Chalice
Burning pain. Fire, eating away at my insides, crawling savagely towards my heart. Nerve endings incinerated, blood vessels turned to ash. Red, fire, burning, pain. A flash of mahogany eyes, a set of grinning teeth. Blood, my blood dripping down a pale chin. Screams sounding from somewhere. Me. I’m screaming. Terror ripping from my throat, bursting forth in a wave of agony and pain. Make it stop, make it stop, I pleaded. Silently I begged to die, to fade into black, a dark background of death. End, end, end, end, end, I chanted over and over in my head, hoping that it would soon be over.
~*~


“Wake up. C’mon, wake up.” a voice said as I was shaken gently.
Soft skin brushed my arm, my face, my neck. Probing fingers pushed against my eyes and cheeks, trying to rouse me from my slumber. My eyes flickered open, then snapped shut again, surprised by the sights around me. Scraps of metal littered the ground, a burning engine still flickered brightly against a twilight background. Dusty boots were visible by my face, scuffed and dirty. Clouds of gnats hovered in the heat, creating waves of shadow.

But what struck me as the oddest, was the clarity in which I saw. Even the smallest of dust particles floated clearly through the air, Grains of sand and ice caught my eyes as they glittered in the sunlight. Slowly, I cracked open my eyes again, and held my hand in front of my face. Small diamond facets sparkled just under my skin, just like the guy on the plane. A burning thirst raged in my throat, and I bolted upright in such a quick movement that everybody around me stumbled backwards. Or rather glided.

“How are you feeling?” a particularly beautiful woman said softly.
My gaze darted back and forth between the eight people that stood before me. My eyes stopped on a breathtakingly gorgeous boy, with bronze hair and topaz eyes. His hands hung in loose fists by his sides, blood staining the perfect white skin. The light of a fire glanced off of his eyes, making them look stony and hard. I could only stare at the fire in wonderment, as the warmth it emitted seemed not to affect me. A choked scream ripped up my throat as I saw a head of hair shift in the fire. Blank eyes gazed from the embers, looking straight at me.
“Is that-that the boy on the plane?” I questioned in a high pitched tone.
Grim nods and twisted mouths confirmed my hunch and I sank down in the red-tinted soil. I ran my fingers through the fine silt, sifting through the stones and ice trapped within it’s dusty confines. Spots of blood dotted the brown, bringing back the scorching fire that burned through my throat.
“Why do I hurt? I am so hungry, thirsty, whatever it is. Help me!” I wailed, my voice hitching on the last part.
I felt like a monster for craving the blood that was by my legs. My perfectly sculpted legs, and arms and body. It was then that I started to notice my perfect state. The people around me shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do. A petite, black haired young woman stepped forward and smiled reassuringly.
“Let’s get you something to eat.” she said with a wicked grin curling the corners of her full mouth.
I could only follow her into the thick woods surrounding the crash sight, hoping that I wouldn’t die.
After a few minutes of silence, she turned around and walked backwards, smiling at me with care and sympathy. A tree was drawing closer and closer to her, threatening to stop her backwards walk. I raised a hand to point to the obstacle, but she sidestepped at the last minute, narrowly avoiding the rough bark of the trunk. I shook my head, already getting used to the peculiar way these people acted.
“Do you know what you are, Chalice?” the woman asked.
I stopped and said no, scuffing my toe against the cushiony ground, kicking the pine needles a staggering 30 feet. I stopped moving after that, not even breathing, but then getting worried and gasping in huge lungfuls. The woman just watched me, waiting patiently for me to stop fidgeting. I met her eyes then, and calmed down at the soothing expression.

“Chalice, you are now one of us. A vampire, a blood drinking creature that holds a famed place in the most evil of fantasy stories. But we aren’t all bad. We have saved, revived, even raised young ones like you. Do not be afraid.” she said, pleading.

I sunk down onto the earthen floor, crossing my legs and clasping my hands together in my lap. What she said did not shock me as much as I thought it would. I had assumed that something was different, strange, wrong with me. My vision, my hearing, all my senses were stronger, more in tune with my environment. The faint beat of an animal's heart echoed in my ears. The strong thump of an elks heartbeat reverberated through my chest, giving the impression that I could feel a heart in myself as well. The woman came over to me and gracefully sat down as well, laying a hand on my arm. Her touch was a neutral temperature. It was neither hot nor cold, but rather in between, a happy medium.

“Is something wrong, Chalice?” she said, once again making me wonder how she knew my name.

“Nothing is wrong, only strange, new, yet exciting. Everything is different, yet nothing has changed inside of me. Well, my feelings at least. I can’t say the same about my internal workings. I feel nothing but emptiness, and burning. A fire that licks up and down my throat and stomach. It hurts to talk, to breath, to live. Help me.” I begged her.

“Well, my name is Alice and I will help you. Follow me, and you will be fine.”
I grinned at Alice and stood up in one smooth, swift motion. My amazement at the agility I had must have showed on my face because she laughed and danced away in blindingly swift movements. But the thing was, I could still see her, every move she made, the air that swirled around her form. The dirt that hung in the air turned into small planets that rotated individually in my vision. Quickly, I caught up with Alice right as she was biting into a small deer.

Its legs kicked out, its escape attempts growing feeble with its vanishing life force. I covered my mouth with a hand and backed away. No way in hell was I going to kill an innocent animal. I would live with my constant burn if it meant saving animals and myself the pain of death. I didn’t want to have to always know that I had killed the things that I loved most, it would be too much to bear.

“Come here, Chalice.” Alice commanded me, beckoning with a perfect finger.
I shook my head and held my ground, somehow holding myself back from the shining red blood on the deer’s fur.

“If you don’t eat you will kill anything, humans even to get the blood you skipped out on in the beginning. Please come and feed. Our clan does not want the trouble of having to deal with a newborn vampire on the loose, attacking people.” she said firmly, giving me no choice but to slowly walk over to her and kneel by the now dead deer.

My lips all of the sudden seemed dry and cracked, causing me to lick my lips with apprehension as tension built up in my muscles. I leaned down and the smell of the blood hit me with such force that I lusted for it with such a passion that I dug my teeth into the soft, warm flesh of the animal. I was careful not to stain my clothes anymore with blood that was not mine, The metallic liquid that had once twisted my stomach in knots now made me tremble with pleasure and want. My insides warmed considerably with the food that I had needed. The fire dimmed down to the occasional spark, and I drew away, taking in the deer, my meal, that laid in front of me.

“You can feed more, there is plenty here.” Alice said, trying to reassure me.
I shook my head and kissed the animal’s head, closing its blank eyes, shutting the glossy chocolate brown stare.


Alice gave me a wondering look and started to walk back towards the group of people that she had come with. I followed her, unsure of what was wanted of me. Alice turned back and motioned for me to come with her. I jogged to catch up with her, but ended up almost barreling over her. I giggled nervously and straightened out what was left of my blouse and jeans. I attempted to hold together the many scratches and tears in my shirt, especially a very large rip that hung open to expose the top of my rib cage and part of my bra. I did not want to go back with all the other vampires with my undergarments showing. With that one boy that I saw, my chances of ever living up to the current condition I was in was zip.

“Nobody is going to care, silly. Well, the boys might be a little, you know, boyish. But otherwise, you look perfect. Literally.” Alice comforted, amused.

I sighed and smiled faintly, not so sure about her confidence in how I looked. But, with regret, I trailed after her, not particularly looking forward to seeing everybody.