Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 4: Raven's Sorrow

Ten Years Ago…

“The baby kicked!” Raven’s husband beamed up at her. 

“I know. Obviously I felt it, Brone.” Raven laughed. 

Brone could hardly contain his excitement. “Aww, you’re happy I’m here, aren’t you?” he cooed at his unborn child. “I can’t wait to meet you.”

He gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll make a wonderful mother,” he said. “I’m so lucky to be able to spend the rest of eternity with you.”

She smiled, pulling him into an embrace. “Not as lucky as I am to spend it with you.”

Their tender moment was cut short by a loud commotion outside.

“What’s going on outside?” Raven asked, pulling away from his embrace.

"I don't know." Brone frowned and walked over to the window. “...no, it can’t be."

A vampire woman had found herself surrounded by a group of vampire hunters. 

“Leave me alone!” She pleaded. “I haven’t done anything wrong… I have a family, please…”

The leader of the group laughed. “Haven’t done anything wrong? Hah! Sure you haven’t,” she growled. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve been searching for your secret hideout, Forgotten Hollow? And now we’ve found it!” she exclaimed. “And we aren’t leaving until every last one of you… disgusting creatures… are dead.”

The vampire took a step back. “No, please!”

“Less barking and more biting, Steele!” the red-haired member of the group exclaimed. “Get it over with already! We’ve got plenty more to handle!”

Steele huffed. “Fine.” She turned her attention back to the vampire. “Any last words?”

“Please,” the vampire begged, “don’t kill me…”

Those were the last words she ever spoke. She met a swift end: a wooden stake through the heart.

“Brone…?” Raven’s voice trailed off.

His heart sank. “They’ve found us.” he muttered.

“Who found us?” she asked, her voice quivering.

Brone turned from the window and back to his wife. “Vampire hunters,” he replied. “They’re here to kill us.”

“No…” Raven whimpered. “They can’t… Brone, the baby…”

He took her hands in his own, and managed a smile. “You’ll be okay, my dear. You have to run. If I stay and distract them, they won’t see you escape…”

“No!” Raven choked out in a sob. “I won’t leave you!”

It took everything he had in him not to cry, too. “You don’t have a choice. If I go with you, they’ll surely catch us. Someone has to keep them occupied, Raven. It’s the only way to save our baby…”

Raven could barely speak. “But..."

“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Hesitantly, she nodded. “I-I love you.."

“I love you, too, Raven,” he said as his smile began to fade. “Never forget that.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say ‘goodbye’, so she turned and walked hurriedly through the back door.

“I’m sorry, Raven…” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’m so sorry…”

He walked through the front door of their home, and directly toward the vampire hunters. They spotted him and approached.

“Here comes another one now!” Steele growled. 

“You want me? Come and get me!” Brone yelled. “But be warned, I won’t go down without a fight!”

“You’re not going to plead for your life? What a shame, that’s my favorite part.” Steele frowned. “Unfortunately for you, you’re outnumbered. This is a fight you cannot win.”

He transformed into his dark form, snarling. “Then so be it."

Raven followed the back road leading out of Forgotten Hollow. She didn’t know where she was going, or what she would do. But when she heard a piercing scream, she knew one thing: that was the last time she’d ever see Brone.