[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.