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Regret lives within me.
Never found love either. Not that it wasn’t ever at the top of my list when I was younger, but planning a life with someone always seemed further and further away. I gave up on it recently and decided I was born alone, I was meant to exist in this world alone.
But now, when I’d really love to hold a familiar’s person hand, I don’t have it. In my last moments, I’ll die in this dark room haunted by death and candlelight.
Alone.
I wish I could have fallen in love. One last kiss to take with me in death would be a beautiful way to go, peaceful even.
“Shh. Shh. There. How does that feel?” Nurse Anna places a wet rag on my forehead, and I moan in delight with a nod. “Let me open these windows. You need some fresh air. It’s raining. Your mind could use the smell of it.”
“You think the smell of rain is going to cure me?” I’d scowl if I had the energy, and besides, I am a gentleman. I cannot treat a lady that way.
“It can’t kill you, can it?” she retorts with a bounce in her words.
I wish it would.
A scream makes the nurse hold her breath on a sharp inhale. Time stands still. Fear freezes the air. A stillness forms. Shouts. Terror. High pitched prayers echo through the hallways.
“What—”
She places her hand over my mouth to quiet me, pressing a finger against her lips. “The ships are here. We heard rumors of the travelers bringing a plague because death always lies in their wake. They are here,” she whispers in panic, her eyes watering with big tears that immediately roll down her face. “Death has found us.”
What is she speaking of? Death has been here, killing strangers by consumption. I’ve been waiting for him to come and visit me in hopes to put me out of my misery.
Every breath, my skeleton rattles within my skin. “Who?” I ask as hushed as I can.
“Vampires.”
Maybe I’m hallucinating again. I know people are superstitious, but vampires? Nurse Anna seems like she’s the one with delusions now.
“Vampires don’t exist,” I remind her, throwing my hand over my mouth when another coughing fit starts.
My lungs hurt. I’m tired. My body is on fire while freezing at the same time. I’m hallucinating shadow figures. Every breath feels like nails raking against my nerve endings.
I want to die.
Why do I care if vampires exist? Maybe they will finally give me what I seek.
Peace.
If reincarnation truly exists, I better be reborn into an animal so I can lie around, sleep, and enjoy my day-to-day with no responsibilities, or I’m going to be livid.
“Don’t be such a fool, Mr. Alaska.”
“Just Alaska,” I correct her. Mister makes me sound more important than I am. I’m only a tradesman. I hold no importance to this earth.
“There are things in this world we will never know. The magic that lives within our air.” More screams echo down the halls, the darkness haunted by pleas to live. “It has found us.”
Menacing growls pierce the air, harmonizing with the wails of the sick. A gust of wind blows through the windows, the flames of the candle vanishing, succumbing us to the cursed night.
The smell of smoke is thick, sticking to the back of my throat. I cough so hard, my chest burns and more blood coats my tongue.
Nurse Anna yelps when a growl surrounds us in the room. I can’t tell where the sounds are coming from. It seems like they are in every corner or right over my shoulder. So close yet can’t be seen.
Vampires.
Their growls and clicks bounce off the walls. Something breezes by my cot, a claw raking down my arm—not enough to bleed—but enough to make itself known.
