Blackened

Vampire story.

 

 

I felt like I was on top of the world, standing on the top of the Empire State building. I’ve done it so many times but still had an awkward feeling of being higher than everything.

The city was beautiful at night. The street lights illuminated the streets like veins underneath skin. Each block seemed to be in a square of some sorts outlined by the streets. With the kind of vision I had, I could see all the little people outside of their homes, out on dates, driving their cars. One man was smoking a cigarette in front of his apartment while talking on the phone. I focused my ears and tuned into the call. He was yelling about some carpeting business messing up his floor. I tuned him out again.

New York is a massive city but I already found myself bored. Being alive for hundreds of years I’ve seen much more interesting places. The world has gone far from where it’s been before but nothing spectacular. It was still all greed and murder.

 I looked over the horizon. I could see a small speck of orange glow peek over. Its not like the sun could kill me but it kind of feels like constant sunburn. All those wooden stakes and crosses don’t do s**t to me either. It’s just that damn Dracula movie that makes us look like nothing.

I looked down to the ground. Too many people were already heading into the building for work. Oh well.

I leaned over the edge and simply allowed myself to fall off. Free falling was the worst feeling in the world. It felt like my stomach was going to tear its way up through my throat. Instead of smacking into the ground and turning into a mess of flesh and blood I quickly extended my wings which protruded out of my back through holes in my trench coat. The feathery black wings instantly held me up, suspending me in mid air. Controlling them was also a feeling that no normal human could possess. I could control them as if they were arms. I slowly beat them, propelling myself fore ward. I pushed up against the air allowing me to soar higher above the tall buildings and away from wondering eyes. The wind was crisp and cool and a few snowflakes began to fall from the clouds. The coat I had on wasn’t light but it was colder up here than down there

I descended slightly so I wouldn’t freeze. I then cleared my mind so I could hear whatever people were saying below me, hoping to not get caught. I didn’t hear much. Mostly phone conversations or people yelling at food vendors, then there was a piercing scream. Like the strike of lightning followed by the loud boom of thunder. My head instantly enflamed in pain as my wings gave out and I began to free fall. I couldn’t sweep myself up as my wings didn’t respond. I saw the floor and braced for the impact.

I could feel the sharp slam into the ground. I didn’t splash into a mess of flesh and blood like I said I would. My skin is stronger than anyone else. It hurt like hell though.

I stood up, very slowly. There was a small crater where I hit the ground. I was in an intersection of a few back alleys. No one was in clear sight. The buildings guarding the alley were tall, casting shadows over everything.

My muscled ached. I could feel a cut running across my arm. I needed to feed. Something I only needed to do if I got hurt. Feeding is a very ritualistic thing to most but not me. Humans were just food to me, nothing sacred about them.

 “Ahhhh!” the scream echoed through the cramped alleys. I swung my head around to see exactly where it was coming from. Then I saw them. Two dark figures, one had the obvious features of a young girl; the other was a larger man, probably around 6’5. I slowly limped in their direction. It would be an easy meal, even if hurt.

The man saw me almost instantly. He had the girl pinned down on the floor while he ripped away at her jeans. I had my wings flapped out, which probably startled him but he did not run. He stood up from the helpless girl and advanced toward me. In his hand was a large knife.

“Come here stupid f**k!” he yelled as he ran at me. He swung his arm sluggishly in efforts to cut my throat. I quickly blocked it away with on hand, and grabbed his throat with the other. I gripped harder and forced him to the floor. He dropped the knife and his whole body was begging for surrender. I held his body on the floor and bit into his neck. I sunk my teeth into the rough flesh. I took a few bights until the squirming body was motionless. Then I sucked at the large openings. His blood was sour, probably a high level of alcohol. It was almost undrinkable.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl stand up. She saw me and began limp running toward the exit. I set down my current prey and leaped into the air. I positioned my body perfectly and landed in front of her. She could see that my eyes were glowing red with blood running down my lips. My fangs were now slightly protruded from my mouth. She didn’t attempt to run. She just fell. I quickly moved and grabbed her before she hit the ground. I could already feel my strength back. I didn’t need to take this life but I also didn’t know what to do with it. I could tell that she was probably only about 15 years old. I pulled the zipper down on her hoodie and saw she was wearing a Woodland High T-Shirt. Woodland was probably 5 or 6 miles away from the city. Then I saw he backpack with had clothes strewn across the concrete. She was a runaway. I walked over to her stuff and gently sat her down. I worked around grabbing all the stuff I could and put it into her bag. I moved the bag closer to her so when she would wake up she’d find it. I began to walk away but then stopped. It was hard to walk away. It was a weird feeling, probably like the human feeling of guilt. We weren’t supposed to have those kinds of feelings but there’s no denying we have some of them.

I wiped the blood from my mouth and turned around. I sighed and walked over to where I set her. I strapped her bag around my back and scooped her up into my arms. She wasn’t very heavy at all, maybe a little over 120. It still took me a running start to get up into the air.

I could feel the groan from my wings. My back muscles felt like they were lit on fire with gasoline. I knew I couldn’t make a smooth landing so when I got to the top of my home, I turned to my back and slid across the concrete roof. Her backpack took most of the landing but it didn’t rip open. If I were human, I would be panting for air. My lungs and heart would be throbbing, but I have neither. She didn’t even stir.

I got up and made my way to the very old iron elevator. It was a large industrial elevator used for carrying car parts. The place that I lived in was an old car manufacturing facility.

I took it down to the 3^rd floor. That was where most of the office rooms were. I had set up my room from stolen furniture. It wasn’t much but it was enough to keep me occupied. I had a few game systems and a T.V. I ran them with strung together car batteries which I found stockpiles of them in here.

The bedroom was a little room connected to the man one. It was probably like an office connected to a conference room but you couldn’t tell that now.

I had only one bed so I sat her down on it. I pulled the large comforter I had over her. The cold was another thing I could stand. There is no warm blood flowing through our bodies so if we stayed in the cold to long we would just stop moving all together.

Her face was illuminated by the small lamp next to my bed. It made her skin slightly golden. Her hair was a dark blonde. Then I could smell perfume coming off her body.

“Stop,” I whispered to myself, “You don’t have those feelings,” I sat her backpack next to the bed and walked into the conference room type area. I laid on one of the couches and without thinking I fell asleep.

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was her sitting on the couch opposite of me holding a black pistol aimed at my face.

“What are you . . .,” she cocked it back. Her arms trembled furiously. Obviously scared and probably has never shot a gun before.

“Who are you,” she said.

I got up and walked toward her.

“Stop or I’ll shoot!” I didn’t stop and she pulled the trigger. The gun made a click sound but didn’t fire. I quickly dashed next to her and took the gun from her hands.

“No clip,” I flipped the gun over and showed her the empty spot under the handle.

She was struck in fear, probably at how fast I was able to get next to her and take the gun, or maybe the fact that it didn’t work.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she spurted out, tears beginning to form as she jumped to the floor trying to get away from me. She frantically clawed at the floor trying to get to the doorway. I walked over and helped her up.

“Don’t worry, I’m trying to help you,” my voice sounded weird. It’s been such a long time since I’ve ever talked and I noticed the heavy Russian accent I had picked up. She continued to cry as I held her up. I knew that crying came with sadness but I never really understood why. Humans seemed so fragile.

She eventually calmed down and sat on the couch. I didn’t have anything to make her so I just sat across from her on the floor. She kept looking around the dirty room, not knowing what to make of it.

“What are you doing out here,” I finally said. She didn’t take her eyes away from scouting the room. I would have told her my name but I forgot. No need for a name when no one asks for it.

“Were you looking for something?” my voice was even annoying to myself. She looked over at me then at my arm. The large scar from last night quickly healed from the massive cut it was. She probably had forgotten the whole thing. She would have run if she remembered what she saw. She then lied down and closed her eyes. I got up on the couch next to me and did the same.

 

I was running down the dirt road. People with bows were shooting fire laden arrows into the dark. Black figures ran into the crowds, grabbing people and tearing them apart. The streets were covered with blood. The night was very dark, hiding there figures. The arrows could occasionally hit their targets but only managed to light up the beast. I saw my friend running toward me. She was 17, the same age I was. She had one of them following her.

“Elena!” I yelled. Suddenly I couldn’t move. My feet felt like they were stuck in the ground. The figure caught up to her but did not kill her. It threw her on the ground then slit open her chest. Then it inserted a small metal figure into her chest. Then they disappeared. My yelling didn’t stop until something dark with wings flew in front of me, blocking out all the horrors.

 

My eyes fluttered open. There was no longer light outside. The girl was awake now, sitting at the small window in the room across this one. She was looking at the moon. It was oddly large and bright tonight.

I walked over to her and sat down on the floor, my back against the wall.

“What are you,” she asked me. Her voice wasn’t trembling anymore. She kept on staring outside.

“What do you mean?”

She looked at my back. I remembered that I took off the trench coat leaving my wings exposed. I quickly got up, my back facing away from her. I clenched my wings together as tight as I could.

“I saw them when you were asleep,” she looked over at me. I could see the gun in her hand. This time it was loaded.

I released my grip on the wings and they fluttered out, “Do you really want to know,” I did not know what I was doing. Probably something stupid but at this point it was too late. I started to walk toward he then she put the gun up, “Don’t worry, I could have killed you by now,” she was hesitant on putting the gun down but she did. I continued toward her until my face was lit up by the moonlight. I slowly opened my mouth revealing my extended canines. Humans had them but nothing as long and sharp as we did.

She looked at them. Her face so close we could have kissed. She moved her finger closer then pricked it on the tip. She flicked her hand back painfully. I licked the blood of my tooth. It was sweet unlike the drunken man’s. My canines elongated.

She was startled and brought the gun up to my chest.

“I’m not going to do anything to you,” I said softly, trying not to excite her. Then I looked down at her finger. There was blood slowly beading up around the wound, “Here,’ I slowly took her finger and brought it up to my mouth. I quickly sucked some blood out then let it go. A vampire’s saliva creates quick blood clotting in order to hide the bight after a victim is dead. Her blood made my body tingle. It made me want more.

She held her finger up, trying to look for where it was. Then she looked back at me, “Thank you,” her voiced cracked a little. I wanted to say thank you back to her but knew she wouldn’t get it.

She hoped off the windowsill and walked over next to me. She traced her fingers over the feathers on my wings. I flinched a bit but she didn’t notice.

“Can you fly,” her voice still contained nervousness.

“Mhm,” she continued to pry at them. She followed them back to the opening on my back where they grew from.

“Do they hurt?” she asked walking back in front of me.

“No,” I clenched them together.

“Can you . . .?”

I moved them back out and slowly moved them back and forth, creating a slight breeze. Her hair flowed in the tunnel of wind. She smiled slightly, seeming to be eased from the fear she had earlier. We just stood there in an awkward silence. It was a good night to be out.

I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do so I walked back and put on the jacket I left in the conference room. She followed after.

“I’ll be out for a bit,” I said. Without waiting for an answer I ran and jumped out the window she was looking out of only minutes before.

The air was cool and refreshing. The air felt nice running through the feathers on my back. The moon was big and bright. Seemed like a perfect night. Nothing at all seemed to be a problem.

I didn’t fly high up, I stayed low. I didn’t care about any one looking. It was an odd feeling of excitement, flying between buildings, the possibility of someone seeing. Sometimes I wondered what it would be like to ram into one of those buildings, crash through the 3 inch windows, pieces of glass and blood rushing everywhere. Sometimes, I wish I could die. Everything just seems so boring. I’ve lived through ages and it’s still the same damn place. Then I heard it, something behind me. I could hear a slight click, like raindrops. I slightly turned my head and something grabbed me. It was too heavy for to carry it with my wings. I punched furiously at the figure trying to knock it off. It seemed like my fists were hitting bricks.

I looked down. We were going to hit right into one of the glass skyscrapers. I shifted my weight so that the thing on top of me would slam into it first but it was too strong.

“Who the hell are you!” my back crashed into the glass. It was just as I thought it would be; blood and glass raining down. There were no lights, no people. Just me and whatever it was that dragged me down. I realized now that the figure was much larger than I was. Its skin was not rough but furry. I tried desperately to bight at it but I never met flesh. The creature beat down on me with its large arms. Each blow landed right in the middle of my chest. The pain enflamed my ribs with a pain I’ve never felt before. I managed to squiggle out next to him, rolling out of his reach. I clumsily made it to my feet and flipped around. There were no traces of it, just glass and my own blood. I cautiously stepped fore ward. The only thing I could smell was rotting flesh.

I wasn’t in the mood to stay and find out what happened. I quickly ran out the broken window and flew. I flew high. I didn’t know what I was thinking. I didn’t know what the hell that was. I just wanted to get back home.

The light was rising by the time I got to the warehouse.  I came through the same window I exited. She would probably be gone already. I moved to slip off the coat but it fell of without effort. Long gashes ran down it along with pieces of glass lodged in it. I peeled off the blood drenched shirt I had on to see the wounds. I could feel the pain now that I could see the wounds. Long claw gashes stretched down from my upper chest down to my lower stomach. I picked out shards of glass jabbed into my skin, leaving holes oozing with blood.

I walked into the conference room and saw her sleeping on one of the sofas. There was something that made me feel happy seeing her there. I smiled for the first time in a while and kneeled down next to the sofa. But again, I heard something I didn’t want to hear. Something that was very wrong. I heard something coming from the staircase, something heavy. I ran to my bedroom and pulled out a large, black pistol out from under my bed. I walked passed the conference room, and down the hallway. I stopped as the doors to the staircase brake open. The chains that once held it together practically shattered. In the doorway, stood a 10 foot monster covered in dirty brown fur. Its face was like a wolf. Its eyes were red and its teeth growing out of its mouth which was dripping with saliva. It smelled like death.

I brought the gun up and fired. The bullets slammed in and out of the beast. Blood spattered in front and behind it as it jumped through the roof and disappeared. I ran into the conference room quickly and shook the girl.

“Get up!” suddenly something pulled against the wings on my back and ripped me backward. I spun around and emptied the rest of the clip. The pull released and I fell on the floor hard. The girl began to stir and sat up.

“What’s going on?” she said.

Then the beast grabbed her from behind, “No!” I stood up and chased after it out into the hallway. I loaded another clip in and turned the corner into the hallway. The girl was just lying on the floor crying. Then I felt a painful hit to the back of my head as I was sent crashing into the wall. I pulled the gun and fired but the bullets just met the plastered walls.

Arms then shot out of the wall behind me, grabbing me around the throat. They pulled me through the wall, sending brick pieces and smoke everywhere. The gun flew out of my hands as the powerful force drove me into another wall. I felt like a rag doll.

Then, I saw the girl behind the monster, she, changed. Her arms began to grow and fur built up around them. Her mouth turned into the same wolf type as the beast. Her golden hair was replaced by a nappy array of brown and silver. She howled and the first beast stopped in its tracks and even bowed down. I tried to force myself up but there was no use. My blood littered the floor and my arms were badly misshapen.

The girl in her beast form walked over to me and knelt down. She smiled and ran one of her monstrous claws down the side of my cheek leaving a small red line that eventually erupted into a waterfall of red. I tried to scream but nothing left my throat. She pried open my mouth and wrapped her claws around my fangs and tore them out. The pain shuddered throughout my body as my vision began to blur. She gave it to the other one and made different pitches of growls at it. It nodded and left. The girl then formed back to its old form. No fur, no claws, just an innocent looking girl. She knelt down next to my crippled body. I could already feel my soul leaving my body.

“Your nothing but a mortal now,” the words seemed off because of her little, sweet voice. Then she reached her hands around me and pulled out my wings with ease. She brought them up to my face and dropped them on my lap. She leaned in close to me, her hands touching my face.

My eyes were giving way but I could see a small metal figure in her hands. It seemed to be the same one that was lodged into Elena's chest. She slammed it into my chest, “Hello friend,”

Reviews

[Frances O'Neill]

I like the twisty part at the end the reader didn't see coming, with the little girls being two parts at

once, then giving him his dream of being human, again.

[mirui]

The description that you put into this writing and what the character was going through in this story is truly incredible.

[mirui]

This was amazing.I especially liked the end where she made him mortal.

[1809 Black Plague Decem..]

holy cow! hiya, Nic, welcome to the group, Circles of Horror,
this story is so awesome, everything from the symbolism of the metal figure, the girl,
and she coming back to him to retrieve his mortality,
great great work, thank you for participating, good luck in the contest, ---mishel

[Leah Elisabeth]

Good job, this is very well written and I ike the twist at the end. I certainly didn't expect it.

[thecoolone52]

ehy, i said no vampire stories.... for my contest....... but this one was pretty good so ill let slide right in....... hahaha thanks for entering

[Ashley]

This is a very good story. I like the twists and descriptions also. There are a few letters missing on some words but other then that it's great.

[Nickolaus A. Pacione]

Not a bad take on the vampire I have to admit. I entered the same contest as you did with a vampire story called House of Spiders. I was wondering if you read the short story One To Call His Own by Barbara Marjanovic. This story has a kinship with that story, you can read the story in Collection II.