Katrina wakes me in time for the fights of the night. I only remember falling asleep with her in my arms last night. It was comforting to my frayed sanity, for I'm still not all together here on this earth.
Rhyn trembles as I walk up to him.
"So, when's my first fight? I am in the mood for bloodshed." I say, my voice as dark as my hair.
"Maybe you should feed first, old friend."
I whirl to face Aleph. He's showing the wings of a dragon on his back. They are the red color of a setting sun. He hasn't aged a day, nor changed his appearence, really.
"How long have they kept you locked away?" he asks, a growl building in his throat.
"A year. I escaped last night. And I thirst and I'm hungry for blood."
Rhyn has disappeared. Good thing, too, as Aleph looks about to kill somebody.
"I've heard Rhyn say he wishes you to fight tonight, Arian. Of course, he also said he wishes you dead." the young demon Chris says softly.
I look closer at the boy. He's aged, but only slightly. He looks like a normal teenager now...but he is still so old for that body.
"I look forward to the fighting. Tell me...who am I fighting?" I reply, not taking my eyes from Chris. Something is wrong..very wrong here.
"Another vampire. His name is...something that starts with a K. Japanese, I think." Katrina says very softly.
My eyes flare red. I know who it is...my maker. My worst enemy. I have to kill him. Now.
Katrina and Aleph both grab my arms. They see the blood lust flaring. They won't let me go until they know I won't hurt anyone. It's not a high possibility anymore, but I admit, it could still happen, should they get in my way too much.
"Arian...why do you get so angry? Kitoya is this vampire's name..." Katrina stops, seeing and feeling the tensing of my muscles.
"He is the one who made me the monster I am." I reply softly.
Their hands falls from me, leaving me free to run. And by running, they will never catch me. I am too fast for even supernatural eyes to see, unless they are vampires.
"Welcome to the last battle of the night. We have, from Rhyn's stable, on his first night back in a little more than a year....Arian the vampire!"
When I am announced, the crowd gasps, then becomes silent. I enter slowly into the arena, the perfect picture of death. I've lost weight from not feeding, which can be gained right back. The dark circles under my eyes are more pronounced, making their redness all the more horrible.
This crowd knows a vampire in bloodlust when they see one. I just pray I can keep control long enough to finish my task...to gain my revenge.
"And...a free fighter, Kitoya, who we are told has connections to Arian."
Kitoya enters the ring, his smug smile sending me nearly over the edge. He hasn't changed. His black hair is still long and there are two plaits tied in the back of his head. His black, almond shaped eyes are hard to avoid, trapping my gaze, rending me paralyzed.
"Arian, it has been so long, my son." He says softly
"I will kill you." My voice is a snarl, venom dripping from my every word.
"Come now, Arian, you cannot still be angry with me."
"I am. I will kill you."
The bell rings and our circling begins. His smile doesn't falter, even faced against me, the strongest fledgling he's ever made. I have had centuries to gain strength.
I will kill him and gain Katrina's freedom as well as my own.
"You look starved, Arian. You can't possibly beat me."
I snarl and pounce on him, catching him off guard.
He struggles with me, rolling around in the dirt and each of us trying to get the other pinned to the ground.
When we finally back away from each other, we both have cuts, scrapes and bruises on every exposed inch. My shirt has been torn to fragments, mostly from my frenzied slashes at him, though there are some gouges where he cut me with his nails. I tear it off, leaving my chest and back exposed. This is, perhaps, a bad decision, but I can't leave the fabric to get in my way.
"Arian...can we not work something out?" Kitoya gasps, cuts arching across his chest. They are deep gouges that bleed still.
"You took my life! And you took my family!" I nearly scream
"All because I wanted you, dear boy! Someone as beautiful as you should never die a mortal death."
"I would have rather died!"
I attack him again, my claw-like nails tearing into his throat, but not deep enough to kill him. As he flings himself backwards, I let him see me licking the blood that still drips from the tips of my nails. His eyes grow wide.
As he stands, I wait, crouching down like a tiger after his prey. I follow him with my eyes as he edges around me. He thinks to destroy me from behind. I smile, my fangs protruding more. They've grown with my blood lust.
"Arian...what I did was wrong, but I will not let you kill me." He snarls.
I laugh and lunge around my own side at him, knocking him off his feet. I dodge a blow from him and disappear into the dust cloud I kicked up.
"Arian!" He calls, unable to see me. Thank the Gods for dark arena edges.
He growls in every direction and, when his back is to me, I tackle him from behind, my nails tearing another gash into his neck, deep enough to sever the jugular and arteries. He falls, coughing and sputtering. But I am not done with him.
"Feel the pain you inflicted on me, oh master of mine." I snarl in his ear.
I begin tearing his arm from his body, laughing even as he screams. No one will stop me. It's against the rules.
When his arm is completely severed, I toss it from me. Then I begin the process again with his legs. His screams get higher and higher. His bloodlust will begin soon, I'm sure.
"Arian! You wife...she...lives!" He screams.
"Liar!"
"She's here. In this city!"
I tear his lower jaw out before he can say more. Then, just to end my boredom with tearing him to pieces, I slam my fist into his chest, tearing out his heart. This I drain with my fangs. Every last drop of blood I swallow....then I see what I never dreamed to see again.
My wife and my oldest child are alive, here in the city....I must find them.
Katrina tears me away from the body and drags me back down into the stable. She does not know about my past, nor can she ever know.
I must find my wife and child.
Adding your comment:
