Immortal Ch. 05

Hello, readers. It's been a long time, I know. I thank all of you who have bared with me through a really tough time in my life. This is officially my triumphant return to writing and I promise that there is a lot more to come in the future. If this is your first time reading the series, I suggest you go back and read the other chapters. Again, thank you for those of you that have faithfully commented. This is for you all. :)

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Elizabeth seemed to be getting better by the day, although she was still a shell of the person that Lothie had first met. She had been unusually quiet though, trying to decide whether what Lothie had told her was part of a dream or the truth. She would go through the daily motions of being well, but they were halfhearted. Both Lothie and Gabriella could see that she wouldn't be long for this Earth.

It was late one evening, the snow falling thick outside as the three of them hunkered into the library. Lothie and Gabriella were discussing a book as Elizabeth stared into the fire. She'd been doing that a lot lately, spending hours staring into the flames until they were just embers. He knew that the news of Richard had almost completely broken her spirit, but he also knew that Gabriella wasn't ready to give up on her. She'd showered the girl in gifts, making her smile for a few short moments, but the sullen look would always settle back on her face. It seemed hopeless.

They were interrupted by a soft knocking at the door. Lothie was up in a flash, opening it and looking out to see who was there, grinning at the man who was standing there. "And where have you been hiding?" He asked Dmitri, ushering the man into the room and closing the door behind him.

"Here and there." He said with a grin as she nodded to Gabriella and turned his attentions to Elizabeth who hadn't looked up from the fire yet. "Hello." He said, making her jump slightly, turning to look at him.

"Dmitri." She said with a smile as she stood up from her chair, her eyes brightening as he took her hand and gently kissed her knuckles.

Lothie watched this reaction curiously. He hadn't seen that animated of a look on Elizabeth's face in days. It was then that a thought occurred to him, one that seemed to suck the breath from his lungs, filling him with a dead feeling. Her soul was calling out to those that were like her, and they would claim that very soul before she even had a chance. He didn't miss the sidelong glance that Dmitri gave him, a slight smile settling over the other man's face as Lothie growled softly. No one would take her from him.

"My old friend, I mean no harm. I've come with news." Dmitri said, turning from Elizabeth when he heard the growl. He watched as Gabriella moved across the room, sensing the danger that had suddenly taken over.

"And what news is that?" Lothie asked, glancing at Gabby as she brushed against his side, her presence tense yet calming. At least Elizabeth had not noticed the tension, so absorbed in Dmitri that she was numb to everything else.

"She has a gift." Dmitri said proudly, looking at the two vampires as they looked back at him with suspicion. It was as if he had some great secret and took great pleasure in telling the entire world about it. He turned and took Elizabeth's hand, guiding the startled girl over to the keyboard and taking a seat as he smiled at her. "Show them what you can do."

Elizabeth blushed deeply, bowing her head slightly. "I can't do that." She whispered, glancing over at Lothie and Gabriella as they stared at each other, a myriad of emotions passing over their features. She wondered if it had something to do with the confession that Lothie had made to her.

"Of course you can. There is so much more to you than just a beautiful face. Show them what you are capable of doing." He insisted again, gaining the vampires attention at that, the smirk on his face growing wider.

With that, Dmitri started a song, his hangs gliding over the keys like silk as he started at her, his eyes willing her to start. After growing another shade of red, Elizabeth opened her mouth and began to sing softly, her voice barely a whisper.

Lothie watched with a slightly disappointed look on his face. To hear Dmitri talk, there had to be something amazing there, but he was straining himself to listen to even the softest of notes that came from Elizabeth. Glancing at Gabriella, he saw the hope that she had on her face laced with the same disappointment. He sighed and shook his head, taking his seat again as Gabriella settled in beside him.

Dmitri stopped playing suddenly, giving Elizabeth a hard look. "You're not even trying. Sing like you did the other day. This is no different from then." He accused her, his eyes lit as if there were a smoldering fire in them. He had a point to prove to Lothie and Gabriella and he would be damned if this girl made a fool of him.

"This is completely different." She murmured in her own defense as she turned her attention back to Dmitri.

"No, you just don't want to try. Poor little girl is scared." He knew that he was playing with fire, pushing her until he was rewarded with a hard glare and the hard set line of her jaw as she gritted her teeth in anger. "Sing it like you mean it." He said, starting again.

She continued to glare at Dmitri, tears stinging her eyes as she felt betrayed. He was forcing her into something that she didn't want, but as much as she wanted to be stubborn and storm from the room, she began to sing with all her worth, her anger at the man behind the keyboard flowing out with her words.

It was as if all the air in the room was suddenly sucked out as Elizabeth sang, the haunting melody wrapping around the two vampires, enticing their senses more then anything ever had in their long lives. Lothie sat dumbfounded, staring at the frail girl as her voice rose. He glanced at Gabby, a smile on her face as her fangs gleamed white against her lips. He stood slowly from the chair, moving across the room as if in a fog, the only thing that he was conscious of was the voice in his head.

Dmitri could have easily finished his job then, taking from Elizabeth what he had come to the estate for while she was distracted, but he found himself stopped by something that he hadn't experienced in many years: his conscience. Why deprive the world of something so beautiful, he asked himself as he noticed the lethargic look on Lothie's face. Just as he'd been told many years ago by the council, the voice of an angel that could entice even the most hardened heart. He mused on that as he slowly stopped playing, flashing that disarming smile at Elizabeth as she stopped with him.

Lothie stood silent beside Elizabeth, staring at Dmitri as the song finished, the last sounds dying away from the keyboard. The two men shared a look, Dmitri looking smug at all of the secrets that he knew while Lothie had an immediate understanding of what all of this was. "Your voice is beautiful, princess." Lothie said finally, making Elizabeth turn a bright shade of crimson.

"Thank you." She whispered softly, catching her breath before Gabriella was suddenly upon her, gushing at the performance.

Dmitri took the moment to close the latch on the keyboard before silently slipped away from the two women. Lothie caught him by the arm, staring into his eyes for a moment. "Give us more time." He whispered, his eyes imploring his old friend to hold off on his mission.

"You don't wish the pain to end?" He asked, knowing very well how attached the two vampires had become to the girl.

"It will end." Lothie said simply. "But not your way." He let go of Dmitri's arm, waiting for a reply.

Dmitri laughed to himself, a deep rumbling sound in his chest. Lothie was so cool and confident about nearly everything, he knew that Elizabeth wouldn't last long around here though. Not with her spirit calling out the way that it was, yet, he had an odd sense of sport in him suddenly. Let the vampires have what they want. There couldn't be any harm in that. "As you wish." He said with a slight bow before taking his leave. "Just remember," He said at the door, turning to look at Lothie, "that it all comes with a cost."

Lothie felt a sense of accomplishment at Dmitri's words. He'd bought time for Elizabeth but when he watched her and Gabriella, he knew the cost which Dmitri had spoken of. The tired look on her face from just the smallest activity told him that she would lose her fight in days.

"I believe," Lothie said, walking towards the two. "That it is time for bed."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, feeling exhausted from the effort that she'd put forth. She seemed to get tired at everything these days, even dressing herself. She had hoped that it was just an aftereffect of what had happened that night between herself and Lothie, but the feeling just never went away. "Goodnight." She said, hugging Gabriella and Lothie before leaving them in peace.

As the latch on the door sounded, Gabriella turned to Lothie with a feral look in her eyes. "I had no idea that she could do that." She said, her smile showing her fangs in all their glory.

"Everyone has a secret. Seems that Dmitri just discovered hers." Lothie said, taking Gabriella's hand to leave the room. Elizabeth's voice had been beautiful, one of those sounds that would stay with a person for a very long time. Little did Lothie know just how it would have effected Gabriella.

Even before the door to their chambers had closed, Gabriella made her move. Lothie grinned as she grabbed the front of his doublet, pulling him in for a smoldering kiss. Elizabeth's voice still rang through her head, a haunting sound that seemed to intoxicate her senses. Perhaps Dmitri was right, there was more to her than just being beautiful. It took mere seconds for her to be naked, yet another gown ruined in his haste to get at her body.

"What are you thinking about?" Lothie whispered in her ear, noting her green eyes deep in thought.

She smiled, kissing him deeply again. "Of how much I missed this." She whispered back, nipping at his lower lip as his hands explored her naked body, grazing over her nipples.

He always knew how to drive her wild and tonight, he was going to put that knowledge to good use as he elicited a moan from her by massaging her breasts and pulling gently on the rosy peaks. The walls soon echoed with the sounds of their passion as they raced to fill the need that had built up after so long apart. In the back of each of their minds was Elizabeth's voice, filling their senses and touching a part of each that neither knew existed.

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Elizabeth stood in the darkness of the morning, looking out over the frozen courtyard. In her imagination, she saw a dark figure coming towards her in the growing light. The same brown hair and eyes of the man that she loved, a smile wide on his face. She found herself smiling back as she pressed her hand against the cold glass.

"Richard." She whispered, her breath fogging the glass so that the figure was lost.

Quickly, she wiped it clean with her sleeve, squinting to see if he was still there, but there was nothing but an empty courtyard. Sadness washed over her as she thought of all that she had lost over the past year. She bit her lower lip, tears springing to her eyes as she slowly curled her hand over the glass. But there was still one thing that she had gained, and that was Gabriella and Lothie.

Sleep had been completely lost as she tried to ignore the cries that had been coming from Lothie and Gabriella's chamber. She wasn't stupid nor naïve and she knew exactly what those cries meant. A longing rose in her chest as she though of everything that she would never have. The fact hadn't been lost on her that she was dying, but she didn't want that now. She wanted a chance at life.

With a sigh, she turned from the window, looking down the darkened corridor towards their chambers, her mind racing with one thought. Lothie had trusted her with a secret that would be their very undoing if she spoke it and now Elizabeth knew exactly what she wanted to do.

Walking slowly down the hallway as the sky began to turn a brilliant shade of pink as a new day dawned over the land, she came to a halt in front of the main chambers. With a shaky hand, she knocked and held her breath, waiting for an answer. It seemed like an eternity until she heard someone unlock the door and it opened a crack, Lothie appearing as a shadow against the darkened room.

"What is the matter, Elizabeth?" He whispered, his voice heavy with sleep as he stared at the girl.

She stared at him for a long while, taking in everything with her haunted blue eyes. Taking a deep breath, she turned her head slightly and looked at the dawn that was quickly approaching and she knew in her heart that it would be the right decision.

"I want to become one of you." She whispered softly, looking up into his dark eyes with a serious expression.

"You've thought about this?" He asked, his face a blank slate.

"Every day since you first told me." Her eyes slowly filled with tears as she smiled at him. "I know that it cannot take away the pain, I see that in you every day, but God knows that I'm suffering now. I want it to stop." She answered truthfully, wiping away a tear as it trailed down her cheek.

Lothie opened the door more, ignoring the coming day as he reached out his hand and cupped her chin gently, looking over her face with a sorrowful expression. "What do you think this can give you?"

"Life." She answered simply, shivering slightly at the touch of his cold fingers on her skin.

"Life in death?" He asked with a bitter laugh.

"A life that I would have never had if it weren't for you. A life without pain and sickness." She paused for a long moment, warring with her mind. "A life without Richard. A thousand lifetimes to live and learn. To love again one day. You and Gabriella have had your chance, and now," She said, smiling slightly. "I want mine."

Lothie took a step back, a smile curled the corners of his mouth and he turned to hold open the door for her. "Please, come in, Princess." He murmured gently, guiding her through the doorway as the sun peaked over the clouds and lit up the sky.

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Coming Soon: Chapter 6: Elizabeth makes her final decision as dark clouds appear on the horizon.

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If you took the time to read, please take the time to comment. Remember, all comments are read and taken into account. Please help me guide the story, or offer opinions. :) Happy reading.