Dawn Awakening

John Mark looked up at the headlights cutting a path through the darkness. The swath of light shone into the trees as the cruiser bobbed up and down on the uneven, overgrown trail leading to the lodge. "If he touches so much as one hair on Robbie's head without her permission, I'll kill him. I'll rip him apart with my bare hands if I have to. And nobody will stop me."

Robbie shivered in the backseat, unwinding her legs as Mack pulled the cruiser to a stop. Mack turned off the ignition and opened her door. The scanty light from the headlights barely cut through the thick darkness around her. She took a deep breath, shaking off the fear and stepped out. "I guess its show time, huh."

Gently, Mack patted Robbie on the back and whispered, "Stay close to the brothers, they'll keep you safe." Taking her arm in his gnarled hands, he guided her through the darkness.

Robbie wanted to run. She wanted to find someplace to hide. But, there wasn't anyplace safe from the vampire. In the dull light from the cruiser's headlights, his eyes seemed to gleam with an unearthly fire. She resisted the urge to tear free from Mack's grip on her arm and bury her face in the familiar comfort of John Mark's chest. Mack guided her through the circle of warriors and handed her off to their leader, Lucien.

Gently, Lucien took Robbie's arm from Mack's grip. During the hand off, he stole a quick second to look into her eyes as if it would give him some sort of indication about where her head was in this whole mess. Her green eyes darted wildly from side to side between him and the rogue to his left. She was terrified, trembling beneath his palm, and struggling not to show it. Brave girl. As long as she kept her cool, so would John Mark.

Robbie shrank back into herself as she stood toe to toe with the Sons' leader. If she thought John Mark was big, he had nothing on Lucien. The man towered over her, staring down with dark eyes, their stare hard enough to separate marrow from bone as if he could see straight into her heart and read what lay inside. For his immense size, he handled her with great care, slowly and gently spinning her to face the devil himself.

Kiros's forced smile, which really looked more like a smirk than an actual smile, froze the blood in her veins. Robbie thought she was brave until he opened his mouth to speak, revealing twin fangs, sharp and lethal as a razor's edge. "Child, I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to make you an offer." His voice rolled through her mind. Like a drop decadent chocolate over the tip of her tongue, rich and filled with the promise of sweetness. She was grateful for Lucien's thick forearm wrapped around her waist, holding her upright as her knees wobbled, threatening to buckle beneath her weight.

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say." Her voice was shrill and tremulous with fear. She trembled against the fear she could no longer hold at bay. An unwanted tear of pure terror rolled down her cheek. Kiros reached out to capture it on the pad of his fingertip and brought it in a perfect, liquid drop to his lips, closing his eyes and savoring the salty flavor of her horror.

Pausing to flash the girl and the mighty warrior bent on keeping him from his prize, he went on. "Many centuries ago, I was human. Times were very different then. Life was barely tolerable, harder and crueler than you could ever imagine. I found my solace though, not in the cold arms of my wife, or the bitter approval of my father. But, in the sweetness of my mistress's embrace. It was through her that my line carried on and your destiny was born.

"I was fortunate in one thing though. The thing that took my mortal life and ripped me out of my mistress's loving arms knew nothing of her or the child growing in her womb. I kept my secrets and chose my companions well in those days. Determined to protect those I held most dear. I kept my distance from my mistress and my son out of fear of their discovery. But, I always kept watch.

"The two great wars thinned my line to the brink of extinction. It was there on a blood soaked battlefield, holding your great grandfather dying in my arms. I vowed that my line would never be erased from the face of the Earth. You are the last of my living descendants, my dear.

"You see. Vampires are far from immortal. Death skips no one and time catches up with us all. My thousandth year approaches. I fear the hands of the clock, racing to usher in my death. I must ensure something of me is left behind before the Grim Reaper comes for me." Kiros stretched out his hand to Robbie and lowered his voice. "Your loving aunt is eager to meet you. We're all you have left now, Robbie. Your family."

Robbie's lips were unable to form the words colliding into one another to form such a jumbled up mess in her head. Wide eyed and confused, she stared at Kiros's outstretched fingers. It'd be so easy, probably better and safer for everyone involved if she just gave up and placed her fingers and her destiny in his hand. The solution was so simple. She didn't have to die like her parents. She didn't have to be all alone. All she had to do was take his hand and it would all be over. She'd never have to be afraid again. Timidly, she reached out. Her hand stretched to close the distance between their fingers.

Kiros smiled warmly at Robbie. All he had to do was get her permission and there wouldn't be a thing anyone could do to stop him. She hovered on the edge, so close to giving in. "I'm offering you immortality. A virtually eternal life of luxury and opulence the likes of which you could never imagine in your wildest dreams. All you have to do is place your hand in mine and I'll take care of the rest. Through you and the vampires you create, I will have my immortality. I've waited so long to find you. I love you, my precious child."

In her mind, Robbie saw shadows of what Kiros offered. Decadence, overflowing into the realm of excess, lavished upon her. The entire world bent to her every whim and desire. Kiros would take care of her. Keep her safe. Forever. Her fingers trembled in the mere inches of empty space that separated them from Kiros's outstretched palm. Slowly, her hand lowered, hovering within a fingerbreadth of his grip.

"Robbie! NO!" Incapacitated by the sheer bulk of his brothers as they toppled him to the ground, John Mark craned his neck for a better view. "Robbie," he shouted over the melee of bodies struggling to keep him pinned, "remember what I taught you!" Once she gave her permission, whether it was spoken aloud or given by intent, the bastard would win. Her fingers were so close to settling in the cup of his palm. Hovering under his spell. John Mark wasn't about to go down without a fight. He meant what he said. He'd kill Kiros or die trying before he handed Robbie over to him.

Robbie shook her head, clearing her mind from the dark spell of Kiros's influence. John Mark's voice brought her back to awareness. Freewill was a weapon. Maybe, the only one she had at her disposal. As tempting as Kiros's offer was, the choice was hers to make. The devil offered her every earthly desire imaginable, but at what price?

He wanted her body and soul. Did he think he could buy her so cheaply with the promise of a few baubles? She gathered the courage to answer him, dropping her hand to her side. Her humanity, the price of her soul, was worth more than anything he offered. "I'm not for sale." Without taking her eyes off the shocked expression on his smug face, she said, "I'll take my chances as a mortal."

"Insolent thankless child!" Kiros spat. He'd offered her everything in exchange for something so trivial. What was her human life in exchange for immortality? "I will have you! You are mine!" Reaching out in a move so fast, not even the warrior at her side had seen it coming. He grabbed her arm, throwing Robbie to the ground. The air rushed out of her lungs in a weak scream as he pinned her flailing limbs beneath the weight of his body and drove his fangs in, ripping away the tender flesh of her throat.

Kiros drank deeply, oblivious to the chaos around him and the cold bite of steel against the base of his skull. Once she was drained, teetering on the brink. Once she felt the icy hand of death close around her heart, squeezing out that last final drop of her life. She'd change her mind and willingly take anything he offered. And he'd spend eternity punishing her for making a fool of him. He gulped her life force in greedy pulls as her consciousness faded and her body stilled.

The weight pinning her to the ground was suddenly lifted. Dizzied, Robbie scrabbled at the loose dirt and bits of gravel to get away. She hurt. The skin of her neck was on fire. And the dry, dusty ground beneath her, wet and tacky with slick, coppery smelling blood. Her blood? Strong hands gripped her wrists, pulling her free from the sea of confusion and tromping feet. "John Mark?"

Safely out of the way, John Mark cradled Robbie's head in his lap, gently stroking her hair as he pressed a palm to the torn, ragged flesh of her neck. His jeans were drenched with her blood. There was so much of it, soaking into the weather parched ground beneath them. "I've got you," he whispered. The wound was deep and lethal. She was going to die in his arms if he didn't do something.

He lowered his mouth, lapping at the dog-eared edges of her skin, attempting to seal it shut with the healing properties of his saliva. Her pulse was weak and way too rapid. Lips dusky blue and her skin a sickeningly gray. The wound was too severe for his healing to do her any good. She'd simply lost too much blood. Robbie's eyelids fluttered, revealing too much white beneath them. "Don't leave me," John Mark cried, gently shaking her shoulders to wake her.

Krios's laughter echoed into the night air, cutting through the confusion like a knife through butter. "You're too late. She will die if you don't turn her. It appears that I win after all." Defeated, crouched down on his knees, hands clasped over his head in surrender, and the cold press of steel at his throat, he let out a last, lone, drawn out chuckle. And with the flash of light on a blade's lethal edge, his life ended.

Lucien made one last pass with his blade and wiped the bloody edge clean on the leg of his leathers. It was done. For all the trouble he'd caused, Lucien saw no victory in ending Kiros's life.

The shaman bent to examine the girl. There was nothing any human or ancient

medicine could do for her now. Her fate rested with the goddess and the spirits. With

deep regret and empathy, he exchanged a meaningful glance with John Mark. "There's

nothing I can do for her. If you are going to try, you have to do it now. She doesn't have

time to waste." He could not intervene. The choice was John Mark's to make. The Shaman stood and left John Mark to decide how he could best serve the woman he loved.

John Mark didn't have to think twice about his options. He would accept any consequences of his decision as long as Robbie was ok. He loved her. He couldn't stand by and watch her die when he held within him the power to stop it. He'd been too late to save her parents He wouldn't lose her too. He wasted no time, sinking his fangs into the wound, ripping through what damage his meager healing had managed to repair. Drinking her life down to the final beat of her heart. Certain of the moment when her last breath of air escaped her pale, deathly white lips, he bit wrist and held it to her mouth, "Drink Robbie." She lay limp in his arms not responding to the call of his blood. With a finger, he pried her mouth open wider and squeezed his wrist to force his blood onto her tongue. "Drink damn it! I won't let you leave me, Robbie."











Chapter 31

Robbie floated in a quiet, dark place. But, the darkness wasn't scary. Surprisingly, it was comforting. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear John Mark calling her name. Why was he bugging her? Couldn't he see that she wanted to sleep? She was so tired and cold. And everything here was so peaceful. Safe.

The scene brightened, blinding her with a sudden infusion of sunlight. Robbie shielded her eyes from the brightness until her eyes adjusted. A placid river lazily meandered past her, bending in a slow arcing curve out of her line of vision. As far as she could see, everything was the vibrant green of summertime, filled with new life. Even the air smelled fresh and pure, untainted by pollution. Birds called from the leafy tops of tall trees down to her. A pair of squirrels chattered playfully at one another, oblivious to her presence. The scene was so peaceful and calm, too vivid for a dream and too perfect to be real. She had that sinking feeling that she knew why...she was dead.

A woman approached her, her bare feet padding over the soft cushion of pale sand at the river's edge. The woman was very old, her leathery, weathered face wrinkled in deep grooves, like the apple head dolls Robbie used to make to sell during harvest time. "Greetings daughter." In welcome, the woman spread her arms wide, beckoning Robbie to them.

The woman's hair, dazzling as diamonds, fell in a waterfall of lush white past her ankles to mingle with the sand. Robbie didn't see any wings, but she knew the woman was good in a way that encompassed the very meaning of the word. Seashells and glittery beads of all the colors of the rainbow tinkled against one another from the fringe of her dress. The woman didn't look like any angel Robbie had ever seen. But, the woman had to be something not of this world. She darted into the woman's open arms. For a dead girl, she could feel the softness of the woman's leather dress and the warmth of her skin on her cheek. "I am Kokumthena, and this is my domain."

The woman fingers, gnarled with age, stroked Robbie's hair in a way that was comforting and made her feel so safe and secure. Reluctantly, she slid free of the woman's arms. Her mind raced to put the pieces together. The woman's name meant something important. Something undeniable. "Kokumthena," she whispered the name over and over, what did it mean? Then all of a sudden, it dawned on her, "Our Grandmother," she said, connecting the dots. "Am I dead then?" Robbie's heart sank in her chest. John Mark would never forgive himself for failing to keep her safe.

The woman's laughter was like that of a thousand tinkling silver bells. "No dear, not yet. You are in between the land of the dead and the living. This is the spirit world." Kokumthena gently took Robbie's hand in hers and led her to the edge of the river. Water lapped in lazy waves at their toes, cool and refreshing. Absolutely perfect, just like the trees, the grass, the sand of the beach, everything around them. "This river isn't any ordinary river. On one side, your parents are waiting, on the other, John Mark waits, the choice yours to make."

"How do I choose?" Robbie asked. She longed to see her parents again. But, there was so much unfinished business back at home. Was she ready to leave her life and the loose ends untied? Leave John Mark behind? She missed her mom and dad more than anything. Ever since their deaths there'd been such emptiness deep inside of her, like a piece of her very soul had been ripped away and buried in the ground with them. If she chose to remain living and stay with John Mark, how long would she have to wait till she could be with her family again? If she chose to remain here with her parents, how long would she have to wait to see John Mark again?

"Either choice is not without sacrifice, child," Kokumthena answered. There was so much about infinity that humans couldn't comprehend. Asking the girl to make a choice and a sacrifice for her decision wasn't fair. But, that was the way things sometimes worked in her shadowy realm. Even perfection wasn't entirely perfect. Some souls fought to get back to the world they'd left behind. Some clung to her so desperate to stay with her only to be thrust back into the life they'd all to willingly leave behind. And some had no choice at all. The other side of the river, the land of the dead, was all that there was left for them.

Across the river, a figure slid out from behind the trees and waved. "Dad!" Robbie exclaimed. Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks at the sight of him. He looked exactly as he had the last time she saw him, whole, healthy, and so alive, as if nothing had changed at all. His smile was filled with promise. Everything would be ok. Daddy was here to make it all better.

Another shape emerged from a thick copse of firs lining the river's edge. "Mom!" Robbie squealed with delight. Beaming, her mother placed her fingers to her lips and blew her a kiss. Robbie reached up to catch it, closing her fingers around the empty air and pressing them to her heart. There were other people on the sandy bank too. So many, she couldn't count them all. Grandma and grandpa were there among the waving crowd. Relatives she didn't even know she had. They were waiting for her, waiting to bring her home.

"I'm coming, don't leave me!" Robbie shouted. She placed a foot in the water, feeling its coolness splash over her toes. Somewhere off in the distance, she heard John Mark call her name. The desperation in his voice tore her heart in two, stopping her before she waded too deeply. "Wait! Once I cross, I can't come back, can I?"

Kokumthena smiled sadly at the girl. Choice was too big a burden to bear for this child. But, Kokumthena could not lift it from her shoulders. Robbie had to decide. But, that didn't mean she couldn't coax her along. "Only as a memory my child. Once it is done, it can never be undone. Choose wisely and follow your heart."

Robbie stood in the river, staring down at her toes through the clear water. "Will I ever see them again?" she asked, glancing at her parents, waiting patiently on the distant shore for her to come. "How long will I have to wait?" She bent and scooped up a handful of river water into her cupped palm. Opening her fingers, she watched the drops fall like tears, making tiny ripples on the placid surface. Should she choose life and give up the chance to be with her parents forever? Should she choose her parents and give up her life in exchange?

"Time as you know it has no meaning here. Your parents will wait. Eventually John Mark will come. Only you can decide." Kokumthena reached down to stoke the fur of a silver-white wolf that had appeared at her side.

Robbie felt her choice was hardly fair, either way she had everything to lose and everything to gain. She heard John Mark's voice calling her name. Begging her to choose him. Her parents stood, hands locked as one, waiting patiently for her to decide. She would have eternity with them, someday. But, for now, she only had one life to live. "Life. I choose life."

A sweet, robust taste filled her mouth, so rich in its decadence that she eagerly swallowed it down and panted for another drop to roll over the tip of her tongue. The essence of John Mark called her back, called her to a different home. But, she was home, in the land of the living, locked in his embrace. Robbie gasped as cold hit her lungs. She was back. John Mark cradled her head in his palm, his fingers forcing her jaw wide. He was feeding her from his wrist, offering her the life she'd chosen. Eagerly, she clamped her lips around the wound, possessed by a thirst unlike any other she'd felt before, and drank him down. Swallowing life gulp by greedy gulp.

John Mark let out a startled but relieved cry as Robbie clamped down, working at his wrist with her blunt teeth. He thought she was dead and he'd lost her forever to the realm of the ancestors. Adjusting his wrist to give her better access to the wound, he fed her every drop she needed. He'd give her all of it until she bled him dry, if that's what she needed, anything to keep her safe and by his side.