The Last Theiro

23

Eden
•••

"Do you know what's so important about vampires, Eden? What makes us so significant and different compared to the other creatures?"

I shook my head and pushed my curly brown hair off my forehead. Marcus and I sat upon the cool metal bench, my trousers soaking up the damp metal dew as I overlooked the river that flowed peacefully below us. Darkness had not long surrendered to the light, yet I could see the thick grey clouds that were cast over the sky.

The water that belonged to the river was tainted; no longer an abyss of black, nor did it appear blue. Instead, it looked like a metallic grey, glistening as the occasional spear of light pierced through the clouds and danced over the surface.

"For centuries, we were thought of as blood-sucking creatures. But we're more than that." Marcus shrugged and turned his pale face to me. "We're just like the ischyros, just with greater and complicated needs. Needs that not even the great creator understood."

"Why do I need to know this?"

Marcus smiled at me knowingly. "I know you don't particularly like vampires but you are one now. And you're the Primus." He emphasized the last word. "You're our leader and you need to know our attributes and our importance. You can't lead a nation if you don't know anything about them."

I looked at him with boredom and raised my heavy lids, staring at him through my eyes that now turned p
pink.

"What did you think about the vampires before you became one, Primus?"

Marcus rose from the floor and looked down at me, waiting for an answer. I remained silent and he raised his eyebrows. "Surely you have an answer, Primus. Do you not?"

"I haven't really thought about it, Marcus. Vampire just appeared to me as eternal creatures who drink blood. Nothing less. Nothing more."

What I wished to say was that I had a distaste for vampires, such a distaste that I hated them. My father was a vampire and I remembered him as a cold man with no goal but self-power and control. He was the reason I formed the opinion that I had of vampires. He was the reason I loathed them.

But in some sick, twisted way, I longed to be one of the 'famous bloodsucking creatures'. Yes, I hated them, but I was envious of their lifestyle and their affirmation of never dying.

"You should've never wished to be one of us." Marcus pulled me away from my thoughts and I peered up at him. Something flashed beneath the surface of his hardened expression and I hurried to investigate the sudden shift. It was too late, the emotion disappeared before I could identify it, like reaching desperately for an escaped balloon; the string dangling so tantalizingly close but the wind pushed it away and it's lost forever.

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

Marcus smirked and flashed me a dazzling smile. "There's so much you don't know yet, Primus." He turned his back to me and began descending his way down to the river. "Sunrise is in a few minutes, Primus. You should join me in the forest."

I joined him. "How did you know what I was thinking? Did you read my mind?" I asked angrily.

He crinkled his nose. "Yeah, sure. I read your mind," he said mockingly and rolled his eyes.

"Marcus, how did you know what I was thinking?" I glared at him, asking for the last time.

"You're a vampire, Primus. Like all of us. We're all...connected in a way. I can hear your thoughts and so can the rest of us."

"Can I hear your thoughts?"

"I'm afraid not, Primus. Not now at least. That requires a heightened sense and takes a long time to master."