Taste of Eternity
Disclaimer = I do not own them and I never will. ^_^
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ((begin flashback/heero's memory))
The ground was hard against his back, with sharp rocks and shards of glass poking into his fragile flesh. He lay on the ground, facing up towards the dark night sky, and wondering how he got to be here. "Unh.." he groaned, trying to sit up and failing. His joints creaked loudly in protest and his muscles burned with pain as he tried again, managing to right himself into a sitting position. Heero blinked, looking down at himself in a silent confusion.
He was dressed in his work clothes, a pair of reasonable brown trousers and a button down vest, but they were torn and tattered. His arms were streaked with mud, and he found it hard to open his mouth, for something liquid had dried there, making the skin taut and hard to flex. Heero's hand carefully traveled up to his face, and he gently chipped away at the unknown substance coating his skin and clothes. He pulled his hand back and discovered that there was the dark brown stain of dried blood caught underneath his fingernails. His eyes widened and, pain forgotten, he jumped to his feet, yelling out in surprise. The ground below him was covered in blood, bubbling a sickly red in the silver moonlight. He ran a nervous hand through his hair, drawing it back to find his palm was now colored a deep crimson. He had never seen so much blood before.
Heero stared at his hand for awhile, then noticed that fresh blood was spilling down his usually stark white work shirt, which he used for farming out in the fields. It looked like a wine stain that kept on spreading. The thin fabric quickly clung to his skin as the sticky blood covered his entire chest, acting like a morbidly grotesque glue. Trying frantically to find where all this blood was coming from, Heero patted himself down, searching for an injury. His fingers prodded the back of his neck and he winced, feeling a sharp stinging pain explode through his consciousness. The pain reminded him of something that happened earlier that night. A blinding pain, so intense it felt like he was dying. Dying…
He shook the thought from his mind and poked at the injury again. When he pulled his hand back, his forefinger was stained dark scarlet. "What's going on?" he whispered into the dark, foreboding forest that surrounded him. He didn't know how he came to be out in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the nearest village and severely injured beyond his own comprehension. He stared at the blood. It seemed so inviting. Without a second thought, Heero licked it away, feeling the heavy taste of it on his tongue. He insides burned, then relaxed almost instantly.
Behind him, someone started clapping.
He whirled around to see a stranger perched in one of the tree branches, applauding him for some unknown reason. Heero's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?!" he demanded of the stranger, who smiled coolly in reply. "Why Heero, you don't remember me? Ah, well I suppose dying does take it's toll on the mind."
Heero stepped backwards, narrowly avoiding slipping into the bloody mess on the forest floor. "What the hell are you talking about?!" he yelled, fear rising inside him. "And how did you know my name?"
"Gee, you're full of questions, huh? Well at least your smart enough to have tasted some on your own."
"Tasted what?" Heero asked, taking another step backwards as the stranger jumped down from the tree.
"Blood, of course." came the reply. "Course you can't last long on your own, or mine for that matter. You're going to have to feed soon."
"You're crazy!" Heero yelled, digging his bare heels into the soft soil and preparing to make a run for it. The twin puncture wounds on the back of his neck were throbbing.
"No, I'm Duo." the man said simply, extending his hand. "And like it or not pal, you're not going to be able to run anywhere. You don't belong with them anymore."
Heero gave him a blanched look. "How do you know what I was thinking? Tell me!"
Duo shrugged and retracted his hand once he was sure Heero wasn't going to shake it. "I'm a vampire." he said simply. "I read minds. And now, so can you." Heero let this information sink in before shaking his head forcefully. "No...I could never be like you."
With a long, dramatic sigh, Duo's cold, black empty eyes caught Heero's own and held his gaze with a serious stare. "You don't really have a choice anymore. Your mortal body is already dead. And if you don't get human blood in you soon, you'll soon perish as well."
Heero sat down hard into the dirt, feeling an empty ache inside him. "No.." he whispered, trying to convince himself. "I won't. I couldn't possibly.."
"What's the matter?" Duo asked, getting quite bored with the whole conversation. "Why aren't you like everyone else I've changed? You're a vampire, just like the rest of us. You're just going to have to learn to deal with it."
"But I'm NOT a killer!" Heero said, feeling the familiar sensation of tears welling in his eyes. "They're people! How could you possibly..?"
Duo watched in amusement as a solitary tear coursed down Heero's face and froze before it reached the ground. The confused boy plucked the crystallized tear off his cheek and stared at it in dumb amazement. "How can I kill the humans?" Duo asked, mulling the question over in his head. "Why don't we ask them how can they kill the cattle they eat? It's their food, Heero. Food is there to be slaughtered."
"But humans have thoughts and feelings, hopes and dreams!" Heero cried desperately, holding onto all the morals that he had believed his whole life. "To take life is a sin."
"Then may the world rot in hell for the millions of lives they've taken to keep their miserable selves alive." Duo intoned. "I'm not going to stand here and argue about the humanity in our actions, because there is none. We're not human. We are the hunters and they are the prey. Now either you come with me and stay alive, or you stay here and starve to death. Long, slow and painful, believe me. What'll it be?"
He reached his hand down, palm extended to offer Heero to his feet. Heero, getting paler by the minute and feeling as though his insides were tearing themselves to pieces, still hesitated to take the hand offered. He knew what it would mean if he did. He would truly become one of them, become a creature of the night. A murderer. His soul would be damned.
*We are already damned.* Duo's voice resonated in his head. Heero took a deep breath, realizing it was the first one he had taken since he woke up, and clasped Duo's hand with his own. Duo grinned and pulled him to his feet, thumping him good-naturedly on the back with his fist. "I knew you'd see it my way." he announced. Heero scowled darkly at him. "Stay out of my head." He commented.
Duo threw his head back and laughed. It was chilling to hear because his voice lacked the happiness behind his actions. "I won't make you any promises on that my friend, but I just might teach you how to read others thoughts. Our mind powers are just as strong as our physical abilities. Some of the strongest can even predict the future, or alter the past."
The two walked off into the direction of town with Duo babbling about all the ways he'd lured humans right to him and how good of a vampire he was. Heero trailed after him silently, wiping the dried blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. The red streaked down his wrist, standing out violently against his pale white skin. There was something terribly familiar about that streak, that Heero couldn't quite place. *A teardrop.* he decided, before wiping it off on his torn trousers. *Odd.*
The years seemed to pass in mere seconds, and Heero learned the ways of the world from the eyes of a hunter. At first he fed only on people who he thought deserved it, but as time went on, he stopped caring. All the shreds of his once human soul disintegrated, leaving him cold and empty inside. The years had hardened him, changing him from kindhearted to cruel. Eventually, he had almost no emotions at all. He felt like a machine, doing the same routine everyday. Hunting gave him no pleasure anymore, and he wasn't fulfilled as his friend was at the sound of a human's dying breath. It all seemed so pointless. And he had an eternity to live a life filled with nothing.
Disclaimer = I do not own them and I never will. ^_^
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ((begin flashback/heero's memory))
The ground was hard against his back, with sharp rocks and shards of glass poking into his fragile flesh. He lay on the ground, facing up towards the dark night sky, and wondering how he got to be here. "Unh.." he groaned, trying to sit up and failing. His joints creaked loudly in protest and his muscles burned with pain as he tried again, managing to right himself into a sitting position. Heero blinked, looking down at himself in a silent confusion.
He was dressed in his work clothes, a pair of reasonable brown trousers and a button down vest, but they were torn and tattered. His arms were streaked with mud, and he found it hard to open his mouth, for something liquid had dried there, making the skin taut and hard to flex. Heero's hand carefully traveled up to his face, and he gently chipped away at the unknown substance coating his skin and clothes. He pulled his hand back and discovered that there was the dark brown stain of dried blood caught underneath his fingernails. His eyes widened and, pain forgotten, he jumped to his feet, yelling out in surprise. The ground below him was covered in blood, bubbling a sickly red in the silver moonlight. He ran a nervous hand through his hair, drawing it back to find his palm was now colored a deep crimson. He had never seen so much blood before.
Heero stared at his hand for awhile, then noticed that fresh blood was spilling down his usually stark white work shirt, which he used for farming out in the fields. It looked like a wine stain that kept on spreading. The thin fabric quickly clung to his skin as the sticky blood covered his entire chest, acting like a morbidly grotesque glue. Trying frantically to find where all this blood was coming from, Heero patted himself down, searching for an injury. His fingers prodded the back of his neck and he winced, feeling a sharp stinging pain explode through his consciousness. The pain reminded him of something that happened earlier that night. A blinding pain, so intense it felt like he was dying. Dying…
He shook the thought from his mind and poked at the injury again. When he pulled his hand back, his forefinger was stained dark scarlet. "What's going on?" he whispered into the dark, foreboding forest that surrounded him. He didn't know how he came to be out in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the nearest village and severely injured beyond his own comprehension. He stared at the blood. It seemed so inviting. Without a second thought, Heero licked it away, feeling the heavy taste of it on his tongue. He insides burned, then relaxed almost instantly.
Behind him, someone started clapping.
He whirled around to see a stranger perched in one of the tree branches, applauding him for some unknown reason. Heero's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?!" he demanded of the stranger, who smiled coolly in reply. "Why Heero, you don't remember me? Ah, well I suppose dying does take it's toll on the mind."
Heero stepped backwards, narrowly avoiding slipping into the bloody mess on the forest floor. "What the hell are you talking about?!" he yelled, fear rising inside him. "And how did you know my name?"
"Gee, you're full of questions, huh? Well at least your smart enough to have tasted some on your own."
"Tasted what?" Heero asked, taking another step backwards as the stranger jumped down from the tree.
"Blood, of course." came the reply. "Course you can't last long on your own, or mine for that matter. You're going to have to feed soon."
"You're crazy!" Heero yelled, digging his bare heels into the soft soil and preparing to make a run for it. The twin puncture wounds on the back of his neck were throbbing.
"No, I'm Duo." the man said simply, extending his hand. "And like it or not pal, you're not going to be able to run anywhere. You don't belong with them anymore."
Heero gave him a blanched look. "How do you know what I was thinking? Tell me!"
Duo shrugged and retracted his hand once he was sure Heero wasn't going to shake it. "I'm a vampire." he said simply. "I read minds. And now, so can you." Heero let this information sink in before shaking his head forcefully. "No...I could never be like you."
With a long, dramatic sigh, Duo's cold, black empty eyes caught Heero's own and held his gaze with a serious stare. "You don't really have a choice anymore. Your mortal body is already dead. And if you don't get human blood in you soon, you'll soon perish as well."
Heero sat down hard into the dirt, feeling an empty ache inside him. "No.." he whispered, trying to convince himself. "I won't. I couldn't possibly.."
"What's the matter?" Duo asked, getting quite bored with the whole conversation. "Why aren't you like everyone else I've changed? You're a vampire, just like the rest of us. You're just going to have to learn to deal with it."
"But I'm NOT a killer!" Heero said, feeling the familiar sensation of tears welling in his eyes. "They're people! How could you possibly..?"
Duo watched in amusement as a solitary tear coursed down Heero's face and froze before it reached the ground. The confused boy plucked the crystallized tear off his cheek and stared at it in dumb amazement. "How can I kill the humans?" Duo asked, mulling the question over in his head. "Why don't we ask them how can they kill the cattle they eat? It's their food, Heero. Food is there to be slaughtered."
"But humans have thoughts and feelings, hopes and dreams!" Heero cried desperately, holding onto all the morals that he had believed his whole life. "To take life is a sin."
"Then may the world rot in hell for the millions of lives they've taken to keep their miserable selves alive." Duo intoned. "I'm not going to stand here and argue about the humanity in our actions, because there is none. We're not human. We are the hunters and they are the prey. Now either you come with me and stay alive, or you stay here and starve to death. Long, slow and painful, believe me. What'll it be?"
He reached his hand down, palm extended to offer Heero to his feet. Heero, getting paler by the minute and feeling as though his insides were tearing themselves to pieces, still hesitated to take the hand offered. He knew what it would mean if he did. He would truly become one of them, become a creature of the night. A murderer. His soul would be damned.
*We are already damned.* Duo's voice resonated in his head. Heero took a deep breath, realizing it was the first one he had taken since he woke up, and clasped Duo's hand with his own. Duo grinned and pulled him to his feet, thumping him good-naturedly on the back with his fist. "I knew you'd see it my way." he announced. Heero scowled darkly at him. "Stay out of my head." He commented.
Duo threw his head back and laughed. It was chilling to hear because his voice lacked the happiness behind his actions. "I won't make you any promises on that my friend, but I just might teach you how to read others thoughts. Our mind powers are just as strong as our physical abilities. Some of the strongest can even predict the future, or alter the past."
The two walked off into the direction of town with Duo babbling about all the ways he'd lured humans right to him and how good of a vampire he was. Heero trailed after him silently, wiping the dried blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. The red streaked down his wrist, standing out violently against his pale white skin. There was something terribly familiar about that streak, that Heero couldn't quite place. *A teardrop.* he decided, before wiping it off on his torn trousers. *Odd.*
The years seemed to pass in mere seconds, and Heero learned the ways of the world from the eyes of a hunter. At first he fed only on people who he thought deserved it, but as time went on, he stopped caring. All the shreds of his once human soul disintegrated, leaving him cold and empty inside. The years had hardened him, changing him from kindhearted to cruel. Eventually, he had almost no emotions at all. He felt like a machine, doing the same routine everyday. Hunting gave him no pleasure anymore, and he wasn't fulfilled as his friend was at the sound of a human's dying breath. It all seemed so pointless. And he had an eternity to live a life filled with nothing.