Carpe Noctem

I was recently listening to the Pretty Reckless song "Make Me Wanna Die" and was reminded of a short story I wrote about a decade ago. I decided to reedit it and post it. And now here we are...

She quivered as the cool caress of the water massaged her body. She was lying on the sand along the edge of an endless ocean, waiting for it to claim her. Wanting her suffering to cease. One such as her should never even have been made to exist, let alone this long. She should have been ostracized from life long, long ago. But here she was, centuries later, loathing herself and regretting every action that made her who she is.

The waves crashed around her once more yet none would take her. Even something so powerful and impartial as the ocean did not accept her. It did not want her to tarnish its foaming waters. First despair clouded her mind, and then anger. The anger blotted her vision, turning everything scarlet. The moon, the distant stars, the wave crests, all pulsed with red hues.

Before she could gather the strength to act upon her rage, a soft shift in the sand alerted her to another presence near. She slowly got to her feet and turned her back to the ocean. The moon cast a pale light on the man’s features, but they would still be barely discernible to any mortal. She, however, would have recognized him even in a night of impenetrable black. And it had been oh so long since she had last laid her ancient blue eyes upon him. Back then the same moon that shed its light now had still been shrouded in mystery. Worshipped even.

She had been worshipped then as well. And he had been by her side. She had loved him then- still did. It was that love that had driven her to kill him. To make him part of her. She had promised him eternal life with the sacrifice of his eternal salvation. She had neglected to mention that there were ways they could be killed and that mistake had cost them both dearly.

But now he was here before her. A task she would have thought impossible. A single tear escaped her eye. It traveled down her cheek, its rusty color leaving a thin, shining trail.

“How are you here?”, she asked. Her normally strong voice was trembling slightly. “I thought you were lost to me forever.”

“When things die they sometimes come back. If there is something worth coming back for”, he said softly. She almost collapsed with the weight of the memories that voice brought back to her. Once she was over the shock of hearing that same voice that had whispered countless ‘I love yous’ over the centuries, it took her a few seconds to comprehend what he had said.

“Are you here to reclaim the night with me? To once again be my partner amongst the shadows?”, she asked, half afraid of the answer.

“No, my love, I am not.”

She shuddered and her warring fears and desires caused her once strong legs to give out. Her knees sank into the cool sand.

“I am sorry”, he continued, “but the night is not right to reclaim. Instead of joining you, I want you to join me. To seize the daylight and rescue your salvation. To be redeemed.”

All of her instincts told her this was impossible. That her kind could never be redeemed. But here he was before her, against all odds, proof that something existed for them after death. She stared in wonder at the soul before her. A light surrounded him, greater than that of the receding moon. She knew, in that instant, that she would do anything, anything, for him.

“OK”, she said.

He reached out and intertwined their fingers, lifting her up from the sand. She enjoyed the way his hand felt against hers and the way the grains of sand stubbornly clung to her legs. The sun would be peaking over the horizon soon and she wanted to savor this moment, to be able to recall every detail.

“Are you ready”, he asked.

“I hope so.”

As the words left her lips, a soft white and yellow glow began glimmering across the water, steadily getting closer to where they were standing. A faint pink mixed with the dark blue of the night sky and she knew she only had seconds more.

“I love you”, she told him.

The gentle light of dawn exploded over the ocean and she finally found the peace she had been so desperately seeking.

Reviews

[Crow]

Wondrous, beautifully expressed imagery. You are quite talented in the way you bring images to life through your literary pallette.

[Q.Kennedy]

Your descriptions are so detailed and vivid. Great job creating a mood. I agree with Dytalus that this POV is quite refreshing. Good work!

[Dytalus]

Very nice, and well written. Nice to see things from the "monster"'s point of view for a change.