Capturing Destiny

Chapter Three

Blood

For the rest of the night I ran, and when the faint glimmers of the sunrise began to show I kept running, as fast through the forest and away from the dark room in the earth and the smouldering man as my new body would take me.

I didn't stop until the sun had risen above me, the forest suddenly alive with colour in a way I would never have imagined. And then I saw myself. My bare arms should have been covered in scrapes from the trees that had been battering me for hours but instead they were perfect, the light of the sun bouncing of it giving a much different effect from the faint glimmer last night, this sparkled, my skin literally twinkled in the daylight. Again I gasped, shocked by the beauty and terror of it. There was no way I could afford to bump into anyone looking like this.

Walking slowly now I continued north allowing myself the time to gain some insight into my body but as I continued I suddenly became aware of a scorch in my throat; it had tickled before, but I assumed it was a remnant of the hours I had spent transforming. Indeed it was not unlike the flames that had wracked through my body only a few hours before, but far less severe and for some reason also solvable. I wasn't sure how but I knew I did not have to feel this way.

Suddenly I was away again. No longer in the forest. No longer in the daylight. It was dark, the middle of the night and I was in a town. The road sign beside me read Pearl Avenue East and I could see houses tucked in between large trees. I moved towards the closest one. I could hear the shallow breathing of 3 people, hear their hearts pumping. Before I knew it I was in the first bedroom, it was girly, all white and lace and in the bed laid a girl, a few years younger than me. But I wasn't even looking at the girl, I didn't care, all I could see was the quiver of her pulse in her neck for the moments before my lips closed over it, her skin immediately yielding under my teeth and then the blood, filling my mouth, sliding down my throat, it was exquisite. Filling me in a way I would never have thought possible.

And then I was back, the forest materializing and away from the scent, the beauty of feeding on that girl on the bud of womanhood and I felt the disgust rise in me but also realised with relief that I was still thirsty. Whatever these images it was not real, not yet at least. As quickly as I was back I was thrown away again, barely managing steady myself;. this time was different though. I was in a forest again, but not this one. The foliage was different, it was lusher, greener. And I wasn't alone.

The first person I saw was the tall angel, he stood next to me, that tall that his fingers brushed the top of my arms. My delight at seeing him again was only stopped short when I realised we were not alone. Fanned out beside us were 5 more people, pale as the angel and I. Forming the centre of the arc was a handsome man, blonde with golden eyes and, I noticed with a giggle, a stethoscope in his pocket – a doctor. By his side a woman with golden red hair and the same eyes. She gazed around at the others in the group, her love and pride showing in her large eyes, doe like eyes.

Beside them I could see another couple, the girl was quite possibly the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, she was tall and blonde with perfect red lips and a face that could rival Helen of Troy, she looked like a pin-up, what was the phrase? For some reason phrase bombshell blonde came to mind, she was smiling lovingly at a huge, muscular man who was equally easy on the eye, with a boyish face, dark hair and the look of a boy scout.

Finally, on my left, next to the angel, my angel, was a boy standing slightly apart, he looked younger than the other couple and myself with auburn hair and eyes blacker than the deepest night. As I watched he broke ranks and stole off towards a group of elks, gracefully throwing himself towards the largest male his teeth sank into its side, filling himself he stepped back, dropping the emptied carcass at his feet and turning back towards us I could immediately see the difference, his eyes now matched those of the others surrounding me. They were golden.

As understanding dawned on me I was pulled back into the forest of the present. Nothing had changed in the moment since I had last been here; indeed the same leaf that had been blowing past my feet was still there less than a foot away. Relief washed through me, there was another option. I didn't have to murder that girl, which in a moment I realised is exactly what would have happened if I had not seen the alternative possibility. Despite my obvious lack of humanity I didn't think I could deal with killing someone, but I didn't have to.

No, I had options.

Continuing onwards I tried to think the possibilities. I could continue the way my senses told me was the way forward, what was natural but that would turn me into a murderer, and would I be able to live with that? Or I could follow the other option, I could find the angel and then together we would continue to the family with the golden eyes. I knew the decision had already been made, that initial disgust at seeing myself feed had already changed the future. My only option now was to follow it forward.

Reassured that I knew the way to advance I continued on, the thirst continued to burn in my throat, getting steadily worse and worse and I knew that should I happen to bump into someone in this wilderness, a group of men hunting or a young couple stealing away for a few moments of intimacy I would kill them without thought. I needed to hunt, and apparently there was only one way to ensure I did not become the monster I had seen.

Carefully I tasted the air around me, I could not sense the intoxicating scent that had drawn me to it so powerfully in my vision and so I allowed myself to push out further, allowed my thirst to push me in the right direction. I smelt them before I heard their hoofs beating the ground to the east of me. It wasn't a particularly appealing scent but it still excited me, I wanted it, desperately.

I steadily made my way through the forest, at first I was overly cautious, concerned I would alarm them with my presence. Quickly I realised this was a virtual impossibility, my feet were that light on the ground it was as though I had never been there and although I was only 20 feet away from them now, I could see that it was a group of deer.

They were entirely unaware of my presence.

Quick as a flash I was atop of the closest buck, it was instinctual and just like with the girl in my vision my teeth sank deep into his neck just at the point on his neck met his head, although it was not nearly as satisfying. The thick blood ran down my throat, dampening but not extinguishing the burn. Quickly I was done.

The drained corpse lay empty at my feet; the eyes that had just moments ago been so bright with life were now glassy, staring emptily towards me. I was disgusted with myself, but not as disgusted had it been a poor human lying at my feet. Surely in my past life I must have eaten meat, was it so different now that I killed the creature myself? Maybe less humane in my method but I was aware that people hunted them, even if I could not remember it.

Pulling myself up I considered the thirst again. It was still there, but not as unbearable as before and although I didn't feel full I was in some sense satisfied by the meal I had found. I kicked the body away from me, unable to look at it. But what should I do now? What would happen if someone happened upon the remains? Would they believe this was natural? I did not want anyone to know I was there, what if he man was following me? What if a human happened across it, they may be able to follow my trail, I simply did not know.

Thinking only of damage control I quickly ripped the body, tried to make it look like another animal had attacked it. It wasn't hard; I was apparently not as neat an eater as the auburn boy in my vision. There was blood smeared across the trees nearest me and soon pieces of flesh also adorned them also. The rest of the herd had long since escaped so I was unable to feed again even if I wanted to and I was too nervous to allow my new sense of smell to range out as before in case any humans had appeared.

It made me laugh to think that I no longer thought of myself as human. Although I looked human I knew I was no longer part of that other world. I wasn't safe for them. But where would I go? What was I going to do? I could not stay here, and I certainly couldn't go towards a town. I would simply have to walk, to hope that my mind would show me my options as it had before to keep me from danger.

A/N: C'mon guys, seriously? I know it's not a great story and some of the writing is far from perfect but please, please at least leave me something, the complete lack of reviews is getting me down. Next chapter will be up tomorrow x