Seduction of the Vampire Slayer

1. Slayer

Slayer

Multiple Millennia Ago

My existence was nothing. I was nothing.

This place I was in was devoid of color, sound, light, or physical feeling. I was capable of thought, but I didn’t have a form.

My listless conscience just wandered through this epic void of oblivion, waiting, wondering how I got here and if there would ever be anything more than this, whatever this is.

I have no memories that extend beyond this place, only the here and now. My suffering is a lonely one, and I wonder if it’s an atonement or punishment for something in another life. I didn’t know how long I’d been here, or how time moved, only that I was starting to get restless.

“You are ready,” a voice says.

I don’t know how I recognize the sound, or how I have some awareness of self, but I understand the words completely.

“Would you like to leave this place? To serve a purpose and walk amongst the mortals?” it asks.

I wonder if the voice is a delusion. Maybe I’d spent too much time in the void. Maybe I’d succumbed to complete madness.

“This is not a trick. Perhaps a taste of what could be would change your mind,” it says.

Suddenly I can feel.

There’s a bitter cold around me, a small current of wind hitting…my face? For the first time in my existence, I’m able to smell, and somehow I’m able to name the scent as honey. There’s still nothing around me, but I am a me. I’m something, no longer a listless creature floating in the void.

I can feel my form. I have a body, one that moves.

Knowledge I didn’t have before is suddenly given to me and I’m nearly overwhelmed with new information.

“How?” I ask, and the shock of my deep voice has my hand reaching for my mouth, my fingers touching the smooth surface.

“You are to serve a purpose. The mortals, they’re dying. There’s an evil that lurks in their realm, feasting on their blood, ravaging their village. The beasts never age and are impossibly difficult to kill. The mortals are weak. They can’t protect themselves.”

“And what am I to do?”

“You will be their weapon. This nebulous form of yours is immortal in the void, a lonely, tired existence, isn’t it? If you agree to come to the mortal lands, you will have a body. You will be powerful, strong, and worshiped among the living.”

“What is in it for you?” I ask, and the voice belts out a laugh.

“A skeptical one. Many of the others like you accept my offer immediately, you know?” they say, making a whistle-like noise. “The vampires—the beings who are relentlessly killing on Earth, are destroying my kind, too. While I can not bring you here myself, I can help the humans do so.”

They want me to kill. They want to use me. Every ounce of me knows they’ve kept me in this place so that I’d ache for escape. They’re here to prey on my weakness and I don’t like the thought.

“And the smartest one too. Is a mortal form not enough for you?”

“You have everything to gain from this, not me.”

The voice is contemplative, and I know if they didn’t need me, they wouldn’t be negotiating at all. In fact, I wasn’t sure why they needed my agreement. Why couldn’t they just do what they pleased? I had no power.

“If having a physical form isn’t enough to make you agree. Perhaps something stronger?” it asks.

Suddenly I see color for the first time. It's so beautiful that my thoughts come to a halt.

“She would be your prize. Your mate. If you fulfill your duty to the mortals, she would be your ultimate purpose.”

She. I think to myself, no concept of what that means. Only that she is radiant.

“You could hold her, touch her, feel the warmth of her skin. You could feel emotion. You’d feel so much that the void will never give you. You just have to agree.”

Her skin is a glowing brown filled with so much life as she throws her head back to laugh. The long pieces of her hair falling behind her. They are thick twists adorned with gold jewelry that glint around her heart-shaped face. Her nose scrunches as she shakes her head.

She moves, her amber eyes looking into my form, a slow smile taking over her face.

I hold out my hand to touch her face, to feel the warmth and the softness of her skin. Suddenly, the vision is gone.

“Who is she?” I ask. “May I see her again?”

“She is a possibility. Like I said, a reward. If you agree, if you fulfill your duty as a Slayer to us on Earth, she would be your prize. A mate designed with you in mind, no other being would ever evoke the same feelings as you would. You would be each other’s destiny.”

I have so many questions, but they all die on my tongue as I think about her. Suddenly I don’t care what’s done with my form or what I must do to earn her. All I know is she’s the only purpose worth living for.

“I agree,” I say and the voice laughs.

The world tilts, the void sucking me in. A hard pinch and a swirl of color bringing me forth.

A chant rings around me, the thick smell of dirt and mud heavy in the air as I breathe.

I swallow thickly and realize the sensation is foreign. There’s a new voice, this one deeper and more desperate than the other one I heard.

“Please no. I want to live. Don’t possess me.”

I groan, hating the whimpering nonsense. When I blink open my eyes, I’m greeted by a deep blue color, with shades of black and purple, wondrous little specs float within the spectrum of color.

Of course, it is not as beautiful as her, nothing could ever be, but seeing color, smelling and feeling, is a surreal experience.

“It worked,” someone gasps and I look at them immediately. Is it she?

When I look into the face of the person who spoke, I’m completely disappointed; this mortal is plain and boring compared to my future mate. I grunt, getting off the ground. The incessant voice in my head won’t shut the fuck up, begging and pleading with me.

“Shut up!” I roar and all the mortals go still.

The voice quiets and I raise the hand in front of me, realizing that I’m fully controlling this body. I’m in the mortal lands.

“His eyes. The witch, she did not betray us.”

I turn my head, staring at the mortal who’s speaking.

They are female, but they pale in comparison to my mate, no mortal will ever come close to her beauty.

I would walk past this mortal with no consequence.

If I saw my mate, time would cease to exist. I scoff at the mortal, puzzled at her words. What is a witch?

“The blood thieves, they haunt this land. You’re sworn to protect this village.”

I tilt my head at them, and they take a few steps back, I close my eyes and inhale. The smell that fills my nostrils is a rich metallic scent mixed with a hint of death.

Instinctually I run, chasing the scent, not knowing what I’ll do when I find it. It feels revolutionary, the way this body moves and runs.

There’s a tightness in my face as my lips curl upward and this thing in my chest beats with an uneven rhythm.

The scent is so strong now, and I see them. The being has a red substance coating his face and clothing; everything is a deep red.

Another body is slumped on the dirt next to him. I don’t hesitate as I run after him. Only for something sharp to puncture this new form.

The pain is malicious, deep, brutal, and I’m suddenly ripped back into the void.

This cycle continues over and over. My summons to the mortal lands, my death back to the void. Each time I grow wiser before I return, gaining knowledge with each new body I claim as my vessel. When my vessel dies, I spend more time in the void.

The only thing that gives me the will to return is the image of my mate.

I will be their Slayer.

I will return to the mortal lands time and time again, hunting the beasts that plague their fragile little lives, but only for her.

She is my purpose.