("Pretty Face")
Written out of boredom one evening. For best results, listen to "Pretty Face" by Sóley.
Vision blurry, mouth dry, palms sweating, legs weak and weary. Just carry me further, much further. Away from them, away from him. Why can't I get away? What do they want from me?
There had been talk in the town, among the cult-followers. "I wonder who Lucius will choose to be his disciple?" "He has that wife of his, you know." "Yeah, but…his second-in-command. His right hand. His fledgling."
Vampires are not real vampires are not real vampires are not real…
I tripped over a root and broke my fall with the palms of my hands. Sharp wood chips struck me and ruby-hued drops began to trickle out. I brushed it off on my pants after I stood up to continue my journey. Breath heavy and heartbeat roaring in my ears, I trudged onward toward somewhere, anywhere…
Vampires are not real. Vampires are not real.
A rustle in the bushes. Soft chuckles.
"Him?! There's no way he'll pick that idiot." "He's actually very smart when it comes to physics." "It just makes the most sense. It's always the one you least expect."
Why me?
"Why can't it be me? I want to travel and do amazing things too…"
Why the up-and-coming doctor of physics? Why…me…
I fell to my knees and coughed violently, splashing blood onto the forest floor. After the sudden fit, I lay on my side and tried to catch my breath.
Footsteps in the leaves, the dead crunch of autumn beneath genuine leather boots. A shadow on my face and over my entire body.
The cult followers were shunned in the town. When they talked, it was always about dark deeds and blood and death…and me. What part did I ever play in this?
A raspy voice snatched away my attention. I looked up with broken vision to make out a slight smile and the features of an adult male with dark hair.
"Good evening, Alexander," he coaxed, reaching down to touch my shoulder. I flinched at the contact of his icy skin to mine. "Are you going to be good and stop running from me?"
I just didn't care anymore. Vampires are not real.
I leaned my head forward slightly and very weakly, and glared at him, now being able to make out the face of Lucius. "Vampires are not real," I spat, and dropped my head to the ground. The coughing fit came back and splashed my cheeks with sprays of crimson.
Lucius's wintery hand held my head up from the ground, allowing me to project my cough rather than spraying it all over me. I heard him breathe in the scent of my blood, and he growled with hunger.
"You're dying, my dear son," he said with a honey-coated voice. "You won't make it through the night. Not like this." He leaned even closer, blood-colored irises boring into my soul. My breath was ragged and it was painful to carry out such a necessary duty. "Please, I need to do this for you. With each passing minute, you'll become weaker and weaker. Soon you will be too weak to undergo the transformation. We must do this now."
I closed my eyes and breathed slowly and carefully. I knew he was right, although I didn't want to believe it. I wish he'd explain to me why it was my blood that was necessary.
He picked me up to a sitting position, and cradled me like his own, pushing my head to the side to reveal the pale skin of my throat. I wasn't sure what to think of it. Being within his clutches was cold and frightening. I wasn't sure I would like being a vampire.
I felt sharp teeth on the side of my neck, and squeezed my eyes shut for the impact. But it didn't come right away. The canines disappeared from my skin and I opened my eyes, glancing around.
"Before I do this," he began, "I must explain. You were chosen out of everyone else on earth because your blood stands out from the others. It calls to me in a way that no one else's ever has. It gives the gift of memory…something I have waited a very long time to have. When a human becomes a vampire, he loses all memory of his past life, and only remembers waking up as a hungry fledgling. When I drink your blood and you become one of my kind, my memory will return, and I will have you to train as my disciple…to raise as my son." He grabbed my chin and forced me to look him in the eye. "Will you do this for both of us?"
I was too weak to agree or disagree, so I turned my own head for him to latch on to my neck. Closing my eyes once more, I felt the fangs pierce my skin. It wasn't bad at first—until he began drawing the blood from the wound. It hurt worse than anything I could ever imagine. I groaned and cried out in pain throughout the process. My vision became impossibly more blurry, and my heartbeat was slowing down sufficiently.
"Lu—Lucius…" I whispered, clutching onto his shirt and arm. "Master." He pulled his teeth from my punctured throat, used his fang to slice his wrist, and forced the blood into my mouth. At first I rejected, trying to push him away, but when the blood reached my taste buds, I couldn't stop. I drew forth gulp after gulp of the divine liquid, quenching my eerily different thirst with each swallow. After he had allowed me all of the meal he was going to allow, he laid me on my back on the cold forest floor.
As soon as my spinal cord touched the ground, I screamed in agony. My entire body throbbed, each muscle and tendon and bone and ligament burning with pain. My organs felt like they were on fire, roasting away to ashes, and my brain surely had enough pressure inside it to burst. My vocal cords nearly ripped from the screeching that I did.
"Please!" I yelled. "Please, stop this! Change me back! Change me back, please!" But I knew it was too late. Hot tears spilled onto the chilly forest floor and I writhed in pain, cursing aloud and screaming for help. Lucius merely watched, unable to assist in any way. "Oh, please God, I'm burning!"
A bloodcurdling scream ripped out of my throat and echoed throughout the forest floor. All of the pain I had felt before did not compare to the final, literally heart-stopping finale. My entire body racked forward, and then fell back onto the ground. Everything turned black for a few moments, and I have no recollection of how long the darkness lasted.
When my eyes shot open, everything was clear and bright and beautiful. The moon illuminated the entire area—trees, leaves, and the man standing in front of me. I did not know his name. I did not know my name. I had no idea where I was or how I had gotten there. All I knew was that I was seeing life for the first time through brand new eyes, and these eyes allowed me to see everything in a different light. My ears picked up sounds from miles away, and I smelled the scents of a thousand different things. The man stooped down to me and made eye contact with me. I did not break his stare, for as he peered into my eyes, the memory of him flooded back to me.
Lucius. My vampire sire. My master. The one who created me.
Then, who was I?
Lucius smiled a knowing smile and cautiously held his hand out to me, offering help for me to stand.
"Happy birthday, Malachai."