The Awakening
"Do you want to live boy?" The man asked unhurriedly, his deep voice silky and tinged with an accent.
The room was cold, musty, dilapidated and dark enough that I couldn't see the face of the man clearly. It was empty with barely any furniture.
But it was clear enough that I could see the man's well-groomed salt and pepper hair, his piercing blue eyes, his dark pinstripe suit paired with a white shirt and a silky tie, and his bright gold watch.
"...Y-Y-Yes," I answered weakly, my tiny voice quaking as sweat soaked my dirty clothes, my small body shaking with fear and my hands that held the pistol heavy from the weight.
All around me, tall adult men in suits stood in attention, motionless as statues, their hands gloved. Two men like the ones stationed across the room held down a man on his knees firmly.
He was a pitiful middle-aged man that was slightly big with a beer belly, balding brown hair, an unkempt brown beard, and brown eyes that stared at me with fear and hope.
He wore a white shirt and brown trousers littered with oil and alcohol stains.
"Good. Then go closer to him, point that gun on his forehead, and shoot him." He ordered, his voice cold and neutral.
My heart sank, my blood ran cold, my eyes widened, and my body and hands froze at his words. The next second, tears started streaming down my face, snot following afterward.
"P-Please, I-I can—"
"You can't what boy? Kill him? I'm giving you a chance at freedom boy," He cut me off brutally and said. "Your father used you as leverage in case in case he couldn't pay us back. Do you know what that means?" He asked me coldly, his blue eyes cutting into me.
Still crying, I shook my head.
"It means, I can do whatever I want with you. You are now my property. I can kill you, sell you, or even eat you alive if I want to," He explained calmly. "But in your case, I'd have to sell you to the highest bidder."
"There are a lot of people out there in this world that'll pay a pretty penny to have you as a plaything.
"They'll torture you, rape you, and do all sorts of things to you that'll make you beg for death which you won't even have the luxury of getting. It'll be like you're living in hell, only much more real."
He paused, watched as fear dug its claws into me so much that I was hyperventilating, sweat and tears streaming down my face, and continued.
"The only mistake he made was writing that in the contract, unaware that my familia abhors such business. We find it very appalling, to say the least. And that's why I'm giving you a chance.
"You can either kill this filth you call a father and we'll take you in or you can spare his life and we'll give you to someone who engages in such business and leave your father alone.
"Because at the end of the day, the familia must collect its due. Whether we like it or not. So choose boy, and choose quickly because you have ten seconds to decide." He finished in a grave monotonous tone that made the room seem colder than it actually was.
At this point, my knees were buckling from fear, my throat was dry, and snot was freely flowing out of my nose as I stared at my father who was also teary-eyed looking at me.
I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to kill my father. But I had no choice. He had practically sold me to some people and if I didn't kill him, then I'd eventually become someone's slave and he'd be left alone.
Free to continue whoring and drinking around until he died in a ditch somewhere, with no one to hold him accountable for all the things he'd done to me.
All the abuse, torment, and torture he'd inflicted on me every single day would be forgotten. No one cared about him and that was the same way no one cared about me.
There was no way I was going to let that happen. I wasn't going to let him go about his life with no care in the world while I suffered someplace halfway across the world. It wasn't fair.
I didn't know where it came from but suddenly, as all of my experiences and pain flooded my mind, my fear and terror vanished and got replaced by rage.
So much rage and hate filled my mind that my body moved on its own toward him and my hands steadied, slowly raising the gun to place its muzzle right on his sweaty forehead to his shock and horror.
"...Vincent, don't listen to him. He is lying. You know I'll never do something like that to you," He said, pleading with a shaking and frightful voice. "You're my son. You know I love you so please don't do this. P-Please."
"Five seconds remaining." The man intoned casually.
I placed my index finger on the trigger and wiped my tears and snot with my sleeve at his words, brimming with hate as I looked deep into my father's wide terrified eyes.
"Don't do it, Vincent! I'm your father! Please don't do it!" He begged frantically, screaming at the top of his lungs, trying to stand up and escape the men holding him but they were much stronger so his resistance was futile.
"Two seconds more..."
"Go to hell, Dad!" I screamed angrily with every ounce of hate within me and in the next moment, squeezed the trigger with all my strength.
And a loud thunderous bang resounded...
Immediately, my eyes shot open and my body rose from the bed, panting like a man who just run a marathon.
I quickly scanned my surroundings and took a long deep breath when I realised I was still in my dark bedroom. Still in my bed.
"...My demons sure took the right time to start haunting me again. Can't say I'm surprised though.." I sighed and chuckled darkly, massaging my temples with my fingers as I calmed down.
You'd think that dying and reincarnating into a new world would help you make peace with your past. But reality, in its totality, was often cruel and unforgiven. A fact I learnt earlier than most people.
Shifting my eyes to the left side of my bed, I saw a slim and curvaceous naked woman with long raven dark hair, lying under the sheets, her fear unblemished back and bubbly ass facing me.
I smiled at the sight, carefully slipped out of the sheets, and got down from the gray plush king-sized bed.
My feet sunk into the rich and soft woolen dark gray carpet that covered the flooring of my master bedroom as I rose to my feet and stepped towards the large floor-to-ceiling windows with heavy velvet curtains inlaid with golden accents.
I pulled back the curtains and instantly, dim natural light filled the room, dispelling most of the darkness. The sun was rising, painting the sky an amber shade as white fluffy clouds carelessly drifted above.
It was a beautiful sight and it was...bright. Brighter than it should've been. In fact, everything was brighter, clearer, and more colorful than usual. It was different. I felt different.
I felt like someone who was just born again in a literal sense. I could see, smell, and hear things much more clearly. Even my sense of touch and feeling was richer.
It was like, I was more in tune with the world now than I'd ever been. It was more vibrant now. More beautiful...
"Hmm, something has changed." I narrowed my eyes slightly at this new experience and took a step back to examine myself on the window's clear expansive surface.
The image of a naked and tall young man with pale unblemished skin, a toned body, bright blue eyes, shoulder-length bright blond hair, sharp dark eyebrows, an angular jawline, a straight chin, thin pink lips, a straight nose, and a perfectly symmetrical face was reflected to me.
Seeing nothing wrong with my body, I raised my right hand to inspect my body but my eyes widened in shock. There was a new mark at the center of my palm, a very peculiar and familiar mark.
The mark resembled a mouth and throat with spiked teeth. It looked like a birthmark, something that I was born with and has always been a part of my skin.
As I stared at it, I felt something new in my hand. It was like there was a new muscle inside my hand that seemingly connected to the mark.
And when curiously, nudged that muscle, the 'spiked teeth' closed in, as if it was biting something. It was something that was very unnatural to witness and eerie.
Nonetheless, the moment I saw it do this, my lips spread into a broad grin as my heart started racing and pounding more rapidly, my body giddy with unbelievable excitement.
"It's finally here. Right on time as I expected." I muttered happily as I clenched my right hand into a tight fist, feeling the increased strength and power in my body.
If someone saw it, they'd think it was some form of skin deformity but I knew better. It was a sign.
A sign that after eighteen solid years, my power had finally been awakened.
The power that was ingrained in the Morningstar DNA or bloodline. The power that made my father the great man he was and laid the foundation for my family's prominence and legacy.
It was a sign that told me I'd finally gotten what I'd always dreamed of. The power to shape and control my destiny. And now that it was here, I had a lot of work to do.
"Mmmmh..." The young lady on my bed let out a soft moan, pulling me out of my thoughts.
Turning my head, I saw her stretching her body, pushing the sheets away a little bit to expose the supple white skin on her waist and thigh.
Suddenly, I felt something click in my head, like a light switch. From where I stood, I could feel, no, sense something churning inside of her, something that filled the entirety of her body.
Instinctively, I knew what it was. It was her energy, her bioenergy, the driving force of every living organism. And it was calling out to me.
Beckoning me, like a lover to draw near, filling me with a strange and minute sense of hunger that sprang out of nowhere. It was like a craving.
A craving for something sweet and delicious.
A craving I'd have to satisfy and also the cost I had to pay in order to begin my journey. And I'd pay any cost for a chance at true power. Any cost...
.
"...I guess it's time to eat."