1Disclaimer:
I don't own Twilight, or any of its characters.
This is my first fan fiction. I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 27
Please don't forget to Review ….Review…Review!
Hulien's POV
The hunger I had felt was now sated, and I didn't feel like a monster for a change. I had taken that poor woman's life, and granted her final wish at the same time. I looked around the clearing, seeing first hand how the family had been destroyed by sickness. The children had been so young; her mate looked as if he had been strong before the sickness took hold of him. Their small hut was full of reminders of what the human woman had lost, small hand carved toys, and a pair of men's hide shoes, carefully trimmed with beadwork, things that would have only made the woman feel her loss every time she glanced at them.
I felt like I had done something good here, by letting her join the ones she loved. I could still smell the sickness in the air, and decided that I should grant the family the final closure that they deserved. I placed the bodies of the children in the arms of their parents, and wrapped them together. I stepped out into the small clearing and set to work building a pyre. I asked the spirits to guide the family into the world that awaited them, and thanked them for allowing me to help the family stay together as they had been in life, so now, shall they be in death. After asking the spirits to do their duty, I broke down the hut, adding the pieces of wood to the pyre.
After gathering all traces from the small family around the monument, I set it aflame. I watched the flames as they moved over the wrapped bodies, knowing that burning everything was the only way to truly remove the sickness from the area. I stayed until the flames had consumed everything, then I buried the ashes underground. I knew that the forest would take back the clearing and would make the scorched marks disappear with time. And as the sun rose, and the smoke gradually blew away, I turned and headed back into the forest heading for home.
When I arrived at my camp I knew instantly that something was wrong, I could smell blood, living pulsing human blood. I crouched down amongst the undergrowth surrounding my home. I knew from the smell that often lingered on Nahuel, that this was not his human's smell. It seemed familiar, but my mind was having difficulty placing it. The scent was male; it smelled of wood, citrus and sunshine, not an unpleasant aroma. Movement near the spot where we kept our fire drew my attention. I watched in fascination as a well built male human was sitting down making notches out of a piece of wood with a small knife. Realization dawned on me that this was the man whose camp I had ran from last night in an unprecedented moment of panic.
Why was he here? Did he have a wish for death? The poor man had just walked into the home of the worst predator in existence, and there he sat as if he were completely at ease, carving a piece of wood! Was I suffering from hallucinations, could vampires do that? I wasn't sure, it was not as if I had had someone to guide me in this life. What should I do? Should I run?
The man started to whistle, and ran his knife over and over the wood, smoothing it out. He carved some larger pieces away, giving the carving more shape and definition. "You can come out now." He said not even moving his eyes away from his work. "Sorry to have startled you by intruding on your home, but I had to make sure that you were okay. You ran away in such a hurry last night." If it was possible to die from shock as a vampire, I would have done so right then. I stayed frozen, wondering if he really knew I was there, or if his human ears had deceived him. "Are you going to hide in the bushes all day?" He called out turning his head in my direction as he paused in his work.
After a quick glance at the overcast sky above slowly righted myself into a standing position, and took a step out into his line of sight. "There you are." He said with a smile as he turned back to his work. "Why did you run off into the woods last night, the woods are a dangerous place, most people can't imagine the dangers that lurk there." I had to laugh, and the sound made him pause. "Is that so?" I asked him, barely able to suppress more laughter. He nodded as an answer. "What if even you were unaware of the dangers," I continued quietly, "Danger could be where you least expect it."
He nodded again at my words. "You're right I suppose. Should I take that to mean that you think you are dangerous?" I froze, but was not able to keep the smile from falling away. "As a matter of fact I am." I told him in all seriousness. "And you should leave before you get hurt." "Should I?" he asked looking at me as he laid his work down on the forest floor beside him. My smile disappeared completely then and I nodded at him. "Yes, and you should leave now before it is too late."
He looked at me intently, and I wondered what he expected to see there. "You don't frighten me," he said as he picked up his wood and began carving again. This had to be some sort of sick prank, a human sitting with a vampire, a ruthless killer, just to pass the time. As I stood there pondering what I should do next, I didn't realize that the sun had broken through the clouds, causing my skin to explode is a dazzling array of shimmering lights. Instead I was watching the man, who in turn was watching me again. His eyes widened ever so slightly, making me wonder what he was thinking. "Your skin." he said quietly, "does it always do that?" I glanced down then, and took in the lights dancing off of my skin. Uh oh, this was awkward, how should I explain this?
He put down his carving, and rose to his feet. He walked over looking at me intently. I took a painfully slow step backwards, and held my breath. "That's a first," he said as he continued looking at my skin. I drew further back ashamed of him seeing the real me, still holding my breath, and thankful that I had recently fed, so there was only the most minimal burn in my throat. "You need to leave. Now!" I told him abruptly. "Why do you feel so bad? He asked me, looking me in the eye. What did that mean? I didn't reply to his question, I merely repeated my demand. "Leave!" I ordered.
He looked at me. "I know what you are, and I am not afraid." How could he know what I am without fearing what I could do to him? Lobishomen were not exactly honored beings, they were killers, and if he knew that then he knew what I truly was. "I have to tell you a secret." He said. This had to be interesting, he knew what I was, and he wanted to tell me his secrets. This situation made no sense. "Did you wonder about me last night?" I shook my head wondering what he meant. "You found me in the middle of the jungle! Away from all people. How often do you find people in the forest like that? You see I can't be around people, I hurt being around people." I hadn't thought about it until he pointed it out. His camp had been in the deepest depths of the forest, and he had seemed at home there, mind you he had seemed at home at my camp fire too, and that was not normal. "What do you mean by pain?" I had to ask, people caused me pain, but only when their blood burned my throat, and made my hunger flare. "I mean intense pain." He said as he turned his back on me and went to sit on a nearby fallen log.
"I mean every time I am near people I hurt, my head feels as it is could explode. I feel so much hurt, so much pain. I become overwhelmed by their thoughts, it is as if I can feel every last bad feeling that they have, every bit of guilt, pain, anger, resentment, It floods through my mind making it almost impossible to think. So I avoid people, If I am near any amount of them, I can't function, so I live alone, like an animal. Last night I felt your feelings before I even saw you. You had so much pain that I felt it as if It were my own, it was the most intense thing I have ever felt, but there was one difference...." I no longer bothered to hold my breath, I was so intent on what he was saying that I walked closer as if I was in a trance.
"And," I prompted him, "what was that?" "I felt other emotions from you, it was the first time I have felt something other then pain since I was a child when I was near someone else. I sensed a flurry of things from confusion, to love, anger, and protectiveness, it was so much at once." And this morning I sensed a feeling of calmness, and then confusion as you arrived, and now it almost feels like shock," he finished. I had to admit that he was right about my emotions.
"You still shouldn't be here." I said slowly, "if you know what I am then you know that you should get as far from me as you possibly can, and never come back." The man shook his head, as if dismissing my words. "What is your name?" I asked. He looked up at me as he leaned back on his hands, resting his weight against the log. "Licheun" he said with a sigh of frustration as he ran his fingers through his hair. His hair was dark , and shoulder length, it was as dark as night, and shone with health, as did his warm brown skin. His hair hung into his eyes, that were a soft warm brown, they reminded me of my fathers eyes, except that his were weary with his underlying pain.
I knew the meaning of his name, it meant light, and was a name that could be given to a girl, or a boy. His name became him though, he appeared to be a lighthearted person, even with the odd curse that plagued him. "It could be worse," I told him, "You could be feared by everyone, you could hate yourself for what you are, you could have to be alone forever, doomed to be trapped by your very existence!" "That is how I feel now." He said quietly, "Trapped, but how are you alone?" I see from your camp that you live here with a man.... Is he your mate?" I laughed at the absurdness of it. "No my nephew. He is not quite like me, and soon I am sure that he will want to go off and live his life, then what will I have? My kind aren't exactly plentiful, and it is not like I chose this for myself, I was human once."
"How did you get like that?" He asked eying me intently. "I was bitten.... then I suffered through so much pain that I thought the spirits were torturing me to death. I have never felt so much pain, it was like a fire burning you to your very core. But after a few days it lessened, then eventually it was over. "What bit you?" He asked...." I was not sure what to say to him, but he was so genuinely interested in what happened, so I ran though my story in the simplest way possible, telling about who I was as a human, and about what led me to this life. After that he just sat there quietly, deep in his own thoughts. So I too sat in silence.
After what felt like an eternity he spoke. "Would you bite me if I asked you to?" My mouth fell open. He had no idea what he was asking me. "I am a monster, and you want me to make you one as well?" He had to be jesting, or he had to be mistaken about what I was. "You have no idea what you are asking.." I said. "I am tired of being alone," he said, "I can't be with people, it hurts to much, and if I am like this you might eventually kill me. If you bite me , and turn me into a Lobishomen as well, then maybe we can keep each other company."
He stated it all so bluntly that I had to laugh, he could have been describing how to remove a hide from a gazelle for the simple way he phrased it. "You do not know what you are asking," I said, "I kill people. Nahuel, my nephew lives off of animal blood, but I cannot. Human blood lures me. Even now your blood is calling to me, if I had not fed a few hours ago, I could not resist the call to taste it. I am a monstrosity of the worst kind!" He sat quietly thinking, hopefully taking in the information that he had clearly missed before.
"All I want is a friend. Hulien" He said, "someone to talk with, someone to sit and enjoy a warm fire, someone to listen to. If I have to continue being alone like this, then eventually I am going to go mad. Then I won't care what happens. So the way I see it I have two choices. I can ask you to turn me, since I can't go to people, or I can just hang around until you can resist my blood no longer, and you can fix my problem for me." How could one human be so frustrating? "I don't even know if a bite would work1 What if I couldn't stop once I start?" I replied, I couldn't believe I was even thinking about this. "Well since you said you just fed, wouldn't this be the best time to try?"
He had a point. "What if I can't do it?" I asked unsure of what would happen if I tried. I had to admit, the idea of company was a delight I had not anticipated. "Then at least you tried." He said calmly. I sat beside him on the log. He looked at me intently. Then he held up his arm, holding it towards me. "It's now or later." he said softly. I took his wrist in my hand not sure if this would work. He nodded subtly as I looked at him, granting his permission. I took a deep breath, and his scent washed over me. The woodsy, citrus smell. I drew his wrist up under my nose, and I savored the aroma of it. Then I drew his skin up against my lips and let my teeth sink in.
