Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Epoch ❯ Rebirth ( Prologue )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Prologue

Rebirth

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She smelled them seconds before she heard their guns cock, the salt of their sweat and fatigue; the sharp scent of their fear, and she skidded to a stop. Her blood turned ice cold despite the warm spring air and she looked around frantically. They had her surrounded; soldiers starting pouring in from behind the trees, running from the distance, some even leaping out of bushes. The sight of their uniform made something click within her, the logo located on each right shoulder was both familiar and unfamiliar; it infuriated her. She snarled under her breath and leaned forward, feeling her blood pumping through her body, leaking with acid and power.

Almost a hundred trained soldiers with their guns leveled and ready, pointing straight at her.

Her blood stained hospital gown clung to her sweaty skin, its smell making her throat ache terribly and she clutched it, her heartbeat racing as anticipation seeped into every limb in her body. She had woken up in this terrible facility, strapped to the table as they probed and searched every nook in cranny. One second she had been screaming in pain, and the next . . .

Her stomach lurched and she stumbled a couple of steps forward, clutching at her chest. She remembered this feeling. The desire to annihilate each and every one of them . . . to feel their hot blood running down her burning throat. Yes, they would die; she would devour each and every last one of them . . .

One of the soldiers watched her warily and stepped forward, his gun aimed at her face. “There's nowhere for you to run now,” He told her roughly.

She looked over her shoulder, watched as the soldiers readied themselves. In the distance she heard the wail of sirens and smoke rising high into the sky, and she flinched. A flash went through her head, the pain of it making her cringe. She had been locked in a room; they were pouring gas in through the ceiling. She remembered panicking, feeling her chest beginning to constrict, and then . . .

Had she destroyed the entire building?

`That's impossible.'

`More blood . . .'

“Please, leave me alone!” She pleaded.

The soldier shook his head. “You are a monster,” He said with disgust. “That you have lived this long is an insult to this company!”

“M-Monster . . ?” A sharp pain erupted in her head and she whimpered. Her body was too hot, the acid in her veins reaching to the center of her chest. Her head thumped in rhythm to her frantic heartbeat until everything began to sound as if she was far away, under water. Her body, her throat, every limb was on fire . . . everything was burning . . . and yet all that she understood was fury.

How dare these humans try to kill her? To trap her as if she was an animal?

`Kill . . . them . . .'

“W-What?” She whispered, blinking.

She heard movement and whirled around, watching as the soldiers closed in around her. Unable to stand up any longer, she collapsed to her knees, clutching her head. What was happening to her? She was going to die, without any clue as to why these people were chasing her and trying to kill her. She was going to die, and there was nothing she could do . . . .

`Blood!'

Gunshots rang in the distance, sounding so far away, and the world went dark.

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Blinking sleepily, Fried Gunthos leaned up slowly, rubbing his eyes as he glanced around in confusion. His gaze fell on the large gray wolf standing by the door of their room, whose frantic barking had woke him up, his tail swishing anxiously. He whined. “What is it, Jixei?”

Jixei loped over to the bed, using his teeth to snatch the covers off of Freid and grab his pants leg. Mumbling, Freid hurried out of the bed and tugged on his boots before opening the door, following the wolf out into the main lobby of the inn and out into the deserted street of the town. Scratching his head he looked around, annoyed. “There's nobody out here.”

Jixei barked again, looking at him with the same annoyed expression and stared in the direction of the western exit of the town. Freid scoffed. “I'm not going for a goddamn walk in the middle of the night.”

Jixei continued to stare, his body stiff, aggravated. Freid frown and ran his fingers through his hair, stiffening furiously when a soft breeze blew across his face from that direction. He growled softly through his teeth; Jixei echoed him. “Smell that?”

The two exchange a glance and took off in the direction of the western exit without another thought. Jixei broke out into a savage snarl and pushed himself faster, surprising Freid. He had known the wolf for many years, and rarely seen him slip out of his cool, collected demeanor.

The smell of flesh blood thickened and Freid grimaced, turning sharply as he used his nose to follow the scent. It became overpowering, and he felt his head begin to ache dully. He had never smelled this much human blood spilled at one time in years. He clutched to his control tighter than ever, gritting his teeth and pushing on.

Jixei reached the clearing first, baring his teeth and snarling. Freid slid to a stop next to him, his hands ready claws at his sides at his nostrils flared. A woman stood in the center of the massacre, dripping with blood and cradling a dead human body in her arms as she fed. Her eyes landed on them, a vivid bright red and she dropped the body, facing them fully and baring her fangs. “Do you wish to kill me as well?”

Freid watched as she crossed her arms and regarded them coolly, her expression amused; nonplussed. She didn't perceive them as a threat, and that infuriated him. “Do you have any idea what you've done?”

She ran her fingers across her pale cheeks, smearing blood there before suddenly licking her fingers. The gesture was coy, seductive, and Freid gritted his teeth. She regarded Jixei for a moment. “Hmm, it seems this is quite a problem for all of us, is it not?”

“Us?”

She looked at him again, smiled softly. She could be described as beautiful if she wasn't covered in human blood. A trail of blood dripped down from her mouth to her chin, then losing itself in the hospital gown she wore. He glanced off in the distance in shock, took note of the trail of smoke rising into the sky. Somehow he knew that she had something to do with the building collapsing. But just who was she?

“You are a Cryalian, are you not?”

Freid chuckled darkly. “I know longer pledge my allegiance to the kingdom,” He said through his teeth. Jixei barked in agreement, shuffling closer to his ally.

“No matter,” She said dismissively, taking a step towards them. They both reacted, expecting her to attack but instead she kept walking as she didn't notice. “I think even a Cryalian and a Shadow should be able to keep her alive.”

Freid sputtered and she wrapped her arms around his necks, snuggling close to his chest. She looked up at him, her bright red eyes smoldering and giggled mischievously before pressing her lips to his. He stepped back, but she clutched to him tightly, laughing. “My, my but you're a pretty one.” She whispered. “This should be fun.”

Then she collapsed.

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A soft whine. A Shuffling of clothes. And then a voice murmuring to her softly, then a little louder. It faded in as if someone was increasing the volume on a radio until finally she could understand. “Hey, hey! You okay?”

Her eyelids fluttered and softly opened, staring straight into wide lavender orbs that regarded her with the same level of shock she regarded him with. She screamed and swung with her hand, pleased when it connected with his face and leaping off of the bed. She started for the door but a huge dog leapt in front of it, plumping down on his rear and staring at her. His tongue hung out the side of his mouth and his lips pulled back as if he was grinning.

A muffled curse behind her made her whirl around to see the man from before sitting on the edge of the bed she was laying on, rubbing his cheek. A vivid handprint covered the expanse of his face, and he glared at her with the same lavender eyes that had startled her. She backed up a couple of paces. “Damn it, why did you hit me?!”

“Where . . . where am I?” She whispered. “Who are you?”

His hand dropped slowly from his face and he stared at her. “You don't remember anything?”

She stared back, watching as he stood up and walked towards her. With a frightened cry she backed up, trying to run but he grabbed her arm and yanked her back towards him. Grabbing her chin roughly he pulled her face up and stared into it for a moment.

She trembled in his arms.

Moments later he dropped her arm and stepped back, and she scrambled away from him. The dog hurriedly moved out of her way and she backed into the wood of the door, sliding down to the floor weakly, trembling. “Please . . . please don't kill me.”

The dog nudged her with his nose and she bit back a scream. He whimpered and took a couple steps back, staring at her. Lying on his stomach on the floor he inched toward her, little by little watching her closely. Freid watched as she stared at him, the panic receding from her features as she slowly stretched her hand out, her fingers still shaking before softly dragging them through Jixei's fur. The wolf knew better than to move.

“What's your name?”

Freid tried to ask softly, but it still caught her off guard. She jumped and glanced around, her frantic gaze landing on him again. “My . . . name?”

He nodded. “Right. I'm Freid, and this Mutt—“ He ignored the sharp snarl, “--- is Jixei. What's yours?”

She seemed to shrink down a little, but continued petting Jixei's head. He shuffled a little closer and she stiffened, but didn't comment. “I . . . I don't know. But when I woke up . . . They were calling me Jaea.”

“Jaea,” Freid mumbled.

He watched as Jixei scooted closer to her and a soft smile broke over her features. Eventually Jixei was able to lay his head on her lap and she toyed with the ears softly as she glanced around the room. Her eyes were a sharp, almost icy blue. Her impossibly long hair tangled and unkempt flowed around her shoulders, almost touching Jixei. Despite her appearance their wasn't a scratch or a bruise on her, much to Freid's surprise. But there was evidence of neglect, and she was rail thin. Her expression now totally differed from when they found her in the meadow, `Almost as if she's a different person . . . `

He found her staring at him, her cheeks pinking softly when she realized she had gotten caught. He laughed. “What is it?”

She hesitated. “Do you . . . do you know who I am?”

He shook his head. “No, Jixei and I found you in a field. You said we should be able to protect you.” At this she looked confused, frowning deeply. “You don't remember?”

She shook her head, suddenly clutching it. He briefly worried that she was going to dig her claws into her skull but he didn't smell fresh blood, so he let it go. Her eyes looked far away. “I just remember waking up in that room, and it was blood everywhere. Then the building . . . the building was collapsing . . . then I was running, and they were going to shoot me . . . in the field . . .” She blinked and they cleared, returning to the present. “Then I woke up here.”

“You don't remember . . . you don't remember killing the humans?”

She took a sharp intake of breath. “What?”

He watched her warily, as her chest began to heave, her eyes getting that crazed look in them again. “When Jixei and I found you, the soldiers were dead and . . .” He trailed off as she began to shake her head furiously. She was gasping, hyperventilating and pulling at her hair. He was at her side in a moment, smelling fresh blood and prying her claws from where they had scratched into her scalp. She glanced at her fingers in fascination, touching her hair and eyeing the fresh blood again.

The scent of tears hit him fresh, dead on and when she looked up at him they ran freely down her face. “What's happening to me?”

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Author's Note:

Hello everyone, this is the first story that I've written in years. It started as a dream, then evolved into a day dream that I just can't get out of my head. I decided to post it whenever it comes to me like this, and hopefully other people would enjoy it.

Criticism is greatly welcomed. Also, if anyone would be interested in beta-ing, that would be perfect! In the meantime, enjoy!