Bloody Memory

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wahahaha :D
this is the last chapter... maybe?
well, i want to add an epilogue chapter any way
thanks to smint45 for her generous reviews
i want to make other stories as well...
hopefully, the ending doesn't make you down, hehehe because it's somehow anticlimax
see you on the next story!

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Chapter Fourteen

It’s not him… Scarlet suddenly realized; still horrified. It’s just another puppet of him; a corpse…
Confirming Scarlet’s guess, the person called Lord Black Diamond appeared from the shadow lingering his person. For everyone’s horror, the body was the same body of the man, who was previously being killed by Opal; the one who was being slit in his throat. The corpse moved with awkward motion, kind of inhuman and robotic; with one and another parts of it being in strange position or unusual form.
It approached them while smiling gleefully, somehow creepy, considering it had been dead. Its smile looked like it was being forced to smile; a puppet, marionette without self control. Opal eyed the corpse with unmasked fear; his form was trembling now, which increasing a notch each time it moved towards him.
“~Opal, my humble servant…~” the corpse mused; his voice was somewhat echoed; like it wasn’t coming directly from the dead body.
Opal almost jumped; his breath hitched inside his throat. He bowed slowly, and stammered, “~Ye—yes, Mi—milord?~”
The corpse kept its creepy smile when it moved closer to the now trembling silver vampire. Its hand raised and lightly tapped Opal’ shoulder; just single and feathery movement, but it seemed enough to make the other jerked backward, as if he was suddenly burnt. It let out a sinister, coldly snicker.
“~What are you afraid of, servant? Me? That’s impudent of you, Opal. You know, you shouldn’t be afraid of me.~” He quipped melodically.
Opal quickly nodded. “~I—I know, Milord. I’m just—just, well—exhausted…~”
The corpse tilted its head slowly; its motion made everyone who seeing it quivered in fear. “~Exhausted? That’s not usually you, Opal. I’ve never seen you exhausted.~”
Opal lowered his head, not daring to be eye-to-eye with his superior. Hell, whatever he said behind his back, no matter what, still he didn’t have any gut when he had to face the dark necromancer directly. Symbion vampires moved and acted using their knowledge and instinct; and his instinct had told him that even he was older than Black Diamond himself; he wasn’t his match in power and strength. Opal knew that; and it made him both angry and scared. He hated to be submissive to someone.
The corpse now ignored Opal and turned its attention to Scarlet. It smirked and moved towards the crimson haired vampire. Scarlet stepped backward each time it approached him, not wanting to get near to it. Eventually his back hit something; and Scarlet turned around to find that he had moved until he was cornered along with his comrades. Allan and Tyler looked at him; they were as horrified as him.
Scarlet instinctively shielded both Jamie and Arthur who were unconscious; protecting them. He glowered at the corpse which was still smirking at him, creepily cold and menacing. His heart was pounding his ribs; he was scared to death even though he didn’t want to show it.
“~We meet again, little one.~” The corpse quirked in a singsong. Scarlet cringed hearing its tone; he hated the way it called him as ‘little one’.
“~I don’t really like to meet you again; though… ‘Again’ isn’t the right word, is it? We didn’t TRULY meet before. It was always just your shadow or corpse, not your person yourself.~”
The corpse seemed pondering his sarcastic reply for a moment. “~I guess you’re right, lad. I always meet you in my other form, such as shadows or corpses. Well, I’m lazy one, I don’t want to travel so much far away from my own sanctuary only to greet my guests.~” It chuckled evilly.
Scarlet grimaced. “~It’s always be your habit. Using someone else to reach your aims… I bet that now you come only to watch me slay your humble servant?~” He glanced at Opal who glared at him. “~Or do you want to kill me by your own hand? Oops, wrong one… I mean by your puppet’s hands. How convenient.~”
The corpse chuckled darkly. “~You seem to adopt your mentor’ sarcasm, little one. Or I just have to say, your older brother’s? Sadly, but still the fact that you were the one who killed your own brother doesn’t change.~”
Scarlet gritted his teeth in rage and hatred. His fists balled tightly until his sharp nails digging within his palms; scratching them. He glowered at the corpse; say if looks could kill, the corpse would surely die, again, within seconds.
“~Well, none of your guesses are right ones, young lad. I came here to …clean some mess, if you can say so…~” The corpse turned his gaze upon Opal once more, who instantly went pallid. “~Let’s say… I, as a leader of my own coven, have to clean the mess my subordinate has made. It’s so inconvenient, but well, it has to be done, doesn’t it?~”
The corpse walked back to Opal while the silver vampire stood quivering, trying to get as far as he could from it. He eyed the corpse warily and fearfully, preparing for whatever it would do to his person.
The corpse stopped just a few inches from him and stood still, observing him through its dull, dead eyes. Opal looked at the floor, feeling so small and worthless under its scrutinizing gaze. When it finally spoke again, the voice was so cold and menacing Opal almost felt that his heart was being stabbed by the silver dagger, repeatedly, over and over.
“~You have failed.~” It was statement, period.
Opal slowly looked upward to meet its gaze. “~Mi—milord, please give me one last chance! I will surely kill that brat!~”
“~Killing him is an easy one for you, but still you failed it. Do you remember that I gave you only three days to clean up everything? You prolonged it until two weeks. Such lameness!! Not to mention I told you to move stealthily, discreetly… but you had to slaughter entire casino as if you wanted to announce your sorry ass to these pathetic humans!~” it snorted indignantly. “~Not that I feel sorry for those trashes called casino dwellers, not at all…~”
Scarlet grunted in disgust. They were all same; despising humans!
“~Pl—please, Milord, give me another chance… I won’t disappoint you again… I will—I will kill him for sure…~” Opal unusually begged. He disliked it at all, but for his own life, he didn’t really care about his dignity.
The corpse chuckled mockingly. “~Look who’s begging for his pathetic ass! What a joke!~” It laughed out loud.
Opal bit his lip in anger and disgust, both for himself and for his superior. Hell, he really hated this guy!
Without warning, it grabbed Opal by his shirt and yanked him up until his feet barely touched the ground. Opal yelped and struggled, even assaulted a mind attack which was futile against it; since it was already dead… He thrashed and tried to swing his Ariadne to release himself, but the corpse was faster than him; and it abruptly pinned his palms onto the wall using some materialized shadow; piercing his flesh. Opal’ screams echoed through entire ruined-building when the corpse tortured him by slowly, agonizingly pinning his limb to the wall.
Scarlet and the others watched the scene in horror. Inwardly, Scarlet felt pity for Opal and glad that the cursed puppet didn’t even think to slay them; which were easy for it to do so. Black Diamond’s necromantic power was an absolute force to be fought; Scarlet knew he couldn’t win even against one of his puppets; not in his form now. He needed more training, more power… At least, to kill the necromancer was one of his main goals.
The corpse cackled horribly, feeling satisfied with its creation. Opal, or what he was before, was now bloodied and pinned to the wall, barely conscious. His blood pooled beneath his limp form, creating a large puddle. His breaths ragged and he panted heavily.
The corpse turned its attention once more at Scarlet. It smirked and said, “~Now, you don’t have to worry anymore about this snob. I have given him his punishment for disobeying my command. Until next time, little one, I myself will cut your delicate throat.~”
It snickered evilly before materializing a shadow prick and with little effort, jabbed the pointed shadow through Opal’s windpipe. The silver vampire’s eyes almost bulged out from its socket when he let out a choked sound; before his wound spurted blood and finally his body went completely limp. He was dead…
Scarlet froze in fear witnessing such gory scene. Even though Opal was his enemy; a sick, psycho bastard he hated so much; still he didn’t deserve this kind of death. Being tortured slowly and finally being killed brutally… no body deserved such thing…
The corpse laughed maniacally, evilly before it let out some shadow force and destroyed whatever left from the already ruined casino. Scarlet startled and quickly yelled to his comrades, “FUCK! Get the survivors and out from here! NOW!!”
They didn’t have to be told twice; with quick movement, the last remnants of former SWAT team hurried finding a way out while supporting their unconscious companion: Allan was carrying Arthur’s body; Amanda was supporting both Jamie and Sarah, who was still half conscious; while Tyler got two left men out from that doomed casino.
Scarlet was busy covering them using his fire wall, avoiding ruins and debris to injure them further. He glanced towards the corpse and Opal’s dead body, which were now almost covered by a thick layer of dirt. He narrowed his eyes only to find that the corpse had slumped to the ground, losing its ‘strings’; Black Diamond was no longer here.
A sudden quake brought him back to the real world. He turned his eyes towards the group when he heard a stifled yelp. He frowned and shouted, “What the hell is that?! Who is the one yelping?!”
Tyler groaned in pain when he tried hardly to stand from his position he had fallen. “Shit! Crap! I think I have broken my leg!” He groaned again.
Trying to avoid as many debris flying at them as they could, they practically ran to the front door they had previously gotten into. Scarlet used his fire wall as much as his strength could produce; and when they finally got outside, he quickly made a huge fireball and shot it towards the casino.
“GET DOWN!!” he yelled.
They complied without much ado.
The fireball hit the overly ruined casino and quickly flared out as one, single explosion; successfully burning down entire building. Scarlet watched exhaustedly, while shielding his companions. He sighed heavily and thought, at least, Jamie’s safe…
But the casualties… there are so many casualties, both from casino guests and SWAT team; my team. I was the one who insist to bring as few persons as we could; to minimize the number of casualty, but still…
A light tap on his shoulder almost made him jump. He looked to his side and saw Allan smiled faintly at him.
“Sorry, don’t mean to startle you…”
Scarlet mumbled something like ‘it is okay’ and finally felt fully exhausted, he gave up his legs and slumped down to the ground.
“…It’s over.” The bulky cop murmured again. Scarlet only grunted.
He turned his attention towards Jamie and Arthur. Both of them were still unconscious; Arthur even looked so pale and weary. Scarlet humphed and stood to walk towards the captain.
Sarah jerked her head up to look at Scarlet; giving him a slight smile as she moved aside, letting the crimson haired vampire to crouch beside Arthur. Scarlet smiled assuredly at her and spoke softly, “Don’t worry; he will be alright. I will try to heal him as much as I can.”
Sarah smiled. “I know. Don’t force yourself; you are also injured even worse than him, any way…”
Scarlet nodded and he vaguely heard Amanda shouted that she had called the police headquarter and hospital to aid them; while he sat down and examined Arthur’s wounds. He found that mostly blood oozing out from his shot injury; the bullet still embedded inside his shoulder; and he sighed, preparing himself to gouge it out. Using his sharpen nails, Scarlet finally got the round out from Arthur’ shoulder and made the bleeding to stop. He examined his wounds further and found that his arms had been dislocated. He fixed it, gently relocated the arm; ignoring Arthur’s subconsciously, painful groan; and wound it using his freshly tattered coat.
He lost so much blood, Scarlet thought. He quickly slit his wrist and let out his blood, before moved his arm hovering above the older man’s slightly parted mouth; he nudged it to open a little more; and poured his blood down. He did the same treatment he had done before to heal Arthur: using his blood to quicken his recovery.
When he finally finished, Scarlet felt lightheaded. He knew that he was exhausted beyond belief; and he lost his blood much due to his gravely wound and his attempt to heal Arthur. His injuries were still stinging; hell, he even had a hole in his right lung! He needed medical treatment and more blood transfusion immediately. But those weren’t things he got inside his mind now…
Scarlet went to Jamie’ side and gently held him. He practically embraced him, positioning him onto sitting form and hugged him tightly. He could hear and feel his pulse and heartbeat; and gladly relieved knowing that the boy was safe, once again. He rocked the unconscious boy back and forth; humming softly when he felt his own consciousness was drifting off his person…

***

When Scarlet finally awoke from his deep slumber, he found himself inside one of hospital rooms. He noticed a nurse sitting beside his bed, who was immediately running outside to find the doctor; undoubtedly for telling him about his awakening.
He sighed and tried to locate Jamie, Navalm, and his companions. He suddenly felt terrified when he failed to locate them, wherever they were. He recognized that it might because of drugs effect before remembering that vampires were immune for every kind of drugs save anticoagulants and analgesic drugs. Maybe he was given any shot of analgesic drugs…
The doctor stormed in and immediately checked on his condition. He checked on his heartbeat, his pulse, and others before he sighed and looked at Scarlet right on his eyes. He asked, “How do you feel, kid?”
Scarlet inwardly cringed being called ‘kid’, but he swallowed his annoyance and managed to rasp an answer. “I—I’m fine.”
The doctor nodded curtly and gestured some paramedics to move him onto the carrier. Scarlet frowned and silently questioned his motives when he felt his body being lifted and put gently onto the carrier. The paramedics rolled the carrier and brought him to the other room within the hospital.
When he finally arrived inside the other room, he quickly recognized his comrades’ aura and, mostly for his own joy, Jamie’s aura. He also felt Frank and Emily’s; not far away from their son. Scarlet tried to sit, to see more clearly, but one of the paramedics held him and told him that he shouldn’t do that. Scarlet glared at him, ignoring him and sat up from his carrier right away. He felt sudden numbness within his body, all over his body; and he groaned when he fell back limply onto his spot.
“I’ve told you so…” the paramedic murmured, admonishing him. Scarlet only rolled his eyes.
Allan came to his aid, telling the paramedics that he would handle him further. They nodded though doubtfully; and left the room. Allan grinned mischievously at him.
Scarlet groaned, irritated. He snapped, “Don’t even dare to mock me about that!”
Allan chuckled. “High dosage of analgesic-anesthesia drugs; and you sprawl down like a dead cow.”
The crimson haired vampire snorted. “Dead cows don’t sprawl when they die.”
“Whatever.” He supported Scarlet, still chuckling mischievously. Scarlet rolled his eyes exasperatedly.
He was being sat on the chair beside Arthur’s and Sarah’s; Tyler also got bed-rested since he had broken his leg. He sprawled on the hospital bed; one leg had been propped up. He looked at Scarlet and mimicked his partner’s behavior: grinning meaningfully at him all the way. He was reading a sport magazine while Allan resumed his seat beside his bed.
Scarlet shook his head and turned his eyes at the pair beside him. Sarah seemed fine and unharmed, save her sadden and guiltily look; Arthur seemed much finer than last time he saw him. The captain smiled widely and gently patted him on the shoulder.
“You’re still under drugs; don’t be so rush about everything.” He commented lightly.
Scarlet snorted. “That’s why I hate hospital; they will give all of their medication only for single wound and successfully make you helpless...” He trailed off and asked the older man cautiously, “I’m here; that’s meaning they know about me being a vampire, don’t they?”
Arthur nodded and retorted, “This hospital is specially designed for quick counter measure medications and extreme cases’ treatments, meaning police’s cases, etc; they usually get almost of strangest cases ever happened due to our crime investigations. And don’t worry about the secrecy; they guarantee they will keep your identity off public.”
Scarlet raised his brows in awe.
He turned his gaze towards Jamie who still lied unconscious on the bed. He frowned and whispered to Arthur, “Did Jamie awake before this time?”
Arthur grimaced and shook his head no. “No, he’s still in the same condition since we found you two leaning unconscious against the car last night. His state is stabile though; doctor said it’s just a matter of time until he regains his consciousness.”
“…I see.” Scarlet kept frowning. Jamie seemed fine to him, but he noted that something was off…
Both Frank and Emily sat down beside their son, gently hugging each other while holding Jamie’s hand. They watched him sleep; or rather passed out; lovingly and almost didn’t avert their gazes towards their beloved son. Scarlet felt a pang within his heart seeing their closeness; their familiarity towards each other touched him deeply. He, as long as he lived his eighteen years of life, never knew his parents nor even saw them alive; and his only older brother was dead, killed by his own hands. He knew that he didn’t mean it but still… it was painful to be alone, without your family, actual family…
He scrutinized Jamie’s peaceful feature and suddenly found what was off early. He stood up abruptly, startling the others; and almost fell back to his chair by his suddenness. Swaying, he slowly walked towards Jamie’s bed and patted Frank’ shoulder gently. The older man looked at him and smiled warmly which one he returned heartily. Emily also looked at him and did the same thing.
“Jamie is trapped inside his own mind. We have to pull him out if we want him to awake.” He said bluntly. Scarlet didn’t like to sugarcoat his words; and rather chose to speak openly about everything. Even so, he tried to say his words as gently as he could since he didn’t want to hurt other’s feeling after they heard his blunt remarks.
He watched as Frank and Emily’s faces contorted from shock to sad; and quickly added, “I will try to pull him out. But I need to be as comfortable as I can; for doing so, I have to lie down beside Jamie.”
Arthur and Sarah had stood up from their previous seat and warily watched all the situation occurred. Both Tyler and Allan also stopped their previous activity and watched them in curiosity and worry.
Arthur asked him tightly, “Scarlet, what’s this all about?”
Scarlet edged to Jamie and gently touched his forehead. “Opal might be using his mind control to trap Jamie’s mind within his dream. Same like me, maybe a bit weaker than his mind breaking towards my mind, but still it keeps Jamie unconscious as long as we don’t get rid of it immediately.”
Emily started to sob and stuttered, “So—so, how—how can you do to bring him back? Oh, my baby…”
Scarlet smiled, reassured her. “I say I will try to pull him out from his entrapping dream; by going inside his mind. To do so, I have to lie beside Jamie and intertwine my mind with his.”
Arthur frowned. “How you do that? You’re not a psychic master like Opal; you’re a fire user.”
“I said I’ll try; and I’ll try hardest.” Scarlet plainly stated and gently shifted Jamie’s limp body to the side to make more space for him. He then lied down beside Jamie, positioning their body so they were facing each other; Jamie’s face was nuzzling down on the crook of Scarlet’s neck; while Scarlet’s chin was propping upon Jamie’s head. Scarlet lifted Jamie’s face until they were eye-to-eye and smiled slightly when he scrutinized the younger boy’s childish feature. He held Jamie’s head within his hands gently and stuck their foreheads against each other.
“…I will get inside his mind and pull his consciousness outside.” He glanced at Arthur and smirked. “Just prepare a number of blood ampoules after I finish this task. It will be surely exhausting for me to use this kind of power…”
Arthur smirked back and put a thumb up while murmured a ‘be careful’ to him.
Scarlet nodded curtly and closed his eyes, readying to enter Jamie’s entrapped mind. He concentrated his mind for a while, searching Jamie’s brain waves and synchronized them with his own; and began to drift himself off to unconsciousness. He had tried this before; Vermillion had taught him about mind link and its usages; he was sure he could do this… or so he thought himself to.
He felt sudden dizziness overwhelming him and after he fought a little to adapt himself to the condition, he finally relaxed his mind to accept whatever things that would welcome his presence, within Jamie’s mind…

***

Arthur sighed heavily when he saw that Scarlet’s body finally became relaxed and he was now drifted off to sleep; no, to venture inside Jamie’s mind. Even though he had reassured him that he would try his best to pull Jamie out from his trapped mind, still he felt uneasiness within his guts. He was afraid that both Scarlet and Jamie were trapped inside the subconscious world for …ever.
He almost jumped several feet when his shoulder was tapped lightly, only to find Sarah smiling comfortingly at him. He smiled back and held her hand tightly, feeling calm and comfortable at that moment just by her companionship and her support. He recalled Vermillion’s words back then, about his fate which somehow intertwined with Sarah’s…
After all, his former partner was true to his precognition. Arthur had felt a crush for Sarah in long time, though he buried the feeling deep under his discipline demeanor and his sense of duty. He previously supposed the feeling to be just another glimpse of flirty thought about her; he kept convincing himself that the feeling would surely fade as the time went by; but it wasn’t… oppositely, the feeling went deeper and deeper; and Arthur struggled with all his strength to wisely keep it within his heart.
He was snapped back to recall that feeling by Vermillion’s words; his remarks echoed over and over, successfully made him hardly sleeping since he heard them. Hell, Vermillion was good at making people mentally disturbed!
He jerked his head aside when he heard Frank’s voice softly asking him.
“Captain Wilkins, what will happen to my son?”
Arthur sighed and forced a smile. “I don’t know. But I hope, whatever Scarlet does right now, he will surely bring Jamie back to us safely.”
The older man nodded hesitantly and went to sit down beside his sobbing wife, holding her gently.
Allan watched the two unconscious boys and muttered, “Hopefully they can manage to go back to us, Cap’n.”
Arthur only nodded in silent.

***

Scarlet dived down the ocean of darkness within Jamie’s mind; he definitely didn’t believe that Jamie’s inner soul would be as dark as the current scene he faced of. It had to be Opal’s handicraft; creating a dark, horrible nightmare using his mind wave to fully control or torture his enemies…
He noticed small form of light orb before him; he quickly moved towards it, trying to reach the orb. When he finally reached it, the orb turned out to be a hole, linking him from the dark ocean to some kind of room; more like a hotel room, with two figures sitting on the bed. They seemed hugging each other; or most likely, one figure held the other tightly within his arms.
Scarlet landed on the carpeted floor beside the bed and gasped when he recognized the figures to be Opal and Jamie. He watched with increasing anger and disgust while the now already dead silver vampire seduced; yes, seduced; the boy.
“Hey, how about I give you a birthday present? Today is your birthday after all.”
Scarlet could hear Opal cooed at Jamie’s ear. He hissed in sudden rage; he realized that it was one of Jamie’s memories; he shouldn’t do something reckless here unless he wanted to shatter Jamie’s inner side. Memory was the same like fragile crystal; they had to be treated carefully, affectionately to avoid them being shattered apart.
He saw Jamie tensed and his eyes widened in fear when Opal’s arm suddenly snaked down his spine, caressed him in sensual manner.
Scarlet growled angrily; how dare he do that to Jamie?! Pedophilic bastard!! Scarlet remembered how much he hated the other vampire for his successful attempt to sensually touch and eventually rape that boy… the one whom he had considered as his own little brother, back then at their coven. How he felt so much hurt only for hearing his screaming and crying of pain and agony after he repeatedly awoke from his nightmares because of this bastard’s deed to him?!
“Now, now, be a good boy and stay still.”
Scarlet then saw Opal’s hand moved further to the south, slid under Jamie’s pants and, undoubtedly, boxers too; groping his butt. He heard Jamie let out a stifled yelp when Opal abruptly kissed him; Scarlet’s fists balled tightly but he even didn’t aware that he had scratched his own palms because of that.
Opal then turned the boy around; pressing his back against his chest while resuming his groping yet muffling Jamie’s yelps using his hand. Scarlet could clearly saw that his hand moved south and undoubtedly groped and caressed the boy’s member.
“Mm hmm, you’re just a kid. But you’re quite good looking, for human… give me another five years, maybe I will be more than willing to take you.” Opal murmured while hummed with vampiric tongue, trying to transfix his victim. Jamie was now tying his hardest to struggle and thrash against his dangerous touches, but his efforts were futile against the silver vampire’s death grip around his little body.
After several times, Scarlet saw Jamie’s body tensed; he was now crying and panting; and he slightly jerked in spasms. Opal smirked in satisfaction when he raised his hand which previously touched the boy and showed the slimy mess on his palm in front of Jamie’s face, who openly cringed seeing his body’s proof of betrayal.
“Look what you’ve done. You made a mess on my hand. I bet this is your first time, eh?” Opal chuckled evilly and brought his mess-tainted hand to his face and licked it off. Scarlet almost threw up on the spot seeing him. It looked like Jamie also experienced same feeling, considering his pale feature.
Opal finally released him and told him to go to the bathroom to get tidy. Scarlet could see that Jamie was practically running and quickly locking the door, ignoring Opal’s mocking chortle behind him; successfully barricading himself from the molesting vampire. Scarlet didn’t feel surprised though; hell, he would do same thing when he was confronted by same problem.
Scarlet scowled and eventually glowered towards the silver vampire while listened to Jamie’s miserable crying and screaming. His heart was clenched in painful grip as he continued to hear the boy’s sobbing and whimpering. How he wanted to beat Opal’s ass up, again and again, for doing such thing to Jamie! He sighed heavily, thinking that after all, he was glad that the other vampire was already dead now… though not by his own hands.
Suddenly the scene changed into the same dark ocean, even darker than before, almost caught him off guard by its sudden engulfing appearance. He spotted Jamie’s naked form, curling into tight ball, still sobbed and hiccupped; not far away from him. He quickly chased the boy who was almost instantly being drifted by unknown wave, eventually took him further from him. He grabbed him by his shoulder, noted his trembling form and he winced painfully. Suddenly, without thinking, he immediately hugged him tightly.
“Jamie… it’s okay; you’re safe now… Opal isn’t here any more; he’s nowhere now. He is dead…” He rasped, threatened by his own tears.
Jamie stirred within his hug, seemed recognizing his voice. He was still trembling and sobbing, but they slowly faded and finally he went still. He looked up to find Scarlet’s glazy crimson orbs with his own chocolate-does; and he choked his own tears when he finally spoke.
“Re—really? Is, is he dead, now?”
Scarlet nodded heartily, unable to contain his own tears now; they had flowed down his cheeks in small rivers. He stared deeply within Jamie’s eyes; his gaze was full of unmasked affection and softness he rarely let out before. He smiled softly before whispered; his voice rasped as he was in the verge of tears again.
“Jamie, let’s go home… you don’t have to be secluded within this horrible realm again… Opal is now dead; he does no longer be able to trap you with his mind control. It’s you now who have to decide, to stay still within or to come back to your beloved ones and move on.” He smiled genuinely and continued, “I want you to come back with me, Jamie. We need you, we all love you. I love you. Please come back with me. Open the pathway for us to get out from this dream.”
Jamie stared back at him and slowly nodded. He threw his gaze towards the dark ocean and frowned, trying to change the scene with much effort. His attempt was successful; since the vicinity suddenly changed onto a view of a crystalline lake, with flowery meadow around it, and mountain on the background. The scenery was dazzling, and they stared in awe as there was no longer any remnant left from the previous dark ocean.
“Nice job, Jamie,” Scarlet commented in awe while the younger boy, now wearing a white T-shirt with the graffiti ‘I’m Alive’ on the front and a pair of blue jeans, stood joyfully beside him.
“Of course! It’s my favorite place for camping! The place isn’t far from the city, you know; you can go there within fifteen minutes using a bike!” he exclaimed cheerfully.
Scarlet smiled widely, happy that the boy was back to his usual state of happiness. “Well then, would you like to take me there? I want to see the place in real.”
“OKAY!” Jamie chirped happily and then he twined his fingers and hand with Scarlet’s. “Let’s hurry going back then! And we will have a hiking and picnic session to this lake! Of course everyone will participate! Officer Wilkins, Officer Stoke, Officer Barrymore, Officer Johnson, Mom, Dad, you and me! All of us!”
Scarlet laughed heartily hearing Jamie’s overjoyed exclaiming.
“Alright, let’s go home then.” He quipped and, tightening his twine with the boy’s hand, he and Jamie walked side by side through the pathway out.

***

Everyone’s head jerked upward and directly pointed towards the two figures lying on the bed when they heard a soft moan coming from their direction. They watched warily when slowly Jamie’s eyelids fluttered open; his eyes firstly unfocused and dazed, and then they began to focus looking to the ceiling. Emily stifled a squeal of joy seeing her beloved son finally awake from his comatose and almost embraced him tightly if her husband didn’t hold her to stand still, afraid that his wife would surely freak out and maybe worsen their son’s condition.
Jamie slowly moved so he could see other occupants in the room; he propped his body using his elbows and looked around. He smiled at his parents, who immediately hugged him, and grinned at the cops. He even raised his brows seeing Tyler in such miserable state.
“What’s happen to your leg, Officer Johnson?” he asked innocently.
The black skinned cop only chuckled lightly before replied, “It is a long story, Jamie. I will tell you later, eventually.”
Jamie grinned mischievously and looked at Arthur and Sarah who gave him a comforting smile. He smiled back and turned his attention back at his parents.
“Mom, Dad, please… I’m fine now, so cut it out, ‘kay? I’m suffocated, you know.” He mumbled playfully. Both Emily and Frank released him and laughed at him with tears flowing down their cheeks.
Jamie looked down at Scarlet and his smile faltered when he saw that Scarlet still lied unconscious. He nudged the young vampire’s body slightly and when he didn’t react, he began to worry.
“Why is Scarlet still unconscious? We got out from the nightmare together, but why…” he trailed off when he felt his tears were ready to burst out.
Arthur quickly moved closer and examined Scarlet. He hitched his breath when he didn’t find either pulse or heartbeat from him. He also found that he didn’t breathe either. He frantically examined the crimson haired vampire once more only to find the same things: Scarlet wasn’t breathing and his heart stopped beating.
He went pallid and swayed backward, vaguely hearing Jamie shouting at him; Sarah swiftly supported his sudden limp body and sat him down to the chair. He still gazed at Scarlet and hoarsely spoke, “He—he’s not breathing.”
Everybody gasped in shock, and Jamie wailed miserably, crying and sobbing uncontrollably. His parents held him tight and they also cried alongside their son.
Arthur was still unable to cope of his own shock considering Scarlet’ sudden death when he noticed a stirring from the previously still young vampire. He abruptly stood up and watched Scarlet intently while he managed to slowly open his eyelids.
The crimson haired vampire fully opened his orbs now and stared at the concerned faces of Jamie and his comrades. He let out a faint giggle looking at their funny expression and rasped, “…Sorry, I misread the pathway signs…”
Silence for a moment; before finally, laughter could be heard roaring from their room. Allan and Tyler; despite his injury; even doubled over and laughed hysterically after they heard the absurd reason. Jamie also laughed while he was still crying, hugging Scarlet tightly alongside his parents. Arthur snorted; secretly wiping away tears which had formed on the corner of his eyes; and soon joined them in laughter; while Sarah only shook her head and snickered mischievously.
“FUCK! You scared us all!” Allan yelled in the middle of his laughter.
Arthur snorted. “Don’t you ever do that, again! Ever! Or I swear to God I will reanimate you and kill you once more!”
Scarlet snickered. “Heh, do you ever dare to do that, Wilkins?”
“No, I don’t.” He giggled. “I just love you so much I can’t even get mad at you.”
“Liar. You were mad at me back then.”
“That was because you had to be yelled at; otherwise you would do something dangerous.”
Scarlet smiled genuinely and stretched his arms widely. Arthur came to him and they were hugging each other. “Well, thank you; and I love you too, old captain. I miss the times when you were still resided within our troop.”
“I’m not that old.” He scolded before continued. “You know, I sometimes miss those times too… I miss the PHANTOM headquarter after all. Maybe I like to visit next time; of course as a guest.”
Scarlet smirked back and retorted playfully, “You know, maybe when you come over and beg to Azure, he will surely consider you to be included within the team again; like the old times.”
“I’d like to, but it seems that I don’t have any intention to go back.” He frowned a little and slowly added, “…Hey, I don’t beg to someone… even Azure…”
Scarlet laughed. “I’m serious, Arthur. I’m sure the group back there also miss you too; Sorrel, Chrome Green, and others. You remember them, don’t you?”
“Uh huh. Well, I miss them too… maybe later, Scarlet; I will rethink about it first.”
“Don’t push yourself, old man.”
“Hey, I’m not that old!” he admonished, irritated.
Scarlet laughed and turned his attention towards Jamie. He embraced the boy lovingly and whispered, “Welcome home, Jamie. I love you.”
Jamie laughed softly and returned his embrace. “Welcome home to you too, Scarlet. I love you too.”

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the epilogue will come soon.