“I knew you were sick, but I guess I really had no idea,” I spat at her. She was pitting brother against brother.
“And where would the fun be if it was you and him against little old me?” She made that same tisking sound again, shaking her finger at me like she was shaming me for foolish thoughts. “You need to have more of an imagination, Executioner. It’s a new world and I want you to see it in all its glory.”
I took a step towards her, twirling the machete in my hand and retorted, “I think I’ve seen quite enough.”
“You want to play it that way, do you?” She eyed her horrendous creations around her. “Alright.”
She raised a hand and the crawlers launched themselves in our direction, eyes intent on Sam, Beth, and Chase. I knew they could take care of themselves, but I lashed out with my blade regardless, spinning and slicing my way towards Lilith as I heard the sounds of battle behind me. Someone shouted my name and I turned in time to meet a crawler coming straight for my throat. I cried out and slashed again, the silver tip of the blade making contact and slicing easily through its neck. Heat flared in my chest when I turned back towards Lilith. She was smiling and watching my every move, analyzing my movements for when I came to her. I decided I would use a combination of tactics. The beast and my blade were my weapons of choice this time around. I had my unborn child and the love of my life to fight for as well as what was left of humanity.
Once I was within swinging distance I twirled my blade and launched my attack. I swung down with my blade and she avoided it with cat-like reflexes, causing the blade to bite into the floor of the roof. A fist collided with my jaw and I stumbled a few steps, losing my grip on the handle of the machete. I poured heat into my hand and stood, sending a ball of fire in her direction. It caught her shoulder and she cried out in pain. The only indication it had hit her as she looked at me was a singe mark like she had been touched by soot. This would be much harder than I thought. As soon as I let another one go she was in front of me, her strong hand squeezing my throat and lifting my from the ground. She began to walk as I clawed at her hand, trying to build enough energy in my oxygen starved body to burn her enough to loosen her grasp.
“You thought I’d make it easy, did you?” Lilith snarled.
I felt the wind at my back and a startling realization hit me. I was now being held by the ledge of the building and she would drop me to my death. Fear licked at my insides and black spots were beginning to cloud my vision. I felt the beast move within my bones and I could feel it becoming stronger. I wasn’t sure if it was the fear or the threat of imminent death, but the glow in my veins began to spread through my body and enough power was at my fingertips so I could save myself. The beast seemed to fear death as much as I did.
The buzz of the energy within me moved from my chest, up my arm, and into my hand. Lilith’s wrist began to sizzle where I held her and she tried to hold onto me through the pain, but soon gave in and let go long enough for my feet to touch the ground and back hand me. My feet slipped out from underneath me and I was falling. I reached out and was able to grab the rail along the edges of the helicopter pad with the tips of my fingers. The metal was biting into my hands as I adjusted to have a complete grip.
I couldn’t hold back my screams and I heard my name being shouted, but I couldn’t focus on that. I had to pull myself up before Lilith got any funny ideas. She was there again, never once taking her eyes off of me.
“I will have victory, Executioner. It’s too bad you won’t be here to see it.” Her voice lilted and her head did the same, her blonde air like a halo around her head. She placed her hands on mine and began to squeeze, making the metal grind into my skin even more and I had the urge to let go to avoid pain. I swallowed it down and fire began to move from my veins and into her hands, leaching into her veins through her skin. She cried out and backed away, cradling her hands against her stomach like it would stop the pain.
Pouring all the strength I had into my arms, I pulled myself up and onto the roof, my muscles screaming from the effort. Before I knew it, I was on solid ground again, kneeling in front of Lilith like I was asking her for mercy. I wasn’t.
“You’re stronger than I gave you credit for.” She reached towards me with both hands and I felt something happen inside of me. Every time I made contact with her energy there was a change. The beast and I were one already, but I felt something stirring within me I couldn’t explain. Her hands touched the sides of my face and I remembered something Vlad had said. I was a ticking time bomb and this was my purpose. The merging of the beast and me was the beginning.
I could still hear everyone fighting around me and spotted Gordon kneeling on the ground in front of his vampire brother. A tear rolled down my cheek and I closed my eyes. A feeling of hopelessness filled me, threatening to spill over. I could feel Lilith lean down in front of me, her soft hair brushing my face as her lips moved against my ear.
“You should’ve taken my offer,” she whispered.
Her words hit home and I felt a rush of power and energy that caused me to gasp and it was like a flare had been set off inside of me. My eyes snapped open and it was like I was looking at her through a red veil. I saw something flicker behind her eyes. It was fear, pure and primal. I took her hands in mine and pulled them away from my flesh, standing and squeezing them between my fingers. Bones snapped with a satisfying pop and she screamed and tried to pull away from me, her effort futile. Everything had gone silent and from out of the corner of my eye I could see each remaining crawler crouched, watching in rapt fascination. Sam was pushing herself off the ground, Beth reaching out to her. Chase had a crawler against his chest, gun to its temple ready to blow it away. Gordon was still kneeling, but he had turned towards me once Vlad had begun to stare, no longer paying attention to his brother.
Her hair was whipping in the wind, her white dress was torn and burned, and her shoulder was still a sooty mess but I could see she had sustained an injury. Pressure was starting to build in my chest as I stared at her. It was a frightening feeling. Well, should’ve been, but I wasn’t scared. I felt eerily calm. As it continued to build at the apex of my chest a seductive heat began to form in the same spot, like my heart was on fire, pumping liquid fire through my veins was only getting brighter and brighter. It licked through my like a wildfire and I knew exactly what Vlad had meant earlier. I thought of my unborn child and knew in my heart and soul everything would be alright. I wasn’t sure how I knew it, but I felt it with a certainty I had never felt before. Now it was my turn to place my hands on Lilith’s porcelain skin. Her cheeks were hot and bloody tears were streaming down her face, staining the pure white of her gown.
“You should’ve stayed in Hell.” As the words left my lips they felt foreign. My voice had taken on an edgy quality. The heat and the pressure took on a whole new quality and my heart was racing in my chest, the glow becoming brighter as I touched her and flowing into her own dead veins and down into her still heart. I leaned my head back, closing my eyes and once they were closed I felt an explosion in my chest and a blinding light filtered through my eye lids. As quickly as it had appeared it was gone, and there was no noise and no pain. The darkness welcomed me with open arms.
I was being shaken by a pair of strong hands and felt warmth on my face. My eyes snapped open and Gordon was leaning over me, the sun beaming down around us and filling our once dark world with brilliant light once more. The sun.
“Oh my god, I’m so glad you’re awake. I was scared we lost you,” Gordon said as he leaned over me. We?
I turned my head to find Sam, Beth, and Chase kneeling around me. Unease had settled around them, but now relief flooded their expressions. All except for Gordon. I knew what he was concerned about. I reached down with the little bit of energy I had left and felt around for the tiny presence that should be there and was relieved to find it stronger than ever. I smiled up at him and nodded. He didn’t have to say a word.
I made a move to sit up and Gordon put
his hand behind me, attempting to make sure I was steady enough to be sitting up. What I saw around me stunned me. Every crawler on the roof had been obliterated and I saw two burned and unmoving corpses on the ground and I knew exactly who they were. Lilith and Vlad. The light the beast and I had created killed everything in the immediate vicinity.
“Wow,” I breathed.
“Yeah,” Gordon agreed. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
We all laughed at the statement and it all died away as we finally took a moment to look at the sun, bright and large in the sky after so much darkness. I was so happy to see it again and feel its heat on my skin. We were now in a new world. One we could live in and we could raise our child in relative safety.
Was I sure about how many vampires and crawlers were actually left? No, I wasn’t, but I knew after this they would go into hiding, fleeing the streets at the threat of the Executioner. The sudden sunlight would’ve had to have killed a lot of them, but there were always the ones that were smart enough to lock themselves in the darkness just in case. They wouldn’t last for much longer if I had anything to do with it.
I was the Executioner. I was what evil feared in the dark and now I would be what they feared in the light.
Epilogue
It had been five years since the apocalypse and things had gone quiet. I saw outside the burned remnants of the home I had lived in the two years that came before the fall. Before Lilith took it upon herself to end humanity. Luckily for us, after she had been killed, more and more people began to come out of their hiding places, flocking towards the source of the fire that had brought back the light. Seven months later I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who we named Aurora in honor of our new lives and the new world.
I was sitting in the grass that was now up to my elbows. We tried to keep up with it, but sometimes keeping the rest of humanity safe from the evil that remained took precedence, even if it meant the grass taking over the jasmine covered trellis in the side yard. It was still my favorite place to take stock of everything in my mind at the time. I sighed and leaned my head back, letting my skin absorb as much as the sunlight as possible before sunburn set in.
“Mommy,” a tiny voice called out to me from behind the trellis.
I turned my head and spied Aurora peaking her head around jasmine that had grown so much since everything had happened. Her dark hair contrasted beautifully with her pale skin and her eyes were the darkest shade of green I had ever seen without them being completely black like her father’s, but they did have the same sparkle of life in them like his did.
“What are you doing here?” I looked around the trellis. “Where’s Daddy?”
“I’m right here,” he said as he moved around the framework, her small hand in his large one. She trailed slightly behind him, a sheepish grin on her face I couldn’t help but mimic. Gordon leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips before sitting next to me, Aurora plopping down in his lap without a word. She looked at me, grin never leaving her face.
“What are you so happy about, huh?” The question popped out without permission.
“She has something for you,” Gordon replied as he smiled at me in return, finding my hand in the grass and grasping it in his with a slight squeeze.
“Oh yeah? What is it?” Aurora had a small hand clasped in her lap and she was giggling with excitement, bouncing in Gordon’s lap.
Without having to be asked she opened her hand and I gasped. A week ago I had lost the necklace Gordon had given to me before the final battle with Lilith and she was now holding it in her hand, beaming with pride that she was able to help me.
“Where did you find this?” I couldn’t keep the thrill out of my voice.
She pointed behind us towards the trellis and the jasmine plants. “Over there by grandma’s plaque.”
I took it gently from her hand and cradled it against my chest, smiling at my small family with adoration.
“Did I do good, Mommy?” she asked me, all sincerity and joy. Her eyes were filled with tears of happiness she was trying not to shed. I leaned over and placed a small kiss on her forehead, smoothing her hair away from her gorgeous face that reminded me so much of Gordon’s. He swore she looked like me, but I thought she looked like him. Everyone else said she was a perfect blend of the both of us.
“You did very good, baby doll.”
She squealed and jumped up from Gordon’s lap, looking at him inquisitively. “Daddy, can I go play?”
“As long as you stay right in this area where we can see you,” he answered. She took off and began dancing in circles in the tall grass a few yards away.
We watched her with smiles on our faces, leaning against each other, our hands intertwined in his lap as we watched our future before us, knowing life wouldn’t get any better than this.
About the Author
Kindra Sowder was born and raised in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA until the age of 12, when her family moved to Spartanburg, SC. She graduated from high school in 2006 with full honors and as a member of her high school Literary Club and the Spanish Honor Society. In January 2014, she graduated with her second degree in Psychology, earning her an AA and BA in the field. She began to write long before this though, forming the basis for the Executioner Trilogy at the age of 15. She got married to her husband Edd Sowder in May 2014 and still lives in Spartanburg, SC where she is basing Burning Willow Press. "Follow the Ashes" has earned her nominations in the following categories: Best YA Author, Best Cover Art (cover art by Lisa Vasquez), and Best Female Indie Author in the IAFC Awards! Her work "Hello, My Name is...: A Miss Hyde Novella Volume 1" has also been recommended for a Bram Stoker Award for 2015 and was nominated for Book of the Day's 2015 Summer Book Awards Best in Horror Award.
Follow the Bloodshed (The Executioner Trilogy Book 3) Page 25
