Immortalis Caris -- Epilogue
Immortalis Caris -- Epilogue
He woke in the dark and reached for the lamp on the nightstand. A movement across the room caught his eye and he grunted a short laugh. You could have turned the light on.
“I didn’t want to wake you,” came the soft voice from the figure hunched over the puzzle. The boy’s fingers moved deftly, easily assembling the tiny nondescript pieces that had confounded the members of Mensa for the past year.
Carlisle stood stiffly to dress, groaning a little at the creak in his bones. If you finish it, you won’t have anything to do for the rest of the evening.
“Oh yes we will,” the boy corrected, peeking at him from the bronze waterfall that hid his pale face as he fitted the last of the 5,000 pieces into place and leaned back, completely satisfied with his handiwork.
Carlisle snorted. “Fifteen years ago, I’d have gotten hard just on that -- “
Fifteen years ago... He dragged his fingers through his hair as he stretched his back.
Fifteen years.
Fifteen years together, learning to be together. Fifteen years without loneliness or worry or --
Drugs. He thought of the tiny taste of meth in the film canister, locked inside Edward’s metal puzzle box at Carlisle’s request, untouched all these years. Why do I keep it? He thought guiltily of the blood, biting his lower lip in subliminal need, and rushed to push the thought from his mind before the other noticed.
“Don’t you need to feed?” he asked quickly -- aloud -- to change the subject. They’d been in the motel three days and Edward still hadn’t ventured out.
“I did while you were sleeping,” he murmured, resting lazily on his elbows but Carlisle wasn’t fooled.
“You did?” he was still surprised, by the admission if nothing else, but then, there was no end to Edward’s surprises. Fifteen years on, he was still figuring him out.
“You’re so tired!” Like a cat, the boy moved in one swift motion and was beside him. “I’ll make you feel better.”
No -- He took a step back shaking his head. I’m okay, I just need to eat, that’s all, get some caffeine in my system. He hated getting older. He hated admitting the physical limitations of the body that caged him.
“It’s alright,” the boy soothed. He pressed the man gently back down on the polyester comforter. “We can both have what we want.” He had already drawn a red line across his chest and leaned over.
Carlisle’s mouth instantly attached itself.
Fire from the fucking gods...
…..ll x ll x ll x ll…..
Special thanks to author and artist Kyilliki
for the beautifully inspired banner in transcendent desert shades of copper and slate.
I am honored and humbled to have had her artistic participation!
Mere thanks seem hardly adequate for my Beta, my Dragon
the brilliant, dedicated, unstoppable force of nature that got me involved in this bizarre crossover!
The delicious hours spent with her -- editing and arguing online -- were what made it worth all the effort!
Inspirational nods
Vampire paradigms:
Let The Right One In, True Blood, Twilight
Anne Rice, Whitley Strieber, Bram Stoker
New Mexico - enchantment & then some
Models:
Bartek Borowiec as Dee/Edward
Peter Facinelli as Carlisle
Remembering the friends I lost to meth
Jerrame Hugh Beavers, Andy Spelletich, Kip Anderson, Ted Brooks
Grateful for the ones that survived
Marguerite, Travis
& of course my own Immortalis Caris,
Miss Rhonda, Immortal Beloved