SCENE XII:

Burning Shoots Growing from the Abyss Itself

. The city was exceptionally sparse. Therefore, silence and peace reigned all around. Akasha walked slowly. Her side ached with every movement, but she didn't complain. She knew she was truly lucky. She still couldn't quite believe the whole situation... That Maya was a ghost and that her husband had killed her... And she? She must have truly loved him, since she hadn't returned to Earth to torment and frighten him, but to save him...

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Nilajhash. He walked right beside her, at least two heads taller than she. He had broad shoulders and black hair that fell over dark, deep eyes. He was exceptionally handsome, and many a girl would have really liked him...

She sighed heavily, brushing her hair away from her face.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.

"Yes..." she replied with a smile. "I'm fine...

" "I wonder if I did the right thing.

" "Of course. Even Maya thanked you.

" "But he himself, I think he holds it against me. It would probably have been better if he had remained the soulless Beast he was.

" "It's not good for anyone when their dark side is the only thing that matters in their life. If we allow it to control us, we'll be lost!"

"Hmm... that's probably why the life of a Vampire isn't so easy.

" "It's a daily struggle not to be completely consumed by darkness, but to fully embrace who we are..."

At that moment, they reached Akasha's apartment building. They stopped outside, and the girl pulled her keys from the pocket of Magnus's black trench coat. At her side hung the still-bloody sword, which she tried to hide from curious people.

"I'll go now.

" "Do you have to?" she looked at him sadly.

"It's time for me to go. I've spent too much time in human form anyway.

" "I understand."

She climbed the first two steps, so that she was level with his mouth. She looked at him uncertainly, then quickly kissed him on the cheek, whispered "thank you," and without looking at him, ran into the stairwell, closing the door behind her.

Nilajhash, taken aback, lost his composure. He stared at the door through which the girl had disappeared, then waited for the light in her window to come on, and only then did he vanish into the black mist...

Akasha closed the door behind her and smiled uncertainly to herself. Her hands were shaking slightly, and her heart was fluttering erratically in her chest. The run had exhausted her, so she sat down on the bed, breathing calmly.

Nothing had changed in her apartment. Daniel had indeed taken care of her flowers, as they were doing very well. But at the same time, she found few traces of his presence.

After making herself some green tea, she placed piles of sandwiches on the table, turned on the television, and began eating as if she hadn't eaten in a year. She was incredibly hungry. After a few moments, however, she realized that she was completely uninterested in national and international news, and the TV series she had previously watched so voraciously, never missing an episode, suddenly seemed terribly boring and artificial.

Reluctantly, she turned off the television and immediately turned on the radio. The music soothed her. She sat more comfortably in bed, leaned back against the wall, and took a mug of hot tea in both hands...

"Finally home..." she thought.

But besides relief and happiness, something else was troubling her. As if longing for someone or something... She couldn't quite put her finger on it...

After bathing, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her complexion, previously slightly tanned, was now snow-white and exceptionally soft. Her hair, long unwashed, was now dry and brittle. Her long fingernails were also beginning to bother her. She slowly tidied herself up, and when she was finished, with indescribable bliss, she lay down in her bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

After a long, deep sleep, she woke up around three in the afternoon. Fortunately, the heavy black curtains blocked out the sunlight, but Akasha still felt a certain unease at the thought of it being daytime...

She wasn't in a hurry. She lay in bed for a long time, staring blankly at the ceiling. Only when it struck three-thirty did she get up, change into new clothes, and make herself a proper breakfast. She ate a lot again. Walking down the hall to the kitchen, she saw letters in her mailbox. She opened it, and the mail spilled out onto the floor. She gathered it up and sat down at the kitchen table to see what had arrived.

Not even the lamps were on in her entire apartment. Akasha definitely preferred candlelight. Now she sat at the table and read letters from concerned friends, who were surprised by her long absence.

For the first few moments, she wanted to write back, lie and say she'd left, been ill—there were many excuses. But finally, she gave up. It made no sense in the long run, and could only cause her trouble.

Only now, did it truly dawn on her that she would have to completely abandon the life she'd led. From school, from friends, from family... Now that she had become a vampire, she couldn't go back to everything that had happened and pretend that nothing had happened, that she was still who she was... Perhaps others were capable of that, of lying, of cheating... Of keeping silent about her true nature... She couldn't do that. She knew that if she met anyone she had ever been close to, she wouldn't be able to hide her true face...

She put the letter in an envelope and held it over the candle flame. The letter burned completely, crumbling to gray ash...

She felt a part of the world she had once been a part of leave her soul with each burning letter...

In the evening, she felt a renewed thirst for blood. Without hesitation, as if she had always done this, she put on her black clothes, Magnus's trench coat, and went outside.

Finally, she breathed in the fresh air. Smiling, she watched the sun setting between the towering skyscrapers, bathing the cityscape in purple. The wound began to ache again. She noticed that every time she took a deep breath, her wound began to sting.

She slowly made her way to the park. There, she hoped to find some people who had unsuspectingly taken their dogs for a walk. She was right. Not far from the street, she found a girl with a small dog. At the sight of her, the dog began barking. He must have sensed Akasha's intentions. But she didn't care. As soon as he ran up to attack her, she kicked him so hard that the dog screeched and crashed against a tree.

"What have you done?!" she screamed, outraged.

Akasha looked at her grimly, and when their eyes met, the girl froze. As if something had nailed her to the ground. The vampire slowly approached her, decisively removed her scarf from her neck, and simply began to drink her blood. The girl was aware of this, she felt everything clearly, but the cold radiating from Akasha, her eyes, simply prevented her from moving...

Akasha drank until she felt full... When she was far away, she thought she heard the terrified voices of passersby screaming for an ambulance... She knew it was the girl whose blood she had drunk, but she paid no attention. In the darkness of that night, the girl couldn't see her face.