Vampire’s Last Lament

The night stretched its cold fingers over the world, a thick mist curling through the streets of Blackthorn. The city had changed in the past two hundred years, growing taller, louder, and more indifferent, but for Victor Duvall, time had long since lost its meaning.

He stood atop a crumbling cathedral, the gargoyle beneath his boots worn smooth by rain and centuries of neglect. His eyes, silver in the moonlight, swept across the city as if searching for something — someone. The hunger stirred in his veins, ancient and insatiable, but tonight, it was not blood he craved. It was something far more elusive.

Peace.

Victor was tired. Not the exhaustion of mortals, which could be remedied with sleep, but the endless weariness of a creature who had outlived his purpose. He had long abandoned the games of power and seduction that so many of his kind reveled in. The thrill of the hunt, the whispered promises in darkened alleyways, the illusion of control — it all rang hollow now.

Yet, the city whispered to him. A voice in the dark, a thread of fate he could not ignore.

A scent drifted through the air, faint yet familiar. Not just any blood — her blood.

Victor’s breath hitched, though he needed no air. Could it be?

In an instant, he was moving, his long coat billowing behind him as he leapt from the cathedral and into the maze of streets below. His boots made no sound as he landed, his movement a shadow slipping between the cracks of reality. The scent grew stronger, guiding him past neon-lit storefronts and forgotten alleyways until he found himself standing before a small, dimly lit bookstore.

The sign above the door read Rose & Ink.

Victor hesitated. It had been lifetimes since he last saw her — Selene Montrose, the only woman who had ever made eternity feel like something more than a curse. She had been human then, fragile and full of fire, and he had let her go, believing it was the only way to keep her safe.

Yet here he was, drawn to her again like a dying star to the last vestiges of light.

Pushing open the door, the scent of old parchment and ink greeted him. A woman stood behind the counter, her back to him, stacking books onto a shelf. Her dark hair was shorter now, but the way she moved — graceful, deliberate — had not changed.

“Selene,” Victor said, his voice softer than he intended.

She froze.

Slowly, she turned to face him, and when their eyes met, Victor felt the years collapse between them. But something was different. The warmth in her hazel gaze had cooled into something distant, something guarded.

“Victor.” Her voice was steady, but he could hear the undercurrent of something else — pain, perhaps, or anger.

“You’re alive,” he murmured, stepping closer. “I never thought — ”

“That I’d survive without you?” She let out a bitter laugh. “I did. Quite well, in fact.”

Victor flinched at the sharpness in her tone. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” She folded her arms, eyes searching his face. “Why are you here, Victor? After all this time?”

He opened his mouth, but the words would not come. How could he tell her that he had spent centuries trying to forget her, only to realize she had been the only thing that ever made eternity bearable? How could he explain that the hunger, the loneliness, had finally become unbearable?

Instead, he settled for the truth — at least, part of it.

“I had to see you,” he admitted.

Selene exhaled, shaking her head. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to walk back into my life like nothing happened.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“But you did,” she whispered. “You left me, Victor. Without a word. Do you know what that did to me?”

His jaw tightened. “It was the only way to keep you safe.”

“Safe from what? You?”

Victor hesitated. “Yes.”

Selene studied him for a long moment. Then, to his surprise, she reached for a book on the counter, flipping through its pages.

“I spent years looking for answers,” she said quietly. “Trying to understand why you left. If you were even real. If I had imagined you.” She closed the book. “But eventually, I stopped searching.”

“I never stopped thinking about you,” he confessed.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. “That doesn’t change anything.”

A silence stretched between them, filled with unsaid words and ghosts of the past.

Then, for the first time, Victor caught it — the faintest whisper of something unnatural in the air. Magic.

His gaze sharpened. “You’re different.”

Selene’s expression flickered, just for a moment. Then she sighed. “Of course you’d notice.”

He reached out, but she stepped back. “Selene…”

“I made a choice, Victor. After you left, I — I found someone. Someone who helped me understand.”

His stomach twisted. “Who?”

She hesitated. Then, before she could answer, the shop’s bell rang. The air shifted, the scent of something dark curling into the room.

Victor turned.

A man stepped inside, his presence like an eclipse, swallowing the light. His sharp blue eyes flicked between them, and his lips curled into a knowing smile.

“Ah. I see you’ve found him,” the stranger said to Selene.

Victor’s fangs pressed against his lips. He didn’t know this man, but he knew what he was.

Another vampire.

Selene’s shoulders tensed. “Victor, this is Adrian.”

Adrian inclined his head. “A pleasure.”

Victor did not return the courtesy. “What do you want?”

Adrian chuckled. “Straight to the point. I like that.” He glanced at Selene. “Did you tell him?”

Victor’s gaze snapped to her. “Tell me what?”

Selene exhaled, rubbing her temple. “Victor… I’m not the woman you remember.”

Something inside him clenched. “What are you saying?”

Adrian’s grin widened. “She’s one of us now.”

The words were a blade to the heart.

Victor’s breath stilled. He turned to Selene, searching her face, her eyes — looking for some sign that this was a lie. But there was no deception there, only quiet acceptance.

“No,” he whispered. “You wouldn’t.”

“I did,” she said. “I chose this, Victor.”

Pain flared in his chest, deeper than any wound. He had spent centuries protecting her from this fate, only to find she had embraced it willingly.

Adrian sighed. “You see, old friend, the world moves on. Even without you.”

Victor barely heard him. His focus was on Selene — on the woman he had loved, the woman he had left behind, the woman who now stood before him, changed in ways he could not bear to understand.

“Why?” His voice was hoarse.

She met his gaze. “Because I was tired of being left behind.”

A silence stretched between them, heavy with things that could never be undone.

Victor closed his eyes. He had come searching for peace, but he had found only one truth.

Some things were not meant to last.

And some wounds, no matter how deep, never truly heal.

As he stepped back into the night, the city whispered once more.

This time, he did not listen.