CPOV
I looked at each member in the group. Their faces were familiar; I'd seen them often as a child. I took a deep breath, letting the fresh air in my lungs calm me. This had to work; if it didn't, my career was done. I'd spent far too long studying the places that a vampire might hide. The other members of the group were getting restless. I could tell they didn't like me much. They thought my father did a much better job. Maybe he did, but no one would know until after tonight. My entire career was at stake. If I succeeded, a vampire's life would be at the stake. If I failed… I preferred not to think about that.
Taking another deep breath, I spoke. "Let's go," I told them.
The torch light gleamed on the wet cement. We walked slowly, alert and cautious. I let my ears listen for the slightest sound, but none came. The night was dead and silent; the only indication of life our shoes as they connected with the puddles that littered the street. I heard the stuttered breathing of the men behind me. Feeling lucky, like I was in the right spot, I put my finger to my lips and held up my hand, signaling for them to stop.
The click of boots cut off, and looking away from the light, I felt alone. There was no noise; the night was absolutely, one-hundred-percent silent. I licked my lips and peered in front of me. It was a moonless night, and the only light came from the torches behind me.
Letting my ears relax, I heard the terrifying sound of something moving. It was a scraping sound, as if something hard were being dragged across the pavement. A murmur arose from the crowd behind me, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. My mouth dropped open as a figure rose up from the ground. As it turned towards us, the light from the torches reflected off its eyes, revealing its red color. At that moment, I knew, without a doubt, that this was a vampire.
Without thinking, I began running after it. I could hear the clicking of boots as the rest of the group ran after me.
The vampire was fast, but seemed to be holding back, as if it didn't really want to run, but didn't really want to stay. I was young and faster than the rest of them, and I quickly caught up, while the others lagged behind. They were easily a block away when the vampire suddenly turned on me. It stopped, swiveled around, and lunged at me. I stopped a little too late.
I felt the firm hands of the vampire as it grasped my head. Screaming with rage, I felt it sink its teeth into my neck. Pain hit me like a frightened horse, and I knew that in a moment the others would round the corner and see this beast sucking the life out of me. And then they would kill me, unless I was already dead. They didn't want anything that had been in the hands of a vampire.
The will to survive took over, and I struggled furiously. But the vampire was inhumanly strong, and the most I did was rip its clothes.
I soon became weak, and the pain was unbearable. It spread through my veins, burning me away to ashes.
I gasped and cringed away from the vampire. This is the end, I thought. I found a vampire, and it ruined me. I am going to die.
And then, as sudden as it started, the vampire was gone. I flopped to the ground and looked up in time to see the vampire round the corner towards the group. I heard screams and the shouts of frightened men.
I've got to move! The vampire's gone, but the men will find me soon enough. I'm still alive, right? So why die here? I need to find somewhere safe! I thought urgently. But my arms didn't want to move. I could barely keep from screaming.
I took a deep breath that ended in a stuttering half-scream. My heart was pounding faster than ever, and I felt the vampire's venom sear through my body. I can't die, I just can't! I screamed in my head. Adrenalin coursed through my body, giving me the strength I needed. I dragged myself over to a window that was propped open. The going was painfully slow, but that didn't matter. My mind had lost it, and I could barely comprehend what was happening. I had only one thought; find somewhere safe. Survive.
I peered into the room. It was a cellar, complete with shelves full of boxes and food. Off to the left, there was a pile of rotting food just big enough to bury myself under.
I tried to climb down into the cellar, but was too weak. In the end, I accidentally lost my balance and fell a few feet, landing on my back.
I heard a crack, and I got the feeling I'd just broken something. But the pain that was coursing through my body was too great, and I couldn't feel the break.
Fighting back a scream, I crawled over to the pile of food and began to drag it over me. When I was satisfied that no one could see my feet and legs, I began to cover my body, scooping the scraps of potatoes and oranges and other things over me. The smell was revolting, but I didn't care. The pain was too much to bear. I couldn't think. I was in a sort of trance; the only thing that kept me going was self-preservation.
When my stomach was covered, I used my left arm to cover my right arm, and then my left arm to cover my face. Sticking my left arm into the scraps, I burrowed into it until I was positive that I was covered.
After that, the adrenalin rush that I had been going through ended, and I was left weak and tired. But as much as I tried, sleep wouldn't come. The pain was too much; my head felt like it was going to split. I bit my tongue until I could taste blood, determined not to scream. I had to remember that there were people living upstairs. They would hear it if I screamed, and then they would come running. That would be bad; I would die.
Half-holding my breath and half-biting my tongue, I let myself go limp and bathed in the pain, trying to ignore it. As if that were possible.
A few times some people would come in, grabbing boxes or good food. Those times I would have to lie absolutely still, and I couldn't even whimper. It was the will to survive that allowed me to do that, and nothing else. My tongue eventually became num, and I made myself stop biting it for fear that it would come off.
Some time later, I found myself lying on the floor, under a pile of food scraps. The pain was awful. I couldn't think at all. The only thing I could do was lay there and struggle to say still.
Eventually, time began to mean something to me. I listened to my heartbeat, rough and unreliable. It beat unevenly, but it was all I had. I listened to it, counting the beats until it got to the point that I couldn't think of the next number. I knew it, but my mind wouldn't cooperate. When this happened, I would start over again.
I did this a few times, until something funny happened. The pain in my hands retreated slowly, leaving them cool and fresh. The happened with my feet, too. It traveled up my arms and legs, leaving them relaxed and feeling good. But with it came a new pain.
I didn't know it was possible. I couldn't have imagined that it could happen. But the pain in my heart grew. It became unbearable, and my still composure snapped. My spine arced upwards, and I gasped. My heart took off racing, and I thought; this is it. All this pain and now I die. Finally, it can happen. I can't live through this any longer. If I don't die now, I'll scream and make someone kill me.
I listened to my heart, praying that this was the end. So much for self-preservation, I should have just let them kill me when the vampire attacked me!
After what must have been a few seconds, my heart began to slow. By this time, I was withering on the ground in pain, trying not to scream. The food scraps were slipping off me, and I flinched inwardly. If I didn't die, I wouldn't be able to put them back on me without alerting someone. But you won't have to, I reminded myself. You'll scream anyways so that you do die.
And then it happened. My heart stuttered, and then there was silence. I felt my breath hiss through my teeth, and that was it. I didn't breath, I didn't move. The pain in my heart was absolutely gone. There wasn't an ounce of it. My whole body felt amazingly cold and relieving.
So why am I still able to think? I wondered. I should be dead, right? And then a horrifying thought occurred to me. What if I am dead? What if dead people can still think? What of we're trapped into our bodies forever? I gasped, and then froze. I could still move, so that wasn't the case. I slowly picked up my arms and brushed off all the remaining rotting food, and sat up. For someone who just went through an abnormal amount of pain, I felt relatively great. Flexing absentmindedly, I bit my lip; it felt weird. Taking in a shaky breath, I hesitated. It felt wrong.
And then I realized why. My heart had stopped beating. I was no longer alive, but not quite dead.
I was a vampire.
An hour later, I sat by a small stream. I wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. Splashing the water angrily, I felt a growl rising to my throat. In the past hour, I'd discovered that I was inhumanly fast, could jump extremely high, was stronger than anything I'd ever dreamed of, and was virtually invincible.
How did I find out all this? Simple.
I started out by calming myself, because I'd started to hyperventilate after I'd figured out the horrifying truth; I was a vampire.
Then I crawled out of the small window, into the shade. It was sunset, and the streets were covered in shadows. I then ran out into the forest, all the while staying away from humans.
After that, I tried to kill myself. I ran to the base of a small cliff, about a hundred feet high. I jumped up to the top, and then jumped off. I didn't bother to land on my feet; I wanted to die. Instead, I landed on my head, creating a huge dent in the ground. After I pulled myself out and removed all the chunks of rock from my hair and body, I punched the cliff, creating another huge dent. And it was in pure rock.
Angrily, I'd run to a stream. So here I was, miserable, friendless, and trying to figure out how to commit suicide.
I knew one thing; I was not eating humans. I would not kill someone.
And that meant… I could try to starve myself. But would it work? And if so, how long would it take? Well, I thought, I do have a new amazingly cool body. And I look so hot! I might as well enjoy it while it lasts. I'll try to figure out how to kill myself while also starving myself. And I'll enjoy the monster in me while trying! I grumbled silently.
Taking a deep breath, I splashed my face with water. I knew that the stream should be icy cold, but it felt lukewarm. Of course, I realized, my body isn't heating its self anymore. I must be as cold as a dead person. I barked out a quick, small laugh. I am dead. Well, I'm not alive at least. Maybe I'm not technically dead, but I'm pretty close.
After a moment of despair, I decided to find somewhere to sleep. I couldn't go to any towns or cities, because I would kill someone. Either I would accidentally break their bones in a handshake, or I'd be tempted to suck their blood. No, I needed to stay away from the human population.
Picking myself up, I raced through the woods, angrily enjoying my new body. I was faster than ever. I can beat anything out there, except for another vampire…
That last thought brought me up short. There are other vampires out there, there just had to be. I knew for sure that the one who turned me into a vampire would still be alive. Our skin was too hard; the humans could never kill us.
Funny; I was already thinking of myself as a vampire, and not as a human. It seems like it would take some getting used to, but apparently not.
I suddenly arrived at a small fallen tree. Biting my lip, I got to work. The first thing I did was snap the branches, so that they sagged to the ground. When I was done, I lifted the fallen tree so that it was propped against a huge Fir. The branches were still connected to the tree, although the main part was broken. The structure looked like a tent in the shape of a triangular prism. And for now, it would be my home.
The darkness was fascinating. My new super cool vampire body came with a nice set of inhuman eyes. I could see in the dark!
As the sun slowly rose, I began to panic. In all the legends, vampires couldn't be exposed to the sun. They'd burn up, or something. Of course, I wanted to die. I was a monster, a sinner. I'd have to murder people to live.
But some revolting part of me didn't want to die. I wanted to live, and roam the world as a vampire. I could go practically anywhere, by running or by swimming. It is said that vampires live forever, if they are not destroyed. Then again, the humans think that you can kill a vampire by sticking a wooden stake into our hearts. I say; as if. The vampires couldn't be killed by a wooden stake even if we wanted to. But I do want to, don't I? I'm a monster. I can't live- or whatever you call vampire life- knowing that sooner or later I'm going to have to murder someone. And yet, I knew that I really didn't want to die. I wouldn't kill anyone. I would walk this earth for as long as possible, and when I finally starve, I will be set free from this terrible and totally awesome new life.
My new decision made, I watched as the shadows around me slowly retreated. The sunlight crept towards me, and I shrunk back. I waited, terrified, until the sunlight finally hit me.
Nothing happened. Well, nothing hurt. I felt perfectly normal-for a vampire. What did happen was that my skin started to sparkle. It was like a thousand diamonds, all packed together to make my skin. I was beautiful. My skin was absolutely stunning. It was the skin of a monster.
A few weeks later I jogged along to a narrow ridge. It was a particularly pretty one, and I heaved out a sigh as I rounded the bend and came to a halt in front of the landscape below. There were greens and oranges, and I saw a bluish green lake in the distance. Biting my lip, I sat down on the grass. Leaning against a tree, I breathed in a sigh.
I suddenly zipped upright and found myself sprinting into the bushes. I wanted to stop- What was I doing?! I figured it out a few seconds later.
My speed was even faster than usual. I ran miles and miles in just a few seconds. Before I knew what was going on, I had my hands clamped firmly on a deer that was drinking from a narrow stream. The deer kicked and thrashed, ripping up my shirt. But I didn't let go. I snapped its neck and bit down.
My mind recoiled. Hot blood drizzled down my throat as I drained the deer of blood. I hated myself- I killed an innocent animal! But the blood tasted great, and I quickly found that my body needed more. I raced to a pack of elk a few miles away and snapped the necks of two of them. I then bent down and drained first one and then the other. I was enjoying this. The blood tasted so good, and I bathed in the warmth as I lay back into the bloody grass. My stomach was full, and the roaring ach that I'd been feeling for the past few weeks was finally quieted. I felt absolutely phenomenal.
But the best thing of all was the thoughts that raced in my head. Maybe I don't have to die. Maybe I can quit hating myself now. I don't have to hunt humans to live. I can drink animal blood, and never murder a person. Maybe in a few years I can master my thirst for blood, and be able to communicate and interact with humans!
That last thought got my heart pounding. I didn't think that it would happen, but I could sure work on it. I could be a good vampire.
I choked out a small laugh; a good vampire? That's impossible. Vampires are cruel and ruthless. But I could be a better vampire.
And that was a start.
