Before long, a very familiar, and at that moment, unwelcome,
face appeared. Zayden stood before me, ashen faced, and clearly choking back
tears.

It was as if I could see the emotions lurking in his eyes,
his posture and expression changing as he struggled to come to terms with the
situation...

I wanted to open my mouth. I wanted to apologise, but he
pre-empted me, grabbing my wrist in the process...

“Pity comes too late,” he hissed, his grip tightening, I
didn’t fight back. It was as if a smothering cloud came over me. I didn’t dare
say a word or do anything. To be perfectly honest, this side of Zayden scared
me. It was as if a force darker than jealousy, and even more powerful than love
had taken over him, turning him into the opposite of the guy I met a few years
ago. This guy was not my best friend.

The atmosphere in the tiny apartment changed. The very walls
that were our refuge from the day’s earlier events, seemed to close in on us,
slowly suffocating us, squeezing the earlier joy and triumph out of our bodies,
until only fear was left- fear so overwhelming, that even Seth and I, who have
witnessed deaths and mutilations beyond comparison, started feeling
uncomfortable. The irony was immense- two creatures of night suddenly scared of
the dark.

“Zayden, please...I love her, doesn’t that mean anything to
you? Show some compassion.” Seth pleaded. The roles of monster and innocent
have been switched between the two of them...

“You showed no compassion to any of your victims in the
past. You slaughtered and killed without a second thought, merely because you
were ordered to do so. You broke her heart so many years ago, why do you
believe you deserve it now?!”

Seth fell silent.

“I never said that I deserve her heart...A creature like me
is not made to love. I’ve been met with hatred wherever i go, because of a
choice, no, a mistake I made so long ago. Yet, for the first time in my life, I
have realised that even I deserve some happiness- happiness I found the moment
her lips touched mine. Please try to understand...” his voice was calm, trying
to soothe the savage beast that stood before him. Yet, instead of calming him,
the mere thought of Seth kissing me only seemed to anger Zayden further.

Unexpectedly, he turned to me, and caressed my cheek...

“Your eyes upon her face....your arms around her
waist...your lips...caressing her skin.... The mere thought makes me sick to my
stomach. Seth, you don’t deserve a jewel like her.” His touch was warm as
always. His breath was shallow, and his pulse quicker than normal due to rage,
but a part of him seemed to truly believe the words he spoke. He truly believe
that I deserve to be loved too, and yet, he doesn’t believe that the one person
on earth that knows me better than he does, should have the right to do it.

“Seth, for years....the mere memory of you haunted this
girl. She tried so hard to run from her them, but couldn’t. You ruined her
past, I won’t let you ruin her future too.”

Without warning, Zayden launched himself at Seth, pinning
him to the wall, with his hands suddenly around his throat. Seth gasped, trying
desperately to provide his lungs with the much needed air his lungs desired
while he was in his human form.

Things were happening too fast. I felt dizzy and nauseous.
This was not the way things were supposed to happen. I watched in horror as my
best friend slowly started forcing the life out of the guy I love.

“Nothing can save you 
now, Seth, except Aralynne,”

I looked up at the sound of my name, obvious confusion
spreading across my face.

“You can buy his freedom with a single choice- choose to
spend the rest of eternity with me, Aralynne. I can make you happy too. I can
make you forget him...”

“Zayden, you can’t expect me to do something like that under
these circumstances.”

“Oh really?” he smirked. “If you refuse me, you send him to
his grave. It is too late for turning back, too late for prayers or useless
pity. All it takes is for you to admit that you love me, and he gets to go.”
His voice was dark. Dangerous and threatening, but above all, cold. I never
thought that he of all people would be able to even consider taking a life in
such a way.

“Why make her lie to you to save me, Zayden? Would you
rather want her honesty, or spend the rest of her life hating you?” as soon as
he spoke, Zayden tightened his grip, forcing Seth to let out another gasp.

The precious seconds ticked by too fast. I felt overwhelmed.
 Seth’s life is now the prize which I
must earn. We had such hopes, and now those hopes were shattered, just like my
trust in Zayden. Seth’s pleas wouldn’t work. All they are good for is wasting
the last precious breaths his lungs are clinging to. I could not lie to my
heart. Though dark as his previous self was, Seth didn’t deserve a death like
this. If I admitted my love to him, though, his life would be over. Either way
I choose, I cannot win.

In a last, desperate attempt to silence the aching,
bleeding, dull thumps of my heart beating in my chest, I took out my trusty
silver dagger- the very dagger which destroyed so many of my kind...With all
the courage I could muster, I plunged the dagger into my chest, seeing if an
actual blade could stab and hurt as much as the scene that just played off in
front of my eyes. I felt the silver burning my cold skin, slowly eating away at
me. I started to lose my strength, and fell to my knees. In an instant, Zayden
was beside me, hugging me, holding me.

“Oh no, Aralynne, what have you done? Why?” his whole face
changed. He seemed normal again. In the corner, Seth stood, the expression of
horror on his face no longer from his life being in danger. He seemed incapable
of moving.

Though this was a desperate move, it meant that both of them
could be spared. Soon, they would forget about me and move on. I would no
longer be able to hurt either of them.

I felt warm tears dripping onto my face as Zayden started
sobbing.

“Aralynne....I never meant for this....I never meant for you
to get hurt, don’t you see that? Hang in there....don’t leave me...please. We
can still be happy together. We can move to Paris, you’ve always wanted that,
remember? Please...hang in there...”

His voice was fading, and so was the image of his face
before my eyes, it was slowly consumed by darkness...

I closed my eyes, biting my lower lip in reaction to the
pain the silver caused.

“There is no point, Zayden. You know very well what that
dagger was made of. No matter how hard she fights now, she won’t survive.”

“Shut up! Just shut up, Seth! You must be happy now, huh?
Finally, there’s nothing to keep your master from murdering every last human on
earth, is there? There’s no one to fight you...”

“Yes, Zayden, but then there’s
no one to accept me, either.” I could hear his voice breaking at the end... he
was close to tears, but kept his distance. 
I wanted to speak. I wanted to say goodbye one last time, but the poison
didn’t allow any time for that. With the sounds of cries of the two I cared
most about in my lifetime, i was whisked off into my eternal destiny. The pain
of my broken heart was no more, and for the first time in decades, I could
finally rest...