Another lengthy chapter to finish this story off with a bang! The end is here, I hope you're ready.
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The vampires returned to their coven in one piece. Dawn would soon approach as the hours of the night slipped past them in their search for the enemy, and now that the vampire was slain, it felt peaceful to return to their home and to the vampires anxiously awaiting for them. They'd been prepared to mourn the loss of one of their own after surging into the partially unknown, but upon seeing each of the vampires step into their home once again, relief spread out amongst the entire coven surging forward to tend to all of them. Embraces were exchanged along with whispers of heavy gratitude that they were able to see each other once again, knowing Lindsey had been killed, and oozing their welcoming nature into their cold bodies to chase away the lingering trauma lining their minds. Frank's eyes still felt wide and he could still smell the stench of spilled blood in his nostrils when he breathed in, he felt the lingering shiver in his hands and he was so aware of the blood stains pressed into his clothing. His friends and his lover bared the blood serving as proof the evil had been put to an end, a bitter and gory sort of victory coming clean to the coven without many words needing to be spoken. He eagerly breathed in fresh night air and the smell of dewy grass surrounded by flowers all alike in their graceful blooming, the sweetness of their petals swaying to stray his mind's thoughts from the sight of blood and a burning body pressed behind his eyelids whenever he blinked. The scent of the other vampires were clean and warm, the mouthwatering scent of human blood clinging to them and drawing the conclusion that they chose to feed tonight to smooth over some of the abrasiveness of their wired nerves.

Frank watched Aura being swept off her feet by her mate in an instant, how her wild curls had kisses pressed into them as Marius cried softly while holding her tight against his chest. Mina was surrounded by her vampires tending to her pale form, the shock she felt settling deep into her, and she kept touching her chest as if pain lingered inside of it. Gerard was taken in hesitantly by his brother; the pair exchanged a look, careful and curious, until they decided to place their differences aside to wrap their arms around one another. Frank turned to glance behind him to see if Jamia followed. She had, but she hovered close to the door, feeling misplaced and frightened by the presence of many strangers. She caught Frank's eyes with her wide pair and parted her lips to speak, no words fell free from them as he expected them to.

He walked over to her cautiously. "You don't have to be afraid." He told her in the softest voice he could muster. "They're all kind. They took me and Gerard in, they helped us."

Jamia's uncertainty was tied to many things, not only being a stranger to the coven of vampires so warmly reuniting. He approached the subject gently, thinking it wasn't right for him to assume she would quickly join his coven and everything would be happily restored.

"I don't know if I can do this." Jamia finally vocalized her reason for keeping her distance. "I won't fit in, Frank, and I'm . . . I'm still deciding whether or not I can forgive you." Her eyes casted down to the ground in a shameful manner, but she held every right to be unsure where she could place her trust.

"Where will you go?" Was Frank's main concern. He was unsure of the whereabouts of the New Jersey coven and how Lindsey's death would sway them, where Jamia would wander to without the guidance of any vampire beside her.

"My coven drifted." Jamia whispered. "They grew tired of Lindsey's obsession and left. I can find someone out there, if they'll take me."

Frank wouldn't trust another vampire to care for Jamia. With the manipulation of Lindsey fading from Jamia's mind as a result of her death, he could see how truly vulnerable she was in her state, trapped inside of a supernatural body and left to her own devices when all she knew vanished from her grip. He hurt for her, wishing trust was so easily fixed to aid her in her journey.

"Please, consider staying with us." Frank took one step towards her, a soft pleading note clinging to his syllables. "We can give you a place to live, bring blood to you, we can give you a family."

Jamia flinched softly at the last word he uttered, revealing that she was wounded by the loss of hers. Her glazed eyes drifted from Frank's form and onto the vampires murmuring to one another through embraces and relieved sighs. In the exchange, any vampire would be able to feel the love knitting together the London coven, bonds and alliances drawing them together from the beginning to the present, extending their welcome with open arms. Frank felt pride in being a part of it.

"I can introduce you to them." Frank suggested. "They've been waiting for you."

A puzzled look ghosted across Jamia's face at his words. She must have assumed that Frank abandoned her and her entire existence when he disappeared, but he would do anything in his power to prove to her that he couldn't forget her during the searing movement of events turning his entire life into something he'd never expected it to become. He'd been mourning for her before he grasped onto every shred of hope proving to him that she was still breathing some place in the hands of evil, every step he took towards danger was to rescue her. He was knowledgeable over the fact that the vampires in the room would crave to meet her, the reason for Frank's determination to take down evil once and for all.

Frank reached out for Jamia with an outstretched arm, his palm facing upwards for her to place her hand atop of it. She wearily eyes his fingers to the inside of his wrist, contemplating her next movements with careful thoughts fluttering across her features like an open book. Leafing through all of her options in depth, Jamia seemed to settled onto one conclusion that would be the best drawn path for her if she wanted to allow herself to live without the weight of not knowing what else to do with her existence sitting on her shoulders for the rest of eternity. Although forgiveness may not have nestled a crown onto her head, she found an answer somehow in the lines of Frank's palm, leading her to step forward and carefully place her hand onto the offer the vampire handed to her.

Frank flashed her a serene smile to assure her that she wouldn't regret her final decision. As he lead her to his coven, he kept her close behind his stride, slowing until he stood in front of the vampires turning a curious eye onto the new arrival pasted to Frank's shadow.

"Everyone, this is the woman you've been expecting." Frank announced once  it fell quiet, the air around him expectant. "Jamia, my friend, the human that Lindsey stole away and turned."

Now that the coven had a face to correlate with the woman of mystery holding great importance in Frank's life, it was as if a shroud of discoloration had lifted, an odd balance filling the atmosphere; the mystery had been the slightest weight of all, but it was enough to tip the scale so it went teetering towards the edge of the unknown.

"Dearest Jamia," Marius greeted her before all else, "Our very own human Frank so desperately wanted to find you. It is a great relief to see you've joined him despite everything taking place this evening."

Jamia's eyes, wide and glittering, stared at the vampire in shock. She was at a loss for words from the welcome she received, making Frank wonder if she believed she would be sworn off only for being tethered to Lindsey while she was away.

"We welcome you." Mina spoke up, attached to Aura's side as the vampire stroked her hair with a renewed tenderness she found within herself after facing the possibility of losing her dearest friend to the grasp of evil. "We know of your troubles, Jamia, of the horrors you've been faced with. You must know we are more than willing to guide you through it."

"And we can stand by your side during your grief." Laila stepped forward, her hands clasped behind her back and her eyes apprehensive as she grazed an incredibly delicate subject. "We felt her die inside of our chests, Jamia. For some of us, Lindsey was our creator, too."

Jamia's eyes flew across the line of vampires as she struggled to conceal a pained grimace from the reminder of her fresh wound festering in her chest. Frank could see she tried to identify which of the vampires belonged to Lindsey once in a moment of history, how many of them felt pain echoing inside of them when their creator was killed.

"I'm Laila." The fair-haired vampire stepped forward, a soft natured smile so unlike her mischievous personality grazing her lips. "Lindsey created me while she traveled through Wales in search for more people to add to her growing collection of vampires. She thought of me as a doll in my looks, and so she turned me into one of some sorts for her own gain."

"I'm Nadine," Said the brunette vampire standing beside Elora, stepping forward with kind dark eyes settled onto Jamia. "Lindsey changed me so I could always sing for her, she listened to me as I did my chores many decades ago outside of my mother's house as a young woman. She stole me away in the night and refused to let me see my mother even when I told her she was terribly sick. I haven't sang much since then . . ." She sighed, brushing her fingers against the tip of her thick braid reaching her waist, casting her gaze onto that instead, and Frank felt a tinge of sadness for her.

Marius, sensing a friend's sorrow, brushed his hand gently against Nadine's shoulder as he stepped forward. Glancing beside him, he summoned Aura and Mina, the two vampires awaiting for their introduction to wide-eyed Jamia willingly listening to each of them speak.

"I'm Mina, and this is my friend, Aura." Mina spoke once she was close enough to Jamia to hold her gaze steady, sympathy roiling into her eyes no matter how she may have felt inside about everything. "I will hold onto the evil Lindsey inflicted upon her and myself, but know that we were born from her bite as well. I was her first creation after Gerard and his brother, though I turned away from her immediately under terrible circumstances . . . The rest of us are either made from each other or lost souls who stumbled upon our coven. We've taken each of them in with love."

Frank watched the scene unfold before him, stepping away with subtle movements to watch Jamia from a spot further away in order to give her room to process all that was given to her. In moving, he found his way inside the circle of his vampire's embrace the moment he stepped back too far and his back brushed against Gerard's chest. His arms circling around Frank's body was an instant glide welcoming him into a loving embrace he instinctually melted into, finding that it was only the pushing gravity of their connection drawing them towards each other again. Glancing to the side through a building smile,  he found Michael discreetly watching the pair, almost curious over how they bled into each other with ease. Michael caught his gaze, granting Frank with a small smile holding nothing but kindness in it. Frank smiled back, grateful that he was able to do so after the painstaking process of watching the role of an enemy melt away from him.

"I think you all know how she found and turned me." Jamia's meek voice drew everyone's attention towards her. She swallowed quietly, her knees nearly shaking from the emotion overtaking her. "I was so afraid until she started to put all of these thoughts into my head. Awful things about Frank, twisting the truth and never mentioning a thing about what she's done in the past. She got into my head because of this . . . this bond that she would always rave about."

"The connection between a vampire and their creator." Aura explained softly. "The strongest bond possible. Love or hatred can run deeper than blood at the hands of it. It's the reason why she was able to manipulate you."

"Then . . . I'm very sure that I don't know the full truth about anything." Jamia's voice trembled. She stared with empty eyes at the ground, her lips parting and shutting again as she struggled to form words. Frank twitched, aching to help her, but he knew it was something she needed to go towards alone.

"Dear Jamia," Nadine interjected as she sensed her troubles, "you need time to grieve. Perhaps now is the time for resting instead of having everything explained all at once."

"Yes," Mina agreed, almost relieved to hear Nadine speak her mind. "The night has been unkind to you in such a horrible fashion, now isn't the time for stories."

Jamia looked up at the vampires, questions hesitantly floating in her gaze. "Rest? Vampires don't sleep."

A soft chuckle came from Laila who tugged softly at Elora's arm before she stepped away from the black haired vampire to approach Jamia with graceful movements. "We cannot, but we can definitely rest and have evening tea."

Jamia seemed incredibly puzzled over the sudden kindness shown towards her, alarmed underneath it all; Frank could see the tension in her shoulders, the way her eyes rapidly flew across every vampire in the coven. Her eyes flickered onto him and lingered, widening suddenly. Frank only nodded to her reassuringly, praying that she would learn to adapt, and she would begin to see the London coven through his perspective while they cared for her during her time of need. She required nurturing and he felt calm to know she rested in good hands when he couldn't so quickly stride into her life to play a comforting role when their trust felt frayed at the very least.

"Come with us." Nadine joined Laila at Jamia's side, and as Raveena and Elora hesitantly stepped forward to greet the new vampire, Frank watched as a majority of the coven's female vampires gravitated towards Jamia to bid her their names as they began to glide towards the stairs to introduce her to her chambers. A hint of a smile touched his lips, a curl of warmth in his chest, and he knew things would restore themselves in time.

"I reckon Laila took an instant liking to her." Gerard's velvety voice sounded so soft beside Frank's ear, causing the vampire's lids to flutter as it streamed into his mind and resided there.

"They all did." Frank's smile lifted further up at the corners, watching Jamia disappear into the halls with softly murmuring vampires guiding her through their home.

"My dears, let us all take time to ourselves for a moment." Mina suggested to the remaining vampires standing at the heart of the house. Though she tried her best to remain as put together as she always was in her role of being the mother of a coven, her tiredness was evident, dull in her eyes. "We have many thoughts and words to sort through on our own."

As the vampires slowly began to disperse in groups of their own choice, Frank and Gerard lingered, joined by Michael appearing to be entirely relieved that his brother returned home alive and well. Frank squeezed his eyes shut and turned in his vampire's arms to rest his cheek upon his chest, listening to the soft thud of his heartbeat buried under his ribs, and counting every beat as if it were a blessing; he almost went without hearing it ever again.

"Thank you for bringing my brother home. For protecting him." Michael said to Frank, sincerity ringing from every word.

Frank was mildly surprised for a second in time, but it shifted into warmth, a slight smile ghosting over his lips. "Of course. We protected each other."

Gerard's hand stroked Frank's hair with a soft touch, his palm sliding over his tangled locks and finding purchase inside them as his fingers began to gently smooth the tresses of hair while soft lips pressed to his forehead.

"When I felt her pain, just as the rest of her vampires did," Michael paused, his hand slowly coming to press above his heart. "It felt like the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders the moment  it ceased. It felt like freedom."

"Her control went further than any of us imagined." Gerard said, more meekly than ever. "She can never rule over us again."

"Never." Michael and Frank spoke at the same time, though their tones differed in a clash between blazing finality and ghostly nostalgia.

In the rubble of an atrocious evening obscured by ounces of blood being spilled, the last piece holding back the key to all the freedom of the world had been granted to all of the vampires. The lack of Lindsey's presence soothed them that no harm could be done as they once feared, all of her next movements always having an effect on the chain linking the vampire race together, bound by supernatural blood making each of them one of the same despite living souls differing from each other in ways at times unexplainable. It tasted like justice, sweet and light, closure gifted to the ones harmed by her presence the most as she inflicted her horrors onto some in far more drastic measures than she had to anyone else. Distaste at the mention of her memory would be eternal, but her kingdom of blood and bones would crumble into the ground beneath them where she rested forevermore.

___

The night melted into rich shades of blue and black once the hours hit a certain point where dawn would break out over the land in only moments. The stars still glistened like diamonds imbedded into space to accompany the sliver of the moon hanging high in the sky, flooding the paved paths of the garden outside with mysterious white light grazing the flowers dripping with dew. The smell of unfurling roses and violets traveled down the cobblestone ground and settled into the leaking waters wetting the freezing stone of marvelously crafted fountains, carvings of tilting bodies tangling into one another with the brilliance of angel wings pointing towards dozens of multicolored flowers planted into rich soil. The smell of both earth and water was a rich indulgence mixing together under sensitive vampires noses breathing it all in each time a quiet breath was taken in to expand lungs, slowly breathing out to graze their tongues, followed by a repetitive inhale so the cycle went. Nighttime held a dry chill in the air barely moving at all, the sunlight absent from the sky to keep a certain amount of warmth underlining the cold.

Frank stood beside his vampire underneath a gazebo wrapped in dwindling vines and roses, twinkling lights sparkling overhead to illuminate their pale skin with orbs of gold connecting to create a roaming film of color upon them. Frank's fingertip grazed a shedding petal still desperately clinging to a rose, watching as it fluttered away towards the ground when it could no longer stand to hold on.

"Gerard?" Frank asked softly to break the silence between them. It was comfortable as they basked in the presence of many things alongside their own selves, but his mind was thinking, wandering towards curiosity hovering over a subject he hadn't dared to touch.

"Yes?" Gerard turned to glance at him inquiringly.

Frank met his eyes, looking inside them to find calm. When he did, he continued with his question. "What's Lindsey's story?"

Gerard didn't seem surprised that Frank was curious about her becoming. He knew she couldn't have been born tainted by such evil, something had to have rotted her heart to the point where venom pumped out of it in the place of blood. Though, he did hum softly in response to Frank's question, turning away.

"I suppose the time has come to share it with you." Gerard looked out towards the willow tree not far from where they stood, the quivering leaves shaped like forlorn teardrops reacting to the slightest breeze filtering through the air. He was almost wistful, touched by a bitter movement of his perfect mouth.

"She didn't turn out the way she did on her own." Frank shared his thoughts. "No one is born evil. Something happened to her, right?"

Gerard nodded slowly. "Yes, it started her off. Her upbringing in the vampire world was terribly unfortunate and I may have felt sympathy for her once, but her wrongdoings took the feeling away."

"What happened?" Frank whispered.

Sighing, Gerard leaned against the railing of the gazebo, his eyes trained onto his folded hands in preparation to dive into the tale. "It was the early 1700's. Lindsey lived in a dirt poor village with her mother after her father passed from a disease overcoming him. She was still young, not beyond her late teens, and she kept to herself while her priority was supporting her mother and herself in order to survive. At a time like this, starvation and illness wasn't a stranger to people living in the conditions she did. Lindsey, however, knew of a place down inside of a meadow deep in the brush near her village. Apples grew from a tree, fine enough for her to pick and sell to the people traveling through the village to collect enough coins to feed herself and her mother. She lived so humbly and dreamed of riches just as any poor woman would, it was such a saddening loss to see it crumble away when . . ." Gerard trailed off, sighing deeply again.

"When?" Frank lightly pressed, drawing closer to his vampire with intrigue.

"She met a man while traveling down to the apple tree." Gerard continued, far off in his thoughts while remembering the details he'd  been told. "She told me he was a mysterious person who frightened her when he appeared in the beginning. It wasn't until she realized his beauty that she was completely swept away by everything about him. His voice, his face, the strange grace of his movements when he neared her. He must have found her to be easy prey at the sight of her vulnerability, her purity. He told her that he was from another village richer than the one she came from. A valley where the sunlight rarely touched their land to explain the paleness of his skin--lies, of course, to deceive her in order to obtain her trust. His name was Ezra."

"Did he attack her?" Frank breathed.

"No." Gerard shook his head. "He seduced her. Vampires could easily hypnotize humans with their beauty, it's born into our kind for the sole purpose of attracting our prey to capture them with ease."

Frank's lips twitched into a slight smile. "Or it can make the human fall madly in love with them." He softly nudged his vampire's arm with his own.

Gerard's eyes glittered. He turned his head to gaze down at Frank, a half smiling tugging at the corner of his lips. His hand reached out to softly graze Frank's lips, tracing his chin, until he drew it away to continue the story.

"Well, Lindsey did fall madly in love, as much as she was lured into his traps. She would escape to the meadow more often to see him, he would wait for her underneath the apple tree every afternoon. His charm would keep her under his spell and it encouraged her to keep returning until she was completely and undeniably his in every shape of love known to man. He'd flatter her so by complimenting her beauty, her radiance, he would sweep her underneath the shade of the tree and kiss her until no other senses came to her mind. She thought she was loved in return, imagining that one day, she would spend the rest of her life with this man, even if others may have disapproved of her falling for a near stranger.

"The truth was that he didn't love Lindsey at the same level of intensity. She was a passing infatuation, it seems, and the magic faded the moment he stole her away in the evening to be intimate with her. Vampires can express intimacy in their own way, touch and sensation exists even if we cannot penetrate. During this era, intimacy and a woman's virginity were sacred and to be given only in marriage. Sex wasn't as normal as it is now, so for Lindsey, she imagined herself becoming a bride soon after her virtue was taken by the man she loved."

"Oh god." Frank whispered faintly, imagining where the story swept them towards next.

"Ezra was gentle with her." Gerard's voice lowered a notch. "An amazing lover for any woman to have, guiding her through each moment. Until the scent of her blood became too much of a temptation for him to control himself any longer. He'd been pining for her, and as Lindsey laid at her most vulnerable point, he found it to be the perfect moment for him to attack."

Frank squeezed his eyes shut, his throat tightening. He could envision the scenario in his mind as a fresh reminder of the nightmares he used to be tormented with in his dreams, sweet and erotic until razor sharp fangs sank into his tender flesh and ripped it apart.

"But," Frank opened his eyes, a sudden thought entering his mind, "He didn't kill her."

"He did not." Gerard nodded. "He took pity on her, he must have cared for her to some true level because he took it upon himself to feed her his blood as she laid at the brink of death underneath his hold. Lindsey wanted to reject it at first, his feeding had been violent enough for the pleasurable endorphins to not to enter her bloodstream. But the taste of his blood soon became a sweet sensation while it dripped into her mouth and she drank until she died."

"So, he kept her." Frank said aloud more to himself than to his vampire.

Gerard shifted, a frown touching his lips. "Not exactly."

Frank's eyes widened. He peered up at his vampire for answers and the man went to explain.

"She was his through the binding of their blood, yes." Gerard confirmed. "She changed from his attack and awoke in his village far from her own home, his face was the first one she saw the moment she awakened. She was horrified, she knew nothing about his true nature and yet she'd awoken inside of a cold body with no signs of wounds covering her body like she remembered. Ezra eased her into a state of calm and fed her warm blood from canteens he'd set aside, thinking she wouldn't want to feed straight from the vein without knowing the truth first. After Lindsey fed, completely shaken from finding the taste of blood the most enticing flavor she'd ever consumed, Ezra explained everything to her. How he was changed by his brother who returned from another country with immortality, his coven that took residence in the village, and the reason why he changed her. He sought out a mate to keep beside him forevermore, and he'd spent many years searching for the perfect beauty to stand with him. Lindsey had always been a beautiful woman, which was the reason behind his decision to change her.

"It took Lindsey weeks to adjust, to find her way after her rebirth, but her forgiveness came far too easily. Although he took her against her will, Lindsey loved Ezra with every bit of her heart, and with their bond between them, her love claimed every state of being. She couldn't bring herself to not take Ezra's offer of becoming his lifelong mate when she'd been entranced by him since the beginning. She had no way of knowing that Ezra was an unfaithful, sickening man too obsessed with power and women to truly value her love. He would never find devotion such as hers anywhere else, but he became bored of unbreakable romance so quickly after she'd accepted his hand. The bastard would leave after telling Lindsey lies to seduce other women, feed on young human girls while they gave him their innocence. Word of his infidelity spread around the village and eventually found its way to her. Ezra had been gone for weeks and he'd taken to another young woman the same way he had with Lindsey. His unfaithfulness was the reason why Lindsey shattered inside. Everything she believed in, all of the hopes for their love she held, and all of the changes she made to herself only to please him, it was ripped from her hands brutally and she lost all faith in love and trust when he never returned. It was as if she never existed at all. I think the reason why she created so many vampires was to fill the void he left inside of her. She hoped I would fill it, and perhaps I would have if she hadn't been so crooked." Gerard trailed off wistfully, ending the story with a breathy note.

It was the second time Frank was struck with a sliver of sympathy for the vampire known as a villain ever since she began to construct her reign of terror. Stealing human lives for her own personal benefit, inflicting horror upon those who resisted. It mirrored the emptiness she felt inside, the need for affection she'd been deprived up when her mate abandoned her after he took everything from her to sedate his boredom. Frank felt a tight squeeze inside his chest imagining himself and Gerard in such a situation. He couldn't fathom the eons of pain he would endure if his beloved vampire turned on him without so much as a cruel second glance to frolic with another mate.

"I wish she handled her pain differently." Frank's voice was small. "If someone had been there for her when he left, then maybe she wouldn't have lost her mind."

"Loneliness can trigger terrible darkness in a vampire." Gerard ran his fingers slowly along the railing of the gazebo, his eyes slipping shut. "We feel everything with an intensity impossible to humans."

Frank knew, he felt it since the moment he opened his eyes inside of a holy chapel in a form vastly different from the softness of a mortal. He let out a shaky breath, licking his lips. "I can understand why she snapped. I can't even imagine the pain I would feel if you were to find someone else and . . ." He couldn't handle finishing the sentence out loud, the words tangling up in the middle of his throat and forming a thick lump he forced himself to swallow down.

His vampire's eyes opened and settled onto Frank's face. They merged into a state of intense warmth and devotion sinking into Frank's gaze and connecting with his soul rather than hazel irises. As his lips parted, he breathlessly said, "I would never do such a despicable thing to you, my love. There is only you."

Frank's chest was instantly relieved of the building pressure of sadness lingering from Lindsey's tale. It opened and welcome Gerard's softly spoken promise as if he needed it to survive, grazing his shallowly beating heart filling with the intensity of oozing romance radiating from his every pore. He looked into his vampire's eyes and hoped he could visualize the aching love he held for him, transferring it across the heavenly threads of their attachment. He found success as Gerard's lashes fluttered, his form nearly sagging forward from the richness of heat and love dousing every inch of him, lavishing him as he deserved. Kicking into his own ribcage was the blooming of thousands of roses imbedding their stems into his bones, soft petals flourishing in his blood, so rich and sweet, and he knew it was Gerard's love filing him to the brim in return to allow him to see not a single inch of his utter entrancement went unrequited. Frank stepped forward, pressing his cool fingers to Gerard's chest, curling them into his clothing and gently gravitating towards him as he listened to the shaky breath his vampire exhaled.

"I know you wouldn't," Frank whispered, almost brushing his lips against his vampire's as the beautiful man moved in towards him with burning bright eyes and arms circling around his waist in an instant to feel him pressed against him. "You love me."

"I do." Gerard instantly breathed, the sound almost a soft moan as he leaned forward to press his lips to Frank's cheek, gliding them across his jaw, and pulling Frank into a tight embrace. "My devotion for you goes beyond the boundaries of time."

He was poetry, from the movement of his silken words to his roses planting themselves with care inside Frank's chest. He felt like poetry when his lips touched Frank's skin with a velvety feel to them and he wished to feel the slide of his elegant hands grazing every part of him to seal each of his softly spoke words into his flesh. Frank belonged to Gerard since he moment he looked into his eyes for the first time; there was always something so hypnotizing inside them that pulled Frank in like the rush of a river, untied to the enthralling traps of a vampire. He drowned in waves of olive green and sank to the bottom where admiring sands caressed his skin and arms of angels granted his lungs the ability to breathe once he submerged.

"I'm already yours," Frank kissed Gerard's lips, sentimental and soft, "but there's something that I want for us."

"Anything in the world, you shall have it." Gerard spoke so soon in response to Frank's words, rushing them out to capture his lover's lips in a kiss far more eager than the one they previously shared. Frank moaned softly at the pressure on his lips, the wonderful taste and movement of their mouths falling open in tandem and shutting again. His hands fell to the sides of Gerard's face and he stroked the pads of his thumbs across his jaw before he pulled away from the lips he wished to feel upon his own many more times this evening after he spoke.

"You don't even know what it is." Frank chuckled.

Sheepish, Gerard smiled, nudging Frank's nose with the tip of his own. "Pardon me. I tend to get carried away in your presence."

"So sweet." Frank whispered, kissing him once to sedate him a bit. "What I wanted to ask was . . . I know we don't need it because we're already bonded in a way beyond what's humanly possible. And I guess that human side of me that's still here wants to know if- if you'd like to marry me."

He struggled to speak through a sudden wave of shyness and uncertainty. Frank never imagined he would propose to anyone in a messy manner sounding more like a suggestion above all else, stumbling over his syllables just to get his point across the board. He prayed he hadn't made a fool out of himself, but his worries were completely blown out of the water when he found himself being lifted off the ground and twirled around.

Frank yelped loudly as Gerard twirled him, holding him close, biting back a fit of giggles when he was set onto his feet again and many kisses were being pressed to every inch of his face. He wrapped his arms around his vampire's neck, stood on the tips of his toes, softly laughing from the affection he received.

"It would be the greatest honor in the world to be given your hand in marriage, Frank." Gerard breathlessly cupped Frank's face between his hands, cradling him safely between them. His eyes glittered brightly with hundreds of years making them wise, but love beside his pupils giving them the glow of youth. 

"You don't think it's silly?" Frank only wanted to be certain, though his heart jumped with glee.

"Of course not," Gerard said softly and shook his head, "I could never think of anything you say as silly."

Gerard spoke the truth and Frank believed it saved his life when he needed it the most. Reaching towards himself beginning to coalesce in darkness was the light fixating on his fragile heart of glass to mend the fissures and pursuing something far more pure for the both of them to explore while becoming one.

"Then let's do it." Frank nodded, floating it seemed. "Whenever you want."

Turning him to press his back against the railing of the gazebo, Gerard kissed Frank once more under the fairy lights mimicking the stars since beginning to fade at the brilliance of dawn spreading across the earth in the distance. Frank had never felt so complete underneath the night sky.

                                                                
——♡——

                                                                      FIVE MONTHS LATER         

Vampires stared in awe at the sunlight peeking through stained glass windows to shine upon tenderly beloved souls joining their hearts together in traditional union. An act of forming an everlasting bond lived on for all humanlike creatures steady on the earth, but nothing could quite amount to the joining of vampires hidden underneath lace veils, awaiting for the kiss of blood and eternity to seal their vows forevermore. Vampires formed their own traditions tied to rituals of marriage and it was found to be far more intimate than the arranged words of a priest and gowns of white dragging amongst fallen petals sprinkled over pathways. Marriage, in the eyes of a fanged creature, was meant to be an elegant offering to one another, binding blood and promises of romance lasting for the moments where they endured the infinite lines of time. It was as sacred as the process of creating a mate through the bite of venom and draining blood, and if both were practiced by mates finding their way to one another, their love would stretch beyond the most impeccable levels of all tales telling of sweet kisses; romantic tales held not even a weakened flicker of a dying candle to the bond between a vampire and their heavenly partner bound to them for as long as they should continue to breathe.

Mina stood between the vampires standing at the alter across from one another. She adorned herself in layers of white silk to appear as holy as the action she'd been requested to perform by the pair of lovers. Their trust and gratefulness to their coven leader was granted to her when they asked her to do the honor of binding them together inside the manor's chapel, a task she accepted with immense joy close to mirroring their own. Frank glanced at her as she spoke out to their coven about the lovers stood before her, their union taking place. Then, his eyes flickered over to the pews occupied by dozens of familiar faces, some new and some old. Jamia sat beside Laila, her happiness having been slowly restored during her stay in London. Granting Frank with her trust once more was a slow becoming, but one he waited patiently for until it became too simple to join her in laugher once again after her wounds were sealed. Beside the female vampires sat Michael, accompanied by his human mate he vowed he would grant with immortality once she was prepared for the change. It was only a matter of time before she would become one of their own; Kristin had fallen deeply in love with Michael as he had with her, only seeming to intensify with every passing day. Across from them was Aura dressed in skirts of lavender, her red curls held at the nape of  her neck and her hand folded with her mate's. Undoubtedly, they recalled their own wedding while attending Frank and Gerard, silent memories in their glistening eyes.

Amongst his own coven were new members adding to the number occupying the pews. Jamia told him on the night of Lindsey's death that her coven drifted from Lindsey after growing tired of her obsessions, their whereabouts unknown. As time ticked past, the vampires slowly began to trickle into their home one by one, lost souls capturing word about the welcoming coven residing in London. Not all had joined them, but most did, and he found that the evil he fearfully witnessed while he was human was yet another wicked game Lindsey participated in. Her manipulation reached many of the vampires she created and her affects faded entirely after her death. Their kindness peeked through the moment they were shown such a feeling upon their entry and so it built a family consisted of many new members firmly believing they'd found their true home. Frank smiled softly, turning away when Mina asked him to begin their vows.

"I give to thee my eternal devotion, my endless love, and my infallible vow to protect thee from every form of darkness. May these hands lift you in times of need, may our hearts beat together in everlasting friendship. " Frank repeated his vows he'd long since memorized with great anticipation. He could barely see his vampire through his crimson red veil and the same material hovering over Gerard's face, but the subtle glow of vampiric eyes he found behind the layers between them connected to his soul glowing with joy.

"I grant to thee my sacred vow of love by offering the blood inside my veins to mix with your own, a physical form of all I wish to give." Frank reached for the small dagger Mina held out to him. The golden blade glittered under a beam of sunlight streaming in, the handle smooth under his hand. Hovering his palm above a bejeweled chalice placed on the table, Frank brought the tip of the blade to his flesh and dug it inside to create a gash deep enough to shed blood. He flinched only subtly at the sting, his blood dribbling into the chalice as he curled his hand into a fist, only drawing it away from above the cup when the wound healed itself.

Mina dragged a velvety cloth over the blade to rid of the smear of blood smudging across the gold. "Now for your exchange, Gerard." She placed the cloth onto the table and held the blade out with serene patience.

The vows rolled off of Gerard's tongue like rich silk captivating Frank with every single syllable. "I give to thee my eternal devotion, my endless love, and my infallible vow to protect thee from every form of darkness. May these hands lift you in times of need, may our hearts beat together in everlasting friendship. I grant to thee my sacred vow of love by offering the blood inside my veins to mix with your own, a physical form of all I wish to give."

Frank's eyes clung to every movement Gerard made. His vampire elegantly took the dagger from Mina's hands holding it out to him, bringing his hand to hover above the chalice stained with a small puddle of Frank's blood. Sliding the blade over his palm, a wound formed in the ivory skin and fresh crimson poured from it with an ever so appetizing scent making Frank's heart race. He watched breathlessly as Gerard's blood fell onto his own and continued to do so until his wound shut itself.

"The blood has been spilled." Mina announced, cleaning the blade and sheathing it in leather to place it to the side. "Lift each other's veils and drink, a sip for the lovers."

Gerard reacted first. He reached out for Frank as they took two steps towards each other to complete the next part. His hands moved with such elegance as he gently grasped the end of Frank's crimson red veil, lifting it over his head and letting it flutter towards the ground once it slipped from his hair. Once it was removed, Frank reached out, surprised his hands weren't shaking with anticipation, and he grasped Gerard's red veil delicately to lift it. He was stunned by the beauty of Gerard's face being revealed, though he'd seen it a multitude of times. Loving eyes burned into his own, surrounded by the faint dusting of red shadows from fine powder, his silky black tresses making the removal of his veil much easier. He watched as his vampire reached for the chalice, pale fingers wrapping around the golden stem. He rose it to his lips, tilting it back slightly, and the moment their blood touched his tongue,  his eyes fluttered as a drop of darkness entered them from the nearly arousing intimacy the flavor provided.

Frank took the chalice being offered to him when Gerard had sipped the crimson, the liquid staining his small lips. Frank parted his lips and took a sip of the remainders of their blood. The stunning and rich flavor danced over his tongue and he struggled not to moan from the taste. Drawing the chalice away, Mina placed it beside the dagger, a smile beginning to form on her face.

"Now, immortal lovers, the consumption of yours vows has allowed your souls to link together, forming a bond tethering you to one another for as long as you both shall live." Mina took one step away, glancing between the vampires beginning to beam at one another in wonder with blood tinting their lips red. "For the last step, a kiss to seal your love."

Frank's chest filled with soaring rose petals, immediate warmth imploding at the core of his heart once aching and now complete with love he could never exist without. His breath already escaped him by the time the gap closed between himself and his vampire and their lips pressed together in a firm, searing kiss, weaved with golden threads of love causing their arms to wrap around each other securely. Frank could taste blood on both of their lips, blending together yet again, combined with the sweetness of Gerard's lips softly moving against his own. He wished he could have withered away inside the kiss, staying inside it forever, his fingers curling into soft black locks of hair he couldn't help brushing through whenever he was kissed so adoringly by his vampire. His vampire, his mate, his husband.

They pulled apart when they equally decided their kiss lasted long enough. They gazed at each other in amazement, faces close together, sharing quick breaths mingling together.

"With romance's tender breath bestowed upon blood-stained lips, the vampires have become one." Mina couldn't contain her squeal of delight, breaking out into a wide grin at her final words.

Applause broke over across the crowd of vampires who sat at the edges of their seats throughout a wedding far more intense than any other scene of romance in films or storybooks, enrapturing all who had the privilege to witness it. Frank found his lips being claimed again, though it was a bit difficult to kiss his vampire properly when he could barely hold back his grin. Gerard held Frank against him tightly, spinning him in a slow circle, and the vibration of his laughter between their mouths made Frank's head whirl pleasantly.

He continued to spin in a dizzy haze of pure love later in the evening when festivities ended, when the coven had departed to their chambers after many drinks and dances later, finding themselves spun into one another's embrace in a room lit by dozens of long candles. In the center of it all, Frank swayed with Gerard in a dance of their own. Slow twirls, lingering kisses, soft whispers being exchanged as Frank's vampire dipped him backwards only to draw him back up again to lay his lips over his in a kiss. His lips were like the beckoning call of all Frank ever ached for, all he ever needed with an intensity for strong inside him that it could have pulled him apart if he chose to ever avoid it. He thanked the stars above for the time he gained the courage to confess his love to Gerard just as it appeared like a fresh bud of a flower in his heart, having yet to fully bloom until he belonged to his vampire completely. He felt their lips part to deepen their kiss and his knees weakened, hands tugging at the lapel of Gerard's blazer. The small rose nestled inside the material brushed against his fingers.

"How I've ached to have you in every form possible, my love." Gerard swept Frank into his arms in a swift motion, connecting their lips into a kiss far more passionate as Frank let out a soft whimper while his legs wrapped around his vampire's waist with ease.

"I love you," Frank breathed, only breaking the kiss for a moment to say these words. "I thought I was going to lose you and I swear angels came to save you when they felt my pain. Fuck, how could I live without you?"

Gerard draped Frank across their bed and followed him onto it. Hovering above his husband, Gerard looked deeply into Frank's eyes with candlelight casting shadows over his skin. Frank wrapped his legs around Gerard again, pulling him in, but he sensed his vampire's hesitation.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice breathy.

Gerard rolled his lips into his mouth, one hand coming down to stroke Frank's cheekbone. "An angel was indeed present when I miraculously healed."

Frank's brows furrowed, struck by mystery. "What do you mean?"

"She was there, Frank." Gerard choked softly, his eyes falling shut. "I felt her presence, I heard her voice. She finally heard me and came to me when I needed her. But it was not in the way I always envisioned . . . I didn't need to see her to apologize or to give my love to her, I needed her to save me so I could stay here on earth with you."

Frank instantly knew who Gerard was speaking about. Charlotte, how her presence came down from the beyond her soul rested in, grasping the shadow of death surrounding Gerard and his lover to yank it back into the universe it crept out from. Thinking deeper about it, Frank realized that there could have been no other possible explanation for the miracle of Gerard's healing, how the fire closing in on them vanished in a gust of wind appearing out of no where. It wasn't no where, it was from a world between sight and sensation, invisible to the naked eye.

"Do . . . do you really think she saved you so you could stay with me?" Frank's fingers captured a lock of hair falling towards Gerard's face, gingerly tucking it behind his delicate ear.

"I do." Gerard nodded, entirely certain. "I know now why she never came to me when I called to her before. I didn't truly need her, I only thought I did. I wasn't meant to grieve eternally over a lost love, I was meant to become your creator, your husband." His fingers began to shake whilst tracing the curve of Frank's lips, his voice trembling just the same. Slowly, they trailed down to the beads of Charlotte's rosary hanging around Frank's neck.

Frank's insides quivered, utterly captivated and falling in love all over again. He grasped Gerard's hand between both of his own, kissing his fingers, trailing his lips down to his palm where a dagger once slid across it to drip blood into a puddle of his own. "I was meant to be yours. There's a reason why we were drawn to each other, I knew it in my heart."

Desperately, their lips met again, continuing to press kisses onto one another until they grew in heat, longing, building passion formed for the sensations of shared emotions leaving nothing at all to imagination any longer.

"I am eternally yours." Frank panted, silky kisses abandoning his lips and leading down to his neck.

"Eternally yours, mon humain."

END.

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NOTE: First off, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read this fic that was created from a random burst of inspiration in the silent hours of the night. What stemmed from an urge to write bloomed into something people have screamed and cried over, melted at, and left the most darling reviews for. I wouldn't have cherished this story so deeply if it weren't for your comments and thoughts, my love goes out to you.

Secondly, I must say, I am immensely proud of this piece. It holds a special place in my heart for becoming the vampire story I was always afraid to write, putting justice to the many tries I've published in the past before trashing them. I wasn't ready then, but I was when I made this, and I love it to pieces. Each character and detail was made with love, down to the dialogue and the commas. 

Thank you for staying, for inspiring me, and for giving this book your love. With rose petals and diamond shaped droplets of blood, this story bids you farewell, my dears . . .

https://youtu.be/TwO0zLLybQ0

-rosexo