Predator or Prey?

Life on this planet was simple. Be a predator or be prey. Humans lived a very short life compared to us. The immortal beings of the night. We existed only in their dreams; well nightmares to be precise. We were thought to be just fictional creatures in their fantasy world. Little did they know, we did exist. It was easy to pity the human race. So feeble. So weak. But it was also easy to be jealous of them. Their ignorance made them live what they thought to be 'long' happy lives. Oh how I craved mortality. How many times I'd sat and thought about putting an end to this ever lasting life of emptiness. It's true I was sadistic. Wouldn't you be if you'd slaughtered over a hundred humans to survive? Drawn to you they wouldn't realise until the last minute their life was about to end. The look of pure terror in their eyes, the begging and then the sudden urge to run. As boring and as cliche' as it was it still disturbed me. But there was no other way for me to survive and so I kept on with my gruesome ways. After all I was a vampire.

=================================================================================

My eyes flew open. I had the same dream again. My body beaded in sweat, I lifted the sheets off myself and stepped out of bed. My feet found their way to my bathroom and I turned to the mirror. My skin was always so pale; it was so unnatural. My dark brown hair poked out in all different directions. It was always so hopeless in the morning. A small tear ran down my cheek and I wiped it away casually with a hand. Why? Why couldn't I be normal? Why couldn't I have normal dreams like everyone else? But the truth always hit home, I wasn't normal. I was far from it. I turned away from the basin and manoeuvred my way to the shower. Carelessly I shrugged my boxers and plain tee off and stepped into the cubicle. The warm water gushing from above made me feel calm. I sat on the floor of the shower letting the water sprinkle down from above me like a waterfall. No. Ruby Decoute' would never be normal. I had been having those dreams from as long as I could remember. They were always the same. About a man with short dark hair, pale skin like mine, and black eyes. He was young and quite charming looking; well he would be if he didn't slaughter people in my sleep. How could I imagine such a thing? Was I deranged? I had always been afraid of what people would say if I told them. Scared that they might call me insane and send me off to one of those psychiatric institutions. I didn't want to end up in a place with crazy people. White walls, plain room, hospital outfits, strapped down to a bed screaming for help. No. I quickly pushed those thoughts out of my head. I wasn't insane. I wasn't going to end up in one of those places. I pulled my knees up to my body and wrapped my arms around them. I could survive this. It would end.

I dragged myself out of the shower and covered myself with a towel. Hastily checking myself in the mirror I applied make up and towel dried my hair. I opened my wardrobe and pulled out a pair of skinny jeans and a flannelette shirt. I didn't have many clothes. I was the type of person who didn't buy things she didn't need. I was a simple kind of person. A few jeans and a few shirts would do me fine. I guess it was the way I was brought up that made me like that. I was eleven years old when Bainbridge Academy found me on their doorstep. My parents apparently left me sitting on the stairs with a note and bank account details. I couldn't remember anything at all before that night. Doctors and police and even the Principal from the Academy asked me questions. What was my name, when was I born, where did I come from. I didn't have any answers. I tried and tried to remember who I was and what I had done before I was left there but I couldn't. It was like an empty haze. Bainbridge Academy took me in and made me a home. It was strange at first living at a boarding school with hundreds of other kids but I got used to it after a while. I kind of liked it. I grew up to be really independent. If I wanted to do something I set my mind to it and I could achieve it. I also obtained an attitude. I guess I couldn't cope with being strong all the time and it made me really frustrated. I never felt like a normal person either. Especially not with my dark eyes, pale skin, nightmares and I was parent-less. I didn't want people to know how vulnerable I felt and how fragile I was so I decided to cover it all up with a fake attitude. I got in trouble a lot for it and had to see the Principal several thousand times. He got used to it though and what else could he do but punish me? I had nowhere else to go.