Creatures of the Night

Sixteenth Night

Sixteenth Night

Creatures of the Night

© All Rights Reserved

##### Sixteenth Night #####

--------------------------------

After the silence and dark scenery of being hunted down to the end, I wake up having this pain inside my chest. What is this feeling...? I touch my chest.

Oxygen feels low. My heart feels like it wanted to pound rapidly, but can’t. Thorns of fear prevent me from beating it too strong, suppressing it as the cage. It’s making me handle the hint of the kind of pain I never had before.

When was the last time I felt like this before, anyway? It... doesn’t feel that long.... When was it? The last time....

The flashes of memories come back. And without realizing it, I’ve been fooling myself.

Those nightmares.... The running, the dark hallway, the shots.... They all are frightening me. I was so afraid that my body shook uncontrollably, my soul practically begging to be let loose, and I almost didn’t able to pull them all up. I can’t stand it, but I lied to myself by thinking that it’s nothing. It’s not nothing at all, really. But I can’t show my fear for some important reasons. How can I act scared in front of anyone? So I tried to ignore the painful feeling, just before it sinks in....

I bit my lips as I try to keep myself conscious as I endure the suffering sensation. I can hear murmuring from far, but I don’t get a word they’re saying.

Finally, as if a hundred candle lights are being lifted up, I can see everything better.

The figure standing before me is tall and in all black, just like how I usually see him. His pale skin is so easy to notice even in this room that is partially devoid of light.

Am I still dreaming? Or am I already awake, though? But I never see colors in my dream before. Especially the candle lights. The floating yellowish oranges sure are real. So that only leaves to one thing: he’s really here.

The gasp of pain starts invading my heart again, and I’m feeling the struggles more that I have ever had before from the thorny cage on my heart.

He makes a move by raising his hand to the air, trying to reach me. I almost wince by that, but I keep myself still. By the look of his eyes, I’m pretty sure that he really wants to choke me to death with his hands. Pretty sure that he want to do it right now. But he just doesn’t. I look around to see what’s stopping him, and finally step back the pentagram.

Just in case if he’s not a ghost, Artro decided to draw a pentagram that can trap anything that gets inside its rage. It will trap any kind of creature, aside from the ones who created it and the one who is already inside of it.

That’s why he can’t go any nearer to me.

But the man who I first thought was a ghost is actually not. He’s a solid creature. With real body. Not the transparent kind.

"What do you want?" Artro's demanding voice, which come from beside me, manage to make me realize that he's also in the same room with us.

The man, who I thought was a ghost at first, wincing his dark gems of eyes at him. With a snort that even sounds elegant from him, his mouth looks like it's about to reply before he decides to seal them instead. Is it because he’s mute, or he just doesn’t want to answer Artro.

"Who are you?"

"What are you?"

Link and I ask at the same time. I can guess that he's giving me a questioning look right now, but I keep my eyes contact on our expected, yet unexpected, guest.

At first I though he’s not going to answer me, but he surprises us all by talking.

He narrows his eyes down to me as he speak. “What goes out must eventually goes back again.” His voice is like a unique singing tenor, playing in the air melodically before it enters my ears.

Looking at the confusion in my eyes, he continues, “You see, Arsëne, there’s a cause to everything. And that’s why you need to die.” He pronounces the word ‘die’ just a little bit melodic, making me think that he likes to kill as a hobby─I kill, too, but prefer animals more. He also say my name with accent so thick, my name sounds much better than it should be.

Then, I also sense his aura. It’s not completely revealed, but the urge to kill me is quite dominating my old room. I suppress myself from gulping as I braced myself to ask, “Why?” Even if it’s just for fun, I still want to know why I must lose my life.

He grins wickedly and sweeps his finger under my chin, making me feel his sub-zero touch. “Your guess is right; I do enjoy killing. But I’m sure I’ll enjoy killing you much more. It’s personal, you see. And your death will redeem all those troubles you’ve caused─”

“ARSENE!”

Someone yells my name so loud, that I feel myself snap. I blink a couple of times. And as if finally realizing what’s happening, my eyes go wide. I’m leaning so close to the dark-haired man, that I’m practically half out from the pentagram. In a snap, I pull myself away from him and back to my protection circle.

When did I get out?

“Arsene, are you okay?” Banri ask, trying to approach me. But he can’t; something that I can’t point out is keeping him from coming nearer.

“What happened? What’s going on?” My voice comes out into whispers.

“You were moving out from the pentagram by yourself, even though you know the risk of doing so. He.... he─” Banri look at the man with horror in his eyes. I look at my cousins, and they have the same expressions on their faces as him.

What’s going on? It feels like.... I’m missing something here. Something urgent, that I somehow forget. What is it...? I can’t remember. Can’t... remember....

“You!” I point my finger at him, finally realize what’s going on. Why did I miss all the signs? All the nightmares. Mortal. Memory loss. Manipulation. “You’re a vampire, aren’t you?”

He smirks.

A wind blow to our way and send chills to us, I remember instantly the sky deck that's already been widely open. But the shaking I'm feeling is not from the coldness. Something’s dark forming above us, creating lightning and thunder soon.

“Arsene! Don’t!” I can hear sounds coming from behind me as I try to step out of the pentagram once more; this time consciously.

The vampire before us had compelled me to step out of the pentagram unconsciously, manipulating the boys as well to stay still. To over control wizards as strong as us, means he’s no ordinary match.

But he’s going away; I notice his backing paces. He must have realized that I’m no longer under his control─and not going to fall under the same trick again. He’s getting away. I can’t let that. Not when he’s right in front of us.

“Arsene!”

The first drop of rain feels like ice piercing on my skin. It takes me many times of striking cold before I'm used to the falling rain. Until my whole body is wet to the very core of the surface. Finally, I'm used to it and somehow even find warmth from it.

“Wait!” I yell at him. When I look for his figure, he’s already crawling on the ceiling, only inches away from the sky deck. He turns his head down in an impossible angle for me and look at me sharply right away.

“Why would you want to kill me? What did I do to you? I never even met you before the nightmare started.”

Ignoring my question, he jumps right on the sky deck’s top. I create a black beaming fire appear at both of my ankles, making my version of feet rockets.

I fly up following him as fast as I can before he gets too far. Luckily, he’s still standing on the side roof at the edge of the sky deck. I look at him from behind the curtains of my messy, wet hair.

“What happened?” I repeat my question.

“Poor Arsëne. You’re gonna die so soon,” he say bitterly, almost sounds sad if I don’t know any better. It’s as if that he believes me that chasing him is to hand my life over to him on a golden plate, instead of the silver one. But I decide to play along.

“And since I’m going to die anyway, tell me. What happened? Why do you want to kill me?” I repeat with a surrender tone.

“What’s the point? You’ll forget it again, anyway.”

What does he mean by that?

Before I get my answer, he jumps off the sky deck ceiling. So graceful and looks so easy to do that I’m almost tricked by it. With one single wave and twist, black smoke appears, forming as a tentacle and swinging to the air. It manages to catch one of his foot. But that’s not enough. He slips free almost immediately.

Using both of my hands, I wave and twist to form not just one, but ten tentacles are made out of darkness. They move through the air uncoordinatedly, trying to catch a glimpse of his body. The man is moving fast, and so does my tentacles.

One of my tentacles hit his body with one perfect swing, crashing him to the top of the sky deck. Another wrapped his body like snake, tighter and tighter every second.

“Since I don’t want to lose my life, then I guess I have to kill you first,” I say.

This triggers him to boost his power up to move away my heavy black tentacles from his. I must say, he puts on quite a struggle and not giving up easily. I have trouble keeping him down, even with all of my smoke-snakes.

The problem is, he’s an immortal. He’ll never be tired. Unlike me.

When my powers are slowing down because of the pain, I start feeling at my whole body, my tentacles are slowing down and disappears one by one.

With one single slip, he disappears from my sight.

Is he gone? Or is he still here, waiting for the right moment to strike me?

Suddenly, I can feel the rain isn’t falling on the sky deck’s corner. Second option, it is.

I turn around. But before I can attack, he attacks me first with his teeth. He bites me right on my open neck after locking my whole body with his arms. I feel like I’m leaning into a rock as I try to break free. His teeth feels like razors that keep stabbing me in the speed of light, easily making me give up.

I close my eyes and refine my body, waiting for the right moment to blow a strike. But even that perfect moment never came.

With one hand, he throws me out from the sky deck and into the air.