surrender, she completed disrobing him. She stepped
back from him for just a moment to push aside her
own garments, and then she was upon him once more,
pushing him up against the rough bark of the tree
behind him. Her breath hot in his ear, with her tongue
she traced tiny circles on the side of his neck. Then, lips
peeling back as if in pain, she bared her teeth and as he
entered her, she penetrated him.
The bite startled him. Suddenly, he was hers completely,
both feeding and being fed. He felt the totality of her,
her complete and utter triumph over him. He felt
whatever had stood between them dissolving. The scent
of her perfume enveloped him, it’s sweet aroma
intoxicating. But beneath it, there was a mustiness
which he found unsettling.
Fate had only permitted him to stay with Muriel for
four decades. She had taught him every aspect of the
life. She had taught him powers over mortals as well as
powers over their own kind. She had fed his growing
addiction with glorious tales of immortality’s
possibilities, and she had filled his nights with a passion
like none he had ever known. But the unholiness of it
all had troubled his heart.
In the darkness of his coffin he lay silently, wondering
if prayer might now be beyond him. Could the Christ,
who forgave the thief crucified beside him, accept the
confessions of one so foul, so old, and so, so tired?
Perhaps if Muriel had survived. If she, who had made
the promise of eternity so beautiful, had been able to
stay with him throughout it, maybe then he might not
have lost sight of what it truly meant. Perhaps then, the
55