Through the Veil of Time Anonymous One-Shot Contest
Story Title: Gift of the Gods
Penname: Kimmydonn
Summary: Jason had no idea what happened to him when the meteor fell among his sheep, but he the gods give and the gods take. He must learn quickly to avoid their wrath.
Time Period: Biblical Greece
Word Count: 4782
To view other entries, go there: http:/www (.) fanfiction (.) net/~throughtheveiloftime
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer explained the difference in her vampires genetically. This is just my hypothesis on how they could have come to be.
A/N1: So. Somehow, I managed to forget that this contest was anonymous. The organizers have kindly allowed me to still be associated with it in this small way. So although you can't vote for me, please read and vote for the other great entries!
Jason sat on the slope of the hill, watching his sheep. Twenty years old and he was still watching his father's sheep. One day, they would be his sheep. His brothers were headed into the city, learning crafts and trades. He would be the one to stay in the fields, stay with the herds. He had never found a craft his gnarled hands would accept. They didn't stop him from calling the sheep, or Brutus, the dog that helped him. He lay now, watching the black and white hound chase the straggling new ewes back to the group. He pulled his hat lower on his eyes, planning to rest away the heat of the afternoon.
Brutus' barking had him bolting up from his doze. The sun was gone and Jason searched for the clouds that had come while he slept. There were none. The sky was clear, but a dark spot covered the sun.
He had heard of eclipses, but never seen one, not of the sun. Such events were significant and tracked by the astronomers and astrologers, even a family as low as his own would be informed of a phenomenon like that. He watched the spot grow larger, covering more of the sky.
Jason didn't have time to move more than a few strides toward his sheep when the large boulder fell from the sky amidst his flock.
Brutus's barks ended abruptly, as did the bleating of the sheep. A cloud of dust rose from the impact, sending gore raining on Jason. Most of his herd had been instantly destroyed by the force of the falling rock; the ones that weren't lay still. Jason was several strides away when the dust settled. He trotted up to the first fleecy body and found no movement. They were dead. So was he. His father was going to kill him. He walked around the crater, looking for Brutus, but found no trace of his furry companion. He walked up to the heavenly destroyer and beat his fists on it. The rock was black, perfectly round, and was about as large as Brutus standing - four feet. It was steaming, Jason realized as he touched it. It was hot to the touch. As he examined it, he saw red threaded through it. It seemed to glow. He had never known much of gems, but he guessed this was the color of ruby. His knotted finger traced one of the veins when a burning started in the hand still flat to the rock.
He ripped his hand away to look at it, expecting it to be charred or at least red from the scalding heat. It was neither. The searing burn grew, moving up his arm and beginning in the other, as though flames licked over his skin. He screamed in agony as he stumbled toward the spring on the other side of the hill. The countryside was empty; that was why he brought the herd here. No one could hear him scream. No one would come looking for him for days. He would be dead long before that if he couldn't stop whatever was killing him.
He fell several times but eventually made it to the water. The burning covered his entire body now. His heart raced with pain and felt like it would explode in his chest. He plunged his arm in the cool stream first, hoping the point of contact would also be the point of relief. He found none. He thrashed, falling into the water. How was his skin not sloughing from his bones? How were his bones not ash? He felt as though he were in the center of the smoke belching mountain in the distance, as though he should be covered in smoke himself. He lay in the stream. It was too shallow to cover his face, but it ran around him, bathing his back, his sides, and though he felt the cool water, it did nothing to stop the pain. He could no longer see, his mind lost to the searing agony. He blinked and realized he could see. He saw stars; it was night. The sun rose, and he continued to burn, begging all the gods in Pantheon to come help him. Hephaestus, to come forge him, only put the fire of his smithy out. Poisidon, to bring all the water of the seas to squelch the fire that blazed. Zeus, to spear him with lightning and put him out of his misery. None answered, and he finally prayed to Hermes to carry his final words to his father. To tell him that he was sorry he had chosen this place to graze the sheep, that he wished he had been less grudging of his place in the family, that he wished had been more successful like his brothers.
The sun set and rose again before mercy came. The end came slowly. If he weren't still in the water, he might not have discerned the change at all, but his toes became cold. Not cold, cool. They were no longer burning. He had long since stopped screaming and would have whooped for joy if he could find the voice for anything. His heart was slowing, he noticed, and he wiggled his fingers as the pain receded from them. They seemed more flexible.
The pain intensified as it drew in more tightly to his heart. He hadn't thought the pain could get any worse, but it did - contracting, constricting, closing off his vessels.
With one last, slow, resounding thump, his heart stopped entirely. He waited several seconds. Perhaps it was even longer between beats. He heard the water moving in the stream. He heard a distant bird cry. He felt the breeze over his skin. Opening his eyes, he saw grains of pollen or dust blowing on the wind. The pain was gone; his heart was gone.
Jason lifted a hand to his chest. It was paler than it should have been. It was also... sparkling? He held his arm up and out, watching the sunlight shatter on his skin. It was beautiful, distracting. He sat up enough to see that his legs, sticking out from his tunic, were also glittering in the sun, as though embedded with fragments of glass. He pushed himself up from the stream, watching in wonder as his hands buried themselves into the ground. He pulled back quickly. He hadn't pressed that hard. What was going on? He stood up and shook his head, sure he was still unwell. He should be dead. He walked back to the impact crater, curious about the stone that has caused these changes in him.
It was still there, no longer smoking. Most of the sheep had been dragged away by animals, though some carcasses remained, swarming with flies. Jason's nose wrinkled at the stench, but he ignored it, instead approaching the strange black and red rock. The glow seemed to have diminished, as though the inner fire were gone. He put his hand to it. The black parts were warm from the sun, but only warm.
Jason scanned the hillside, unsurprised to find no one. He climbed the hill and looked from the top. He could see the town in the distance, but nothing and no one nearer. He decided to head for home. If Hermes hadn't delivered the message to his father, Jason would do it himself. He began at a walk and then decided to run. He stopped only seconds into his run, but he'd already covered a mile. He didn't feel exerted at all. He gripped his chest again, wondering for the hundredth time what was wrong with him. Or perhaps, he thought for the first time, what was right. He stood next to an olive tree and, remembering his experience at the shore, pushed on it.
The tree toppled easily, roots snapping or springing from the ground. Jason laughed. It hadn't taken the tenth-part of his strength. He was stronger than a pair of oxen. What could he do? What couldn't he do? He ran for town, planning to deliver good news to his father rather than bad.
Jason flew through town on his new legs. He stopped on the street though. He had noticed burning in his throat, but attributed it to lying in the water day and night for three days. Now the burn intensified as he caught the scent of a person for the first time. She was drawing water from the well. She smelled like oregano and thyme, his mother's cooking. His mouth watered and he ran, taking her in his arms.
"Ja-" She never finished his name. On instinct, he bit through her skin, the blood washing over his tongue, and he drank. He drained every drop from her before she more than gurgled in reply. He dropped her, breathing deeply. He smelled more people, everywhere, and each one smelled like something to eat. He was so hungry. No, thirsty. He ran into the first house, and using his new speed, quickly drank everyone there.
It took only hours, but he had killed the entire town. Some, he could hear, weren't dead, but he was sated. He sat on the edge of the well, gazing up at the sun, smiling. This new life seemed to be good to him. He had seen his reflection in polished metal. Not only did he sparkle in the sun, but out of it he was beautiful as well, more comely than he had been in life. His nose was straight, his hair shining, glistening and as curly as it had been when he was a child. His hands were no longer gnarled, his fingers long and straight. He ran them through his hair now. The biggest shock had been his eyes, no longer brown, but bright bloody red.
The whimpers and cries from the survivors were turning to screams. Jason wondered for a moment if his parents were among those alive. He hadn't had a care for them when the thirst had consumed them, but he was curious now. He entered his house and found them both dead. He frowned, saddened by his lack of foresight. Well, it was unlikely those alive now would survive either. They had been drained of so much blood, and he had no idea how to care for them. He left the town behind him, heading for green pastures - bloodier, more crowded cities. Athens, he thought. I've always wanted to see Athens.
Jason learned to keep his habits secret. After the events in his hometown, and a few happenings along the road, he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid notice if he kept up the way he had been. There was talk of a strange new god who devoured people. Jason wasn't a god. Though, sometimes he wondered if that rock hadn't been a gift from one of them. Perhaps the seed of one, making him a demigod. In any event, he had to be less conspicuous if he didn't want all of his meals running before he chose them.
He had also become pickier. He didn't simply drink from the first person he found any longer. He would wait for someone of particular fragrance to come along and lure them away. Those like the first girl he tasted, like his mother's cooking, like the herbs in the boxes, were his favorites. He found many, men and women, but he left none alive after those first.
It was a few months later that he learned what leaving people alive meant. Stories of more shining gods came, these were women. The temples were gathering offerings, praying to the gods to intercede. Several towns had been decimated by the goddesses with fire in their eyes. He followed the rumors, unsure what he would find.
He came upon a town a little larger than the one he'd been raised in. There were bodies in the streets, pale and bloodless. He stood in the square, watching the women move from house to house. He never got more than a glimpse and never heard more than a scream from the victims. He waited, sitting at the well.
When he saw the red-eyed women clearly, he knew they were like him. He also recognized them.
"Lilith?" he asked the Hebrew slave girl. She was small in stature with a thin frame. "And Sophia?" She had never caught his eye when they were growing up, partly because he was out in the fields so much, partly because she had been covered in dark marks on her face and arms. They were all gone now though, leaving her skin clear and pearly here in the shade.
"Yes," Sophia said; her voice changed as well. "Thank you." She put her arms around Jason's neck.
Startled, he put his hands to her hips. Were they so round before? He couldn't recall. All he knew was that she was the perfect shape, with a narrow waist to match.
"Oh," she said, as she backed away. She was younger than him, but not so young as to misinterpret the movement of his tunic.
If he still had blood, he would blush.
Lilith took the opportunity to wiggle between them and give an embrace of her own, planting kisses on his face. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am a slave no more. I am freer than I was before I was sold. I can't thank you enough."
He started again, supporting her weight as she jumped to reach. "Um... you're welcome? How?" he asked, then thought for a moment. "You weren't dead."
They both shook their heads. "I was faint, you drank so much of my blood, but then it was like I was on fire," Sophia explained.
Jason's eyes widened. "For days," he murmured.
Lilith nodded. "We could each hear the other screaming, but no one came to help us. When it stopped, we knew why."
"I'd killed them all," Jason mused. "So you two have traveled together since?"
They nodded to one another. "We can take a village more quickly and quietly as a pair," Lilith answered.
"And you still take whole villages?" he asked, crossing his arms, regarding them. "Hasn't your thirst sated at all?"
They regarded one another. "Yes," Sophia answered. "That's why we wait several days before taking the next. We pass several by." Lilith nodded in agreement.
"So rather than choose single victims, you continue to take many at once?" he asked.
Lilith's mouth open and closed once before she spoke. "We hadn't thought to do that."
Sophia shook her head. "That would make more sense though."
Jason chuckled. "Yes, you draw much less attention that way. You two have the entire country praying for intervention. The gods might just come after all of us if you don't slow down."
Lilith looked abashed, but Sophia laughed. "You think they might rescind their gift?"
"I do." He nodded.
"Well, then we shall be careful to avoid their notice." She moved to sit beside him. "How do you suggest we do that?"
"I have been avoiding sunlight," he explained, holding out his arm. "That means moving mostly at night. Our eyes are less noticeable then as well." He looked into Sophia's and saw her staring at him.
"You are much more beautiful now," she said.
Lilith giggled. "We all are, Sophia! My crossed eye is gone. My hair is lustrous." She kissed Jason's cheek again. Then she nudged him closer to Sophia. "Oh, go on. I'm going to go check that we killed them all."
Jason was about to ask why, but Sophia never gave him the chance. Her lips met his. Jason put his hands to her cheeks and held her face as he kissed her back. His hand moved to her knee, his thumb sliding the fabric of her robe up as he continued to kiss her.
She found his knee as well, stroking up. The hair there felt odd to her, used to her own thighs. She didn't stop though. She had always been curious, and now it seemed, Jason was the only man in the world for her. She couldn't imagine being gentle enough not to hurt a regular man. Her touch had brought bruises to those she drank.
Jason had as little experience as Sophia. He loved the taste of her lips, though, and didn't stop kissing her as his hands explored. He listened for her responses at each touch, hoping she would tell him what he did right. She did, if he paid close attention; a breath hitch, gooseflesh, shivers, all led him to her sensitive places.
Lilith came back to find them still fumbling around one another. She was the only one of them with any sexual experience it seemed. She sighed and came over.
"Keep kissing her," she ordered, flipping back his tunic and grabbing what Sophia was still slowly inching toward.
Jason hissed and started to pull away.
Lilith stroked him quickly once. "Trust me. You last longer the second time anyway." She put her mouth to his tip and he groaned, leaning into Sophia around Lilith's head.
Sophia chuckled, pulling his head to her shoulder and peppering it with kisses. "I'm taking lessons from this, you know," she murmured.
He groaned again.
Lilith held him as she pulled her face away long enough to laugh. "I'll give him a few lessons, too," she said with a chuckle, before lowering her lips again.
Her knowledge was sure, and Jason was soon throbbing in Lilith's mouth. She took her lips from him and pulled his hand from Sophia's thigh. "Honestly," she complained. "What you want is underneath. She pulled the robe up and out of the way. Jason stared for a moment, especially when Lilith started inserting her fingers.
Sophia barely managed a gasp before her head was thrown back against Jason's arm. Her hips thrust forward, into Lilith's hand.
"When you're ready, so is she," Lilith assured him, putting a third finger into Sophia who grunted slightly. "I don't know. I mean, I'm not surprised that she was..." Sophia bit her lip and shook her head. "Odd, it's broken, but no blood." She shrugged.
"It hurt?" Jason asked, worried.
"Yes." Sophia sat up and moved closer to him, positioning herself on his lap. "It doesn't anymore. Thank you, Lilith," she said over her shoulder.
"Just promise we'll keep one for me one day."
Again, Jason wanted to ask, but Sophia had taken charge. She had never touched herself as thoroughly as Lilith had just done, and now she wanted more. She climbed atop the still slightly confused Jason and pressed down.
"You kill them all so there aren't more of us?" he asked, after she had settled. The question wasn't forgotten. It seemed he couldn't forget anything.
She nodded. "We didn't want to have to share," she said with a smirk.
Jason smiled back. "That's less of a problem now?" He groaned as she started to move on him.
"Yes," she answered, enjoying watching him lose the ability to speak. "We aren't as... thirsty as befo-" She cut off in a gasp as Jason put his mouth to her breast, nibbling through the cloth.
"I think I'll be filling more and more of your time," he promised as he turned, pulling her leg with him so she was seated on the edge of the well while he stood.
Sophia preferred to have control, but she felt him so much deeper this way. He was also able to touch her, having noticed the response Lilith got when stroking.
When they climaxed together, each for the second time; they were surprised. They didn't feel the need to stop, to rest, to collect themselves. Instead, Sophia pushed Jason to the ground, resuming her place atop him, attacking his neck.
"Stings," he hissed as she bit into him.
"Sorry," she murmured as she pulled back. "Oh no," she covered her mouth with a hand. "It left a mark.
Jason rubbed his neck, feeling the slight crescent bump where she had bitten him. He smiled. "I'll just have to leave one of my own." He sat up, sinking his teeth into the side of her breast.
Sophia yelped, but the pain was fleeting.
"You two done yet?" Lilith asked, impatient.
"For now," Sophia answered, dusting herself off. She smiled at the holes in her robe. "Though I think I shall have to find something else to wear." She strode off into one of the fancier houses.
"You should probably change, too," Lilith told Jason with a giggle. His tunic was ground with dirt. He rolled his eyes and followed Sophia.
Lilith was as choosy in her mate as she was in her prey. She always took the longest to find exactly the right person when they entered a city. After four years, Jason was beginning to wonder if she just enjoyed making him and Sophia uncomfortable.
They moved further and further south, hoping to find men more to Lilith's taste. Finally they decided to cross the sea to her homeland. The rumors of gods devouring villages had all but disappeared. Legends of the red-eyed, shining women lingered.
They tried sailing but found the sun made that impossible, unless they were to attract much more attention than they wanted. It was Lilith, diving overboard, that found the solution. She surfaced, slowly with a smile.
"Did you know we don't have to breathe? Really, hold your breath," she suggested.
A few days later, they emerged on the shores of Egypt. Sophia removed her robe and then wrung out her hair. Jason simply dripped. Lilith followed Sophia's example. Jason watched her for a moment, having only really seen Sophia naked. Lilith was much thinner with less curve at breast or hip. He looked away as both women glared at him. Lilith had been happy to start the ball rolling between the two of them, but she wasn't about to spend any more time with either in a sexual sense. She wanted a man that was all her own.
The trio made their way through Egypt. Many Hebrews were still living there, and though they fed discreetly, they moved quickly. Lilith had a clear idea of what she was looking for, and they were none of these. They continued east, feeding along the way.
They stopped several times in Lilith's homeland. Her hometown was even smaller than Jason's, and she took pleasure in killing every person in it. She blamed all of them for her family being sold into slavery. Not blaming any one family more than another, she wanted all of them removed. Jason and Sophia were not eager to help but didn't want to raise alarms either, so they fed, or killed the entire populace together.
The massacre was obviously cathartic, and Lilith was much happier on the rest of their wandering, telling them tales of various places significant in her heritage. Jerusalem and Jericho were both important stops with her. She even entered the Tabernacle, which neither Sophia nor Jason dreamed of doing. They would not risk her God's vengeance. It seemed he deemed her worthy, though, as they left as peaceably as they came.
As they traveled, they heard many rumors of an uprising among the Hebrews. As neither Sophia nor Jason spoke the language, they looked to Lilith to explain.
"There is a Rabbi out of Nazareth with a new teaching. His name is Jesus. I would be interested to hear him... should we cross paths." Jason saw the gleam in her eye as she said it. She had heard some of his teaching from his followers, and they were many. Lilith had chosen, without even meeting the man.
Jason voiced his concerns with Sophia the next time they were alone. Lilith was hunting while they enjoyed the privacy of their room. Sophia was curled around him, luxuriating in comfort. The thoughts had nagged him even through their lovemaking.
"Do you think Lilith plans to take this teacher?" Jason asked quietly.
"She didn't say anything to me," Sophia murmured, shifting enough to look into his eyes. Hers had dimmed to a deep red, no longer burning. He wondered if his were the same.
"I hope my intuition is wrong then. He has so many followers; I don't want to think what they would do." He huffed and tightened his hold on her.
She laughed. "What could they do? Nothing hurts us! Except each other," she murmured, tracing the scar she'd given him. The ladies had met resistance in the past. No weapon wielded against them caused damage or pain. Their skin was impervious.
He chuckled, but still felt uneasy and distracted himself with the beautiful woman next to him.
His intuition wasn't far from the mark. Near Galilee, a large group of Jesus' followers had gathered to listen to him. Covering their heads from the sun, the trio joined the milling crowd. Lilith eyed several men, but chose none. Sophia and Jason sat near the bottom of the slope, but Lilith used her beauty and grace to move past more and more people toward the Rabbi. He was a handsome man; Jason and Sophia could both see him clearly from this distance. He would be even more beautiful as one of their kind.
Jason held Sophia's hand, the ominous feeling never leaving him as they listened to his parables. They had learned much of the language in their travels, and the simple language and examples he used were easy to follow. Of course, they had no idea how his teachings ran counter to tradition, but it was obvious the reaction he drew from the crowd.
At the end of the teaching, there was some commotion regarding the feeding of the mass. Jason saw Lilith at the top of the hill as the teacher instructed his followers to divide their lunch. When a portion came to Jason and Sophia, they passed it on without eating, but were surprised there was any to reach them at all. The sun set as the throng ate, and Jason and Sophia both lowered the cowls of their robes.
The Hebrews around them welcomed them. It seemed Jesus had taught them care for the stranger, and they were soon included in the conversations around them. Jason felt his nerves ease, until he glanced back up the hill.
Lilith had joined the circle around the Rabbi now. She smiled at his closest followers as she lowered her cowl. Several greeted her warmly, kissing her. She was moved in place to meet the teacher.
"Rabbi," she said in a sultry voice, licking her lips and moving nearer to him.
"Begone!" He grabbed a torch that one of his disciples had just lit. Lilith's eyes widened in shock. Jason jumped up from where he sat beside Sophia. She was quick to look the direction he did.
"I know what you are. You will not harm one of my flock," Jesus told her before he set fire to her robe.
There were murmurs from those gathered. Some said he had named her a demon, others that he was cleansing her of her sins. To the average person, she seemed to disappear.
Only Sophia and Jason saw what had happened. Once she caught fire, Lilith ran, as only they could. Her movement was so swift that the ordinary people couldn't follow it. At the same time, the flames grew, consuming her, leaving only ash.
They didn't run from the crowd, afraid of inciting some sort of riot. Jason took Sophia by the shoulders and led her away though, heading west, intending on crossing the sea again.
"There will be more of us, right? Jason?" Sophia asked, frightened of what she had seen.
He nodded. "But not here. We will not tread near the followers of Jesus again." He looked over his shoulder, feeling eyes on him. The preacher was looking right at them. Jason felt his hatred for their kind and shuddered. He walked faster, Sophia tight to his side. He began making plans to increase their numbers. His new life was too good to give up yet.
A/N2: A bit of an odd place to cut off, but that is the end, for now. Thanks to RuthPerk for her beta reading!