Disclaimer: I don't own "Daybreakers" 2007 or any of it's characters, wishful thinking aside.
Authors Note #1:This movie isn't appreciated near enough tbh. I wanted to write something that focused on the moment Ed stepped out into the sun for the first time, newly human, and what might have happened after the movie went to credits.
Warnings: vampirism, angst, drama, romance, angst, emotional constipation, depression, PTSD, post movie.
Volar
The first thing he felt was pain.
But not from the fire or the sun.
That first breath? It hurt.
It hurt so fucking good.
He'd forgotten it could be like that sometimes. You breathe in wrong? Swallow something just a bit too big? Deliberately hold back a hiccup? Sometimes it just hurt. Leaving you with that harsh, internal ache. Like you might be dying even though you're more alive than you've ever been.
That was what that first breath felt like.
He was still shaking when they climbed out of the fermentation tank. Mouth gritty as the dust from the vampire convoy slowly faded. His fingers spasmed, alive with awkward palsy as he buttoned up his shirt. Eyes fixed on the light filtering through gaps in the blinds. Drawn to every individual ray as he swallowed convulsively. Fear and excitement curled his bare feet into the bricks. Putting one foot in front of the other until there were no more shadows and he stumbled into the sun like-
There were no words.
He just closed his eyes and whimpered.
And like a habit, she was beside him before his knees could buckle. Taking his hand and lacing their fingers together as the sun beat down on him for the first time in a decade.
It was only a moment. It was all they could spare before they headed to the Senator's cabin. But it was enough. Evolving into something precious and stolen. Something he hadn't expected to share as he relearned how to breathe beside her. And yet, as far as moments go, it was the only one in a long time he wanted to remember.
Years after the cure hit the global market and life had calmed into something approaching normal, he still had nights where he woke up clammy, choking back bile. Wrenched from a nightmare where he could have sworn his tongue had grazed fangs. Afraid that if he looked in the mirror his eyes would be tawny rather than human-blue.
But the thing that made all the difference was remembering he could roll over and bury into her. Breathing her in until his pulse steadied and the sun turned the blue walls of their bedroom into a canvas of possibility.
That was his life now.
With her.
With himself.
With the morally questionable, newly human population.
Most of the time, the pain that came with breathing took a backseat. Making room for the way Audrey's face lit up when she smiled, making happiness look easy. Infectious. The years that passed gave him better memories. Like the day their son was born, looking so much like Frankie he'd sobbed happy tears into her shoulder. Or the day he finally got up the nerve to ask her to never leave. Slipping that ring on her finger as her eyes teased him with the obvious. Took you long enough, Ed. It wasn't always easy. But whenever he stumbled, whenever his thoughts ranged back to darkness and blood, Audrey and the sun were always there to remind him that his heart was still beating.
And maybe that was what being human was all about anyway.
Trying.
A/N: Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think. – This story is now complete.
Reference:
Volar: pertaining to or used for flight or pertaining to the palm of the hand or the sole of the foot.