Bitten (The Vampire Legends #3)

Bitten (The Vampire Legends #3) Page 22

“Why did you come here? It’s too dangerous for you,” Benji said.

“I had to see you. I need you,” Rachel said.

He reached out and embraced her in a long hug. She slowly pulled back.

“I missed you,” Benji said, looking into her eyes and stroking her face.

“I missed you, too!” Rachel said. “I’m sorry I left. I shouldn’t have.”

“You had to. I understand,” Benji said, smiling down at her. “You had to realize for yourself.”

“But I did, and I’m back now. I want to be with you. I will never leave you again,” Rachel said.

The two looked at each other and kissed, passionately for a minute and then Benji said, “Quick, follow me!”

He pushed open the door to the castle and they walked in. Rachel felt scared in there as she looked around at the crumbling ruin. She knew with any step it could come crumbling down on top of them. She walked carefully behind Benji as he crept over to the far wall of the castle and stood there, knocking on the stones.

“What are you doing?” Rachel asked in a whisper.

“Shh!” Benji said. “I’m listening.”

Benji knocked again on a different part of the wall and the noise was different. It was hollow. He opened the wall and reached deep inside. Within seconds, he pulled out the glowing blue tablet and held it in his hands. He blew on it and dust flew everywhere, making Rachel cough.

“This is it!” Benji said, holding it close to his body. “I found it!”

“What is it?” Rachel asked. “How does it work?”

Benji looked over at her and said, “The Ancient Tablet is the center of the Vampire Legends. For thousands of years, vampires have been searching for it with no avail. The tablet has the power to heal or destroy. It is the most powerful relic on earth,” Benji said, holding the tablet in his hands.

“If the evil vampires get this, there is no limit to the destruction they could do,” Benji said.

“But how can you stop them? We’re outnumbered,” Rachel said.

“We can’t risk them getting it. We have to destroy it!” Benji said.

“Destroy it?” Rachel asked. “What do you mean?”

“Legend has it that the one who destroys it will be destroyed himself,” Benji said. “I have no choice but to destroy it at this point, even though it will kill me to do so. We have to say goodbye to each other.”

Rachel looked at Benji and let out a wail, “No! You can’t do that! I can’t bear to let that happen.”

She ran over to Benji and flung her arms around him, holding him tight, “You can’t do it. I won’t let you! There has to be another way!? Something!?”

Benji lowered his head.

“There is one other way,” he said, reluctantly.

Clearly he didn’t want to say what it was.

“Tell me!” Rachel pleaded.

“If you and I destroy it together, I will live. You would save me,” Benji said, looking up into Rachel’s eyes.

“Yes! I’ll help you! What do I do?” Rachel asked without hesitation.

Benji took a deep breath.

“But it’s not that simple,” he said. “This tablet is also the only force on earth that can change a vampire back to human. If I destroy it by myself, before I do, I can change you back.”

He hesitated.

“But if we destroy it together, it will be gone. You can never be human again.”

He looked at her.

“You could save me,” he said softly. “But you would doom yourself to immortality. To life as our kind. Forever.”

Rachel’s mind spun with the implications. Here was her chance to become human again. She could hardly believe it. Now, she didn’t know what she wanted.

“It is for you to choose,” he said.

Rachel looked at him, looked into his eyes, and remembered all their times together. She remembered that night, at the Ferris wheel, when he saved her; remembered all their dates; remembered his love for her. And she fell in love with those eyes once again, just as much as she had from the first moment she met him. She could not imagine life without him. She would rather be alive forever and be with him, then go back to being a human and lose him.

“I choose you,” she said. “I’m ready to be with you forever.”

His eyes lit up, as she leaned in and kissed him.

“Ok,” he said. “Let’s go.”

The two quickly ran out of the castle and across the cliff toward the edge. As she got there, she looked down and could see the sharp jagged edge of the cliffs below them and the tsunami sized waves crashing against the shore below. Her heart was racing as she looked over at the huge distance between her and the ocean below.

“The only way to destroy the tablet is to jump,” Benji said, looking down at the edge below.

“Jump?” Rachel asked, feeling increasingly frightened. Her body was trembling with fear as she thought about leaping off the cliff. She knew she could potentially die doing this, and she wondered if it was worth it. The waves below looked deadly as they crashed against the side of the cliff. The noise of the waves scared her immensely as she looked down. Each crash was like a stab to her body. She grew numb.

Benji held out his hand for Rachel to grab and says, “Do you trust me?”

Rachel looked into his eyes in silence. Without answering his question, she took his hand with confidence and the two walked towards the edge of the cliff. They stood there, looking out onto the blood red sky for a minute, and then turned and looked at each other.

“I love you,” Benji said.

“I love you, too,” Rachel whispered back gently.

At the same time the two stepped forward and jumped, holding the glowing blue tablet together in their hands.

As Rachel plummeted, the wind racing through her, the ground coming towards her impossibly fast, she held Benji’s hand tight, and in that moment realized that, no matter what happened, they would always be together.