The Other Side Of Midnight

Quotation

This is my command: Love each other.

-John 15:17

Chapter 68

Autumn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXsxYf2UMA

-Sacrifice-

A strange thing happens.

Where her blood touches mine, I feel its warmth. A wonderful heat that spreads through my body. I no longer understand what is happening, but I feel my body changing. There are sounds, rushes, gurgles inside me. In the background, I can hear Rocco talking to Zelena.

“Who are you?” Rocco gasps.

“We are the great old ones, beings who have been called upon to stand in the place that was once held by your species. We are humanity’s guardians now, and we agreed to lend some of our own to earth, to help and guide them during this difficult period in their evolution.”

Then she reaches out a hand and unclasps the metal band closest to her. Immediately, Rocco frees himself from the other bands and moves to cradle my head in his lap.

“What’s happening to her now?” he asks, looking down anxiously at me.

“She is regenerating.”

A wailing sound comes from his sister as she thrashes on the floor.

“And my family? What will happen to them?”

“They will die, slowly and horribly. Unless you hasten it by stabbing them in the heart with the silver dagger in my bag.”

“What about the rest of my species? What will happen to them?”

“They will all die. You will be the last vampire on earth.”

“The life is ebbing out of me, but remember, hold my granddaughter until she wakes. Do not shake her or move her even if she stops breathing,” Zelena says, her voice trailing feebly.

“Zelena,” Rocco calls, but there is no reply from her. Her breath comes in short gasps, then she takes no more breaths.

Suddenly, I see the weirdest, craziest thing. I see her rise from her body, but she is not old and ancient, she’s tall and beautiful. She shines with white light. She reaches down and touches my body and I too begin to rise from my body.

“Am I dead?” I gasp in shock.

“No, you are not, but there are things you must see which you cannot see while you are in your human shape.”

I look at Rocco and I see him holding onto my body, his face is creased with worry lines. When I look up I find that the cavern walls are fading out and another structure is taking its place. It seems almost like a cathedral with a lofty ceiling made of glass and crystal walls. A light without a source is pouring in from every direction and other beings like Zelena are flooding into the space. They are all mesmerizingly and indescribably beautiful.

Inside their midst a figure moves forward. She doesn’t look like them. She looks human. My heart fills with joy. It is Sam. She smiles at me. I reach out to touch her, but my hand goes through her.

“I love you, Autumn,” she says.

“I miss you so much,” I tell her.

“I know, but everything is as it should be. Don’t mourn for me. I am fine. Do what you came to do. We will see each other again.” Then she smiles at me, turns and disappears back into the midst of the beings.

One of the beings moves forward. “You have sixty-three years left on earth.” She touches the space between my forehead, and says, “This is what is going to happen to humanity in your lifetime.”

“Nooooo,” I cry in shock.

She retracts her finger from my forehead.

“Is there a way to control it, to make it friendly?”

“No.”

I stare at the luminous being desperately. “Can they just not turn it on?”

“Unfortunately, it is too late for that.”

“What is to be done then?”

“Wake humanity up.”

“How?” I whisper. I could not even begin to imagine how I would stop the terrible future I was shown.

“To move a beach, start with a handful of sand. Begin immediately, tell your friends, teach their children, but don’t tell them what you have seen, or their fear will make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Show them the true power and light that lies hidden inside a human being. Wake them up to their own beauty. The evil cannot manifest when there is love.”

The shining being takes a step back. “We must take our leave now.”

The being that was Zelena, steps forward and smiles gently at me. There is so much pure love radiating from her. I feel a strong reluctance to let her go.

“Do you have to go?”

“Yes, my work here is done, child.”

“I’m so sorry I was rude to you before. I trusted you and it hurt me terribly when I thought you had betrayed me.”

“I know. Now go back into your body and hold the light for humanity. I will return for you in sixty-three years.”

Suddenly, I was back in my body. The lofty cathedral-like space, Zelena, and all the beautiful beings were gone. I was back in the cavern.

“Autumn,” Rocco calls.

I open my eyes and look at his pale concerned face. “Rocco,” I breathe.