HER NIGHTFALL DESIRE

The beginning of an end is sometimes just the start of something new. And once in a while, it's the genesis of something wonderful. The clear skies of predawn held the promise of another sunny day for the small community outside of Columbus, Ohio. A beautiful, fair-skinned woman appearing to be in her late twenties stood among the tall grasses of an empty field. Summer James smiled as her green eyes looked with anticipation beyond the line of trees towards the approaching sunrise. It would be her first sunrise in many human lifetimes, and she stood statue- still, gazing hopefully at the sky. She absently ran her fiangertips through her short brown hair while contemplating the simplicity of the moment. With her keen hearing, she heard the birds chirping around her and a rooster crowing in the distance. As someone who typically planned things out with meticulous precision, Summer was momentarily amused that she'd merely pulled her car to the side of the road and randomly walked through the woods until arriving there. This will do nicely, she affirmed. In silent homage to her lifelong commitment to structure and order, she recounted what had brought her to that moment. She was a strong-willed person and not prone to depression or morose fixations, but she was at what could be described as a vampire's mid-life crisis. Having led a rich life, she'd enjoyed wealth, means, and free reign of the globe for the most part, as long as one excluded daytime. Daytime reigned as the most lethal environment for her kind, to be avoided at all cost. However, Summer had grown dissatisfied in recent years. It wasn't so much the series of failed relationships. Granted, those typically ended viciously...for them. It wasn't that she was necessarily tired of living; she simply no longer saw the point in it. She'd been shocked by the realization that she was ready to see her last sunrise. The epiphany came upon her rather suddenly, without brooding or melancholy. Summer confided in a few close vampire relations. However, most of them also struggled with their own need for diversions and were merely helpful in sympathizing with her situation. There were two vampires in particular who sought to intercede directly on her behalf before she watched that final sunrise, but both were half the world away, and time wasn't on their side. As she patiently waited, her only regret was the inability to appreciate the sun for very long before meeting her end. She missed the sunshine, really. As a human she had loved the mornings and the hopeful sense of optimism that morning brought to each day. For hundreds of years, she'd only caught fleeting glimpses of the burgeoning dawn before being forced into darker surroundings to await the reappearance of evening. Even at such a maudlin moment, she felt strangely at peace for what would be her last day. As the sun began to rise, Summer marveled at the beautiful, yellow- orange glow forming above the tree line. It was terrifying in its majesty, and the innate urge to avoid it began to grow despite her resolve to meet her end. Reflex only, she mused reassuringly. Moments later, the repercussion of the sun's ultraviolet radiation began to take effect on her skin. At first it was merely an itching, but quickly it became painful. Her exposed skin blistered, and seconds later the core of her body erupted with fire. Summer tightly shut her eyes against the sun's rays as they crept to the top of the trees and immediately heard a sizzling sound, quickly realizing it was coming from her own body. With the sunlight nearly full upon her, a peculiar thing happened to the resolute Summer James: she changed her mind. Harnessing speed that humans couldn't readily comprehend, she propelled her body westward into the tree line, holding the pain inside so she wouldn't scream. Although her lungs were burning with agony, she yearned to release anguished, primal feelings to the world. Instead, she ran while containing the painful wail building within her. Summer's only hope was to seek refuge from the blazing sunlight using the nearest opportunity for shelter. In a matter of seconds, she raced towards a small, wood-framed garage that quickly appeared before her. The old garage stood alone, some thirty feet to the side of a paint-peeled house located on the small acreage across which she was running. She barely registered the side doorway before she was speeding through it in a blur of movement. Summer slammed the door shut behind her, seeking refuge beneath a tarp-draped and partially refurbished Chevrolet Camaro. Within seconds, she lay on her back appreciating the cool, though grimy concrete floor. Her skin still sizzled as the burns covering her body felt catastrophic. Pain coursed through her system, and she breathed air in short, gasping breaths. Great, she thought, now what? Summer needed fresh blood for her body to begin the healing process properly. But she had deliberately fasted for many days in hopes of accelerating the process of death by morning sunshine. After facing her imminent demise firsthand, she considered it had been a really stupid notion. Naturally, I left my blood supply at home, she thought. Sighing with exasperation, she immediately felt her body racked with intense pain for her indulgence and drew air into her lungs through clenched teeth. She heard the small, creaky door to the garage open and promptly smelled a human. By the sounds of the small, awkward footsteps, it was a small human, likely a child. Her presumption was confirmed in the simple word the visitor uttered next. "Hello?" inquired a short, sandy-haired young boy. As he bent down to tie his shoe, Summer noted his faded blue jeans and a T-shirt emblazoned with cartoon characters from Walt Disney's The Lion King. Summer held her breath so there was as much silence as possible. One glance to his left, and the child could probably see her. She needed blood badly, but one of the few resolutions she had made since becoming a vampire was not to hurt children. She hoped that the boy would lose interest and quickly leave. "I heard the door slam," he said. "Where are you?" Summer clenched her jaw tightly and snapped her burnt eyelids shut while striving to keep the burning pain coursing through her body in check. Great, a kid saw me, she thought wildly. Then she heard the edge of the tarp lift near her and the little boy's gasp. "Gross! What happened?" the child demanded. "Are you hurt?" She barely opened one of her eyes to gaze back at him. She must have looked, and smelled, like a burned corpse at that moment. "You need to leave, little boy," she urged as clearly as possible through the pain. "It's not safe for you here." "I can help, really," the boy persisted.