Ivan Hurstwell was walking home. It was late, and the silvery moon hovered over the rooftops, casting it's spectral light over the scenery. His mind was wandering, and his hand rested in his pocket, clutching a small box. What was in this box? A ring. And engagement ring, to be precise. Tonight was to be a special occasion, for, after two years of dating, and five months of living together, he was going to ask Sheila to marry him.
His footsteps echoed in the darkness, and the streetlights standing at regular intervals served to throw his features into sharp contrast as he passed them. He whistled quietly. Then...he felt something, and the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. There. Movement, seen briefly out of the corner of his eye. It was just a fleeting glimpse, but it was enough to set his nerves on edge. Something was following him. Stalking him. And he knew not what.
There was a rustle of fabric, and a soft footfall behind him. So quiet, so slight, that it was on the edge of his perception. His courage failed, and he broke into a dead run. His feet pounded against the pavement, and the buildings flashed past him. He could not hear any sounds of pursuit, but he didn't expect to. Whoever,
whatever was following him seemed to have a supernatural talent for silence. Onward he ran.
There, to the left, an alley. Maybe he could duck into it, and his pursuer would pass him by. He made the decision, and threw himself sideways, into the darkness of the alley. He rolled, and leapt to his feet, and stepped backwards, facing the entrance to the alley. He stood absolutely still, listening, trying to breath without making a sound. For several excruciating moments, nothing seemed to happen.
Then, a soft sound, from directly behind him. Before he could turn, thin but incredibly strong arms wrapped around him, and threw him to the ground. He rolled, and lay there, staring up into the shadowed face of his assailant. It was a man, middle aged, with stringy black hair and a scraggly beard. His eyes were an unnatural shade, a very dark red, and there was a look of madness about them. The man spoke.
"Eh, wot's this then? You're just a boy! Not that it changes anything. A man's gotta eat, and I never was one to deny myself good food," and so saying, he gripped Ivan's arms, pinning them to his side, and tilted his head, mouth slightly open. There was a flash of sharp white teeth, and then he bit into Ivan's exposed neck.
Ivan made a muffled cry, but couldn't wrest himself from the man's iron grasp. "No...you..." he struggled feebly, "Sheila..."
The man paused in his drinking, "Sheila huh?" Crimson liquid dripped from his lips.
"M...my wife," he managed. A burning sensation was spreading from a focal point on his neck.
The man hooted, "Wife!? Ha! You're just a kid. You'll be saying you have five kids and a dog next."
Ivan managed, with great effort, to reach his hand into his pocket. He then withdrew the hand, clutching the small box. The man glanced curiously at him, and took it. He opened it, and a knowing smile spread across his face, "Ah...you were going to propose, were ya?" He scrutinized the young man, his eyes brimming with insanity. "Mayhap you aren't as big of a loser as ya look." He licked his lips, removing traces of blood from them.
"Tell ya what, your blood don't taste as good as I deserve, and I'm not all that hungry tonight. So you're in luck! I'll cut ya some slack." He looked again at the ring, and pocketed it. Ivan tried to cry out, to say that he couldn't take it, that he
mustn't take it. But he had not the strength.
With a grunt, the man grabbed Ivan's ankle, and started dragging him down the alley. Nearby was a towering dumpster, old and rusted. Random graffiti was spray painted along the side. "Shit Happens" it said, in balloon letters. Irony. Heh.
Without any apparent effort, the man hurled him into it. He landed among several bags of garbage. A couple boxes and other things that had been lying beside the dumpster followed, landing on top of Ivan and hiding him from view. Then there was a brief silence.
Several sharp clangs resounded on the side, the sound of the bearded man rapping on it with his knuckles. "Hang tight there, kiddo. You've got a mighty rough three days ahead of ya." Then there came a soft chuckle, and the sound of his receding footsteps. Silence fell once again.
Ivan tried to get up, but his limbs felt heavy, and the burning sensation was becoming much more pronounced. It now coursed throughout his entire body, like fire in his veins. He tossed and turned, causing himself to sink further into the garbage. He though he was going to die. And funnily enough, he thought right.
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For an unknown length of time, he drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes he heard people nearby, but he was unable to call out. Nobody discovered him. Pain coursed through his veins, reaching unbearable levels. Thankfully, when it became too bad he fainted, and so gained a temporary escape from the agony. But then he would regain consciousness again, and the pain would assail him once again. It went on for what seemed like weeks, an eternity of torment.
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Ivan woke up. The first thing he noticed was the quiet. He decided that it must be the middle of the night, maybe early morning. And he noticed another thing. The pain. Or the lack of it. The pain was gone. Whatever had happened to him, it was past now. He turned over, no small thing to do while buried in a pile of trash, and gathered his legs under him. He managed to stand, and the garbage fell away from him, exposing his face and upper body to the still night air. He took a deep breath, and realized something odd. He hadn't been breathing. At all. And he hadn't even noticed until now. Quite strange.
"What the..." he muttered, and gripped the sides of the dumpster. His surprise grew as he applied force, and his whole body flipped out of the dumpster, and into the air. He performed an awkward back flip, and landed, squatting slightly to absorb the impact. "What the
hell?" he said this time finishing his sentence. Where did that come from? It was like he weighed only a couple pounds. He had just meant to clamber out of the dumpster, nothing...like that.
Before he could think more about these things, another sensation assaulted him. Pain. A clenching, clawing, gnawing pain in his gut. It felt like hunger, but very strong. He doubled over, and then the pain passed, receding back into a dull ache. He needed food, he decided. He had been in that dumpster for several days. Possibly more.
He looked around then, and his nose twitched. What? He could smell...something. It was strangely familiar, but he couldn't place it. It was...metallic...earthy. Could it be...he shuddered, and wondered if something terrible had happened nearby. Then, almost against his will, almost involuntarily, he turned, and trotted down the alley towards the scent. He couldn't help it, he was compelled irresistibly.
He moved down the alley, turned right, and set off at a brisk run, following the scent. There. Several yards ahead, a short figure stood leaning against a street lamp, swaying slightly. A...a drunken bum? Ivan was feeling very strange. He could hear...a sound. A thumping, and he knew at once what it was: the sound of the man's heart, beating in his chest. If he concentrated, he could also sense the blood, coursing through veins and arteries. And there was something else, too. Something that disturbed him very much.
Ivan realized that he was salivating heavily.
The drunk swayed on his feet, clutching a half empty bottle in a paper bag. He took a swig, and belched loudly. Ivan couldn't understand it. He felt repulsed, and at the same time horribly attracted. He drew closer to the drunk, and struggled with himself, trying to force his legs to carry him away from there. But he was powerless, it seemed, to the uncontrollable urge rising up within him. His will breaking, he leaped, and crashed into the man. They both fell to the pavement, and Ivan easily pinned the drunken man down.
Then, hardly believing what he was doing, he started to feed. He bit into the man's neck, his lips scraping against several days growth of whiskers. He bit down, and his teeth ruptured the skin. A rush of warm, utterly delicious blood gushed into his mouth, and he began to suck greedily. Warmth rushed down his body, and several blissful seconds passed. But deep down, he was utterly horrified.
A moment more, a last gulp of the thick liquid, and he was finished. He stood, licking his lips, and then the madness seemed to pass, and he was in control of himself again. He looked down at the man lying broken against the ground, and anguish welled up within him. He had killed a man. For there was no doubt about it, he couldn't hear a heartbeat. It had ceased, for there was nothing left to pump. He had
killed him.
Ivan backed away from the corpse, and a shot rang out. Something whistled past him, clipping his shoulder. He spun and fell, collapsing heavily on the ground. He wasn't particularly hurt, but the shock of being shot served to stun him momentarily. Footsteps thudded heavily, and then a figure stood over him, face masked by the darkness. "You shouldn't have done that, vampire. Not on my watch."
An iron toed boot smashed into Ivan's face, sending him sprawling across the concrete. It hurt like hell, but for some reason, it didn't seem to have done any real damage. "Ungh..." he groaned, and tried to curl into a fetal position. "Oh no, you're not getting off that easy, blood-sucker," the man grunted, and he reached down, grabbing Ivan's shirtfront. Ivan felt his heartbeat, so close...but he stamped down on the urge as hard as he could. Whatever happens, he couldn't kill again. Never again.
The man held held him suspended, nose to nose, and growled, "We civilized humans don't take kindly to murder." There was a scuff of material, and the soft ringing of metal. The man held up a long knife, horribly sharp. "Now, how about we do a little test," and he grinned, thrusting the blade into Ivan's gut. Ivan yelled as the sharp pain lanced into his stomach. Then the man raised the blade to eye level, and Ivan stared at it, fascinated.
The knife was bent, as if it had been shoved into an anvil. The man grinned wider, "Ahh. So you are one of them. Ha! Well then, I know just what to do with you..." and there was another sound. The man raised a second blade, only this one shone with a different light, and it smelled...bad. The man chuckled, "Know what this is, don't you? Made from one of the only materials that can pierce your kind's flesh. And let me assure you, it will hurt like nothing you have ever felt before."
At that moment, Ivan jolted from his stunned state. His fingers curled, and he lashed out at the man's face. His fingers scratched across the man's cheek, and the flesh yielded easily under his fingernails, digging furrows in the skin. The man howled, and staggered back a step, clutching his injured face, and at the same time, releasing his hold on Ivan. Taking his opportunity, he ducked and rolled, getting out of arm's reach.
He leaped to his feet, and darted away, moving at a speed that surprised even him. In less than a second he was several yards away, moving at top speed. There was a growl of anger behind him, and another shot split the night. It whistled past him, close to him head, but he ducked, and ran faster. A wrathful roar echoed after him, "That's right, run, you little shit! But know this: there is nowhere you can go where I can't find you! And when I do find you again, I will kill you, and
everyone who tries to protect you! You're damned, you hear me?! Damned!"
Trembling with pent up emotions, Ivan ran on, following a haphazard path among the winding streets. He fervently hoped that he didn't meet another human, because then he might kill again. And again. He knew how strong the urge could be. And he knew one thing: he was not strong enough to control it. No yet. Maybe in time, if he didn't get himself killed in the meantime.
As he ran, he started looking at street signs, trying to find a name he recognized. He would go home, and tell Sheila everythi -- wait. He halted. He couldn't go home. That man...what he said...Ivan didn't know what skills he had at his disposal, but he was pretty sure that his threat was real enough. And what if he himself...killed her? Could be control himself? He doubted it. He doubted it very much indeed.
He ran onward, blindly, barely registering where he was going. Nothing mattered now. It seemed that his whole world had been torn apart. Could he ever go back? Maybe. But at the moment, it seemed very unlikely. She would think he had died...or that he had left her...
Tears pricked at his eyes, and he made no move to wipe them away. His hand went to the stone hanging on a cord around his neck. Green, like her eyes. She had given it to him, months ago. He squeezed the rock hard, then feared that he'd break it, and released his grip. It was the only thing left to him now.
Still he ran, sobbing quietly. Rarely he showed such emotion, but the events of the last few days (or weeks) had almost broken him. On he ran. Wishing the darkness to swallow him up, wanting it to embrace him with oblivion.