The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

He screamed, running at nothing. What he saw, what he heard, and what he thought he felt, was never really there. It was all his imagination, taking over his mind, making him believe in what’s impossible. He saw figures looming in the distance, but all that actually remained were empty houses, deserted roads, and disease infected rats that scurried behind the decaying trash. He screamed again, and felt a force building inside of him. All that was there, that was still intact, was a single wall…it was the only thing left standing. His hand curled into a fist, his arm swung back, and without thinking, he let his fist hit that single wall with all the force he had left, and then there was nothing. When he finally realized what had happened, there was no more wall, just dust and some crumbled brick. He stared at his hands, they were shaking. He took one step back. “No, it can’t happen again.”

“Hey Sesrel…looks like we’ve found another.” He turned around, hands at his sides, still shaking, his lips opened slightly in disbelief. “So, I take it you’ve known for a while.” He knew what she was talking about, and nodded numbly. “So what’s your name kid.” He looked down, then looked up again, and then at the man’s face. “Who’re you?” He sneered. “Don’t get smart with me kid..I’ll kick your ass.” The girl next to the guy smiled, and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. He looked down, and she whispered something in his ear. The guy smirked. “Noctis..huh..”

“How did you know my name?” He stared up at the man nervously, noticing his size. He was tall, 6’ 5” or so, broad shouldered, and all around rough looking. The girl was of average height, slender, with a feeling about her that he couldn’t quite place. She nudged the man’s shoulder a bit. He looked down at her and sighed. “I’m Sesrel, and this here’s Trella.” She walked over to Noctis. Her movements were so graceful and fluidlike. “Hi, sorry about him, he can get a little…” She made a face to indicate what she meant. He nodded. “You don’t look too good kid.”

“Why do you keep calling me kid? You look like you’re only sixteen yourself.” She smirked. “Eighteen thank you…and what are you?”

“Nineteen. You still haven’t answered my question.” She tilted her head slightly to the side. “Oh?”

“How do you know who I am?” She smiled. “I know everything about you. Like, right now you’re thinking I’m crazy, but really cute at the same time. And you’re worried that we’re gonna do something bad. But that would be pointless since we need you alive.” Her smile dimmed for a moment, then she laughed. “No, we’re not gonna use you for any secret government testing.” Sesrel chuckled at the look on Noctis’s face, and said: “Yeah, that was my first reaction too. Be careful what you think around her.” She punched Sesrel playfully on the shoulder. “Not nice Ses.” Dramatically clutching his arm in mock pain, he grimaced, moaning in agony. Noctis stood by awkwardly as Trella laughed. “Okay, down to business.” She stared Noctis straight in the eye, and he had the sensation of something being pulled from him by force, but not painfully. It was the strangest feeling he’s ever experienced, and all he could do was stare back into Trella’s eyes listening. “Noctis, what you just did before we got here, that power, you’ve used it before. I’m guessing you were just a kid, maybe around ten or so. You were scared, and it ended up ruining your life. You left home by the age of fourteen because you accidentally killed your family in a fit of rage. Now it’s happening again, and you’re afraid of what you’ll end up doing. Your story isn’t the worst, but it’s up there, and I’m not even going into detail. Sesrel and I are the two top seekers that were sent looking for you. We’re sent out to find more of us to join, and now we’ve found you. You think you know how powerful you can be, but you don’t. Your strength is only part of it…you can do much much more, and if you don’t come with us, you will die.” In the minute she took to explain this, her face was like a slate. She showed no emotions, like she had been just a few minutes previously. Sesrel stood by, intrigued by Noctis’s story. Any time they found another one, Trella read their story from the depths of their memory as Sesrel listens in order to find some way to convince them to join. Usually, it was some kind of thing like ‘if you don’t so-and-so could die’, but this kid’s already killed anyone that was close to him.

“What do you mean I could die?” Trella’s answer was matter-of-factly spoken. “It’s simple, you don’t join us, and you’re dead once they find you.”

“Who’s they?”

“Does it matter? They will kill you, because they already know that you’ve come into contact with us. If you don’t join us, you’ll just be joining a long line of others who’re also dead. Sure, you could kill yourself, save them the trouble, but either way, you’re gonna end up dead. Adding to that, there won’t be a funeral. They’ll make it as if you’ve never even existed.”

“The-they can’t do that…it’s impossible.” She laughed, cold and cruel. “Oh, it’s possible alright...it’s more than possible. I mean, we could kill you ourselves, but that gets annoying after a while. But if you come with us Noctis, you’ll be able to prevent yourself from doing what happened before again. You could use that power for the greater good, for the destruction of the others.”

“The others?” She nodded. “The others, the ones that are against us, the ones that aren’t like us, the most average people.”

“People? You want me to kill other people?”

“Not other people Noctis. They don’t consider us normal anyways. Soon, it could be just us, just the ones with the powers, then we would be the average ones, the majority, the ones not in hiding..”

“No!!” She stared at him for a moment, surprised slightly by his reaction. “But Noctis, isn’t that what you’ve always wanted, a world with only gifted ones like ourselves? You don’t really believe that we could all live together do you?” They were all quiet for a moment as Trella read his thoughts. “I see..”

“What is it Trella?” She turned to Sesrel. “Oh, it’s nothing to be worried about Sesrel..just a minor complication.” He raised his eyebrows as she shook her head. “Yes, I can.” She said to answer Noctis’s un-spoken question of whether she can read his inner most secrets. “So, you’re not going to join us Noctis?” It wasn’t really a question, she could hear the answer in his head before he even knew it. “Does it matter?” She looked at him. “Of course it matters. We all want the same thing, to be able to come out of hiding. You should know, you’ve been doing the same thing as us for the past five years.”

“No, I haven’t.” She smiled. “Are you sure about that? Go ahead, think..remember all the things you’ve tried to forget, remember the past few years, the pain, the darkness, the loneliness, the emptiness..” He shook his head as the memories started to flood back into his thoughts, like she was pushing them out of the depths of his mind for him against his own will. “Just remember all the pain you’ve felt..” Just then, not just the emotional pain, but the physical pain all came back to him in one single rush. He screamed, falling to the ground and grasping handfuls of dust. The pain ran through him like an unstoppable force. He shut his eyes tight, clenching his fists, digging his nails into his palms making small beads of blood spill out. The agony was unbearable as he remembered every moment while it washed through him again and again, making him gasp for air while still on the ground. His screams continued, making it sound as if he was being ripped apart piece by piece in the slowest way possible. AS abruptly as it started, it ended. He laid there in the dirt, unable to move from the pain that he still felt. Trella shuddered, and her knees went slightly weak. Sesrel laid a hand on her shoulder, leaning her against his side. “Trella..Trella..Trella, talk to me..what happened?” His eyes found hers as she tried to look away. They looked blurry, like she was still inside his head. She didn’t speak, but her lower lip quivered. He heard a slight chuckle from Noctis who was no longer laying on the ground, but kneeling, with one arm pushing off his leg as he was trying to stand. “Sucks doesn’t it..” He looked at Sesrel with violence in his eyes. “What the hell did you do to her?” He smirked. “What I did to her? Try what she did to me, and what it’s enabled me to do.” He struggled to stand, staggering slightly with his arms limp at his side. “You see, I still have her there..right there inside my head, in the midst of my thoughts.” He tapped his head three times before dropping his arm back to his side again. “You bastard!” He looked up. “So, you don’t like me hurting your precious little Trella do you Ses?” His tone mocked the name Trella had called Sesrel earlier. “She knew what she was getting into..just a little complication right?” His laugh shook his body as he tilted his head up towards the sky. Sesrel’s hands clenched into fists. He let Trella down gently on the ground and ran at Noctis.

His first blow struck Noctis in the bottom of his jaw, making him fly backwards. He stood up slowly, arms swinging back and forth while he went to straighten his back. He looked directly at Sesrel as if he hadn’t even felt it. “Is that all you got Ses?” He laughed again as it started to rain. In seconds, the rain was pouring down in gallons while they stood facing each other, nearly thirty feet apart. Noctis had to yell for Sesrel to hear him, but it didn’t matter because he was already screaming. “When you were sent to find me, were you warned that this might happen? The same thing as before when they sent someone for me? They never went back either!” His laugh became that of a maniac’s. Sesrel took one look back at Trella’s unmoving body before running at Noctis again. He saw it coming, but instead of running away, he said something that Sesrel would never have expected. “If you kill me Sesrel, you kill her too!! She’s still inside my head, and if I die, then so does she!!” Sesrel stopped dead in his tracks, fists still raised, as what Noctis said slowly sank in. “You-you can’t do that!”

“You wanna bet?” His voice was a whisper now, while he watched the meaning of his words penetrate Sesrel. “She knew what she was doing..maybe not the full extent of it, but she knew what was possible. No, I’ve never done this before..but who really has? Trapping a mind reader inside your own head..it’s kind of ironic don’t you think?” He smiled cruelly. “I don’t even know if I can let her go.”

“You BASTARD!” He laughed up towards the sky, while the rain showered down unrelentingly. “You want her back, then come and get her!” Sesrel’s deafening scream of protest was one of which that could’ve been heard for miles in all directions..and then there was silence.