I watched from the shadows of my perch as the youths stumbled drunkenly down the cobbled street, oblivious to the world around them—let alone me—as they cajoled each other in their accomplishments from their evening escapades through the town’s brothels.
I singled out the quietest one. The least drunk of the lot. He would make an exquisite meal. I waited for them to move further on before I dropped to the street and followed them. They eventually bid each other farewell and peeled off in separate directions.
Perfect.
I trailed after my prey until I was sure we were alone and then I called out to him from the shadows.
“A fine night to be out. Is it not?”
The youth spun around, startled, and guarded.
“It is indeed, stranger.” He glanced around, probably wondering if anybody else lurked out of sight.
“What business have you with me at this hour?” He said as he took a step back.
I smiled, while spreading my hands out wide. “Why, I simply wish to share an experience with you… An experience to die for.”
He took another step back, while shaking his head. “No, I think I’ll take my leave now. Good night.”
I closed the gap between us in the blink of an eye, grabbing him around his throat.
“Please, reconsider,” I said as I tightened my grip.
His eyes bulged with fear, and his breath came in short, choking bursts. His fingers scrabbled at my hand, trying to break free. With inhuman strength, I lifted him off his feet, revelling in his last moments.
His fear was intoxicating.
Done toying with him, I plunged my other hand into his chest and tore out his heart in a dazzling display of blood.
Rivulets ran down my arm as I clutched the still beating heart in my hand. A rush of excitement flooded my body like a raging river as I looked at it.
With this, I was one step closer to immortality and eternal youth.
I glanced at the body lying at my feet. Deep crimson blood pooled around it, creeping into the crevices of the cobbled stone as if to escape me. Beautiful, cold, emerald eyes stared back at me in terror. The youthful face, pale in the soft moonlight, sent a chill down my spine.
Like the portrait of a master painter.
I trembled in ecstasy. This moment marked my thirteenth kill. An apt number. A powerful number. Each death has brought me one step closer to perfection. Each consumption of flesh, a piece of godhood.
My body had already begun transitioning. I no longer required a lantern to guide me through the darkest nights, and my once pockmarked skin was now as smooth as the finest parchment. Not to mention my body’s limitless physical prowess.
I inhaled deeply, allowing my senses to overflow, revelling in the tantalising metallic smell and then exhaled slowly. Nothing could compare to the scent of blood any longer, and I almost felt crazed just being around it. Like an unhinging of my mind to allow for something more bestial, more primal, to take its place.
I closed my eyes, lifted the heart to my lips, and tore into the soft muscle with sharpened teeth. A sensual moan escaped my lips as blood cascaded down my chin. I devoured the rest with a frantic need until smears of blood were all that was left. I licked my hands clean. Nothing would be wasted.
I felt a sudden shift in power, like a realignment of my very being, down to my soul, or lack of it. As it was snuffed out like a flickering candle in the wind. A nexus of power then seemed to form around me, and I fused with the mantle of night and shadow. A pulse erupted from my body and I could suddenly feel the beat of every heart that surrounded me, and a lust to taste every single drop of blood. To sample them, shall we put it?
My laughter boomed out across the town. Every heart pulse fluttered in terror. My urge to feast upon them swelled. I laughed till dawn broke and the first golden ray of sunlight hit me. My skin bubbled and blistered like it would from a branding iron. I howled in agonizing pain, receding into the fleeing shadows. Through gritted teeth, a single word came to mind.
Hide.
It is the only word that I would come to hate with a deep passion.
I fled back to the crypt from which I’d crawled from. The dawn of the new day chased me, nipping at my heels. I would never see the light of day again. That was the ultimate price demanded of me for my ascension.
I gave it willingly.
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