C4 Sophie

ALARIC

It was dark, so dark to the extent that a normal human being couldn't see. Not me, though. I could see clearly in the dark. I looked around me. Where was I? I had never been to this place before.

The only thing I could see was a truck. A huge red truck that was driving with such uncomfortable speed. I also saw someone on the road.

Sophia! She walked slowly as she helped a pregnant lady cross the road. As she saw the truck coming towards her, she looked at me with fear in her eyes and she pushed the pregnant lady towards me.

"Save her" she mouthed before the truck crushed her.

"Sophia!!" I screamed in agony then I jolted up from the bed.

It was a dream.

"Alaric!" Maya called urgently as she got up from the bed and wrapped her arms around me.

"It's just a dream" she whispered as she hugged me.

I had gone to bed so early yesterday that I didn't know that Maya slept next to me.

Twenty four years had passed since Sophia’s death but I still had vivid nightmares about her. It was all part of my curse.

I was a vampire. I had been in existence for over eight hundred years. Several decades ago, Zoysia (the goddess of creation) created seven immortal beings first and left us to roam around the earth. After a few years, she created human beings and made them live amongst us. Asides from our immortality, we were also blessed with beauty, physical strength, speed and uncanny abilities. Years later, a huge fight broke out between Zoysia (the goddess of creation) and Malia (the goddess of destruction)

Malia was set free and she possessed the seven immortal beings. I was no exception. She possessed us with insatiable hunger for human blood. I and my fellow immortal beings began to kill humans by drinking their blood.

When Zoysia couldn't watch her creation die anymore, she and Malia had a huge fight. Zoysia won the fight by subduing Malia and locking her away for eternity, but before she did, Malia killed all the immortal beings except from me.

Zoysia had me locked up for two decades to control my bloodlust until she let me out with a curse.

I was cursed to kill any woman I fall in love with by draining her blood.

At first, I called Zoysia's bluff. Why would she place such a ridiculous curse on me when I had done nothing wrong? I hadn't believed it, I thought I wasn't really cursed. Until, I fell in love with Willow. She was a single mom and her determined and feisty spirit made me fall for her. I started craving her blood when I realised my feelings for her. I thought I could control it by feeding on the blood of animals but I couldn't. One night, I drank all of Willow's blood and killed her.

After Willow's death, I tortured myself. I begged for Zoysia to take my life or take away my curse but I got no response. I lived in solitude until another woman, Cheryl came into my life. She was my employee. She was very hardworking and cheerful. She made me see hope again. I thought I was going to spend my life with her but I couldn't because I killed her.

Yet again.

I didn't want to fall in love again. I figured I was easily swayed by humans and I easily fell for them. So I became cold towards everyone. Women mostly. I worked myself tirelessly and I succeeded in building a chain of companies. I was very rich but I was unhappy.

Many years later, my company conducted donations to orphanage homes and I made a visit to an orphanage home.

That was where I met Sophia. She paid visits to her sister, Maya who grew in the orphanage.

Sophia had no relatives and her parents sold their house before they died, leaving Sophia and her sister in an orphanage. I could never forget the way she looked at me. Her hazel eyes held a lot of questions and emotions.

In as much as I gave her reasons to not fall for me, she went against all of them.

She fell for me and made me fight my feelings for her. She accepted my vampire nature and no matter how I drank her blood, I just couldn't kill her.

After some years, I knew she was the woman for me. I was happy again, thinking that she'd broken my curse.

I was going to get married to her.

Until that tragedy struck and Sophia, my Sophia died in a car accident.

I vowed and swore never to fall for any woman again. In fact, I hated women. I hated who they made me become. I hated the way they batted their lashes in a bid to seduce me. I hated all women except from Maya.