CHAPTER 8

**AMY**

Horror seizes me as my eyes lock onto Aaron running towards his mother, whose body lies inert on the couch. A dagger is lodged in her heart, a fatal wound that is bleeding incessantly. She is a silent witness to the brutal vampire attack. My heart seems to freeze in my chest as I am consumed by shock at the scene before me.
Aaron gently lays his mother on the couch, his face contorted in a mask of despair and anguish. The urgency in his movements denotes the gravity of the situation, but a look of hopelessness crosses his eyes as he realizes the severity of his mother's injuries. She is dying, and there is nothing he can do to stop it.
Despair overwhelms me as I watch Aaron tenderly hold his mother's hand, his expression a mixture of pain and disbelief. With trembling hands, he carefully removes the dagger, but it is in vain. The wound in her heart is too deep, and there is no cure for the damage done. The dagger hit its mark with lethal precision, stealing her life before our eyes.
"Mom, please...", he whispers, and I can see tears of blood wetting his face. I had never seen vampires cry, and I realize that his tears are red like blood. Tears flood my eyes as I feel the weight of guilt bearing down on my shoulders.
She is dying because of me, an innocent victim of the chaos and destruction the vampires brought into our lives. My breathing becomes irregular, my sobs echoing through the silent room as I kneel before the woman who is about to depart forever.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry...", I whisper, crying. Her weak smile is like a knife to my heart, a painful proof of her acceptance of her imminent fate.
 I shake my head in desperate denial, my hands trembling as I reach for hers in a gesture of impotent despair. Time seems to slow around us, each second dragging painfully as we witness the imminent goodbye of a life that will never be the same again.
"Those people didn't know your worth; they didn't know the incredible girl you always were, Amy...", she whispers, holding my hand. 
"Those people should have loved you, but they were the first to hurt you. But that's over. We freed you, and I'm sure my son will protect and take care of you."
I cry harder, and my vision is completely blurred. I haven't known her for long, but I knew from the moment I saw her that she wasn't a horrible person. 
"Thank you..."
"Mom, let me help you. Let me try to help you...", Aaron murmurs weakly, and she shakes her head. 
"There is no way for that; I am dying, and for centuries I have lived in this world knowing this could happen someday, Aaron. I am not afraid of death."
Aaron is beside me, his presence an anchor of support amid the whirlwind of emotions that engulf us. But even his strength cannot stop the inevitability of death, a bitter truth we accept in silence. With a final sigh, her eyes close, her breathing becoming weaker until it finally stops completely. 
A solemn silence descends upon the room, broken only by the sound of our muffled sobs. She is gone, leaving behind only memories and a painful void that can never be filled.
Guilt overwhelms me as I see Aaron touching her face. I close my eyes, letting the tears flow freely. 
"I love you; you were the most incredible woman I have ever known..." 
When I open my eyes, I see her body changing, a darker color dominating her skin, signaling her death. 
"I'm so sorry..."
An overwhelming sense of guilt consumes me as my eyes meet Aaron's. I see the pain and suffering reflected in his gaze—a pain we share in silence, a pain that will never truly be soothed. I know that part of this pain is mine, a burden I will carry forever in my soul.
"Amy...", he whispers my name as if asking me to stay with him and not leave. My eyes scan the living room, witnessing the wreckage left behind by the bloody conflict caused by the fight with the vampires.
The vampire bodies are scattered on the floor, lifeless and inert, silent witnesses to the battle that unfolded amid the chaos and destruction. The room is unrecognizable; its furniture is shattered as if a hurricane had struck here.
With a groan of anguish, I pull away, shaking my head in desperate denial. My mind is in turmoil, and my emotions are a furious storm threatening to consume me completely. I look around, desperately seeking an escape, a way to flee from this unbearable reality. 
And then, my eyes find the stairs, and I see Elara looking at us with a confused and frightened expression. Her innocent gaze cuts through me like a sharp knife, bringing all my guilt and pain to the surface. 
She deserves to know the truth, deserves the comfort and support that only we can offer.
"Grandma? Dad, what happened to Grandma?", she asks sadly, and I look at Aaron. A wave of sadness and despair engulfs me as I struggle to find the right words to explain the inexplicable. 
I see myself through her eyes, a stranger newly arriving in her life, a helpless witness to the tragedy that unfolded before us. 
Tears stream freely down my face as I struggle to find the strength to face the cruel reality surrounding us. Before I can say anything, before I can gather the words to explain to her what happened, I turn and run to the room, desperately seeking refuge from the overwhelming pain consuming me.
I close the door behind me with a thud, but it is only a muffled sound amid the whirlwind of emotions that consume me. I curl up on the floor, tears flowing freely as I allow myself to succumb to the overwhelming pain consuming me from within. I have been in this family for only a few days, but I already feel as if I am carrying an unbearable burden, a guilt that will never truly be redeemed. As the heavy silence of the room envelops me, I close my eyes and allow myself to lose myself in the sea of sadness and despair that threatens to consume me completely
"Why is all this happening to me?", I whisper to myself, opening my eyes. 
Now I am married to a vampire and the daughter of the most powerful vampire that exists. 
Oh my God.