Rain

[BookZombie]

Rain

In the darkness he was running. Overhead the sky was looming, dark clouds obscuring the stars. The first wet drops already burned against his pale skin. The vampire knew he had to find shelter, and fast, weakened as he was he might not survive the rainfall those clouds promised. He had not dared to hunt, not dared to feed, not since his family was taken from him.

The vampire did not remember why he was not at the lair that night. perhaps he had gone exploring in the thickly forested landscape surrounding his family's feeding grounds, or perhaps he had gone to the cliff overlooking the lake and the human city, admiring the thousands of lights that shone from the massive concrete and glass structures and the little dots of color which where the myriad of cars. The vampire did not know who he had been before he was with his family, perhaps he had lived in one of the glass mountains in a city like this one, owned a car, lived with a job and a wife and perhaps children. Though a wife and offspring was unlikely, when he lifted his hands to his face he found smooth skin over young features, he had been little more than a child when his family took him. The vampire was happy living with his pack, they loved him, cared for him, but still he sometimes wondered, who had he been, and why his family chosen him to be one of them instead of just ending his life.

There was not much use for such idle speculation, it did not hunt down either animal nor man to bring sustenance to him and his family, it did not find clothes and what other material things they needed. Speculation on his former life was irrelevant as he could never return, the vampire knew that. Those humans in their light filled towers would never accept him, not any more than a flock of sheep would accept a wolf in their midst. However useless as his questions and daydreams was the vampire still engaged in them, and that night, that dreadful, horrible night his fantasies saved his life.

Rain was falling now, each drop feeling like a tiny flame burned his skin, leaving angry, red marks where they had kissed him. Perhaps once when he was human he had liked the rain, but now as a vampire the rain was an enemy, a hungry predator waiting to eat away at his flesh until there was nothing left. The running creature was getting desperate now, he had to find shelter, he just had to, but in this sparsely grown forest not even the trees offered much protection. There was no choice, he had to return to the cave. The vampire did not want to go there, first of all it was dangerous, the humans might still hold vigil there with her guns, and their stakes and their crosses, but more so the young vampire did not wish to see again the place where he had seen his family slaughtered.

The bloodsucker dared a glance to the sky, drops of hurtful water hit him in the eyes and temporarily blinded him and the creature growled in pain as the rain burned him however his body's regenerative abilities soon restored his vision and the temporary pain had bought him the knowledge that he had no choice, the rain would not let up, it would continue to pour down until there was no regeneration, no coming back, no hope, all that would be left of the fleeing vampire would be a pool of blood which would be washed away in the pouring streams of water like the fleeting memories of his sorrowful existence.

Turning to the left the vampire headed for higher ground, towards the caves which had been his home for close to two years. As he ran his mind wandered again, back to that night when he had been watching the human city. The creature did not know how long he had been there on the cliff, watching, dreaming of who he might have been, but eventually he knew it was time to head back to the others, they would be worried if a member of the pack was away for two long. He had ran through the forest that day to, but the sky had not been full of painful drops, instead th stars shone overhead, a grotesque blanket of light who seamed so happy compared to what the young vampire would find when his strong legs eventually brought him to the entrance of the caves.

The air was filled with smoke and the sickening scent of burning flesh. Everywhere he looked there was black vampire blood, here and there joined with a few splashes of red. The ground was torn and bumped indicating many feet had moved and stomped as their owners fought, and here and there was the metallic glint of a shell casing making the ground glint with the same obscene joy as the night sky overhead. The vampire ran further into the cave and there he found them, all of them, beaten and broken. Shafts of wooden stakes protruded from their chests, most had been decapitated. The humans who had committed this act had pured some foul smelling liquid over the dead and dying vampires and tried to burn them, but the fire had only eaten so much, leaving some of the corpses half burned and others untouched.

[BookZombie]

The vampire screamed at the rain as the memories overpowered him. They had been so careful, making sure that on the rare occasion they went for human blood they took only the outcasts from the great human tribe in the shining concrete palace which was the city below. They never took hikers, or those who would be missed, instead they would sneak into the city at night taking for prey the sick and the homeless littering the streets much like the other waste humans tossed. The vampire did not understand it, if the humans living in their beautiful city did not want the men and woman who become sustenance for himself and his family, why did they miss them? Why did they then care if others put them to some good? If he discarded a shirt or some bauble he would just be glad if someone else could use it. Obviously however the humans did not feel that way, and eventually some of them found out what was living in the woods and came up here with weapons in hand. The vampire swallowed hard, all he could see before his tired eyes where the faces of the dead, the terrified, painful faces of his slaughtered family.

Only one of the other vampires where alive when he had come home. She did not have a name, names had no importance when one's past was just a faded blur, but she had brown hair and warm, amber eyes. The human hunters had forgotten to decapitate her, or perhaps they had been scared away by something before they could finish the task. The female told him to run but the young vampire could not obey her, even if she was his elder. Lifting her into his surprisingly strong arms he carried her from that fateful cave and brought her with him to find shelter elsewhere.

The vampire could feel drops on his cheeks now that did not burn, thicker, softer drops which was smudged out by the rain as they fell from his eyes. For two weeks saving the female had been the center of his existence, not only was she the last of his family, without her he would be alone, but tending her, hunting rabbits and other small prey for her to feed on, trying all in his power to heal her took his mind of what had happened in the caves, as long as he had the brown haired vampire all was not lost, he had a purpose and he was not alone. But for all his effort he could not save her. Brown hair had been staked, her heart was destroyed there really was nothing to do, towards the end she begged her would be savior for a quick death, for release from the pain that ravaged her. Perhaps he was to weak, but the young vampire could not grant his sister the release she wanted, she was all he had, and then she faded away, her dying words was a plea that he had to run, get away from this city and the humans who knew. He could find another pack somewhere, be happy again. The vampire held his brown haired sister in his arms as she died and promised her he would go, but he knew he could never keep that promise, dead or not his family was here, how could he leave them?

He could see the caves now, but just barely, the rain had burned most of his vision away however it did not matter, his feet knew the path to his former home, he did not need his eyes to know where to run. How long had it been since he was here, since he found his family dead? A month? a year? The vampire did not know, all he knew was that a part of him longed to get out of this burning rain, and another part of him would rather have the water's acidic touch to seeing his family's torn and broken bodies again.

Running towards the cave the vampire heard a sound, and little did he know at the time that it would be the last sound he would ever hear. It was a man's voice calling out to someone the vampire could not see as his eyes was all but gone now.
"You where right Thomas, there was another one, we where wise to keep men at this cave in case he should return."
The vampire's mind was to addled with pain and desperation to understand the words being spoken or their meaning, he recognized them as an out of place sound, nothing else. The next thing he felt was strong hands driving him to the ground. The vampire landed in a puddle which made him scream, the water eagerly begun eating away at his back and at first this obscured the pain of the wood which bit into his slender chest. The vampire did not know what pain was what, and he was to confused to know what was really going on. His arms flailed about and his throat uttered a horrid shriek, a shriek which got weaker as rain filled his mouth and burned it's way down his gullet. Luckily, mercifully the human murderers did not let the young vampire suffer long, the creature could no longer see, but he felt a short, sharp pain at his neck as a blade separated his head from his body, and then there was nothing.

Blackness surrounded him, the pain was gone, the fear and despair had vanished as well, there was only darkness, but around him the vampire could feel his family, they to now free of pain. He did not know if this was some afterlife or just a fantasy held in his dying brain as the human vampire hunters poured gasoline over his dead body and light him aflame, and he did not care for in this moment he felt peace. Perhaps this was why he had not run, had not left this forest which had held nothing but pain for him, perhaps deep down the vampire had wished the hunters would find him and reunite him with his lost family, a family he felt all around him as his existence slowly faded until nothing was left safe the soft sound of the falling rain.