The Fallen Memory

Chapter One ~ A Flame in the Darkness

Present Day ~ October 2016

There. 

He watched as the girl weaved through the crowd, her mass of red hair a flame in the darkness. An ache erupted in his chest. His eyes dilated in anticipation of what was about to happen. Gracefully he followed her path. He walked slowly as to not attract any attention. That was the last thing that he needed. 

His eyes followed the girl as she disappeared through a door that led to the alleyway outside the club. A devilish smile took form on his face as he gracefully glided and slipped through the door before it closed. 

Outside the night air wrapped around him, its icy bite cutting him to the bone. A flame danced around the corner. He followed, his body preparing itself for the fight ahead. His heart pumped adrenaline through his veins as he rounded the corner. 

Darkness was all he saw - but through it, everything was clear.

"Hello?" His voice was the sweetest cadence, a perfect mixture of milk and honey. 

"Go away." Small. Tentative. Instantly he could detect the hoarseness in the words, a sign of sadness and betrayal. Tears that had burned too long as they slid down a mortal's throat. 

He played coy, checking behind him, pretending as if he was nervous. 

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I just..." He trailed off. Being mortal was too easy. All he had to do was play dumb and pause at just the right moment. "I saw you run out and wanted to make sure you were okay."

A metal trashcan lid fell, clattering onto the ground, shattering the silence. "Just..." He heard the hesitation in her voice. The tiny, minuscule sliver of trust that had worked its way into her mind. "Who are you?"

He stifled a laugh, settled for a smile. "My name is Mark." He paused, trying to strengthen her trust towards him. "What's your name?" He looked around him again. "Are you still there?"

Through the darkness he saw an orange dot shuffle forward. "Yes, Vanessa. My name is Vanessa." 

He smiled, "That's beautiful." He felt the heat radiate off her as she blushed. "Why don't you come out?" He waited. 

"Is there anyone out there?" She stopped. He could see the tips of her white heels from behind the trashcan. "With you, I mean?"

For goodness sake, just step out of there. He held his emotions in check, biting down his intentions. "No, it's just me. Come on, aren't you cold? Here, take my jacket." He clumsily took off the worn leather and held it out to the hiding girl.

A silence had settled over them. Time seemed to slow. It felt like an eternity before he heard her emerge from the shadows, her heels clicking against the asphalt. She stepped into the dim street light. 

"Mark?  Where are you?" Her brown eyes searched the alley, landing on everything but him. 

His hands itched to grab her shoulders, to brush his fingers across her pale skin - but he restrained himself. 

Savor the sin. 

"Mark?" Panic crept into her voice. She wrapped her exposed arms around her chest. "Mark, this isn't funny. Where did you go?" 

One by one, the street lights went out, blanketing the alley in darkness. 

"Mark..." She trailed off, her lips trembling with fear.

He felt the Creature inside him awake. A primordial feeling of dread and sin that was older than he was. It transformed him, his tattoo that wound around him burned with the intensity of the sun. The darkness loomed over him, pouring from his soul, tainting the rest of his humanity.

"Vaaaanessssaaaaa..." It came out as a hiss. He watched her body tense as she slowly turned on her heels. Her mouth fell open, a bloodcurdling scream erupted from her. 

He let the darkness loose, felt it capture her soul. 

Then the night was silent. The only sound was the street lights as they flickered back to life.

  ∞ ~ ∞ ~ ∞        

He awoke to the sound of voices. They drew him out of the abyss of his mind, bringing him back to the grim reality of his life. Slowly he opened his eyes. The space in front of him was illuminated with a dim light, outlining two figures as they talked.

"I'm telling you, we should just leave him here. If he wanted to come back, then he would have on his own."

"We can't do that, Alyxa. You know he's at his weakest after he feeds."

"I don't care, Ander. All I know is that we need to get going before the Guard comes to investigate why one of their patrols isn't responding."

The boy paused. Ryder's vision was still out of focus, though he could make out that the boy was the taller of the two.

"Let's at least wait until he wakes up. Okay?"

"Sure."

Ryder tried to break through the fog that had clouded his mind, tried to regain full consciousness. He moved his arm but it was stiff and bent at an odd angle. He sucked in a pained breath, his lungs burning with the useless oxygen.

"He's awake. Can we leave now?" Alyxa's voice cascaded down to him. Ryder growled at her.

"Good to see you care."

She smiled at him, "My heart expounds with care for you."

Gradually, he shuffled to his feet, using the alley wall behind him as support. "I see you found me." His eyes raked over them. Alyxa was wearing a black dress that came down mid-thigh. Ander was dressed in his black hunting gear. 

"It wasn't hard." Ander said, his metallic eyes glistening in the dim light. "All we had to do was follow the darkness and the screams."

Guilt ebbed its way into his chest. "That bad?"

"I heard you from the club across town." Alyxa said as she twirled a ninja star between her thumb and forefinger. "And Ander was flying over the Blue Ridge." Ryder stared at him, his ink black eyes wide. "So yeah."

Ryder raked his fingers through his black hair, tufts of the feathered down sticking up at odd angles. He felt his stomach start to roll, the weight of what he had done as it was burdened onto his shoulders. 

"Did she..." He trailed off, his voice hoarse. The words scrapped at his throat, clawing their way out. 

Alyxa turned away, her gaze fixing on somewhere far off. Ander was the only one that didn't turn away. His metallic eyes softened as they looked through Ryder's hard gaze. "I'm sorry." 

The blood drained from his face as he fell to his knees. "What is happening to me?" His ink eyes consumed all, darkening the already dim alley. They captured the light, tainting it. 

"It's not your fault, Ryder." Ander bent down, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder. 

"Yes it is." His voice was a whisper. He could feel their eyes on him, the fear that radiated through their blood. His eyes burned. A memory tugged in his mind of a voice that brought terror to his soul.

You were bred for death, son. The light of life will one day drain, and only the darkness of shadows will remain...