Chapter 2

My New Life

(that time I chased my friend into reincarnation...)

2:37 AM, It was definitely a Tuesday. The day I am born.

Someone in the room cuts open the caul and I can see clearly for a moment as the doctor slaps my butt and I begin to cry. A moment later he hands me back to the woman, beautiful black hair, cat-ears, brown eyes, holds me in her arms against her chest. I know who she is. What she is almost immediately. Not only is she the most beautiful creature to ever walk this earth but she is mom. The sirens keep blaring around us. Another man, I think my father, is standing beside her. He is staring at me with such happiness, pride on his face. But something is wrong… a lot is wrong. First, I’m not suppose to be here, I was chasing after Rak. And second, the man’s face is covered in blood. Three, this isn’t a hospital. The man is wearing an outfit unlike any I’ve seen before but its painfully obvious. He is a soldier. Wearing a brown trench coat with some kind of metal armor underneath, I can see he is carrying a sword at his sword at his side. He has short grayish hair though he doesn’t look like he is older than thirty. His face doesn’t look like its been shaved in days and he is sporting a short dark beard.

“We need to get out of here now,” another man, standing behind him says.

“Is it safe to move them?” I hear the man that would be my father ask.

“You’re going to do it whether I say yes or no, what’s it matter,” the other man who pulled me out of the darkness, the doctor, says.

The other two are wearing jackets, gowns. They also have weapons on them. I can see my father nod towards them. The joy of seeing me has already withered away to an expression of sadness, grief.

“She won’t be able to move for another few hours,” the doctor says.

“She is our shaman, she can…” the other man began.

“She’s lost a lot of blood. Not to mention we still have some work to do. It will be some time before I can stitch her up and she can move.”

“Can she shift?”

“The process will kill her. Don’t think I haven’t thought about it. Even a vile of red will cause too much damage”

Something was very wrong. Something was happening. Another two women walk into the room. The two women are dressed in leather armor with metal plating. One is red headed, both are younger than my mother but not by much, the other has a short pixie cut, blonde hair.

My father embraces both of them before they turn their gaze towards me and my mother. Their faces filled with smiles. Kindness. I can hear them but I can’t make out what they are saying through the cloth blanket. I barely even noticed the doctor clean me up just before he handed me over. Everything is happening fast. I can barely keep up. I can feel my mother is laughing. Her chest moving up and down. The three women are close.

“Have you thought of a name?” one of them asks.

“We are going to have a naming ceremony once we reach haven,” my father tells her.

“Does that mean we’re leaving? What about Mia?”

Is Mia my mother’s name?

“She will be meeting back up with us and the mid-wife in haven.”

“I’ll grab the others,” the second girl tells them.

“Thank you,” my father said, his eyes filled with tears.

All of them are close. I can sense it. Something inside of me telling me that they are my new family. Still, I can’t stop crying.

Looking around, Rak has to be here. Maybe we are brothers. We were family before, now we might actually be twins.

My vision is less blurry and at least for now I still have all the memories of my past life. But I’m helpless. Helpless as a newborn child. Which I am. Fuck. I can feel the ground tremble. There is a loud explosion and I can’t hear anything. The red headed woman takes me from my mother’s arm, I’m afraid this will be the last time I ever see her.

In the silence surrounding me I memorize her face, every line, every freckle. I wonder how much I’m going to look like her.

The red haired woman’s mouth moves as she clutches me to her chest. She moves the cloth over my face as I continue to cry. Luckily, its very easy to breath, even as she moves quickly, turning one corner after another. I can sense that I am safe.

The cloth drops down for a second. I see a creature with gray skin, elongated limbs, an extended jaw, and way too many teeth. It is six or seven feet tall, half naked, climbing through the small corridors. We are surrounded by several soldiers holding metal sticks. I can feel the tension in the air as sweat drops from one of their foreheads. I still feel like my senses are on fire, just like I would if I myself were running into battle. They are aiming the metal sticks down the hallways at the creature.

I recognize the creature from my past life.

-Bestiary-

Vampire

Description: Since the beginning Vampires have been hiding in the dark recesses of the world. Surviving on human and animal blood, vampires were first thought to be lycans because of their abilities to shape-shift into bats, wolves, and other creatures. Their origins are unknown however new vampires can be created by passing blood from one vampire to another. While they are not immortal, vampires will survive until they are killed. If a vampire does not feed for a long time it goes into a stasis state. Vampires are able to regenerate parts of their body overtime and are capable of using various forms of magic. Several types of vampires exist such as pure bloods, born vampires, and turned. There is no known cure for vampirism. The two best ways to kill a vampire are by decapitating it and / or destroying their heart. This has led to many myths and legends. Many vampires congregate in nests or hives and are led by lords and kings.

HP: 100/100

Weaknesses: Sunlight, Garlic, Silver, Fire

Immunities: Poison, Magic, Ice, Water, Lightning

“Kudlak!” I hear someone shout, my hearing returning.

“Verdilak!” Another shouts correcting them.

The woman dodges an attack from the creature. What I know as a vampire in its feral, beast form that looks like a cross between a wolf and a bear. My guild had killed a few in our days as thieves. Usually they were weak, roaming the woods at night preying on helpless victims. This creature however seemed to be attacking with intelligence, commanded by another figure behind it.

It grabs the blade. My little eyes watch as it sinks into the palm of the monster’s hand, steam rising out as it clenches its fist. The blade must be made of silver. Monsters hate silver. A nice choice. The lady pulls it downward, sliding it across the monster’s palm just before striking upward. She missed. The sword lands a hit against the wall as the creature jumps back protecting itself, using its long limbs to counter and slash at her. She pulls her sword again. This time she manages to take off its arm, dropping below its waist she slices through its leg. A clean cut. All the way through, even the bone. The vampire falls. Still, alive, reaching outward just before the lady with the sword delivers the final blow.

Its head is severed from its body. Another steps forward ready to challenge her. Followed by another.. And another. Before long dozens of them are pouring in as other fighters begin to take the offensive. They are doing everything they can to protect us. I wish I could activate my Rune Abilities so I could assess it. Am I even in the same world? No one around me seem to be using magic. A few Fire Bolts and they could easily wipe out the cursed creatures. They could even fry up the one controlling them.

Dodging the blonde haired woman as she draws her sword to protect us, I can see her throw a bottle of something at the creature just before the cloth covers my eyes again. Gunshots ring out.

It was a rare sound I had only heard a few times in my world. Gun powder was limited. And guns definitely didn’t fire one shot after another in rapid succession. Not to mention magic was just easier. Sure, you had to be born with some, but enough training and even a novice could fire off enough Fire Bolts to protect them. I could feel warm hands press against me, the violence surrounding me muted for the time being.

I feel my small fragile body being carried up a set of stairs as the woman’s heart beasts faster and faster, her pulse resting against my neck.

“Kalla, are you ok?” I hear a voice, another woman. She is referring to the red headed woman.

“I’m fine, Mia, Thomas, and Cass are all still down there, I don’t know how they found us, they are digging their way inside,” she answered.

I had been right. We were underground. And the creatures were digging into our tunnels, forcing us to the surface.

The other woman removes the cloth from in front of my face. I start crying as I see a bright light hangs down from the ceiling hurting my eyes. I can barely make out the other woman. She is young. Just like the others. She also has wolf-ears. I can see her smile as she looks at me. “He has his Mia’s ears.”

My mother’s ears? If that is true, my ears must not be typical. Its no wonder I can hear everything in such detail. My mother had wolf-like ears. That must mean I’m not completely human. I’m some kind of Neko.

“We need to get to haven,” the red-headed woman, Kalla said in almost a panic. It was a bad sign. It seemed wherever this was we had been hiding wasn’t a very safe place to give birth. Haven must have been their destination from the start, but they were side-tracked. Was this my fault? If I hadn’t gone running after Rak would I have even been born?

“Follow me,” the other ordered. I can see Kalla nod her head and smile just before wrapping me back in the blanket.

I’ve been alive for a whole five minutes now. We’ve breached the surface and I can see we are completely surrounded by ruins. Giant towers that were once made of glass and stone have fallen into sand and earth. Some lay on their sides while others are overgrown with green vines and brush.

We are surrounded by the giant metal structures on all sides. The blood red moon lighting our way towards several wagons without horses.

“You first,” the other woman says.

“Thank you Sudra,” Kalla says, she and I climb inside of the wagon. I hear a guttural roar as the wagon starts to shake.

“Its ok, don’t worry, we’ll be safe soon,” Kalla says unfolding the cloth from in front of my eyes. I am crying again. I don’t even know why. All I know for certain is that this new life feels more dangerous than my last. That and I’m hungry. I can’t stop thinking about warm milk. Especially, as Kalla holds me closer to her chest.