One night when he was staring at the fire of the house they had taken residence in for a short while Bethany came in and sat down next to him, as she was accustomed to doing. Only a few times had she failed to come home and she had always apologized greatly upon her return. This night he felt something different about her, and he didn�t like it. He broke his gaze from the flame and looked into her ice blue eyes.
�So you can feel it, can you?� she asked. �I supposed you would. My love, I cannot stand to live like this anymore. I cannot hide in the shadows when we should be living in the open! Mortals should fear us and do as we say!�
�We have a weakness that they can all too easily play upon.�
�What happened to that man that I fell in love with so long ago? The one who spent most of his time wandering the country doing Lord knows what?�
�There is no �lord.� �
�You expect me to believe your story about Zeus and the gods?�
�It is the truth!�
�This is what I can�t stand. You lose your temper far too easily.�
�That�s what happens when you�ve been roaming the Earth for two thousand years. I�m sorry if I�m slightly bitter at my eternal damnation.�
�I can�t live with you anymore. I�m sorry, but I�m leaving.�
�What? The only reason I gave you this is because I love you. You told me that you loved me!�
�I did. I�m sorry, but I have to go.�
Aeneas took flight as fast as he could to what used to be Mount Olympus. He landed in the clouds and looked around to see emptiness. There was absolutely nothing which he once knew. The beautiful buildings and wildlife had disappeared.
�Mother! You told me if I ever needed you to come! I am here, but where are you?! Mother!�
�No use yelling. She won�t hear you.�
Aeneas turned to see the god who he assumed was Zeus. Age had taken its toll on the once glorious ruler of the heavens. He was barely recognizable.
�Yes, it is I, the once almighty ruler of gods and men. Some god I became.�
�What has happened here?�
�Exactly what your mother told you would happen. Mortals stopped worshiping us centuries ago. Everyone is dead. Only Hades and I remain. Those Christians have turned us into God and the Devil.�
�Dead?�
�Yes, all of them. They have been gone for quite some time. It was an awful sight to behold. I�m sure they are glad to be dead.�
�This cannot be.�
�But it is. I assume you are here because of that glory of a woman Bethany?�
�Yes,� he said sadly.
�To answer your question: no.�
�What was my question?�
�Is she the one the Oracle foresaw you doing wondrous things with? No, she�s not. Don�t get me wrong, she has been great for you, but she�s not the true love of your life. And my is she a beauty, but the one you are destined for is much more stunning. More than you could ever imagine.�
�So I was wrong to make her?�
�I�m not saying that. You know as well as I that she would have died had you not interjected, and she was meant for more than that.�
�What is she meant for?�
�She�s teaching you valuable lessons. You�ll understand all soon enough.�
Aeneas shook his head and saw down on the ground.
�I need to leave. None of this makes any sense. How could a god die? How could I have been wrong about Bethany?�
�The joys of being fallible. I now realize that even gods can be wrong. Go home and rest, your mind needs time to absorb everything which has been said.�
Without another word Aeneas left.
For an entire month Aeneas hunted alone. Not so much as a word of Bethany crossed his ears. The nights passed as they had for two thousand years: lonely. He called out to Bethany constantly, but she never answered him. He knew she could hear. He couldn�t believe that he was wrong about her. How he loved her. How could he have been wrong?
The body of his latest victim fell to the ground and he looked down sadly at it. He would give anything to have Bethany with him now. A man ran up to him in a rush and stopped in front of him.
�Aeneas, I finally found you.�
Aeneas went through every person he had ever met and quickly remembered who this man was: Daniel. Aeneas had made him sloppily back in Rome a few hundred years before. He always did regret not taking more care of this one. He was surprised that he had managed to survive as long as he had.
�Daniel? What are you doing here?�
�It is about the latest child of darkness.�
�Child of what?�
�Uh� Just a little name I picked up from some other vampires. There are many now.�
�So I am aware.�
�The woman you have made� Bethany, I do believe. She is going against every law which we have made.�
�Laws you and your friends have made. I have no laws.�
�Of course, dreadfully sorry, but she is doing things even you would frown upon.�
�Would you get to the point and tell me what has become of her? It has been a month since last I saw her.�
�In a small village out of London she has taken residence. Here she has made herself� well, rather comfortable. The villagers look past the fact that she only emerges at night and have made her one of their own.�
�I am glad for her. She has found a place where she can be accepted.�
�That is not the reason I am here. Surely the fact that she is roaming as a human would makes my blood run cold, but this is not the half of it. She has� Taken a liking to a Catholic priest there. They are having an affair, sir.�
Aeneas� heart would have surely stopped at the news had it been beating in the first place.
�If the villagers found this out they would try and kill her. When they could not they would discover what she is and kill her for good. The news would spread through the country and start a killing spree of anyone they even suspect of being a vampire. You can see the dilemma we are in.�
�Why are you telling me this?�
�I believe you can stop her; try and knock some sense into her. Please, for you children.�
�Of darkness?� he said with a smile upon his face.
�Mock me if you must, but please do something about this woman. Why you made a vampire of one of them I don�t know.�
�What are you trying to say?�
�Women are far too emotional. Wasn�t exactly the best move to make one of them us.�
�Are you saying that I was wrong?�
�Not wrong, per say. It was more of a lack of good judgment.�
�My was that ever the wrong thing to say.�
Aeneas lashed out and broke his neck in two. He fell to the ground and looked up at him.
�Was that necessary?� Daniel asked.
�Very much so.� Aeneas bent over and smiled at him. �I knew making you was going to come back to haunt me. Don�t ever criticize me or the woman I love. Goodbye.�
He jammed his hand into his chest and ripped his heart out. He ate every bit of it in pleasure and Daniel turned into dust and drifted away into oblivion.
�Even if your heart does not beat you still need it to survive,� he said turning around and walking away.