Read Rise of the Dark Sun (The Blood Lust Plague Trilogy Book 1) Online
Authors: Kendall Pearce
Rise of the Dark Sun (The Blood Lust Plague Trilogy Book 1)
Rise of the Dark Sun
The Blood Lust
Plague Trilogy: Book 1
By
Kendall Pearce
All Rights Reserved
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced or publicly performed in any form without written permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Death is supposed to be the end. We
are taught from a very young age that people die, they are put into the ground, and then our souls journey off into some wonderful, magical place for the balance of eternity. However, how surprised would a soul be to realize that what should be death is not an end, and not a death at all, but rather a disease which keeps that soul bound to a body, walking the earth forever?
Humans are such rare, beautiful, delectable and resilient creatures that even in what is thought to be the absence of life, they prosper and continue on. How terrible is
it that, for all of your beliefs to be uprooted and your world to be so disfigured that you not only live when you were intending to die, but your lifespan now has the possibility to be infinite?
Micah sighed, deep in thought as he peered at his reflection in the window. The decomposition of his still living body had begun to commence due to lack of blood. However, he was not wounded. His ill
state was not due to a lack of his own blood. No, his bloodshot eyes and drooping skin, which would eventually give way to an exposed jaw-bone, was due to a lack of anyone else’s blood.
Ashamed and heartbroken, Micah had not dr
unk of the crimson life source for days, and his body was beginning to visibly show the affects. Although, studying himself, Micah noted that if he were to be spotted by a true human being, to them, he would only look extremely tired. For now, the adverse effects of lack of blood could be passed off as a normal reaction to a breakup. This would not be a lie. Although leaving out what most would call the seemingly “undead” consequences of Micah not eating or sleeping would probably constitute as a pretty big part of the story to leave out, the base of the problem was his breakup.
But you are not undead, Micah!
He thought as he thrashed to the side, away from the window in frustration.
You are not dead at all!
In fact, Micah’s condition caused him to feel very much alive, more so than in his previous life.
Determined
and burning with rage, Micah turned back to the window and faced it as though turning to look a foe in the eyes. Gleaming back at him was the sunlight and a reflection of a very ill, seemingly sad 18-year-old.
As Micah
felt the warmth touch his skin through the glass, he felt a burning sensation inside of him. Yet, this was not due to the sun’s rays, as might have been expected. This burning was far worse than Micah imagined the pain of death could ever be. This burning was due to the unquenchable thirst for fresh blood raging throughout his body, and the heartless agony of betrayal coursing through his veins in its place.
Glowering at the sun through the pane of glass, Micah stepped forward. Reaching out his hand, Micah allowed himself to once again see her face, smiling
back at him. If this was his last image he was ever to see, despite the last memory they shared, Micah could live with that. “Constance,” Micah called, reaching out his hand as though to tenderly touch her face, the way he had so many times before. As his hand reached out, the warmth emitting from the glass, the burning light of the noon-day sun began to singe Micah’s hand.
The pain felt good, though. It felt right. Knowing that he was just a few moments away from leaving every breath he had ever taken behind
—hopefully for good this time—made all of the pain and all that he had suffered a worthy pursuit. As he reached closer to the sun, preparing to embrace it with his whole body, Micah felt happy, almost to the point that he felt he might enjoy this moment. Once again, Micah felt that he was control of his own life.
There were finally no more secrets. There would be no more thirst, no more hunger, no more love and no more heartbreak. His forever would end in a matter of seconds
, and Micah felt more powerful now than he ever had in either of his lives before this. Micah finally had the courage, the strength, the ability and the opportunity to die! His heart relished the thought.
Suddenly
, a knock at the door startled Micah and ripped him from his thoughts. Disrupted, Micah turned with haste and ire, his eyes darting and his throat parched for the taste of blood from a freshly beating heart.
“Micah? Are you in there?” Jeremy yelled, pounding on the door
again. In a world that was eerily similar to the one in which Micah was hurled just a few months ago, Jeremy was his best friend, the person whose call Micah would always answer.
However, now, standing here in front of the window attempting to seal his fate, Micah wanted nothing to do with the human whose blood was more appealing to him than any semblance of friendship.
“I can’t come out right now!” Micah replied, trying to keep the distain he felt for the true human from infiltrating his voice. After all, they were supposed to be friends, and Jeremy did not know that he had just interrupted Micah’s suicide attempt.
“Come on! Are you serious? You were the one who wanted us all to come up here anyway! We are going for a hike. Don’t you want to come?”
“No, Jeremy. I…I don’t feel well. I am lying down,” Micah called back, rolling his eyes.
“Oh, well…
Do you need anything?” Jeremy asked, jiggling the door handle.
“No! Jeremy, I’m good. I will catch up with you later. After…after I sleep. What are you doing tonight?” Micah asked.
“We’re having a bonfire on the beach, you in?” Jeremy asked, hopeful.
The two friends had really not spent much time together for months and Jeremy missed his friend. As kind of a lone wolf,
Jeremy had found a kindred spirit in Micah. Yes, Micah had his rotten points and his wild fantasies, but that was what gave him character.
Lately, Micah was dating another o
ne of his strange infatuations. Micah did not seem to have a type, as most people do for a suitable mate, or if he did, Jeremy could not figure it out. First, he had an infatuation with a woman covered in tattoos, and then he had a thing for piercings. There was also the brief phase where Micah had found religion and wanted a wholesome girlfriend. Then, there was Constance
Even though Constance was v
ery attractive, Micah swore she was a lot older than they were, yet she looked barely eighteen. Constance had fair skin and deep brown eyes and long, straight honey-blond hair which seemed to shimmer even in the darkness of night. Although she dressed in a much older fashion, her radiance suited her well regardless of her outfit. Constance had a natural beauty that drew men to her. However, even though Jeremy could understand his friend’s attraction to her, he felt something was always off whenever she was around.
Jeremy also realized that she sometimes spoke in an older fashion. He had never once heard her use the slang that was ever popular as far as Jeremy knew
, and certain words she did say probably had only been used by Constance this millennium.
Constance was adverse to any technology and she refused to hang out with them during the day, but Micah swore he loved her so Jeremy respected his friend’s wishes.
However, eventually, Micah started talking to Jeremy about being with Constance forever. So, Jeremy had asked when the wedding was, and Micah’s answer was something that could only be described as otherworldly. Micah had answered, as his eyes seemed to glaze over as though in a hypnotic trance,
“This goes far beyond marriage! We are more in love than any mortals have ever been in love, Jeremy! Our forever and always is true eternity!”
Jeremy had answered in kind,
“Oh, well, I am very happy for you,”
so as to not cause a rift in their friendship, but this statement bothered him greatly. What put Jeremy’s mind at ease, though, was that this was Micah. Part of the fun of being Micah’s friend, especially his best friend, was that every time you saw him you were in for some crazy adventure. Jeremy had always thought Micah was never truly from this world, because of the off-the-wall ideas he would come up with. So, if Micah was happy, Jeremy knew that he should just let the strangeness that is Micah run its course.
However, that course veered down a frightening path. In fact, it was so off course, Jeremy truly felt that Micah had run himself off his own road and into the woods, barreling towards a tree
—if he hadn’t already hit one. One day, after they had hung out the previous day and Micah had been in really good spirits, Jeremy called Micah and he did not pick up. Jeremy did not think anything of it until a few days later, when he tried him again. Then, Jeremy called Micah again a few days after that. Finally, two weeks after the initial phone call, Micah called him back.
He had said he was
sorry, that he was so busy with Constance that he had not had time for anything else. Irked, but more glad his friend was okay, Jeremy let it go and asked to hang out. Micah refused to see him until nightfall.
Whatever,
Jeremy thought,
it’s Micah.
That was the last time the friends hung out until Micah had called Jeremy out of the blue and asked him and the people he used to be friends with to take this trip. It was then that Micah confided in Jeremy that Constance had broken up with him.
Jeremy felt bad for Micah because he knew how bad a breakup with a person you really love could be, but Jeremy was also relieved. Even still, they had been here for two days and Micah had only come out of his room the previous night.
Old habits die hard, I guess,
Jeremy thought. Little did Jeremy know how perfectly his thoughts aligned with the truth.
Micah thought for a long moment
about Jeremy’s posed question before answering, knowing that Jeremy would wait as long as it took for him to commit to an answer. He regretted asking everyone to come in the first place. A part of Micah wished they had all abandoned him. He wanted abandonment; he certainly deserved it. After he had blown off every friend he ever had in his life for his love of Constance, he would not want to give himself another chance either, hence his suicide attempt.
Micah now knew that killing himself would have been a lot easier
had he come up here all alone.
Maybe deep down,
Micah thought,
I don’t really want to die. Maybe this is a cry for help.
Aggravated at such a thought, Micah shook his head and growled to himself.
No! This is right! It is the only way! I am a monster!
“Yes, Jeremy. I’m in!” Micah lied with a binding constitution behind his voice. He needed Jeremy to believe him so that he would leave and his plans could go forward before any further doubt crept into his decaying mind and poisoned his thoughts against doing what was right for not only himself, but for humanity.
“Alright! Cool!” Jeremy replied, sounding forcibly satisfied, “Do you need anything?”
“No, just sleep. Thanks,” Micah answered dismissively.
“Okay, but if you don’t come out, I will personally come up here and drag you out myself.”
Ha! Yea, Jeremy, you’ll be dragging something out of here tonight: that’s for sure.
Micah thought sinisterly, once again feeling the excitement to end his life throbbing throughout his body. “I know you will! Don’t worry, though. I will be there!” Micah said enthusiastically.
“Okay, sounds good. See you then
, buddy,” Jeremy responded.
As he walked away, Micah felt the urge to drain his friend dissipate, but the quenchless thirst to drain somebody remained
, stronger now, having taken in a fresh scent of it.
Turning back to the window,
Micah felt the power of fury and hate for himself and for this world begin to course through him once more. Micah knew that the buildup had to be hasty, lest he once again lose his nerve.
Glaring into
his own reflection, the sun felt so welcoming. He yearned for its rays to engulf him. Considering the warmth and pleasure wrought from the sun was the thing he missed most about his old life—a part of being a true human that he had always taken advantage of—it seemed like the perfect embrace to lead him into the thing that he now wants more than anything.
Micah thought that being immortal
, even if not truly undead, would be a new beginning. However, what he found was that the transformation had only prolonged his suffering. He had always been an outsider, and although he obviously had loyal friends, he knew that the reason they enjoyed his company was for a part of his personality Micah could not understand.
According to friends, Jeremy especially, life while hanging out with Micah was always interesting. There was never a dull moment. Micah supposed that was a good thing, but the reason for that was because most of his truly human moments were dull. He wanted to fit in, but every time he got bored he would do something others would perceive as extraordinary
, and so they would like him more. This annoyed Micah because he could never quite figure out what it was about him that everyone liked so much.
Looking into the glass, he once again concluded that it couldn’t be that he had magnificent good looks, especially now.
Perhaps it was his charisma, but if it were, wouldn’t Micah feel charismatic? If anything, Micah felt as dull as the world around him, even while he knew everyone around him thought he was something special, something that they could not and did not want to understand. He supposed this was why when he called everyone out of the blue after months of not speaking a word to them, they packed up their bags and came up to this beach with him, ready and excited to spend time with him.