Life Times

I never thought this would happen, never thought I'd end up here of all places. We still haven't told the others and we're unsure how they'll react. To think that it all started ten months ago but that's a story for another time. I whispered something in her ear and she turned her head and looked at me expectingly. Knowing that the others were watching I locked lips with her.

"Jake!" Lillian screamed at me. "What are you doing?" I'm pretty sure that that was the reaction we expected from her, confused and surprised.

As our lips parted my hand slipped down and embraced her soft hand that lied limp at her side. "Guys..." We said, trying our hardest not to burst out laughing. "We're together! Taa daa!"

Tommy started laughing quietly to himself as Lillian stood there thunderstruck. It's been a while since any of us were in relationships so we assume that the second it happens we'd tell each other. "How long...?" She only got two words out before Kim answered her question.

"It's only been two days Lily. Relax, we're not keeping anything from you. Besides, Jake's a horrible liar." Kim started laughing and Lillian laughed in agreement to the comment made towards me. I find she took it pretty well considering tonight we're all sleeping outside in tents with no adults.

"I'm not that bad!" I said, trying to defend a little bit of my pride.

Maybe I should explain where we are at this point in the story. We're at Lillian's house which is in the middle of nowhere but she has a huge backyard. The reason we're here is for an end of school year celebration. Our whole group is here, Kim the cheerleader, Lillian the anti-social girl, Tommy the religious kid, and me the band geek. Don't you just love stereo-types? We've got the whole night planned out, including (but not limited to) hot dogs, fireworks, good friends, swimming and a bonfire the size of mexico to top it all off.

"Guys..." Lillian said with a creeping smile. "Use protection, I don't want anyone getting pregnant again!" Everyone burst out laughing, she was referring to last year where we all joked that I was pregnant with Tommy's kid. I looked at her and gave her the 'I'll make sure I do.' look.

Love is something that some people don't quite understand too much. I'm a weird guy nowadays because I focus more on that than satisfying my raging hormones. I have no doubt I love Kim. When I'm not around her I think about her non-stop. I can't get her voice out of my ears and I don't want to. I miss her smile when I turn around, sometimes I just don't want to close my eyes because I don't want to miss a thing. She is the most beautiful girl in the world, even when I'm not with her the other girls just blend in to the surroundings and become almost transparent to me. Kim is the only one in my mind.

"Who wants to light the bonfire?" Michael, Lillian's little brother yelled from the pile of dry branches on the other side of the yard.

Eyes shifted from person to person, everyone wanted to light it. An idea lit my mind and a smile stretched across my face as I sent it into motion. "First one to get there gets to light it!"

Suddenly everyone erupted into motion, scrabbling to get up and I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to get another kiss from Kim. Her lips were warm and soft. My cheeks tingled and the butterflies stirred in my stomach, but it was definitely worth it.

"Jake. Bonfire remember?" She reminded me as I pulled away, knowing I already forgot.

"I wanted a challenge!" I yelled to her as I took off after the others at top speed. I've always loved to run, and I've always been fast. Running gives me this thrill and this power over the boundaries of my own body. Sometimes I'm more cat than human, it's great. It was only a second or two before I zoomed right past Tommy and another second before I passed Lillian in a gust of wind.

"Holy shit!" She yelled as I flew by. I guess she's never seen me run before, especially when I'm so happy. Happiness is like a drug, you get addicted and when you have it you're on top of the world. When you're without it, well I'll tell you about that another time.

With the race done we waited for Kim to get to us, she decided she would walk knowing she's no match for me. When she finally joined us, I lit a match and prayed to my gods jokingly. "Oh the great gods of flame and fire, let this fire erupt and burn lively!" I tossed the match on the pile of sticks and dry brush and watched it burst into flames.

Midnight came before we knew it and Kim and I were the only ones still awake. The sky was clear and full of stars. The bonfire was still burning bright and it would be for many more hours. Fireflies circled us as we lied on the soft grass. It was simply amazing to have her in my arms after all those months. She was finally mine.

But of course nothing can be perfect and the endless swarms of mosquitoes made sure of it. While I was loving every second of it anyways I whispered, "If not for the mosquitoes, this would be perfect." in her ear.

She turned her head and smiled at me gently. I don't have words that could describe the look in her eyes that would do it justice. I guess you could call it a sort of fire or passion. You could even call it love, in it's most true of forms. Either way it told me whatever she was about to say she meant with every little bit of her heart. "Jake, even then it's perfect, because you're here."

The problem is with this story is that it's based on something that actually happened so when I woke up the next morning, she was gone.

She was gone and I was alone once more.

-Zero

I am Severem (Part one)

The sky began waking up as the colors stretched across it. The sun started to rise with great patience, it had all day. Clouds as rare as they were today were bright pink in the sky, against the bright orange behind them. This would be the beginning of a new day, the beginning of a new life.


I am Severem. Born in the wilds of the land given to my ancestors, I was prophesied to be great. Everyone in the village knew that I was destined to do something great for our tribe. But when I was still a boy, the white men came and took many of us away and killed whoever they did not take. My father and my mother were killed by their metal horrors.


I had been hidden away by my parents. If not for their sacrifice, I would be slaves to a man that knows not the world he dares invade. In those wilds of my home, ancient beasts rest. My tribe once fought against them when they attacked us and several other tribes of the land. Those horrible times came and almost brought us to the brink of destruction.


We were doomed until we looked across the river and saw our opposing clan fighting a beast as well. We were fighting the same enemy and knew we had to put aside our quarrels for our survival. Together all of the tribes managed to push back the beasts and send them into an eternal slumber.


My tribe was chosen to protect the beasts den. We had to make sure they never again awoke, for if they ever did, it might be the end of us all. Each beast was a being of pure power and each wielded a different element. The bear ancient was a being of earth. The wolf was a being of fire. The great hawk carried the powers of the winds on it's wings. Finally the great and wise turtle was the being of the waters.


When my tribe was captured or killed, it left the ancient beasts unprotected. Ten years have passed and I have protected the ancients from being awoken from unknowing travelers. I don't regret the lives I've taken, they should not be on this land. But trouble stirs once more, up upon this hill I can see into their village. They are preparing a large expedition to the cave of no return as they call it. With such numbers I know that I will not be able to stop them.


 I will risk my life warning them, for if they wander into that cave, they may wake the beasts and bring doom upon their homes. Today I take my leave of the wilds and wander into their unfamiliar world to try and warn them. Slinging my bow across my back I stand up and take flight.


The leaves of a thousand plants brushed me as I ran by, hoping that I will return.


-Zero

Pain is the only truth

She took me down to the river in her little silver honda. The trees peered down on us, curious as to what we were up to. I wondered if animals around could sense what was about to take place in a way, so they would flee. I hate this woman. I've hated her for so long without letting it show. 


Today she's going down. 


Maybe I should mention why I hate her so much. The funny thing about hate is that it is born from love, born from love and hate. Her name is Kim in her home. She has dark brown hair and hazel eyes that seem to stretch for an eternity. Kim is the love of my life. 


I have always loved her. 


Once she was mine and I knew it was not a lie. She has tried many times to convince me otherwise since then, but nothing has convinced me. She did love me, she just won't admit it. She loved me and for a short while actually admitted it, for three weeks to be exact. Then she took her leave.


"What did you want to show me?"


Her pointless question and dreadful voice only drove me more insane with anger, but I merely smiled and said, "You'll see." 


Today, I do what she did to me. I know that she'll never be mine again, but I won't die without her by my side. I let my eyelids slide down over my eyes and I can see the raging fires swirling around me. They are my guides in this quest, they are the masters of my fate. It is almost time. 


I pull a small knife out of my pocket as I step out of her little car and walk alongside her towards the river. All the years of planning, all the pain, soon it will all be okay. They say revenge is a dish best served cold.


"Jesse! What are you doing?" She screams as she sees me holding the knife. 


I grab her long brown hair that I used to love so much. With the knife in hand, I cut her shirt right down to the bottom and it plummets to the ground like a corpse; revealing her bare back. No man could ever truly explain what a heart break feels like, because he's too broken to understand it. 


"Jesse? What are you doing?" Fear fills her voice and cold heart.


Her wretched voice only feeds my burning rage and hate more and more. I just want to be done with her. I want to be free of this torture. I take the blade and start to carve words into her back, making sure that they will scar. Betrayer, liar and whore are what she is, it's only fitting that it's written on her. 


She burst into tears as she screamed in pain. "Why are you doing this?";


Seeing the glorious blood stream down her back I, being a man of small desires, lean in and drink some of it off of her back. I somehow already knew what her blood would taste like, is it the same as my own or something else entirely? No matter what it was like, it was sweet without question and warm.


I spin her around and relish in the power and control I have over her. She's at my mercy and she knows it. Her eyes cry out in fear and regret. This will be the last word that will be carved into her heart, but not the last scar I will leave her with. Looking down at her breasts I prepare to carve the final word. 


"What are you going to do to me?" She breaths between heavy sobs. 


Taking the knife I slowly carve the last word into her soft breasts. More blood flows out of her but I restrain myself from drinking it. I am god right now. She is my pathetic little minion, my slave, my little bitch. I step back and gaze at my final outer marking, Slut was carved into her breasts. 


Now she is having more trouble breathing, I love it. "Why...?" She hardly gets out of her lungs. Isn't hate such a wonderful thing? It empowers me to be able to do these things. It empowers me to exact my revenge with every step going just as planned. 


And now the final step in my revenge. I tear my shirt apart, revealing my scarred chest. She fell to her knees and her head dropped in shame. I could see that she knew what she made me do to myself. 


Back when she and I were together I did some marijuana on occasion. She didn't know about it and I only told her after she left me for him, for my best friend. She told me it was probably karma for doing drugs. I haven't touched the horrid stuff since that day and I still don't have her back, I don't think it was karma. 


The problem with stopping completely is that marijuana calms people down but it kills off endorphins and people end up needing it to feel happy. In less than an hour I lost everything that made me happy. I was sent into one of the darkest places mankind has ever seen, the heartbroken depression. Another thing about marijuana is that when most people stop, they have a period of severe anger. 


Drowning in my endless sea of sorrow and burning up with rage, I carved a message for her in my chest. I scarred myself so that one day, I could scar her. But mere flesh scars never do the job, people recover and they don't care much after a while. They can always just hide them away. Today I scarred her so she would never forget what she did to me. 


With the three simple words etched on my chest, I took my blood-stained knife and looked her right in the eyes. She didn't even try to run, or pick herself up off the ground. She just remained there like a statue. 


I stabbed the neck with the blade and blood quickly engulfed it. I fell to the ground, finally complete. My life is complete, I am satisfied with my end. The pain right now might be unbearable but it's still better than the pain I get from thinking about living without her. Ignoring the pain I looked up at her and gave her a weak smile. 


She stared at me intensely. She doesn't understand why I would take my own life instead of hers. I knew one day she might understand but for now I can only tell her so much. And so with my last breath I spoke the words etched deep in my chest. 


"I love you."


-Zero

Blood Thirsty

I lift the glass of her blood high in the air and swish it around the glass. "Oh, how I love the smell of fresh blood my dear." I look over to the tied up young woman in the corner of the room.

            She starts to try to wiggle away but quickly gives up, seeing no possible escape. "What are you?" She screams in terror.

             I laugh at her pathetic little question."I am human, very much human my dear." The blood tasted a little sour and was soothingly warm. "I'm just a little thirsty, that's all."

            She turns away from me and vomits on the ground a little. it she keeps vomiting, she won't have enough energy in her to regenerate her lost blood and live. Such a shame too, I was hoping for some more of her sweet nectar. I can not remember if she is the thirtieth or thirty-fifth one to die from this ritual. Only a few have survived so far, hardly at that.

            "You're a monster." She spat at me. 

             "A monster you say? Humanity itself I find, is much more like a plague or disease rather than rampaging monsters. Men kill each other everyday, over mere insults or pathetic arguments. They fight over their different beliefs because they think that's what their so called holy books say. But really, if you were to read it, you would see a very different story. Those who lead you are the true monsters. Sending out men who put their trust in them, only to die for no reason." Another sip from the glass was the last little bit of blood. I could feel the craving coming back slowly.

            "Where are you going?" The little thing screamed at me in desperation. 

            "It is such a shame you will not survive this experience my dear, your body does not have enough strength to recover and I am thirsty once more, so farewell. I really do wish that you could survive like some others have before. Your blood is especially delicious." I thought given her current state she should know her fate without me being here, it's only fair after all.

              The winter winds were like a warm summer breeze on my face. I have just taken the first step into another humans end. The first human I chose was my first love, and my last. her blood got me addicted to their suffering, to their blood. Their life gives me power, their helplessness gives me life. 

              I've always preferred females over males, they've always smelled so delicious and taste even better. Males are much more stupid and taste as bad as they are stupid. 

              My nose picked up a sweet scent blowing through the air; this is how I find my new prey. Looking around I see the source of the scent and it's never brought me bad blood. She has dark brown hair and hazel eyes, my favorite. It's time for another session with the doctor.

              She rushes by me, smelling so heavily of what almost seems like candy. Quickly, so I do not lose her, I take off after her; as invisible as a ghost. 

-Zero