Only Human: Monsters and Men

Chapter 9: June Jackson

Back to Original P.O.V

Darkness. It flowed and ebbed like the ocean's waves. When the darkness receded, light would shine and overpower everything. Yet when the darkness returned, it was all consuming. A battle of dark and light. Backward and forward in an endless cycle. When the darkness was all consuming, dread resonated through the air. Longing for the light to return, the darkness was barely tolerable. When the light was strong and rampant, happiness and joy was abundant. But there was always the fear of when the darkness would return. That fear acted as a small blemish of darkness that soiled the purity of the light. But in the darkness there was a speck of light as well. The hope for when light will return. For as sure as the darkness will come, so will the light. There are three ways to live in such an existence. You can move with the tides of light and dark. Living this way is common and simple, but it can be corrupting as the darkness corrodes away at the sanity in oneself. You can remain in the darkness. Holding onto the fear of its return when in the light. Or you can remain in the light. Clinging to the hope of its return when in the dark. This is the balance we have all learned to live with. Adjusting ourselves to where we believe we can survive best.

As I stare upon the churning ocean of darkness and light, I hear these thoughts come to me. They come to me in a voice that sounds like my own, but where these thoughts come from is a mystery. I have learned to listen and trust these thoughts, however. They are what make these dreams make sense. They have also helped me in times when I was lost. These thoughts had become my very own lullaby. They calmed my fears and gave me meaning. I allow myself to lower my walls and defenses. This is my safe place. Suddenly, a feminine laughter resonated. It was not a gentle or heartfelt laughter. It was twisted and attacking. The ocean I had become accustomed to was changing. The darkness was flooding the light out of its cycle, and it did not recede when it was supposed to. The dread in the air grew thicker and thicker until it was suffocating. I choked and coughed hoping to clear it from my lungs. I focused on the small twinkle of light that was always there in the darkness. It helped calm my racing heart for a few moments, but the light eventually began to flicker. The light became fainter and fainter the longer it stayed surrounded by darkness. "Don't quit!" I shouted as the light continued to fade. Darkness pressed around me. I was being crushed underneath its weight. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. Perpetually numb, my world imploded.

I gasped as I snapped my eyes open. At first, I didn't recognize where I was and bolted to a sitting position. Blood rushed to my head as my world slipped to the side. I fell back on the pillow and moaned. I remained lying down and tried to piece together what had happened. I was on a bed with gold swirling bedspread in a plain bedroom illuminated from the sunlight filtering through a barred window. I was taken to this bedroom by someone. I glanced at the door.

"It's locked..." I said to myself. Why would I think the door is locked? My mind was fuzzy. I couldn't connect thoughts with occurrence. The side of my neck suddenly pulsed and everything started to become clear.

I was kidnapped and sold by vampires. I was brought here by the vampire who bought me. He had come into this room and... I felt heat rush to my face as I remembered why I was out. He had fed from me. I touched my neck where he had fed from. The skin felt smooth and unmarked. My lower abdomen twitched as I remembered the feeling of what Hendrix called the 'chemical.' I hugged myself tightly. I hated it. It felt good, but I hated being so powerless and controlled like that. I could handle pain. Pain was an old friend of mine that I had learned to deal with. No matter how painful something was I could always control how I handled it. What Hendrix did to me... I just couldn't stay in control.

The chemical would make my body grow so hot that I couldn't help but gasp for breaths of cool air. My muscles would move to relish in the pleasure against my will. My mind would become progressively blank as it intensely begged for the release. My heart would race sending blood pounding through my insides. Just the thought of it now made my body react in a way that I couldn't stop. I've reached orgasm before, I mean I am 20, but never by the hands of someone else. Being in a strange place and being forced to do strange things by strange people, feeling pleasure was the last thing on my mind. But Hendrix made it the forefront of my thoughts.