Frailty: The Darkshine(3)

That, of course, had been ten years ago and was now only a memory. Helina got up, put her shoes on and grabbed her things from the entrance. After making several trips to her car, she now sat on her blanket which covered the hard, cold dirt ground. The sun was starting to sink beneath the horizon and her whole body ached. She grabbed a blanket and covered her body as she lay down. Her eyelids felt heavy, and before she knew it she was asleep.

Helina woke the next morning feeling dirty and gross. She knew her hair was matted together on one side, and her mouth tasted stale. She stood and stretched, grabbing some of the toiletries she’d managed to snag in her escape and walked over to the spring. She undressed and sank into the water’s bubbly warmth, sighing in contentment and closing her eyes. Resting her back against the edge, she soaped herself clean and washed her hair. She hadn’t managed to think of shampoo or conditioner, so soap was the only thing she could use. She hated the way it made her hair feel, but she was glad she had at least remembered that much. That was, after all, the least of her worries.

After drying off and getting dressed in a clean set of clothes, she sat on her homemade pallet and debated whether or not she should even attempt to go outside. She sorted through what food she had thought of bringing, and could have screamed when the majority were canned goods.

Canned goods were perfect for her particular situation, but the fact that she hadn’t thought about bringing a can opener left her in a very difficult situation. After trying tirelessly to open a can of mixed fruit with a jagged rock, she ended up throwing the can against the wall, which only ended up making a huge dent in the steel. She sat back down, cross-legged, and grabbed a Twinkie. She was going to have to think of something, because Twinkies were just not going to cut it.



They sat high above all others, their thrones encrusted with rare jewels that glistened under the lighting. They were the rulers of their kind, the superiors of all others. Many humans had been extinguished, but the majority of them had been captured. Some humans they chose to keep—their pets to play with and feed from. They were stronger, faster and smarter than the humans, and because of that, their reign would run long and strong. They were the DarkShine, the creatures of the night, the blood drinkers known as vampires.

Gaijryc paced his quarters as his mother and father spoke with the council below. Their kind had taken over the world, the royal family residing in America. Even though their species was pleased and celebrating the fact, Gaijryc couldn’t help but feel remorse for the race that had once thrived here. His kept his feelings to himself, for if his kind ever realized that he, the high-ranking prince of the DarkShine had remorse, he was as good as dead.

The DarkShine were known for their ability to show no fear, for their strength and agility, and for their cunning ability to defeat the enemy. They were an ageless species—one that had been around for centuries.

He stepped up to the thick slice of glass that covered his bedroom window and stared out at the bright sun-kissed ground below. There were many myths about his kind; many lies that only helped them blend in better with the beings around them.

He closed his eyes as he heard his father summon him, his strong voice weaving itself through his mind. Gaijryc made his way down the spiraling staircase that wrapped itself around the upper loft of the mansion. His mother had loved the house when she had seen it, so the previous owners now made food for the others. His stomach churned at the idea of all those innocent humans that had become nothing more than cattle for his family, for his kind.

His outer appearance was that of a strong, virile and ruthless prince—one of the strongest males of his kind that killed without remorse, and whose sexual lust could not be rivalled. He did what he had to do to be what his kind needed, but inside, Gaijryc was a male that needed something more, needed to feel something inside that touched his very soul. Until he found that, he would be what he needed to be, do what he must. Coward as that might be, Gaijryc was the high-ranking prince, the one to take over his father’s place should that time ever come.

He stepped off the marble inlaid steps and walked through the wide double oak doors that led into the grand ballroom. Sitting high above everyone else, his parents’ thrones were like their own beacons of light. His father, King Kristoff, and mother, Queen Castalia, held themselves like the royalty they were. Standing on each side of his parents were his younger twin brothers, Aires and Adais. Their bodies were stiff, their short, pale blond hair and bright blue eyes making them seem innocent and pure, but in reality they were quite the opposite.

By nature they were ruthless and cruel, the epitome of what a DarkShine soldier should be. They couldn’t help it, though; it had been bred into them when they were first born. Gaijryc had been trained the same as them, harder since he was the first born, but the twins lacked any kind of emotion, any kind of feeling. Male and female DarkShine stood before the royal family, and as he walked closer, they parted for him like a hand split them in half.