Palindrome

WILLIAM

She looked awful, but still glorious. Hannah had fallen from the sky like a sack of bricks, and now she laid on the ground, bleeding. Her skin was pale, but it always was. The wound to her chest gaped at William, scaring the shit out of him. He could see her ribs, white bones among the red flesh. He would have thought she was dead for sure, hadn`t there been for the string of profanities coming out of her mouth. William saw Benjamin carry Oscar away, both their clothes soaked in blood. He didn’t dare lift Hannah yet, it looked like her guts would slide out if he moved her.

He put a hand to her cheek, gently at first, but pressed harder when he felt the coldness of her skin. She couldn’t die. She was meant to be in his life forever. Theirs was a tale of magic, Beauty and the Beast, a fated love, against all odds. Out of all the people he could have fallen for, he had fallen for a small-town witch, who just happened to be the savour of them all. But she couldn’t save anyone if she was dead, could she?

He should just lift her away and get them away from all this, they had been happy in their own slice of Heaven. There she could heal, and they could live together in happiness.

“It burns. William, it burns!”

Her voice was high-pitched with pain, her eyes staring blindly at him, focused on the fire in her body. William had changed when he saw her falling, his Great- Grandfather disappearing towards the mansion, with his tail between his legs. He was torn between going after him and kill him, ancestor or not – or staying here with Hannah. She whispered his name and took the decision for him. He was staying. Noah had lived for thousands of years; he could have one more hour. William cradled the love of his live in his arms, holding her gently to his naked chest. Around them his family fought for their lives, the screams and grunts drowning to the sound of her gargled breath.

“William?”

He looked down at Hannah, tears in his eyes. She was calmer now, and it chilled his heart. Was this it? Had she resigned to her faith? He nodded and swallowed away the tears, wanting to be strong for her.

“Hannah, love.”

She smiled up at him, like an angel. Like a Goddess. Her eyes still the weird golden colour, standing out against her pearly-white skin.

“Let me go.”

He clutched her tight, not thinking about her wound. No, this wasn’t happening. He would never let her go, never. He hissed the words into her dark hair, “Hannah, don`t. You have to stay right here with me. You are not going anywhere. I will save you, this isn’t the end. I have waited five hundred years for you, I refuse to lose you now.”

“William, darling. I mean, let me go. I need to stand up.”

The words had to really sink in before he managed to understand what she was saying, but he still held on for dear life. He felt her finger touch his lip, and he looked at her. Eyes glowing, lips smiling.

“William, I know how to end this, but you need to let go of me. I`m ok, the wound is nearly gone.”

She was right, while he had been occupied with praying to Gods unknown, weeping into her hair, the wound had turned from a nasty deep slash to a pink scar.

“But...But.” He stammered like an idiot, making her smile teasingly. “Are you the only one allowed to have super-human powers?” She pushed gently at him, standing up swiftly, like nothing had happened. He was kneeling before her and she held out her hand to him, reminding him of an image seen in a church long ago. “You truly are a Goddess?”

She looked nothing like it, clothes dirty and shredded, the scar was hideous. He had never seen anything like her. And she was his. His Goddess.

She shrugged, “Something like that.” Hannah helped him stand, they stood close amidst the chaos. “I know how to fix this. I think.”

He watched her turn towards the hordes of undead and raising her arms. The air simmered around her, like she was giving off heat, the bones in her body calling for him. It seemed it wasn’t only noticeable for him, all the walking bodies stopped and stared at her, mouths opening and closing. He felt his family gather behind him, first now aware that Hannah was standing. Battered, bruised but alive. Natan put his hand on William`s shoulder.

“What the fuck is going on? Is she alright?”

William nodded without looking away, he knew he should check on them and reassure them that she was fine, but he couldn’t. His body trembled in response to the song in her bones, somehow it felt like he was lending her his power, that it was his job to support her, whatever she was doing. Samuel gaped at the image, “Sweet Mother, she is amazing. Brigid reborn. She was the one to awaken the dead, she will be the one to put them to rest.” Samuel seemed so sure, was it really that easy? On the other hand, Hannah had changed, maybe it was?

Her voice boomed out over the area, each word like a gongon to his soul.

“Flesh of our fathers, flesh of our mothers

Go to rest, among the others

Ancient words, pact fulfilled

By magic`s touch the Beast is stilled.

So mote it be.”

It seemed so anticlimactic, he had envisioned a big fight to death, him ripping zombies to pieces with his claws. But all it took was his girlfriend to tell them to go to bed? What about the prophecy, what about the potion? He had noticed the two broken vials around her neck, but he hadn`t thought about the significance until now. The potion was gone, destroyed by Noah.

Hannah turned, ashen in her face. Maybe it was harder than it looked. Natan and Samuel ran over to her, steadying her. It should have been him, but he was busy wondering what the loss of the potion meant for him and the rest of his family. He had always been told that they needed it, but by the way Noah talked earlier it seemed he wanted it to kill humans. Why hadn`t he seen how fucked up his family was? Was he really planning another flood or something? Hannah… Goddess and witch. She didn’t deserve being dragged into this. He`d been wrong before, he was hers, but she wasn’t his. William had been so sure about his upbringing, the legacy of the ancient family, the superiority of the Beasts. They were demi-Gods among petty humans, pathetic vampires and vicious witches. How wrong they were. He put a hand to his stomach, hiding the tattoo with the bible verse. “You shall not suffer a witch to live.” Hannah deserved so much more, not his twisted love. His love to her was tainted by the curse of his family.

She widened her eyes at him, watching him take a step back while the others gathered around her as the Undead vanished, their mission now to get back into their final – hopefully – resting place. She kept his eyes locked on him, the pain seeping through the gold. Natan asked her something, distracting her and William took to the sky, changing in seconds.

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