Leave Out All the Rest

[Christiaen]

The ride over to Antoinette's place was spent in silence. She had curled up in the passenger seat, seat belts off, and was wrapped around Neil's arm with her head on his shoulder as he gently shifted. The revving up and down of the rpm's as he engaged and disengaged quieted her mind and helped her focus. The monumental tasks would only be possible if Neil was willing to help. And that was a large unknown.

When Neil brought the car to rest under the parking structure, Antoinette gripped him tighter before speaking. Maybe she could hold him so he wouldn't run away. Maybe.

There was a long silence before she gathered the courage to speak.

"Neil? I don't think Quinton is coming back. In fact I'm sure of it. I can feel it." Blood drips from her eyes as she furiously blinks and wipes it away to stay on track. Too much to do. To say. "My lawyer is upstairs right now with Alex. He's drawing up a revised version of my will. It will include all of my assets, and now Quinton's assets. I want you to have it all." She waits, but there is no reaction. Only silence. She can't bear to look at him, so she stares forward at the dashboard; all the dials and numbers becoming red in her blood-blurred vision. "Baby? I'm leaving tonight. I can't be here without Quinton. I'm so sorry." She knows what she is saying will hurt him so badly, but her heart is not her own, having been taken by the man who sired her. She's just caught between the two of them and it's ripping her apart. "But I can't do it without you. I can't. I'm not strong enough. I'm just not..." Antoinette is sobbing now.

[Christiaen]

It was more than she deserved. For all Quinton's darkness, he was her light. She kissed him; tenderly and sweetly at first, then with all the passion she had left to give, her blood tears mixing in as if to bond them to this moment forever.

She pulled away then, distracted by the grim reality of it all. "We need to make sure the lawyer has what he needs to secure everything first, OK? He's been dealing with all of Quinton's and my assets anyway, so I don't see any problems. Quinton already instructed me on how to handle death certificates if I ever needed to do this, and Jean-Sebastien knows the drill. I also have someone on the department you can go to if anyone contests it. I will also bring a video camera to show I did this to myself so none of these blood suckers will ever accuse you of breaking the tradition of ending my Requiem. OK? Neil, don't look at me like that, just focus with me. I am going to need you. Please..."

She started to lose it again. More tears. If she wasn't careful, she would frenzy before she could accomplish what she needed to accomplish.

"I want to be with you one more time tonight, baby. OK? So let's go speak with Jean-Sebastien, sign some stuff, then kick them all to the curb. K?"

[Christiaen]

As with all the men Quinton dealt with, Jean-Sebastian was knowledgeable and efficient. Most everything was ready when they arrived, and though it took several hours to get through the mountain of assets and explain the spider web of connections through which they were protected to Neil, it would have been impossible to do without Jean-Sebastian's aide. And now, it would be near impossible for someone to take it away from Neil, so well was everything secreted and protected. She asked Neil to please sell her parents' estate, unless he wanted it for something specific, and the horses, but to keep her cars. Especially the Ferrari.

"Neil? What do you want to do with Lash? Do you want to keep it? Do you want to 'keep' Alexandra and let her run it for you? Or do you want to sell it off? Will it be too painful?" Antoinette made air quotes with her fingers when she said "keep", and smiled a little at the thought of Alex keeping Neil company. She was so worried about leaving him.

[Christiaen]

Antoinette is a little sad, thinking that Lash will go on without her. But incredibly proud too. Alex will do a great job, and Neil will protect it with his life. Or unlife. She smiled. She had to let go. The bond called her to follow.

Nodding, she let Jean-Sebastian bring the final two documents over for signatures. Antoinette signs over the Lash corporation to Neil as well as the penthouse and Lash studio. Alexandra could live and work there if Neil wanted. Or he could decide whatever he wanted.

They thanked the lawyer for helping them with all of this so late into the evening, and after seeing him out, they had the flat to themselves. The space felt eerie, as if Quinton's spirit, who she could normally swear she felt watching her here all the time, she could no longer feel. But no matter; she longed to be in the here and now. Desperately longed for it while she could.

Wrapping herself around Neil tightly, as if she'd never let him go, she began a feverish pace of kisses; lips, cheeks, jaw, neck, throat, chest and down. He succumbed to her there on the living room floor -- they couldn't even make it to the bedroom -- and confirmed their union one final time, naked on the white shag area rug. But the most beautiful part of all was when Antoinette was finally able to slip her gleaming white teeth deep down into his neck and drank of his most exquisite, illicet blood. What she was always forbidden to do. Now, at the end, what is forbidden? What defined "wrong"? What is another bond in true eternity? She drank long and hard and deeply -- drunk on on his elixir. She could face anything now.

[Christiaen]

The sadness and longing in his eyes crushed her. Crushed her to her very core. She collapsed down on him again, losing more blood to her unstoppable tears. She wished more than anything she could stay and make this man happy. "Neil, it wasn't my choice. He did it to me before I knew what he was doing to me. Just having him far from me now is overwhelming and heart-breaking. You could never live with me like this. You would never want to live with me like this."

She looked at the clock on the wall and knew they had to go now or risk Neil to the sunrise. She stood, reached for Neil's hand and beckoned him to follow her. She let him pick out her final outfit, she kissed Zero a long, tearful goodbye and explained that Neil would be giving him his drink from now on, so he must mind him, and then they were gone.

They stopped at an 24-hour store and bought what they needed; fuel containers, plenty of wood, flares, rope. They also had Antoinette's camera and tripod. And then after filling the containers with petrol, they got in the A10 and headed east. Far out into the middle of nowhere.

They chose her final place carefully, far from the eyes of Kindred and Kine, where the pyre would be shrouded by the night's sky and cloaked with the terrain around it. They found a post to build the pile of wood around, and doused it all with loads of the liquid fire.

"Baby -- obviously I've never done anything like this before. But it's really important that "I" do it. It can't look like you did it to me, right? But I am having a really hard time with this whole idea, and I was hoping you'd do one of your mind tricks on me. Tell me to go to sleep when the time comes. OK?" She bit her lip. This was all starting to sound a little too real.