Celeste had been dreaming of Bryn since she was eight: the flash of light across the sky, Bryn running, the explosion that nothing human should have survived, and then Bryn climbing out of the smoking crater and looking right at her. He was beautiful: six feet tall with muscles like coiled steel and dark blue eyes. His hair was black and his body was chiseled out of marble, like a Greek God.
For years she had thought he was nothing but a dream. But slowly the dream changed, and it seemed that he was trying to reach her. His arm stretched out as if to touch her.
And then she saw him, burning under the light of dawn. His skin was flame as their eyes met. Celeste’s heart sped up and she gasped. Bryn had found her.
It was the first sunrise I had seen in two-hundred years, and it was glorious. I sat on the edge of the black monolith known as Trium Rock and watched the sun emerge from the horizon like an eternal flame. The polymer coating on my skin held and my polycarbonate shades kept my eyes from boiling out of my head. I watched the timer on my watch as it counted up from zero.
At six minutes the polymer started to glow on my exposed arms and face. I had been working on the formula for a year and it was finally showing some promise. The sun stung my eyes, even through the coated lenses, but I refused to blink or look away. It could be the only time I ever saw the sun again and I was loathe to waste it.
Below, in the city of Lanston, the streets were empty. People were just beginning to stir in their houses. I could hear the sounds of the living as they readied themselves for the day.
The day. How long it had been since I had seen one? I remembered back to my last. It was January 28th, 1813. And I hadn’t been up at sunrise. That was the day that everything changed for me. That was the day that I had changed from a human, to something else.
I still remembered everything. Small solace. The streak of light against the sky. And running. The smoke and glow of something from elsewhere. The shimmer in my head and heart. And the change. Did it take my soul, or just my pulse? I still wasn’t sure.
It was nothing like the movies. Silver had no effect on me, nor did garlic. I had sharp incisors because I had filed them myself, in a fit of rage. I could drink holy water, but I found it flat and unsatisfying. So Many half-truths and fabrications. I didn’t need blood to survive, but it tasted like wine: complex and mind-altering.
I was a creature of the night. Hiding from the day walkers. Sunlight would kill me. Quickly.
Until now.
At six minutes the polymer started to glow on my exposed arms and face. I had been working on the formula for a year and it was finally showing some promise. The sun stung my eyes, even through the coated lenses, but I refused to blink or look away. It could be the only time I ever saw the sun again and I was loathe to waste it.
Below, in the city of Lanston, the streets were empty. People were just beginning to stir in their houses. I could hear the sounds of the living as they readied themselves for the day.
The day. How long it had been since I had seen one? I remembered back to my last. It was January 28th, 1813. And I hadn’t been up at sunrise. That was the day that everything changed for me. That was the day that I had changed from a human, to something else.
I still remembered everything. Small solace. The streak of light against the sky. And running. The smoke and glow of something from elsewhere. The shimmer in my head and heart. And the change. Did it take my soul, or just my pulse? I still wasn’t sure.
It was nothing like the movies. Silver had no effect on me, nor did garlic. I had sharp incisors because I had filed them myself, in a fit of rage. I could drink holy water, but I found it flat and unsatisfying. So Many half-truths and fabrications. I didn’t need blood to survive, but it tasted like wine: complex and mind-altering.
I was a creature of the night. Hiding from the day walkers. Sunlight would kill me. Quickly.
Until now.
Mike
Cooley is the author of Alpha Male, a Paranormal Romance, and many
other books. He loves to write about
strong
female characters, love, loss, hope, pain and redemption.
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