The Decision

         Ashter hated what he was. Killing to eat, eating to survive. It was a continuous cycle that would never end.

         Ashter killed and drank the blood from animals, but they didn't give him the strength that human blood did. Every other night he hunted a weak human that was asking for death. Right now, he was going on seven days of animal blood and was thirsting for the warm, sticky, sweet, blood of a young and strong adult.

         No, he couldn't think like that. He couldn't take the life of someone who had a future ahead of them. Ashter shook his head. He could easily overcome a full-grown adult man who worked out daily in a gym. Ashter could wrestle a large grizzly bear and win. He wasn't strength deprived; in fact, he was one of the oldest and strongest vampires there ever was. But he wasn't soulless either. He hated seeing other vampires take pleasure in feeding. He hated when other vampires teased and tortured their victims. Ashter believed in taking his prey quickly and silently, inflicting as little pain as possible.

         The moon was out and the stars were hidden by clouds. It was the perfect night to take an unsuspecting victim. Ashter silently stalked the streets of La Rochelle, France. He liked taking humans by surprise, so they didn't alert anyone else. Humans had a strange way of going hysterical when confronted with death. He used his acute senses to find his victims. His eyesight, his hearing, his sense on smell, and even his taste buds were enhanced more than a normal human. He eyes could pick out a certain person from blocks away, and could see things in the darkest night as though it were full daylight.

         Normally, Ashter hunted in the woods or in a subdivision, far from the heart of the city. But tonight, his hunger was driving him. He ran his long fingers through his hair. His green eyes gleamed dangerously. He felt a pull, stronger than he had ever felt before. This was the longest he had ever gone without human blood.

         Ashter's eyes danced from one human to the next, he had to choose the right one. Then they fell on Nelia, Ashter's human girlfriend. She was 17, two years younger than Ashter's body would forever appear to be. Nelia didn't know of his dark secret, and he wanted it to stay that way. One day he planned on ridding himself of this wicked curse, he just hadn't found out how yet. When the day came, he could be with the one he loved forever.

         When Nelia saw him, she trotted on over and put her arms around his neck.

         "I missed you." she spoke in a whisper and kissed his cheek. "I haven't seen you in a week."

         Ashter removed her arms from his neck and placed his arm around her waist. "Come, I have to show you something."

         Nelia giggled, showing her perfect white teeth. "Okay."

         Ashter walked the both of them out of the plaza and into the dark side streets.

         "Ashter, where are we going?" It was getting cold and Nelia started to shiver.

         Ashter led her down a dark alley and they sat down on a pile of old rags which once made up the home of a homeless person.

         Nelia cuddled Ashter, trying to get warmer.

         "Do you want to die?" he asked suddenly.

         "What? No, Ashter, what are you talking about?" she asked, fear edging in her voice.

         He got closer to her. "Too bad..." his voice was low and evil.

         "Ashter!"

         "I just couldn't resist, your white complexion, your golden hair, your... perfect ness. I can't let you live. It's just not fair for all of the ugly people," he hissed silently into her ear. He straddled her small body on the couch and showed his two white fangs.

         "What---" He muffled her scream.

         Ashter sunk his fangs into her smooth neck. He let the sweet feminine blood flow into his mouth. Oh how good if felt to have blood from a strong, lively human in him. He caressed the back of her neck softly. Ashter let his tongue run over the two little puncture wounds. As he did, he felt a pleasurable little bit of electricity. He drank Nelia's blood and listened for her to heart slow. Once he was done, he let Nelia's body fall lifeless in the rags. He slit her throat and let the last of her life slip away.

         "I thought.. you loved me, Ashter." Nelia said in her dying breath.

         Ashter stared at her, and then he got up and stretched. All of his senses were restored to full capacity. Going seven days without human blood can disorientate a vampire. When he came back to his right mind, he looked to see where he was. It was like the life was coming back to him from being trapped deep within himself.

         Ashter looked around. He was in an alley! Oh no! That could only mean one thing. Ashter slowly turned his head towards the couch, dreading what he might see. Nelia was laying on it with two little puncture marks on her neck. Ashter dropped to his knees. No! He didn't! Couldn't! He had killed the only person he ever cared about. He screamed and bashed his head against the alley wall, not caring that blood was spilling everywhere.

         When he tired, Ashter fell to the cracked pavement, and sat down with his back resting on the couch. It was like a demon had possessed him. He buried his hands in his black hair. He, Ashter, the only vampire with a heart, killed Nelia, the nicest, most caring girl in the world. He would have to punish himself someway. Starving himself would be excruciating, but not bad enough. He would have to kill himself.

         But how do you kill an immortal that has been living for over 700 years?

         There are many ways to kill a vampire. Drinking a human's blood after the heart stops is one way, but that wouldn't be bad enough for Ashter. He would die almost instantly. The heat of an intense fire could also kill him. The problem with jumping into a fire is that if someone doesn't scatter your ashes, you will come back, and in fact, not die at all.

         The only real solution would be exposing himself to the sun. The sun would burn his skin, and broil the blood in his veins, or so he was told by others before him. No vampire ever before had survived the light and heat of the sun. This was his answer. Ashter would die by one of the things he loved the most.

*****

         When Ashter was made, he was unwilling. He loved his life, his family, and most of all, the sun. It was like a god to him. It meant more to him than anything else. When Ashters maker came along, he sensed Ashters love for the sun. His maker was jealous, why should a mortal love something so much when he could love nothing?

         Ashter was alone on a street in Paris one night, when he had his first encounter with the most evil being ever created.

         The sun had just gone down and Ashter was riding his mare Sunstar, for an evening ride. It was the year 1263.

         Sunstar nickered softly and side stepped. Something was bothering her.

"What is it girl?" Ashter asked. Her eyes grew wide and her nostrils flared. Something moved in a nearby tree. Usually calm, Sunstar reared and threw Ashter off. Ashter hit the ground hard, while Sunstar ran off into the night. He was a very experienced rider. Something must have really scared his mare for her to throw him off like that. Ashter was rubbing his head, when he sensed a strange presence at his side. He looked up and was startled at what he saw.

         It was a man who looked a little bit older than Ashter. He had blond hair, a perfect face, and flawless pale skin. He looked unnatural. His piercing blue eyes seemed to glow, and the clothes he wore seemed a little bit outdated.

"Come," he spoke to Ashter. "Young one." Ashter, mesmerized by this powerful being, sat frozen.

"Come, now!" It roared. Ashter still didn't get up. The creature moved towards Ashter faster than the speed of light. It jerked him to his feet, and knocked him out of his trance.

"Who are you?" Ashter whispered, still a bit dazed.

"Not a friend, nor an enemy." It replied. Ashter struggled to get free, but the being held on to him tight. No matter what Ashter did, he couldn't get away.

"Stop struggling young one." The creature had great strength, and was holding Ashter like he was a stick. "Stop Ashter, I have something to offer." At the sound of his name, Ashter quit moving and strained his head to try and get a better look at the thing holding him.

"How did you---?" Ashter began.

"I know a lot of things. Follow me, young one and we can talk in peace."

         Ashter felt that he had no choice but to follow the creature. The being led him deeper into the woods where Ashter had been riding. Ashter noticed that the creature didn't seem to walk, but in fact, glide as if he was skating on some unknown and unseen ice. What did this being want with him? The creature, whatever he was, Ashter was not to sure, lead him into a very dense part of the woods. They walked for what seemed like hours. Ashter just wanted to sit down and rest. But every time he tried, the creature would pull him back up. Then finally, they stopped when they came upon a cave.

         The cave was barely visible because of the trees that covered it. The opening was of rock, and built into the side of a small hill. When the creature pulled back the branches, there was a boulder stuck in the entrance. The creature looked at Ashter and told him to stand back.

"If you run away, I will get you. So it's no use to try and escape."

Ashter nodded and mumbled. "I wasn't even thinking about it."

"Another thing Ashter, don't lie to me, I know what you were thinking."

         With that, the creature walked up to the boulder and fit his fingers into deep grooves. Then he pulled and the boulder slowly moved away from the opening. There was just enough space so that a grown man could fit through it.

"Come." The creature motioned to Ashter to step inside.

         Ashter looked around. The trees were dense and there was nowhere to run to. He had no idea what this creature wanted with him, but he didn't want to stay and find out. This being was powerful, and could no doubt kill him with a twitch of his finger. But if he ran, the creature would kill him instantly, he was sure of that. He had no choice but to go inside and face whatever he was put up against. Anything to see the sun again. Ashter hung his head in defeat and stepped inside the cave.

"Ah, so I see you've decided to join me." The creature smiled and put the boulder back into place. Now Ashter couldn't escape if he wanted to.

"What are you?!" Ashter demanded angrily. He was fed up with guessing. "And what do you want with me?"

"My dear mortal. So young and so helpless. Now that I have you in my lair, I'll tell you." The creature pushed Ashter up against a damp cavern wall and gripped his shoulders tight. "I, Ashter, am your worst nightmare. I will take away from you everything that you love." He breath was warm on Ashters neck. "I, am a vampire."

"Vampire." The words played across Ashters tongue. He looked up at the creature. "And you're going to kill me."

"Oh, that would be too easy. You would die still loving the sun. I can't let that happen. You will hate the sun by the time I'm done with you." He smiled, his white teeth flashing. "By the time I am done with you, you will have no heart. Kind of like me, Aiko Vyzar. You will be eternally damned. Damned to live in the night. Never able to see the sun again." Aiko let go of Ashter and paced with his hands folded behind his back.

Ashter looked at him with his eyes wide open in horror. "You wouldn't!"

"Ah, but I would."

         Ashter looked frantically for a place to hide. There was nothing, except long tunnels. He looked at Aiko and then back at the tunnels. Before he knew it, he was running full out. He had no idea where he was going, but kept running anyway. He heard the quiet, but audible voice of Aiko Vyzar calling to him. Ashter stopped when he could run no more. He was breathing heavily. The footsteps were gone, and he only hoped that he had lost the vampire. Ashter hunched over with his hands on his knees and was breathing hard, when Aiko came up behind him.

"I told you." Was all he said.

*****

         When Ashter woke up, he was laying in a rock hard bed. There was a bottle of wine on a table in the middle of the room. The room he was in was very tiny, and there was one small window, just enough to fit a hand through. The room had a little door, which Ashter presumed to be locked. Ashter tried opening the door, just in case he was wrong. He wasn't. The wine, the table, and the bed, were the only things in the room. Ashter walked to the table and opened the bottle of wine. Then he sat down on the bed.

"Here's to being a prisoner of war." He toasted no one. Ashter twisted out the cork and brought the bottle to his lips. He let the cool liquid run down his throat. He drummed his fingers on the bottle, desperately thinking of a way to escape. Nothing came to mind. He was up against a vampire. A battle he would most likely lose. Ashter finished the bottle. He was not a heavy drinker, and this one bottle made him feel sick with drunkenness. He tried standing up and collapsed on the bed. That’s when the door opened and Aiko walked in.

"It's time." Aiko smiled in delight. Ashter lunged at him. He couldn't think straight, let alone fight a vampire. Ashter was throwing punches and kicking like no other. Aiko didn't even flinch. He just let Ashter play his little game until he tired himself out. "I just love drunken mortals." Laughed Aiko. His laugh turned evil when he gripped Ashter and pulled him down across him on the bed. He had Ashters upper body on his lap, and his legs lay on the bed next to him. Ashter just lay there helpless, to tired to do anything from his recent episode. Aiko looked down at Ashter and traced his exposed neck with his glasslike fingernail. He felt the thick veins, pulsing with blood.

"Why are you doing this?" Ashter whispered.

"Why, because I hate you." Aiko changed from the carefree vampire, to the dangerously evil creature with no heart or feeling.

"But why? What have I done to you?"

"Everything. You have everything that I can't. Now, when I change you, you will despise yourself, just as I do myself. Say goodbye to the sun!"

         With that, Aiko held Ashlars neck up to his lips. He let his long canine teeth elongate, and puncture the skin on Ashters tender neck.

         Ashter cringed as the skin broke. He felt the teeth slide carefully in, and then back out. Aikos lips suctioned in a circle on his neck, and his tongue probed the two holes gently. He drank a great amount of Ashters blood before he pulled away.


         Ashter was very weak, and very thirsty. His hands groped at anything, and when Aiko slit his wrist, Ashter immediately grabbed it and started drinking. He heard something growing louder the more he drank.

Thump, thump.

Louder and faster still.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

The beat of his heart, beating in rhythm with Aikos.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

         When Aiko pulled away, Ashters nails scratched his wrist for more, but without prevail. Aiko began stroking his head.

"You're done, young one."

The first thing Ashter noticed was his enhanced eyesight. The weakness and helplessness he once felt was now gone. He was a whole different person.

"Now go. I never want to see you again." The hate in Aikos voice was strong.

"But-"

"Just leave the way you came in. You are now strong enough to move the boulder." Aiko threw Ashter against the door, breaking it down. He scrambled to his feet and ran. The voice of Aiko echoed behind him.

"Stay away from the sun, it will kill you."

*****

         Ashter shuddered at the thought of his becoming. He never wanted to die. He liked life, and the beauty of it. He didn't like to take lives, and his own would be hardest of all. But he would die peacefully. Painfully, but peacefully. He still had hours until sunup, and he had a lot to do.

         He felt that he had to do something about Nelia. He couldn't just leave her there like that. Her skin was already pale, and her body was stiff. Drained from all her beauty and life. Just looking at her dead body made him feel a sharp anger towards himself, and towards all vampires.

         Ashter picked up Nelia's lifeless body and carried her out to his black Diablo. He had gotten a lot of money off his victims. Hey, who said you couldn't rob a rich dead guy? The doors lifted up and he buckled her into the passenger side of the car. He jumped in the driver's side and started the engine. He was going to make her death look like a freak accident.

         Ashter took the Diablo to 112 mph. He sped out of the city and down the mountains towards Nelia's house. The road was deserted and the landscapes were whizzing by very quickly. When he was about 5 miles from her house, he deliberately ran off the road on a sharp turn at full speed. The car went through the guardrail and rolled down the steep cliff and stopped when it ran into a tree. The Diablo went up if flames, and the fire didn't die down until everything was burnt to a crisp. The windshield shattered, causing shards of glass to imbed itself into Ashter and Nelia's skin. The airbags went off, preventing them from hitting the dash, but the impact broke Nelia's nose anyway. The two doors were crushed in, forcing themselves into Ashters stomach. Both of Nelia's arms were twisted two different ways, and her legs were trapped beneath the counsel. The roof had caved in down on Ashters head, causing him to keep his head down in an uncomfortable way.

         It took Ashter 45 minutes just to get out of the totaled Diablo. He walked around it and took in the sight. If he weren't immortal, he would have died. His bones were already setting themselves and healing the burns on his skin. Next, he moved Nelia to the drivers seat so it would appear that she was the only one in the car. Nelia wasn't bleeding, she couldn't bleed. It would be very strange to see a dead girl in a car crash with no blood. He slit his wrist and let the blood flow everywhere that it should be if someone died in a crash. If the police identified the blood, they would find Nelia's DNA. He still had her blood within him. Then he walked around the back of the car and pulled a 6-pack of Budweiser out of the open trunk. He sat up against a tree and downed them all.

         Next, Ashter called the cops. He had to radio in where the car went off, so Nelia would be found.

         "Hello, 911, how may I help you?" a voice said.

         "Yeah, I'd like to report an accident. A car went off a cliff outside La Rochelle." Ashter said, trying to sound like a frightened mortal.

         "Okay. Can you tell me, how many people were in the car?"

         "Uh, I think there was only one"

         "Can you identify the person still there?"

         "No, everything in the car is burned."

         "Okay, Please hold while I identify the proper authorities."

         Ashter hung up. He had to get out of there. But before he did, he had to do something. He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from the trunk, the only place that seemed unaffected by the crash. He wrote:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Tunston,
I am so sorry about your daughter. I have killed her, and I will never be able to live with myself. You need not worry about a trial or anything, seeing that I am killing myself. I think this news will please you. I want you to know, Nelia was the best girlfriend any guy could ever ask for. She has never done anything wrong. And the beer in the car, she didn't touch it. I know that you have suspicions that she was a "bad girl", but I have to tell you, she was not. I hope you feel better and have no doubts that your daughter was a wonderful girl. This is now goodbye.
         -Ashter

         Ashter stuck the note in the totaled car and left. Sunup was very near. He looked back over his shoulder just to see the police and paramedics arrive.

         Ashter ran to a very secluded spot in the forest. It was a ledge that over looked a lush green valley full of trees and other vegetation. Trees full of chirping birds, just waking up for the morning, surrounded the ledge.

         Ashter leaned up against a large rock that faced the east and overlooked the valley. This was the most peaceful place for anything to die.

         Ashter took a last look out at the night. Something he would never see again. Tensely, he watched as the sun poked its face over the tops of the trees. This is the point where he would die. "Goodbye." he whispered to anything and everything. He could feel his skin burning and his blood broiling. His back slipped off the rock and his body lay twitching uncontrollably. He closed his eyes, willing the pain to stop. Then he felt something different. A tingling feeling in his veins. Never in his life had he felt anything like it. The burning stopped and this tingling sensation replaced it. The pain was gone. Ashter stood up and looked around. His eyesight was reduced, and he wasn't as strong as he used to be. He felt as if he had lost all of his senses. Then his tongue ran over his teeth, something that was an old habit. His sharp fangs were gone. He looked up at the sun, something he hadn't seen in a long time.

         "I thought you were supposed to kill me?"

         It did. The sun had killed his vampiric self. It burned the immortality out of his blood and soul. What Aiko said had been true. The sun will kill a vampire. And after 739 years, Ashter was once again a normal 19-year-old human being.