Soul Saving

Alright, alright. I'm finally uploading one of my short stories. I wrote this back in May, for another creative writing class. It was a blast to write, and to receive feedback on. I was kind of going through a fantasy fiction phase so this shorty would fall into a fantasy fiction genre. I was reading Sarah. J. Maas's Court of Thorns book series (if you haven't read those, go read them now. You'll thank me later.) and I was totally into writing a different genre other than YA romance. It really was a ton of fun and a bit challenging. Maybe one day, I'll write an actual fantasy fiction series?

Anyway, enjoy readers!

Soul Saving, by S.J. Sylvis 

Copyright © by S.J. Sylvis

The yellow piece of notebook paper was barely legible. It was smeared, crumpled up, and you could tell that it had been wet at one point; but there it was, pinned against my door for the third time this week. It read, “Go to Mystic Readings, ask for Joann” in a handwriting that looked as if had been practiced for many years.

I huffed. “Fine!” I didn’t know who kept putting it on my door, but I was about to find out. I locked all seven locks on my faded green apartment door, and stumbled down the three flights of stairs, and headed right towards Mystic Readings.

Down town was small, so thankfully it only took my a few minutes to get to that old bookstore. The weather was chilly and gloomy and I couldn’t help but the creep in the air as I was about to walk into a strange place and ask for a random person. But here I was, standing at and old iron wrought door painted a deep purple color to cover up the years of old, decaying wood. The bell chimed as I walked through the entrance, and I was amazed at the books lining the walls. They all looked ancient and full of history. I itched to touch the old bindings but a voice caught my attention.

“Hello?”, said a rustic voice from behind the register. The woman was small framed but had wild, unruly curly hair. She had bright brown eyes and wrinkles that appeared beyond her glasses when she looked me up and down.

“Are you Joann?” I asked, slowly walking to her and pulling out the crumbled piece of paper from my jean’s pocket.

“Oh, my dear girl, I know exactly who you are. Follow me.” She said this while anxiously looking out the store windows.

I followed her back into the store room with an uneasy feeling lingering in my gut. A white crystal ball sat on the floor, surrounded my various pillows of all different colors and sizes. Herbs hung from the ceiling and doorway, making the room feel like we were in a greenhouse. The petite women dressed in a maroon gown, and combat boots gestured for me to sit down along the crystal ball and I just stood and stared at her. She’s crazy if she thinks I’m going to sit down and get my fortune told right now. As if she almost read my mind, she shrugged and sat down on the burnt orange pillow, and crossed her legs.

“Listen, Annabeth. There isn’t much time, so spare me the questions. I’m a witch, a retired witch, unless something is brought along my path that I cannot ignore. You need to sit down, and keep your mouth shut and your eyes on the ball.” I took a deep breath. How does she know my name and a witch? I’ve heard of witches and warlocks through the old, rusty book that was basically all I had of my childhood. It was my grandmother Stella’s old book, and it’s almost like a lifeline to me.

I reluctantly sat down on the pillow and kept my eyes on the ball, keeping my thoughts at bay. The witch grabbed my hands and a pulse of energy shot through me. I peeked up at her and her pupils were gone, replaced by pure whiteness. I looked back to the crystal ball only to see a familiar face in a familiar place…

            I was a pretty, little girl; brown long hair, with golden streaks throughout—which glistened in the sun. Full of life and laughter, rosy cheeks and almond shaped green eyes which brought a smile to my now angular and mature face. It reminded me that things were once good, until the darkness came. Just as I had that thought, the crystal ball turned a dark and gloomy shade of grey, showing a recap of my dreadful, lonely life. Pictures and scenes of my family burning in the fire flew together in the ball, various foster homes, the soulless people I lived with, the bad things I’d done to survive and then it had a flash of the most beautiful colors that swirled together; it was a calming sensation of pinks and yellows formed into a background of pure white and then appeared my current face. A face I barely recognized as the girl with brown wavy hair and almond shaped eyes—I looked wholly pure and good. Just as I reached up to feel the moisture on my eyes, the ball went black with shots of red pulsing throughout and the witch shrieked and I found her piercing eyes staining me.

“He’s coming for you.” Her voice no longer held a melodic tone like before, it was brash.

“Who’s coming for me? Why is someone coming or me!?” I roared while panting and wiping the sticky cold sweat from my forehead. Joann grabbed my hands and those big brown eyes met mine and she mumbled quick un-recognizable words that went pulsing through my body. Once she let go, she started closing the shop, frantically.

 “Each territory of every state in the United States has a vampire leader. Years ago, Carmella, also a witch, a mean wicked one at that, had a heart full of hate for vampires. She casted a spell in which every territorial vampire leader had 100 years, since being made leader to find his/her spell casted human or else their territory of immortal beings would be cursed for the next 500 years. What their curse is…I’m not sure, but what I do know is that by some weird twisted fate, you are this territory’s human and he traced your scent. He’s coming to kill you, Annabeth.” I stood, unable to move as I was processing the insane words that were thrown at me.

“Why me? Why would he want me?” I said, through jagged breaths. I shook my head as the negative thoughts blinded me. Maybe he wants me because I’m just as twisted and soulless as he is, maybe I deserve this. As if Joanna heard my thoughts, she put a satchel full of food and herbs that she has begun gathering down on the counter and took me by the shoulders.

“My dear girl you are not bad, nor are you evil or soulless. The bright white light you saw in the crystal ball, shows your true pureness. You have a good soul, a strong soul. Don’t mistake the hardships in your life as way to make you wholly bad; you survived, you’ve saved others. Yes, there were casualties in your path but they made you strong, and valuable to this world. You are not wholly good, nor bad--you’re a perfect mix between.” She said this and I felt myself crumble inside.

Two days have passed since Joann, sent me on my way. The words she last spoke, as she handed me the necessities to survive on my own out in the open territory, rang in my head. “Don’t let the darkness take over, fight for your soul”. The thought of fighting for my life to be spared for some vampire leader’s life to be cursed, and his territory—well, let’s just say the thought didn’t come with ease. According from the stories I have heard about vampires, all of which I thought were fake…I wouldn’t stand a chance. I couldn’t fight one, they were much stronger than someone of my size and mortal being. The only thing I could do is try to hide, get as far away from here as I possibly could. Which is what I’ve been doing for the last two days. I’ve walked, ran, taken minimal breaks, slept in trees. I don’t know how far I’ve gotten, I don’t even know where I am. I’ve been in the woods this entire time. For all I knew, I could be going in circles. I’ve survived harsh conditions before, I’ve survived abuse, I’ve learned to fend for myself and do what’s necessary to survive, but living in the woods for weeks upon weeks and always on the run, the thought disturbs me. It frightens me almost more than the thought of a vampire hunting me does.

The crystal ball and the vivid pictures have been rolling around my head, as I make headway in my path along God’s wooden creation. The younger version of me, the happy one- full of life is gone. Once my family burned in the fire, and I was left for foster care, that was the moment my happiness vanished.

Not all of the foster homes were bad, not nearly as bad as the last one. The brick colored house. The sight of bricks still makes me sick to my stomach, even two years later. The home that fully broke me. I ran, I ran so I could see another day but with running came guilt. If I wasn’t the one getting the blunt of sexual and physical abuse, the someone else was. I’m sure I had been replaced once my fosters parents’ injuries from my escape healed. I wanted to go back, to make sure whoever came after me wasn’t in the same vulnerable state I was in years ago, but I couldn’t. I was a coward.

Just as I’m letting the guilt wash over me, I realize the forest has gone silent. No birds chirping, no insect mating calls in the distance, just complete and utter silence and that’s when I feel it. The electricity surrounding me, the eerie vibe that is coming from all directions. I slowly stand up and that’s when I see him. First, he was a football field away and in half a second, he was mere inches from my face. He cocked his head to the side, and I stared into his icy, blue eyes. He was angelic looking, but had a dark sense about him. He slowly reached up to caress my face and I backed up, out of his reach—a stupid reaction that came suddenly. His eyes grew dark and he grabbed my arm with a harshness. His hands were breathtakingly cold at first and then they grew instantly hot. So hot, they left red burn marks on my arm. He quickly let go and fell to his knees, at my mercy. I didn’t move a muscle. He looked up at me, with an unreadable expression on his face.

It felt like hours had passed before I finally spoke. “Why haven’t you killed me yet?”

There was complete terror running through my veins as he continued to stare at me. He finally stood up and took a long deep breath. As each passing second ticked by, I was losing my nerve. I wanted to cower, to run away but I didn’t move. I stood my ground. If he is going to kill me and make me his slave, his vampire bride, whatever he was going to do with me, I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

 “I’ve been told that you’re supposed to kill me.” I said, with a high-pitched voice, a definite result in my nervousness.

“You are. I can smell it.” He said, with an anger in his voice. “But, I can’t kill you.” My brows furrowed as I thought about what Joanna said, ‘he’s going to kill you’.

“I didn’t expect this.” He said to himself, in a murmur. He shook his black hair and started to stalk the woods for an explanation. He is beautiful, but I guess that’s how vampires lure their prey. Captivate them with their looks, smell, and all around angelic state. Just as I was about to back away slowly, hoping he was too mad with himself to notice, he was mere inches from my face again. I can feel his breath on my neck, as he pinned my arms on the tree, deciding to kill me after all. I know he can hear my heartbeat, maybe even feel it too. He growled and shoved my arms down to my side and stalked off, once again.

            “I can’t kill you.” He yelled.  “With every thought in my mind, I want to kill you. I need to kill you. I’ve been searching 99 years and 363 days for you, to save my territory, to save my people.” He has a pleading tone in his voice and I almost feel sorry for him. “But I didn’t expect this…I didn’t expect you. I didn’t expect fate to do this to me.” I didn’t dare move, as he captivated me with his stare. “Do you know what it’s like to have people relying on you, to save their life? To save them from years of cruelty?” And I did, I knew exactly what it was like to have people rely on me to save them from cruel things.

“Yes.”

He stared at me, and I swore, in that moment, I felt a connection to him. Something real, something to make me feel alive in the mere minutes that I thought I would die.

“What is your name?”

“Annabeth, but I go by Anna” I whispered.

“Anna,” His voiced laced with sincerity. He took his hand and stroked by cheek, sending tremors down to my toes. “I need you to run, I need you to get out of this territory. Go as far away as you possibly can before my time is up. You have two days to go, two days to save yourself.”

“Why can’t you kill me?” I knew I was playing with fire, but I had to know.

“There are always two parts to every spell, which I know you know the first part- Joann told you.” How he knew that, I had no idea. “But the second part, the one that fate decides; vampires have a mate, whether human or vampire, and you are my mate. You are the one to break the curse set on my territory, I must kill you to do so. But, I can’t kill my mate.” 

“What do you mean mate?” I ask, confused.

“Vampires have one true love. They could be born hundreds or even thousands of years from now, it’s fate that gets to decide it. Well, Anna, when I grabbed your arm- knowing you were my human to break the curse, that fire that crossed through our touch, that was our mating seal. I know we just met, and it doesn’t make sense to a mortal. But you are my true love, whether we fall in love in mere seconds or years from now, you are my true love. By law and fate, I can’t kill you.”

All the blood wad drained from my face. I was utterly speechless. True love? How? Why? Fate is a cruel, cruel bitch, that’s why.

“That’s why I need you to go. In a few days, this territory is going to go rouge…I will go rouge, killing everything in my sight. The borders will be sealed around this territory, It’ll be wiped off the map. Once everything living and breathing is dead, we’ll be stuck in here and we will have to starve and wither away for the next 500 years. We become savages, even the good vampires and yes Anna, there are good vampires- despite the ugliness inside of us. We will eat everything in sight when the border is sealed. Giving mercy to no one. I need you to go. The least I can do is save you. I won’t be able to save my territory, but I can save you.” His icy blue eyes were full of guilt and sadness and I understood it. I get that look, I get those feelings. I understand not being able to save everyone.

“Go, go now. If there was another opportunity for me to be with you, I would take it. But there won’t be, so go.”  He quickly hands me my satchel full of food and water and vanishes. I’m left in the woods, alone as the darkness creeps in.

It feels like a dream. I haven’t moved from the very spot that he left me in. My own true love, and I didn’t eve catch his name, just those icy eyes, telling me to run. Running away isn’t my forte anymore. I can’t run, not after the brick house. I will not let all these people, in this territory get shredded to pieces by violent vampires. I won’t. Joann told me to save my soul, to fight for my soul, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

If he physically can’t kill me, to save these innocent people, then someone else will. If I’m in a vampire territory, then I know there should be more vampires around. I’ve yet to see one, or hear one, but I’ll walk the direction that he came from, and I’ll draw the vampires to me. If they don’t come then I’ll die anyway. I died trying to save people, I died trying to save my own soul.

            Joann packed me a knife, surely for hunting, because it would be useless to use against a vampire. I only slice a few parts of my thigh, and as antagonizing as the pain is, I squeeze around the wounds, to bleed faster. It shouldn’t take long from them to find me if the legends are right. So, I wait. I wait as I continue to seep blood onto the forest ground.

“What do we have here?” A sickening, eerie voice says from a distance. I look around but see no one, not until he speaks again. “Ah, a human, bleeding in the forest, only a few miles away from our home? Smells like a trap to me…who sent you?” He slowly circles around me and I take in his appearance; he is younger than my vampire mate and vastly different in looks. He has whitish, blonde hair and a lean body. His fangs are showing which is good. That means he’s ready to kill me.

“No one sent me.” I say. “I’m the human that’s supposed to die to save your territory.” His eyes darken as the words pile out of my mouth.

“Can’t you just kill me and turn me into a vampire? I’ll still die, it should still break the curse. Right?” I didn’t think this through. Maybe my vampire-mate has to kill me. Maybe it can’t be another vampire.

He stares at me and thinks for a moment, with his head tilted to the side. I stare at his fangs and briefly wonder how much pain they’re going to elicit when piercing into my skin. 

“I’m not really supposed to kill you due to our leader’s command, but you’ve got a good plan. The legend says for a vampire to kill you, for your life to be the ultimate sacrifice to break the curse. It doesn’t have to be Kysen.” Kysen. My true love’s name is Kysen.

“He will be livid as hell with me, little thing. But I like your way of thinking, you’ll do good in our territory, you’ll be welcome like a Queen.” He smiles a wicked grin at me and my stomach recoils. “Close your eyes, because this is will hurt.” Before I can take a breath, red hot pain courses through my veins. It’s a searing, breathtaking pain, and I can’t even fathom a squeal. But with this pain, comes contentment. Because as I slowly feel myself die, I know I saved my soul.