We help him to his unsteady feet, unsure of what or how he's planned to go but certain of one thing; he is going.

There is no goodbye or even tears now, just acceptance for what will be.

He pulls me in tightly for the last time, I breath in his scent so I can hold it deep in my memory, ready to retrieve when I need to revisit this moment. "Oh Oscar, what a wonderful life you will have, with so many adventures. This world is so big, go and travel, carve out your own piece of paradise just as I did".

He turns to Liten Vampyr. " I will not say goodbye, I will simply say I cannot wait until our paths cross again".

His hand slips from mine, my arms now hanging like a dead weight. He starts to slowly walk to the crashing sea as if it calls to him like a siren luring a sailor to his death.

I'm frozen, I know I must stand and watch this unfold even if my heart can barely take it. I must do this last act for my father; watch over as the sea washes him away.

"Wait!" Liten Vampyr calls out, she rushes to his side. "Little Viking, I may not be permitted to join you in death, for my kind is not wanted, but I can walk you to the gates of the afterlife".

She links her arm into his as she lovingly looks up to him.

"I can't think of anyone I'd rather walk into death with," he chuckles, as tears roll down his bristly unshaven face and fall in the cracks of his tired smile.

They stroll to the edge where the water meets the land. Pausing for just a second, as they both look up at the stars that sparkle above their heads in a final farewell.

Then they step into the black ocean, the sea so cold it feels like a thousand knifes piercing their skin at once. They gasp deeply, trying to inhale as their air has been knocked out of their lungs, but yet they carry on walking further and further into the dark unknown.

The water gradually rising higher up, I see dad stumble with the weight of his wet clothes, but she holds him steady, guiding him deeper in.

Within minutes, I only see their heads bobbing in the moonlight as their bodies have been consumed by the endless ocean. They turn to face each other, then both submerge into the darkness.

Silence surrounds me as I watch the ocean become oddly calm, there is no splashing, no crashing of the waves. Just simply stillness.

I sit there all night, watching the sea. But neither ever emerge from the ocean. They are gone and I am now all alone.

...............................................................

Liten Vampyr POV

As our heads sink into the icy sea, I wrap my arms around my Little Viking for the last time.

His body tries by instinct to float back up, but I pull him down to the seabed. He gasps as his lungs fill up with water, his eyes wide but fixated on me.
For a moment I doubt myself, but as if he read my mind he simply nods, urging me to carry on with him to his journey to the gates of death.

I nestle my head deep into his chest and squeeze my eyes shut, unable to look at him any longer.
His body thrashes away, but I hold on tight, keeping still so I can bring tranquility in his last moments. My body does not react the same way, it's not fearful for death, it died such along time ago.

His movements gradually slow down and then grind to a stop. I open my eyes, trying adjust to the blurry fuzziness that is the dark water that surrounds us. I look up to see the old man who was my most trusted friend, but he had faded away and now in his place hypnotically drifting and floating in the current, was the boy that saved me many years ago.

His skin has become smooth as the cruelty of time and illness had been washed away.
His hair lusciously thick and no longer wirey and thin.
His face still and at peace as if, he'd simply fallen asleep, the etches of pain had been erased.

Goodbye my beloved little Viking, until our paths cross again.