Chapter 42: Alexei Is Waist-Deep In The Flood

TRIGGER WARNING: assault, macabre images, references to gruesome violence

Weds, November 18, 2074 8:07 pm: Amrita Beach- The Village of Kings Contrivance, Veronaville



This was the end of the road. Alexei's heels skidded in the gravel as he came to a halt at the edge of the sea. The fae girl that he'd been chasing foolishly plowed against the waves, shielding her chest with her arms. Water swelled from her ankles to her waist, prodding her lithe body like driftwood. Perhaps if he stood there long enough, he would witness her head disappearing beneath the brine. He grew weary of this game.



Alexei strolled casually into the surf, humming a few lines of Au Clair de la Lune and mentally preparing himself for the brutal cold of Belmori Sea. Despite the roaring tide, he could distinctly hear the palpitations of her heart and the terrified sobs that issued forth from her mouth- Both of which tantalized him. This one would thrash and scream. This one would pray until she lost consciousness. She was already putting up the sort of fight that would have deterred other vampires. But Alexei had acquired a taste for this caliber of prey and they were never easy. They knew what stalked them.



The fae stopped hauling herself forward, perhaps recognizing the futility of motion. Alexei crept up behind her so close that he could smell her. She was a creature of cumin and orange peel, cinnamon and saffron. Everything about her set his senses alight. She would be worth the struggle.

Eight times in the past three hours, she'd had attempted to kill him, completely exhausting her magic. Even up to her knees in salt water, she couldn't have passed an electric current to save her life. Alexei ran his wet fingers up her spine and she shivered violently.

"Here pretty, pretty," he purred.

"No..." Her voice was guttural and raw like the crackling burn of dry wood. It was the sound of great strength failing. Alexei wrapped his arms around her as she folded from fear and fatigue. Her tears were falling hard now, freezing at the tip of her nose. "Please don't hurt me," she pleaded. Alexei smirked viciously. God, did he hate to hear them beg.





"'Don't hurt me,' it says. After all the trouble that it has caused me, I aught to kill it just for shits and giggles."

"Please-" It was all that Alexei could take of her whining. He jerked her arm behind her back, cutting off her speech. She cried out in pain.




"Save it," he hissed. The fae quieted down to a pant, no doubt frightened of what would happen to her if she didn't. "That's better." He let go of her arm and placed a hand over her eyes. She clawed at him at first, attempting to pry his hand from her face but he held on firmly until she relaxed against his chest. She was like a beached fish, fully resigned to suffocation.

Alexei's shoes were filling fast with water and silt. The wind whipped around them, churning the sea at their waists. Alexei exhaled, uncovering her eyes and allowing his hand to roam over her abdomen. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he lost himself in premature pangs of grief. Even with as desirable as she was, he knew that after he'd taken what he wanted, he would be left feeling hollow- A wretch drunk on his own self pity, standing waist-deep in the flood. There was no satisfaction left for him in the world.





He would spend what remained of eternity trying to get back the ardor he'd felt for that girl on the marsh ten years prior. Just listening to her bones splinter, he'd achieved an ecstasy that no mortal can know. All the glory of God had been in her. This was what Kvornan could not understand. Their union was a sacred act. As full of regret as he was, he had been born to eat her alive. And he didn't even know her name.

Alexei's right hand brushed against the pocket that contained his wallet. He kept a short lock of her hair in the plastic compartment where other people kept photographs of their loved ones. It was all that he had left.




With a heavy heart, he spun the fae around. Her lips were blue from cold though her teeth had stopped chattering some time ago. Alexei stroked her shoulders to generate some semblance of heat and she only stared blankly at him through half-closed lids. It was as though she were already dead. The first snowflakes appeared in the sky. He would need to get this over with before she died of hypothermia in his arms. He cleared his throat.

"I'm afraid that there is no feasible way for me not to hurt you but I promise that you will have forgotten about it by morning. I'll even heal the wounds for you." That last snapped her out of her spell. Her face contorted in fear.

"No! No. Leave the wounds," she rasped. Her eyes pleaded more strongly than her mouth and for a brief instant, he almost wanted comply. But that wasn't an option. He could leave no trace.

"You know I can't do that," he said. The girl crumpled in his arms and began sobbing anew. Even the small exchange of blood necessary to heal her would destroy her perfect light. She would be an abomination in the eyes of heaven almost as lowly as he was. Alexei stroked her back comfortingly. In a few short moments, they would share a life between them- Hers.

"Shhh," he soothed. "Relax, little girl. It isn't all bad." He wound her hair around wrist and forcefully jerked her head back. "In me, you will live forever."

May 10, 2050 5:12 am: Blue Lake- Sleighton, Pleasantview (Twenty-Four years earlier)


The vampire who called himself Vincent Randall had by degrees taken over the ship. Maybe it was nothing more than the severity of his glare but when he barked orders, even the most willful crewmembers fell into line. He was bitter and unapproachable, shrewd and hardworking. He talked like a fae, looked like a Townie and carried himself like a king. There wasn't much that piqued Alexei's curiosity at his age but this man was a notable exception.

"What are you waiting for, Garrison? Don't just stand there like a worthless sack of shit! Lower the starboard nets," Vincent yelled. Alexei scrambled like a child caught in the act of truancy.

"Sir," he shouted back affirmatively.



Water splashed up onto the deck, soaking through Alexei's skin. It was all he could do not to shudder in revulsion. Blue Lake was where Pleasantview's sewage ended its life. Were he to bathe thrice daily for the next hundred years, Alexei would still never feel clean again. He gave the netting a tug. The green sludge that coated the rope stained his palms and smelled remotely like rotting flesh. Maybe Bella Goth really was down there.

Vincent passed by him and their shoulders brushed. Alexei wondered how long he could keep this man's identity to himself.





"Bosun, there's something caught in the aft netting. Looks like... Tree branches or something. I think it's fixing to get stuck in the rudder," Marty Tyler, the ship's watchstander, called out. Vincent muttered obscenities under his breath, making his way across the deck.

"Start reeling it in. Landgraab, Garrison and Garrison get over here," Vincent shouted. Alexei tossed the starboard nets overboard and jogged towards the stern.



The net was already caught on something. Five men pulled the ropes taught and the netting refused to budge. The rope in Antoine's hand snapped clean away, burning his palms.

"Are you alright," Alexei shouted at his brother. Antoine nodded gravely, staring at his hands as though he had never seen them before.



"There's a pelvis in the net," Antoine reported. Alexei's eyebrows rose. Certainly, he had heard incorrectly.

"What?"

"It's a- a pelvis. I saw it surface."

"Pick-up the slack, Garrison," Vincent screamed at Antoine. By now, the rest of the crew was joining in. Alexei felt his rope dislodge. "Ok men, bring it up on three. One! Two! Three!" Alexei heaved and swung his portion of the net onboard.



The men dropped the netting and backed away from it as it hit the deck. It was a terrible mess of rope, vegetation, excrement and something that did indeed look like tree branches. Alexei kicked the netting back as best he could, revealing a fully decayed set of human remains.

"Is it her," the watchstander asked. No one responded. Antoine bent down onto his knees, looking the body over. Alexei knew the damage that water could do but this body was too long dead to be Bella's. Antoine turned his eyes up to Alexei.

"It's a child," he declared solemnly.