Tension started building between Ae and Darwin as the tide turns odd. An interruption from
another dimension twisted the magic spell that imbues a different personality to Darwin. A very
threatening force resurfaced in the stream of history as Ae miscalculated and failed to anticipate the
possible case. Though in his mind, Darwin's new form might be a good impact for the reckoning. The
water subtly vibrating from the overwhelming surge of magic power pressuring the atmosphere.
"Who are you?", Ae asked with a hint of grit in his teeth.
"Relax. I'm Darwin but just a little twisted", Darwin snapped his finger and the water turned
spikes but Ae took a flight to flip back and levitated before it could even pierce right through him.
"Don't pick a fight you can't win, Darwin Frost", Ae appeared behind him with his eyes burning
like embers. He pushed him forward and twisted his arms to grab his neck. His strength overpowering
him. A strong resonance sent vibrations throughout the land.
Darwin dug his nails through Ae's arms and pulled him upside down to drown him. The
temperature beneath the surface rose as Darwin released a strong magical force.
"This is really gonna hurt", Darwin pulled him up to face him. His eyes turned crimson red and
veins started forming around it. He gave him a smirk before digging his fangs through his neck. Ae hissed
at the pain of his bite but he launched a bone wrecking punch to Darwin's gut and it sent him flying
backwards.
"Venom", Ae's whispered in both shock and horror as he watched the odd colored liquid in his
hands coming from his wounded neck. He hissed at the pain as clumps of blood ran across his fingers when he
rubbed his wounds.
Darwin's voice echoed through the air like ghostly whispers as he disappeared into the mist. The
temperature suddenly dropped almost into a freezing point. Clouds started engulfing the moon above
them. Ae closed his eyes in frustration. His mind trying hard to catch up with the situation they just got
into.
"There must be a loophole…hhhhhhhh", His eyes suddenly went wide as a strong eerie vibe
tickled the air and his spine. An icy sensation stopped him on his tracks. He felt his body shivered for a
second before realizing a strong presence behind him. Time seemed to stopped for a moment before he
felt another deadly blow hitting his back. Blood poured out of his mouth, in a slow motion, then
everything went back to the normal flow as he found himself thrown like a piece of stash back to the
land.
Darwin looked down at him with his eyes beaming crimson red behind the shadows of his own
silhouette.
"He has the strength and speed of a vampire and the power of a witch", Ae whispered to
himself, "But there's something wrong", He wiped the blood dripping down from his forehead and gave
Darwin a sinister smile.
"Having fun devil boy?", Darwin asked with a hint of mischief.
"Try this", Ae summoned a magic circle and runes around him. His body floating several
inches from the ground. The world around them started shaking and purple flames started spewing out
of nowhere. The amount of Ae's magic power at the moment is so intense that it dried out the waters of the
lake.
Ae chanted another foreign language. But to his surprise, Darwin laughed at it as if he knew
exactly what he's doing.
"I thought you weren't allowed to use that sort of magic", Darwin's malicious smile broke like a
curse.
"I am, but I'm powerful enough to use First Magic. I can only do this once so I gotta make sure
you'll have a taste of it", Ae returned the same expression to him.
Darwin backed off a little. The moonlight peeked behind the shipping clouds, gently illuminating
his face. The light brushed his face and changing the hue of his eyes as it travels and covers him. An
overwhelming amount of magic power rose up again. So intense, that Darwin's body trembled. In a blink of an eye, time stopped and Ae's eyes went wide in full terror as he felt a
sudden backfire of his own magic. He was about to cast another spell when Darwin's face flickered in
front of him. He gave him a sinister smile before grabbing his neck and strangling him like a twig.
"You were trying to put me on leash, weren't you?", He moved closer to him, almost an inch
apart from each other.
"I wasn't. But by the looks of things, this will shut you up", Ae grabbed his arm and runes started
running across his skin. Burning him from the inside. He hissed at the burning sensation behind his outer
coverings. Ae kicked him in the gut and took a back flip and landing in all fours.
He stood up and dusted himself off. He let out a yawn and looked down at him, playfully giving him a pout of
dismay.
"As it goes, you are limited to the essence of after midnight, where all sorts of magic power is at
its peak. Just like ghosting hours. While you were busy planning your next move on me, I was busy
calculating and analyzing your limits and at some point it was quite ironic. In the absence of moonlight,
you are just a normal vampire but when the moon comes out you are a powerful vampire-witch hybrid.
But that wasn't the thing, your witch personality only comes out after the midnight and will vanish
before dawn. I know because witch bloodlines, just like vampires rely most of its potent magic on the
borrowed sunlight. That means you can't do that all day. I only imbued you a personality so that means
just like the moon, you can only borrow that type of personality and surrender it afterwards", Ae smiled
at him as he finished his sentence.
Darwin gave him a pissed look, showing off his fangs.
"Wrench!", He launched an attack but Ae didn't move a muscle.
Darwin's body froze midair when Ae snapped his finger. The world around them warped in a
split second. Ae whispered and the air turned like a storm of whispers.
"I'm sorry I have to do that", Ae closed his eyes as he saw Darwin fell straight to the ground right
after the sunlight touched his skin. He casted a time rift spell which moved the time in flash and
transcended them to the next day along their way. He immediately flickered to catch him with his arms. His
body releasing steam as the sun touched his skin.
"Hey…you are fine", Ae whispered as he grabbed his face and brushed his hair. Darwin fell
unconscious in his arms. He looked up to the scorching dead sun above them.
Darwin fluttered his eyelids trying to bring himself up to the reality. His magic power subsided
and he returned to being just a normal vampire torn between rampage and humanity. He grabbed Ae's
hand and slowly pulled himself up. Ae put his arms across his shoulder and walked with him towards the
shade just a few meters across them,
"I know it sucks but if only I can ask a question- What happened?" Darwin let out a deep breath
of exhaustion. Clouds of steam coming out from his mouth.
Ae sat him down under the Cherry Tree. He dusted himself off before sitting beside him.
"Something went wrong. I was supposed to imbue the version of yours from a thread of destiny
where you grew up to be a witch. But someone altered your destiny in a distant wrinkle of time and
collided two possible threads. One with what your recent life had taken and one you were supposed to
take", Ae explained but Darwin gave him a curious look.
"What happens to me now?", Darwin weakly uttered.
"You'll be fine for now. You just have to rest", Ae replied without looking at him.
The sun shone like strips of velvet lights passing through the leaves of the cherry tree. A feeling
of tranquility and calmness lingered in the air as the waters started dancing in the soft caress of the wind.
Darwin let out a yawn. Fighting the overwhelming sleepiness brewing inside him. He brushed his
hair and let out another yawn before laying his back in the mossy ground next to him. Ae watched as
he made his way to take a slumber.
"Must be really exhausting to be you", Ae whispered.
Time passed them by. Ae just left him all by himself under a protection spell. He just lay there
like a child sleeping behind the walls of his crib. The soft misty afternoon breeze touched his bare skin.
His eyes, fluttering and moving as his body subtly jerking in a series of vivid visions – a dream.
"Come back to me…", a man in his 20's kneeled before a tombstone. He covered his face as he
wept in pain and desperation. His words ringing in the open air like cries of death. His bone chilling voice
sent shivers to Darwin, watching him from a few meters behind.
Darwin made his way closer to the man but his vision warped and he was standing in an open
field. A single rose flower in the middle of a drought caught his attention. As he moved his feet to walk,
he felt a sharp painful sting in his sole, as if he's stepping on a mat blanketed by millions of rusty needles.
He hissed at the pain, the kind that he never felt for centuries. Sure he can endure a simple prick of a
needle but this one is so much different. He didn't realize he has making trails of blood along the way as
he tried reaching the spot where the flower is but as he gets closer, the more it falls further away from him. He bit his lips as the pain get worse. The tension beneath his feet rising at each seconds passed. He
looked far away and the world around him warped.
Before he knew it, he was standing in the middle of a battlefield. The smell of blood lingering like
death. So intense he can even taste every single death around him. The wind almost feeling like a rusty
breath whispering like ghosts, moving around, igniting flames. An eerie cry broke. Whispers turned to
talking and then screaming. He looked around, his hair flowing like silver threads in the rusty air. All of a
sudden the battleground shook violently and the clouds twirled above him- a great storm is brewing. He
moved his feet to move but a sting dragged his attention to his arms. A bite mark left his skin as blood
oozed from it. Another painful bite pierced through his neck then to his chest and all over his body all at
once. He was about to scream when a hand grabbed him and the world around him fell into a distortion.
A blinding light engulfed him as he set foot to another dimension. This time it was a room, spotless
white-not even a wrinkle on the surface. He's standing in the middle, rubbing his eyes as he
adjusted his vision to the brightness of his surroundings. He heard a distant panting noise, as if someone
is whimpering in pain inside one of the doors along the hallway behind him. He followed the noise,
walking slowly and not letting his guard down. He got to finally figure out where the noise is coming, he
opened the door only to step into another dimension.
There he saw a very familiar face, crucified in the middle of a stormy drought plain. With vultures
circling above him like dark clouds. Some pecking through and tearing his flesh. A deep breathe of agony
met Darwin's eyes. He can taste the blood even far away. He braced himself to get to him but his vampire
speed is nowhere to draw. He ran his hands through his hair and some strands tangled between his
fingers-brown, his hair is brown. He looked up to see that he was gone. What's creepier is the eyes of the
vulture darting right straight to him. Their red eyes piercing right through his soul as if marking him as a
target- a hunt.
As everything goes ironic around him. He closed his eyes trying to regain his self and wake up
from his slumber. His body shaking and his hands clutched in a tight fist.
He gasped for air as he pulled himself up. The cherry leaves almost covering his body.
He's been asleep for a whole day-from the looks of the night sky above him.
"Quite a dream", Ae commented behind him. He's wearing a black shirt and a pair of black
pants. His perfectly carved body bulging out from his tight tops. He wore a thing that looks a like a
crown as he munched apples looking away. Darwin turned to him and couldn't help but felt astonished
by his beauty. Imagining Hubert's face but a little edgy.
"Hey…beautiful", He whispered the last word which caught Ae's attention.
"What?'", Ae smiled "You barely compliment someone," He added as he moved closer to him.
"Didn't say that", Darwin rolled his eyes.
"Did you say that?", Ae asked the squinty-eyed squirrel looking at him but it just rolled his eyes
and just walked away.
"Anyways, that was tragic. That dream", he added throwing some sticks in the bush in front of
him. He looked at Darwin who is looking far beyond the waters of the lake. "How long was I out?', Darwin asked confused.
"Two days to be exact. Going three", Ae replied with a smile. He can't help but notice Darwin's
pale face in the small beam of moonlight. His eyelids trembling and he's battling something stronger
than any other enemies he had conquered-hunger. He grabbed Darwin's face to face him. He touched
his lips with his thumb. He closed his eyes and grabbed Darwin's hips and pulled him on top of him. He
looked straight into his eyes before shutting his own. He threw his arms sideward. A strong sense
passionate feeling rushing through his nerves as he felt Darwin's body on top of him. He felt a hand ran
through his chest. He arched his body. An irresistible tension building inside him as Darwin's hand trailed
off his skin. He can feel his hunger growing stronger-almost as if he's growling like a famished lion
sneaking behind a deer.
"Please…", Ae whispered as begged to be bitten by him.
"I'm just so hungry", Darwin could barely finish his sentence. His eyes turned red with veins
throbbing around it. His fangs retracted and he launched a mouthful bite on Ae's neck.
Ae's eyes rolled in the back of his head as Darwin bury his teeth through his skin. He grabbed
Darwin's hips and up to his chest. He wished to not make it stop but a growing pain dragged him back to
his thoughts. The pain grew stronger and stronger as they exchanged moans in pleasure and pain. Ae's
eyes popped wide open as a very painful sting stuck him. He tried pushing Darwin back but he's sucking
his blood so hard that there's no tomorrow. He used magic to separate him from Darwin. He looked at
him with wide eyes, his Chain of the Hollow mark glowing like diamonds under his skin.
"That explains the overwhelming hunger. You're not only feeding you", he pointed out his
tattoo as he hissed in pain grabbing his wounded neck.
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I can't…I'm so sorry", Darwin curled his knees and buried his face in
between it. Sobbing and weeping like a child.
"Your emotions are out of place. You are far getting worse. It's alarming. It's like pouring out
of you like water in jar full of holes on the side. You have no control of what you feel because you are
torn in between being a vampire and a human. You have no direction because your driving force is not
intact", Ae commented. He looked at him with pity.
"I wanna die", Darwin whispered in between sobs.
"Now you wanna die", Ae replied.
"But I wanna live and take vengeance", Darwin cursed.
"Just let it out. It's just an anxiety tenfold. The side effects of contradicting emotions", Ae added.
"I want to die. I want to live. I don't know what…"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Ae grabbed his arms and locked his lips with Darwin.
All of the raging storms inside have calmed down as Ae deepened the kiss. But he stopped halfway and
pulled back. He looked away blushing as Darwin covered his eyes. An awkward 10 second passed
between them before Ae cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry I thought that's gonna help", He said almost like a whisper. Darwin didn't say another word. He leaned forward and pushed Ae down to kiss him. Ae
returned the kiss. The warmth of their embrace vibrating like electricity. It was a moment they never
expected, but somehow wished would last a little longer. Darwin pulled back and to his feet, he offered
a hand to Ae with a smile.
"Come, we still have a lair to raid", He added.
"Sure my prince", Ae replied as he took his hand.