LOGINShare
Interlude IV: Butterfly Effect
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 5: Lines in the Sand (Part 1)
Canus and I don’t bother going in the front door. Instead, we peek around to the back. Only when we see a ghastly hole in the ground in the cemetery, raw soil overturned atop the lawn where Katy’s grave must have been, do we continue on inside.The halls are unlit and tranquil, but Canus doesn’t hesitate as he takes the winding turns that lead him to a suite of rooms that I don’t remember ever noticing before. It’s in an entire different section of the estate than the wing where Scintilla and I were assigned rooms. It’s been somewhat hastily refurbished, the must of decades of neglect mixing in with the sharp smell of self-assembly furniture.The door has been left ajar, and Canus and I slip in the small reception area just as Scintilla slips out of what must be Katy’s bedroom.‘Sire,’ she whispers, head bowed.I catch her gaze when she looks up and flash her a supportive smile. She doesn’t return it, but something about her bearing softens just the slightest.Canus jerks his chin tow
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 5: Lines in the Sand (Part 2)
‘Please, my lady, there’s no one else!’Strangely enough, the man pleading to me from outside the reception chamber sounds completely mortal. He must have been a thrall at some point, but he can’t be any longer, not with that level of emotion to his voice.‘Simon, let him approach.’Simon gives me a look that speaks volumes of my presumed softness, which I pretend to ignore. To him, this is the first time that I've held court as Canus’s representative, but I’ve done it before, a time or two, back during my first life. It takes a moment, but Simon eventually unbars the door, letting in the human. Only two other petitioners are in the room, and though they seem annoyed, they also make no move to protest as I skip over their non-queue.As the human approaches, I realise that he’s somewhat familiar. I’ve seen him before. At court? No—he looked younger back then, barely more than a teenager, and he’d been immortal when we met, barely more than a newborn and stuck fast to his master, a dark
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 1: A Second Death (Part 1)
Everyone knows that the most important person in a vampire’s life is her Sire, the one whose blood is keeping a vampire tethered to the splendour of immortality—her saviour, her master. Most vampires are half in love with their Sires, slavishly devoted to their every whim and fancy, willing to change even the most fundamental aspects of their characters to gain the tiniest modicum of approval. But not me. I wanted to kill him. ﹒ Hello. I am, as my Sire named me after my transformation into a member of those monsters dwelling in the night, forever to be known by Favilla. Maybe it’s contradictory for me to use a name given to me by someone I hate so much, but the name my human parents gave me has long since ceased to matter so, instead, Favilla is what you shall call me. My story started just over three decades ago, the first time I died, when my Sire first found me and claimed me for his own. However, that’s not where your story will start. No, your story will start on the night of
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 1: A Second Death (Part 2)
I turn to the thrall, and he lowers his head, expectant. ‘Your master,’ I say, “where is he?” He steps back, gesturing to the door closest to him. ‘It’s unlocked,’ a pleasant tenor calls from within. A smile comes unbidden to my lips. I adjust my dress, slightly self-conscious of the glamour I’ve put over myself, then walk through the door. It opens onto a minimalist bedroom done in soft greys and deep reds, lit only by the light of the city filtering in through the balcony doors. I don’t pay the room much mind, however, as my entire being is focused upon the man sitting in an armchair, reading in the near-darkness. He looks to be in his late twenties, though that is of course a meaningless measure for us vampires. He bears a strong resemblance to my Sire in his features—sharp-boned and well-proportioned. He has a slightly more masculine air, however, as he is of a more powerful build. His colouring, too, differs from Canus in a crucial way—his hair is more fair, a honey blond ins
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 1: A Second Death (Part 3)
The rendezvous point Chrys has chosen is a denture-like block of abandoned townhouses, all whitewashed façades hiding decrepit insides. It is almost comically stereotypical to think that a crazed Desecrant might favour such a residence. Chrys has stationed a few trusted subordinates at strategic locations for ambush, but they have orders to slow and wound rather than to kill. After all, few vampires in this city are strong enough to stand against Canus in a fight. In the end, it will still come down to me distracting Canus and Chrys surprising him. At five to seven, the sky outside is lightening already, deep violet edged with palest gold at the eastern horizon. Anticipation churns in a stomach that I no longer use. I’m nauseated, but I’m also not, because I don’t think it’s even possible for vampires to vomit the way humans do. ‘I’m scared,’ I say to Chrys, who is sitting beside me in the cellar of the centre-most townhouse. His chest is firm and strong behind me. Above the musk o
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 1: A Second Death (Part 4)
‘STOP!’ yells a voice that I don’t remember ever hearing so panicked. I freeze, but then I realise that Canus’s command wasn't directed at me. Scintilla, meanwhile, has gone lax, eyes wide with fright and despair. I turn my head. Canus had widened the hole in the wall where I’d broken through when I tackled Chryseus off of him, staring through the opening at Scintilla and I with the strangest expression on his face. His cold eyes are bright in the dim light of the room, reflecting the diffuse light of dawn spilling inside through dingy egress windows that hadn’t been properly boarded up. He looks afraid, I realise with a start, but I don’t know why he’s afraid. The emotion makes him approachable in a way that I’ve never felt before. I want to comfort him, tell him that everything is fine, that he has nothing to fear. I struggle again, and Scintilla lifts easily off of me. I don’t glance at her face; I can’t bear it. I can’t stand knowing that she loves me still, but chose to betray
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Interlude I: The Game
One day old and ancient, the waxing crescent—barely more than a sliver, really—rises mere minutes before the night is to lift and the day is to break. Weak as she is, the moon still sees it, not the act itself, but the aftermath, the spreading cinders tearing through the world, dissolving all that it touches, unravelling the tapestry that time and fate has woven of this world. ‘You’re cheating,’ the moon tries to say to the night, but then the sun has risen by now, chasing the night away from this half of the globe. ‘Why has wrath descended upon the world?’ asks the sun. And the day, breaking merrily upon a world in ashes, says simply, ‘I am sure that all will be well again upon the morrow.’ Barely visible in the morning sky, the moon remains silent, for she alone knows that the night will not allow the morrow to arrive, not for cycles upon cycles again. ﹒ When time finally stabilises, when the world reforms again, when suddenly the moon finds herself nearly full and shining bri
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 2: In Memoriam (Part 1)
The problem isn’t that I should be dead—completely dead, that is, not just undead. No; the problem is that I’m (as far as I can see) in a coffin and (judging by the feel of the air) also stuck under quite a bit of earth. I remember how much I panicked over three decades ago on my first night as an immortal, when I’d woken up to this same situation. I had so few memories of my human life that even the knowledge I’d retained was minimal. I understood that I was a vampire, and I knew that my final test would be to emerge from my grave, but I barely remembered my own name, let alone how to get out. At the time, my clearest memory was of transformation, a grotesque and painful experience that had left me mentally exhausted as well as physically weak. Now, however, though my latest memory is of literally burning to ashes, I’m slowly beginning to feel a growing sense of mental clarity. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been through so many dangerous situations that I’m now used to it, or perhaps
Latest chapter
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 5: Lines in the Sand (Part 2)
‘Please, my lady, there’s no one else!’Strangely enough, the man pleading to me from outside the reception chamber sounds completely mortal. He must have been a thrall at some point, but he can’t be any longer, not with that level of emotion to his voice.‘Simon, let him approach.’Simon gives me a look that speaks volumes of my presumed softness, which I pretend to ignore. To him, this is the first time that I've held court as Canus’s representative, but I’ve done it before, a time or two, back during my first life. It takes a moment, but Simon eventually unbars the door, letting in the human. Only two other petitioners are in the room, and though they seem annoyed, they also make no move to protest as I skip over their non-queue.As the human approaches, I realise that he’s somewhat familiar. I’ve seen him before. At court? No—he looked younger back then, barely more than a teenager, and he’d been immortal when we met, barely more than a newborn and stuck fast to his master, a dark
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 5: Lines in the Sand (Part 1)
Canus and I don’t bother going in the front door. Instead, we peek around to the back. Only when we see a ghastly hole in the ground in the cemetery, raw soil overturned atop the lawn where Katy’s grave must have been, do we continue on inside.The halls are unlit and tranquil, but Canus doesn’t hesitate as he takes the winding turns that lead him to a suite of rooms that I don’t remember ever noticing before. It’s in an entire different section of the estate than the wing where Scintilla and I were assigned rooms. It’s been somewhat hastily refurbished, the must of decades of neglect mixing in with the sharp smell of self-assembly furniture.The door has been left ajar, and Canus and I slip in the small reception area just as Scintilla slips out of what must be Katy’s bedroom.‘Sire,’ she whispers, head bowed.I catch her gaze when she looks up and flash her a supportive smile. She doesn’t return it, but something about her bearing softens just the slightest.Canus jerks his chin tow
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Interlude IV: Butterfly Effect
The last thing Canus remembers is the sheer devastation of it all—the bitterness that had seeped into his very core, the pain and regret in her eyes, the purity of her confusion as he gave her his last order. And then there was pain. And then there was nothing. Then, quite suddenly, there was something. There was rain, each droplet splashing down against the roof in a familiar arrhythmic patter, banging against window panes in similar fashion. There was the silken slide of his shirt against his skin, the press of firm cushions against his back. He was slowly lifting out of his trance. He’s always been slow to wake in the evenings, just like he’d been slow to wake from sleep as a mortal. He makes use of his grogginess well, however. Letting it dissipate as he collected his thoughts. Meditation, as he learned from a pair of old acquaintances—mystics of a rare western school of Buddhism—was an invaluable tool in the life of an immortal. It was a habit that he’d practised since long
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 4: Those Left Behind (Part 13)
The car swerves—that’s how startled Canus is by my question. When he regains control of it again, his fingers are tight around the leather of his steering wheel.‘Come again?’ he says. ‘I could have sworn that you said—’‘That Annia is convinced that I’m to be the Starlight Queen? Yes, I did. She saw me eavesdropping on Chryseus and didn’t report it to him, as far as I can tell. Lady Chalcea seems to trust her, too.’It’s not until the last sentence that Canus seems to relax a little. I grin to myself. For all that he calls her a spoiled brat, Canus still trusts his sister’s judgement.‘She was the one who took me to the shrine and told me who the Starlight Queen was supposed to be,’ I continue. ‘That is, after I accidentally lost my temper at her.’It feels so easy to tell Canus the truth, like some great burden is being lifted from my shoulders. I once imagined myself to be a practised hand at secrecy, but that was when I still had Scintilla or Chryseus in which to confide. I hadn’t
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 4: Those Left Behind (Part 12)
‘I love you, too, Favilla. Always have, always will,’ he says. It’s as gentle as I’ve come to expect of him, as steadfast and sincere as I could ever wish for. We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment, and then, as one, we say, ‘I’m sorry.’ We both pause, then open our mouths, then close them upon seeing our actions mirrored in one another. ‘You first,’ I say when I open my mouth again. ‘You have nothing to be sorry about,’ he says. ‘I do,’ I insist. ‘I’m sorry I did that to you. I didn’t mean to. You were never supposed to be the one to find me. I was—’ I pause, realising that it might not necessarily be the best path to follow. I start again: ‘I mean, I know I’m not Aura any longer, that she was the one who made the decision, that she was probably very ill and in a very bad place mentally, but I still feel responsible, somehow, for putting you through that. Please, let me apologise for that, at least.’ He seems to consider it for a moment, but then he nods, mind made up. ‘
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 4: Those Left Behind (Part 11)
‘It was grandad’s, you know. An antique, though I suppose not quite so antique as you.’ It had a smooth handle worn down by three generations of use, and it kept its edge remarkably well considering it went about a dozen years without anyone bothering to check on it.‘I did keep it, yes,’ Canus confesses.‘It’s pretty, isn’t it?’ I remember how its silver blade flashed in the dim and flickering candlelight. Looking back, I recognise how silly it was to put a tealight in the sink to see by. My thought process had been that, even if some strange happenstance knocked it over, I’d at least be certain that it wouldn’t catch the entire block on fire. I could have used proper lights, I suppose, but I was loath to waste electricity if it was going to be ages before anyone found me. If I were to die, I could at least help spare the planet from a similar fate.At first there was nothing, and then it hurt so much that I could barely slash my other wrist as well. Shortly thereafter, the cold came
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 4: Those Left Behind (Part 10)
Not much has changed since I last visited less than two months ago. The scent of my human self is worked into every corner, overlaid by a strange sense of corruption. I briefly seat myself on the back of the settee, looking around the cramped space. As Canus mentioned, the kitchen table is missing from its place. Otherwise, the cabinets are all shut, and all the flat surfaces are empty safe for the thinnest layer of dust—no humans, no dead skin cells, no new dust being generated.I grimace and stand up. Walking into the bedroom, I see empty air where previously were the scattered personal effects that Canus had originally deemed too sensitive for me to see. They, of course, are hidden away in my study back at the estate, and, as loath as I am to agree with Canus, I still have yet to page through them properly.‘A bit of a let-down,’ I comment. ‘I thought you said I’d remember something.’Canus says, practically into my ear, ‘Don’t pretend you don’t know where I need you to go.’I jump
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 4: Those Left Behind (Part 9)
With my new revelation, tracking down three more victims and feeding Canus in between hunting is relatively trivial. It puts a new spin on the act, however. The pain that I derive from Canus’s feeding is no less than before, but now it comes with a sense of vindication. Now, every time he pulls away and licks my blood from his lips, I see the hidden emotions dwelling in their depths—guilt and desire. Suddenly, I feel bad for him. I even feel the barest twinge of sympathy for Chryseus. The two of them have been hit the worst by the bloodline curse, enough so that they’ve been forced to feed on their progeny. What’s more, I suddenly understand that they must hate it, that they must hate seeing the source of their guilt every day, to feed from us time and time again. ‘It’s always like this, isn’t it?’ I ask after I come back from my last victim, healed and more fully sated than I’ve ever been. ‘The guilt?’ Very carefully, Chryseus nods. ‘That’s the real curse, I think. My Father likes
Reborn to Love: A Vampire's Fate Arc 4: Those Left Behind (Part 8)
All thoughts of sustenance escape me. I stand, frozen, watching the bright glint of luminescence that is my mark slip further and further down the corridor before turning in the direction of the tearoom. The bleached white walls and linoleum flooring are dark without her presence, but I don’t even care. I’m remembering back to a conversation I had with Chryseus. It doesn’t count, I said, laughing. Your progeny are all older than me. Then I’ll ask Father for another progeny, Chryseus replied, a glint in his eyes. It’s been decades since my last. He’ll accept. It won’t be the same, I insisted. You wouldn’t get to see them as a child. We can adopt a mortal baby, then. If we ask Father for special permission, I’m sure he’ll agree, especially if we raise it as a witch. If the baby is raised as non-human, then the secrecy laws won’t apply. Okay, I said, heart in my throat. Alright. I once considered it to be the moment I fell in love with him. ‘Favilla?’ Canus asks. I blink. There’s
