Bitter Fruits

by Daltry, Sarah

  When the time comes, we rise and, before I open the door to the hallway, I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck. “You were never second or less to me,” I tell him. His lips brush mine quickly. His eyes are wet; he takes my hand and we go to face the end of everything.

  19.

  I don’t know what I thought would happen. Maybe that we would casually stroll to the church, see Lilith and Teresa there, have a chat, and then someone would die? I certainly didn’t expect to hear the screams before the church even appeared, or for the field to be rows deep with revenants. How on earth did either of them have time to raise armies of this size? Lilith stands flanked by hundreds of vampires, none of which look like Alec or Caleb. These are the vampires of legend - sickly creatures with dark eyes and sharp fangs that terrify me. Caleb tightens his grip on my hand.

  “I thought there were only three of you,” I whisper.

  “So did I. I knew she was amassing an army, but...”

  “Yeah. That is an army.” Neither of us imagined she could have created this many in such a short time, but we don’t have time to debate or consider it. Although the majority of the vampires and revenants are busy fighting one another, several creatures come for us. Caleb begins to dispatch them, but I don’t have a weapon so I run to the church. Yes, I run away. For anyone who says he or she would not run away, I would simply like to suggest that maybe he or she walk into a field of a hundred vampires and at least as many revenants and see if that is actually true. Scarlet and Henry are already inside; she has a sword, but it’s a role-playing sword. I look at her, the sword, and back to her.

  “Uh uh. I don’t see you with a weapon,” she points out.

  “That thing will break in like five seconds.”

  “Right. Five seconds you won’t have.” I thank God for Scarlet; in the madness of my life as it stands, she is still Scarlet. I need the dose of reality.

  “What are you going to do? Roll a twenty-sided die if you’re attacked?”

  “Look. A sword is a sword. It makes me feel useful,” she says. I have to give her that. Right now, I feel about as useful as a tub of mustard. Which, to be clear, would not be useful at all here.

  “We need to get Lilith away from her minions,” Henry says.

  “And we do that how?” I ask.

  “Your boyfriends,” Scarlet answers. “They’re the ones she wants.”

  As if on cue, Alec enters the church and runs toward me. He embraces me and checks to see if I’m all right. Before he can ask, Caleb also hurries inside, but he doesn’t shut the door. The vampires are coming. He seems to have taken out quite a few, but they are still many; behind the approaching vampire horde trails a gathering of revenants led by Teresa and Chloe. The field and grounds are full of monstrous creatures. Well... damn it. I brace to be either drained of blood or eaten alive, but none of the vampires crosses the threshold of the church. They try to, but some force stops them. I watch them struggling to get past the invisible field that protects us.

  “I thought you said churches weren’t holy,” I ask Caleb.

  “They’re not. We can’t enter without an invitation,” he explains.

  “Oh, well, it’s too bad I left those at home. It appears they also didn’t get my e-vite.”

  I don’t get to find out if anyone appreciates my humor, because apparently, the revenants do not need an invitation and they storm the church. So, eaten alive it will be, I guess. However, they stop when Teresa lifts her arm. The mass of them waits, hungry and looking at our skin ravenously.

  “Sons of Lilith, I am here for Nora. I would be happy to take you as well, but I will hold off my horde in exchange for her.”

  Scarlet and Henry are whimpering behind me. Alec and Caleb share a look and I know instantly that they won’t sacrifice me. So I step forward myself. Teresa is impressed, I can tell, and I do my best to hide the dread coursing over me. This may be the dumbest thing I or anyone has ever done. Chloe smiles, her shark teeth tinged pink. I don’t even want to guess what turned them that color. I notice that the revenants and vampires have stopped fighting one another.

  “What do you want with me?” I ask.

  “I want to destroy Lilith. You are the price to do so.”

  “How am I the price?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Teresa says and a momentary humanity visits her face. It’s gone before I can figure out how to use it to my advantage, but it was there.

  “Why destroy her? Destroying her will end you as well,” I say.

  “Yes, and it will end this. All of this. I loved Allen; when I came back and remembered that love, my anger drove me for years. I wanted to punish him for leaving me, to destroy Charles for hurting him in the first place. And all of the loss… It builds up, the hurt and the emptiness…”

  “I loved you,” Alec says. “I didn’t know. I would’ve-”

  “I’m over it,” Teresa says, cutting him off. I don’t believe that she is, but there is something else now. Her conviction that death is the only solution drives her; she has closed herself off to love. Teresa will never be able to forget what she’s lost and what she’s done. “It was recently that I realized it was all because of one. Lilith. My memories returned in a steady stream; when I recalled her face, it all made sense. If she dies, none of my pain, none of my loss matters anymore. I can be at peace.”

  “You could find peace another way,” I say.

  “Living is full of loss; we find a way to pick up and start over every time. Each time, it breaks something, but it is what makes life so meaningful. We know that the pain is temporary, that someday, we will tally the pain and pleasure, and hopefully the balance will shift in the right direction. When we die, the balance should stay in place; we should stay dead.”

  “Don’t you eat babies now?” I’m not buying this sympathetic act, although I can see that it’s working on the others. There is something else in Teresa. I believe these were the thoughts that drove her originally, but I’ve also seen the compassion and love that both Alec and Caleb are capable of, and they’ve tallied far more pain than Teresa has.

  “Details. The point is that I want it to be over.” She smiles; it is an evil smile, a smile of someone who will say whatever she must to manipulate others into doing her bidding. Whomever Teresa was when she was alive, when she was human, that woman is gone now. The process of turning her corrupted any humanity left. She can play the role, but she is evil and she wants nothing but to destroy it all. The realization is chilling.

  “You have raised an army. If you wanted it to end-”

  “It was all to get us here. I have tried many things, but the only way to get Lilith’s attention is to mess with the cycle. She’s angry and the cycle is all she has left. Sometimes we must do what’s wrong to bring to the world what’s right.”

  “What of Chloe?” I ask, gesturing to her. Her mind was already going, and now it seems gone. She stands by Teresa’s side, grinning a vacant, sharky grin.

  “What of her?” Teresa asks.

  “You turned her - for what? To use her to get our attention? Did she have a choice? Was that a wrong that made the world right?”

  Teresa breathes and flashes her teeth at me. “I do not need to defend my actions to you. What is important is that Lilith-”

  “That Lilith what?” The voice terrifies me. If fear were a vapor, it would be circling itself around every inch of my body right now. She stands in the doorway, uninvited. Her beauty is still overwhelming but she is no longer graceful; this is the mother of all evil. I see it in her now but I also feel relief that the evil and anger are focused on Teresa and not us. If there was only a way...

  Alec steps toward Teresa. “My brother and I were already looking to break the cycle. All you have done is make things worse. Why?”

  She looks as if he has slapped her. “I thought I was helping. She,” she says, pointing at me, “is going to ruin everything. She can stop the cycle without anyone needing to die; that can’t happen. It needs to end
. We all need to end.” Teresa’s resolve is weakening, though, and she reaches for Alec. He looks at her with distaste.

  “Any love I ever felt for you died when I died as Allen. I’m sorry.”

  He walks back to Caleb and me and Teresa falls to the ground with a wail. “Kill her,” she cries and the revenants, led by Chloe, move toward me. So this is it, I think. I die here on the floor of the church where my life started anew. However, none of the revenants reaches me; instead, as each approaches, it burns to ash in a bright explosion. Fireworks of white burst and cover us in fine dust. I think at first it must be Caleb or Alec, but they just look stunned. I don’t know how it’s working, but it is. Finally, it is just Chloe and me; Teresa looks at us both with absolute terror in her eyes.

  “No,” she says. “It can’t be. You aren’t strong enough.”

  The thing is, I feel pretty strong right now. I reach out to touch Chloe, but nothing happens when I do. She’s like a puppet on a string and doesn’t move to attack me. I have no ability to fight her. Apparently, my new power only works on revenants.

  “Can you kill her?” I ask Caleb, who’s now standing by my side.

  He looks to Alec and Alec shrugs. Either way, it is five against two, shark teeth or not, and I feel like the odds are in our favor. Scarlet readies her sword, which looks ridiculous, but I can’t fault her for trying. They’re fast, but there are still only two of them. Neither Chloe nor Teresa moves, though.

  “We don’t know,” Alec says. “It’s never been tested on lamia.”

  Teresa doesn’t seem even to register that we are talking about killing her out in the open; instead, she continues to stare at me, aghast about something. “It isn’t possible. You chose... I asked-”

  “It appears you didn’t ask the right questions,” Lilith says from the doorway. “I’ve known for some time. And now she knows. How do you expect she will feel when she discovers the truth-”

  Teresa turns to Lilith, cutting her off. “No. No. The only way is death. I want it to end.”

  With that, Teresa runs at me. Tackling me to the stone floor, she opens her mouth wide and I wonder if she is planning to eat me in one bite. Alec calls out to Lilith and invites her into the church, which seems like a terrible move. However, I am thankful when Lilith pulls Teresa from me and slices off her head with a jeweled dagger. In one quick motion, Teresa is no more; her head bounces down the church aisle and lands at Chloe’s feet. Chloe screams.

  “I guess vampires can kill lamia,” I say to no one in particular. Alec lifts me to my feet; I turn and see that Henry and Scarlet are still with us, although they look like they don’t know whom to trust anymore. I don’t blame them. I just magically microwaved an entire revenant army.

  “All right,” Lilith says. “We need to talk.”

  “You saved her,” Caleb says in awe.

  “No. I destroyed the abomination you helped me to create.”

  “I never-”

  “No, you never. But I believed she was the one. I didn’t expect she would return as...” Lilith looks at Teresa’s head, now resting on the floor by Chloe. “That.”

  “You could’ve killed her anytime. Why now?” Alec asked.

  “She brought an army of revenants here. What was I supposed to do? Besides, I needed access to her.” Again with the threats in my general direction.

  “What do you want with me? You’ve escaped notice and risk for millennia. Why come out in the open just to mess with someone like me?”

  Maybe it’s the way the atmosphere in the church has calmed; maybe it’s desperation. Whatever the reason, Chloe decides now is a great time to make a run for the door. Lilith turns, a brief flash, and Chloe crumples to the floor. The dagger I hadn’t even known Lilith was still holding is buried in Chloe’s back.

  “She’s just going to get up,” I say.

  “Holy water,” Lilith replies.

  I look to Caleb. “You said-”

  “Lamia are different; they’ve offended Heaven and thus...” Lilith looks around at our ragged band. “This is truly the best you could muster to face me?”

  “Wait.” I want to back up. “Haven’t you offended Heaven?”

  Lilith faces me and the intensity blazing in her face is enough to shut me up. “My dear, I have ties you cannot begin to fathom. I am no mere creature of the darkness. The sacrifices I have made, the damage I’ve suffered and that I’ve wrought-”

  “Enough,” Alec says. He faces Caleb and opens his shirt. “I have accepted my death this time, brother. Please do it before it is too late.”

  Caleb takes his own dagger out and I think he will go for Alec, but he doesn’t. Instead, he smiles sadly at his brother. “I understand, but there are other ways. We’re both tired. It’s time one of us had a chance to live.”

  Alec understands what Caleb is saying, but even he can’t believe it will come to this. “No. I have finally… What is living without love?”

  Lilith smiles but it isn’t friendly. “My sons, I demanded nothing of you but obedience to a code. It will go easier for everyone if you just follow the rules.”

  “How can you demand obedience when it was the one thing you resented so greatly?” I don’t think anyone even remembered Henry was still here. He walks toward Lilith, reproachful; Scarlet moves to stop him but I shake my head. He’s too close. She would never reach him in time.

  If I was afraid of Lilith before, now I’m petrified. Streams of light radiate from her, but they’re all wrong. In paintings of angels, the light looks safe, warm; on Lilith, it looks like annihilation. As she faces Henry, the glow intensifies until she is more light than flesh. “You can never understand. You don’t know what it means to make a difficult choice.”

  “No, but I do.” Caleb takes his dagger and places it over his own heart. Alec turns to stop him and a scream shatters the sudden quiet. The air has grown stagnant and time appears to have halted. Only when I stop to breathe do I realize it is me screaming. I rush Caleb and take the dagger. There is a small drop of blood where he began to pierce the skin. Lilith’s satisfied smile gives way to something else. Fear. I point the dagger at her but Alec stills my hand.

  “Don’t,” he says.

  “But-”

  “If she dies, we die. Unless that’s what you want.”

  I hold the dagger by my side but don’t remove my gaze from Lilith. “Would it even work on her? Is there anything that can actually stop her?”

  “See? She seems to understand what you do not,” Lilith says. “Submission is not always the worst choice.”

  “I don’t want submission,” I argue. I realize that the only way to stop this, the only weapon against Lilith, is choice. Free will. The one basic principle that we mortals prize so highly. This is what leads me to make the hardest choice I’ve ever faced. I hand Caleb the dagger.

  “It’s your decision,” I say. He nods and faces Alec. I don’t know who will die, but the path is clear. It is what they have both never had - freedom to choose.

  “Kill your brother,” Lilith commands. “Let fate take its course.”

  “I no longer believe in fate,” Caleb replies and drops the dagger. It hits the floor and he embraces Alec. I don’t know what comes next, what happens now that they’ve done nothing. There will be no cycle, nor a breaking of the cycle. It is time for a new version of the story to begin.

  “You’re foolish,” Lilith seethes. Despite the fact that my eyes never leave her, she somehow moves across the room and reaches Caleb. Her arms hold him and she turns his body so that his back is to the rest of us. She tears his shirt from him. This seems like a terrible time to flirt, I think. I don’t really get what she’s trying to do until her touch makes the scars and symbols glow; even the ashy center burns a low red. Mumbling in some language I don’t recognize, Lilith begins what can be nothing other than a ritual. Alec moves to his brother, crying out.

  “No. Take me. I’ll go,” he begs. “Don’t harm him.”

  “Too late,” Lilith
says. I realize now what she’s doing; she’s readying Caleb as a weapon. His Mark was placed on him to destroy anyone who threatened him, but Lilith has found a way to use it to her advantage. I can see him resisting her, but her power is great; he is held tight to the flickering flames. I breathe deep and back up toward Scarlet and Henry. She’s crying, but Henry remains stony. I suppose I expected a little more emotion from him; it’s starting to look like we’re all going to die.

  “You can stop it,” he whispers. I know I’ve always been Henry’s favorite student, but this seems to be a great deal more than writing a paper on myths. Alec is pleading with Lilith, but her attention is on Caleb. I remind myself that I swore to die for them if it came to that and I step forward. In what may be the most foolish move I’ve ever made, I reach out my hand. It cuts through the veil of heat surrounding Caleb; my fingers reach the Mark and, although the light Lilith has been passing into him now reaches up my arm, I don’t die. I don’t burn or explode or suffer. In fact, as I press my palm against the Mark, I feel whole. Lilith pauses, processing the act. A sudden burning scorches my hand and then, whatever hold she had on Caleb snaps. He smiles, an arrogant, triumphant, earth-shattering smile.

  Raising one hand, he points his palm in the direction of the vampire army that has been gathered at the church door since the start. In an instant, the mass becomes a conflagration. Screams of roasting vampires echo through the church and drift out over the night. Lilith backs away slowly, but Alec reaches his arm out and holds her. I don’t think he’s actually strong enough to do so, but the effort mixed with her shock keeps her in place. When the immolation is complete, Caleb turns to me.