Current...Past...Sin...Alexander...Forum...Notes...Survey...D-land

Cessation
2003-02-28 - 6:31 p.m.

I was nervous when Alexander didn't say anything, so I looked up at him hesitantly. He turned from me silently and walked towards the kitchen, limping slightly. Concerned, I ran towards him, but he harshly told me to leave the house.

I stopped abruptly. What had I done�? Just because I left the house without his permission? I stood for a moment, surprised and trying to control my emotions. My heart ached; it reminded me of when Alexander left me a few weeks ago. I was frightened; I couldn't stand the thought of Alexander being angry with me again.

I walked into the kitchen and discovered that Alexander had shut himself in the basement. I wanted to go to him, but he had said to leave him alone, so I obeyed.

I asked Ella, who was in the kitchen, "Do you know what is wrong�?"

She shook her head 'no.'

"He� he told me to leave�" I began, feeling the pain in my heart grow. "What should I do? What have I done? Is it because we left�?"

"If that is the case, then I am at fault, not you, Sindor," Ella said. "So you have no reason to leave."

I nodded in gratitude. I really did not want to leave; I couldn't bear the thought of it.

"But he seems to be injured," Ella continued. "Something must have happened with Soterius. Perhaps this is the reason for his mood."

"I wonder what happened�" I mused.

"In any case, we should leave him be tonight," Ella replied. "Perhaps we should go retrieve your coffin, Sindor. You do not have to leave the house. If Alexander is angered by this, then I will be at fault. I will speak with him tomorrow evening."

"Alright�" I gratefully agreed.

At that, Ella and I left the house, leaving Henmi and Alexander there. When we arrived at the old house, the inside looked so desolate, so bare. I didn't like the feel of the place.

We walked to the room off of the library to gather up my coffin. We each held an end of the coffin and carried it quickly back to the house and up to mine and Alexander's room. We placed it inside of the closet, as not to be seen.

I turned back to Ella. "But why did Alexander act that way? You said he went to go see Soterius?"

"Yes, that is where he went," Ella answered. "Perhaps something happened there."

"I want to know what happened�" I admitted. "Let's go see."

"Sindor, that would be extremely dangerous," Ella replied.

"But Alexander was hurt!" I said, still worried about him. "He must have been fighting with Soterius!"

"Well, Soterius might still be alive," Ella said.

"Soterius would not let Alexander leave if he was," I replied. "Besides, Adhemar will be there, so if Soterius is still alive, Adhemar will not let him hurt us."

"But Sindor--"

"C'mon," I urged. "Don't you want to know what happened?"

"Yes, but I do not think that this is the right way to go about finding out."

"I'm going to go," I said abruptly. "Are you coming with me or not?"

"Sindor--"

"Well?"

She sighed and said, "Alexander will have a fit if I do not accompany you, I suppose."

"Thanks," I said with a smile and headed for the front door, Ella following me. Before we left, Ella grabbed a sword from out of the classroom.

We exited the house and walked briskly to Soterius' dwelling place. About halfway there, I began having second thoughts about going to his apartment. He frightened me, naturally, but I was curious as to why Alexander acted the way he did.

We approached cautiously when we did arrive. It was dark, of course, but we could see fairly well with our vampiric eyes. All was silent.

We crept to were the balcony was located, and observed a most horrible sight. Adhemar stood looking confusedly down upon the body of Soterius, bloody and mangled from an apparent attack.

I drew my hand up over my mouth quickly to stifle a gasp and turned away from the scene in fright. Alexander did that? I hadn't realized he was so strong.

When I turned back around slowly, Adhemar turned to us, a look of grief on his face, and said, "What should I do�?"

Ella walked up to Adhemar and said, "You do not need him, Adhemar."

I stayed a short distance away, still afraid of Soterius, despite his injury.

"But�" Adhemar began. "It feels like I do. My heart hurts... It's drawing me to him."

"Adhemar, that is not love, or need, or any other such emotion," Ella replied. "There is usually love present when a vampire sires another. However, there was no love present in your siring. What you feel is something that tries to fill the void where love is missing. You do not need him." Ella handed Adhemar her sword. "Let go of him, Adhemar."

Adhemar stared down at her sword for a moment, and then looked at Soterius. "I� I can't," he said sorrowfully.

"Soterius does not need you either, Adhemar," Ella continued. "Henmi needs you. Henmi loves you. You love and need Henmi, do you not?"

"Yes," Adhemar replied immediately.

"Soterius cuts off the relationship between yourself and Henmi," Ella said. "Destroy Soterius and you can be with Henmi. If not for Henmi, do it for yourself, Adhemar. You need to be free of him. He weakens you, Adhemar, and you do not want that."

Adhemar lifted the sword slowly, then stopped. "It hurts�" he said. "He doesn't want me to�"

"Do not listen to him," Ella urged. "We want you back with us, Adhemar. He does not value you anywhere as much as we do. Let him go, Adhemar."

Adhemar bit his bottom lip and raised the sword above his head. He hesitated a moment--I thought he was not going to do anything--but then, with amazing quickness, drove the sword down through Soterius' neck, tearing through all of the soft tissue and rough muscle, slicing his head off completely. I winced at the sight of it.

Without saying anything, Adhemar dropped the sword and ran inside of the apartment and came out a moment later holding a torch. He looked once more down at Soterius, before spreading the fire to both pieces of his maker. A few minutes later, ash was all that remained. Adhemar kicked at them angrily, and then fell to his knees.

Ella knelt down next to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her momentarily before embracing her tightly. She put her arms around him as well, as his body shook slightly with sobs.

A short while later, Adhemar released Ella and wiped the bloody tears from his face with the back of his hand. They both stood up and looked down at Soterius' ashes. I walked over to them.

"We should scatter these, Adhemar," Ella said.

Adhemar nodded.

The three of us took handfuls of the ashes and scattered them various places throughout town: in the river, in the Place d'Armes, in the sewer.

When we finished, Adhemar asked me, "Can� can I see Henmi?"

"Of course," I said immediately. "You can take him home, if you like. He does want to be back at the tavern, after all."

"Thanks, kid�" Adhemar said. "I'll do that."

At that, we walked back to the school. Alexander still hadn't emerged, but I still told Adhemar to wait at the front door while I went to get Henmi, as I knew how angry Alexander would be if he found Adhemar in the house.

Upstairs, Henmi was sitting on the bed, looking terribly bored. He was used to working constantly, so a long break like he had been having over the past few days unnerved him. He looked up at me as I entered.

"Hey, there's someone downstairs who wants to see you," I said simply.

He smiled and ran downstairs without saying a word to me.

I smiled and picked up his bear and followed him downstairs.

At the front door, Henmi and Adhemar embraced tightly, Henmi thrilled to see Adhemar, even though they had already seen each other once that evening.

After they released each other, I handed Henmi his bear. Ella handed Henmi the food we bought him earlier so he could take it home with him.

Adhemar took off his jacket and said, "It's pretty cold out there, Henmi. Why don't we switch loads?" Adhemar took everything that Henmi was carrying out of his hands and handed Henmi his jacket.

"But, Adhemar� What about you?" Henmi asked innocently.

Adhemar leaned closer to Henmi and whispered in his ear, "I'll tell you a secret. Vampires don't get cold; Coats are just for show."

I smiled and Henmi giggled, slipping his arms into Adhemar's jacket.

Ella said, "The next fencing lesson is not tomorrow night, but the night after, Henmi. Perhaps Adhemar can bring you back here then."

Henmi nodded and looked up at Adhemar.

"No problem," Adhemar said with a smile. "Well� I suppose we'll see you later, then."

Ella and I nodded.

I hugged Henmi and told him goodbye before closing the door behind the both of them.

After they left, Ella said to me, "There is not too much time left before sunrise. Perhaps you should go upstairs now, Sindor."

I nodded in agreement. "So you'll talk to Alexander tomorrow night, first thing?"

"I will, Sindor, I promise," she replied. "Good morning, then."

"'Morning." I walked up the stairs slowly and into my bedroom. I didn't particularly want to sleep in the coffin by myself; I wanted to sleep near Alexander, but there was nothing to be done about it that evening. I crawled inside and shut the lid.

*All the rights to Sindor (the graphics and text included) belong to Leah Jenner. No reproduction or republication without written permission.