Requiem on Water [Book I]

Chapter 6

Do not believe yourself healthy. Immortality is health; this life is a long sickness.
― St. Augustine

 

Chapter 6

The darkness wrapped around Alice like a newborn child wrapped within a soft, warm blanket. The air around her was misty, the silence eerie, causing her slow beating heart to still. She listened intently at the silence, a feeling of pure terror building up in her chest. It was too quiet, and she knew that something was impending. Alice clung to the darkness as though her life depended on it. The sun was making its way towards her, but she was too young, too weak to withstand the smouldering warmth.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust... the wind whispered.

Alice squeezed her eyes shut and wished Arthur was there to help her, but she knew that salvation was an unreality. Blood prickled down her jaw and her gloomy eyes shot open. The sun had gone, yet she still stood unharmed. She hadn't felt it. It hadn't come after all. But at her feet lay mutated corpses, faces in which she found recognition. She recognized them, Alice knew she had loved them once, yet she had no idea who they were.

It was foggy around her and Alice watched as the black fog evolved within the white. It was a frightening sight, but somehow she knew it couldn't harm her. There was a face within the fog, she knew it, she was expecting it, but it refused to show itself. She edged forward to touch it, but her hand slipped through. It was untouchable. There was no way to stop it. It grew larger before her eyes, and she watched as it wrapped itself around the corpses at her feet. It seemed as though the fog was embracing them.

"Alice."

She turned around and her eyes connected with her own. She was looking at herself, but she was human. Alice watched as she moved towards herself, her face twisted with resentment and hopelessness. It made her cold skin feel prickly, it made her feel as though nothing were as it seemed. Alice stretched her hand out towards her human self, wanting to feel her pulse thump beneath her flesh, wanting to feel the warmth of her soft, human skin. But her eyes didn't leave her blue, human eyes. They were sad, too heartrending.

"You were meant to die Alice, not kill."

An ear-piercing screech fled from human Alice's lips.

The dream was forgotten when Arthur awoke Alice. He sat at her side and was trailing soft kisses up and down her arm. She slowly surfaced from her slumber and a loving smile stretched upon her face. She watched Arthur for several moments before he grew aware of her consciousness. Their eyes locked and for a moment the world around them stood still. Arthur could not believe how easily Alice had accepted her Immortale nature, how careless she seemed when he spoke of it all. Alice was at peace, because with Arthur the world made sense and she felt as though she belonged where she had previously wanted to leave. She didn't remember it at all, but she remembered the emotion, the feeling of wanting to bring it all to an end.

"Is it night?" asked Alice, as she lay on the comfortable bed, looking deeply into Arthur's eyes.

"Yes, it is night, sweetheart."

Alice felt well rested, and she was surprised to have felt the bloodlust again. She had drunk from Arthur the previous night; surely she didn't have to feed this often. Arthur had told her that she was soon to start hunting humans, because his blood alone would not always be enough to saturate her bloodlust, enough for her to survive on. She was nervous about it though, but she didn't want to be fearful in front of Arthur.

"I want to hunt," she said, her endless, black eyes staring into his. Arthur was surprised. He hadn't expected Alice to be so keen on hunting. He had thought that she would be opposed to it at first, but he realized then that it was only he who felt remorse for the lost human lives.