The loveliest dead

We were going to wait until Ethan and Lillian were asleep to kill him, until we went to Lenore's room.

"Oh no. No, he's gone way too far!" Lenore and I stared at Rosslyn's dismembered body. It was clear he'd killed her as a doll, her skin had been peeled away where the necklace had fused to it. Celia hid in the toy cupboard, weeping. Although she had hunted Rosslyn, they were the only companionship they had. I turned to Celia.

"Now you know why I couldn't take your necklaces off?"

She nodded.

"He took the necklace, what's he planning?"

Lenore and I exchanged a quick glance. "Lillian."

We ran downstairs, Lillian and Ethan were in the parlor, he had a gun. She was behind him, trying to reason with him as he walked towards us.

"Please, Ethan, you don't have to hurt anyone."

"Yes I do. He killed the woman I loved, my reason to live is watching him die."

"What about me? Lenore? Soilent? Everyone here thinks of you as family, don't do this."

"No we don't." Lillian looked up, finally seeing us. Lenore held up Rosslyn's severed head. "Family doesn't hurt family."

"Bébé..." Lillian's eyes softened, the break in her heart only visible to me.

"Felicia is the only one I care about," he said. "And if you want to get in the way of her vengance, then you were nothing but a good fuck."

Her face went pale and she stepped away.

"Now Ragamuffin, step down from the stairs and in front of the gun, or these two get the bullets instead."

I complied, every bit of my body relaxed in preparation for the bullet.

"It's a special bullet, it will kill you. Hope you don't mind?" he sneered.

I chuckled. "Not a bit." In that instant, I felt the rapid heart beats of every living heart in the house. I closed my eyes and smiled. There was a shot that echoed through the room and one especially familiar heartbeat stopped.

"NO!" I opened my eyes as Lillian fell to the ground. I caught her, the blood from the hole in her chest pouring into my hands.

"Lillian!" Lenore cried out, tears running freely as she hugged her sister to her. "Nonononono..."

"Huh." Ethan stared blankly at us and cocked his gun. He stepped up to us, the gun pressed to my head. A bloody haze filled my head, and I rose up and away from the sisters. His eyes widened and he dropped his gun.

"Fool." A tendrill of my gaseous body thrust deep into his heart, slowly squeezing it. "You know nothing of vampires. We are Fear. We shift and morph and change, but we never leave a soul we've touched until it is dead. You can fight us, but never win. Because we are Fear, and Fear. Never. Dies." Blood poured from his mouth as I felt his heart pop. There was a choked gasp behind me as Lillian tried to breathe. The haze disappeared as I knelt next to her.

"Sorry...so sorry..." she mumbled, her voice weak. "Love you...love you both...so much...so...so...sorry..."

"Shh, Lillian. Its alright. We know love, we know." Tears crept down her paper white face as she curled in on herself.

"Hurts...so much..." I stroked her hair, my vision blurry.

"Don't worry, you'll be alright. We won't let anything hurt you." She nodded, her final sigh escaping her. We sat by her body for what felt like forever, the air heavy with the feeling that she should've lived. I stood, her body still in my arms.

"Where are you going?" Lenore asked, diffeated.

"I know someone who can help." I ran out of the house, out of Nevermore, and into Le Yum. As the other patrons screamed and ran, the witch got up and approached me.

"You. You were a doll. How did you-?" She looked down, Lillian's pale body in contrast with the bright colors of the restaurant. "One of yours?"

"No. One of yours. Your sister's fianceé shot her."

"Oh my. He always was too hotheaded."

"Fix her." I demanded. She raised her eyebrow and walked out of the restaurant. I followed.

~•~

When we arrived at her house, it was exactly as you'd expect. Black and red were the main colors, bones and candels arranged erily about the house. A figure moved in the shadows, two grey eyes stared at me in wonder.

"Felicia, darling, go back to sleep."

"But...there's a man here." The figure whispered breathlessly. "And he's handsome."

"Felicia? Isn't that the one I-?"

"Yes yes, now hurry along." She said, pushing me past the figure, still in the shadows. "She doesn't know what has happened to her." She whispered. "She doesn't know she died. If I told her...she would go mad, the poor dear." I turned to face her.

"I need you to do that with Lillian. Now." She looked down at Lillian.

"Oh, they have names now."

"What?"

"When you attacked my sister, it didn't matter how much it would hurt others. But now that you're hurting, its just so important."

"Please, she has people depending on her. Her sister and a little baby." Her eyebrows shot up. "Not my baby, she took him in. Please..." I begged.

"Fine. Put her on the table." I gently laid her down, Felicia's small footsteps down the stairs a distant sound.

"The poor girl." She whispered. I turned, seeing her for the first time since I killed her. She wore pink boots that went to her knees, a bright pink dress that hit her thighs and showed her arms and chest, and two pink bows in her hair. I blushed, besides Lillian, that was the most I'd seen of a woman's body. There were stitches covering her body, the grey hue of her skin matched her eyes.

"Are you still sure?" The witch asked. I paused, then nodded.

"Seeing her like this is better than seeing her dead."

"Even if she goes mad?" I shook my head.

"She's too strong for that."

"Very well." She pressed something cold into my hand and Felicia gasped.

"Sister...why are you...?" I looked down, a knife gleamed in my hand.

"What's this for?"

"I need an immortal's blood to complete it."

"Alright." I made to slice my hand when she positioned the blade at my heart.

"I only need a drop, but I will only complete the spell if you kill yourself."

"How do I know you will save her?"

"I swear on Felicia's sanity." She leaned toward my ear. "Surely you know the importance of keeping something you love safe." I nodded and thrust the knife into myself. I fell to the ground, and Felicia screamed and fainted. I watched her sister collect my blood and complete the spell. Lillian sat up, opened her eyes, and screamed.

"Witch woman, what have you done to him?" She cried, grabbing her throat and shoving her against a wall.

"It was to save you." I gasped. She dropped Felicia's sister and ran to me. There were stitches weaving through her fingers, but they were still as soft as ever. Her hand caressed the sides of my face and she kissed me softly.

"It's the price he pays to keep you," the witch said smugly. As Lillian caressed me, her hand traveled to the knife in my chest.

"Lillian, no."

She gripped the knife and pulled slowly.

"Don't do it, don't do it, don't-"

She threw the knife, missing the witch.

"We're going to take our leave now. You will leave us alone, if that's alright?" she asked, a deadly glint in her eyes.

~•~

"Oh, god!"

"Please, just come, love."

"No, please don't make me...I feel so shameful."

I laughed. "But I've seen you naked."

"Well, yes. But this dress is gaudy and...there is no top. I'm partly in my undergarments!" I gently pulled her from her room, my eyes widening. The skirt of the dress was made of old scraps of clothes, and the top had no sleeves or neck. She was right, it was a corset. In the back, her steam vent was free to release without a proper shirt over it. I pulled her close to me, grabbing her waist.

"I'm sorry." Her head rolled back as my breath hit a sensitive spot on her neck.

"Mmm, don't apologize. You didn't shoot me."

"Not why I'm apologizing." I grunted. "I'm apologizing for making you put that on just to have me tear it off you." I began sucking and kissing the sensitive spot, and her body shivered.

"Oh. I hardly think tha-ah!-ts something to apologize for. Oh, goodness." She began to pull her dress off and her other hand tangled into my hair. She pulled me into her room, freezing in front of the mirror. She stared, scrutinizing her body. I nestled my face into the sensitive spot, making her swoon.

"Beautiful," I whispered. Despite the blissful look on her face, I could tell she doubted what I said. "Love you so much."

"But...I'm not even human anymore," she said, the gears in her joints clicking as she turned to face me.

"Come to bed with me, I'll show you just how human you are."

Outside of her room, the children and Celia had tired of their game and were instead trying to figure out what was happening behind the locked door.

"Definitely louder than with Ethan," Lenore noted. She turned to Celia. "Do you know what they're doing?" She shook her head. "And you?" She asked Soilent. He nodded. "Really?"

"Ogley brougley rack moog!" he garbled, they shrugged and continued to listen in.

AN: my apologies if this last chapter sux... :'(