Disclaimer:
O.k. You know the drill. The characters mentioned in the follow story belong to Marvel. I am not making any money from this, simply writing a story about my favorite comic heroine. This is a "What If" the X-men weren't able to save Storm from becoming a vampire. This story takes place years later- Storm has left the X-men and is struggling to live with her new identity.
October 13, 2001
As the sun sets, reality begins to intrude upon my world. For the setting of the sun, brings about my awakening. And although I may deny it, I am a creature of the night. To survive, I must feed upon the living. To live, I must kill. I rise from my bed and walk to the window. Pulling back the heavy, black drapes, I allow the moonlight to illuminate my dark world. I stare at the moon, hoping to see something of the sun. Some glimpse of the life that I can never have. But as always, the only thing that greets me is the moon summoning me to the dark side. With a cry torn from my soul, I turn away and begin to prepare for the night.
I walk the streets- watching and listening- because I am a predator and like all predators, I seek the weak. A wry smile touches my lips. It seems that as the years pass, there are more of the weak and less of the strong. Or maybe I have simply convinced myself of this to make the killing easier.
No matter what some of the others may say, killing is hard. Watching the essence of life pass away and knowing that you are the cause is a hard thing to live with. But, I do it anyway. I need to feel that essence flowing through me. I need to feel the river of life rushing through me even if it will not last.
I spot a man following a young, homeless girl, and I smile to myself. It seems that I have found my prey for tonight. I give myself a mental shake. Even if this human has evil intentions, killing him is wrong. But I know that killing someone like him will lessen the pain and the sin of killing someone who is essentially good. I take a deep breath and send a prayer to my goddess. While some of my kind prefer not to believe in a higher power, I do. I have to believe for that is the only thing that keeps me sane and prevents me from killing without a conscious.
The man quickens his pace behind the young girl still unaware that he too is being hunted. The young girl darts down an alley with the man only a couple of feet behind her. Glancing to make sure that no one is watching, I take to the air and land on the building above them. I watch them intensely. If the man leaves her alone, I will leave him alone. But in my heart, I urge him to attack. He seems to hear my silent pleas, and he grabs her arm forcing her to the ground. Allowing the rage and anger to wash over me, I simply watch and my transformation begins. The beast, that I fight so desperately to keep in, is now allowed to take over. With a blooding chilling cry, I take to the air and swoop down to the alley.
Still unaware of the danger, the man is attempting to get the now unconscious girl's clothes off. I growl deep in my throat. He turns around and before he can react, I am on him. However, instead of feeding immediately, I throw him into the wall. My sensitive ears pick of the sound of ribs cracking and breaking. I attempt to feel some pity for this human, but the beast that is now in control only senses an injured prey. Instead of the pity that I was hoping to feel, I am excited by his injuries. As he struggles to stand up, I walk slowly to him. Fear makes the blood run faster. And I can hear his heart pumping the delicious blood. Excited by the thought, I leap and take him down. My fangs pierce his body finally allowing me to feed.
Slowly, I become aware of my surroundings. The young girl sits huddled against the wall crying and watching me. I rise slowly from the corpse. I want to assure her and to tell her that she is safe. But I don't. The fear in her eyes keeps me at bay. So instead, I turn and fly back into the night.
As the sun begins to rise, I allow the heavy, black drapes to fall back into their place. And although I am able to keep out the accusing sunlight, I can not block the memory of the young girl staring at me with such fear. Then I remember the look on the man's face as he watched me drain the life from him. I tell myself that I have only rid humanity of a monster- someone who would only prey on humanity. But as I tell myself this, I realize that by killing one monster, I have allowed another one to live.
October 31, 2001
High above the city, I sit perched on the top of an old church. At the appointed time, the huge double doors swing open allowing the members of the huge congregation to file out. They all stand around making idle conversation about the weather, their families and life in general. Listening to them talk about their lives, I lone to tell them how lucky they are, but instead I wait and watch as the last few members get into their cars and leave. Fighting the urge to rush inside the church, I fold myself into a comfortable position and prepare myself for the wait.
Three hours later, I find myself before the huge doors of the church. Looking around to make sure that I'm not being watched, I transform myself into a mist and float beneath the doors and into the church. I stand near the doors suddenly afraid to move. But as always, the sight before me comforts me. Even in the darkness, a brilliant light appears to illuminate the dark church. I walk around slowly taking in the now familiar sites. But upon approaching the alter, I drop to my knees. I begin to pray not only for myself, but for my victims as well. I pray to my Goddess and ask her to take away my thirst for blood. I pray to my Goddess and ask her to forgive me for my sins.
Tears begin to form in my eyes, but I hurriedly blink them away. Vampires are not allowed to show weakness. And crying in the middle of the night in front of an altar is definitely ranks as a weakness. I stand on shaky legs and begin to make my way back to the doors. However, as I approach the doors I realize that I am not alone.
"Whatever your sins are, Ororo. God will forgive you, but first you must forgive yourself."
Without turning around, I realize that the speaker is my old friend, Father Kurt Wagner. Without answering, I open the doors and walk out into the night.
Once I am outside, I take to the sky. I have no destination in mind- only the need to be away- away from the blood, away from the killing, away from myself.
I begin to fly higher and faster. Trying to win a race that I know I can't win. But I race anyway just as I try to fight my urges for blood. How can my Goddess forgive me when I am a creature of the night? How can I forgive myself when I know that I will be forced to feed soon? How can I forgive myself when the weight of my past deeds weigh so heavily upon my shoulders?
I begin to slow down. But I'm not evil. I simply kill to survive. I am no different than any other animal. I have no choice over what I am, but I take what my Goddess has given me and try to do the best that I can do. Slowly, I begin my decent back to the earth. At the moment, I have no ideal where I am. But for the first time in my life, I know where I am going. I have a dark side, a creature inside of me that craves blood. But I am more than that.
And because I am, my Goddess will forgive me.
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