I couldn't see the morning sun rays. But Green felt it before I noticed it. And his reaction to it was horrific.
He was crouched on all fours, sniffing and licking the floor, when he suddenly lurched, twisting his back and screaming.
I covered my ears and took a step back.
His screaming turned into howling, howling into screeching. I could hardly grasp the brightening of the room, but Green's torment that rang in my ears seemed to tell me the sun was close to cresting.
For a split second, I noted that Jann hadn't moved at all. He just stood there, his back to me, since I crawled as far away from Green as possible, his arms crossed and appearing to studiously observe Green's behavior.
Green suddenly jumped backwards, retreating to the small sliver of shadow in the corner beside the tall window.
Yet, I felt no pity. Fear, yes, but concern for his pain? Absolutely not. He wasn't the man that had grabbed me out of my car not nearly 24 hours ago, yet I could see wholly the manifestation of his sins.
And there in the shadows of the brightening room, I could see dark splotches on his skin. It almost looked charred, like a burnt marshmallow, bubbling, crispy, and black.
Those were not there before.
And then I felt a coldness gripping me. My instincts kicked in before I knew what was happening. I looked around wildly, only to see Jann taking me by my arms and throwing me at Green.
I sprawled onto the floor, nearly tearing my nails off as I tried to stop myself from getting close to the groveling creature. I skidded a foot (though it felt like more) into something of a crouching position as I desperately tried to orient myself.
I wasn't exactly that small, but he'd thrown me as if I were merely a toy.
I expected Green to be upon me in an instant. And indeed, as soon as my eyes found his, he lunged at me.
Was this all some cruel joke? Was I to die here? Now?
He landed on top of me, his fingers grabbing at my clothes, tearing at them as I struggled to get to my feet. I hit him with my backhand, my mind screaming that I was going to die. It couldn't end this way! Not with this rabid-!
My thoughts were overwhelmed by Green's shrieking. He'd let me go only instantaneously and I fell back to the ground on my hands and knees. I scooched backwards as fast as I could, turning myself to look for his whereabouts.
I thought I saw him leaping backward head-first, but then I wasn't sure that I really saw him move. He collapsed to the floor (I shoved another few inches away from him), contorting on the floor. His yells ceased in an instant, and something more raspy and hoarse emanated from his throat. Though they were incoherent. And when he began to writhe and twist all around the floor, I got up to my feet as fast as I could and edged backwards toward Jann.
Where else could I go?
What was this I was witnessing? Green was leaving black streaks all over the floor. He ground his nails into the floor, and at one point, I saw his face and it was twisted into the most horrific silent groan of pain, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Then pieces – actual pieces –– of his clothing and I didn't realize until after a moment, his skin and hair, were falling off of him. I would have sworn that he was having a seizure, but that didn't explain the... ashing. And the pieces of his being that were streaking away.
And it was at this point that I noticed that the room was getting brighter. I glanced at Jann. His face was hard, still focused on Green's suffering. I looked back at Green, and I couldn't understand what I was witnessing.
He was literally disintegrating into thin air.
Now my only experience with vampires has been in books and film. And I have to say that while it never seemed so violent in the movies, they were actually quite spot-on. Green was dying, albeit in something of a bloody manner, where the blood was black and leaving trails on the floor, and his movements became more and more jerky and spastic.
And then he stopped.
Not unlike a man whose heart has just beat its last. Green lay in a swirling mess of black streaks, his body twisted into an abnormal pose, his mouth gaping and eyes staring wide above his head. And then his frame collapsed into itself. He didn't disappear like so many of the movies I'd seen, but rather, he shriveled up a tiny bit.
And that was all.
I stared at him for a good minute before looking up to Jann. A cacophony of emotions screamed at me. Why did you throw me to him? What were you hoping for? Why isn't the sunlight bothering you? What happened to Green? I don't believe it.
But instead: "Why is he still there?"
Jann looked down at me. "He'd only been turned an hour ago, what did you expect?"
"I don't understand."
He thinned his lips, and only then did he suddenly appear ragged and tired. "My dear, the longer you are undead, the more the body needs to sustain on blood. But once your body is unable to process that blood, means such as by the sun or murder, it will revert to its true state."
"So those bodies that disintegrate..."
"The limelight pays no mind to science or logic. Erase all you know. You have just observed a vampire perish. This is your reality now."