Academy One-shots and Drabbles

Malediction - part II

Chapter II - Beginning of the End

Sang's POV

I think if I'd still been human, I would have liked Charleston more than I did now. I didn't know what it looked like during the day, but if it was anything like it was at night, I was sure it was beautiful. I liked it, though. It was a nice, quaint town with nice people and pretty homes and shops.

Some of the people were nice, at least. Marie and I kept our distance. We didn't interact with humans even though they didn't even notice us half the time.

The bad part about being what I was? We heard and saw everything. Mostly everything, anyway. Since we weren't human drinkers, our senses were dulled. But every little speck of dust or mutter under someone's breath, I heard and saw it all. Especially heartbeats. Sometimes I could visualize the organ beating if I stared at their chests long enough. It used to drive me mad, make me thirsty, but now it only fueled to remind me of my immortality.

The sounds around me were amplified and even the slightest noise couldn't escape my hearing. In the beginning, after the panic and freak out, I thought it was the most amazing thing ever. I wasn't clumsy, weak, or plain anymore. I wasn't just plain-old me with no redeeming qualities but my eyes. For once, I was strong enough to stand up for myself. I think being what I was gave me that sense of confidence I'd been lacking as a human. It was exhilarating. Exciting, even.

Except when it wasn't... And it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Hollywood had it all wrong. They made us out to be these beautiful, alluring creatures who led extravagant lives and fell in love with humans who could accept us for who we were. And we were beautiful, I guess—if you ignored the cold skin and pale complexion.

My reality was far from perfect, though, and so far, I detested this existence. The thrill was gone and along with it, any sense of being normal. I gave up on trying to be 'human' and tried to embrace being... this. A cursed being with no beating heart and no direction in life. Often times, I thought Marie was more suited for this life than me.

I missed being able to feel the sun on my skin without it burning or to be able to walk down the street without a care in the world. I think part of me wanted to be invisible so badly, now that I had the ability to stand out, I couldn't. I was forced to hide, to blend in with everyone else because if I didn't—if we didn't—the consequences were severe.

We couldn't expose ourselves to humans. That was the lesson our sire, my maker, told us before he left us to fend for ourselves in this cold, dark world.

Marie had never agreed with that. She was different. She wanted more. While I wanted to keep my head down and avoid drawing any attention, she wanted to stand out and go wild. I'd never seen her more free in my life, but it also made me more aware of how out of control she could be.

We'd done this a million times during the past year, but I had a good feeling about this place so I was determined to make sure Marie stayed in line here.

In the beginning, I'd been worried that perhaps the weather would give us away or make it hard for us to travel, but the colder months were encroaching, so it was the perfect cover.

Even so, Marie was adamant about moving on. Our plan was to stay for a few months and then move on to the next city. We'd stock up on supplies, keep our heads low, and maybe this time not draw too much attention to ourselves. The last city we were in, Marie ended up losing control and nearly exposed us to the authorities. I was forced to tamper with the footage they caught of us and clean up any loose ends we may have left behind before we fled.

I was glad we didn't need to sleep much (or at all, really) because I hated the fact that I had to kill those innocent police officers. I had their blood on my hands and it haunted me every time I closed my eyes.