Eternity The Beginning (2 page)

extended before he even realised what was happening and he roared at the fire when the pain thrumming in every nerve and vein of his body became too much to bear.

Standing, he grabbed hold of the stool and threw it against the far wall of the little hut. He breathed heavily, his finger burying themselves deep into his hair and twisting it around them. Closing his eyes, he clenched his jaw, waiting for the desperate need for blood to pass.

It abated but didn’t disappear as he wished it to. It 8

Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

seemed to linger in the pit of his stomach and the depths of his heart.

His eyes came to rest on Ineru again.

What had he done to her? How would she ever cope with such a life as he had given to her?

Turning away, he flung the door open and stepped out into the early morning light. The sight of it soothed him.

The desert plain was red like fire, warm and enchanting as the heat of the impending day made the distance shimmer. He looked down the row of small houses,

nothing more than huts like his one.

The door of the one he was staring at opened and a young woman stepped out. He knew her. She was the

daughter of the boat builder. He stared at her,

remembering the time she’d kissed him. It had been at a ceremony. They had been but fifteen. He’d never forget the sweetness of her lips and the dizzying rush they had given him.

“Are you ill?” she said and he held his hands up, silently begging her not to come any closer.

She was safe at a distance. He could control himself when he couldn’t smell her blood so easily. She frowned at him, confusion reigning in her dark eyes. She was even more beautiful now than she had been that night.

He’d been convinced that they would marry one day.

Now that dream could never be a reality.

“You look truly ill.” She gave him a look of concern and he forced a smile, wishing she would leave him alone now and not taunt him with what once could have been 9

Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

his. “You are as pale as this cloth.” She showed him the white fabric of her dress. “It is not like you.”

“I am not sick,” he said and hoped it would make her go back to what she was doing. “But I thank you for your concern.”

The smile that had been about to grace her lips

disappeared and she frowned again, this time at the cold tone his voice had adopted.

She hesitated for a moment, her internal conflict written across every line of her face as her mouth opened and then closed, her brows knitting tighter together and her eyes darkening. She regarded him for a few seconds more and then turned away.

He watched her walking away, his eyes studying the soft curves of her body where they were barely hidden below her muslin dress. Desire speared through him, begging him to go after her and give her exactly what she’d wanted from him. It had been written in her eyes and the seductive language of her body. All he had to do was surrender to the beast inside of him and he could make her his for eternity. He could have her always.

“No,” he said to himself and clenched his fists. They trembled with rage. The muscles of his arms tightened until they were shaking too. “I will never do that again.”

He had already taken one life out of petty need. To take another for the purpose of getting himself an object of love would be to succumb to the beast completely. It was not his choice to make. He had been given one of those at least, barely so, but he had been presented with two options—die or become the living dead. He had not given Ineru the option. He should have been firmer 10

Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

with her, should have told her that they would be

together still even if he was a creature of darkness and she was flesh and blood. It wasn’t necessary for her to surrender her life.

Yet he had taken it all too quickly. In the heat of the moment when he had been faced with losing her, he had condemned her to a life like his own.

His head snapped around when he felt the sun rising and saw the shadow he was standing in shrinking. Cold

dread filled him as he watched the bright golden light creeping towards him. He backed away from it. Intense desire to flee loomed up inside of him, making his eyes dart about in search of safety. He swallowed as the light continued to creep towards him, the shadow of the hut growing long. Backing towards the door, he fumbled around behind himself searching for the handle.

A thin strip of light touched his foot.

He cried out in agony as it burnt as though the sun itself had scalded him.

Shoving his way into the dark interior of his home, he slammed the door behind him and pressed his back

against it. Fiery pain tore through him, the toes of his left foot throbbing with it.

He stumbled to the fire and collapsed onto the floor there. Grabbing hold of his foot, he pulled it towards him and stared at the charred flesh on his toes. He

tentatively touched it, breathing in sharply through his teeth when the pressure made new pain lance through him. He stared at his toes, his mind racing to understand what had happened.

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It was fitting he supposed.

What creature of darkness would be fit to walk in the glory of the sun?

He was cursed. Even the sun itself was against him.

What had he done? What strange life had he been born into after death?

Starving for blood, hungry with desire, and cursed to a life in the shadows.

What other horrors awaited his discovery?

He looked down and frowned when he saw that his toes were less swollen. He gingerly prodded them and was surprised when all the pain he felt was a dull ache.

Turning his arm over, he ran his fingers over the wound on his wrist and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was healing. Not as a normal person would, but faster.

His stomach growled, reminding him that he was still hungry. He glanced at the pot that was bubbling away.

The acrid smell of its contents told him that it was ruined and inedible. He doubted it would have been edible even if it hadn’t become burnt.

The only thing he craved, the only thing that he knew would abate his hunger, was blood.

The warm, subtle and delicious taste of blood.

He growled and closed his eyes. He could almost taste it.

He glanced at the door, already knowing that leaving his home in order to find something to eat would be

impossible, but letting his feet take him there anyway.

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He opened the door a crack, only enough for him to see the world outside. Sunlight was streaming down the alley between the buildings. There was no way he could leave, not until dusk.

The smell of the warm sand and sunshine made his head heavy. He leaned against the doorway and fought the overwhelming urge to sleep but it quickly became

impossible. His whole body felt tired, drained of all energy, and he was barely able to shut the door and slump to the floor beside it.

Closing his eyes, he pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them.

He had to sleep. Tonight Ineru would awake. He had to be there for her when she did, so she wouldn’t be as frightened as he was on waking to discover what had happened to him.

This was their life now, a life of horror and death.

A life they knew nothing about.

+++

“Brother?”

His eyelashes fluttered on hearing her voice reaching out to him through the darkness.

“Brother, are you awake?”

He smiled. She sounded like she was a child again, her voice full of quiet eagerness. He could picture her on the back of the boat builder’s donkey, her eyes bright with 13

Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

laughter and her raven curls falling messily around her shoulders.

Opening his eyes, he looked at the woman she’d

become. Her eyes were dark as sin and her lips were a graceful rose coloured curve. Her skin was darker now, tanned by the sun, and was a marked contrast against her pale dress. Her hair still fell in curls down her back.

“What is it, Ineru?” he said without thinking and then remembered what he’d done.

He looked at her properly, this time seeing the monster he had made her into.

“Your eyes are purple,” she said when she knelt in front of him where he was still sitting by the door.

Instinct told him that the sun had set. He could feel the cooler night air creeping in under the door. Its scent called to him, luring him out into the darkness and reminding him of his hunger.

“Purple?” He frowned and looked around for something shiny to see his reflection in.

He could feel the sharp points of his teeth against his lip and wondered if the change in colour of his eyes was something to do with the monster he’d become.

Ineru held a worn metal plate out to him and her eyes reflected the sadness in her voice. “There is no point. I could not see myself.”

He took the plate and rubbed it clean with a square of cloth, trying to make it shine. It didn’t. The dull metal was hardly a good object for seeing himself in. He held it 14

Eternity: The Beginning – F E Heaton

up anyway and turned it in all directions, trying to catch a glimpse of his eyes and his sharp canines, but found that his sister was right.

There was nothing reflected back at him but a dull brown wall.

This wasn’t possible.

Getting to his feet, he grabbed Ineru’s hand and led her out into the night. He walked down the alley between the rows of huts until he reached the river. The bright moon shone down on the world, illuminating it with a cold light and turning everything blue. He let go of his sister’s hand, knelt on the bank and leaned over the water.

Nothing but the moon greeted him.

He watched Ineru do the same, her hand reaching out to touch the water when she couldn’t see her reflection. He hovered his hand above the rippling water and frowned when he couldn’t see it reflected back at him. The bones of his face shifted, allowing his teeth to recede, and he grimaced at the scraping feeling of it.

“Are we so cursed that we do not even exist?” Ineru said.

He shook his head. “We exist, but we are shadows of life, walking death. We are shunned by the sun and cursed by the land. It will have nothing to do with us, so it banishes us from existence by refusing to reflect what the light makes of us.”

“Or maybe it is the light that refuses to see us.”

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Glancing across at her, he saw her eyes full of fear, her soft skin washed out with it. He placed his hand over hers, showing her that they were still tangible. They were still made of flesh. They weren’t ghosts.

“Do not be scared, dear sister.”

“I am not,” she said and managed a smile, “and nor should you be, beloved brother.”

“We have much to learn about ourselves. We must find the man who did this to me. He will know the answers to our questions.”

Standing up, he held his hand out to her and watched as she slipped her delicate fingers into his. He assisted her to her feet and kept hold of her hand when she went to move.

“Ineru,” he said and hesitated a moment before

continuing. “This is not the life I wanted for you.”

“But it is the life I wanted for myself. I would rather live like this with you, than live as a mortal alone.”

“But you would not have been alone.” He squeezed her hand and smiled. “I would have remained with you until the end, as I promised.”

“I am not so sure. The world you walk in would have been so much different to my own. It would have drawn you away from me in time. It is better this way.”

Her soft look of understanding and acceptance of what she’d become made him sigh. She had taken it better than he had.

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Leading her towards the flickering torches that lit the market square, he hoped that he would be able to find the man. Surely he would want to know that his

transformation into whatever it was he’d become was complete.

When they drew close to the market, he could see the people still bustling around. The sight and smell of them made his stomach growl. It twisted painfully and the sickening hunger returned, overwhelming him until all he could focus on was his need for blood. His eyes followed the people as they packed away their goods, closing their stalls for the night. He frowned when he spotted the boat builder’s daughter again. She paused and

smiled at him before walking away.

Keeping hold of Ineru’s hand, he led her slowly into the crowd. He could feel her hand trembling in his and he knew why. She was hungry and trying to come to terms with the new sensations inside of her. Something inside of him was speaking words into his head. It told him how many people were surrounding them and each time he looked at them, he was automatically calculating how difficult it would be to kill them or feed from them.

When he had finished scanning the people present, he realised that the man who had killed him here two nights ago was nowhere to be seen. Had he moved on? Why

would he do such a thing after turning himself into the same wretched creature as him?

His eyes widened when something pricked his senses and he spun on his heel to face the man who was about to touch his sister. He growled and tugged Ineru to safety, placing himself between her and the man.

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The man was of a broader build than him and his

apparel told him that he was of high standing. Gold bracelets adorned his arms, glimmering in the

moonlight. He didn’t recognise him and a glance at Ineru said that she didn’t either. Her eyes were full of fear while she stared at the man. What right had he to

attempt to touch her? He’d see to it that it never happened again. He slowly released Ineru’s hand.

Staring into the man’s eyes, he waited.

When the man made a move, he sprang at him. His fist flew, striking him hard across the jaw. His other one was moving even before his first blow had connected. He hit the man in the chest and watched in stunned