My Last Sunrise

It is bizarre how many luxuries that we humans take for granted. The air in our lungs, the sun our face, the strain in our muscles… I am about to kiss those things goodbye. I rock back and forth on my Gran's old porch. I had asked for some time to myself… I suppose to say goodbye. Goodbye to daylight, goodbye to humanity. As things were, I sit here calmly enjoying my last cigarette and my last sip of alcohol before the sun rose. A bit of yellow is leaking through the deep, blue sky. The North Star is still shining away in the lightening darkness.

I know what I am now – I know I can't stay to see it… but the sunrise calls to me. The beauty of the light has never captivated me as it does in this moment. It's beautiful and enticing – I must see the sun! But, no. I can't anymore.

My Sire appears out of nowhere and tugs my arm away from the exposed porch. He pushes me inside the old farmhouse.

"No, my love", he croons. "You must never see the sun rise again."

My newly un-beating heart echoed my Sire's sentiment. An undeniable pull tugged within my chest at the exact moment that I knew the sun's morning rays would burst over Bon Tempes.

Bloody and weary tears flowed down my cold cheeks as my Maker held me in his massive arms.

"No", he soothed, "You will not need it, my Love. I will be your sunlight, as you have always been mine."

Eric carried me and gently laid me down in the light-tight hole in my old bedroom. He crouched down beside me and pulled the trap-door closed, sealing us away from the dawn. In the circle of his arms, the pull of daytime sleep consumed us both.

One thousand years later, and I still remembered that night as clearly as it had been yesterday. Old as I now am, I was able to be awake during the daytime, as my husband could when he wished. The memories of a time long ago, of my human life in Bon Temps flashed before my eternal blue eyes. I held my Maker, my husband, my Bonded, my existence tighter and snuggled into his chest upon our luxurious bed.

Eric's arms grasped me tighter in his daily slumber, and I sighed a cold and unnecessary breath against his gorgeous, dead flesh. My keen vampire nose breathed in my Viking's singular scent, which was as powerful and lovely as any sensation I had experienced in my very long life. We had never been separated, and our love and passion had grown, rather than waned, over the centuries. I had never lamented the loss of bearing children of my own; I knew the ramifications when I allowed Eric to turn me on my 27th birthday, but it was still a joy to have Pam as my vampire-step-child. She is older than me by a few centuries, but since we share the same Maker and I am his wife I feel as though she is my Child too.

I took Eric's name long ago, and though my human English is now a dead language, I still converse with my husband and our Child in my native tongue, and that simple gesture gives me great comfort… it reminds me of my long-lost humanity. Vampires have been more than legend for over a thousand years and mortals have long since learned to accept us. Eric is the most powerful vampire in existence, as he was back in 2000 a.d.

Time has evolved to mean little to me now, and I can finally appreciate my Lover's lifespan when he first met me – the changes, the turmoil, the wars, the technology, the languages, the power struggles… The millennium of life (or un-life) was overwhelming. Eric is now the King of the Americas, encompassing both continents, and I am Queen. We have changed our names to suit the times over and over again. In 2350 Eric changed his named to Eindek, and I changed mine to Shakiea. Although it was ancient and outdated, we never altered our last name - Northman.

For over eight centuries we have ruled the western world. Even human governments deferred to us with important matters, and my husband and I handled everything with impeccable finesse. Felipe de Castro had met his final death shortly after I was turned. His arrogance had left him at an age which was now much less than my own. The Spanish king deserved the fate he met, and never once did I regret his final demise. I had enjoyed Sandy's fealty and her friendship, until she met her final death a mere century into our reign. An unfortunate accident had her impaled upon a white-picket fence post… the irony of the "American-Dream" was not lost on me.

Our main and most elaborate palace was in Buenos Aires, but our home was still in Shreveport, Louisiana. Words can't explain how different my homeland is after a millennium; all I know is that I love this place, this state in which I lived centuries ago. Though it has changed beyond imagination, this was my home. I snuggled closer to my Eindek's… my Eric's… wide and powerful chest and fell quickly asleep, awaiting the next evening in the year 3010. My dreams wandered back to my long-lost human years. I dreamt of my last glorious sunrise…

I woke that evening nestled against the sculpted chest of my Eric. Like the thousand nights before, he ran his long fingers through my hair. When I urged my eyelids open, my sleepy gaze was met with his glowing blue eyes. Even after a thousand years Eric's eyes had never ceased to set my body burning. I reached for around his thick neck and my thin fingers wound through his golden hair. Those fingers pulled his rugged face to mine, as they had done so many times before, and I kissed him with all the love in my dead heart.

Eindek, Eric, Erkir, my Love… a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. He held my tightly and kissed me back.

"My Queen", my Love's gravelly voice whispered, "how shall this King garner your favor?" I couldn't help the sweet and genuine smile that spread across my lips.

"My Love", I whispered in my native, and now ancient tongue, "Bring it on."