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By the side of the lake, Enson sat on his knees
and tasted the blood in his mouth. I
swallowed the demon's blood! What does that mean for me? He
began to throw up onto his lap, disgusted from the taste of the demon's
blood, but more disgusted from the idea of what having that blood in his
mouth would mean. If
I drink from you, you die. If you drink from me, you live, forever!
Enson didn’t want to live forever, especially if
the cost of that eternal life was becoming a creature like the demon that
had tried to take his life. He wondered what would become of the creature,
or the men that had saved his life, possibly at the cost of their own? He
stood and looked at the dark and peaceful lake, wondering if this was the
beginning or the end of his life. If it was the end, then he was glad to
have these few moments to think things over, but if it was the beginning,
then he wondered what it was the beginning of?
He took off in a sprint, running anywhere but the
direction from which he had come. He guessed he was running from the demon
that may still be searching for him, but in truth, he knew that he was
running from himself. After tonight, he knew his days as a soldier were
over, but he wanted to wait until he knew the consequences of his bloody
drink, before he went to his wife. If that demon suffered from a contagious
disease, he didn’t want it to spread to his wife.
Through the serene darkness, Enson ran like a
madman trying to escape his own body. A terrible feeling had begun to awaken
in his body, in his stomach and in his heart. He could feel something
powerful at work inside of him, something that made the night seem alive and
in tune with his senses. He could feel himself changing, but he didn’t
know, and wasn’t sure he wanted to know, what he was changing into. His
blood felt as if it were on fire, and his mouth and soul were incredibly
thirsty. But, the lake full of clean drinking water he was galloping past
didn’t look like it contained anything that would help quench his thirst.
I wonder
what will become of me? I wonder what will become of my wife? Where will I
go? What will I do? What will I become?
Deep down in his heart, he thought he knew some of
the answers to these questions, but he didn’t like those answers. Instead
of contemplating what was happening to him, he ran. He ran until he could
run no longer. He found himself in a field of corn stocks higher than
himself, where he collapsed. He
was completely exhausted from his running and the night adventures that had
led to the strange process that he could feel changing his body. He looked
up into the night sky, and saw the moon shining above him. He could feel
sleep taking him, and prayed that he would wake up in his bed, alongside the
rest of the southern army.
Sleep took him almost immediately after and
terrible dreams of being ostracized by Christ followed. He dreamed of demon
woman attacking him, but then cowering in fear at his power. He dreamed of
himself, searching through the night, preying on humans and drinking their
delicious blood.
When he awoke, the next night, having slept
through the entire day under the shade of the high corn stalks, he felt well-rested, powerful and thirsty. He rose slowly and walked in the direction of
the stalks that he had crushed the previous evening. It was a remarkably
bright and clear night, and he made his way to the lake with no trouble.
He stripped under the cover of darkness by the
edge of the lake and stepped into the cool water for a refreshing bath. He
followed the trail of the moonlight as it cascaded off the dark water. When
he finished his swim, he walked back to the water’s edge and sat by the
side of the lake, staring into the night, amazed by how peaceful it looked.
He stood and began to dress, staring into his reflection in the water. It
was then that he noticed his eyes. His eyes were shining brightly in the
reflection he cast into the lake. It was then that he realized what he had
become. It was then that he saw his eyes in his reflection off the lake. The
image he saw back was of himself, looking into the water, with eyes as red
as blood.
©2003 StoriesByEmail.com
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