The Last Seer

Blood. That's what she saw. There was blood all around her. It stained the cool linoleum floors dark red, congealing after however long it had been there. It was even on the ceiling and in the cracks of the brick wall. It stained the glass of the windows where the moon shown through, giving the room an otherworldly red glow. The smell itself clung to her; metallic and meaty. She could feel it's stickiness all over her body. It soaked her in the stench and feel of death. Only after she got over the initial shock of the blood did she see the bodies.

She should have noticed before. Obviously, all the blood had to come from somewhere. But her mind was still trying to comprehend the blood. She could just barely bring herself to gaze at their faces, dyed red from their own blood and looks of horror taking permanent residence on their faces. She tried, in vain, to avoid looking at the bodies themselves, but the torn and mutilated flesh gleamed in her peripheral, refusing to be ignored. Organs and flesh were strewn from them.

She tried to scream, but it was choked out by the vomit that rose from her throat. She looked at the vomit, as if seeing all the blood wasn't bad enough, and saw that even her the contents of her stomach were red and bloody. She jumped away from it, trying to escape putrid substance. And in that moment a memory came back to her. The memory of blood lust and rage and hunger. The memory of the hunt and the ripping and tearing as she herself mutilated strangers that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it was the memory of the blood, running down her throat and satiating her new, ungodly thirst, that frightened her the most.

This time she did scream, but it was not a human scream that escaped her lips. No, this scream was a horrible monstrous one. It was the scream that she remembered came from the night monsters. And now, it was her own scream. Someone, a man, came running in. Another of the night monsters.

He looked around the room, and she noticed him roll his eyes and relax from his rigid stance. "Fledglings." He said with reproach, shaking his head. "You can be so...messy sometimes. Do you not know how to feed without leaving a complete mess behind? Now the great hall will have to be cleaned. The Masters with not be pleased. So, what do you have to say for yourself?" He asked her and crossed his arms nonchalantly. He rolled his eyes once more when she just looked at him with large eyes.

"Who...Who am I?" She finally asked. He looked at her and rolled his eyes once again.

"Who are? Miria, don't be so foolish. Now get up and let's go clean you up. We have much to deal with. That sister of yours has become more of an aggravation than she is worth." He said. Miria looked at him in confusion and then remembered everything. Her fiance was lying on the floor along with her mother and her best friend, not unfortunate strangers. And she was the vampire that had killed them.

I rose from my silk pillows, sweat soaking my body which made my blanket, hair, and clothes stick uncomfortably to my skin. I clutched my head which burned and throbbed with a pain that felt as if someone was hammering a nail into my skull. The images of the blood were still burned into my retinas and as I looked around my darkened room all I could see was red. Something jumped onto my bed and I covered my mouth to stop from screaming. Then I realized it was just my cat, Cheshire.

I sighed and began petting the top of Cheshire's head. He began purring and rubbing his head forcefully against my hand. As my mind calmed and I stopped seeing red, I was able to make out Cheshire's form and his purple-black fur and red markings in the darkness. Then, I was able to make out the more distant shapes in my room. There was my dresser and my closet doors and my mirror. And there were my walls, painted reddish-purple with a forest of barren black trees I had painted. A gasp of air came through my room from the open window, causing the enchanted black trees to shake and rattle as if they were real. Pale moonlight flowed in, brightening my otherwise black room.

Cheshire mewed at me and pulled away, looking towards the window. I realized then that I hadn't left the window open when I'd went to sleep. I was off of the bed before I could think and I had the knife from my bedside in my hands. My feet carried me to the window where I looked out into the emptiness. There was nothing there except for the shimmer of the protective barrier my mother had had put up around our property. I couldn't figure out why my window was open. There was a chuckle from behind me.

I turned and sighed. "You really should make your walls harder to scale." The figure said. She flipped her bobbed brown hair out of her face. I looked at her, her green eyes reflecting the moonlight.

"Well then. If you would just use the front door, I would not have to worry about my walls." I said. She laughed nostalgically and the walked over to Cheshire and picked him up.

"Zerrax, why are you here?" I asked her.

"What? Do you not want me here?" She asked, looking hurt for a moment and then laughing heartily again. I only gazed at her with a raised brow. She sighed. "The rents are fighting again. I thought, I'd come over and give you a hand with your packing and dress making."

"At midnight." I stated, and then crossed my arms, but uncrossed them as soon as I had, remembering the vision I'd had. "Well, then. Shall we wake up the house? Or shall we run amok and make some cookie and other sweets that my mother detests?" I asked, grinning past the foreboding that I felt.

Zerrax shrugged. "Why not? I do make some pretty bad ass cookies." Then she and I ran to the kitchen. She in a metallic skirt, leggings, converse and a puffy jacket vest; me in my silken pajamas.

---

Seven O'clock arrived early that morning. Or so it seemed. Zerrax and I had sat in the too large kitchen, baking cookies and things that wouldn't get eaten in the oven that my mother had just bought. Then, the sun had begun to rise and an orange and pink glow had shown brightly through the window. The vase of Sun Rulis opened their wide golden petals as soon as the light had hit them and Zerrax and I had stood mesmerized by their simple beauty for what seemed like hours. Then the coffee maker that was built into the wall beeped, scanned the room for body heat, found it, and then started telling us about the news and weather.

I got a cup of coffee with cream and sugar and Zerrax did the same. Then we both sat back and listened to the house come to life. A few of the maids walked in and greeted us, but we were left to our thoughts. I offered cookies and sweets to anyone that came in. Most declined, but Allise, our head maid, came in and munched some down and pocketed some for her children. She offered me and Zerrax a smile and then wiped the counter clean with one smooth stroke (her usual trick).

Miria came down to the kitchen and I shivered at the sight of her, remembering what I had seen. Miria smiled at me, the glowing smile of a bride. She even ate a brownie and then danced out. Zerrax complimented about her glowing and looking very happy. I only nodded and began thinking about the dream, grimacing every so often. Zerrax gave me a questioning look and I told her we'd talk later.

We went up to my room later that day. Resilia, our morning maid, brought us both breakfast. I told her she should eat some of the sweets downstairs and she only smiled. Zerrax went to my closet and tried to open the doors. They wouldn't budge. I watched her struggle for a few minutes before finally laughing at her. She glared at me with full fury. If looks could kill, I would have been dead tenfold. I continued to laugh.

"Is your mom really so...gah that she would put a guard on you closet?" Zerrax more stated than asked. She stopped trying and then kicked the door. It delivered a swift shock to her foot. She screeched in rage.

"I guess so. She's gone a little crazy since that group tried to attack the house." I shrugged. Zerrax sighed, nodded knowingly, and then gestured towards the closet door. "Iapetus" I said. The doors slammed open.

Zerrax glared at me for a moment longer then went to the walk-in closet. "Welcome, Ms. Leratonyas. You are looking quite stunning today." A machine voice said from the speakers when Zerrax stepped passed the threshold.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed. "How does it do that?" Her family wasn't as...well off as mine was. She had not yet gotten to know the newest technical accommodations.

"It is programmed to scan your body signature. I can turn it off if you want." I suggested, though I already knew the answer.

Zerrax snorted. "Of course not. As long as it keeps complimenting my amazing good looks." She said. "Thank you, Closet." She said to no one inparticular.

"You are welcome. And my name is Racks." The closet stated. The last part was a little less sincere.

Zerrax shrugged and I started reading a book. One of the older, more classical books. Saved from the Great Wars, it was in remarkably good shape. The name was Alice in Wonderland. It was a strange book that I could not imagine someone inventing. I enjoyed it and it's nonsense though. And I loved how the paper felt in my hands. Someone really loved this book because I could feel the wear on it, but it was still in really good shape. You just never found a paper book these days that was in such a shape. The Great War had made sure to stop paper usage.

"Hey, Az, are you going to take this?" Zerrax asked me, holding up a blue halter dress that was covered in black lace, intocately woven to exentuate the bodies natural curves.

"Nah. If you want it, Zax, you can have it. I don't need it." Zax (AKA Zerrax) lit up and clutched the dress to herself, already loving it. I had seen her wearing it, in one of my visions, and she had needed it for something important. That was all I knew. So I let her have it.

Zax walked out with a look of complete happiness on her face. "Nice choice, Zax. It should look good with your complexion." Zax glowed even more from the systems complement. She even ignored the fact that it had addapted itself to use her nickname.

Miria bustled through the door just then. Her golden hair flowing behind her. "You want to tell me why you woke up last night in sweats? The Comp system just reported your sleep abnormality." She said. Her forehead was scrunched up with concern. It didn't mare her beauty in any way. I flinched and looked away, trying not to think about the blood. Miria came around and looked at me, followed by Zax. Both of their faces softened when they saw my distress.

"What did you see Az?" Zax asked me. I explained parts of it to them, leaving Miria out and the identity of the bodies. They asked me about the room and I could only tell them what I had seen. Miria nodded and left. Zax just started playing some music. We danced around, accepting random compliments from the Closet.

At one point, mother came in. She was angry about the loud music. She fussed for a few minutes. "Your ticket is for the day after your sister and I leave." she said at the end. "You fly out a day after us. Since your not that important to the wedding." She stated and then hissed angrily as the Closet called her a Fussy Hag.

"Why do you do this to me? Why do you act so immature? It makes no one want you around."
The "Fussy Hag" screeched. I wondered then if she was part banshee.

"Whatever." I muttered and went back to reading. The Hag would have started again, but Cheshire jumped on the bed. "It won't matter. You won't be around for much longer anyways." He said. I gasped when I realized he had just said what I had made him promise not to. "You were all thinking it. Leave!" Cheshire spat at her. She left, feigning being emotionally distressed.

"Cheshire! That was not right of you." Zax said. He huffed and left through the cat door in the wall.

"Cats!" The Closet muttered. If it was a person, I imagined it shaking it's head, ashamed.

"You said it." Zax and I said at the same time, but we could not help the foreboding feeling that hung in the air afterwards.