The Carmen Chronicles: Rebirth

Chapter 15: The Elusive Return

My skin sparkled in the new day's dawning sun. Victoria sat beside me on the mountain, our legs dangling over the edge, her skin glimmering as brightly as mine. Having only ever witnessed this with my own body, I was surprised to realise I actually found the shimmering skin a beautiful sight to behold. There was nothing else like this anywhere in the world, at least to my knowledge, it was almost like viewing an extremely rare work of art.

"Beautiful, isn't it" The immortal said, her eyes fixed on the magnificent view before us.

The moment we met, Victoria insisted I accompany her to a "safe zone", somewhere that had not yet been discovered by humans. We ran nonstop for days, finally making it to the south of France before Victoria began climbing the mountain we were now atop. She had been right, no human had been here, the air was crisp and fresh, untainted by the scent of blood. It was the first time I had ever breathed clean air, the first time my throat had not burned with each inhale. We climbed over four thousand metres before reaching the summit; prior to this, I had never climbed a mountain of this size in my life. Despite having lived with my new abilities for a number of years now, by the time we reached the summit, I found myself surprised that my muscles were not screaming in pain. I was neither out of breath nor freezing, and I should have been, the mountain was covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. I stretched out my hand and ran it through the snow, amused by the texture and the bizarre fact that it had no effect on my exposed hand. I suppressed a laugh as I imagined burying myself in the freezing snow and still remaining perfectly comfortable, not freezing, shivering, or begging for the warmth of a fire; something I used to frequently do in my human years. We sat in silence, two immortals, two predators, at peace in nature, with no scent to distract us. I never thought I could ever be free of the burden of my thirst, it was always there, even if I had fed on a hundred humans. Here...The thirst remained, though it was as muted as ever, the lack of human scent in the air seemed to calm it. Victoria had found heaven, the perfect sanctuary away from our thirst, away from the scent that ruled completely...Away from everything. We were free. Suddenly curious at how deep the snow was, I plunged my hand through the surface with a sharp punch. The ground beneath me shook slightly as I heard the slightest of groans from the mountain.

"Careful! You don't want the ground to fall away beneath us, do you?" Victoria scolded me gently, an amused grin on her perfect face.

"Sorry" I grinned back, genuinely enjoying myself for the first time in what felt like a thousand years. "It's so deep".

"Mmhmm" Victoria agreed. "It's always like this, as long as I've been around, anyway".

I felt a stab of guilt. I realised from the moment we met, I had never asked her a single question about herself. She had instead wanted to know everything about me, where I originated from, my life as a human, who changed me...Despite the time that had passed, my heart still ached when she confirmed she had never crossed paths with a Benedict Ward. I tried to rarely think of him, it was too painful, though I did wonder where my immortal friend was, and why he made that fateful decision to leave me as I burned. My heart did not long for him as though he were a missing lover; no...Benedict was something else. He was my guardian angel, the one who relentlessly pursued me in order to keep his vow to Ana, despite my resistance. But now, I was connected to him in another way: he was my creator. His venom had changed me, it lingered in my veins, and would do so until the end of time. I felt bonded to him, despite his absence. Although I tried to forget, I could not deny the fact that Benedict was my moon in a long and never-ending night during my human years. And then, without so much as a warning, he just left me? The very moment I needed him the most. I would stop my search for him for now, though I knew one day, I would begin once again.

"You feel it too, don't you" Victoria said, distracting me from my thoughts.

I knew exactly what she was talking about.