A Winter Night Revelation

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That Winter's night had started off bright enough; a beautiful full moon had crowned the snow-covered abandoned town with its silver light. Measly compensation for that bloody blizzard, thought Ian rather bitterly. Whilst he appreciated the beauty of the sight before him, even he was not safe from the frustrations of Mother Nature's attentions. Three nights prior, during a rare Winter run, the Doctor had become separated from the Solar Eclipse team he had been attached to as a result of a blizzard that tore through the area with its icy embrace; as such, even with his superhuman senses, not even he could pick up a scent or hear nought but the sound of the storm's howling winds. Knowing that his kind was just as vulnerable to it as regular humans, the Vampire had no choice but to hunker down until the blizzard dissipated. It had taken three days for it to pass...thankfully, he didn't need to tear into a blood pack to not succumb to starvation.

Content that he could now safely emerge, Ian climbed out of the house and emerged to the sight of a town buried under piles of snow. With that done, he began to wander around, trying to pick up on the scent of the team upon the lingering winds. The Vampire sniffed the wind, and there, much to his relief, was the trace of them. However, a much stronger smell lingered upon the wind, something that overpowered the scent of his human comrades; blood...and not just any blood, but Infected blood. To the Vampire, it meant there was one of his animalistic cousins around; the constant sanguine aroma indicated a wound that was most likely fatal. Spurred by pity, he felt himself obligated to put down the doomed creature...assuming it didn't expire on its own. Eventually, the scent trail would lead him to a house that seemed to have collapsed from the combined weight of time and the heavy snow. So close to the source, it felt as though the Infected blood was burning his nostrils. Ian would then approach, drawing his kris as he did so; he entered through the door that remained. He would be buffeted by the strong scent as he opened the door. Upon entering, it would be clear that many of the floors had collapsed inwardly, falling as low as the basement; it from there where the bloody smell led him. Once down there, the Vampire was assaulted by the scent of damp and decay...furthermore, he could hear the sound of raspy, heavy breathing.

Soon enough, he would find the source of the smell; stuck under the rubble of the collapsed house, scratching about trying to become free, was an Infected. Clearly female, her black and silver hair had become overgrown, and malnutrition had rendered her skeletal; her snapping jaws revealed pointed teeth, indicating that she was Feral. Knowing that she was near death, Ian readied his kris to strike the blow to put this poor thing out of its misery...but then he noticed something. On her sole free hand, he saw something that stayed his own; a lotus tattoo, worn away by time, would be present on her knuckles. The doctor completely froze; only one person I know has that tattoo...no! It cannot be! The panicked thought came to mind as he gazed upon the trapped, hissing Feral. Suddenly, the kris fell from his hand, clattering to the wet floor, and Ian fell to his knees. He tried speak, but only a single, stuttered weirds came through as his voice broke.

M...M....Mum?"

No sooner had the word left his quivering lips, did the flashes of images once more.

Posted 06-25-2021, 09:18 PM

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Mind ablaze with the memories being forced upon him, Ian clasped his head as the memories of his last days of humanity and his first day of monstrosity were rendered in agonising clarity. He always remembered the pain of his transformation, lying on the floor barely capable of moving...but now he heard his mother's voice in all its painful clarity on his answering machine, stating that she was catching the first flight to Portland to take care of him. He remembered trying to force himself to tell her not to come...but alas, his body had ultimately betrayed him, leaving him to lie in a pool of his own sweat. On the day that the doctor succumbed, he remembered hearing his apartment door opening and the last thing coming from his lips was an animalistic snarl as a voice echoed. Now, he remembered it as his mother's voice...and now the look of horror in her eyes as her only child leaped at her, screaming Ian's name and begging him to stop as he sunk his fangs into her rest; that first taste of delicious caused him to pause in rapturous ecstasy...allowing her to escape wth the Vampire Plague in her blood, her last thoughts spent weeping at the monster her child had become.

As reality once more caved in on him, through tear-streaked eyes, the Vampire looked upon the ruined thing that had once been his mother; the advanced malnutrition that had marred her body must have been going on for some time...most likely as a result of the harsh winter. Even then, he could only wonder as to why she was here, on her own without a pack and not trying to harangue an inhabited settlement. For a couple of seconds, she seemed to calm down; her dilated brown eyes became locked on Ian's green; she had once told him that he looked so very much like the father he had never met, the man having hailed from northern Turkey where green eyes and light complexions were common. Slowly, her free hand with the lotus tattoo seemed to reach out; spurred by intense emotion, Ian took it and clasped it close.

"I'm so sorry mum, whimpered the Vampire, who knew all too well that when his fellow Infected mutate into Ferals, that was pretty much it...that person was well and truly gone. "I am so very, very sorry.

Logically, Ian knew that it couldn't have been his fault; the Infected have little control of their actions, for the hunger within reigns supreme once the virus completes its work. Still, the thought of being the one who had dragged his mother into this existence filled him with both disgust and guilt and existence. I've always wanted to know what became of her...and now that I do, I really wish I did not. As he continued to gaze into the Feral's eyes, he swore he could see something familiar there; whether it was wish fulfillment or delusion, he saw aglint of recognition in those eyes...and a sort of begging in them. Taking this into account, the doctor's trembling hand reached for the kris he had dropped on the floor. In those moments, the blade felt extremely heavy as he positioned the blade for the final blow. Placing his other hand against the pommel, he muttered a single sentence.

"Go now mum...be from this place...just...be free.

The blade struck just as the last word camme from Ian's lips; within a moment, the hunger vanished from his Feral mother's eyes...now, there was only peace in her stare. Having done what he had needed to do, the Vampire froze for what seemed to be a lifetime. Eventually, he would take her in his arms and slowly began to weep. His tears andsobs of anguish would persist well until sunrise. When he finall left the abandoned town, a new grave would be found in the church's graveyard; an im[rovised cross made from two metal poles lay at its head, adorned with a single wooden placard. Upon its surface lay a single word that had been carved in painstaking detail: "Mum"

Posted 06-26-2021, 09:08 AM

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