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| St_Winterheart
Posts: 2,225 Status: Lord Karma: 0 [+1] [-1]   |
Subject: CHAPTER 5. Hunger. | |||||
| The castle was abuzz for days with stories of different versions on how we were ambushed while training. Every passing day the stories grew more and more ridiculous. The latest mutated version I’ve heard says we were attacked by “a hundred mercenaries” who “carried all sorts of steel munitions”, and “their lead attacker had an enormous TAIL”. Stupid. Even I didn't see who our attacker was. And a tail? Why not "the lead attacker had an enormous axe", or "sword", or maybe "arm" or "eye"? How could humans twist a factual story into something like this? Gossip amazes me, but in a stupid sort of way. On the other hand, the King and Queen spoke nothing of it, but thought it wise to strengthen the fortifications around the castle. They also sent what seemed to be an entire battalion with us every midnight when we trained. Irritating. I gazed at them, some twenty or so uniformed young men, sabres at their waists, watching us as we went about our morning routine. They don’t really bother us much, but it’s hard trying to irritate the princess when there are three dozen ears listening nearby, ready to report to the Queen. I also noticed more and more people coming to watch us train since the incident. There always seemed to be a handful of castle maids and stableboys gathered at one side of the training grounds every midnight, milling around, chatting. Pathetic. So now we have twenty soldiers, a dozen or so castle maids, some stable boys. And the chef, who I forgot to mention comes by every other night or so. We have a useless bunch of useless people watching our useless training. I think I really need to reread that damn contract. And burn it. It’s too crowded, too noisy, too queasy. If the enemy from last week is hiding in the training grounds somewhere, it would be very hard for me to detect him now. And to top it all off, there's that other problem. I swallowed hard. Something else bothered me about the humans gathered around us, something more troubling than their constant chatter and their fixed gazes. It begins to gnaw at me the moment the crowd gathers, and ends only when the crowd is gone. The only reason it didn’t trouble me in the past two centuries was because I spent my life away from it. And day by day, as more and more people arrive, it becomes harder and harder to resist. The overwhelming scent… of human blood. “You know what’s the news today?” the princess ask cheerfully. “Us!” “Hold your reins tighter, like this.” I gripped the reins of my horse and pulled hard, and my horse began to protest. I fought hard to loosen my grip. “You think we'll ever find out who attacked us?” She asked, obviously not hearing me. “No idea. Watch your horse’s ears; They signal what your horse is thinking. If he folds his ears back, it could mean…… trouble…” I bit my lip, and realized that my fangs had grown slightly longer. My heart raced. “Yeah, I don't know too... but I'm not scared. You're my bodyguard, remember? I don't care if they attack again. Hey, you think they’ll attack again?” “I… don’t… know…” The ground seemed to spin. I felt very, very… very hungry. My head felt like it was being stuffed with cotton, leaving very little room for thoughts. Or feelings. B-bloooOODdd~~ Damn, s-snap out of it… My right hand trembled so much that I had to stop it with my other hand. ~ ~ B-BLOood … WAaan-nnt… TooOO F-FEeeD… N-NooOOW… ~ ~ Wait, n-not here…shit-- I tried to push my fangs back, biting my lip so hard it drew blood. The warm liquid seeped from the corner of my mouth, and the taste of it sent me to the edge. ~ ~ LETSSSS…… SsssEEee…….. WHOOOoo WILL I FEEeeD ON FiiiirRSSssst…??? ~ ~ I could barely make out the outline of a small human in front of me. It smelled of blood-- I reached out a feeble hand to grasp it. “Chill?” A familiar voice-- a tiny spark of sanity. …..P-princess— I was back at the training grounds. The princess turned and her smiling face changed into one of horror as she stared at my fangs. They were already double in length; impossible to hide. I jumped off my horse and ran for the forest, leaving the bewildered crowd and the princess behind. The last thing I heard was the princess calling my name. The deeper I went into the forest, the darker it became. I ran and ran until I could no longer feel my legs. I slowed down to a jog and finally stopped, dropping unconscious to the ground. ~ ~ ~ I opened my eyes to the sight of the forest canopy above me, a thick cover of leaves and branches that showed very little of the sky beyond. The bluish-black sky had already turned bright blue, and the forest was filled with the busy chirping of birds. I wondered how long I was asleep. Without the smell of human blood, my fangs have sunken back and I was thinking clearly again. I stared at the sky. I was human until I reached the age of sixteen, the age of vampire maturity. Back then, hunger was something I could fight off with a piece of apple or a slice of cake. Dinner didn’t involve people dying. I remember my first night as a full-fledged vampire. I ate everything laid on our dining table and still felt as if I haven’t eaten for days. My mother and father gazed at me with sorrowful eyes as I murmured how hungry I still felt. I ate and ate and asked for more. It went on the entire night. They didn’t say anything. I knew there was something wrong with me, But I didn’t seek answers. I felt scared of the answers. My father died without telling me anything. And I only knew the truth just a few moments before my mother took her last breath. I was a vampire, and what I hungered for was blood. Nothing else can fill the kind of hunger that goes beyond human limits. Human food cannot satisfy it, conscience cannot stop it. Only blood. I laid there for what seemed to be hours. I waited for the sun to go directly overhead and just kill me. but noontime came and went and I was left untouched. The forest’s thick foliage prevented any sunlight from reaching me. I closed my eyes, strangely disappointed. So tired… “Why are you wearing black? Is there a funeral?” I opened my eyes, expecting to see the princess and her insulting smirk. The woman looked down at me, her brown hair covered by a blood-red hood. She offered her hand for a handshake and I ignored it, staring intently at her face. She smells of human blood, but— “Let’s try being civil, shall we?” She smiled, her hand still outstretched. I didn’t move, so she just grabbed my hand and forced it to shake hers. “Hello uncivilized brat, my name is Red Moon. Care to tell me your name, or do I have to force that out of you as well?” A nerve popped in my head. The last time I heard the word “brat”, I was the one using it, and it was directed at someone a lot less than my 200 years old. “Do you want to die?” I snarled at her. She smiled down at me. “That’s no way to greet someone who’s about to help you.” “Let’s see who’s gonna need help when I’m through with you, you little—“ I reached out to yank her head and pull her into a headlock, but stopped halfway. On one hand she was holding a small, crystal-clear capsule filled with a bright red liquid. “Want some of these before you kill me?” I stared at the familiar looking-capsule and slowly realized what it was. “Y-You’re a—?“ She nodded, her bright smile never leaving her face. “So you were going to headlock me?” ~ ~ ~ |
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