Parasite: The Corruptive Shadow
Chapter 1: Unexpected
Darkness seemed to be untouched even though a life-changing incident was happening to me back then. Who would have thought that something like this would happen to a guy like me? I mean, who’d have thought that a knife would be pointed right at my throat, late at night, in this dark, narrow street? You’d think this is totally predictable, but if you’d ask me, I wasn’t really expecting it. I had always taken this street on my way home from school, even during the times when I leave school late. And I had always thought that it was safe even though people hardly had passed here.
I was doomed. At least…I thought I was. It felt like death had finally neared me, and this knife-wielding man seemed to be the dreadful grim reaper himself. This thought froze me. I was utterly struck with fear and nervousness inside. The cloaked stranger was looking straight into my eyes, and I tried hard to look back at his, wanting to be brave in such a situation. But fear grew in me as the seconds passed. It then started to rain, and the water easily drenched into my clothes. I stood still, letting myself get soaked completely as I held my nervousness inside. My heart was beating so fast.
“What do you want from me?” I said, trying to show some courage. Water was already dripping from my black hair.
“Your life,” he answered.
Why? I thought, surprised and breathless. My eyes slightly widened. Why not just take away my belongings?
“Parasites like you should stop existing in this world,” he continued. It was as if he heard one of the questions I had in my thoughts.
“Parasites?” I asked, though I already had an idea of what he meant.
“Don’t play dumb,” he said, the harshness was clear in his voice. “You know what I’m talking about!”
That clarified my thought. Darn it. A hunter!? I had been pursued by a hunter!? This is so unfortunate! There’s no way I can escape this.
I had always believed that hunters, if they really existed (and they did), would be trained, or at least, have some skills in fighting. This made me hesitant in thinking of trying to fight him. And he had a knife for crying out loud!
I stepped back, pathetically thinking of a way to overcome my pursuer. He stepped closer, his knife still pointing at my throat. I felt intimidated by his stance although he was only a little bit taller than I was. I let out a little breath as I gathered some confidence, quickly moved away from the blade, and kicked him from the side to his chest. As he faintly flinched, I began to run away and scream for help. He ran after me and that made me scared like heck again.
I reached the end of the street and turned to the right.
“Hey, you!” an unexpected voice called. It’s not the hunter.
I stopped running as I was surprised and turned around. It was a policeman on patrol who seemed to have only just arrived and he saw the cloaked man chasing me. The latter was surprised and hastily leaped on the brick wall that stood at his right and jumped down behind the bushes. The policeman drew his gun and pointed it to the direction of the hunter but it was already late. Realizing this, he snatched his walky-talky from his belt, made his brief report to the police station, and called for backup.
“Are you hurt?” he asked me after he put his walky-talky away, walking towards me.
I timidly shook my head with my mouth a bit open.
“Be careful next time, okay?” he said and left, running to the street where I came from.
I was left alone, and the nerves grew back as I felt the silence of the night.
I’m lucky enough to escape so quickly, I thought as I ran away and headed home. I’m not wasting this luck.
- - -
I reached our house and hurriedly rang the doorbell twice. I looked to my left and to my right, nearly panting with every look. The rain had already stopped, and the wind that passed me while I ran somehow dried me up a bit. I tried to calm myself as I waited for the wooden door in front of me to open. After some seconds, mom opened the door. The sight of her looking so relaxed in her white silk blouse and her wavy hair being untied made me a little calm.
“Why are you late?” she asked, her tone was soft. “Did something happen? You seem to be a little out of breath. And you look wet.”
Worry was evident in the way she spoke, but I didn’t want her to worry.
“I’m fine, mom,” I answered as casually as I could but my voice was shaking. I sniffed. “I’m just tired.”
Darn it. I caught a cold.
“Well, dinner’s getting cold,” she said. “Go eat now. We’re already done.”
We went inside and I locked the wooden door behind me. I stayed there for a moment, leaning my back on the door. I looked down, still trying to calm myself from the trauma that I had. I caught the smell of the food from the dining area and recognized that it was corned beef.
“Don’t forget to dry up,” mom said without looking at me as she climbed up the stairs to the left. “And wash your dishes after you’ve eaten.”
I kept silent and kept my head down. After a second or two, I went to the dining area, flicked on the light, and looked at the clock before finally sitting down to eat my dinner.
7:46 p.m. I read in my thought.
- - -
After I finished eating and washed the dishes, I went up to my room, locked the door, and turned on the light. I doffed my jacket, my shirt, and my undershirt, and dropped them in the laundry basket. They were all soaked. I sat on my bed and looked at the mirror at my left. Somehow, looking at my reflection let me take a quick hold of myself. I stared as I consciously breathed, my dark brown eyes nearly trembling. My hair was messed up, my bangs were scattered over my vision, and my face looked a little groggy. My thin but lean-muscled body looked frail and powerless.
I stood up again and took a pair of shorts from my closet, which was beside my mirror, and changed it with the pants that I was wearing. Then, I took a plain white shirt and put it on. I turned off the light and finally lay down on my bed, pulled my blanket over me, and turned myself to the right. I closed my eyes, listened to my breathing, calmed myself once and for all as I gave myself a quick review of the facts: I’m a seventeen year-old first year college student named Seth Skyheart and my life had just been threatened by a hunter. I am a vampire. I…feel unsafe.
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