Your Cold Heart

Part 2: The Fire

His skin felt like it was on fire. That's the first thing he felt when he awoke alone on the forest floor, Merle's dead body lying not far from him. He held back a sob as he tried to get up but no matter how much he tried, his limbs wouldn't seem to move. Were his eyes even open? He really couldn't tell at that moment because everything inside of him hurt.

'It's almost time, my son.. soon you will awaken to a new world where anything is possible...' the voice spoke into his mind. He faintly recognized the voice but couldn't concentrate enough on why he knew it.

'What the fuck did you do to me?' He asked inside his mind although it made him feel crazy doing so.

The voice chuckled and became softer, almost childlike in it's tone. 'Just wanted to have some fun... it's so boring here. I don't see how you humans thrive! You'll thank me one day for the gift I gave you. Sadly, your brother had to die. He wasn't cut out for immortal life. He would've squandered it and brought attention to himself. But you.... you hide a lot of secrets inside you. I knew you'd be perfect!' He heard her chuckle again before his vision went black and he finally succumbed to the darkness.

~*~

When he awakened again, his eyes opened quickly and before he knew it, he was standing upright. 'What the hell?'.... he thought, confused that he had already stood before thinking it.

Looking around, he half expected someone to be with him but he couldn't see anyone. His throat burned something fierce and he felt a violent urge run through his veins. He had always had a quick temper but something seemed different. He <i>felt</i> different. It was as if he were having an adrenaline rush that wouldn't stop and he felt invincible. He could hear things that he couldn't hear before, like the light sound of steps that he heard not too far from himself. With instincts he wasn't aware he had, he sniffed the air and something coppery infiltrated his senses. Before he knew what was happening, he was running.

The culprit of the light steps started running also, going through the forest in a desperate zigzag, obviously not sure of what direction to go. But the closer Daryl came to the scent, the more intune he became with the 'thump, thump' that sounded from it's chest. If he weren't in such a frenzy, he'd have stopped to wonder why he could hear the creature's heartbeat. Why he could hear the blood flowing through its' veins. And why when he had finally caught the poor creature, his teeth automatically latched onto the creatures carotid artery, drinking it's blood.

As soon as the animal was completely drained, Daryl dropped it in disgust. Looking down at his hands, he didn't see a drop of blood like he expected. The way he had felt, he just knew that he had ripped the animal to shreds. And then he realized the animal in question had been a deer. How in the world did he catch it? He looked around himself in awe, confusion clouding his mind but he didn't feel overwhelmed nor anxious about it. All he could feel was calm. His heart wasn't beating out of his chest like he expected. He placed his hand on his chest, waiting to feel the familiar thump of his heart but felt nothing. His eyes widened in horror as he tried to rationalize in his head why that would be. A logical explanation, at least.

"It's dead." That voice piped in again that he found so familiar, although this time the voice was very near him. He looked over to the person in question and everything came back all at once. "What?" he asked, rage clouding his vision. 

"Your heart. It's dead. That's why you no longer feel it beating." the woman seemed bored and glanced at her fingernails.

"What did you do to me?!?!" He raged and charged at her, only to meet air. He looked up and saw her, standing idly on a tree branch. He stood there just staring at the woman, every fiber in his being wanting to kill her with no mercy.

"I made you better. You were weak." 

"Yeah, I heard you the first time you said that while I was burning. But what am I?"

"You're now an ancient race. A vampire. You'll live forever now. You can't be killed. You can't be hurt. You're no longer affected by human disease, decay nor death. You're invincible!"

He stared at her in shock, not quite believing what he was hearing. That couldn't be possible. Vampires don't exist.

"But they do, Daryl. You should have realized that the moment you completed your first hunt. Drank the life blood out of its' veins. Didn't it feel marvelous?"

Once he thought about it, it did feel pretty good. The blood flowing down his throat, feeling completely full.

He shook his head once again and just stood there, completely speechless.

"Don't you feel stronger? Faster? You can take any living being in a fight and not lose. With the exception of other vampires, of course. Which in that case, you'll figure that out yourself."

"Are you my mentor now or somethin'? Gonna teach me about this life and all that other stuff?" He asked, as she suddenly cackled.

"Oh heaven's no! That's not my style. I do it merely for the fun of watching someone turn! Watching someone writhe in pain is pure bliss! But no, the rest... you're going to have to figure the rest out for yourself."

And with those parting words, the woman vanished with dust being the only sign of her departure. Daryl stared in a raged silence, contemplating on going after her and killing her. But after what she had said, he really didn't want to deal with that right now. He had other important matters to attend...

Like the fact that he was now a vampire.

And he had absolutely no clue as to how to handle it.