10.) The Queen Returns

I knew who John he was, Lilith, my mother. It all made sense like a sick joke. She couldn't let me live a life as a human. I would have a target on my back, in her fucked up way she was trying to save me from myself. It was no sense in crying over spilled milk. He looked down, or should I say she looked down. 'how long did you know?' I walked closer to her and said: "it doesn't matter." Zosley was gagging on his he still had life in him. I turned he needed my help more; I would wait to confront her. I got to my knees, and I realized there wasn't much I could do, there was so much of his blood all over the place it wasn't just from his neck. He had an open wound on his wrists and upper forearms. The neck had most of the worst of the damage; it wasn't ripped entirely open they wanted to keep him alive. My only question was, how?

'I know how they were going to keep him alive, your wondering.' Lilith's voice still sounding like John's I don't know what worse the fact that there was a person that I confided in. Or the fact that this is the same person who murdered that nazi S.O.B and was wearing his face.

I knew this was a nightmare. Lilith was the only one who could save Zosley. 'Carter, give him some of your blood.' I looked at her. Why would she want that? It was disgusting; what was her game? 'vampire blood has healing properties.' I looked down at him. I knew that I didn't have a choice. I was saving another man's life.

I was tired of her getting in my head. I was so afraid of her. She was everywhere; to be honest, it scared me. Maybe I'm too self-centered, Carter was standing outside the door of the freezer, the smell of the blood must have gotten him ready to feed again. Zosley could barely speak, yet he tried anyway. Underneath all of that blood, there was still a man fighting for his very own life.

'Is it finally over?' He muttered out, I look down and his bloody body. " yes, the battle was won by us." I couldn't stand this bloodshed; people are going to keep dying because of me. Even Joseph was a victim of this madness. Zosley smiled, 'we got the bad guys they come in all shapes.' He coughed out, 'sometimes bad guys look just like kids. I just wish we weren't at the wrong place at the right time.'

He was bleeding out, and we didn't have much time. I then gave Carter my knife for him to cut himself; he was squeamish at the idea of doing it to himself. I remained crouched to keep Zosley with us. He was the right person; it's no reason to leave him to die. It was taking him to long to do it, so I stood up I was wondering what was taking him so long. He was still in shock; he could barely even hold a knife. He was shaking so much. I grabbed his arm and pulled out his wrist, and I cut it on a vain. He winced at the pain but knew it was temporary, the blood began to flow out, and we both kneeled over Zosley and let it go into his mouth. His eyes closed, so I had to wake him up. I had never seen a person bleed this much. It took him a minute, but it was working, he stopped drinking and asked 'what was this?' I couldn't tell him the truth, but I said it anyway. "Blood," I said flatly. There was no response as he continued drinking, and with each sip, he got better.

He got up. The blood reinvigorated him. He was still bloody from all of the wounds, but he was alive. Before I could rejoice, Jilith (Lilith/John) began to use persuasion bullshit on him. 'You will forget everything you saw.' It was working he started to nod in agreement how many times has she done that to people. 'Your entire team died being ambushed by enemy soldiers.'

His eyes were blank, something I never noticed before. It must be what happens when being persuaded. I hate the feeling of being in that fog because it's like seeing them talk and then whatever they say no matter how heinous you will do it. I wanted to ask how many people they got into doing wicked, criminal, or downright deviant things, but I knew I would only unsettle me.

She's done talking. Zosley was in a trance as he grabbed his gun and checked his ammo. He had begun to walk out the butcher shop none the wiser. I looked down in shame. In the end, this was another person affected by vampires and me. 'Gabriel, you did the right thing.' Jilith was right; she was almost always right; her methods were just fucked up. "So, where are we going?" I checked the MP40 I saw it had no ammo and then proceeded to drop the weapon. I had no use for it anymore. That gun guided me through a lot of this wa. It was like my M1; it was like a friend. Discarding it was almost a waste.

My M1 had three clips remaining, including the one in my M1, and the M1911 still had three magazines left. I hadn't bothered to reload yet. They were both the best with ammo efficiency.

'We are going to my mansion in Sweden; it will be a 16-hour journey, especially if we use our speed.' Jilith was right, plus we would stick out if we travel by human means. We all wore soldiers' uniforms. I just wasn't a fan of going like that, and traveling on Jason's back wasn't fun. She could also teach Carter how to travel at such speeds. I looked at tags and realized how bent and nicked they were. These were one of the few consistent things in my life. I had them since I was in boot camp, and I would most likely die with them. I gathered my thoughts, and I looked at the drying blood all over me on this day, I knew I would have any hope of having an average life. I was getting sick of it.

'It's time to go' Jilith said her eyes were no longer brown they were both golden like the night I met her, my fears quickly returned of this woman. 'You do know you don't need to be afraid, right?' She said it calmly.

"Really?" I said with fear and anger, "You are either being incredibly sarcastic, or do you think any human being would want to be around you, especially since I saw you devour a man." Jilith looked down. I thought she was feeling shame then she looked up in anger.

'You are a man who is fighting for a country that doesn't care for you.' I wanted her to shut up, but she was right. 'I wanted my son to see the end of a bloody war, and you're upset because I came with you? Grow up.' My anger swelled even almost like a volcano in me; it was about to erupt. I was tired of her and this bullshit war. War..war was fucked up, but the things I saw were even worse, from the bodies of soldiers that were fed on to the children I had to kill. They weren't children, I know, but it only made it worse. This wasn't a war to me; this was a slaughter of young men done by vampires.

I finally spoke, "So why not stop me?" my voice angry. "If you wanted to protect me, you could." Her eyes widened. I didn't care about the human puppet she was wearing; they were both liars. I was tired, and I had my 1911 it was time to say fuck this life. "I want nothing to with either of you."

Carter looked at me his face showed his sadness, and sorrow, he then said with a melancholy tone 'You helped me through so much, you prevented me from going insane with this kind of curse.' I looked at my wounds on my left arm, and then I looked at him. "How did I exactly help you? All I did was give you free blood so you wouldn't feed on your team." He looked down in shame. " on top of that; you were trying to persuade me to give you more blood." His eyes widened, he thought I didn't know, but I recognized the haze that comes over you when they look at you. The only difference was that he wasn't that good at it not yet anyway. ' you have had a tough day, Gabriel, maybe you should calm down.' Jilith was still trying to stop me from being angry. Then it happened, a loud bang it was me. I had an armed my 1911 and shot her right in the face. I knew it wasn't enough to kill her, but it was enough for me to get out of this area. Carter tried to stop me, but I turned to him, and I shot him twice, once in the chest and one in the head. I knew it wasn't enough, but I was done.

I began to walk out of the defunct freezer; they were already healing by the time I shut it. I was hoping I had enough time. I wasn't running away this time; I was just putting an end to this. I would hope God would have mercy for what I was about to do myself, but then again, there was no God not in a world like this. I ran for about 10 minutes, it was dark, but I was sure that I could get somewhere safe. I made my way into an abandoned house, I walk through it, and I could see the bloodstains and the torn clothes. I could only assume that the children that I killed were killing anyone who did not want to turn, or maybe they were just feeding? I didn't want to waste too much time in this house. I went to the back of it; it was a beautiful two-story house with a good backyard. The yard was covered in snow, it had a decorative fence, but it was brown, I had only been a few feet away from the door, but I figured that was far enough. I then began to on my knees, and I checked my 1911. I still had a few bullets left, but I only needed one for this. I made peace with whatever God was there even if there wasn't one, and I put the gun to my temple.

I shot myself, or at least what I had hoped. Something else happened when I shot. The bullet missed my head entirely all there were my ringing ears and blood coming from them. It was almost as if something is preventing me from doing it. I looked at the gun I was baffled as to why that happened. I took another go at it. Surely it was just twitchy nerves. I had made peace with myself and whatever God was out there, so why couldn't I do this? I primed the gun this time I put it underneath my chin and then I pulled the trigger, the bang happened, but the entire problem was someone was behind me. Their body was pressed up against my back. I was still kneeling, 'please think about this?' It was her. My anger swelled up again. I could not keep it down again; I just wanted to be alone. I didn't want anyone to interfere.

I quickly got back on my feet and turned my God. Of course, it was her. Her face was partially healed. Did she rush to get to me? Her hair had begun to return to that fiery red color, or maybe it was the blood from her headshot. It was dark outside, but the moon illuminated a lot of the area.

'Think about this,' she said while walking towards me. There wasn't much space, my ears were still ringing from the shot, but I could still hear her. I then looked at her mouth, but there weren't words coming out of it. ' please put the gun down.' I then said out loud, even though I could barely hear myself "fuck off." She stopped walking towards me; she was only a foot away. Would I be able to do it one more time? I wasted three bullets already. I could reload, but she would never let me do that. I had to make it count.

'You know you can't stop me?' I looked at her. Then I put it back to my temple this time slowly. Any sudden movements would make her move fast. I need her to believe she had some control in this situation. She frowned, but I knew she wouldn't react too much. She was just trying to get me to calm down. I kept going to my temple and said: "I made peace with God, but something tells me you never did." I pulled the trigger. I heard the gun go off, but there was something else I saw was she this fast?

The gun went off everything that happened, but then I saw her hands bloody, and the weapon had been bent and broken. It went off, but it cost her she stopped the bullet before it left the gun. Her hands were bloody; it was the one mortifying things I have ever seen, who the fuck bleeds black? It was almost like she wasn't just a vampire, yeah, she was a queen, but what else was she?

Her voice was back in my head again. 'You will go to sleep now.' I could feel that haze coming over me again. It was that persuasion bullshit still. She didn't have to say it like everyone else why? My body became heavy. I didn't have anything smart to say, so I just let it happen and drifted into the oblivion called sleep.

~~~ Lilith

'Are you sure you don't need help carrying him?' He had been sleeping for an hour, we were making good mileage, but I had to move slow Carter was only able to keep up with me because I was moving slow. "Yes, I got him." It was also a good idea to move slowly because you don't want the person that you're carrying to be severely hurt. Traveling this fast can cause a person to vomit, or in some cases, if something hits them, they could cause a lot of damage to them.

'Do you think he meant the things he said?' I looked down. I couldn't say too much on the matter. I knew what he was thinking, but I also knew he meant most of it. We were going to fast so fast wind would make it tedious to hear each other, so we communicated via telepathy. His thoughts betrayed him, though. He was thinking of ways to get Gabriel away from me. If he could outrun me, his mistake was he was underestimating me. I hadn't fed for almost three months, and I was only eating human food.

"Your thoughts betray you, Carter." He looked back at me. His eyes said it all. "You are only alive because of Gabriel and the fact that you are loyal." He still had some resistance, but he knew it would have been futile.

About 15 minutes later, and he started using his mind to talk to me. 'So what's the plan, uhh lady?' He was running and stumbling into his words even through telepathy. My voice sounded like mine, but it was only through telepathy, I still sounded like John. 'Hey er, John, what's next?' I looked at him and said, "we're going to my mansion, or did you forget?" He looked down while running he felt stupid, but no need for him ashamed about it; Gabriel said a lot earlier tonight. "Eyes up, Carter," I said to him telepathically. The last thing I needed was for him to do something stupid or worse get injured while he was with me.

'Why did he snap?' Carter was thinking it. I felt obliged to answer, so I did. "He snapped on us because, in his mind, he never asked for this, and it was just thrust upon him."

'He didn't have to help me.' Carter paused, and he stopped running, we were on the road, but by the looks of it still in Europe. He was ashamed and upset with himself. I wanted to comfort, but there was none I had for him in this situation, Gabriel meant most of the things he said except one thing. He still wanted to be with us. Why? I looked at Carter and walked to him. I had to try to help him. "Carter, you aren't a bad person, just got a terrible hand in this storm called life."

He nodded and then said, 'I was only 23' the same age as Gabriel, my son. 'I had no distinguishing traits, and I only survived this far because one of my teammates he had jumped on a grenade.' As he continued, I realized Gabriel had felt like he was getting cold. He was sleeping and wouldn't wake up because of the strength of my persuasion. Carter must have noticed me worrying and took off his jacket. Traveling at our speeds could be dangerous for him; hopefully, he would be okay. "Carter, I'm sorry you got this life, but like my son, I will help you as long as you support him." He nodded. I knew he understood his predicament, but I want him to turn his supposed curse into a gift, and I wanted him to fight with Gabriel even if it meant against me. Gabriel needed people he could trust, not monsters dressed as people.

We were almost there. Gabriel was still asleep, and the cold did no lasting damage to him. 'Is he going to be fine?' Carter was worried just like me. "Yes, he will be fine." I looked at Carter, and he was noticing the skin I had on was becoming loose, almost like a bag, that was only around the arm. Elder vampires could take on shapeshifting, but there were few in number. The thing was I could shed the form like a snake. It was rather easy to return to my original form. We had only needed to return to my mansion.

We were almost there. The sunrise was imminent; Carter needed to hide from that ball of fire. I made him get my coat off me. He had a bit of debate. Until the sun almost burned him. Gabriel wore my jacket; it was okay since I never got cold. Neither did Carter. He just needed to be out of the sun. We would be to my mansion in a few minutes I could already smell the air being much fresher than the war air. 'So what is going to happen to us?' He had a good question. The problem is, did I have the right answer? I could help him, but Gabriel is another problem entirely. He had tried to kill himself. It was a good thing I was able to put him to sleep with persuasion. "You will be one of my royal guards, a vampire that reports directly to my family or me." His eyes widened with excitement. He was happy there was a purpose. 'What about Gabriel? Er, John' I never told him my name. We weren't running anymore, and we were only a few miles away from my mansion. I had Gabriel on my shoulder. "Call me Lilith when it is just us, but in front of my people call me Queen Lilith." We were still speaking with, but telekinesis was easier.

My bones, I could feel them shrinking as even the skin around my face was loosening. I looked old and young at the same time. It became hard to keep my eyes as they were overlapping on my skin underneath it felt great to return to my original form even with these problems I would need body disposal in bowls of that mansion. On top of this, I had alerted my vampires to let them know I was coming to one of my primary homes. I had plenty of places to, but none were suited for my son Gabriel; at least he would have an illusion.

I hadn't had a human child in a while. The mansions needed to be updated every 15 or so years so they could blend in aesthetically. Outhouses were removed from most of my homes. Times were changing, and humans were changing just as fast or even faster.

My home had been larger than my previous house; the significant difference was that it was bigger than one in France but not by much. The last time I was here was 40 years ago—hopefully, everything thing in proper order.

My mansion was a château novella; it was different in design though it was something that took years to craft. Once it was done, I could not have been more proud of the architects I had hired. Humans have such beautiful minds just like vampires, but every once in a generation who will get a select few who can design some of the most beautiful things. This house was not old. It only had a little bit over a century under its belt the house I had before was used for less savory things. It had two stories, one at the top and one at the bottom, but it also had a large basement. I had six bedrooms and four bathrooms; humans needed to go to the bathroom more than any other species I had known. The master bedroom I had moved it to the second floor rather than on the first floor. I had this house design with French nobility in mind, they were gifted architects, but I also had them take the elements of Sweden, so I had the bricks house tempered for their harsh winters such as this one. I had a living room towards the front of the house.

There were gray bricks used to design the house, and The house took after a castle in many aspects. It even had a small courtyard to the back of it, nothing grandiose but something that I could enjoy if I ever found myself wanting to be entertained television never quite did it for me. The house had stained grey glass with flowers with roses on them to keep the sun out, and to look like a decoration. I could be in the sun, but a lot of my subjects could not be. These arrangements were more for protection than anything else. The mansion had a main road for people to get to the front door, although it was to the right. It had a large porch made from marble, and the pillars supported a balcony, that was where the entrance and the master bedroom was. The main building had two doors, but only one was the main entrance. I had five windows to front and 5 in the back. They were all stained glass-like I mentioned before. Four of the windows opened up like doors; they were casement styled and were stacked like above each other two on the ground floor and two on the top. There was also a separate window though it was a sash window in the main room.

The Roofing was a cross gable style; it also spiked on the roofing to prevent birds from landing. Seeing as the entrance was on the right side, and the front was made to be accessible to the yard. To the left of the mansion would be a dining area and courtyard. It had a tunnel made of glass leading to it; it was also designed with stained glass. The tube was not long; it was only about 30 yards. The flooring was of stone instead of marble, and it was quite a sight to see when it was snowing. This would also connect to the final part of my building, my courtyard, and the dining hall. I had a kitchen in the center house, but when I wanted to be extravagant, I would take some of the more beautiful people to that side of my mansion.

The courtyard was always entertaining; I won't point in time are used to pay professional boxers to fight. The yard had a large dining hall with a skylight roof; it also had a chimney. The chimney and fireplace allowed us to keep such a cold area warm. The building was shaped like a box. It had no windows. There was a gate that was built around it that was to make a courtyard. I took great care into making sure that the trees in this area cleared out so I could have a great view of my garden though it was snow on the ground. I enjoyed watching the sun come up. It was one of the few things that I enjoyed about being able to walk in the daylight. The inner gate built around the courtyard was made to keep birds from landing on it and to keep prying eyes out. The inner gate was made of grey marble-like my home.

I had a third area, but it was still under construction, it would be a garage for cars. A recent invention that would be useful in the future. We got to the outer gate; it had a grey brick wall 12 ft tall it only had two entrances. It circled the mansion and added a layer of mystery to my home. I walked towards the main I had given Gabriel to Carter. The silver gate was still beautiful and showed my reflection; the face had looked saggy one of me could no longer control the eyelids. I could feel the skin getting loose like a glove in other areas the military uniform tattered from was sagging off with the skin.

The gate began to open it was one of my children she was pulling it open with her strength although I despise her doing it she couldn't wait to see me and I hadn't seen her in 5 years. She was the middle child and was born on May 17, 1400, AD in China, my dearest Fù-guān. She was permanently stuck at the age of 16 but had a lot of my looks and her father's pride with his hard-headedness. She was 5'4 and was slightly taller than me as I was only 5'3 she had been born during the dynasty that had been known for its miracles, though that would be for another story. Fù-guān had pale skin like me even though she was Chinese; she favored a lot of my looks from the golden eyes to the narrow nose. She had a round face like me but had a softer chin. Her eyes were a shade darker than mine, but only ever so slightly, they were smaller than mine, almost like almonds. Her eyebrows and her hair were all black, right now she was wearing a Norwegian style blue dress, but usually, she would wear Chinese attire. She was also a fan of French attire,e but she could never really comprehend the point in wearing American clothes. To her, they were just knock offs to the real thin. However, she got that thought I will never know.

When the gate was open,n she curtsied in her blue dress and told me in this corrupted skin 'Welcome home,e my mother.'

End of chapter 10 The Queen Returns.