(1512)

They left Italy after Avana spread her blood there, turning nobility into vampires, turning them against each other in hopes of making monsters, more and more monsters. The blood that few in him, flew in every creature she made, every monster she created with her blood but they were weaker, they did not have her strength, her speed or her ability to telepathically communicate, they were little more than mindless monsters, each creation significantly weaker than the other. It was as if the blood was... tainted or wearing down, as if her power, as it passed through creation to creation, from her creation to their creation, it weakened, forcing them to act more like a newborn child.

"England again, how I have truly missed its beauty" Nith commented as he helped her off the ship.

"Yes, my lady, you and I both. Come, my lady, we have a new life to lead" Valenus whispered as he held her hand, her graceful ways made him smile so beautifully, her black hair down to her knees, curled up and done up in the Italian style to keep suspicion from unfolding. Her Italian embroidered dress, tailor made for her to make her look every bit as beautiful as she once did.

"Lady Isabella, my love, come, we must go to our home" he whispered as they linked arms. A wedding ring on their finger from when they had married, moving from city to city in Italy to hide her decaying form and his unnatural appearance, he who had spent so little time in Italy, compared to his time in England but it did not matter, the only thing that mattered was her, his Nith, the woman of his life. She was his sunlight; she was his living, beating heart. She was everything to him, without her, he was nothing.

"My love, allow me to show you to your new home" he whispered as he took her hand and guided her into their new home, into the home they would share as husband and wife. He had married her several times over the years they had been together, always carefully married in a ceremony not too public and very shut off from the outside world as they too had remained, in fear of her safety. If anyone saw her weakening, they would grow... suspicious of her. She was in danger when weaker, weakened by her body jumping with a new face and identity of someone newly dead.

"I will never get used to this, Victor" she warned as she took a few deep breaths, healing the new body she had granted herself. "This time... might have to be my last" she warned as he picked her up, carrying her in his arms, her arms wrapped around his neck.

"I will not let you die" he whispered.

"There is a way... we both know there is a way" she whispered softly as he sat her down.

"Yes, we will find a way for you to regain your strength, maybe if I killed a witch, you could have her body... her power" he suggested, trying to avoid the alternative, the same alternative that cursed him. He knew what it was, what it meant both for him and Nith.

"No... Valenus, listen to me... you cannot... we cannot go around, searching for a witch to kill for her body... for her powers. I will not make you a monster, not for me"

"I would only be too happy to do it; it would mean you are not cursed, like I am"

She smiled sweetly, holding his hand as she shook her head. "Turning me is the only way... you and I both know it, my love... soon, soon I shall ask... please do not say no to me, if I can be with you always, that is worth my powers"

He merely cuddled up to her, holding her closely as he held her hand. He could feel her there, the presence of her, wherever she was. All the blood, all her blood had given him such a power, almost given him a cruel, sickening craving for the blood he had stopped taking. She was too weak, fragile but they both knew she would not survive another body transfer but he was almost... happy. He loved her but to see her so frail and fragile, it was a cruelty. He wanted to look after her, hold her in his arms as the years flew by, as the seasons changed, she would too... she would age and eventually, after a good few years, plenty of them. She would last a lifetime and after a long time, meet her death.

"My love, what is it?" she asked as he held her hand.

"What if you let it happen? What if you let this life... be your last? We can make each night count and I will be with you... until the end" he whispered as he clutched onto her hands.

"Then it is one end... with you. I do not want this to end, us to end. If I can, I want to be with you forever... to love you forever" she whispered softly as her tears hit his shoulder.

He bit his lip as he let her lie still, feeling more energised in his arms. He loved her, too much to lose her for she was his world, his angel, his sunlight and his nightmare should he lose her too early, to death. He was guilty of giving his heart away, away to the one woman he loved, a woman who's portrait he carried with him, hidden in his rings from the views of others. He was hers and she was his, until the day she died completely, never to come back, never to return to him or lie in his arms again.

"Does this not bother you?" she asked, touching his face softly.

"No, when you are with me, I feel more human than ever but could you really do it? Could you really be with me forever? You would be as I am, immortal and yet a monster, it is the price of immortality and the price of blood... because of the curse, I am compelled to kill, I have no choice but to act on the desires, the inhumane desire to kill"

"For you, I could do it because unlike you, I would not see the price as you do; I would see it as something much different... a chance, a chance to be with you forever. I see it as a chance to be close to the man I love, forever"

He just let her lie there, sometimes wondering if she was asleep but in the end, it did not matter, she was there and there for him when he needed her. He cuddled her, holding her closely as he wondered how he would cope without her, what he would do without her. A few moments ago, he could not see her change, he could not force her to turn into an immortal such as him but the more he thought about it, the more it played on his mind, the more he felt he could do it, accept it. He wanted her to be happy, to feel happy and safe and as an immortal, he could keep her safe, keep her in his arms forever. She would be a monster but she would be immortal, with him forever, an ageless face, a vision of pale beauty like a rose, only this rose would never age, never wither away.

"I will do it" he promised.

"What?" she asked, as she stirred, almost surprised. She held his hand and asked "but why would you suddenly agree to such a thing?"

"Because, my love, I cannot and shall not lose you" he replied as he pulled her towards him, a look of fear in his eyes.

"No... not yet, my love... not yet" she begged as she held his hands.

"But why not?" he asked.

"Because I wish for you and I to see life together, life in the sunlight" she whispered.

"You know that is not possible, I will die if I see the sun again" he warned.

"My powers can grant you that... I can do it" she replied.

He looked at her, wearily as he moved his face. The face of a monster appeared, right on time like a figure that came to haunt his dreams, ideas of losing her, a dream he often had but never told her. Ever since they moved out of Venice, he had that dream but nothing changed when he moved back. Wherever he went, there was pain, the pain of losing her and every night he would wake up, make sure she was alive and well, that his nightmare was not real, that an unknown, blurred out face did not order her execution and watch as she died, the axe raised until it came down, one clean strike and there it was, the end, her end.

"If that is your wish, my love" he replied.