Have any of you died before? Guess not Stupid question anyway. I can tell you it is no picnic. Sorry, i'm getting ahead of myself. Who am I? My name is Adam Wolfe. At least it was before I died. I lived on earth for the better of 22 years. At the time, I thought it was the only world out there. I guess I was wrong there. In my old life, I was nothing special. I kept to myself most of the time. I was a loner, you could say. But I was not bored. I filled my time with video games and anime. Also, because of the way I handled myself, I was very smart. I was in the top of my class. You could probably ask me any question, and I would know the answer nine out of ten times. I also had a strong sense of right and wrong. This led to my Fateful Day.
I picked up my can of pop and tried to drink. Empty. I glanced over at my bag of chips. No luck. "I guess a trip to the store is in order," I thoght to myself. I paused the game I was currently playing. I locked the door to my one bedroom apartment, and walked down the stairs toward my local Express Shop.
Mr. Mozzel greeted me from behind the counter. I smiled. The man had worked here for as long as I could remember. There wasn't a day that you could not find him behind the counter. Did he never take time off? Well, it wasn't my place to ask. I wandered over to the wall of refridgerators full of any drink you could think of. I picked up my favourite brand of cream soda and made my way to the section that held the snacks. When i bent down to pick something, I heard it.
"Yo, old man! Give me the money in the register. And be quick about it."
I peeked over the shelf. There was a skinny man with a large knife standing at the counter. Mr. Mozzel looked terrified. I had to do something. Without really thinking, I exited the ailse and tackled the man with all of my strength. We hit the floor hard. It was then I felt a dull pain in my abdomen. I got to my feet and quickly fell to a sitting position. I lifted my hand to my face. It was dark red. Blood. I was shocked. The knife was sticking out of me. I fell on to my side. I was in a pool of my own blood. I could not see clearly. Darkness crept in from the sides of my vision. Before it went completely dark, I thought: "So this is what it feels like to die."
My eyes snapped open. I looked around. I was in a small room furnished with two oak chairs and a small table. There was a large window in front of me. Through it i could see a large field, and on the horizon, a large city. Confusion set in. Did I not die? As in answer to my question a man entered the room, carrying what looked like a printer. He set the printer down on the table and sat in front of me. This led to more confusion. Suddenly a cup of coffee appeared in front of both of us The man took a sip and finally spoke.
"You must have a lot of questions you want answered."
Duh. Wasn't that obvious?
The man chuckled and continued. "I will first give you the answer you want the most."
The question that I want answered the most? I laughed under my breath. There were so many questions in my head. How would this man know which one i wanted answered first? The man's voice broke my thinking. I raised my head to face him. He retured my gaze with a warm smile. "The answer to the question you want is: yes, you have died."
That statement hit me like a truck. So it really happened. Tears started to form in the corners of my eyes. My fist hit the table. Weak. Why was I so weak? A thought came to mind. Mr. Mozzel, was he safe? As if in response to my thoughts, the man waved at the window. It slowly turned into a screen. That's when I saw my death for a second time.
The recording played more than I thought it could. It showed the events following my death. The man with the knife fled once he realized he had killed me, leaving the weapon and Mr. Mozzel alone. I sighed in relief. At least he was safe. The screen became a window again. "Now let us talk about you." The man put down his cup and pressed a button on the printer. A single page dropped out. A slight chuckle escaped his lips. "Looks like you haven't done alot with the life I granted you." What was that? The life he granted me? What did he mean?
"It looks like you haven't caught on yet. I am God."
God? I thought for a few seconds. It kind of made sense. after all he had showed me things I should have no knowledge of. His voice brought me back to the present. "Based on what you have done with your life, I can give you two options. Continue on to Heaven or be reborn into another world of your choice. If you should choose the second option, I will grant you two wishes."
I quickly chose the second option. I mean, who wouldn't? You would have to be crazy not to. The window then showed me two worlds that I could pick from. One world looked like my old one and the other looked like it came out of a fantasy game. I chose the second world.
"So what are your wishes for your second life?"
I knew right away. "I want to be strong enought to save people and be there when no one else can." God smiled. "And for your second wish?" I was stumped. I had no idea what I wanted The first wish was all I needed. I looked at God.
"You choose," I said
he laughed and said, "Sure why not. Therefore I will double your abilities, and allow you to keep your intellegence you have gatherd these last twenty two years." That sounded amazing. "Now it is time to send you off into your new life. Don't waste it." White light enveloped me. It was time. Time to start fresh. New life, here I come.
The world I was born into was called Sephera. Or, at least, it was the kingdom I was born into. My parents were Tyberius and Selenia Alucard. Being granted the memories of my past life had made this run of my life quite easy. The family that I was born into also made it easy to grant my first wish of having the power to save people. My parents were the royal family of Sephera. I was their first child.
Due to my boosted inteligence, I was able to help them run the kingdom. For the first twelve years of my life I thoght I was pretty normal. But, on the eve of my birthday that changed. I stood in front of my mirror shocked. My hair that had always been black was now a frosty white. The eyes that now stared back at me were no longer brown but a dull crimson. What was I?
I ran to tell my parents. They both looked at each other and back at me. My Father sighed and rose from his chair. "I see you have grown into your heritage," he said with a small smile. "What am I?" I asked. that was when my father's eyes started to glow a bright crimson. Fangs protruded out of his mouth. "What you are, son, is special. You are a Dracula. Or, half of one." Half of one? I didn't quite understand. My father laughed softly. "For all your smarts, it looks like you don't understand completely. I will help you. See, I am a Dracula, but your mother is not. You are a hybrid of Dracula and human." My head was spinning. This was too much at one time.
My hand shot up to my mouth. There had been a dull pain there for a few minutes. "Looks like your teeth have come in." I opened my mouth. Sure enough, two long teeth protruded out from my upper jaw. "Also your phantom wings are beautiful."
My what?!
My father stood me infront of a mirror. There, on my back, were two translucent black wings. I started to lose it. Was I going to stay like this forever? As if reading my thoughts, my father spoke up. "As a Dracula, you have untapped magic potential. To precieve your ideal form, you must use that magic to suppess what you don't want others to see. as a mix of Dracula and human, you have access to both types of magic in this world. I know of a perfect teacher for you to help control your magic. She will teach you everything."
My teacher? So there was a way to get back to normal. Plus the idea of being able to use magic intrigued me. I guess there was more to this than I thought. Well, no turning back now.
Five weeks later, my father came to my room. "Tybus, your teacher has come for you." I sat up in bed. Relief washed over me. After what happened and all that I learned, I had confined myself to my room. I felt it was the right thing to do. Until I could control my other side, it seemed best so I would not hurt anyone. If I wanted to make my wish come true, full mastery of myself was in order. If this teacher could help me do that, I was all for it.
There was a soft knock at my door. I looked up toward the noise. There, in the doorway, stood a girl. It looked like she was no older than myself. She wore a black and red dress that came down to her knees. She also sported red leather boots and arm bands. She also wore an eye patch over her left eye. She pushed her light grey hair behind her ear. "You must be Tybus Alucard. It is nice to meet you. My name is Suka Dyrid. I'll be your teacher for the next year." My father smiled and left the room.
I had barely heard what she said. I was speachless. I had met countless ladies during the twelve years I had helped my parents run Sephera. But none had pulled at my heart like this one. Was this what people called "love at first sight"?
"Tybus, are you listening to me?"
the sound of her voice broke through my trance. "What?" I said, blushing. She let out a laugh. Oh, even her laugh was beautiful. She was killing me and had no idea she was doing it. This year would be harder than i antisipated.
Suka walked over and sat beside me on the bed "It is time to start your lessons," she remarked. "First a question. What do you think you are?" "I am a Dracula," I answered quickly. She gave me a soft smile. "You are half correct. Dracula is your family name. I am asking if you know what species you think you are." The answer came to me quickly. "Based on my new features, I would guess a vampire," I answered. " that is correct, but don't mix up the two spellings of the word," she said, with a finger in the air. There was two versions of a vampire? "What is the difference?" I mused.
"Well the spelling of vampire with an I means the idividual is led by their bloodlust and is almost impossible to tame. But, when vampyre is spelled with a Y, it mean the idividual has over come the bloodlust and become more human. They have control over themselves enough to control their vampire side. Also through that magic, have become comatible with humans. Thus it is hard to pick a vampyre out of a crowd of people."
"Do I have that level of magic control?" I wondered. "I believe so," Suka answered. "But first we must get your transformation under control." She said it like it was easy. I didn't know where to begin. Suka stood up and started to exit my room. She waved at me to follow. We both walked out to the yard behind the house. "I will now demonstrate how to control you vampyre side." She closed her eyes and removed the eye patch. Suka took a deep breath. "Release!" A black mist rose from her body. A single phantom wing rose gracefully from her back. When she opened her eyes, her left eye was glowing a bright crimson. Startled, I took a few steps back.
"Wait, you are a vampyre?" I blurted out. Suka chuckled. "Well yes, but I am not as strong as you. I am only a quarter vampyre. Which means one of my ancestors was a vampyre. That is why your father thought I would be a good teacher for you." My mind was racing. Suka, with her vampyre side on full display, hurt my heart. The sight of her hair, now a greyish white and her crimson eye topped with her single phantom wing were now burned into my brain. This side of her made me want to yearn for her more. Right now, in this moment, I didn't care about my own transformation. She was the only one I wasn't afraid of showing this side of myself to.
"Uh, Tybus?"
Again I was drawn out of my dream by the sound of her voice. "You have been staring at me for quite awhile." It was at that moment that I realized that she was blushing. I quickly turned my gaze to the side, my face getting hot. "I just thought you looked very beautiful," I said without thinking. Now it was her turn to gaze at the ground. "Uh, W-well..." her voice trailed off. Suddenly I was very aware of something. Not being able to form full sentences... She was flustered! This was the first time I saw a girl flustered, in both my past life and this one.
I felt like I should do something, but I didn't know what that was. Seeing my reaction, Suka quickly composed herself. "So the objective of this lesson is to regulate your magic tied to your transformation." I smiled. She was trying her best to get back on track. "First you must access your magic. The best way to find it is to meditate. Find the source of the magic flow within you. Once you find it, we can continue."
That night, I sat in the middle of my room. Feel my magic. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing. I felt the magic flowing from my back. I guess that was my phantom wings. "Find the source of your magic," her voice echoed in my head. I had a thought. Could I trace the magic from my wings to the source? It was worth a try. I concentrated on the feeling of my wings. The magic coming from them was light like smoke. There it was! I followed the line of magic to the beginning. I opened my eyes. I found the source of my magic. It seemed to tie my entire body together. It felt like it was coming straight from my soul.
The next day, I was elated to tell Suka my progress. She smiled at me. "It seems that it is time to move on with the lesson." We both headed to our spot in the yard. Suka turned to face me. "Release!" she said, blushing. There she was, standing there in her vampyre form. To me, it was still very beautiful. She was more composed than she was yesterday. "Now I will show how to confine your magic within your body. Mentaly, take hold of the line connecting your wings to your magic and draw it into your body, like you are pulling on a string."
Suka took a deep breath. Slowly her phantom wing disapeared into her back. "Now your magic is to much for your body to handle, so use it to change other body features." Her eye which was bright crimson, was now dulled in colour ad her teeth looked regular. "Now it is your turn," she said. Okay, Let's do this! I closed my eyes and search for the magic that was connected to my phantom wings. There it was! I latched on to it and began pulling it inside myself. "Good, it looks like your wings are gone. Now continue to hld onto that magic and picture your ideal eye colour. That goes for your teeth as well," cheered Suka.
I suddenly fell to one knee, clutching my chest. There was a hot pain inside that felt like it would rip me in half. I let out an anguished scream. Suka was at my side in a flash. "You must expel the excess magic or it will destroy you!" she said with a pain in her eyes. "Picture it where you want it to go!" That was easier said than done. I was in so much pain I could not do it. I was on the ground ready to pass out. My Father appeared. He seemed to be talking with Suka. "There is one way to help him, but I don't now what it will do to him." Suka looked desperate. "Will it save him?" she asked. My father took a small vial out of his coat. "This can suppress his human DNA and let his vampyre genes expel the magic, but I don't know if he will be able to come back to his senses." Suka took my fathers hand. "We can deal with that when he is safe." My father looked at her. "Very well. If you think you can save him, I'll do it." My father knelt beside me. He put the vile to my lips. the liquid went down my throught. I let out an unearthly roar. "Here we go," my father stated.
I must say that having my full vampyre abillities unlocked by suppressing my human DNA was a strange feeling. It felt like I had taken a back seat and someone else was in control of my body. It was like watching a movie. My hair hair turned silver colour and my eyes were silver with bright crimson centers. My phantom wings also grew in size. The magic I seemed to possess was out of this world. Black flames engulfed both of my hands. I was still screaming that unearthly roar. My eyes locked onto my father. My hands raised toward him. My father laughed. "If you think you can take me, Tybus, go for it!" My father seemed excited to take me on."Let me show you what your father is made of! Release!" My father's form quickly changed. His hair was now a fiery crimson and his eyes were red with yellow centers. This was my father's power. He was also in full control. "If fighting me gets rid of any extra magic, so be it. Come at me!"
The battle with my father lasted less than five minutes. But, because of the way I became a vampyre, I could not turn it off. My body refused to give me back control. Even though the magic was gone, my body was still not my own.
"No Tybus! It's me!"
The voice belonged to Suka "No!" I screamed inside my own mind. I was not going to let Suka get hurt by me. I mustered all my mental power. I must take back my own body at all cost. I let out another scream, this one had all my feelings mixed with it. I reached out to Suka...
I woke with a start. "Good morning, Tybus." Above me was the face of Suka. She looked relieved. She gave me a soft smile. I sat up. My father was leaning aganst a tree. "Well it looks like you're back to yourself. It seems your feelings for Suka are strong enough to defy your vampyre instincts." I deeply blushed. "My feelings?" I asked sheepishly. My father grinned. "With the looks you always give her, it is pretty obvious." I shot a look to Suka. She was also blushing. "Oh dear, I seem to have hit the mark," my father said, walking back to the house.
A few days latter Suka came to see me. She wanted to talk about a way to draw out my extra magic that would not hurt me or my body. She took out a silver wrist band. "This band I made for you is enchanted to draw out the extra magic in you. Try it". I closed my eyes. I started to draw in my magic. My phantom wings disapeared from my back. Instead of feeling pain, this time, I felt a warm glow. I opened my eyes to see my braclet emiting a soft gold glow. "Yes, it worked," cheered Suka. "There is also another function to this wrist band. It is also a storage unit for your extra magic. It is so you can redirect the magic to other parts of your body. Try it."
I focused on the braclet, and felt the magic held within. In my mind I focused on my eyes and jaw. Suka clapped and handed me a mirror. Relief flooded me. My eyes were back to a muddy brown and I had a normal set of teeth. "Sorry I can't do any thing about your hair," commented Suka. That was fine. I kinda liked the hair. It was like I was making a statement.
Twelve months later I was ready. Suka had taught me everything she knew. I had also stopped changing the colour of my eyes. She seemed to like the crimson colour, so I left it that way. My father had taken it apon himself to teach me how to access and maintain my silver haired Vampyre form. It was easy after a while. "Just keep in mind the one thing that gives you reason to stay in control." That was easy. To stay in control, I just had to keep thinking of Suka. She gave me control and purpose. I was now a year older. So was Suka. She told me of a magic acadeny she was enroled in that could help me learn more of my magic, and different ways I could use it. I was verry curious about the Academy. Plus, if Suka was going, I could not pass up going to school with her. We could enter the academy when we turned fifteen. That was in two years. I could hardly contain myself. But there was something I had to do first. Everything laid apon it.
Two days before Suka had to leave, I called her to my room. "What is it?" she asked, opening my door. "Come sit with me," I said patting the bed beside me. She made her way to the bed and sat down. I was nervous. Even though I had not said anything yet, I wondered what she would say. I turned to look at her. I took a deep breath and began. "Ever since you arrived a year ago, I have been captivated by you. Every part of you is beautiful to me. I believe it was Fate that you and I met like we did." Suka was silent. Her silence was killing me. "What I mean to say is: I love you." There it was. My feelings laid bare. What would she say?
"Release."
She said it so softly, I almost didn't hear her. The eye patch fell to the ground. Her left eye burned a bright crimson. Out of her back rose her single phantom wing. "What about now?" she asked. I didn't understand. What was wrong? "Is it okay to love me, a vampyre outcast? A failure?" she asked, with tears in her eyes. A failure? Who had told her that? Just because of the single eye and wing? The rage inside me started to boil. She was not a failure. Not in my eyes. "Not to me," I said softly.
She raised her head to look at me. "I think you are beautiful. All of you. I love you," I stated. With tears in her eyes she held my hands. "In two years, we both will be fifteen. At that time we can enter the academy as students. If you still have these feelings by that time, I will accept them, and only then." "Okay I promise that they will never change. I will wait for you always," I said. As she left, it seemed that two years could not come fast enough. I had a promise to keep.