Confliction

As true night emerges in the outer world, I awake.

I glance about at the dark surroundings, at the stains on the wall and the dust which is disturbed by my motions. Indifferent to the state of disrepair which my room has fallen, I cloak myself in the shadows and leave. I must hunt tonight.

Outside, I let my senses awaken and slowly I feel the beat of the city beneath me. From the roof of a crumbling building I watch as a shadow flits along the ground below. He is known to me, what humans might call a 'friend.' To those who know the Hunger, however, there are no friends, merely the hunted and the Kin. The accursed sons of Cain who must feed on the blood of mortal man. I sit still, allowing him to pass. I do not desire companionship tonight. No, the Hunger has grown too strong, and I must feed soon.

Near the park I find a suitable victim, and stalk it briefly. Until the last moment, it has no idea how little time is left. After draining it, I kneel down next to the dried corpse and chant softly as the body quickly turns to dust and blows away. The beast within me recedes as the blood heals the Hunger. Sated, I slip back into the shadows.

I move more slowly now, pausing to observe the city, it's ebb and flow. Now the indifference is replaced by revulsion and despair. Without the inhuman beast to drive me, my steps falter. Slowly, I drift to my sanctum. Not the dingy room I call my home, but the place where I can nearly break through. High upon the clock tower, I look down on the city with longing and slow tears of blood find their way down my face. They land on the bare stone, where they join the stains from the centuries of my existence. Here I would stay forever, were it not for the sun. As the sky lightens, I snarl at myself and faster than the wind I am back in my dark hole. Slowly, I let my frustration slip away from me, and sink into the dreamless sleep of the undead.