Monster || Sebastian Stan Fanfic

01. Memories

Sebastian's P.O.V

I have been around for a long time. Longer than anybody knows. 127 years, to be precise. I've seen it all. World Wars, Civil Wars, diseases, births and deaths, inventions. I have travelled all around the world, but never stayed long enough in any specific place.

Until now. I've been in New York before, but never crossed my mind this would be the right place for me. I am aware that, eventually, I will have to go, but I think some years won't do no harm. After all, I am immortal.

It was late in 1890 when I was turned into a vampire. I was attacked one night, by a stranger when I tried to help him; he claimed he was lost. I passed out. When I woke up, all I could think of was how badly I needed and wanted blood. But I fed on the wrong person. The one person who would have given her life for me: my mother. The transition was complete. I wasn't given a choice and I was left on my own.

At the very beginning, I was lost. I would rip apart anyone and everyone. I finally caught attention and had to leave Romania. It was in France where I met whom would later be my mentor: Astor.

Astor happened to be my landlord. And noticed what I was the second I tried to nail my fangs on him, ignoring we were from the same kind. He was much older than me and much stronger too. He threw me across the front yard of the house.

"Wh- what are you?", I asked, my eyes turned to black as my fangs came out.

"Oh, stop that dramatic non-sense. What does it look like I am?", he replied as he showed his own fangs.

"You knew?".

"Of course I knew. I'm pretty old and I've been here long enough to recognize a neophyte when I see one", he pointed out. He walked into the house and turned to me. I wasn't allowed in until he invited me. "You can come inside and have a room. I have few rules. Simple ones. First rule: Do not draw attention to you. Pretend you are a regular citizen. Second rule: Do not feed on guests. I have some acquittances in town, who happen to come over every now and then. Also, do not feed on anyone while you are in the house. That being said, I think I've made myself clear".

"Where am I supposed to feed at?", I asked.

"Dark allies, the forests, anywhere but here. And of course, not in plain sight", he stated.

"But how? How am I supposed to take someone into the woods?".

"Oh boy! Don't you know nothing about compulsion?", he asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Comp- what?". I was deeply confused.

"Compulsion. The ability to convince any mortal to do as you say. Of course, as long as they are not on vervain. I assume you have heard of vervain...".

"A bit...", I replied.

"Well, what DO you know?", Astor asked. His face looked now curious and quiet.

"I know how to feed, how to run and how to stay hidden from daylight", I replied. Sun would turn me to ashes if I was exposed to it. "I also heard vervain is like poison to us".

"Not like poison. It is poison. Only three things can kill a vampire, boy: vervain, a werewolf bite and wooden stakes", he pointed out. "As for your daylight problem, I think I have a solution".

He walked into a room filled in with books. He took one of them and opened it. To my surprise, the book itself had no pages. Instead, there was a small wooden box. Astor handed it to me and I opened it. There was a ring with a blue stone in it. It was big enough to fit my heart finger.

"What is this?", I asked as I looked at the thing in my hand.

"A daylight ring. It will prevent you from turning to ashes. You'll be free to walk around the city during day. And about the compulsion... we have a lot to work on. But you will do it".

Astor taught me everything he knew. It had been some years since I had moved in. I had learnt how to feed without raising suspicion. I knew how to compel people and how to make the most out of my new skills.

I also knew there was this chance, that had been given to us. The one choice we could actually make for ourselves: turn our emotions off. Astor told me that it was a dangerous thing to do. "You won't care about anybody but yourself. You see, when this 'switch' is on, your feelings, your whole being is sharpened. But if you turn it off, there is a chance you might become an actual monster. So don't ever do it...", he suggested.

Eventually, people around town started noticing I wasn't aging, so as neither was Astor. I decided to move to Portugal and asked him to join me, but he refused.

"But why not, Astor?", I insisted.

"Because I'm tired, Sebastian. I am really tired. It's been a long journey for me and I think my time has come to an end", he said softly.

"What are you talking about!?", I almost yelled to him.

"I mean, I'm ready to go...", he said and out of nowhere, he daggered himself with a wooden stake.

I tried to take it off, but it was too late. Astor was gone.

I stayed there, next to his corpse for a few hours. I cried, as losing him reminded me what I had done to my own mother. I thought of turning my emotions off, but instead, I ended up crying, yelling and smashing everything in the house. I took Astor's daylight ring as a reminder of how much he had done for me.

When the night came, I started a fire, letting the house burn to the ground, as I knew Astor would have wanted me to do. I saw the flames through my teary eyes, while I walked away.

These memories come back to me as I'm sitting on a plane. I could have run to New York, but I no longer like to run from country to country. I close my eyes as I try to get some rest when I feel somebody sitting next to me. As soon as I smell that scent, my mouth goes dry.