Shard Of Life

Before reading the chapter, please be aware that it contains depictions of SA. :(

All that glitters is not cheap.

Shard Of Life

The hospital, where we were heading, was only a few blocks from the site of the attack. I removed my mask with a quick motion because I would have scared the workers to death otherwise. The boy entered and nodded to the receptionist, then set off toward the floors.

The nurses didn't stop him even though the visiting hour passed long ago. He stopped in front of one of the intensive care unit's doors. Only one patient was lying in that room, so I knew right away who we were visiting.

A nurse replaced the infusion bag, from which a tube led all the way to the needle drilled into the old man's wrist.

"Hi, Roli," she greeted the boy.

The kid seemed to come here often.

"Good evening."

"You know I shouldn't let you in," the slightly plus-sized, brown-haired woman said. "The visiting hours long passed."

"Just this once, please?" he looked at the nurse pleadingly melting her heart right away.

She smiled indulgently.

"Okay, but only this once."

I had a feeling she answered the same thing each time. After that, she gave me a surprised-curious look, but she didn't ask, leaving us there wordlessly.

"Who is this old geezer?" I asked it without showing any sympathy.

The boy's emerald eyes immediately flashed angrily at me.

"He's my father!"

"Not too old for that?" I raised an eyebrow. "What are you, a chance-child?"

He gave me another angry look.

"I was six when my parents died. At the time, hunters had not yet cared about killing good or bad, they hunted down everyone indiscriminately. This man sheltered me, gave me his name, and raised me as his own," he explained, keeping his eyes on the old man's wrinkled face.

"What happened to him?" I asked softly.

"He fell down the stairs and hit his head," he replied, his voice full of self-accusation. "If I had been home! If I had been by his side, he wouldn't be laying here now!"

"Nonsense," I shared my honest view on the subject with him as I sat on the bed next to the old man.

"I'll save him!" he said, then pulled out the amulet behind his torn shirt.

It was not an ordinary amulet, but a piece made by the fae. A small, green, rectangular pendant, no larger than five centimeters, with various marks engraved in the strange metal. In the middle, a barely perceptible line cut it in two, which could only be noticed by someone who already knew it was there.

The boy concentrated, I could almost hear him desperately repeating his wish to himself and to the sacred treasure of the fae, but in the end, the amulet did not respond to his desire. Not much time ticked by, yet we both knew the rare treasure hadn't listened to the request. The kid kept his eyes firmly closed, tears streaming down his face silently.

"You knew it wouldn't work, didn't you?" my voice sounded like a statement rather than a question.

"Of course, I knew!" he shouted, but still didn't open his eyes. "Others can't possess the fae's amulets. Only the fae can use it, plus only those with a blood bond. I... I had to try it! I just had to try! I have no more time; he will be disconnected tomorrow morning! I have to save him! I've always rebelled and said a lot of things he didn't deserve... I couldn't even thank him!"

By the end of his outburst, he was already sobbing.

I did not surprise myself when I went after the boy. Not even when I got rid of the vampires, or when I escorted him to the hospital – I planned it all. I wanted him to realize that he couldn't do anything with the amulet and then hand it over so that I could finally get over with all of this. It would have been easier to just take it from him, but I knew he wouldn't give it up without a fight. And I don't kill children on principle, so he had to realize that the amulet was worthless to him and then voluntarily hand it over.

I shocked myself at the point when I abandoned this whole plan. At the point when my vile and calculating self screamed and begged me not to but I still stood up and walked over to the boy. At the point when the human being who lived inside me, whose mere existence I wanted to deny, took pity on him.

He felt my closeness, his eyes popped open. He glanced up at me with a look full of tears. The light disappeared from his eyes, all hope vanished leaving behind only emptiness and pain. For some reason, I didn't want to see him like that.

"Do you love him so much?" I asked. "Humans are too fragile. You should have left him behind. See? How much trouble did you get yourself into for the life of an insignificant human?"

"I can't do it," he sobbed. "I can't leave him behind because he's not insignificant. He's the only one who loves me — so isn't it natural that I would do anything for him?"

"Tell me, do you believe in fate, cat?" I asked, and he was surprised by the sudden change of topics.

"I don't think it was a coincidence that we met at the pub today," I answered my own question.

"What?" he moaned hoarsely.

I didn't reply, he'll realize what I meant anyway.

When I squatted down in front of him, gently grabbed his wrist, and raised his hand, he didn't protest at all. I stretched out his index finger and then touched it gently to my canine. I tasted his blood on my tongue almost immediately, and the boy hissed in confusion at the pain.

A few drops of the crimson liquid were enough to fill my mouth with a metallic, bitter taste. When Coffee said I was just vegetating without real blood, maybe she wasn't even aware of how right she was. A few drops of blood is all it takes for the monster inside me to reborn from its ashes.

I don't let anyone get too close to me; there's a reason for this: the monster lives inside me and is waiting for me to lose control of myself. He waits, and while waiting patiently he listens, disgustingly feeding on my emotions, which if I don't control, he uses against me.

My sight became sharper in an instant, though I could usually see much better than a human. The world suddenly seemed snail-slow, or rather I got a little faster. A few white threads fell on my face, and then I realized it was my hair. After a long time, I revealed my true form again.

There was a startled realization on the boy's face. I seem to really look like my father. I took the amulet out of his hand, and he still did not protest — but it could be, just because he was frozen in fear. I stood up. When I bit my own thumb and pressed it to the amulet, it made a clicking sound — my blood was the key.

This made the line through the center more visible, cutting the rectangular metal into two parts. As I pulled the two halves apart, a gemstone appeared, around which the thread of the necklace was tied. It was irregular, crimson, and so bright that it mesmerized anyone who saw it.

The shard of life pulsated in my hand, getting to know me, accepting and inviting me. The shard is the secret to the long lives of the fae. The shard, which requires one hundred and thirty liters of human blood to make such a tiny piece, deserved its name.

Then, the next moment, the shard of life ruthlessly and inexorably grabbed my mind and soul. The shard of life, though not a sentient being, stubbornly clung to its previous master — perhaps Alistair's magic that pervaded the dangerous gem wanted it this way. 

It tried to imprison me while it caught me in the most painful memories of its master. Wandering among the memories, days, weeks, months, even years passed. Yet, I was sure that in reality I was enveloped in profound silence for barely a moment. I grinned mockingly. I claimed ownership as if it had always belonged to me.

Save this man! I made my request clear and understandable.

The shard of life revolted against me; I rather felt its doubt than heard the words of disagreement with my decision. After all, I could live as long as the fae! The shard would protect me from everything! I could feel the warmth radiating toward me, the warmth similar to how I imagined maternal love. Suddenly, I felt a profound desire to accept the offer of the stone. It would have been so easy. However, the long, almost immortal life was not what I really wished for.

Save this man! I repeated. The shard of life was no longer opposing my command. I was the new owner of it, and because my will was firm, it had to fulfill my wish. The reddish mirage first encircled the shard and then the old man's body as well. The next moment the scarlet gemstone exploded into tiny, reddish glitter and vibrating grains that disappeared without a trace before they reached the ground.

"One hour," I stated, "I couldn't give the old man more than one hour in this world."

As if only my words woke him up, the old man opened his eyes.

"Roli" he said hoarsely "Roli..." 

The boy's eyes widened, the last bitter tears streaming down his face, voluntarily jumping into the deep, and then breaking into tiny pieces on the gray tile. His lips trembled, maybe he wanted to say something, but he didn't, he just reached for the old man's hand and squeezed it, sobbing loudly. Yet these were already, tears of joy and relief.

I didn't want to bother them, this moment seemed too intimate for me to peep. Still, I could see the old man weakly caressing the tangled black curls, and then I closed the door behind me.

I also left behind the hospital; the boy's blood was still working in me, and it would have been quite unfortunate if one of the nurses had seen me like this. I moved so fast that the receptionist could only see it as a flash as I stepped out of the stale drug odor, and he was probably thinking that his eyes were playing tricks on him because of insomnia.

Hiding under the roof, I was waiting in the shadows. I had a feeling that after this one hour passes, the boy might have some questions for me. I leaned my back against the wall and silently watched my reflection in one of the motionless puddles as I listened to the drumming of the rain in the distance.

My face didn't look different, yet it felt like I was facing a completely different person. My hair was silvery like that of the moon-eyed fae, and my already pale skin now looked even whiter. Still, maybe my eyes bothered me the most. The blue irises with elongated pupils and black whites of my eyes. It really looked like a vampire's gaze, yet it was quite different.

My father... looked terribly similar to me. He looked like me, yet he was completely different. I glanced at my palm and clenched my fingers. I experienced his memories, his feelings like my own.

At first, he wasn't afraid of humans at all. At first, he just didn't understand, why did he have to change the color of his hair and why did he have to move to different villages so often. He didn't understand why it was so important to watch out for his every action near them. Indeed, at first, he just felt anger at them for having to hide. One day, however, he learned it, they burned it into his flesh and skin, what humans really are capable of, so that he could never, for the rest of his life, forget it.

Efraim, the damned offspring of a vampire and fae... The emerging Fifth King is actually... a pretty weak monster. A half-blood who inherited neither the power of vampires nor the speed of the fae yet is weak against iron and has vampire venom. When he was seven, he got into an argument with a small group of human children.

They wanted to cut his hair. I know that fae treasure their hair. He was pinned to the ground and the human boy was grabbing his hair but the pulling sensation ceased at some places where his hair surrendered to the blade, and Efraim in that moment of fear and rage hit the boy with a rock. After this, the blade was dipped in his side and shoulders several times. The human children shouted and hit him without a break for a long time. He tried to defend himself but after a while, he didn't even have the strength to do so. 

I clearly remember the snow-white pain that filled my mind and dulled my senses as I was reliving the memory. The earth's once soothing and home-like scent mixed with the metallic aroma of blood. The boys' voices sometimes faded and mingled with the noise of our trembling heartbeats.

I've never, ever been so scared in my life as when I was experiencing the feelings of Efraim, and I've also felt how desperately he was wishing for the power of vampires. After this, they threw him in the dried-up well near the forest. He was begging and begging for his life. Yet, in the eyes of the human children, there was neither regret nor sympathy. This was the scariest thing about them.

As I began to fall with Efraim, all I could think about was that I was going to die. When I landed, however, I wished to die. Each of my cells was filled with unbearable pain. This was the first time in my life that I did not feel the healing taking effect right away. The pain was unbearable, so when I fainted, I was even grateful for the soothing darkness that overwhelmed my consciousness.

However, this painless sleep did not last for long. I woke up to terrible torment, and my mind was filled with Al's voice as he was casting a spell in the ancient language of the fae. I screamed until my voice was completely gone. At first, my whole being was filled with pain, then the agony subsided as Alistair reached the end of the spell.

That day, Efraim inherited the shard of life from Alistair. He owed his life to that stone. That's right, a group of mere children could overpower and almost kill him. Yet, this was not the last time, humans tormented him. In a sick, twisted way, now I understood why did Efraim the thing he did to my mother. It was revenge. I was born from revenge and hate.

One night, his curiosity took the better of him and he's done something that he regretted ever since: he followed his mother on one of her nightly endeavors. For long minutes he followed the scent all the way to a more deserted place in the village.

He froze for a moment when he heard the noises of the battle. Pressing his body to the side of the house, he glanced out at the dead end. A man lay lifeless on the ground, it seemed as if a piece had been bitten from his neck. And around him, gold and silver coins were glinting in the mud.

The next one he found with his gaze was his mother. On the end of her fingers were long, sharp claws ready to attack. Her irises were burning red, and again all he could think of was that I had never seen a stronger and more beautiful color than this red. In her mouth, huge fangs lined up, she was truly a predator thirsting for human flesh and blood. Her long black hair followed her every movement like a dark cloak as she swung into attack. Since the human dodged his mother's claws, Efraim was sure he could only be a hunter. He took a few steps back. He immediately knew that he had to leave.

The blood froze in his veins when he bumped into something. And the next moment, when the bare skin of his shoulder was grabbed, he bit his lips with such force that blood flowed from them and filled his mouth. Panting and quietly growling, he took a deep breath, but at least he managed to hold back the painful cry. Efraim grabbed the hunter's hand, trying to get rid of the scorching touch of the iron glove at all costs.

"A half-blood," he heard the disbelieving voice, and with his darkening eyes, he looked up at the man. 

A frantic smile crept on the man's lips and he began to drag Efraim after him. The little boy tried to fight the strong grip, yet it was a weak escape attempt against an adult hunter.

"Efraim," he heard his mother's growling voice.

"Give up, vampire, or your son will perish," the hunter who was holding Efraim hissed through his teeth.

The fangs disappeared in an instant, the claws turned into human nails, and the reddish irises blackened. Efraim has never seen his mother's face so desperate in her entire life before.

"Let him go," she pleaded. "He's a child, have mercy. Let him go and I will go with you willingly!"

The three hunters laughed cruelly. After a little searching, the other hunter picked up a rusty handcuff that clicked on the boy's wrist. Efraim took a deep breath as tears began to flow unstoppably from his eyes. I also pursed my lips into a thin line. I had never felt so horrible pain before, even the memory of it was unbearable.

After this, everything was a mess. My heart sank from that tremendous amount of love that sparkled in the vampire woman's dark pair of eyes. She smiled softly.

"Everything will be fine, darling."

She lied to Efraim for the first time in her life. And when the hunter began to approach her with his sword in hand, Efraim couldn't hold back the sobs. He sobbed bitterly as he had never before.

The vampire woman straightened her back and raised her head so they could strike a perfect blow to her neck. Even on the brink of death, she seemed so proud, commanding, and noble that perhaps even the hunters might have felt tiny and insignificant from being near her. Perhaps that is why she was treated in the most cruel way possible. 

The vampire woman found herself on the ground the next moment, and her arms were nailed over her head with the short sword. Then, at that moment, Efraim discovered something in his mother's eyes that he had never seen there before: fear. He began to fight even more fiercely against his captor yet to no avail.

Still, the vampire woman remained motionless. She didn't object when her dress was torn up at her chest, nor did she object when the hunter leaned over her and grinned cruelly in her face. She remained motionless, even as the man began rolling wildly on her.

Sobbing, Efraim bowed his head so he wouldn't have to see her being dishonored. They grabbed him hard and pulled his head up. He closed his eyes, but he still could hear the hunter's disgusting moans and the soft sighs of the other human next to him as he caressed himself. He just sobbed trembling, cursing the humans a million times.

The hunters took several turns before they seemed satisfied, leaving only a pile of dirty, bloody mess in place of the once noble vampire woman. Still, Efraim was hoping that the hunters would have mercy and let them go. He cherished this hope until his mother's throat was cut.

He screamed, so loud that his throat burned from it. Ignoring the pain, he yanked himself out of the hunter's grip, and the iron glove tore a large piece of skin off his shoulder. He rushed to his mother and hugged her lifeless body. When the hunters tried to pull him away, he dug his claws into them and bit one of them. He drilled his fangs so deep into him that he almost bit off a sizable piece from the man's thigh.

That was when he realized he could create vampires. The man began to growl wildly, his limbs twitching as the vampire venom took control of his body. Claws exploded from the ends of his fingers; his irises reddened as the whites of his eyes turned black.

However, before Efraim could beg him to kill the other hunters, the humans had already, without a single moment's hesitation, cut off their partner's head. Despite his wild protest, he was eventually defeated and wrapped in an iron net.

Of course, Alister rescued him later. However, Efraim resented his father. First, he resented him, that he didn't avenge him when the human children almost killed him. After the death of her mother, he resented him even more that he did not kill the filthy hunters. He just took him and fled.

Maybe because I was reliving these memories as if they happened to me, somehow I understood the rage that Efraim felt. It was scary how well I understood his disgust and hate for humans.

I had no idea how long I had been standing there, looking at myself pensively before the boy stepped out of the door. It could have been an hour, but it could have been more. I felt the effect of blood weaken in my body.

"Thank you," he said. "I will never forget what you did today."

In the end, he didn't ask anything, he didn't need to.

"If you ever dare to tell anyone, I'll kill you," I stated, just for the sake of safety.

I didn't want anyone to find out who my father was. Especially not Alex or the others.

When I got home, my roommate was sitting on the bed waiting. I took off the mask and then put it back in the box. The mask was almost completely repaired, so I was reassured that the magic cast on it worked perfectly even after all these years. This was followed by the steel pullover. Alex had already placed the things lent to him back in it, so I quickly hid my box under the pile of clothes in the closet.

"Did you finish them off?" I asked suddenly.

"Some of them. The others fled, but I don't think they would return any time soon" he replied, then asked, "The kid?"

"He's safe" I shrugged.

When I decided it was time to go home, the boy said he wanted to spend some time in the hospital. So, although I knew how lonely the time there would be for him, I simply nodded.

"Who is this kid?"

"I don't know," I shrugged again.

Alex gave me a rather strange look. Anyway, I knew what was coming. I have to explain to Alex why I have hunter-gear. I sat down next to the wolf, though I couldn't speak for a moment.

"As you know, I'm mixed-blood, but besides this, I haven't told you much about my family," I said with great difficulty. "My father is half-blood, but I don't know him... And my mother was a human, a human from a noble hunting family."

We both remained silent for a while. Although I knew Alex wanted to know more, he didn't ask anything. Since the day we met, these were the first things I had told him about myself — and it meant a lot to him.