Page 170 of The Last Vampire
“The lastvampire?” she asks, which had been his first guess as well.
He writes the phrase in blood, and it vanishes.
“The last Stoker?” he wonders, and she nods, so he writes it.
Again, nothing.
“I do not think this is the key,” he says in frustration.
“Try… the lasthope.”
William frowns at Fabiana. It is the same word Lorena used to describe him. He cannot imagine being anyone’s hope, but for lack of other ideas, he writes it down:
The last hope.
The words are absorbed once more. It did not work.
Then red ink fills the full page:
My dear William,
I harbor no illusions that you will ever forgive me for that which I have wrought upon you. Yet, rest assured that I would not have taken this course for any lesser cause than the vampires’ very survival.
I confess only to you that the enchantment I intend to employ is fraught with uncertainty. Should it falter, I cannot let it mark the extinction of our kind.
Herein lies your destiny: To be the seed of a new vampiric society.
Our last hope.
I am well aware that you never sought the mantle of leadership, just as I did not in my own youth. Yet, those who desire power the least are oft the most fit to wield it.
My most fervent wish is that you might reimagine your notion of family, broadening it to embrace the whole of our kind, as I have done. The vampires are your brethren, and they will follow your lead.
In my prolonged existence, I have come to perceive the grievous errors of our ways. We cannot persist without humankind, though they can endure without us. Therefore, the burden falls upon us to devise a way to coexist.
This noble endeavor, I entrust to you, for you are singularly equipped to undertake it.
Ever since I beheld you, I discerned that your heart was unlike any other. It was the first moment in my weary existence that I sensed I had found a worthy heir. Though I cannot claim to love, for such sentiments have long since fled my heart, I shall avow only that which I know to be true:
I wholeheartedly believe in you.
Thy proud Grandsire
William loses count of how many times he reads the letter.
For too long, he hated his grandfather. He thought the ancient vampire’s actions were selfish and cruel.
Yet it turns out he was wrong.
Grandsire’s actions were the ultimate expression of love.
CHAPTER 50lorena
Thursday morning, William does not show up for breakfast. I expect Director Minaro to ask me where he is, but she never does.
I wonder if he compelled her.
“I want to make a quick announcement about the phones,” says the director, addressing us all while we eat. “The phone line cut out overnight, and we are working on getting it fixed. Hopefully you all have your travel plans set by now and do not require further coordination, but if you do, come see me after breakfast so we can figure it out.”
