Pain // Colby Brock

[One] - Different

CARSON RILEY

Emotional connections with people were hard when you could sense everything they felt for you; whether that be contempt, lust or indifference, they'd always put on the same face of politeness.

I couldn't say I expected anything more from LA, one of the most heartless cities in the states - maybe even the western world, but a part of me wished it could be better. So much potential surrounded everything and everyone, if they'd just look passed the masks they built for themselves into what they were really capable of. However, it wasn't my place to judge others when I wasn't perfect myself.

To possess a power that could save millions of lives and not use it? That was another level of selfish none of these fake people would ever succumb to.

Instead I chose to travel from location to location watching people I didn't know and didn't intend to get to know. Entering LA for the first time, I visited party after party just searching for someone genuine, for someone who wasn't made of plastic or had ill intentions. And although I found a few, they were surrounded by fakes who they let influence them, and hid their true selves to save face.

So I knew I wouldn't stay here long, not when there was so much more of the world to see.

Time passed by as I walked. I didn't have a car or much money, only ever obtaining a job in one place long enough to earn cash for a bed to sleep in and food to keep me alive. Even then, I rarely had more than one meal a day.

Since I was planning to leave LA to find somewhere better, I'd quit my job just last week and was walking with the intention of reaching the border for the next city. That was why I hadn't stopped walking for almost the entire day, and why nighttime snuck up on me so fast I had no choice but to just keep going.

I knew of the dangers that lurked during the night; had come across many fangs and bright silver eyes. But none of it scared me. The moment they knew what I could do, they left me be. Even the nastiest ones, because they knew that one day, there was a chance I could be a powerful ally for them. Not that I ever planned to succumb to their allure.

This night was no different to any other I'd spent roaming the streets, as I passed parties and daring families alike, never delving too deep into the waves of emotion that tickled my skin.

Darkness clouded around me like a blanket, making me feel safe rather than in danger. I didn't bother to keep watch for anyone who might wish me harm, I knew I'd sense their intent before they had a chance to approach. So I was just walking mostly aimlessly and enjoying the breeze that brushed on by every few moments.

Around three am, I stopped for a second to take a break. It wasn't often I did this but something was weighing down on me that I didn't quite understand and I felt the need to regain some of my energy. I sat on a bench alone, barely illuminated by a streetlamp a few feet to my right, and ran my hands along my thighs trying to push away all the intensity that had hit me like a truck.

I didn't expect that intensity to slowly develop into something else, to define itself as a thirst that I'd sensed many times before, but it drew my eyes toward the dark around me. Finally realising that there might be a threat, I examined the street like it would give me any answers.

After a few seconds, the thirst grew stronger and nearer, and I turned my head to the side to see what I knew to be a park behind me. Without any light, I couldn't actually see much, however I knew what was waiting to strike.

When the thirst zipped up close, I caught sight of a masculine figure lingering at the edge of the streetlamp's glow. He moved around it into my field of view and I followed him as he made his way in front of me. Familiar silver eyes stared at me through the dark, breaking through the blanket that kept me safe, until the figure joined me in the light.