Discoveries

By: SweetDulcinea

Prompts: shimmer, vampire

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When I awoke from the Change, I knew what I was, and I was disgusted with myself.

It didn't take long before I realized how little I truly knew about vampires. With each attempt to kill myself, I discovered a new skill or supernatural ability I possessed.

Throwing myself off a cliff, I found that my body and skin were impenetrable. There were no broken bones, not even the slightest scratch. In fact, I did more damage to the ground where I landed than it ever could have done to me. At least not in this form.

Sinking to the bottom of a river, I learned that I did not require air, lest I wished to speak. There was no one to speak to anyway. I had exiled myself from the world. My attempts to swallow a mass of water and flood my lungs ended with me expelling several gallons of fluid on the riverbed. That also taught me not to attempt quenching my thirst with anything but blood.

Starving myself did nothing. No matter how much physical exertion I attempted, my body never tired. Finally, I came to a realization. I had been staying within the cover of a cave by day. There was little purpose of venturing out aside from my suicide attempts, but for some reason, I only went out at night. Perhaps it was the faint human memory of my father's raids always occurring at nighttime.

Yes, I thought. There must be some reason that the vampire we hunted had an aversion to daylight. It was possible that I had just found a way to kill myself. Truly repulsed by what I had become, it was all I wanted.

As dawn approached, I wondered how it would happen. What could the sunlight do to destroy me? Melt my otherwise infallible body? Set my flesh ablaze? Would it be instantaneous or an extended deterioration?

No matter, I would not fear this second death. I welcomed the prospect because I could not bear my need to return to society and suck the life out of the nearest person. But I couldn't do that. The guilt would forever stay on my mind.

Light streamed into my cave at sunrise, beckoning me to my death. Answering its call, I rose from my station and approached judgment day. I had to believe that the Lord would find me as I exited this world. He does not create without purpose or intent, and therefore, I held hope that he would call me home in the end.

I closed my eyes, already feeling the heat of the sun. My steps out of the cave were slow and calculated. When the light completely surrounded me, I waited. There was no burning, no piercing pain, no weakness.

Defeated and confused, I opened my eyes and examined myself. What I saw shocked me to the point of an audible gasp.

My skin was unlike anything I had ever seen. The soft morning rays reflected off every surface of my exposed body like an ornate chandelier. I turned my hands and arms over an infinite number of times. It was like a jewel. Hesitantly, I brushed my fingertips across my forearm, anticipating some foreign texture, but only feeling smooth skin. I tugged at my pant legs and then lifted my shirt up my torso. It was all the same.

I ran to the nearest body of water I could find, nervously peering down at the surface to find the same crystalline appearance covering my face and neck. I was awestruck by the reflection of a man I used to know, now with red eyes and shimmering skin. A cloud passed over the morning sun, taking the bright light with it. The sparkling effect dulled and faded, leaving my skin back to its pale, cold appearance beneath the overcast sky.

My discovery of animal blood as an alternate life force changed everything for me. There was hope where none had existed before. Perhaps, if I could survive without harming any humans, this life would not be so unbearable. Hunting was messy venture at first, though. After sating my thirst numerous times, I realized that both my clothes and I were filthy.

It was that day in the river bathing and washing my only clothes that I made another revelation. Having no human bodily functions, my pants had stayed on until I disrobed to cleanse them. A cloud drifted away as I stepped from the water nude, and my penis twinkled up at me from between my legs. Apparently, all of me was affected by this radiant oddity.

I learned many things as the years passed, including the fact that the fluids my body produced also shimmered in the sunlight. All my bodily fluids. The clinical part of me was fascinated; the boyish side of me was amused.

Years later, I would discover something far more enrapturing than my glimmering male anatomy: Sparkly breasts.

I do so appreciate the privacy of Isle Esme.

A/N: Happy Birthday, Nina! I hope you're enjoying all your fic!gifts