Moonlit Surrender
Chapter Fifteen

Lucy climbed the many stairs of John's apartment building for the second time that evening, though the night was waning and it wouldn't be long before the first grays of dawn began to brighten the sky and chase all the vampires, including John, back into hiding until twilight fell once more. She smiled as she slipped her shiny new key into the lock of his door and felt it give way and open freely to her.

The apartment was dark and after a few soft calls of his name with no answer, she assumed empty.

She set her purse down on the counter and carefully made her way through the black room to the lamp beside his couch, smiling to herself as she remembered following nothing more than the smoky commands of his voice in the dark and the trust he would guide her safely through the black. Once the modest light of the lamp filled the room with a warm glow, she saw scattered across the coffee table opened envelopes and strewn out handwritten letters in such pristine calligraphy Lucy had first taken them for printed words.

Curious, she sat down to investigate.

The envelopes were addressed to John, but without any return addresses, and the letters themselves were signed with nothing more than a 'D'. Lucy lifted one of the letters and her eyes widened as she read softly to herself, 'He was spotted in the area. It's obvious it can only be for one reason. Lay low. Stick to the plan.'

She picked up another letter, shorter than the others. 'There's a tail on the human. Cut ties immediately. Possible trap.'

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as straight as could be and she felt her skin crawl in dread and fear. The human girl could only mean her, but what on earth could John possibly be mixed up in that so much danger was around them?

A vampire's affairs.

She jumped with a squeal as the door flung open but was relieved to see it was only John flying in and locking the deadbolt behind him. He turned around a bit disheveled and surprised to replace her sitting on his couch, then his eyes dropped to the coffee table and the scattering of letters she had been reading.

"Lucy," he stated, caught off guard. "Testing out that key already?" he teased, though a bit distracted as he crossed the room to her and pulled the heavy drapes behind her closed, then hurried through the rest of the apartment to do the same to the other windows. He was back in the room quickly, just a blur flashing past her until he was standing still on the other side of the table again. "What are you doing here, dear? You should be safely tucked away in bed," he asked. She shrugged. "I got in trouble."

His eyes widened with worry and she understood now it was because he knew there was much more going on in their sleepy little town at night than she was aware of.

"Just with Ben," she reassured. "I'm fine, but he found out about us and called off the engagement."

"Oh," he sighed in relief, then stepped around to pull her into his arms. "I'm so sorry. That couldn't have been easy."

She nestled her cheek into his chest, inhaled his scent and felt a calm wash over her. "Our breakup was a long time coming."

"Breakups are never easy. It's okay to feel sad."

She pulled away from him enough to look up into his eyes, just about to ask if she could stay with him until she found other arrangements, but he interrupted her before she could speak.

"You'll

I stay here, if you'd like, that is. It would be a comfort to me to know you are safe."

"Yeah," she agreed, watching his face to gauge his response, "especially with that pesky tail on me."

He sighed heavily. "You've been doing some reading I see."

She slipped out of his arms and pointed to the letters on the table. "What the hell is going on? Are you in danger? Am I? Is this why you gave me a key?"

He faltered uncharacteristically, stumbling over his words. "No. Well, yes. I mean..." He lifted his hands to rub his graying temples. He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders and then gingerly sat her down on the couch before beginning a steady pacing of the room as he went on to better explain himself. "A long time ago, I did some things I'm not proud of. Right before I was changed..." He trailed off for a moment, deep in his own thoughts, then continued, "I had just lost my wife to illness and was grieving the loss of my family, searching for comfort at the bottom of nearly every barrel in town, drifting from one tavern to the next like an inebriated ghost." He paused again uncharacteristically. "I was attacked in the alley, by a vampire that had noticed my vulnerable state. I managed to fight him off, kicking, scratching, and biting him back and accidentally ingested his corrupted blood. This is how I, too, became a monster." "You're not a monster, John," she interjected softly.

He shook his head and continued. "I-I hurt people, Lucy. I took lives." He sighed heavily, unable to meet her gaze. "I lost my way for a very long time."

"And the 'he'?" she asked, leaning forward curiously as she watched him walk the length of the room and then turn about to walk it once more.

His stormy eyes did not lift to her, shame keeping them downcast as he confessed his sins. "Lerexus," he spat derisively. "He was a very old vampire even then, and he saw an easy convert in me I suppose. He took me in to his dark cult and educated me on what I am, or what he believes us to be. He was my mentor for a very long time."

Lucy watched him as he finally collapsed into his old chair across from her and rested his head in his palm, pained by the memories.

"He was from a different world," John continued, "and to Lerexus, vampires are gods, deserving of worship and their due sacrifice of blood. He glorified it and for a time I devoured his egotistical lies and participated in their bloody rituals. I was his special pet, his favorite. Once my conscience finally caught up with me and I began to question his hateful teachings, it was too late. There was no leaving his bloody cult. I couldn't go on taking lives. I couldn't be his protégé any longer and I began to look for any way out. I told you I had an encounter once with what you referred to as a vampire hunter."

She nodded, wide eyed and holding onto his every word.

"They are called the Venatores, or in this case a woman, a Venatrix named Despina. Their order stands to defend the world against evil. They are skilled hunters and trackers and she had caught wind of the heinous crimes I had committed while under Lerexus' thumb. She cornered me one night and just as she was about to take my life and send me to whatever hell awaits vampires, I told her I could lead her to a whole nest of us. I told her of Lerexus and his cult and what they do. Apparently she had already been hunting him for some time even then. I asked for her to rid the world of them, even if it meant striking me down alongside them. She saw some shred of humanity left in me, I suppose, and agreed to let me live, upon the agreement of certain caveats."

"So what happened? Did she kill this Lerexus?"

He shook his head gravely. "His little spies tipped him off and while the Venatrix was able to decimate the rest of the cult, Lerexus got away. She had originally intended to bring me back to their headquarters as some sort of science experiment - a live specimen to study and ferret out all the secrets of their enemy, but since he survived, she has kept me on a tight leash to use as bait. That was so long ago though, with no word of him for ages. I thought it was safe to start trying to rebuild some semblance of a life, but the letters were a warning. He is here, and I doubt he has forgotten what happened so long ago."

"And so he's been following me? What would he want with me?"

Finally, his gray gaze lifted, full of trepidation beneath his heavy arched brows. "You are dear to me," he answered.

They said no more for a long moment as John agonized silently in his chair.

He broke the quiet with a solemn apology, "I am so sorry, Lucy. I never meant for you to get mixed up in my sins. I spent so long in hiding and keeping everyone, even my own kind, at arm's length. I thought it would be safe to try for a life finally, just once. I so enjoy teaching and this little town, but more than all that, I've enjoyed getting to know you." He turned in his seat to face her. "It has been such a privilege to join you in this special journey of yours, to have you open up to me so completely. I'm sorry I've violated that trust and put you in harm's way. I'm sorry I've failed you."

She tilted her head in confusion. "Why are you talking like we've reached some sort of end? You haven't failed me, silly man," she chuckled sympathetically and reached out to touch his arm. "I..." she began but hesitated, looking deep into the gray ocean of his eyes for even the smallest sign that what she was about to admit might possibly be reciprocated.

She smiled at him warmly as she realized there was no risk of disappointment or further heartbreak in this room tonight. Boldly she proclaimed, "I love you, John Wright, and wherever you're going, I'm going too. You don't have to face this alone."

She saw whatever invisible wall he had built up around his heart crumple beneath her words and a vulnerability cover his face which she had only caught rare glimpses of until this moment. Now it was he who was opening himself up to her. He knelt down at the edge of the couch in front of where she sat, nestling himself between her open knees, and leaned forward into her bosom and wrapped his arms about her waist. She welcomed him warmly and cradled his head to her chest with soft kisses and hid her smile in his hair.

"And I love you," he answered at last. "You've brought me back to life in a way I thought I could never be." He pulled away from her embrace to look up into her face. "I promise I'll protect you, princess. I'll take care of this swiftly, and," he added, "Doris will no longer be a hindrance. She took the rejection surprisingly well, which normally would raise suspicion, but what further harm could she be? Lerexus already knows everything. He is all that stands in the way of my peace now."

Despite the danger she could feel closing in on them, Lucy still felt her cheeks heat at the intimate pet name and could feel the warmth spreading through her body.

He reached up to touch her face and muttered hoarsely, his words raspy with want, "If dawn wasn't just on the other side of the horizon, I'd have you again tonight."

She sighed and wiggled beneath the tingling his words sent tickling through her. She looked across the room to a small clock on one of his many bookshelves and was surprised to replace how quickly the night had slipped away from her. Morning would be breaking across the sky outside his heavily draped windows any moment now.

"Come," he ordered as he rose to his feet and tugged her up with him. He clicked off the lamp and then led her by the hand through the dark living room to his bedroom.

Lucy followed obediently, knowing better than to try to pierce the shadows to see where he led. She heard a door open and then the click of another light suddenly illuminating his bedroom closet. She watched him push aside the hangers of suits and various clothing until they were parted to reveal the wall at the back. He settled his palms on it and gave it a gentle push until something clicked and a panel came loose for him to slide open.

He outstretched his hand for her to enter first and she gladly obliged, overcome with curiosity. She was surprised to replace a whole other room hidden within his apartment, just big enough to house a roomy titanium coffin, complete with a few ornamental fittings decorating the outside and plush, white cushions lining the interior.

"This is where I go during the day," he informed her. "Now you know my best kept secret."

She approached his coffin with the same awe and enthusiasm as a child stepping into a theme park for the first time. Years of macabre fiction and fantasies of a dreamy vampire boyfriend flooded her mind, memories of all the daydreams and wishes she had made as an awkward teenage outcast before Ben had found her and replaced the imaginary, brooding figure with the stereotypical quarterback heartthrob and dragged her into a new social circle, one with polos and pastels and the feeling of never truly belonging. That part of her she had tucked away with her secret desires and the ever-increasing need for more that had eventually grown too big to smother away, was resuscitated now as she stood over John's coffin. She touched the cool satin lining of the coffin wall and turned to his silhouette glowing with a halo of light from the false panel's opening behind him. She bit the corner of her lip in an attempt to control the smile threatening to split her cheeks and asked meekly, "Can I sleep with you today?"

He didn't answer.

The light behind him clicked off and she heard the panel seal them off from the rest of the world slowly beginning to stir awake to head to their daily duties while Lucy remained in the darkness of her deepest fantasies, forsaking the sun for something so good and too deliciously decadent to be tasted in the light. She felt him close to her, traces of her blood still warming his veins as his presence filled the space around her. She closed her eyes and surrendered to the pitch black of his world and let him scoop her into his arms with his heavy, smoke filled voice in her ear.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he finally replied. He gently set her down onto the soft cushions before crawling in and settling himself behind her to cradle against his chest and curl around the bend of his knees. His palm smoothed back her long wavy locks and then pulled the lid closed around them, removing them even further from the mundane of the living.

Lucy felt that any sane person would have been starting the first stages of a panic attack at being sealed away to the confined quarters where only the dead were meant to sleep, but all she felt was a calm she had never felt before washing over her. Wrapped in John's arms and so hidden away from all the cares of the waking world, all she felt was the unexpected peace of belonging. Whether it was the macabre setting, the dangerous new world of night she was entering, or simply who she was embraced by, she felt for the first time in her life that she was exactly where she was meant to be.

"Good night, princess," he whispered with a tender kiss behind her ear.

"I love you," she replied.

"And I you," he answered, before exhaustion at last claimed her and unconsciousness took them both.