Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)

[andmker]

Part 2: Chapters 20

Just one additional chapter for the moment, I've had to change a lot in chapter 21 and 22 as I felt it was all too unlikely. Thanks to users "GKMOBERG1" and "BLOOD" as well as any one else reading


Chapter Twenty


The choices that people make in life, even the smallest ones, can have enormous and surprising results. Oscar only exists in the world because his would-be mother met his would-be father, which granted applies to everyone he guessed. Yet, in his case, it seemed like a lucky coincidence. The first time they had crossed paths was on a random night in a bar. The woman that would give birth to him, simply went out as the power in her own home had failed. A randomly occurring power cut had convinced her to head out and meet a few friends. That is where she first met his dad. At a random bar because of a power cut. It was not like his mother had gone for the drink, as unlike the man she would meet, she was not very keen on the stuff. Instead, it for the warmth, for the company and for something to do. If it wasn’t for the power cut, she would have without a doubt stayed in that night. That had been her original plan anyway. To stay in and do nothing of importance. If it hadn’t been for that power cut, Oscar’s would be father would not have tripped over her handbag that she had clumsily left on the floor. She wouldn’t have insisted that he joined them as an apology. Oscar would never have been born.
His mother had almost panicked when she had first told him the story of how she met his dad. Oscar’s question at the age of seven being “so, you didn’t want to have me?” made her stutter like she had never done so before.
“What? Yes, I mean no. I mean, you are my little miracle. I ALWAYS wanted to have you.” She had smiled and hugged him before explaining that “I had to meet your dad before I could have you. That is how it works.”
Part of Oscar, even at such a young age knew the truth. That he was an accident. That he was here because of a chance meeting caused in turn by a power cut and by a handbag. Despite having no clue how much time passed between their first meeting and his parents…doing what they did for him to be here. He avoided the latter part of that thought like it was a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
While had always got the impression unintentionally from his dad that his conception was totally accidental, he didn’t really mind. To be honest, Oscar found it funny and almost cool on some level. Everyone makes a hundred random discussions each and every day and people like him are born and die on those discussions. Or maybe sometimes your bedroom is just painted one colour instead of another. The result of some decisions didn’t really matter, the key was being able to identify which were the important ones and that was something he had always sucked at.
All this was presently on Oscar’s mind as he did not intend to make the same mistakes again. They, or more precisely Eli, had decided it was time to leave. That there was no other choice and remaining would be unwise. Oscar’s still somewhat crispy back, and the pain in his heart meant he had just accepted the decision without question. However, the chances are he would always have agreed even if he had put more thought into it the matter. It would have been stupid to disagree with Eli and her vastly more experience in surviving like this. At the very least he wouldn’t feel comfortable going back to the tram station, the capital or anywhere near the café ever again, so a fresh start it would be. This time around, he would think before he does anything, then think about it again.
“Time to get up, the sun is down. We have things to do,” said Eli lifting the blankets off him.
She had covertly gotten out of the bathtub at some point, while Oscar had remained within thinking about what he had been thinking about. He wasn’t sure how long she had been up for, but Eli started to explain that she had arranged for a “man and a van” to collect them and some of their stuff.
“Four in the morning? Will he not think that’s weird?” Oscar had asked when Eli had told him what she had arranged. “He is driving the two of us, a hundred miles to…a storage garage, at four in the morning.”
“For the money he is getting, no he will not. I told him we were getting an early start on a long journey.”
“But he’ll know where we are?”
“Don’t worry I’ll take care of it.”
Oscar didn’t ask any more. He already knew what she meant by that. Her plan was for them both to leave at four in the morning, shelter in a lock-up that she had rented for three nights just in case, and then to go further afield. His mind couldn’t complanate what would happen after that point, it didn’t matter right now. Eli had done this before, she would know, she was the expert.
“Why are you naked?” he queried managing to slowly climb out of the tub, struggling to stand up straight.
Oscar rubbed his eyes feeling like pressure had been applied to them, most likely they were just healing from glimpsing the sun for too long. He had been greeted by the sight of his friend standing with absolutely nothing on, her pale and thin body standing out against the dark blue paint on the wall. She was holding a pile of mixed clothes under one arm and there were also some random bits of clothing in the bathroom sink.
“We need to wear something that we haven’t worn outdoors before. Less chance of being recognised while on the road. We’ll leave the rest behind.”
“Sure, makes sense I guess,” he answered still not certain why Eli was standing naked in front of him.
“I need you to…arrange something for me to wear.”
“Arrange?”
“I don’t know what pieces would look normal together, I don’t want to stand out. I need to look…normal,” she explained ironically embarrassed about her lack of fashion sense.
Oscar grinned just a bit.
“You’ve always picked your own clothes…reasonably well, before now.”
“Have I? Have I really?” she asked gleefully.
“Err, okay not really,” he answered remember all the times she had worn something back to front or inside out. Or something the wrong size, too badly worn, something that an old person would wear, or just not enough clothing for the weather outside. “Shoes as well?”
Eli glanced at Oscar’s boots which were on the bathroom floor.
“If I must. Just to look normal until we get elsewhere.”
Oscar grinned slightly more, her legendary reluctance to footwear had taken a backstep. Even if it was all just to look, like she had put it “normal” for the journey ahead of them.
“Eli, I’m sorry. About last night, I just..” he paused with his voice trembling and looked down. Trying to figure out how to apologise without reverting to the state he was in before.
“Ouch!” he shouted suddenly.
Eli had practically run forward and hugged him, her hands on his back pressing into his still healing skin, snowballing the pain. Despite his jerk reaction, she didn’t let go and pressed the side of her face into his chest.
“You scared me last night, but I understand.”
“Sorry.”
Oscar held her, and there seemed to be a moment of perfect clarity and connection between them both. She really did understand what he was feeling, even if she couldn’t say it. He ignored the pain for the sake of the moment until they separated. Eli had gift for making him feel better, to be able to lift him out of the darkest moments. While Oscar knew he had a lot of guilt and grief to process, looking at his friends face and into her blue eyes made him feel that he would get through it with time.
“There is something I want to do first before we leave and before it gets too late. It means I’ll need to head out for a short time” he told her picking out and handing over a light grey polo shirt that was in the sink.
“Cool,” she smirked intentionally mispronouncing the word to try and cheer him up more.
Once Oscar got dressed, simply wrapping his boot lances around his boots a few times, he set out to do the first of several things on his mind before they departed. Eli hadn’t minded, she hadn’t argued and had already started to pack up her puzzles and other belongings by that point. He tried not to think too much about things as he started walking towards the phone box. He rationalised that since they were leaving Copenhagen, maybe even Denmark, this could be his only chance to do it. Not like it wouldn’t matter if he was caught, they would be gone by then. Oscar had always been worried about phoning his old home and his mother, in case the call was traced, putting Eli and himself in danger of being discovered. Maybe he was only using that as an excuse, as if he was being honest the thought rarely entered his mind to begin with. Mostly just at times like his mother’s birthday, and of course on his own birthday. It felt strange not celebrating being another year older, having cake and getting presents. Having a few, two or three if he was lucky, friends around. Eli of course did not do “birthdays,” Putting that to one side, Oscar still didn’t know what to say to his mother after all this time.
“Hi mum, it’s me. I’m fine but I’m a vampire. I can never come home because my best friend is also a vampire and killed a lot of people in Sweden. How are you?”
Oscar almost felt Eli giving him a punch in the arm for using the “V” word. Best not to think about it he reassured himself feeling stupidly nervous, just say...something when she answers. After dialling the number, it seemed to ring for a long-time, giving Oscar a chance to think of...nothing. Then the receiver on the other side was picked up with a man answering.
“Hello?” said the man.
“Hello, it’s me,” he answered automatically as if no time had passed and nothing had happened.
“Who?”
A short pause followed.
“Err, me. It’s Oscar.”
“I...don’t know any Oscar’s. You sure you got the right number?” the man asked after giving it a few seconds thought.
“Yeah. Is my mum there?”
“There are no women here, no one else. It’s just myself.”
Oscar frowned confused then the man spoke again.
“There was a woman here but she was single. She moved, must have been about five months ago.”
“Moved? Where?”
“I don’t know, think the shop she worked in closed or something. She was pretty vague when I asked why she was moving to begin with. She moved out and I moved in. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Err…no, sorry. It’s fine, yeah wrong number.”
Oscar hung up and glared at the receiver. Five months, he had missed her by five months. She had moved, God only knows where. He never envisioned her moving. Maybe the sight of his empty bedroom for so long proved too much. Oscar was glaring at the receiver because he was considering telephoning his dad. The problem being he didn’t know the number, he really didn’t. He rarely ever called his dad, it was his dad who called him. It was somewhat lucky he even knew his mother’s phone number, he never used to know it off by heart. His mother had moved on, he didn’t really know what to think about that. Just something else to put on his “to process list” in his head.
He rubbed his eyes hard for a few moments as they still felt sore before looking at his watch. It had been worn simply so he could keep better track of time tonight, a night where they had a schedule. There was still plenty of time and he set out to find a newspaper that had Amelia’s photograph in it. Even if it seemed a bit morbid, to keep a newspaper covering the events of her death, he wanted some record of her. He didn’t have any photographs of her, he didn’t own a camera and besides it never really came up. When would he have asked? When she was in the shower, or when they were feeding for her? No, he needed a photo, even if it meant searching through the rubbish bins of all the blocks to find a paper someone had thrown out.

Eli was accustomed to packing, even if she generally never had that much in the way of possessions. She could make anything fit perfectly snug in the smallest places, wasting no space in the couple of suitcases and a few cardboard boxes they had. Everything that belonged to her was packed, and she had started on Oscar’s stuff. In the bathroom was his dusty toy car that he had always insisted was cool. A robot from a television series that he had mentioned, had something to do with being lost in space. Then his Rubix Cube. The cube was only partly solved, having been attempted by Amelia after Eli had given her a tutorial.
“Don’t finish it for me, I’ll get it next time I’m here,” she had insisted.
Eli smelt the cube, but it smelt of nothing other than plastic. She had hoped there would be some trace of her, but that was not how things worked. Her senses were geared towards blood and little else. Oscar had a lot of clothes, and despite what she had said about leaving them all behind, Eli laid them all out neatly on the bed so that he could pick just a few. Obviously, she packed the clothes that he had kept and bagged up after their first kill on that drunk man. He would want to keep them. Setting out his shoes in case he wanted to take a different pair, she remembered that she had been meaning to ask Oscar for months why they were called ‘trainers.’ It was not like they trained you to walk or run.
Finally, she picked his favourite comics and magazines that he had stashed in the bedroom. She could tell which one’s were his favourites from how worn they were. She smiled to herself when flicking through the pages, having expected the contents to be something else. He really was different to the other’s she had been with. The magazines Robbie kept were…disturbing. Some of them would give him ideas that he insisted on trying with her. Almost all of the time she refused, but when her hunger was at the worst point, it was the lesser of two evils. Still, there was an enjoyable irony to Robbie’s perversion, as in the end it was his own undoing. One of his “ideas” had resulted in his death. Eli could still remember the satisfaction she felt at that point, she didn’t enjoy being with him, didn’t enjoy being blackmailed into doing things for blood. It seemed like a fitting end for someone who treated her like he did. What she had told Albin at their meeting that he had “gone back to his family” was true, just omitting that

[andmker]

Part 2: Chapter 21 (both parts)


Chapter Twenty-One: Part 1


He had phoned home, even if the result was a failure, and had managed to find an old newspaper covering Amelia’s death that included her photograph. This time around, he gave the photo more attention but wished he hadn’t. Doing so brought back his regret, guilt and upset back to the surface. Oscar guessed that the photograph of her was a year old at the very most. She looked so proud and happy. It was an insult thinking that about a year after that photo was taken, she would be dead because…he slapped himself hard to break away from this train of thought. Eli would have her puzzles and other assorted nick-nacks, some of which Oscar still didn’t know what exactly they were. While he would have the clothes worn from their first joined outing to feed, and newspapers chronicling everything bad that happened. In that regard, not much had changed since his scrapbook of crimes he kept hidden in his bedroom back in Blackeberg.
There was still one thing he wanted to do before he bit the bullet. Then he would pack up his stuff and sit with Eli awaiting transport. Oscar had to remind himself what it was, as he became distracted on the brisk walk back to their apartment. He rubbed the wound on his chest which was starting to itch and become sore again, mostly likely just a result of his actions last night and from rushing around so much tonight. But it was more than just that. The closer he got, the stranger the air started to smell. It almost prompted the memory of the first time he had smelt Eli back in Sweden. That hard-to-place aroma that was like a festering wound that was struggling to heal. Like a damp decaying dog. Like rust, and like the jungle gym bars themselves. It had been what Eli had smelt like when she was starved of blood. He had forgotten the smell, he had become accustomed to it, having spent so much time in her company. Oscar would smell like that if, or rather when that happened to him. He hoped that he hadn’t smelt like that to Amelia. She always smelt amazing for someone who worked so hard.
Oscar scanned around him, looking into the emptiness and noticed that there were fewer lights around than normal. It had been happening for a week or so, someone kept smashing the lampposts. It was nothing to be concerned about, his eyes could easily compensate. There was nothing to account for that smell in the air, so he concluded that there must be a dead or injured animal nearby. It was peculiar and unpleasant nonetheless, the thing inside of him was even twitching with disgust and protest, or maybe concern. It was difficult to tell when the thing was always silent but always made itself known when it wanted blood. Inevitably, Oscar licked his lips. His guilt rose once more thinking of Amelia. He was getting hungry again, quicker than he would have liked, a result of his body healing itself.
“Stupid sun.”
Oscar looked at his watch just to confirm there was still plenty of time. As he climbed the stairs, he looked in turn at each of his neighbour’s doors. He could count on one hand how many times he had seen them, or they had seen him. The thought entered his mind “we’re moving anyway. As long as we get invited in, we could do it.” For the moment, he managed to push the sickening thought out as quickly as it had surfaced. He could wait, more to the point, he would wait for as long as possible before doing that.
One of the apartments on the first floor had a small dead plant by the door. It had been alive when Oscar and Eli first moved in, it had been rather vibrant and full of life. Now it was dead, unattended and forgotten about. That pretty much summed up what he was feeling about himself at the moment. With his mother moving away, and no idea if his father was still where he was before, it hit home that this would always have happened. Oscar, just like Eli, would not grow old. His few friends and family would. They would grow older, forget about him and then die. Oscar wondered how much about them he would remember in the years to come. Perhaps he should keep a diary of everything.
“Just me,” he shouted entering not sure which room Eli was in.
“Hey. What are Goosebumps? Do you want them packed?” he heard her shout in the distance, she was in the bedroom.
“Goosebumps?”
It took Oscar a few moments to remember that he had taken a few of his Goosebumps books with him when they left Blackeberg. To read at some point, but he had never gotten around to it.
“Yeah, please,” he shouted back eventually.
Oscar entered the bathroom and noticed Eli had already packed a few things and the clothes he had picked for her were gone. That is not why he had gone in there in the first place and he pulled out his knife that he had tucked down his trouser waistband. It had been a long time since he had carried his knife with him, it was not something he needed anymore for obvious reasons. He had taken it with him tonight, worried that the final thing on his list would be forgotten about. It would be pretty hard to forget with the blade nearly stabbing him every now and again as he walked. Looking around carefully for the best place, Oscar stood on top of the bathtub, having quickly decided that was clearly where to do it. Then spent a short time using his knife to carve into the wall a short commemorative.

‘Eli & Oscar were here. Amelia too.’

He was proud enough of his craftmanship, even if the landlady would likely call it vandalism. Let her and the next tenants wonder who the three of them were. Oscar put his knife down on the floor and both blew and wiped the plaster dust off the bath. Part of him felt that he should somehow patch the hole in the wall behind the mirror that he had stabbed out many months ago. He didn’t know why.

The time had come and Kevil Dually was now meeting Gareth at their prearranged place and time. The man was not what he had expected. On one hand, he looked perfectly respectable, pretty well groomed and dressed like a business professional or at least a personal assistant to one. Yet, his forehead was so badly bruised that Kevil initially thought it was a crazy large birthmark. That was until seeing the cuts on his cheeks. The detective was experienced enough to judge that they were either self-inflicted, or Gareth often fell and hit stone or concrete with his face.
“Are you okay?” he couldn’t help but ask.
“Yes, yes” insisted Gareth pointing to his face. “I do skateboarding, or rather I try to.”
While Kevil felt that would most likely account for his injured appearance, he struggled to visualize the man in front of him skateboarding. I would be like expecting to see his barman Lester shaking hands with a Chinese man. It was more than that, Gareth’s eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were narrowed, unlike anything he had seen before. Wild eyes, the kind of eyes that made the detective simply swallow his questions and state his intentions.
“There is no one else available. Just me. So, any problems, I’ll call for backup and we wait but it could be a while.”
“I think we can handle two teenagers detective.”
Gareth’s eyes widened with excitement and he seemed desperate to get going. All his behaviour suggested that he was a man who felt privileged to be part of the investigation. Perhaps someone who idealised authorities, or someone who felt it gave meaning to their otherwise meaningless lives. The fact he knew something the police did not, most likely visualising themselves being portrayed as a hero in the local paper. Kevil had come across people like him before. Informants, whistle-blowers and so forth. What they claimed usually turned out to be true, and usually made his job easier so there was no harm.
The detective did pick up on a sort of loner vibe from the man. As they were walking the distance to the building he claimed Oscar and Eli were, they were side by side but with a five-foot gap between them. It was like Gareth didn’t want to get too close to him and he was very thankful for that. The man stank of…something. Kevil’s’ sense of smell was poor at the best of times, if it wasn’t Absinthe or strong coffee then nothing usually registered. Considering that, then this man really must smell bad. He reckoned that maybe Gareth knew that and that was why he was keeping his distance and why Kevil could see him glance sideways to look at him an alarming amount. Gareth himself was struggling to contain his excitement and had to keep reminding himself to walk at a slower pace and to pretend it was cold tonight.

Oscar was impressed to say the least at Eli’s efficiency at packing everything up, or at least what they were taking with them. Everything fitted together like a perfectly played game of Tetris, a game to which he made a mental note to introduce her to at some point. He had tried it a few years ago, not long after the computer game was released and struggled to achieve a decent score. He wondered how the endless puzzle game would hold up against him now.
The pair were sitting on the sofa to rest, Eli had done the bulk of the work tonight knowing it would be best for Oscar to save his strength. Their pale green leather sofa had held up reasonably well considering Oscar had entertained the idea of scrapping it when they first moved in. He and Eli had spent a lot of hours on it just talking, enjoying each other’s company and watching television. He bounced lightly on the cushion and heard the structure creek. If he and Eli both jumped up at the same time the sofa would most likely collapse. Having Amelia on the sofa as well with them when they were feeding from her, hadn’t helped the poor piece of furniture. Oscar ran his hand over the faded leather on the arm, considering cutting a small piece of the leather to take with him as most likely the sofa would be ditched by whoever moved in next.
A short time passed before there was a loud knock at their front door. Both Oscar and Eli looked at each other.
“If that’s the driver he is more than four hours early,” said Oscar flatly, not sure to be concerned or confused by his apparent eagerness. After all, who else would be knocking at this time of night?
Eli appeared to think about it for a few moments and then looked around at everything that had been packed.
“I did ask if he could come early to help us carry everything down the stairs. I offered to pay him more, he didn’t seem keen but must have changed his mind.” she explained walking out of the room and towards the door. “Unless you want to carry all this stuff down? Not throw the bags out the window like you normally do, and you think I don’t know about,” she smiled.
Oscar was glad that she thought ahead about everything, he did not. It wouldn’t take the three of them long to carry everything down. Then he wanted to have a farewell tour of what had become a home for both of them. The memories of taping up the window, the flag that Amelia had got for them, the chess set that he had found in the kitchen. It was time to say goodbye, but that almost felt all right. Amid his deliberations, his nostrils flared. That smell was back.
“Hello, my name is Kevil. I’m looking to check if…”
Eli had opened the door just as Oscar was walking into the hall so they could both greet who would be helping them to start their new lives. He saw the man who had spoken, this man had looked over Eli and directly at Oscar when seeing him. There was someone else standing behind that man. The person who had started to speak, who had introduced themselves as Kevil didn’t get to finish their sentence.
In the few seconds that it had taken for Eli to open the door and for him to speak, they both saw and heard it happen. The man’s head was grabbed from the side and smacked off the doorframe three times in quick succession. It was done with enough force that on the third smack, it cracked the wooden frame and Oscar saw a small squirt of blood eject from the man’s ear. Kevil fell to the floor with his eyes open and still looking at Oscar. They both saw the man who had been standing behind him.
“Hello. Remember me?”



Chapter Twenty-One: Part 2


Oscar froze on the spot and did the only thing he could, being unable to believe what had just happened in front of him, blink and then blink again. Whomever that man was, had just been killed right in front of him by whomever he was with. Wait? What had they wanted, and what else had he said? Eli, equally as stunned, stepped backwards away from the door without breaking eye contact with the unknown person.
As she did so, Gareth took a deep breath and stepped over Kevil’s heaped body and into Oscar and Eli’s apartment.
“Well, I’m glad that worked. I had no idea if I could come in here uninvited or not. Guess it doesn’t apply to where other vampires live.”
As Eli continued to back up towards where Oscar was standing, he did the same. He was too shocked to even register that the man had just identified as a vampire, and they slowly retreated into the sitting room. Neither one of them yet spoke to the wild-looking man who had so casually just smashed someone’s head against solid wood and strolled in. As the three of them reached the sitting room, Gareth stood in front of the door blocking any possible escape. Oscar finally flinched to reach for his knife, then remembered he had left it on the bathroom floor.
“You might not remember me? It has been a while.”
Eli and Oscar glanced at each other, she rarely forgot a face but he didn’t hold that skill. Noticing his blank expression, she whispered.
“The Connelly Hotel.”
“Yes, the hotel. You can almost say that was a lifetime ago,” confirmed Gareth proudly and loudly with his voice echoing around the room.
“Albin’s...employee?” asked Oscar complexed after a few seconds.
“Gareth actually. We might as well be on a first-name basis considering what is about to happen.”
“I don’t understand. How did you become like one of us?” questioned Oscar.
“The same way you did I imagine. Just not as direct.”
There was a short silence in the room with Gareth relishing in their surprise and then Eli looked down to the ground.
“Albin,” she spoke softly.
“Yes, Albin. Or rather what was left of him.”
“Albin was dead, he didn’t survive the fall, no one could,” said Oscar confused looking again at Eli. “You said he was dead.”
She had an intense look of thought on her face. In the rage she had felt at the time, Eli tried to turn Albin and presumed that it hadn’t worked. He was dead, the fall had killed him, he tasted dead. The revelation that the infection could bring back the recently deceased was shocking even to her. Despite this, with everything she had done to him, he should have been completely disabled in every sense. The infection does not grow back body parts.
“Oh, you don’t know?” laughed Gareth looking at their faces. “She mutilated him in so many ways and then she bit him. Wanting to give him what he wanted, but I didn’t quite understand that at the time.”
“So, I was lying on the ground dying, and you went off and did what?”
“Oscar, I wanted to make him pay for what he did to you.”
“Well, you did. At least for a short time” added Gareth. “How long did you leave your so-called friend bleeding to death on the ground while you cut pieces off Albin?”
Oscar felt cold. He still didn’t remember much after being dragged out of the hotel by Eli and then waking up in his bed bitten by her. The thought entered his head that if she had been focused entirely on him, and not making Albin suffer more, then things might have turned out differently. She might have had time to get him help...somehow. He did what he could to ignore that gut reaction, this wasn’t exactly the best time for him to ask for a detailed explanation.
“Albin is...still around?” asked Eli concerned.
“He is long gone. What you did was a success. He became like you, like he wanted I suppose.” Gareth moved closer to them both before continuing. “Blinded and deaf, being unable to speak and being unable to do anything of real value.”
“You tried to help him?” asked Eli.
“Yes, I got him in my car, drove him somewhere safe and bandaged him up as much while thinking what to do next. I didn’t know he was turning into a vampire as he seemed to be getting better. I wasn’t privileged to read all those notes you made for him.”
Gareth’s feet started cavorting randomly where he stood. Like he was restless and desperate to explain in immense detail what happened and then get on with what he was here to do.
“A few nights later, he grabbed my neck and the rest is history as they say. I now know the thing that makes us what we are has some sort of extrasensory ability. It could probably smell my blood.”
“He infected you…while he was still changing?” asked Eli both surprised and concerned enough that Oscar could hear her swallow and see her back off slightly more from him.
Oscar was doing his best to think of something to do, but he had never seen anyone so enraged in his life. Gareth was practically foaming from his mouth and chewing into his lips. His pupils had almost disappeared in his eyes, he was almost in a controlled but not so controlled frenzy. He was like a rabid dog but kept talking.
“When the sun came up the next morning, Albin decided he wanted to go for a little walk. I have no idea if he knew what he was doing or not. The result was the same, a pile of burning dust.”
“Then you became like this because of Albin and not Eli.”
“No!” shouted Gareth enraged. “Albin didn’t know, he didn’t know where he was, who I was, or what he was doing. She did it, Eli did it. This is her fault.”
He briefly lost his temper for a few seconds and raced forward, pushing Eli and Oscar to the ground with a single shove from each hand. They both quickly stood up unharmed and stood side by side against the table.
Gareth regained his composure and backed off towards the door. Oscar could tell from the smell that was coming from him how hungry he was. That made him more dangerous and extremely unpredictable. He could snap at any moment, but it was more than hunger, as he looked and smelt wrong. Neither Oscar nor Eli herself knew if they could both take him or not. Both presuming that an adult vampire even near starving, would more than likely still be stronger than them.
Again there was silence in the room, Gareth just managing to contain himself, wanting to savour the moment and to explain why he was going to do what he was planning to them both. Oscar and Eli used the seconds to think intently, but were dumbstruck by the shock of everything. It was clear to them both that Gareth was obviously here for revenge and they couldn’t do anything.
“I spent months trying to understand things and trying to find you both. I came close a few times. Oscar, I saw you in the capital and tried to follow you. Then I saw you both outside a different block and I couldn’t help but shout out that I found you. Again, I lost you both in the darkness.”
Gareth started to swing his arms about.
“I had narrowed your location down, but I needed help. I couldn’t blow it now,” he said gesturing back to Kevil with exhilaration.
“That was the guy who was trying to find us? The police officer who made the missing posters?” asked Oscar.
“Yes, that was him. Kind of sad really but I needed him. We had a long conversation on the way over here. He was obsessed with trying to find you both and solve all these murders that...”
“...that you are responsible for?” said Oscar
“Well, I’m sure they were not all my doing but yeah. I’m not sure how the both of you haven’t had to feed as much as I have.”
Gareth turned back to look into the hall and again at Kevil once more. He didn’t even care he had left him lying in the doorway.
“That detective considered every possibility and explored every avenue except the correct one. I even suggested that you could be vampires on the way here, and he laughed. All the evidence, everything he had seen, and he refused to even entertain the idea that it could be true.”
Oscar couldn’t understand why Eli had remained silent for so long. She had said very little since asking if he had been infected while Albin was still changing himself. He figured that she was either formulating a plan or maybe just stalling. Whatever the reason, Oscar tried to keep him talking which wasn’t difficult.
“I had been so tempted to kill him on the way over here, but I might have needed him again. I didn’t know if I could just walk in here or not. I suppose I wouldn’t have if you were still uninfected Oscar. I couldn’t risk knocking on every door and if you had a protector living with you, then I wouldn’t have been able to enter.”
“How did you know Oscar was like me? That was after the hotel and you didn’t get close enough to us at the times you mentioned to know,” asked Eli trying to keep up with everything he had said and finally breaking her silence.
“Well…I didn’t have a volunteer donor like you had” he smiled widely.
Oscar felt Eli tightly grab a hold of his t-shirt from the side and then he realised why.
“It was you? Amelia. She told you and you killed her?” he asked.
“Was that her name? She was a pretty little thing. If it helps, she was dead before I put her on the tram tracks.”
The fabric of Oscar’s t-shirt was stretching to ripping point and Eli just about managed to hold him back. Oscar was becoming almost as desperate to attack as Gareth himself was. It had been him, he had killed her, not just killed her but destroyed her. The only thing that was preventing him from lunging was the suggestion that Eli wanted him to wait, that she had something else in mind.
Gareth didn’t seem to be in complete control of his body. He had spoken a lot, he had been desperate to boastfully explain everything in detail and it was clear he was enjoying having them cornered. Even so, something else was happening. His legs and arms were restless, he couldn’t stand still, sometimes taking a few steps forward to them just to take a few steps back. His face was twitching and his movement just seemed uncoordinated. This was more than just hunger and desire for revenge. If Oscar had to guess, he would say that there was something wrong with the thing inside of Gareth. In Oscar’s experience, there had been times when the thing in him had taken control when he was feeding, it takes over. When he had tried to stay out in the rising sun, it had tried to command his legs to move, but this was different.
“So, now you know. Now you are both going to run,” finished Gareth having told them everything he had intended.
“Run?” asked Oscar.
“Yes, run!” he shouted before recomposing himself again. “Run as fast as you can. I want you to know that I am right behind you. Then…I will catch one of you and pull off your head while the other watches.”
Gareth’s laughter echoed around the room.
“The first person I catch will have a quick death and the second I will rip apart slowly. Or you can both die right here right now? To be honest for a long time I planned to make you both suffer immensely. To make you watch as I cut pieces off. To make it last endlessly, but having given it some thought…I’m not that cruel. So run, now.”

[andmker]

Chapter 22 and Chapter 23 - The final chapter....

Chapter Twenty-Two
Fight or Flight


No one expects to die and that is perhaps why so many people do. Right up to the very end, most men believe they can escape on some level. Believe that it will never happen to them, at least not that day. In most cases, it is the death that people remember and not what happened before. What did the person have for breakfast that day? Why did they pick to wear the clothes they did? Why did they choose to do something or not to do something? Naturally, none of that stuff generally matters. The cold grasp of death’s icy fingers easily outweighs the routine decisions a person made before the moment comes. Now and again however, a single person can make a difference where no one else could. Sometimes a person refuses to accompany death just for long enough to do the right thing. To try, even subconsciously, to make amends for their ignorance and naivety. Very few people know what they will do until the moment comes.

If there was a world record for the fastest time to leap down three flights of stairs, both Oscar and Eli would have just beaten it. After being commanded by Gareth to run so that he could hunt them down and inflict his revenge, they had taken four or five stairs at a time to reach the bottom of their building. What he had said to them had been correct, they would not separate from each other. Never. Both of them glanced down at the fallen police detective as they jumped over his heaped body to begin their escape. Eli had looked at him more intently and for a second or two longer.
It gave Oscar a head start going down those stairs, and he used that time to make sure she was right behind him and to try and think of a way to shake off Gareth. The idea of going up to the roof presented itself. That had been a stupid urge and completely implausible, as the access was still padlocked as it had been since they moved in. Oscar had once upon a time intended to break the said lock and use the roof as his own personal playground. Somewhere to exercise, to sit and gaze at the stars with Eli at night, and somewhere for him to sunbathe, before what had happened to him obviously. He regrated that he never got around to it. Even if it wasn’t, it would slow them down too much and Gareth would catch them. Eli overtook him on the final few stairs down to the ground floor.
Oscar’s mind was racing like a pigeon fleeing a cat as he reached for and grabbed the door. He pulled it so hard that it nearly came back and struck Eli in her face. He didn’t mean to, he just felt afraid and that was a rare thing these days. She had put her hand up to shield herself and to stop the door from being pulled off its hinges. Even if they escaped unharmed, Gareth had managed to find them so he might find them again and neither one of them wanted that. Albin had spent decades of his life finding Eli but Gareth would have some major advantages.
“We need to go,” appealed Oscar confused as Eli was still holding the door half shut.
“Wait,” she whispered. “You didn’t notice?”
“Oh Oscar, Oh Eli,” they heard Gareth’s voice as he started to come down the stairs slower than what they had just done. “I’m going to cut out your eyes,” he informed them calmly and confidently.
“Trust me?” she asked putting her hand on his shoulder.
“Always.”
Oscar heard Gareth grow closer to the bottom of the landing, he was close but seemed in no real hurry to catch them, he wanted to make it a game. For some reason, Eli wanted to play as well, and he hoped more than anything that she had a plan.
She finally took her hand off the door and the duo jogged out of the block and onto the path in front of them. Less than five seconds after they started to run, Oscar heard the front door open again and Gareth shouted something else about what he was going to do when he caught them. Again, Oscar was too preoccupied wondering why they were running slowly. He could run faster and he knew that Eli could without a doubt run a lot faster.
“Why were you surprised that he was bitten so soon by Albin?” he asked.
Eli paused before answering. She was listening intently to Gareth’s feet smacking clumsily off the concrete to gauge how far behind he was and to alter her pace to maintain the distance between them.
“I’ll explain, but right now we need to go for a run.”
Oscar saw a smirk on her face, she did have an idea and she did have a plan. The night was tranquilly clear, a complete contrast to what was happening in the emptiness. The pair peeled to the left, changing their terrain from concrete paths to thick damp mud. From behind them, a crazed voice calmly started to declare.
“I’ve never understood why Albin was obsessed with you Eli. You are nothing special. That girl that was feeding you, she was special. God, I wish that I had made her suffer longer.”
Gareth was getting closer to them and Oscar noticed that Eli was pretending to become stuck in the mad. Pretending to panic by panting and flailing about. No one was more expert in running barefooted through muddy fields with no difficulty than she was. She gestured to Oscar for him to “overtake.”
“He wants to save himself Eli! He wants another blonde, not you.”
The only reason that Oscar wasn’t taking the bait or what Gareth was saying to heart was the faith he had in Eli. She appeared to be doing…something, and while he wished she would say what that was, he could tell she was otherwise busy trying to calculate internally. He couldn’t fathom what her idea was, as everything he could think of was a lost cause. Sunrise was an impossibly long time away, and for once that annoyed him, they couldn’t keep him at bay for so many hours. He even considered that maybe she was trying to stall until the man arranged to come and collect them arrived. That also seemed unlikely and that surely wouldn’t achieve anything. Gareth would not let them both escape from him just to deal with a random stranger.
Oscar stopped a minute later once he had cleared the mud and turned to check on Eli. She was roughly twenty feet behind him and Gareth was about the same distance behind her.
“Wounded like that…at least five minutes. Providing he doesn’t stop for help. No, he wouldn’t.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Oscar grabbing her hand to yank her out of the last few feet of muck. She didn’t answer and the pair resumed running side by side at a moderate pace.
“I’m getting closer!” shouted Gareth.
Oscar had expected them to continue straight ahead through the empty fields and open plains to the horizon. Or maybe to turn left and head for the other apartment building to try and hide or lose him. Instead, Eli pulled him to the right and they ran across a narrow path with the field on one side and the mud they had waded through on the other. She pulled him behind her at a faster pace, looking behind every few seconds to gauge how near Gareth was. It was harder to tell on the soft ground but by Oscar’s estimate, he was getting a bit closer.
“You asked why I was surprised that he became infected while Albin was still changing?”
“Err…amongst other things, yeah.”
“Do you not remember how sick and weak you felt in those first few nights? That is when the infection is at its worst, that is when it is doing what it needs to do to change you. The hunger should have made him kill Gareth but it is worse than that.”
“Worse? How can it be worse?” asked Oscar, and after Eli had checked again how far Gareth was behind them, she continued with both of them ignoring his taunts.
“The infection is the sickness. The change is complete when the sickness has burnt off. It means that if he was bitten while Albin was still changing, he would have passed on that sickness. It would not have burnt off. It would have become part of him.”
“Meaning?” asked Oscar desperately seeking her point.
“It’s like a…super infection now. It would not have burnt off when Gareth changed. It is still in his blood. Part of him. His thirst, his hunger would be much more than ours. But, worse still…it has driven him crazy. Look at his self-inflicted injuries, he is burning from the inside.”
Oscar screwed his face up and shook his head to try and force his brain to understand exactly what she was trying to say. Everything about being like this escaped reason and he had never really asked for details on how exactly the process worked. Eli generally didn’t know herself and Oscar still struggled to understand the “thing” inside of him, how it worked and how blood kept it happy. Again, Eli knew more about being like this and had tried her best to explain.
She had infected Albin, the infection is a sickness but once the change is complete, the worst part of the infection burns off. You are no longer exhausted and sick, just changed and you need blood to survive. Still infected yes, but like an asymptomatic carrier. Albin had infected Gareth while the worst part of the sickness was still in him and that is why he was suffering so much with hunger and insanity. It mostly made sense but Oscar’s head was refusing to deal with anything else right now, so he accepted her enlightenment.
“So, the infection has made him crazy? How does that help us?” he asked now running nearly as fast as he could to try and keep Gareth at bay with Eli just in front of him.
“He doesn’t know what we are and what we are capable of. He doesn’t know how fast we can run, or how well we could hide if we wanted. Like a…mountain lion, knowing it has teeth and can kill, but not knowing it can pounce from trees and do so much more.”
Oscar understood a bit more. That he is consumed by hunger, craziness and desire for revenge. Nothing else. The thing inside him would be shouting constantly, fuelled by what Eli had called a superinfection. What Oscar had felt like for the first few nights when he was changing is what Gareth felt like, but all the time since his change and much worse.
“To him, he doesn’t know people. How they act and react. He doesn’t see anything else in the world.”
Oscar realised that they had just run past Edvard’s old shop, which felt like a lifetime ago. They were running back to their apartment block having just run around in a large circle. Exactly why Oscar didn’t know, but it was clear that Eli intended to let him think that he was hunting them and getting closer to what he wanted. A short time later, as they all drew closer to the apartment block, Oscar saw that Eli seemed to be looking for something. They both sprinted first to the side of the building and then past the front door about ten feet from the entrance.
“What do we do now?” asked Oscar turning to see that Gareth was right behind them.
“Okay!” shouted Eli. “You can have me.”
Gareth stopped in his path a short distance away from Eli and Oscar looking proud.
“I’m surprised you gave up so easily,” he spoke. “But I suppose you are tired of running for so many years.”
“Yes. I am. But what happened to Oscar was my fault, not his. Let him go and you can have me to do with whatever you want.”
Her voice was slower and somewhat louder than normal, definitely enough for Oscar to notice.
“No, no, no,” laughed Gareth. “Both of you, I will kill both of…”
“Fine, but have some mercy. Me first?” said Eli. “Don’t make me watch him suffer.”
Both Oscar and Gareth looked confused at her apparent act of defeat and self-sacrifice.
“Well, I’m afraid not. I want you to watch what happens to him. I want you to hear him scream as I do everything to him that you did to Albin and more. Then…I will get creative with you.”
Oscar felt a chill radiate down him at hearing Gareth say that, but before any of them had a chance to say or do anything, they all heard what appeared to be an explosion. A deafening explosion that made his ears pop with pain, and seemed to be the loudest thing he had ever heard. Then another explosion seconds later just as loud. No, not quite explosions but it was easy to mistake. Oscar knew the sound well.



Chapter Twenty-Three
Oscar’s and Eli’s Last Night


The deafening sounds were gunshots and there had just been a third in as many seconds. They echoed through the air like surround-sound fireworks, and their loudness had caught Oscar by surprise with his improved hearing. Instinctively he had cupped his hands over his ears and he quickly looked at Eli fearing the worst. She had done the same and looked both unharmed and even pleased. He knew that he hadn’t been hit by anything, he would absolutely remember what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a bullet. So, he looked at Gareth who was still standing in front of them in his crazy enraged state with that evil smile. Then a fourth gunshot, this time Gareth’s head and face fell forward and he slowly, very slowly fell to the ground. Leaning down on one knee first, then the second, he looked confused before slowly face-planking the path.
“Fucking vampires. Yester will never…let me…live this down.”
It was Detective Kevil Dually, who had crawled down the stairs with a fractured skull and more and then shot Gareth multiple times from behind. He had both decided and been told, that just to be safe, to bring a firearm. Still laying on the ground, he looked up at Oscar and Eli and slowly put his gun down.
“I solved my…case. I heard everything said…upstairs,” he said struggling for breath and winching with pain.
On the ground having leopard crawled out of the building, not for stealth but purely because that’s all he could do. The thing inside of Oscar jumped to attention noticing the blood coming from the side of Kevil’s head. He took a step back from Kevil, wanting to ensure that he kept in control with the flood of adrenaline in his body helping him to do so. Eli however slowly went over to the detective and knelt beside him.
“Thank you,” she spoke softly.
“When I saw you. That you hadn’t changed…since the picture. It started to fall into place. Then I listened. Couldn’t do…much else.”
“You still saved us. Gareth would have killed endlessly. You saved a lot of people,” reassured Eli. “But…your head. It isn’t going to get better.”
Oscar persuaded himself to take a few steps to the side for a better view. She was right, the side of the man’s head had been caved in by Gareth’s attack. It was a minor miracle that he hadn’t been killed outright. That must have been what Eli observed when they were leaving the apartment and why she slowed down. She saw that he was still alive.
“Many like you?” asked Kevil.
“No. Just me and Oscar.”
“Good,” he replied weakly and struggling to keep his eyes open. “You can survive…without killing?”
“We tried. Maybe, hopefully.”
“Honestly, I’m just glad…it’s not the Chinese.”
Eli looked over at Oscar confused but he shrugged, also unsure what the Chinese had to do with anything. Oscar finally spoke to the man.
“Doesn’t have to end like this. Eli…we, can save you.”
“I become like you?” asked Kevil.
“Yes.”
“Hmm. No, but thanks anyway. I’m just glad that I could help stop…” Detective Kevil Dually took a final breath and his final words “…tell Yester his music sucks.”
Oscar couldn’t help but stare at yet another person he watched die. He knew so little about this man, but in the end, the detective had saved them. He wasn’t completely sure why and that did bother him a bit. Eli did what she usually did and tried her best to make Kevil look respectable to whoever would find him. She even wiped his shoes clean of blood before closing his eyes, and then picked up Kevil’s gun and put it closer to Gareth’s hands to indicate a struggle.
“Eli, are you sure HE is dead?” asked Oscar carefully sneaking closer to a motionless Gareth who still had that look on his face. He was surprised at the amount of blood that was escaping from his body. Blood, but it held no appeal to him. Like soured milk, it smelt wrong.
“He is. Absolutely.”
After a few moments of appreciative silence, she tugged on Oscar’s shirt.
“We have to go now. The gunshots would have been heard. A lot of people will be coming.”
Oscar took a final look at Gareth and Kevil, then at the apartment block before into Eli’s eyes and nodded in agreement. The pair walked off peacefully side by side, initially keeping close to the building and the shadows before penetrating into the woods in the distance.
“How did you do all that?” asked Oscar. “I mean, Gareth didn’t seem to have any idea what you were leading him to. You timed it almost perfectly, and how did you know that detective would come down to our rescue?”
Eli looked at him and grinned.
“I know people. You will do in time as well. Also, I know how to play possum.”
Oscar was glad they were long past her once-upon-a-time typical response of “that is just the way it is.” Despite what had happened, he felt reassured and briefly stopped to stretch, appreciating that just a short time ago he really felt they were in serious trouble. It was unfortunate what happened to Kevil, he had seemed like a decent guy. At least Gareth was stopped and at least his death gave some closure. He had been made to pay for those whom he killed and what he did to Amelia. Oscar didn’t even mind what he had found out in the apartment about Eli going off to attack Albin. Having now experienced the rage knowing what Gareth had done to Amelia, he understood the impulse. He would have done the same to Gareth given the chance. As Oscar looked behind him before they set off again into the dense trees, he could see a multitude of flashing lights descending on where they had left. He still thought flashing lights and sirens from emergency vehicles were pretty cool. It was like the landscape and horizon were having a disco.
“That is one of the reasons I’ve survived,” said Eli. “We are made to hunt and it comes naturally. I don’t just mean killing, I mean the instinct and the feeling.”
“I think I understand, it’s like our spider sense.”
Eli gave him a quizzical look for about the millionth time since they had first met.
“Don’t worry, I’ll show you what I mean when we get another TV.”
“Cool,” replied Eli.
“Yeah, very awesome.”
The pair took each other’s hands and set to put as much distance between themselves and the scene. They would also have to find somewhere to shelter from the sun that would annoyingly come up at some point.

When daylight did come, it brought a torrent of rain with it. That didn’t stop a young woman, along with a horde of other reporters, descending as close as possible to where the bodies of Kevil Dually and Gareth had been found. Eli had been correct, even in a sparsely populated area with neighbours who never seemed to be around, people had heard the shouting and gunshots. The bodies had been found by the few brave enough to venture out to investigate. The reporter had stationed herself deliberately with her backdrop showing a marathon amount of crime scene tape and no less than six police cars. The young woman who was called Sophie took a breath, made sure her hair looked respectable and then began her report.
“One of the deceased men is believed to be the perpetrator of many, if not all, of the horrifying murders committed in the last year. The male matches vague, but multiple descriptions of a person seen in the vicinity of at least four of those murder scenes. He was shot dead by Police Detective Kevil Dually who was following up on a major led, and who unfortunately was also found dead on the scene. The veteran detective has no next of kin, but he will no doubt be missed dearly by his fellow colleagues and friends. Already this morning, questions are being asked as to how the detective was allowed to attend such a potentially dangerous situation by himself. To that, there does appear to be some confusion. One source suggested that the detective believed he was only investigating a possible location of a missing teenage boy. The boy who has not yet been named may have been linked to the murders or murderer in some way. However, there is no indication he was responsible for what happened in the early hours.”

Later that same day, while everyone else was likely settling down for lunch, Oscar screwed his eyes shut as he was struggling to sleep. One of the more pressing reasons was worrying that the rain would dissolve the cardboard box they were sheltering in and expose them to the sun. Eli had assured him that it wouldn’t, but he did his best to maintain some sort of awareness just in case. They had walked until just after four in the morning before coming across their temporary shelter, and dragging the box deeper into the woods. There they both climbed in and expertly tipped the box over from the inside so the flaps were underneath. It was a nice trick and as Eli had explained, it would prevent any wind from opening the top of the box, and make it less likely any passing public would peak in hoping something good was inside. It wasn’t until several hours had passed and Eli was fast asleep, that he wondered how they would get out of the box when the time came. That could wait, maybe they would just rock the box until it tipped over again.
He spent some of the time in that box thinking about what had been their lives in Denmark. There had been plenty of good moments, most with or involving Eli, and some very dark days. There was however one striking fact pressing on his mind.
Everyone they had associated with since coming here, or who knew about them was now dead. Some of them were innocent and some were not. The shopkeeper Edvard killed by Eli, that idiot Albin killed by both of them, and his employee Gareth shot dead by the police officer whose name Oscar couldn’t remember at present. That police officer was also dead. Then there was that homeless man whose blood Eli had juiced after Oscar first became like this. The drunk man singing on his way home that they both fed from. No doubt others that Eli had fed from when she went out. Thinking about all the people Gareth killed was a miserable reality. They were innocent and it should never have happened that way. Then there was Amelia, the painting-perfect wonder that he had met and felt…something for. What had happened to her was an injustice that he would never forget and never allow to be repeated.
The truth appeared to be that death would always be their gift. It was a gift that Oscar never wanted to give anyone else again. Right now, they had nothing and no one apart from each other. That was all Oscar wanted from this point on. Nothing else and no one else mattered apart from Eli. As the rain died down, he repeated a few words to himself once written on a note to him from her.

‘I must be gone and live, or stay and die’

[andmker]

Well folks...that is it for part one and part two of my fan fiction.

It has been a long journey for Eli and Oscar and they have had some good and bad moments. I enjoyed writing this all and I hope you enjoyed reading.

I am thinking of getting my FF printed and bounded (for non-profit and personal use of course) and changing the name to something like "Vampire, is but a word."

[Blood]

“Hmm. No, but thanks anyway. I’m just glad that I could help stop…” Detective Kevil Dually took a final breath and his final words “…tell Yester his music sucks.”


Later that same day, while everyone else was likely settling down for lunch, Oscar screwed his eyes shut as he was struggling to sleep. One of the more pressing reasons was worrying that the rain would dissolve the cardboard box they were sheltering in and expose them to the sun. Eli had assured him that it wouldn’t, but he did his best to maintain some sort of awareness just in case. They had walked until just after four in the morning before coming across their temporary shelter, and dragging the box deeper into the woods. There they both climbed in and expertly tipped the box over from the inside so the flaps were underneath. It was a nice trick and as Eli had explained, it would prevent any wind from opening the top of the box, and make it less likely any passing public would peak in hoping something good was inside. It wasn’t until several hours had passed and Eli was fast asleep, that he wondered how they would get out of the box when the time came. That could wait, maybe they would just rock the box until it tipped over again.
He spent some of the time in that box thinking about what had been their lives in Denmark. There had been plenty of good moments, most with or involving Eli, and some very dark days. There was however one striking fact pressing on his mind.
Everyone they had associated with since coming here, or who knew about them was now dead. Some of them were innocent and some were not. The shopkeeper Edvard killed by Eli, that idiot Albin killed by both of them, and his employee Gareth shot dead by the police officer whose name Oscar couldn’t remember at present. That police officer was also dead. Then there was that homeless man whose blood Eli had juiced after Oscar first became like this. The drunk man singing on his way home that they both fed from. No doubt others that Eli had fed from when she went out. Thinking about all the people Gareth killed was a miserable reality. They were innocent and it should never have happened that way. Then there was Amelia, the painting-perfect wonder that he had met and felt…something for. What had happened to her was an injustice that he would never forget and never allow to be repeated.
The truth appeared to be that death would always be their gift. It was a gift that Oscar never wanted to give anyone else again. Right now, they had nothing and no one apart from each other. That was all Oscar wanted from this point on. Nothing else and no one else mattered apart from Eli. As the rain died down, he repeated a few words to himself once written on a note to him from her.

‘I must be gone and live, or stay and die’

Excellent ending andmker. Nice use of humor too.

[andmker]

I've decided after all this time to rename my fan fiction from "Let The Wrong One Out" to "Vampire is but a Word."

Plus I've got my finished FF bound and printed Providing I've embedded the images and links correctly you should hopefully be able to see my printed book.

[andmker]

Thanks to gkmoberg1 for helping explain how to post the images