The dreaded morning had finally come. It was time for the world to say their final goodbye to the beloved hero - Luciel Ashford.
Seven days had passed since Luciel had been proclaimed dead after he fell victim to vampirism.
Ever since that awful day, no one had seen him, even once, except for Alex who actively went searching for him. If another vampire hunter went after him, they would try to cut his head off.
Humans knew that once someone would turn, they would no longer be the same person.
Usually, turned people would lose all reason and would act only by listening to their newfound instincts. They wouldn't even hesitate to kill their loved ones.
Almost no one would keep their sanity after turning. Even if some managed to escape from the hunters with their heads on their shoulders, they would still be considered dead.
This week had been full of agonizing pain and grief and today, it was finally reaching its conclusion. Even the sky was crying, with heavy rain hitting the ground. Today was the perfect weather for a funeral.
As the funeral was going on, in the distance, away from the human eyes, there was a figure that watched all of this going on, from start to finish.
Luciel was standing on a hill, wearing all black while being below a tree, without any umbrella or raincoat, instead, he allowed the rain to slide down his slightly wavy, raven black hair.
He stared at the huge crowd that gathered around with only one purpose - to say their goodbyes and thank you's.
In the front row, Luciel could see Helen, Alex, his father, and siblings - elder brother and sister.
He clenched his fist, he wanted to see them so badly. He wanted to feel the warmth of their bodies, to hear their voices, to be close to them.
With every fiber of his body, he wanted to go down there and see them, to hug them, and to tell them that he was fine.
Letting out a soft sigh and relaxing his fist, he continued to stare at the scene with no expression on his face.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to meet them after the funeral.
Luciel couldn't allow his family to see the monster he had become. In his eyes, it would be better if his family would just continue believing that he was dead.
How could he show himself as a vampire in front of Helen when she lost her younger sister because of them. His dad lost his wife and almost all of his kids.
Hearing the rustling of the leaves, Luciel looked up and saw two familiar vampires that came by his side - Kai and Melisa.
They wore all black as well and gave a wave to Luciel with a soft smile, but they didn't say anything until the funeral was over.
****
"So… What do you want?" Luciel asked after his beloved ones and the rest finished to give their final goodbyes.
Luciel crossed his arms and leaned against the tree, staring at the two who decided to come down.
"We thought to come and stand by your side," Kai answered, taking a step closer and putting his hand on Luciel's shoulder.
"We know that this must have been a very hard moment for you." Melisa continued, also getting closer and putting her hand on top of Kai's shoulder, "We came to stand by your side."
Luciel scoffed once he heard what the two had to say, "Like the two of you could understand how I feel right now." He proceeded to remove Kai's hand from his shoulder before making a motion like he was whipping off some dust.
"No need to be so cold." Melisa retaliated after their kind gesture got rejected just like that, "We were humans too, you know."
Luciel felt like someone had dropped a bomb on him once he heard what Melisa had said.
Kai was just there, nodding with his head, confirming what had been said.
"What do you mean by that?" Luciel widened his eyes and went to stand straight up, now feeling curious about the twins since a human becoming a true vampire is almost unheard of and currently, he was looking at two cases right next to each other, with him being a third.
"How about we head to the bar and discuss this with some drinks, all right?" Kai gave a light slap on Luciel's back.
"What kind of drinks?" Luciel asked, wanting to know what he was getting into.
Vampires were cunning creatures and he wouldn't be surprised if they had a hidden bar for them to drink blood and who knows how ethical that blood is.
"What do you mean? Alcohol of course, but make sure to avoid beer." Kai warned him and in an instant, Luciel felt like a stone fell down from his heart.
Luciel's heart skipped a beat and his hands were getting sweaty once he remembered the food that granted him an agonizing night, but if Melisa and Kai wanted to go and drink, it must be safe, right?
"Let's go to my friend's house then, everyone knows my face here, especially now." Luciel hoped that Alex wouldn't react too badly when he would have seen that the vampires in his house were multiplying, after all, one is more than enough.
Luciel wanted to invite them to his own house, but it would be better for all of them to stay away since he shares his residence with Helen. Seeing her husband back from the dead, with two more vampires would surely cause her great distress.
He already wanted to go back to her, to knock on her doors, but he couldn't just face her while looking like this. Covering his red eyes and retracting his fangs and claws wouldn't help either. Luciel didn't want to deceive his wife and it was no use anyway, she already knew what he was.
"All right, sounds good to me." Kai yawned and stretched his arms. He didn't mind going to where Luciel was gonna lead them. He never heard his heart rhythm change even once so he probably doesn't have any bad intentions.
"Then let's hurry before the people start flocking back into various parts of the colony."
"Follow my lead then." Luciel waved with his hand, climbing up the house. It was day right now, but thanks to the heavy rain, the sun wasn't bothering them.
As they were going around the roofs, being careful not to be seen by a random passenger who was walking around, Luciel couldn't help but think about his funeral.
So many people had gathered to honor him. Just seeing the amount of people there were, he felt happy that so many cared for what he did. It felt like his battles weren't in vain and he wanted to continue fighting for them.
When they got close to Alex's house, Luciel's eyes gave off a slight glow. As he continued to think, he realized one thing.
The humans he fought so hard to protect were treating him like he was better off dead. After everything he has done, this was his reward, a funeral.