith tore her nails into Maggie’s flesh. Her eyes said everything, “I love you, I’m sorry,” everything poured into me in that split second.

  I could see Maggie’s hand fall upon a glistening silver blade, Longinus’ blade, he was unprotected which was why he had moved away. With a sneer, Maggie thrust the blade upward into her mother’s chest. Maggie had bad memories of her mother, and I wondered how old she had been when her mother was changed. They looked like they could have been sisters, so she must have been very young.

  Lilith screamed in pain as the silver blade poisoned the blood that coursed through her earthly vessel. How hard must it have been for Maggie to do what was needed? To drive a blade into her mother, into the monster who had taken her life and many others. I watched as the body engulfed in flames, igniting the debris around her like kindling. Maggie barely kicked the body away from her before the flames lapped at Maggie’s own flesh.

  She ran up to me, it only took one second for her to clear the distance, but time was moving slower for me now as I bled out on the dirt floor of this unholy ground. “Noah,” she said as the others closed around me. Maggie fell to the dirty ground next to me and placed her hand along the side of my face, I loved the feeling of her cold touch, there was something powerful about it, almost bringing the warmth back to my flesh.

  “It’s all right, Maggie,” I said as tears welled in her eyes. “It’s over now?” I asked as I looked up at Longinus. His stoic form nodded back at me.

  “Yes, son. Maggie was able to stop her, to end her bloodline once and for all. She was able to do what I had failed to do. She was able to do the right thing,” he said as he smiled at Maggie.

  Cerene gently lowered my head to the ground and knelt to kiss my forehead. “I pray that you find Heaven in this death, Noah.” She stood and allowed Maggie to be alone with me. Our bond together was more than Lilith’s blood or our circumstance. It had been love, and I finally recognized it as such. How I longed to live again and to let her know that she was loved.

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to react,” Maggie said. I shook my head no, hopi
ng to silence her regret. “If I had reacted faster I might have been able to save you. I was just too paralyzed by seeing her in my mother’s form,” she said as she ignored my protest.

  A deep stabbing pain in my body grew stronger as the body burned nearby. I knew my time had finally come, an end to an unnatural life. At this moment, I felt closer to human than I had since waking in that crypt. I winced at the pain. “Maggie, before I die I want you to know that I love you.”

  A deep sob built inside her body and she fell upon me, a numbness of my body shielded me from the pain that her movement might have stirred as she wrapped her delicate arms around my body. I heard her whisper into my ear, “I love you, too.”

  With her words, I felt my spirit fall away into the nothing from which I had come. To the darkness, my spirit raised from my body, a blemish amongst the beauty of creation. It was at that moment I realized the truth of God, that all His creatures were loved. I felt His love cleanse the burden from my spirit, as the bad things fell away from my past, and I was now welcomed into His holy communion.

  Let the darkness weep no more.

  Epilogue

  To watch your enemy die before your very eyes is a gift in and of itself. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that a human’s contempt could match my own. When I had first encountered Longinus, he was no longer the man in which God had chosen to destroy my offspring. He was nothing more than a hired gun for whatever government wanted his kind of skill set. Like most of God’s chosen people, he proved to be disappointing, but I knew that he would serve a higher purpose for my goals someday.