The Monster Within ON HOLD

Part I-Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

When I felt the first weakening rays of sunlight start to seep in through the narrow walls of the alley, I knew that it was time for me to go. The myths about sunlight making us burst into flame were purely fictional. We could go into the sun without any true damage being done...if you fed on a regular basis. Which I didn't. Although I'd heard rumours that prolonged exposure to sunlight would kill us. But I thought that was just to scare us. All it really did was weaken.

And while I relished the thought of me being weak, I knew that it would just eventually lead to a blackout. Which I couldn't have. I'd already added another face to the growing list of my murdered victims; I didn't need to add another.  

As I sped down the streets in a blur, I couldn't help but feel as if I were being watched. Subtly, I flicked my eyes around. I knew that no human could be watching me; I was moving too fast for their eyes to track. Which meant... Another vampire. 

I picked up my pace, knowing that if I were in another vampire's territory, it would be very bad. Vampires are territorial by nature, and when they thought of a certain place as theirs, it was better for everyone if you just stayed away. 
'Looks like I'll be moving again,' I thought glumly.

I reached the end of the city streets, turning onto a road that was country through and through. My gaze flitted up to the slowly rising sun with panic before I pushed it aside. 
'Just stay calm,' I chanted to myself, running flat out now, not caring if it used up my energy faster. Usually, I tried not to exert myself vamparically, because it meant that I had to feed sooner. But that all went out the window as I felt the predator's eyes burning a hole in my back.  

I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the trees that began my acre of land. My cabin lay within the forest I owned, hidden in the safety of the shadows. Then my whole body stiffened. 

"Run run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the Gabriel vamp!" a female voice giggled from behind me. I almost stopped running then, at the sound of my name. How did the vampire know my name? 

Thankfully, my body didn't obey my surprised mind, and I continued running. When I passed the invisible line into my territory, my land, I let out a little sigh. I was safe... For now. 

I chanced a look back and saw a blur of movement as the vampire raced away. Probably to go tell her litle pack of vampires that there was a new vamp in town. Slowing my pace to a steady run, I cursed. I wouldn't be able to come back here for a while, just to be safe, and I could admit that I'd come to like it here. My little cabin was like my own private world, my escape from the reality of everything I had done. And I was just about to lose it. 

It wasn't that I was worried about the money. I had more than enough to get by. Back in the good old days, my human days, my family had been rich enough. My father was Lucas Daniels, a lawyer with which one did not fuck. He was very well known in our home town of London. Mother was surgeon, making her money in plastic surgery. Neither of them was around much, leaving my younger sister Isabelle and I in the capable hands of our Nanny Ruth, a kind hearted, grandmotherly type of woman with understanding green eyes and an aging, wrinkled face. Leaving them behind had almost killed me, but I knew it was for the best. I didn't want to corrupt the innocence of my family with the monster I'd become.

Memories of my old life were never good. They reminded me of all I'd lost, everything I'd had to give up. And for what? The whim of some crazed vampire? 

I stopped running, slamming my fist into a nearby tree. The whole thing wobbled under the strength of my blow. Yet another reminder of what I'd become. 

Slowly, I raised my head to gaze at the shining sun through the canopy of leaves. The sun that had once been my friend, but had slowly turned into my enemy. It had raised to its normal, morning height, brightening the dreary day with its presence. It was one of those perfect days. The sun was smiling, the sky was blue, with not a single cloud marring its beauty, and a cool breeze that was just the right temperature whispered through the woods. A heavy sigh escaped me as I took in the birds singing majestically from their hideouts in the trees. I missed this. God, did I miss it. 

All of a sudden, I was running again. Running away from the past, the present, the future. Running away from reality to my little hovel in the woods. 

Seeing the simple wooden structure calmed me some. It was just one floor with three main rooms. The en suit bathroom, the bedroom and the kitchen diner that doubled up as a living room. It wasn't much, but it was home. It was mine. 

Anger swept through me at my predicament. I shouldn't have to leave my home because some stupid vampires thought that the city was their territory. I'd been here long before they had. If anything, this was my territory! And yet I couldn't enforce that. Because I was weak. And they were not. 

Opening the door, I breathed in the woodsy smell of home. My eyes roamed across the small brown sofa and coffee table in the corner, then to the one seat table in the small kitchen area. A slightly ajar wooden door lead to the compact bedroom, which in turn lead to the only bathroom. I winced as I took in the most recent marks I'd made on the wooden log walls: claw marks. 

I went through to the bedroom, slumping down onto the single bed with my head in my hands. When I felt a stingy substance on my fingers, I slowly looked at my hands, already knowing what I'd see. Blood. My stomach, empty because I'd vomited all the blood up, dropped as the hunger tried to claw its way out of my throat. 

Pushing that aside, I got up to go to the bathroom. I stopped dead when I saw my reflection in the mirror above the small sink. Blood was splattered all over my face. In my hair, around my mouth, on my forehead. Disgusted, I quickly turned on the shower to wash off the delicious, repulsive blood. 

Once I had scrubbed myself clean three times over, I finally got out of the shower. Black dots swam at the edge of my vision, warning me that I'd pushed myself too hard. I stumbled out of the shower and threw some clothes on at random, before I collapsed onto my bed. 

As the darkness swept over me, I had one thought. Not again. 

***

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