Daughter of the Night

I was in hell. There was no other way to describe the waves of fire so hot that the air itself seemed to catch flame, or how every molecule in my body felt like someone had dipped it in alchohol and then tossed it into a bonfire. The only way to describe it was hell. Anything less, such as endless agony or ceaseless torment, would have been an understatement. It was an endless field, a ceaseless plateau, a land that stretched on forever and was made of only my unending agony. I couldn’t even feel my hands or my feet, or the flicker of my eyelids. The only thing I could feel was pain, gnawing at my mind and burning its way through my veins like snake venom. Even in unconsciousness, I was in utter . I couldn’t sense what used to be my body, or my surroundings, or even the anguish of the sun’s kiss upon my skin. There was only the pain.

Eventually, the soul-devouring agony faded into the sensation of a thousand knives digging into my skin. I realized dully that night must have fallen.

As the darkness of the night seeped onto my skin like blissfully cool water, my body began repairing itself. Certainly not at the rate it had been damaged; it would be a long time before I recovered from this, if I ever did recover. Even I didn’t know the extent of my healing abilities, although because of the haze of torture I was thinking through this took a backseat in terms of priorities.

I went through all of this with a third-person perspective, so I didn’t really notice the charred chains dropping away from my body, or the voice calling my name. My only companion was the agony.

Eventually, I was brought awake. The first thing I noticed was the pungent reek of wolf that was wafting like rotten eggs out of a huge, black wool trenchoat that appeared to be wrapped around me like a shield. Around the thick wool, I could feel the cooling musk of earth pressing against my skin. I stiffened in fear; he had to be here. No one else would know to heal me by burying me in earth except another Ancient.

I took stock of my body; I had only minimal control over my limbs, which were shaking, and all of my skin felt torched, crispy, as if someone had baked it and then rubbed it down with sandpaper. My torso was aching distantly; I knew that soon I would be in the agonizing stages of recovery, and the pain in my belly would erupt.

What happens to a vampire exposed to sunlight is an excruciating experience, obviously. At first, the sun’s rays will only damage the skin, so a vampire will only suffer burns of varying degrees when in the sunlight for anywhere less than an hour. After that, the sun penetrates their skin and moves on to the muscular system. When that happens, the vampire loses all control of themselves as their muscles slowly burn to ash. After the sun moves through the muscular system, it reaches the organs and lungs. That was the stage I was at before I had been sheltered from the light; my organs were shredding apart. The next stage, however, is lethal. If I had reached it, no one would have been able to save me. The sun would have invaded my blood, my veins, and it would have trickled to my unbeating heart. If it had reached my heart, I would have spontaneously combusted. My body would have become an explosion of white-hot flames, nearly as hot as the sun itself, and even my superhuman resistance would have crumbled under the sheer heat. Nothing would have been left of me save for a pile of ash.

How do I know all this, you wonder? There was a period of my life... Well, I won’t get into that now. Once again, I had more pressing matters.

Such as where to feed.

The excruciatingly painful process of having my body excrete the sun’s toxins was nothing compared to the fire in my throat. My blood had nearly been contaminated by sunlight; I needed a transfusion. Badly.

Wildly, I twisted out of the disgusting coat shielding me. My entire body screamed in protest; it needed rest. It was truly a war of desires. My bloodlust won out.

I scrambled out of the wool cocoon, my burned fingers scrambling against the soft texture of the earth. Painfully, I heaved myself onto my feet. My body trembled under its own weight; that wasn’t a good sign. I needed blood, it was strength. It was healing. It was life.

I inhaled sharply, my sharp canines growing even more pronounced as they poked into my lip; the beast was wounded, and the beast was hungry.

I was in yet another basement. The cheap concrete had been smashed by something incredibly strong, such as another vampire’s fists. The filling of fresh earth had been where I had laid.

The darkness was only relief to my scorched eyes. The pounding in my stomach was only a distant disruption as I scanned for a human. I could smell one; it had been here recently.

I opened my mouth in anticipation, although that caused only more pain.

My head snapped towards the sound of an old door creaking open. Then there were footsteps, light padding on worn wood.

I crouched. Better to wait until my prey was close; it would involve less movement on my part.

As the human reached the bottom of the stairs, he managed to make out the dark outline of my profile. Green eyes shone as he called out, “Cross!”

His scent hit me at the same time as his voice did. The monster within me howled for his blood, his death, and yet. And yet.

Aaron.

How could I kill him? What was he doing here? How did he find me? How could I think about eating him?

His scent grew only stronger as he idiotically began walking towards me. Of all the things, it was relief that shone on his face.

I opened my mouth to tell him to back off, but a low growl escaped from my jaws instead. My vampire fangs, normally slightly pronounced, were now fully unsheathed and entirely lethal.

Shocked, he stopped. A series of expressions flitted over his face; first confusion, then disbelief, and then concern.

A sudden bloodlust rose up within me; a human stood only feet away from me. Why couldn’t I kill?

I fell to my knees and kneaded cement with my fingers; it was the only way to keep my hands from wrapping around his body so that I could bend towards his neck, and set my lips upon his skin, and...

“Cross, are you alright?” he asked, his voice rough with worry. Not fear. Why was it never fear? He was going to die. There was no other way.

That was when, of all the stupid things, the boy knelt by my side and put his hand on my shoulder.

Immediately I was transported back to the field of pain; my throat erupted into sheer fire. I could feel the pulsing of his heart through the vein in his hand.

I didn’t even need to reach his neck; the major vein in his wrist would do just fine. I twisted, my head snapping towards the wrist that was my only escape from this agony while my body shied away.

The monster within me released a predatory howl in fury; why couldn’t I hunt?!

Because it was Aaron, that was why. I fell onto my side, clutching at my elbows. The pain nearly consumed me as my body screamed in shock.

“...blood...” I croaked out between the giant heaves of breath I was taking.

Aaron stepped away, comprehension suddenly clear on his face. “I understand,” he said, rising to his feet. “I’ll be right back.”

I couldn’t even understand his words, I was so ensnared in my body’s desire. Every one of my nerves, as dismally charred as they were, were screaming at me to chase after him, to loop an arm around his chest, to softly brush the shaggy chocolate hair from the back of his neck...

It was the only way I would heal. The only way I could escape from the mountain of pain that pulled my body into the chambers of hell and set my mind on fire.

All there was... was the pain... was the desire... was the need.

I don’t know how long I was on the ground, but eventually Aaron’s returning footsteps echoed against the ugly grey walls of the basement. The fool. Didn’t he know when his life was in danger?

Yet here he came, the bane of my existence. His footsteps were heavier than normal, and when he knelt beside me, he held a container of some sort in his arms.

When I inhaled, beyond the mouthwatering scent of fresh blood, I could smell... something else. More blood.

Aaron set down the crate next to me, and unhesitatingly I ripped off a side. Plastic fluid bags spilled out, each one filled with blood. Human blood. From the hospital?

I was on the plastic baggies in a heartbeat. Instantly, I snatched the first one. Ripping it open on a fang, I poured the contents into my mouth, trying to quench the fire. It tasted like some life.

I didn’t care about the mess I was making. Blood spilled over my face as I consumed bag after bag. It dripped down my neck, and even got caught in some of my hair. I didn’t notice.

Eventually the fire in my throat was dampened to only a dull ache, no worse off than the rest of my body. I swallowed the contents of the last bag halfheartedly, almost lazily.

Dropping the empty plastic onto the ground, I swayed suddenly. The predatory instinct receded, leaving only myself in the crippled, weakened shell that was my body.

I stumbled back to the patch of earth. I fell roughly upon it, embracing it with my arms. The fresh blood rushing through my veins allowed me to heal at a much faster pace than before; the earth against my skin was itself like a healing salve.

Sighing, I pressed myself further against the earth. The cooling sensation slowly put out the smoldering of my skin.

That was when the first spasm of pain ripped through my stomach. My body was decontaminating itself. The healing process had begun. I grimaced, but the pain was nothing compared to what I had just been through.

Aaron followed me uncertainly, kneeling again by my side. Seeing that the earth was only doing me good, he began scooping it up in his hands and pushing it against my skin.

“Thank...you.”

The bright green eyes looked down at me appraisingly. All of the sudden, it occured to me that I actually cared about his opinion. What did he think of me, now? Weak, hideously burned, consuming raw blood like some sort of rabid animal. A tremor of disgust ran through me; who was I, that I should be befriended? I was a monster. A nobody. I had nearly murdered the only person who saw me as anything but a horror from nightmares; how could I live with myself?

I gnashed my teeth together, turning my face away from the suddenly overwhelming presence knelt by my side.

“Cross?” he asked again. “Can I help you?”

Ashamed, I closed my eyes.

“No...” I said weakly. I just need... to heal.” Another spasm ripped through my stomach, and I convulsed weakly.

Alarmed, he grabbed my shoulder. I was so thankful that there was no monster urging me to kill him this time; now, it was only him and me.

“Heal,” he repeated dumbly. His eyes fell to my stomach. I followed his eyes to my abdomen. The charred remains of my black clothing was stained through with blood. My blood. Black blood.

“Your blood, it’s black,” Aaron pointed out.

“I am damned...” I breathed to the earth, clenching the wound with a clawed hand.

“Why are you bleeding?” he asked.

I winced. “My skin got burned away and my internal organs started breaking down. What did you think would happen?”

He shook his head disbelievingly.

“Now, I have some questions for you,” I hissed out between another span of pain. “First, how did you know to bury me in earth?”

He stared at me for a second before grinning complacently. “You’re undead. It’s self-explanatory.”

I blinked. I hadn’t realized he even had a word that big in his vocabulary. Well, I supposed that if there was a glimmer of intelligence anywhere in the forest-like depths of his eyes, it would have to surface some time.

“Did you bring me here?” I asked.

He nodded, another smirk playing around his lips.

“How did you know where to find me?”

He tilted his head, green eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “I found a letter in one of the offices,” he eventually offered.

“A letter? An office?”

“Inside the werewolf headquarters.”

“Inside the- what?”

He fidgeted uncomfortably, toying with a chain underneath his shirt. “Well, when you kicked me out of the building, I circled back around and-”

“You circled back?” I screeched. “I sacrificed myself so you could escape, and you just hop right back inside the building filled with lupine gangsters? Did it occur to you that the werewolves could have killed you?”

He smiled dazzlingly. “So could you. But you didn’t, and neither did they.”

It occured to me dimly that anything I said would have less than no effect on a boy as empty-headed as this, but that didn’t stop me from hurling everything I had at him.

Pain forgotten, I lurched into a sitting position. The muscles reforming under my hand trembled under the stress, but I blew them off.

“You moron!” I screamed. “You imbecile! How could you possibly be so stupid? Did your mother f-”

“Hey,” he said warningly. “I didn’t do it because I’m stupid. I did it because I was endebted to you.”

Indebted- what? No. No, he had it all wrong.

“You saved my life in that barfight,” he went on. “And again, when I got poisoned, and again, when you traded your freedom for mine. I owed you. It wasn’t a question of intellect, but of morality.”

There was that damned glimmer of intelligence again. It always reared its head at the most unconventional moments.

“I endangered your life multiple times. If I hadn’t interfered in your life, you would have escaped three different near-death experiences.”

“Sure, because I would have already been dead.”

I squared off against the human boy, red eyes against green. We glowered openly at each other. I could imagine the walls smoking under the intensity of our gazes.

Finally, Aaron started laughing. His laughter was deep, rich, all-inclusive. It was contagious, too.

“That’s my panther,” he said between laughs.

I cocked an eyebrow dangerously. “Your what?”

He caught the look on my face. “Nothing.”

Hissing in annoyance, I rose to my full height despite the protesting screams of my body.

“I. Belong. To nobody,” I snarled, each word growing louder until it was a rumbling in my chest.

To my chagrin and bemusement, one of his hands flittered up to his mouth to hide a smile.

“You look like hell,” he told me, grinning.

Well, I knew that. Anybody would after burning to death all day. I looked down at a hand. It was white only where it wasn’t charred black or grey or red. I could only imagine how the rest of me looked. Judging from how every move I made felt like I was shoving a sword into myself, I was willing to believe the truth in his words. Still. You don’t just tell someone they look hideous.

Glowering at him with demonic eyes, I settled for spitting at his feet before I sank back blissfully to the earth.

“You’ll have to tell me about your adventures later,” I said through a yawn. A wave of fatigue followed another tremor. “That way I’ll have the strength to back up my threats.”

Aaron sighed, running a hand through his shaggy hair.

I cocked an eye in his direction. “I assume you used the werewolf coat to mask my scent? In that case, it will be a long time before they pick up on it. Another day or two until they even realize I’m missing; they know the sun’s power over vampires. We won’t have to worry about being tracked down for roughly 36 hours.”

He grinned at me from under his hand.

“Oh, is that all,” he mocked.

I turned my back to him and burrowed my face deeper into the soil. Heavenly darkness, denied to me for so long, reached up to embrace me. The tension in my shoulders eased as the familiar half-sleep of all vampires caressed my body.

As the world blurred into nothing, I could have sworn I heard the boy say something that sounded suspiciously like ‘I’m glad your safe, my panther.’

Then again, I could have just been imagining it.