DYING

"Lilith!" The voice calling my name was full of fright and anger. "Damn it, Lilith! Open your eyes!"

My eyelids were heavy. I felt as if I had lost control over my body. It was terrifying. Yet, the voice

commanded me relentlessly.

"Lilith! Stay with me! Open your eyes!"

As the voice cried out my name, my senses began coming back to me, starting with the pain, an

excruciating pain. I couldn't breathe. Every second of being conscious felt like hell. My mouth twisted in

a silent scream, making me pull up my eyelids. The image I saw was blurry, but then I recognized a few

people bending down, looking at me, and Sariel, who held me in his arms while kneeling on the ground.

I saw him sigh as I focused my eyes on him. Supporting my weight on his knees, he used one of his

claws to cut his other hand and made the blood flow directly to my mouth. I swallowed it, feeling the

thick drops burn while falling down my throat.

"That's it, Lilith… Drink it and stay with me," Sariel coaxed, gently stroking my hair.

What he expected of me felt like it was too much, too painful. Every inch of me knew that this time my

injuries were beyond healing, even beyond super-healing. I kept bleeding. I kept struggling to take

another breath. I could only surrender.

Looking into Sariel's eyes, I let out a faint, breathless whisper, "I'm… sorry," and closed my eyes again.

"No! Don't you dare leave me like this! Do you hear me?!" he shouted, but it was too late; this was the

one fight I couldn't continue.

His voice cracked. It carried rage and pain that I wished I could ease. Soon, the sound became

distorted and dissolved into silence as I entered the nothing.

I didn't know how much time had passed when a part of my consciousness had woken up. I couldn't

move or feel anything, but I started to see blurry shades and hear sounds. After a while, the unclear

contours began forming something more recognizable, and strangely, I saw… me.

My body was lying in a hospital bed in a white clinical room with closed curtains. I was motionless. I

had an oxygen mask and a tube in my throat. A machine had to pump air into my lungs to maintain my

circulation. My chest moved up and down, led by the automatic rhythm. Most of my upper body was

wrapped in bandages, and some of them were slightly pink from the soaking blood. A drug falling down

the drip tube connected to the vein in my arm was synchronized with the tempo of the beeping sound

of the machine measuring my pulse.

It was strange looking at myself as if I was floating above the bed, but I wasn't afraid, nor restless. I

was mad. After everything I had been through, I wasn't ready to leave this world. I didn't want to die like

that. We won. I had yet to find out if Sariel's feelings for me were real. I wanted to deepen our

relationship, explore it, and cherish it. I didn't regret the decisions I had made. I just wasn't ready to say

goodbye.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and I saw Sariel and Will walking in. Will wore a white,

unbuttoned medical coat over a light brown, three-piece suit. He looked highly professional and neat,

completely unlike Sariel, who seemed to be haggard and broken. The Vampire King was dressed in

dirty combat pants and a black fitted shirt, as if he hadn't changed since he left the battlefield.

"You don't have any more time to make a decision." Will crossed his arms over his chest.

"I gave her my blood… Why isn't she healing?" Sariel sat on the bed and grabbed my hand.

"I told you that it wouldn't work this time. This fucker's claws harmed far too many of her organs. The

internal bleeding and the multi-organ inflammation aren't something you can simply rebuild. Even with

her super abilities, she is not immortal." Will placed his hand on Sariel's shoulder.

"Tell me what to do..." Sariel said weakly.

"Change her. Turn her into one of us. Otherwise, say goodbye to her right now," Will sighed.

Sariel squeezed through his teeth, "She won't be like us if I change her, and you know it. She will

become a commoner. She would be forced to live by night because sunlight would kill her, and she

would hate me for the rest of her life!"

"At least she'll have a life. Besides, you'll never know… She might not be a normal commoner because

she is not a completely normal human." Will smiled wryly, ineptly trying to encourage Sariel to make a

decision.

Sariel stared at my unconscious body while caressing the top of my hand.

"Drink her. Do it while your blood is still in her system," Will urged.

"That means killing her," Sariel hissed, shaking Will's hand off his shoulder.

Will let out an annoyed sigh, "Seriously? Hate to bring this to you, but she is already dead! See that?!"

He pointed at the respiring machine. "This thing is living for her!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Sariel snapped.

Will raised his hands in surrender. "You cannot live without her, and she literally cannot live without you

turning her into a vampire. The decision is simple."

Sariel fisted his palm, turning his knuckles white. His jaw was tense, and his pupils were blazing with

anger and frustration.

"Do it. Turn it all off and leave me alone with her," Sariel said angrily.

"As you wish, my King." Will bowed and quickly called for a nurse to help him.

I thought that my faint spiritual form left me numb and emotionless, but as soon as I looked into Sariel's

eyes, I felt something like a phantom pain of an aching heart. He got up from my bed to make a room

for the nurse and Will Duarte, but his sight was on me the entire time. I wanted to touch him, to hold

him, but I couldn't. My life was in Sariel's hands. He could either change me and interfere with my

human fate or let me die.

As Will and the nurse left the room, Sariel sat on my bed again, staring at me. His gaze at me seemed

intense and sorrowful. He looked as if he was saying goodbye to me. Was that the fate he chose for

me? I refused to believe that. I wanted to scream and cry, begging him not to abandon me. I wanted to

be with him, be alive, even if this life was going to be a whole lot different.

‘Sariel… Don't leave me now,’ I pleaded silently.

Suddenly, he pulled out his fangs, his eyes glowing blood red. A second later, he sank his teeth into my

neck. I felt the piercing pain that brought me back to my body. I felt Sariel's touch, his lips desperately

brushing the skin of my neck. He was sucking my blood violently, swallowing all the life that was left

inside me. The sensation was painful and raw, but I knew I wasn't the only one hurting. I could feel his

whole body tremble while taking my life away. I could feel him apologize with his fingers gently tangling

my hair while supporting the back of my neck, or with his thumb brushing my cheek. Then he withdrew

his teeth in a rash jerk. A split second later, I died.

I woke up with a hoarse gasp and opened my eyes wide. I found myself lying in a huge bed with soft

and fluffy sheets and an ornamented canopy hanging above my head. It was hard to see anything

because of the drawn curtains, but I noticed I was inside a chamber, similar to the one I lived in, in a

Palace. Nonetheless, this one was more spacious and luxurious.

I ran my fingers down my chest. There were no bandages on me, and I didn't feel any pain. As I slowly

began to acknowledge what had happened and what I had become, my hand unknowingly went to

check my mouth and teeth. I didn't find any difference.

"Heartbeat…" I muttered to myself.

I grabbed my wrist, trying to measure my pulse. It was slow, just like Sariel's. I was definitely different. I

was no longer a human… but would I have to live as a creature of the night for eternity?

The restlessness pulled me out of bed, uncontrollably drawing me to the window. I was terrified, but I Content © provided by .

was willing to risk a severe skin burn just to find out what I had become.

Standing by the wall near the window, I grabbed the curtain with one hand, letting a thin stream of

sunlight into the chamber. I stared at the light for a long time until I decided to step into it. I raised my

hand toward the light, preparing for the burning pain.

"It's warm…" I heaved a sigh of relief and nearly cried.

The sunrays gently caressed my fingers, urging me to open the curtain wider. I lifted the heavy fabric

and pulled it to the side, then I took a cautious step into the stream of light. I laughed as the sun

brightened my face. I lifted the other curtain, opened the window, and stood in the middle, taking a

deep breath.

As I let go of my anxieties, a loud cry escaped my throat. "I'm alive!"