Capturing Destiny

Chapter Four

Temptation

For a long time all I did was walk. I continued north and although I was aware of the cycle of days and nights I quickly lost count. I walked slowly; unaware of where I was headed, simply attempting to understand the situation I was now in in my head, testing my strength, marvelling at the quickness of my mind. There was so much to learn.

It had surprised me originally when I realised that I felt no need to sleep, indeed upon realising that in all normal situations I would have been exhausted I did attempt to lie down, to close my eyes but nothing happened, I remained as resolutely conscious. True I had enjoyed the feel of the ground on my face, the moss tickling my ear delicately but there was no sense of relief in the action and I quickly bored at the smell of a large boar nearby. Apparently sleep was no longer something I required, the list of which was growing.

It did not take me long to reach the edge of the forest, I avoided any roads though, continued walking through the country, I couldn't avoid people forever though. I was feeding as often as possible to dampen the hunger in preparation for that first scent but it was still not enough. It was early evening when it happened; I must have been walking for close to a week. I wasn't aware of them until they were nearly on top of me, I had been trying to see the angel again, as I had been doing for much of my time when I heard them talking. They were a young couple, drunken judging by their slurred words and walking home along small path that had appeared that overgrown I had assumed it no longer in use. They were still some distance from me, perhaps if I did not breathe and kept silent they would not spot me. I sank into the shadows of a large fern behind me.

I had assumed their path would continue through the thin line broken in the grass but it did not, as they entered my direct vision I saw the man, little more than a boy pull the girl into his arms and plant a kiss on her right cheek. I could hear the speed of both their hearts increased beyond what I had thought possible and colour began to pool in the girl's cheeks. One of the boy's arms reached round and slowly took the small bonnet off her head before leading her off the trail and into the grass closer to the corner in which I hid. They sank to the ground only feet from where I stood entirely invisible to them motionless behind the fern. Whatever thoughts I had had of escape were gone, they were so close I could not avoid alerting them and when they screamed; saw my speed, unnatural grace and destroyed night gown, I would have no choice but to kill them, of that I was certain. Their hearts were still pounding, the noise driving me mad and soon I knew I would act on the natural desires I felt for their blood. Slowly, completely silently I moved forwards, the ferns revealing to give me the full view of their two bodies entwined on the ground below me. I closed my eyes and inhaled.

There was nothing. I opened my eyes. I was still in the field, but not. I was entering it, where I had been when thinking about the angel minutes before. I paused, unsure what to do. Again, I did not breath; and I heard them. Further in the distance this time, their footsteps and the light music of pillow talk. I knew from the sound of their feet they were getting closer, stumbling along the path.

Still I did not breathe.

I ran.

As fast as possible I ran away from the young couple, silently, afraid to take a breath, as fast as my small legs would take me. I began to slow after a while, entirely confused by the strange vision I appeared to have had at the arrival of those two souls.

Before this my experience with these apparitions had all been surrounding the angel man and these were sporadic. I had assumed that they were specific, showing me where I was meant to be, who I was meant to be with, the pathway of my new life, kind of like directions. But no, had I not seen myself attacking that family? That had not happened, at least not yet, indeed if this last experience was to be believed I could avoid the possibilities I saw. Did that mean my visions of the angel were not definite either? Although I was confident that I was to be with him I could see now that these images, visions, were not only of the future but were also changeable. I stopped and allowed my mind to mull over possibilities, trying to work out if I could encourage myself to see anything.

I was with the angel, we were in a forest and he was holding me close.

I was alone, wandering desperately.

I was back.

No, the first of those visions was definitely preferable, I would find the blonde man and together we would find the family...

A wedding, I was dressed in white being escorted by the doctor up the aisle... going to school with the angel... hunting... us with our arms wrapped desperately round each other...

I had made my decision apparently, I would search for him and I would find him, he was, he is my destiny.

A great weight felt as though it had been taken off my shoulders, although I was no closer to where I wanted to be the combination of discovering what I could do, in addition to my decision meant I felt lighter than I had in weeks.

First problem down, unfortunately this was there was still something else to deal with, it would appear that I was not yet ready to be around people and in my vision I met the angel in a coffee shop, I had known there were humans right next to me.

I was going to have to work on my control, and fast, who knew how long I had?

I skipped back to the river I had crossed only moments before and gazed at myself in the swirling stream, for the first time intrigued not just by the changes to my body but the changes to my face.

No.

I took a step back.

I breathed.

Slowly I moved myself forward again. The first thing I saw was again the eyes; they were... terrifying. The intensity caught me off guard again; the deep blood red was beyond my worst imaginings. For a few moments I was irrationally angry, where was the golden of the family in my dreams? Even the coal of the young man before he fed would have been better than this.

Somewhere in my brain a neuron fired. I had seen red eyes before but where?

My first vision came flooding back. The angel. In my first vision of him his eyes had been a dark burgundy, not too dissimilar to the crimson of mine. But what did it mean? Would my eyes change as his had by the second vision? I fervently hoped so. But what was the changing factor? What did I have to do to ensure the change took place? Could it be age? Would the colour alter as I eased into this life? No, that could not be the answer. The look on the angel's face when I first saw him was one of agony, of desperation born from years, decades of torture that did not match his young body.

My mind stopped at that moment. Everything else stopped and one word flew into my mind. How had I not seen it before? Although I remembered very little of my life before this some basic knowledge of the world around me appeared to have been retained. I wish it hadn't. Not understanding was so much better. I was a vampire. I had heard stories of them at some point in the distant past, strange pale men and women who only appeared at night, who drank human blood and never aged. All the pieces had fallen into place: the insatiable bloodlust, the appearance of my skin in the sunlight, the speed, the strength.

For the first time in my new life I was livid. I threw myself around the clearing, soaked myself stamping in the water of the shallow river and ripped at the branches of the trees as they gently stroked the water. All I could see was red, I sensed small animals running as fast as possible in the opposite direction from me, the birds flitted away as silently as possible, even the smallest animals in the water had disappeared in my pure, unadulterated hate for what had happened to me, for having become a monster.

When it finally ended everything around me was silent.

A/N: Sorry for the late update guys, my dog is ill so have been spending lots of time cuddling him/at the vets - he's 18 so any illness is a massive worry! Other than that just wanted to thank those of you who put this story on their updates/my lovely reviewer Diyah and anyone else who reads this. Do me a massive favour and help me get up to at least four reviews this time, would be nice to have one per chapter :) Next update should be tomorrow night x