Say Your Prayers, You're Really Gonna Need Them.

★ ★ ★ - Indicates point of view change.

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Harlan appeared to take a huge breath before he began.

“I was born in 1948, my mother was unmarried when I was conceived and as you can probably guess it was frightfully frowned upon back then... not that it mattered in the end because my mother passed away whilst giving birth to me, I was never told much about my father other than he was in the forces... I don’t even know which one,”

Harlan laughed mordantly before swallowing and continuing.

“The lady in the photo was my grandmother, my mother’s mother... she was a lovely woman who raised me from birth, which couldn’t have been easy as she was near on 65 when I was born, but she did it and I’d like to say did it well, taught me everything she knew about everything and anything, I doted on her and that photo was taken when I was 21, It was the last photo I had with her as she died of old age shortly afterwards,” he stopped to suck in a breath through his teeth.

“After she passed, I was horribly depressed... living on your own in the house you grew up in with the only person in the whole world who loved you was difficult when it was now just you by yourself ya’ know? So I began to avoid it all together I’d leave as early as I could in the morning and arrive back so late in the early hours that eventually I was only spending about an hour or so there a day and that was just to sleep.

I would go to bars and get so drunk that I didn’t even know my own name and would wake up in the strangest of places.
One day during my antics about a year or so on I must have angered the wrong people as I got into a fight, by this point in time I was so low I practically wished for death but in turn got given eternal life,”

Harlan paused, sighing loudly

“The next day I woke up, and I knew something was wrong; I mean I usually couldn’t remember the night before but there was a strange edge to this forgetfulness and a hunger I couldn’t seem to satisfy with food and one day when this hunger was at its peak... I ran into a young woman, she was bleeding badly and from a distance I wanted to help her, but as I got closer I began to smell her, it was astounding... made my throat burn like I’d drank acid and the next thing I knew I had killed her, drained her of every drop of blood she had and barely stopping short of licking the blood she had dropped from her injury, I was 22,”

he stopped to look up at me, but my face remained a perfect mask of nothing, I wasn't giving anything away.

“I hated myself, but couldn’t stop this frenzy... this hunger than couldn’t be doused... I carried on killing and drinking until I met others like me.
Some were actually worse than I was, others told me to renounce killing... but I’ll be honest with you Ruse, killing doesn’t bother me in the slightest, its instinct for my kind.
Sometimes I feel regret, but most I just feel numb to it all... but I’ve learnt to control it slightly, I realized that if I feed regularly I'm obviously less likely to kill and more likely just to weaken which I suppose I prefer... but only just.”

He was looking at me now and I was still quiet, how can you react to the dark truth?

I nodded... but to be honest my head was whirling a fair bit.

“So why don’t you kill me?” I asked in what was less audible than I whisper.

“Because I marked you, something made me want to protect you and that’s what I'm doing, I'm incredibly drawn to you Ruse, nothings made me care as much as you have...” he shrugged simply.

I was shocked, he said it so easily but his words really winded me; I didn’t know what to say back.
So I didn’t, we didn’t speak, just sat watching each other intensely.

“Where did you go today?” I asked and Harlan shrugged in reply, “For a drive, went to see some friends.”

“Hmm well I appreciate the lock down, but I need to leave I’ve already missed college today and I have work this evening.” I replied sarcastically.

“Ok, would you like me to drive you?” he asked politely.

“No thank you, I need space... time to think.” I stressed, I was standing at this point.

“I don’t have time to give.” Harlan said.

“What do you mean you don’t have time?! You don’t fucking age!” I shouted

“You know what I mean.” he glared.

I was about to shout at him again... but understanding hit me like a ton of bricks.

And I just stood there mouth agape.

“You can’t... again not yet... not ev...er... just...just piss off will you?” I stammered angrily before grabbing my bag and making my way to the door, which he’d now unlocked.

My brain, as usual; was working overtime and I just hurried desperately to get home.