A Dungeons & Dragons Tale

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Silence. A deafening silence. A darkness void of all dream and thought. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Empty.

Awareness suddenly kicked in and I could hear the sound of water trickling. A trickle so faint and so distant it was almost a light hum that gently kissed my eardrum. The sound triggered something deep inside the abyss of my conscience showering my soul like water on a dying plant. I could almost picture myself standing in the rain, looking upward at the sky, enjoying the feeling of the downpour, taking comfort in it. Every tiny little raindrop spattering off my skin massaging every anxiety away. The water slithered down every crevice of my skin, and the feeling was wondrous. The shower created a sort of symphony around me as the raindrops tapping on every surface that surrounded me. This moment was perfection, nirvana, bliss, absolute ecstasy. The rain washed everything away, making way for a sudden change, a new beginning.

And that’s when it hit me, the cold sudden realization of unease. A gut-wrenching feeling that twisted me up deep inside telling me that something was wrong, something was different, very different. This wasn’t the usual comfortable feeling of waking up on a soft comfortable bed of leaves. This was an awakening no one should ever wake up to. Pain was shooting through my side like a lightning bolt shredding me in two; the surface beneath me was hard and uneven, poking and prodding into my muscles. My stomach burned with such a terrible onslaught of discomfort, I could almost feel the pain receptors in my brain going ballistic. The physical pain was merely a tickle compared to the inner turmoil I was feeling. Something was wrong, something was different. Confusion quickly set in as I slowly opened my eyes. At first, I could see nothing but a dark hazy blur. I blinked a few times as the blur slowly subsided but the darkness remained.

What happened? Where was I? Was I drinking too much ale? Was there a spell cast on me? I didn’t remember going out. I didn’t remember staying in either. In fact, I didn’t remember anything at all. I couldn’t remember what I had done that evening. I couldn’t remember what I had done that day. I couldn’t remember where I worked, or where I lived. I couldn’t even remember my own name.

I summoned all of my fortitude and slowly force myself up, fighting off the agony. As my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, I realized I could see everything as clear as day. The darkness was not a barrier. I could discern everything to perfection; the colour, the detail. I looked around, taking everything in, trying so very desperately to make sense of anything at all. Hoping so hard that something in this house would help me to remember, to remember anything at all. A glimmer of a glimpse of some occurrence. Just a shadow of a thought long past. Just one single fleeting flash of latent memory. Anything. Anything at all. I walked inside through the open door but none of these things would come. I was beginning to feel much colder inside, and so very damaged.

After searching the house I went out the back and came across a beautiful courtyard; balsam, djinn blossoms and Selûne’s tear… all sorts of beautiful plant life grew all around it. And all very nicely trimmed. But none of these things impressed me, none of it seemed to deserve the attention of my eyes. It was like none of it existed, none of it was real, none of it mattered. Beautiful did not seem beautiful anymore, or at least not this beauty. Not at this moment. This feeling seemed to burn inside me, and I did not know why.

I walked to the center of the courtyard. I stood there for a moment looking around. I tried to take a deep breath, to calm myself and gather my thoughts when suddenly something shattered deep inside me. It almost felt like a piece of my soul suddenly tore away. I collapsed to my knees in sheer horror.

And that’s when I saw it, smelled it, and almost tasted its iron flavour in the back of my throat. A single splatter of blood lying on the mat before me. A visceral hunger washed over me in that moment and it made me sick. And burned. And burned.

I could almost see his body lying there, cold and dead. This is where he died. This is where it all began. I knew this place, I could feel it now, see it. A bigger piece inside me ripped away shattering the depths of my buried soul. Sadness, anger and hatred swelled inside of me as I screamed to the heavens in pain. The torture grew as my memories rushed back in, almost causing me to black out. I knew this place, I knew this life, I remembered everything. Something was wrong… something was broken. I could see it now. I knew what had changed. In that moment, I knew what I had become.

My life was over. There was no going back. The slow descent into madness was all that remained. And hunger. An insatiable hunger that had to be quenched. There was no fighting it, I knew what I had become. A hunter… a beast…

A vampire.

I write this now as a final farewell to the world. I did not choose this. No one should ever choose this.

So I hope that you find me and that I do not find you. Either way… I am sorry.

From https://phoenixmosher.medium.com/after-the-turn-75096568cae5