Seth By Jay Huck

Introduction (Deep in the past)

A long, long time ago, when the earth was still young, a story was told around the fireplace of the new wanderers of the land. This was a tale for the younger ones, though the elders crept in closer to relive the moment once more. The storyteller always began with a hollow cough; the merest hint to his audience that his story was about to unfold...

‘There is a creature in the woods around us. He is the ancient one who lives in the shadows. The silhouettes which dance in the flame, there!’

His hand shot out as his audience turned to gaze upon their dark reflections dancing in the light of the flames.

‘They too know of him, and they tremble in the flames, for they know it is at night, in the dark, that he is near. The moon too…’

His hand rose and pointed at the distant sickle of white light, ‘The moon is a mockery of all that is good. The sun, our lord is being mocked while he sleeps and She! She is the one who imitates Him…and it is she who brought this ancient creature into being. In darkness. In the ultimate mockery...’

The storyteller paused and refolded his arms, leaning closer toward the children. The adults shivered under the sudden loss of his piercing gaze. ‘It comes in the night and stays but a few feet away from the light.’ He whispered softly, ‘It waits there in silence, with the hunger in its heart - waiting for one who is foolish enough to leave the protection of the light...Do you know what he does to such foolish ones?’

The faces stared up at him in silence...

‘He looks into them, feeding upon their fear. He builds himself up in front of their eyes into a towering mass of darkness and all that is evil before he devours them. Body and soul...He preys upon the flesh of humans. His hunger knows no bounds, as he waits in the shadows, for you...That my children, is the vampire.’

____________________________________________________

The Present

‘Oh for fucks sake…’

A distant street light illuminated two youths standing over a corpse lying in the streets of a dense urban landscape. The dead body was clearly another misfit of the nearby slums, caught in the wrong alley at the wrong time of night. Dark blood still flowed from the gashes carved into the body, running into the gutter to mix with other human waste.

‘We can’t go on like this Seth.’

The beautiful stranger stared off into the distance, barely perceiving his companion’s voice. His dream-like eyes held a peculiar intensity; a beast after the kill. He pulled his long, silken hair back, tying them with a cord of black silk - his movements slow and deliberate.

‘I said, we can’t go on like this.’

The blonde-haired youth’s intention was quite clear in Seth’s mind. It seemed such a pity things would have to change once more, and so soon. A morbid silence filled the empty street as he replied in his soft musical voice,

‘Well. What would you rather have us do Louis?’

Sensing a distant anger, his pupil distanced himself, circling the corpse while eyeing his companion warily.

‘We can’t keep the pretense up.’ He began slowly, keeping a careful watch on his companion’s still form. ‘For our own sakes Seth! Haven’t you had enough of this madness? It will be eternity twice and we shall still live, always hungry. We are the damned, and we have no need to keep up this illusion! The people here, now, they shall listen. You and I can make this happen, you know it Seth. Imagine that. Coexisting rather than living the lie. Not as gods – not as the others tried, I assure you. They were wrong and they paid dearly for it. Just as we are Seth! We can approach them. Tell them how we can strike up a balance. This is the age of rationality and we must use it. We must...’

As his companion rambled on, Seth’s features turned to stone, his penetrating gaze reading deep into the mind of his progeny. As Louis’ outburst ended, he replied in the same soft tone, spreading a dark shroud around Louis with his whispered words.

‘Are you suggesting perhaps, that we leave the shadows that have kept us for so long? Are you perhaps... ’He paused to pull out a cigarette, lighting one and passing it to his companion, then lighting another for himself. Smoke drifted slowly into the night sky...

‘Are you perhaps suggesting we aren’t equal to humans in our present condition? You see all this as beneath you maybe? No of course you don’t, you’re not like the others... You have a dilemma. The killing, the blood...Too much television giving you morals recently maybe... All this is a little unnatural? We could strike up a balance, is that what you said? Is that how you put it?’

A pause as the two gazed deep into each other.

‘So we are out of balance currently.’ He mused out loud. ‘You are no longer happy with the situation. Yes?’

Louis instinctively began drawing back toward the protective circle of the streetlight, completely unaware of the radiating energy now encircling him.

‘Yes I see you are. Well, we have a problem now don’t we? What shall we do Louis, what shall we do. Tell me your plan once again. After all, I’m far too old. Tell me about these new times you say we live in.’

Louis swallowed nervously, wiping the sweat off his brow. ‘Well you see, not really inferior or bad. We just, just need a new plan. That’s all. I need...’

A sudden rush and the darkness caved in upon Louis. He screamed in fear, toppling backward under the weight of his adversary. A soft rush of air as his arms stretched out and splayed helplessly, his scream cut short from his throat as his head was ripped clean, twisted and torn from the neck. Blood flowed a second time, staining the streets in crimson spurts.

Seth fed in silence upon the severed torso, satisfying his thirst before leaving. He drifted slowly down the alleys of the great city, his figure hidden in the shadows, alone in the dark once more.

____________________________________________

Her Abode

The city stretched for miles around, sprawled out like a giant blackened mass against the starry night. Seth sat perched upon the balcony of his home, scanning the skyline; allowing his senses to drag in the fragrance of dank Urbania. Murder was in the air. Must be a tough night on the streets he mused.

‘Are you planning on sitting there all night?’

Alice calling. A pity really, the darkness was so distinct tonight. Seth left his post on the balcony wall, following the brisk, tuneful voice emanating from the female scent indoors.

‘Food’s ready. You are going to join me for dinner of course?’

Alice sat by the tiny kitchen table in the corner of the apartment, her pretty little face framed by soft, flowing black hair. She smiled at Seth, her eyes shining bright with gleeful energy. Seth took his place at the table, choosing to sit across from her. He never really dined, but Alice liked his presence near her while she ate. The arrangement was a comfortable one that the two had agreed upon years ago. Familiarity set in like a painting one gazed upon nightly, reminding Seth of the fleeting nature of everything he was witness to. The ‘Now’ reality of his human companions never really existed for him and the illusion caused his heart to grow heavy, though as always, he hid his sadness.

They sat quietly facing each other, Alice’s foot breaking the tension as it reached forward idly to stroke Seth’s leg. She smiled again, leaning forward inquisitively...

‘You don’t seem your usual self today’.

More silence. Her smile died as a slow understanding crept upon her.

‘What happened?’

Seth sat silently, thinking about what had taken place in the streets below.

‘You killed him dint you?’

Alice’s query penetrated his drifting thoughts. He found it fascinating that his nearest and dearest companion being composed entirely of human flesh could still read his mind. He smiled softly as he replied in quiet monotone,

‘Yes’.

‘In a cage till the sun rises?’

‘He’s of my blood. The sun has no effect.’

‘Fire?’

‘No fires this time.’

‘Tore his head off huh?’

Silence.

As if expecting this, Alice calmly began to blow on her soup, cooling it before giving it a taste.

‘Yuck! How I hate canned soup!’

Silence descended on the two again as Alice continued her meal. Seth sat transfixed, taking in the graceful movement of her hand carrying the bowl of soup to her mouth, ignoring the questioning eyes which tried to catch his gaze. Alice wasn’t in the mood to be an ornament piece tonight though. She broke his reverie with a gentle sigh.

‘Seth. I know it must have been terrible. Talk to me. Look at me. I know how hard you try for companionship of your own kind, but you just have to see, you just have to...I’m your companion. Why don’t you just accept it and make me your own? I wish you would. Just trust in me to be the one. You won’t have to kill me like the others... you cant. You like me too much.’

‘Cant do that’ he replied. ‘There are a million reasons so don’t bother’.

Alice sighed, her little mouth pouting at Seth’s obstinacy.

‘Name one’.

‘You’re only seventeen’.

‘You are so old fashioned I’m not even going bother with that one. Name another’.

‘Your parents will be inescapably hurt if they lose you’.

‘I don’t care about my parents, they’ll be fine. Name another’.

‘I’ll probably kill you within a week’.

‘No you won’t. You love me.’

‘You’re a vegetarian. You like tomato soup and parsnip.’

‘This tomato soup is terrible. I’ll learn to adjust’.

Seth found himself losing to Alice’s mind games yet again. The truth was, deep in his heart, he loved Alice. He loved her so deeply he could not bear to change her. It wasn’t the thought of her change of form to vampire that caused him disgust. It was the thought of her changing even one iota in his immortal vision. Seth knew this deep inside but he never acknowledged it consciously. He knew too that Alice would grow old and die and leave him alone in this world. He knew she was right about her being his one, true partner. He would lose her then, and move on, as just another bleak speck in the flow of infinity. He had no qualms with fate. If it had to be, it had to be. He smiled at her knowingly...

‘You were right about one thing and one thing alone. I do love you. Might’ve killed you anyway, but I do love you. C’mere.’

They both left the kitchen table consumed by lust yet playing the waiting game of false propriety. They walked hand in hand, extinguishing the lights as they moved, waiting till entering Alice’s bedroom before stripping naked and falling to the floor to make love in the clinging darkness. Alice’s moans drifted to her parent’s room but they were both fast asleep, dreaming visions which only a vampire could influence.

Long after Alice fell asleep, Seth leant his head back to stare at the ceiling in silence, remembering how he had first befriended this beautiful human child...

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The Supermarket (7pm, 5 years ago)

‘These are our only wines sir. Cheap as dirt and taste like shit, but a gentleman such as yourself would probably know that eh?’

Seth didn’t bother replying. He had a date set for tonight. The wine was inconsequential and destined for the gutter – the bottles weren’t. It was far easier to carry around blood in wine bottles these days. Still, one must always make a choice of bottle and the aesthetic in Seth called out to him, always awake to the knowledge that little choices such as these were a true expression of his art – infinity living, which was currently being intruded upon by the overly eager human by his side.

‘Perhaps you’d be interested in this fine specimen,’ the boy continued, ‘Straight from South Africa and priced decently too. Heavy and sweet, but somehow I doubt sir cares for the wine itself...’

Seth turned upon the grinning boy slowly, penetrating the youth’s mind, easing his way into the mesh of memories to find one that evoked fear. The boy’s grin faded in an instant - the sharp glint in his eyes dying away as he stumbled backward under an unseen grip.

‘I dint mean anything by it’ he managed to stammer. ‘For the relatives. I meant you must be buying the cheap wine for the relatives. The ones nobody cares about. The cheap wine, for the cheap guests...’

Seth smiled slightly, gazing at his reflection in the boy’s eyes - taking his time to relish in his moment of complete control over the human mind.

‘You will pack these three bottles for me.’ ‘Yes’. ‘You will pay for them from your own salary’. ‘Yes’. ‘You will quit this job tomorrow and devote yourself to your band’. ‘Yes’. ‘That’ll be all’.

The boy turned on his heel and drifted away to do as he was commanded, barely perceiving a change in his nature. Everything seemed alright, everything felt normal...

Seth grinned outright, gleeful like a giddy schoolboy who’d just cheated successfully on an exam. His powers did tend to cheer him up somewhat, even when used in fairly trivial matters.

‘I saw that’.

A shrill sound, yet quite tuneful in its obvious immaturity. The little girl stood before Seth in pink furls, staring up at him with silent confidence. Clasping a cereal box to her chest, she waited patiently for Seth to reply.

‘I was watching you from back there you know’ she waved non-chalantly towards the aisle running behind the alcohol section.

Seth paused for a moment. Something about the child’s mannerisms made him want to wait and see what she might have to say. Drawing himself up to his full height and patting his dark suit into place, he approached her, holding her eyes in focus.

‘Little girl, tell me, what did you see?’

‘My name is Alice, thank you. And I saw you...hmmm...I saw you change that boy’.

Seth smiled and crouched low, bringing himself to her eye-level. Her eyes held his fancy and he chose to wait a moment longer before influencing this precocious little human.

‘And how do you know I wont do the same to you little Alice? Or worse, I could come crawling out from under your bed tonight and make you scream. I could be a demon Alice – Aren’t you afraid I may tear you to pieces?'

Alice held his gaze and for once, Seth found himself losing ground. Overwhelming sensations of child-like fantasy flowed from the girl-child, consuming his desire to break her mind. She spoke again in a high-pitched torrent of words...

‘I know you won’t. I just know it. You’re not the type, and trust me; I’ve met the type before! They’re much scarier. I like you! You can change people, which is pretty cool. I wish I could do that... and no, before you ask, I wasn’t going to say you did a bad thing. In fact, I’m sure you helped that boy. He’s been working here ever since I can remember and he needs to go do something fun already. I dint know he had a band…can you read minds too?’

Seth listened, paying little attention to the words that surfaced; lost deep in Alice’s dominating eyes. He saw something there which he knew he should not be seeing. This could prove fatal...

‘Sometimes... Sometimes I can read minds.’ He replied gently, ‘It depends on the human.’

Alice broke into a grin, her hold on him subsiding.

‘I thought so! Wow! So, you can read minds, you can change people and you aren’t even human! Though it’s odd, you do look rather like Brad Pitt...’

Seth smiled again, breathing a sigh of relief as the girl-child dropped her hold on him.

‘That’s on purpose. I liked Interview with the Vampire a lot. Good flic. Better book.’

‘You read a lot huh? I haven’t heard of it, but I’m sure it’s interesting. I guess...I don’t suppose you’d want to tell me the story sometime?’ Alice blushed charmingly and clawed absentmindedly at the top of the cereal box while avoiding his eyes, quite obviously using a tactic she’d found to work well on adults, but before Seth could speak his mind, a sharp voice interrupted the flow of conversation,

‘Alice! There you are! I’ve been around this place three times looking for you!’

A lady in her mid-thirties came rushing out of the side aisle, her loaded shopping cart careening in front of her. She was pretty indeed; the girl’s mother no doubt, though her eyes were a warm brown and her hair was cropped close to her chin. Very chic. Seth stood and instinctively dropped a short bow.

‘Madam, your child was busy outlining the many vices of alcohol consumption to me, which I’m sorry to say took up her time, though I must say, I’m delighted to make her acquaintance.’

The woman stopped abruptly and eyed him coolly, taking in his trim frame; his expensive clothes; his bewitching eyes which seemed to burn deep into her. Alice dropping the box of cereal in the cart caused her to snap out of the trance. She advanced again...

‘Well! I’m glad you got acquainted with my daughter. She’s a darling, though she’s in for it now. Daddy expected us back home half an hour ago Alice! We were supposed to help prepare for the dinner party, you know that! Now let’s get going. To the car, Pronto! Excuse us. Goodbye.’

As they turned to leave, Alice looked over her shoulder and gazed into Seth’s eyes and this time, he could not pretend to resist their plea. He couldn’t let it end like this. The girl-child was special and he wanted to talk to her more than anything. More than drinking fresh blood from wine bottles. More than breathing in the darkness of the city at night. More than anything really... She had made him feel - odd.

______________________________________________

Rooftop

The car had pulled up at a posh locale deep in Urbania. The houses were all cramped together, yet they held the air of old money well spent. Seth sat on a lone rooftop half a mile away observing the child and her mother enter their home. The cars parked in the street indicated that the mother had been right in judging how late they were. The dinner party was obviously in session. Before entering, Alice gave one last penetrating glance into the darkness on either side the lane, hoping to spot the beautiful stranger. Her sad little face made Seth cringe inside. The door closed as he formulated a tentative plan... Knock on the door, ‘change’ everyone as Alice aptly put it; invite himself in as a guest and figure the rest out from there.

A drunk lying in the gutter watched bleary-eyed as a stone statue came to life and leapt off the roof of a nearby building, landing neatly in the form of a welldressed young man.

‘Strange city.’ he mumbled before his stomach churned once more, forcing him to gag and puke. When he looked up again, the young man was gone.

_______________________________________________

At the Party

The bell played a pleasant musical jingle while Seth waited upon the doorstep leading to Alice’s home. Barely a moment passed before the door was swung wide open by a man in his mid-thirties, sporting a trim moustache with grey twinkling eyes remarkably similar to Alice’s. This must be the father. Judging by his frame and well-groomed appearance, daddy enjoyed tennis on weekends and staring at himself in the mirror after showers. His smile died as he took in Seth’s presence on his doorstep.

‘Yes? Can I help you?’ he asked suspiciously.

Seth’s hypnotic gaze bore deep into those grey eyes, drinking in their essence before replying in his most natural human mimicry,

‘Mr. Chapman, it’s indeed an honor to be invited to dine with you this evening. It had been a singular pleasure to play tennis with you at the gym last Friday. It had been you and, Henry was it? Yes Henry. How is that old scoundrel doing? Is he inside? My coat if you please...’

Chapman’s response was slow and dream-like as he reached forward and took Seth’s coat, placing it in the closet next to the door. It was odd he couldn’t remember anything about this gentleman he so desperately wished to impress and dote upon. Everything seemed foggy suddenly.

‘Henry’s inside. So are the others...We were waiting for you to arrive before serving dinner. You’ll sit beside me of course. Or anywhere you wish... Anything you like really.’

His host’s whining, sniveling tone irritated Seth but he managed to assume a pleasant attitude before entering the large, elegant dining room. He threw his pulsating aura over all the guests as they each turned and gazed into his eyes. Silence descended upon the room. At length, an elderly gentleman rose awkwardly from his seat and spoke out in a slow drawl,

‘Well goddamn! Its Lucas isn’t it? Lucas from the game last Friday? What good fortune seeing you here! You must come sit by me!’

Seth smiled and eased his control over his audience. The recognition was all that was really necessary. He could be himself now.

‘Thanks Henry, don’t mind if I do.’

The conversations resumed at a low murmur. The occasional eye would run across Seth’s form sitting in perfect silence near the end of the table, but no one bothered to include him in the small talk. Things were going well indeed thought Seth, a quiet smile of amusement forming on his lips. Through a side-door, Alice’s mother emerged, now resplendent in a black dress with a decidedly low neckline. The primal urge rushed through Seth, reminding him he hadn’t fed tonight. Perhaps later this delicious woman would serve her part... Trailing behind her, curious eyes agog was Alice, similarly dressed in black.

The mother’s eyes fixed on Seth’s watchful stare first. Instinctively she moved toward her husband and whispered in his ear, the fear and suspicion coming off her in waves, carrying across the table to Seth who gave the company his most enigmatic smile before speaking to his elderly companion beside him,

‘How charming! Why Henry, would you believe I happened to cross the path of Chapman’s beautiful wife and daughter at the supermarket not nearly half an hour ago? It was a fleeting moment but I suppose it must have been fate at work for here we are at the same dinner table! I raise my glass to our graceful hostess.’

The rest of the party joined in the toast as the suspicion ebbed and turned to warmth. Dinner continued as before as courses came and went, yet Seth paid little attention to the food or the steady hum of conversation drifting across the table. He was busy trying to break Alice’s mind. She in turn graced him with a warm smile, curious as to what this stony-faced stranger could be doing at her parent’s dinner party - silently hoping he was here to spend time with her. Being the only child of trendy, jet-setting parents, Alice was constantly fearful of the long, silent hours spent in the darkness of her playroom while trying to dream of what other children her age would be doing right now. This stranger’s singular focus made her feel important, wanted and loved in a way her parents never made her feel. She continued to smile at him silently, drawing him forward in an invitation to play. He smiled back with an odd expression in his eyes. He turned to Uncle Henry, whispering soft words into the old man’s ears.

Henry nodded his approval of Seth’s request, carefully passing the message to each guest in a bizarre play of Chinese-whisper. Alice watched the message travel to the end of the table where her father sat. He smiled gracefully at Seth upon hearing it, laying his head on the table and falling into a deep hypnotic sleep as the ancient spell commanded. The other guests all followed suit, leaving Alice and Seth alone in the room with the rhythmic sound of gentle breathing accompanying the silence that followed.

‘You aren’t afraid of me.’

Alice replied without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Oh gosh no! You’re absolutely terrific!’ she gasped, gazing around her in total awe. ‘This is amazing! They’re all really asleep aren’t they? And you did it? Oh please! Do show me some more! I’ve been ever so bored and lonely, till I saw you. I just knew everything would be so much better from then on! That is why you came here isn’t it? You followed me here, didn’t you? You want to be my friend?’

Seth couldn’t help smiling warmly at the little girl’s retort. She was indeed phenomenal; bold and courageous unlike any human he had ever encountered. And, she was exuding raw, unforgiving beauty. For once, he was at a loss for words.

‘Friends?’ he replied in a semi-trance, ‘I suppose we can be friends...I haven’t had a friend in a long time... I’m not very good with keeping loyalties. The last friend I had he died. I killed him.’

‘I’m sure he deserved it.’

Seth smiled.

‘Actually, he did. He was trying to make a mess of everything I’d worked to achieve. Would you like to hear the story little one? It’s a very good story, and true too.’

Alice did, so Seth told her the story – and they spoke deep into the night, exchanging tales from their lives; learning of each other. At the crack of dawn Seth tucked her into her bed and set her to sleep in the most beautiful dream he could project. Since then, there had been no turning away. He had lived in Urbania ever since, keeping a careful watch over the girl-child - his destiny. _____________________________________________

The Present

Sex had come rather naturally. At age fifteen, Alice’s curiosity overcame her fears and since then they had slept together most nights. In the fading darkness of the dawn, Seth stared down at her sleeping form, watching the soft sheets slide along her gentle frame, wondering what was happening to him. He had known his nature in every moment in history, yet here he was completely at a loss. The girlchild made him feel connected. Connection meant to be part of a whole. The whole meant entrance into the system. Entrance into the system meant death. Yet perhaps loving another was a different form of his continual observation of life. Or perhaps he was dwelling in self-love as he had been wont do for centuries at time. Admirers and lovers were nothing new to Seth yet something felt unnatural in this relationship - and he always trusted his instincts.

The Oracle would know the answer. It had been many years since he had thought of visiting his immortal counterpart – the holder of the light. While he held himself immortal in the present, the oracle lived out a different perspective altogether, weaving a broad path through all possible futures. Seth had seen her on numerous occasions as was to be expected and they had always met as friends. Perhaps she would give him a fresh understanding of his growing involvement with humans. Perhaps she would prophesize and show him the path which lay ahead…

___________________________________________

Departure

Don’t cry little baby. The silence won’t hurt you. The stare won’t pierce your heart. And this smile is brimming, Just brimming with sincerity.

Shh, shh little one. Why so afraid in the darkness? There’s no one here to taunt you. No one here to haunt you. Just you and I and this rusty cage.

Why won’t you stop crying? Why won’t you fucking die? Is this blade not long enough?

Look I, clever me, I carved your mother’s name for you, On your forehead, silly me. How could you see without a mirror.

When will you die? You stupid fucking child.

I fucking hate you.

And your blood is staining, You bad little thing.

'Tsk tsk...you're fucking sick'.

Alice smiled gratefully at Seth, who continued to dress himself meticulously.

'No I’m not...I told you...it was in my dream...I woke up...I scribbled. It was so strange Seth. I’ve been seeing more of these images you know. Whenever you spend the night away, I have nightmares. And this time Seth, I was the child.'

Seth paused in tying his hair. Usually a single comment would suffice in satisfying Alice’s blazing interest in poetry (particularly her brand of the ultra-violent strain) yet this time was different. She had mentioned fear...

‘Little Alice, gentle one, why do you cling to such evil in your heart? Sometimes you are an enigma to me. If I make you vampire someday, you will end up slaughtering everyone and then crying about it. Where would that get us hmm? Remember these are dreams and not reality little one, and be grateful. You know not what you write.’

Alice’s eyes lit up as she lay sprawled out in bed,

‘The truth Seth. I’m writing the truth, and it needs recognition – even if for a moment someone out there despised it, I would feel a great sense of accomplishment. I would have brought them one step closer to a deeper understanding or at the very least, jarred their emotions – jolted their minds into functioning, even if just to say my piece sucked. Too many people are walking dead nowadays. Wouldn’t you agree? I mean, isn’t that what you do in a sense? Isn’t that what you’re here for?’

Seth stared at himself intently in the mirror. Something was still missing – perhaps rolling the cuffs up would help to complete his desired image...

‘You’re not listening to me Sethhh...Seth, Seth, my beautiful Egyptian god, would you get over looking at yourself in the mirror! You look great. You always do...’

Seth turned towards Alice who lay in bed smiling silently at him. She spread herself across the sheets, allowing her nightgown to part in an invitation to play once more but destiny called as the night lights of the city came to life...

‘I won’t come home tonight. Perhaps not the next night either.’

Alice sat up in bed, still watching Seth dress in the gathering darkness of the fading sunset.

‘Why?’ she asked meekly.

Silence, as he adjusted his shirt cuffs, staring intently at his reflection in the mirror.

‘Are you going far?’

More silence. Alice was upset and Seth felt the rippling echo of her fears resonate deep inside him. Her influence was forcing his will, and he felt himself giving in.

‘Far. Don’t worry though. I’ll come back to you. You know that. This is just something I must do and something you must not know. Too much knowledge is dangerous.’

More silence as he gave himself a final glance. Alice reflecting in the mirror gazed at his form silently, tracing out his figure in her mind.

‘I love you.’

Seth felt the ache welling inside, causing a loss of words; leaving him ecstatic, yet trembling with a strange dread of having to leave. Alice’s voice drifted into his thoughts again; the softest tremble set in the sounds of Urbania...

‘If you don’t come back, I don’t know what I should do with myself... Promise me you’ll come back. I don’t have anyone else.’

Seth had never held a promise before. He had used the word on occasion without ever feeling its meaning, yet Alice’s soft, sad voice made more than mere words well up inside of him.

‘I promise.’ he replied, stepping onto the open balcony. Perching himself on the edge, he gazed at the false lighting offset by the smog of the industrial zone in the west. The time had come to leave.

‘Don’t wait up.’

And with that, he left her - leaping off the edge of the balcony and running, running, running; flying to his destination in a haste that numbed his mind from the uncertain guilt that clouded his mind. He felt again – the deepest sadness at not having held Alice one last time and told her...Should have told her something, though he knew not what.

And Alice stood on her balcony, her face pale-grey in the dying light, tears streaming silently down her cheeks, wondering why she hurt so much when she knew, loving a vampire meant losing your soul.

_________________________________________________

The Chronicle of Creation (VIIXII) (Concerning the Vampire and the Oracle)

The Oracle is a strange creature. Being a part of the white light, this immortal presence chose a different path from the vampire, making its home in every thread of infinity; every chain of the past, present, future. The vampire on the other hand chose to immortalize itself by feeding its self through solitary chains of life, skipping between one and the other when it chose to feed elsewhere.

The Oracle lacks the vampire’s ability to move freely being so firmly entrenched in the system of creation itself, thus making it an entity of limited options – yet the Oracle’s choice to be present in all of infinity simultaneously allows it advantages which none of the nine immortals possess; the clarity of vision, which many argue is the Creator’s greatest single attribute...

____________________________________________

Karachi (The Present)

The first thing you notice about Karachi is how remarkably similar the sprawling metropolis looks to any other major city in the world. It looms over its population; the cliché urban jungle with its many districts zoned off in untidy little boxes, bursting at the seams; swallowing up the surrounding desert.

Seth’s journey had been made in darkness and in darkness he finally arrived at his destination. The low-hanging clouds in the night sky were lit by the soft glow of the city that never sleeps. Even at this late hour, Seth had to avoid traffic while crossing the streets.

As the heady sensation of having traveled thousands of miles in a matter of hours wore off, Seth began his search for the Oracle, his senses having led him close enough to pick up ethereal traces of the immortal one. He saw a grotesque figure laying in a gutter – a man to be sure, but lacking all his limbs to gain the pity of the odd passerby who would chuck money into the coffer laying beside him. Yet this was no ordinary man, and Seth’s senses led him forward. Emerging from the shadows, he kicked the man gently in the ribs to gain his attention.

‘Where is she Carnac?’

The beggar’s face broke into a large grin at recognizing the pale stranger in front of him.

Ah Seth! It has been a long time since you have been to see old Carnac yes! You seek She who has no name? It must be a serious matter indeed for it has been years since your presence has been felt here. In fact, the last time I remember hearing of you was of the mess you made with that little brat from the suburbs...’

A second, sharper kick in the side of the torso brought a scream from the old man’s mouth. Seth was in no mood to reminisce on matters he considered at an end.

‘Where is she wanderer?’ he spoke bluntly, ‘I ask you only once more.’

The beggar regained his composure, his low hacking cough slowly turning into a cackle.

‘Very well. For an old friend such as yourself, Carnac is always at hand...She dwells in a cave whose entrance is located at the Mazaar of Abdullah Shah Ghazi – the tomb of the dead saint. Thousands come to pay homage to both He and She that dwells below. You shall have no trouble finding it. Go there and ask around. I know you. Gaining audience with her won’t be hard. Just ask the guardians of the gate – but before you go, I must tell you this. That boy I mentioned earlier...’

But Seth had already heard all he needed, and the beggar found himself alone in the gutter.

_____________________________________________

Approaching the Oracle’s

The Mazaar was an awesome sight even at four in the morning. Built upon a hill, the tomb of the dead saint was illuminated by a psychedelic display of lights stretching from the steps of the tomb to the shops at the base of the hill selling flowers, incense and drugs of all sorts. Seth made his way across the main road which stretched before the mausoleum, avoiding stepping upon the sleeping bodies of heroin junkies, fortune-tellers, prostitutes and musicians that littered the roadside – the shrine and its surrounding area being the only refuge for the mass of cripples which large cities tend to produce. Despite the late hour, small gatherings of humans crouched around low-burning fires along the hillside, exchanging stories of the day gone by. It was towards one such little group that Seth descended upon out of the shadows. The dying flames of the fire ebbed lower still as he approached. The elder among the group shifted his puzzled gaze from the flames before him and leapt to his feet, well aware of the presence that stood before him.

‘Salaam immortal one’ he greeted Seth, bowing low. ‘We wish you no harm and we have never harmed you or one of your kind. In the name of the Creator, please, leave us alone.’

Seth approached the elder, crushing out the last remaining embers of the little flame as he advanced on the frightened men. Darkness. They were in his element now, and he knew they would speak the truth, or die in the struggle.

‘You are the elder yes? Guardian of the gate leading to Her cave? You will give me leave to enter. I have important business to discuss with Her and my patience is short. Are we clear?’

Being left with little choice, the elder nodded a silent agreement, beckoning Seth forward as they circled the base of the hill.

‘She has been expecting you, but I suppose you would know that’ he whispered hurriedly. ‘She said to me, Salim! Two shall approach tonight begging entrance with no small haste – let both enter when they please as that is what must be...and here you are, the second of the two! Ah, Her sight and understanding are great indeed.’

Seth was troubled by the old man’s speech. He had known the Oracle would be awaiting his arrival, but what was to be made of this reference to two? Was she entertaining another of the immortals perhaps? If so, this meeting could prove to be rather unpleasant as Seth’s arrogance had greatly annoyed a number of the nine. Well, he would just have to find out he decided. The elder had carved a circle on the Dark side of the hill and the entrance to her cave lay before him.

______________________________________________

The Chronicle of Creation (XIIXIIV) (The role of Fate in life)

The functioning of Fate is a tricky subject to approach in words. To begin to understand the ways of Fate, one must first understand this – everything is happening now; everything exists now and nothing is not planned. A very basic understanding of this can be represented by means of a solid shape stretching out into infinity. This shape is made up of every possible path anyone may take in life. From a human perspective, this shape represents every thought, action and event the individual beholds in life.

From the moment of birth, each soul begins to follow a path from the center of this infinite shape, moving as a speck through each thought, action and event, ranging from a high school crush to rubbing one’s nose at age fifty. The only way a human can traverse the great distances of this infinity shape is by choice. Choice defines all of life, and though every possible moment in a soul’s life is accessible if one were to truly comprehend the infinite, the twin illusions of time and death make living creations experience each defined path as a new, individual and beautiful thing. There are an infinite number of paths possible for each human and an infinite number of them are taken simultaneously, yet each one is experienced to its fullest effect as the Creator intended. Fate then is merely a matter of understanding the principle of infinite choices creating paths which are all being taken and experienced now. Thus everything is known and everything shall come to pass.

_________________________________________

Inside the Cave

The descent into the darkness had been longer than Seth had expected. His sense of unease continued to grow as he made his way between shadowy candlelit hallways, through open gateways and finally, into the Throne room – the vast cavern that served as the Oracle’s greeting place for seekers, devotees and the occasional spiritual entity. Instinctively, Seth clung to the shadows while approaching the raised throne - circling the cavern slowly, acutely aware of the lack of Her presence. The Oracle’s throne was empty. The gnawing suspicion of something being amiss had now taken complete control. Like a beast stalking the kill, Seth proceeded to enter the Oracle’s private chambers, every part of his body alert to the slightest movement, the slightest sound within. It dawned upon Seth that another immortal was indeed present, for his senses would have detected the presence of any other life form within the rooms he now strode through. As he drifted slowly within the labyrinth of inter-connected chambers, a familiar, haunting smell begins to permeate the air. Blood – lots of it, gushing from a single source. Seth raced forward, tearing down the last four doors in his haste to reach the Oracle’s bedroom, where as he feared, the Oracle’s withered old human body lay on the floor, shredded to pieces; hacked up, limbs askew, with fresh blood still spraying from the severed head. As he stared at the mess on the floor, a shadow crept forward from the darkness, climbing down from its vantage point on the ceiling. Barely shifting his gaze, Seth gently spoke the name of the other.

‘Arsalan’

The shadow leapt off the ceiling, stepping gracefully onto the floor, a faint smile upon his lips as he advanced into the center of the chamber. The youth was dressed in black attire, similar to Seth. His hair was long, flowing down his back in soft

waves. His face while remarkably handsome bore a feminine touch, which made him seem far younger than Seth. His smile broke wide as he entered the light, his teeth glistening with blood from the kill.

‘Seth! Glad to see you could make it. Gotta hand it to the Oracle – she knows her shit. A minute ago I had my doubts about you showing up but bang! Here you are! Kudos to you my creator.’

Arsalan took a mock-bow in front of Seth, who stood with stony-faced silence, slowly accepting the fact that his one-time protégé Arsalan was indeed alive. The mistake still lived apparently...

Reading his mind, Arsalan smiled once more, pulling out a cigarette for himself; lighting it at a leisurely pace.

‘Take your time, take your time!’ he spoke cheerfully. ‘No rush – nobody’s running off anywhere yet. I’m sure you’re wondering how I survived. It was a blast fooling you really! Way more fun than just being your companion and killing some random humans. Yes indeed, life’s been good.’

He took another drag at his cigarette and exhaled, watching the smoke rise slowly toward the ceiling...

________________________________________________

How I lost myself to the Darkside (Arsalan’s Tale)

I

It all began with MTV – to be specific, a late night show called, ‘Headbanger’s Ball’. There I was a timid little boy, at an age where the forces of good and evil have yet to claim their hold over the human soul, watching a show inspired by the Darkside. The first song I recall seeing was by a little known band called Green Jelly. This song’s theme was intense - the story of the three little pigs being eaten by the big, bad wolf. Following the story loosely, the wolf proceeded to eat all the lil’ pigs he could get his teeth into - till he is eventually gunned down by Rambo; blood spraying all over the TV screen. Pretty intense. That wasn’t the half of it, I loved that shit! I felt changes take place in me, as week in and week out, I began to delve deeper and deeper into the world of heavy metal and its exploration of the darker themes of life. First noticeable change; I started finding a tremendous satisfaction akin to peace when delving into the grotesque imagery. It improved my mood infinitely. Second noticeable change; I started dressing different – bought a bunch of black clothes with the occasional skull and crossbones and maybe a slogan such as, ‘born under a bad sign’ across the front. Third noticeable change; I started abusing a lot, cursing everyone and everything to kingdom come. My dear mother, being an adept of the Darkside would sooth the family frame of mind by repeating again and again that this was just a phase I was going through – it would pass. She was right. There was far more to come...

‘I just want two things on Eid, really.’

No more toy figures for me. I wanted Metallica’s Black album and Gun’s n Roses, ‘Appetite for destruction’ and I got them. Those were my first two tapes – my first prized possessions. Eleven years later, I still have that same copy of ‘Appetite for destruction’ though my ‘black album’ got destroyed due to overuse. When the

tapes were finally mine, I played them back to back, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and feeling for the first time sensations akin to sex. Six months and a few tapes later (Nirvana’s, ‘Nevermind’ and Black Sabbath’s ‘paranoid’) I decided change had indeed occurred. I was hard, sexed up and a fucking metal-head to boot with all the gifts and pains that such labels contain for a fragile teenage mind. It was time to cut the verbal abuse down, quit the immaturity and descend deeper into the Darkside. I discovered pornography...

II

Sex sex sex. It used to terrify me, or what I knew of it. At a very early age, my elder cousin had locked me into his room and shown me his collection of lewd and graphic sex images, mostly in the form of torn-up, moist, glossy magazines. The images are still in my head – the king upon his throne with twenty Nubian princesses serving him, fulfilling his every need - dominated, molested, fucked up and loving it; smiling as they took it in the ass. My mind had been on overload and in my nervousness I lost my apparent cool and blurted out, ‘I’ll NEVER EVER do that’. My cousin being far older and much further along the inevitable exploration into darkness prophesized for me then:

‘In three years you’ll be loving this shit, take my word for it...and once you’re old enough, trust me you’ll have sex all the time. Tenth grade man, that’s what I’m waiting for. I’ll get pussy by tenth grade. Hell yeah.’

My cousin did indeed become an adept of the Darkside in leaps and bounds, but that is a different story altogether. I had learnt of pornography and that was enough to tempt me further. I needed to learn more, so I looked within school, finally finding a child already consumed by evil to be my mentor. He taught me much of the basics involved in sex. Being a natural pervert, he suggested I try

looking between girls legs during class as skirts were short back then and girls had yet to learn how to sit like ladies. I followed his advice and found change upon me once more. Things were looking up; I was now hard, sexed up, a metalhead and a fucking pervert to boot. In good time, with enough girls’ thighs on my mind, I finally discovered masturbation.

III

It was in the bathtub one long summer day when it finally came. I had decided to treat myself to a hot bath, filling the tub to the brim with fiery water – letting the steam blind my vision before stepping into the heat. Ten minutes passed as I lay in there silently, with my ears submerged underwater, listening to the movement of water in the pipes connected to the house’s water system. As the blood started draining from my brain, thoughts started drifting into my weakened mind. I am in school. I have a good conversation with one of my friends. Break ends and I drift to class – I see my teacher as I sit in my usual place. The girl besides me rests her arms on her desk, leaning forward as she does so. Her skirt rises with the motion and her legs part just enough for me to see the soft skin of her inner thigh. Everyone is still engaged with the teacher at the front of the class, but my attention is divided. The girl’s attention shifts and she leans back, slumping in her chair, crossing her arms as she does so – a frown of deep concentration on her face. Her legs part further as her skirt rises still more, leaving her spread-eagled before my eyes. The ecstasy spread and the blood flowed once more. The energy of lust consumed my insides, becoming a physical reality from my dreams. The class still continues and the girl still concentrates but now she is aware of my watchful gaze. Keeping a straight face and still slumping so no one else in the class notices, she raises one knee and props it against the front of her desk, shifting her weight slightly so I can see clearly – she’s not wearing any panties; and she is wet.

I came then, totally consumed by my first orgasm. The comforting warmth of spent energy departed soon enough. The clean up was a quick job and the embarrassment was considerable. Lines of worry crossed my face at what I had done; at what I had thought; at what I had made the girl do - yet deep inside, I knew I would repeat it soon enough. Ethics and guilt you see were my fascination. Perhaps I was born to be a monk, but the Darkside had finally taken my hand and shown me another way, and in my moment of weakness, I had submitted. The next step was logical; spread the knowledge to as many people as possible. This is where my friends truly came into play...

IV

My friends had always been a very eclectic group, though there was a short period in my life where I had chosen the yuppie life-style that comes neatly packaged with a private high school education. Apart from this brief episode, I had over the years gathered together a smaller and smaller circle of people who, like me, were following the slow spiraling path into the depths of evil. Those who could not keep up were rejected, and there were many lost at varying stages of our descent. In the end though, all the adepts stayed together, forming a cult of Darkness; quite unknowingly sharing secrets and smiling silently at the revelations that befell us. We talked and talked and talked. Sometimes we played and sometimes we just sat in silence. Often we would choose to go out in the world, taking in a party or two in hopes of finding other members of our cult. The women were the most beautiful and enchanting harpies holding the men in their clutches, bewitching them with the evil that flowed within. At that time, I too was obsessed with this incestuous relationship as were the rest of the men in our group. Others in our school either feared us (leading to aversion and outcasting) or, as the Age of Darkness drew near, started perceiving us as role-models – the elite who

were even beyond the yuppies that oozed out of every corner of our school. At this point in life, we were officially labeled and recognized in the social hierarchy as those belonging to the otherside. We had all failed to live up to our parent’s expectations. We were different and our teachers and peers felt it. We had all under-achieved in academics and failed to find a suitable social niche to explain away our odd behavior. We were slowly mutating into beasts, though at the time, we still felt we were ordinary children. The heavy metal continued, the pornography got more intense and lust finally reared its ugly head. I needed fresh meat...

V

She was perfect. A true gem of the White Light. Her very name meant happiness – and she was beautiful, and she would be mine. I met her online, trolling the Internet for pornography while simultaneously holding three conversations on Internet Relay Chat. The channels I frequented were #Satanism, and #kgs where I held some sway as a regular chat junkie. My names were many, but in those days, I went by Tourettes or B|ackmass. I met her and I charmed her, my instincts telling me something my mind did not yet know. We agreed to meet in school. That was the beginning of the battle between good and evil within me. This girl-child in her absolute purity made me have doubts about my chosen path. I began to adjust my behavior in favor of the White Light, just so I could have a chance at making life with her work. It seemed to work...We were friends. Good friends. Friends interested in each other. Friends in love. It was a beautiful thing, for as long as it lasted...

A mere month into our blossoming relationship, her senses became overwhelmed by the darkness I could not control. She knew me well by now. She had seen an inkling of my nature. She feared, and in the moment of fear, she wrote me a quick email:

It’s just too weird. I don’t understand any of this and I feel it’s just too soon. I’m so sorry. Don’t email back.

Like a bullet in the gut. I felt I had been forsaken before even being given a chance (though my decision had silently been made years ago). The White Light was evil in my eyes and I swore myself away from it, and as fate would have it, I made some new friends who aided me in my downfall.

I found drugs.

VI

The only true path is the path of submission. If one does not submit the will, then one will never learn of the Darkside that exists in us all. The path was now clearly laid out in front of me in flowing rivers of alcohol, with large banks made of hashish; charas; marijuana – the drug of submission. When you smoke marijuana, a strange thing happens. The first time I smoked was in a park surrounded by eager friends (it was a new thing for all of us in those days). I was afraid, but my mind was clearly ready for further corruption. I did inhale but I didn’t get high, or so it seemed. Many things flowed from my lips, though none of them made any sense. I had become a vessel for evil in my weakened state. The blood had been corrupted and the mind was fighting a losing battle with unseen forces. Hallucinations, paranoia, ecstasy, fear, love, lust, understanding, death and the infinite knowledge of the path all flowed in my veins from that day forth. Alcohol became a second favorite, though it proved to be a wholly different form of submission. It was a loss of the body - a very strange thing indeed. I first got drunk as a result of a gnawing depression and growing anger at the pressures of being different – of doing poorly in school – of dealing with insanity at

home – of the loss of my love some time ago. It was high time I said, ‘fuck all!’. I proceeded to do that with ten shots of vodka straight. I remember throwing up, I remember the room reeling and the pattern on the curtain melting. I remember Axle Rose screaming, ‘I drink and drive but everything’s in sight’. I remember crying tears of woe. I remember friends telling me this was the path, this was the path, this was the path. We wore our shirts backward and hailed Kurt Cobain and finally I came to understand my life more clearly. This was destiny at work and there was no reason to fight it! I became an adept that day, and the feeble White Light that had been kept lit by, ‘values’ and, ‘morality’ finally died away with a sigh. I was now hard, sexed up, a metalhead, a pervert and an anti-social drug addict to boot. I found myself trapped in the spiral and loving every minute of it. We all sank in those years following the most important examinations of our lives. Life lost its meaning after that, and consequently, we took up drugs with a gusto few people experience. School held no appeal for us, so school rejected us and the clashes began. Throwing up in the classroom, the smell of yesterday’s vodka nauseating everyone nearby. Jumping the school wall and living on the edge; smoking ganja in parks deep within the suburban utopia which was my life. Smoking incessantly. Rolling joints in the classroom and then asking the teacher for a pass to go to the bathroom. Preaching Satanism to the disinterested masses. Smoking, smoking, smoking. Getting caught – getting suspended; the never ending war made me and my friends battle-worn, with flames of pure hatred in our eyes - spitting venom at all who came in our way. We lived on the extreme border of reality for most of the time. And then, one fine day, as suddenly as she had left, she came back into my life...

VII

Quitting the Darkside I figured, would be no easy task. Here was a symbol of White light offering herself up to me, not as a willing sacrifice to the Darkside, but as a shining sword of true love; the meeting of two souls at the crossroads. Would I be able to leave behind all that I had made of my life? Reject it and change myself for this girl whom I could not possibly refuse. Or maybe, just maybe, I would be able to pull her under, to be my princess of darkness. It was a risk worth taking. It was fate. We were two people in love, ready to make it work despite our differing natures. I quit the drugs... Simon and Garfunkel would be playing in my room. I even quit the friends for a short period. Masturbation seemed a breach of trust. I was changing again, and this time, it seemed natural. Perhaps I was, ‘finally growing up’ as my elders had predicted. Life was truly good to me, and oddly enough, that fact did not upset me. The evil had shriveled away leaving my soul pure in its deeds and actions. Even the lust I felt for the girl was drowned in sappy-sweet romance of the moment. Everything was good. Everything was beautiful. Then, as odd as it may seem, I got accepted into college...

VIII

She loved me so she gave me leave to behave as I pleased. The old thrill stirred deep inside me at the mention of freedom. College life was going to be a trip and nothing, not even my love would stand in the way of my destiny... Ten thousand miles away from home, yet feeling more at home than ever before. I had entered the land of vice. I had crossed the border into darkness and I was loving it. The first order of the day was a return to drugs with an almost frenetic energy.

Alcohol

coursed

through

my veins everyday. Weed became

a

replacement for cigarettes; things were looking up. And then came the women. Women everywhere; tempting me, luring me, drawing me down, down, down into the pit where I followed them with open arms and charming smiles.

Sex, sex sex. Getting drunk, getting laid, getting head, giving head, upskirt frenzy, lesbians, three-somes, foursomes, six-somes, LSD, DMT, Ritalin, Cocaine, marijuana, Ephedra, alcohol, pole-dancing, strip poker, heavy metal, anal sex, passing out, raping, looting, destroying, anarchy, drug dealing, wrestling naked, parties, bondage, crawling on the floor, pissing, pissing, pissing on others, S&M, rock n’ roll, gang bang ecstasy. College was fun – it was beyond fun. It trained me, fulfilling my need to experience life as I wanted it – and it was good. The white light grew dim as the understanding between She and I dissolved into a mutual inability to understand each other. It becomes hard trying to mail sweet words of love back home when two bi-sexual females are busy making out in your bed in preparation for you. In hindsight, I can smile at my folly; the pathetic attempt at keeping things going - the anxious guilt I would feel as I climaxed inside a stranger’s mouth. It was all over between us. I was now hard, sexed up, a metalhead, a pervert, an antisocial drug addict and a fucking hypocrite to boot. I had surpassed even the calls of love; the highest calling of the white light. I was ready, I was primed and as fate would have it, upon returning home for summer hols, I inadvertently ran into Seth.

IX

Strange days in Karachi. Time had brought about changes to the starkness of the urbanity I had grown up in. A year abroad had cost me the chance to see the great city change gears, yet I arrived in time to partake in its recent growth. It approached me in subtle waves emanating from among the suburban elitist underground. Things had changed; people had changed; drugs had changed. Suddenly, I found myself no longer an alienated member of the youth, but an active and renowned user of drugs; an experienced soul in all manners of living the other-life.

The alcohol flowed and the smell of charas permeated every dark corner, every empty street, every social occasion. Things were intense; reality was changing – everything was good.

I strolled into this atmosphere, absorbing all as I moved silently through the correct channels – making the right friends, meeting the right people, appearing at the right places. As an adept from high school days, it was only logical that drug binges should become a regular part of my lifestyle. Drunk on Tuesdays and stoned on Sundays just wasn’t pushing it enough. The button remained stagnant, waiting its turn, waiting for everyone to just say, ‘yes’.

And yes it was to be. June arrived and all my friends had gathered together in Karachi thanks to the tender hands of Fate and we solemnly pushed the button together, choosing to reject life and all its principles – choosing instead the excesses of life in the nightmare metropolis. Our bodies were primed; our minds soothed by the gentle roar of thousands of other junkies making the same decision together. It was time to let the madness overcome the false-sanity that had come to define our Karachi.

X

The party was your usual affair of ambient lighting; dark corners and shadows racing between the makeshift bar and the smoky dance floor. People appeared and disappeared in a flurry of smiles, ‘his’ and, ‘hellos’. Some of the faces seemed familiar yet most of them slipped away leaving very little impression. The acid had kicked in quicker than I had hoped... My friends and I took our usual place on the rugs reserved for the guests. Everything was in place; I was fairly comfortable and relaxed, in my element as I started to take in the surroundings fully. I love a good party.

A few drinks and a smoke or two later found me gazing out over the dance floor looking for some female flesh. As my eyes ran over the scantily clad bodies, I could not help noticing the beautiful stranger leaning against a wall in the darkness, quite obviously observing me. I chose a girl to dance with, holding her out for his approval as we moved onto the dance floor. He raised his glass to me, smiling silently at some inner joke. I danced and danced as if in a trance, occasionally catching a fleeting glimpse of the stranger whose eyes somehow connected with mine each time I happened to glance over. At length, he beckoned me to follow him. I was mildly curious as to what he could want, but not terribly alert to the matter at hand. I was dealing drugs by this time you see, so it was fairly common for strangers to call me aside looking for a hit of this, a tab of that...

The stranger faded into the fog that covered the dance floor, beckoning silently as he faded away. I had two options then, and of the two, I chose to follow him, leaving the certainty of the party among friends, tracing a path around the arrays of food stuff, slipping through the dance floor, unseen, like a ghost in the clouds of smoke, playing the age-old game of ‘follow the leader’.

We strolled past the silent couple groping at each other in a pretense of innocence; their exploring fingers excited by the flowing crowd of silent voyeurs. Past the rooms with closed doors; the darkness hiding silent couples consummating their fetishes in a tangled heap of sweaty bodies. I remember their stench seeping out from under the doors, turning me on as I walked past familiar faces lighting up another joint in a hidden, forbidden circle. They watched me walk by, eyeing me warily as if I were a stranger and unwelcome. Something had changed as I moved onward. We continued out the gate, past the silent guards and waiting drivers. Their gazes carefully judged me in the moonlight, weighing me out for who I was and what I could be doing out here alone following the strange man. Their attention was

distracted soon enough by a pair of tight jeans and a spare nipple walking their way. I slipped by with little effort. We strolled past the line of empty cups and bottles leading to the lone drunkard - the only one who made it this far. Clinging to the wall, he threw up again and again into the bushes that hid him.

And then, we were there.

Lines blur and gray areas crowd the rest of my memory. Time seemed to move at a phenomenal pace while I stood at the end of an alleyway leading nowhere. I remember a soft red glow illuminated the stranger as he called me closer. I watched, in petrified silence as he took my body in his arms, slicing open the side of my neck with a sharp fingernail. He drank my blood for what seemed like eternity. I felt myself slipping away painlessly, as I grew weaker and weaker, yet at that very last moment, the stranger stopped feeding. He gazed deep into my eyes then smiled...

I remember smiling back weakly. I remember seeing him bleed for me, and I remember feeding upon his tainted blood. The rest of this story is inconsequential – bits of the past which become unimportant when one has immortality. Suffice to say, I learnt of Seth and my altered nature. I also learnt of the other nine and the ways of this world. And most importantly, I learnt of betrayal – by Seth, by my love, by creation itself. The time had indeed arrived for change. This is where the Oracle came into the picture...

__________________________________________

Back in the Chamber

Seth lit a cigarette for himself and for a while the two stood facing each other, smoking and contemplating the situation. Finally, Arsalan broke the silence...

‘I made a deal with our dear friend Thanatos the death dealer you see.’

‘I see.’

‘My life which you so easily caste into the flames was in his hands when the strength of the blood we shared once allowed me to speak to death itself. I told him I would provide for him not one, but two immortal souls to hold in his lair in exchange - if I were allowed to live on.’

Seth paused and gazed at his younger half with a growing sense of disbelief.

‘So you gave him the Oracle? How foolish. She lives.’

‘Her momentary death has its uses.’

Laughter echoed off the damp walls of the interior room as Seth circled the dead body in amusement,

‘So, you feel like you have changed the future, yes? You still have much to learn about the hand of fate Arsalan. How you escaped death, I shall put down to your skills in rhetoric and charm. Why you have killed the Oracle goes beyond my understanding though. Don’t you remember Arsalan? Look deep inside you. Killing the Oracle is fool’s play. The Oracle will merely take on another form and you shall

follow her to each corner of the Earth and even then you shall only be killing the immortal one in a single frame of this infinite universe. She already exists in this life as a different entity. Thanatos will know.’

‘I agree my maker. Thanatos does indeed know. However, the Oracle is not my prey...it is you I promised in the deal.’

‘And the second immortal?’

Arsalan’s face seemed to pale further to an ashen grey as his eyes narrowed and shifted to focus on the blood collecting by his feet.

‘That...that too has been taken care of’ he replied in a deadpan voice. Hiding something Seth assumed as he addressed Arsalan again,

‘Only a fool plays games with death Arsalan. Only a fool thinks he is taking over the world when all he is doing is trying to save himself from the grave he has dug for himself.’

Arsalan’s eyes had faded into a whirlpool of pure black, his quick temper surfacing at being called a fool by his mentor. His voice carried across the chamber in a low snarl...

‘Still underestimating others I see Seth. Let’s speak of the Oracle then. Would you like to know what she foresaw in my future before I tore her apart? Well I’ll tell you Seth, my dearest immortal companion. The Oracle told me what the future holds in this thread of infinity – she told me I would kill her and she would not return here again. She told me that the Age of Darkness was to be here and now and that I am its bearer. Sadly you see, in order for that to be, I must overthrow you dear friend. The

immortal vampire must be I. And as fate would have it, the Oracle was kind enough to foresee the manner in which I would break you... I see you’re backing off. Reality struck you in the face dear brother? Perhaps its time you ran off to see what a mess they’ve made of your pretty little friend. We aren’t the only immortals roaming this path you know. Lots of nastiness can occur in a big city. Poor little girl. All alone and such easy prey...’

Seth turned his back to his adversary, exiting the room as slowly as his rage would allow him. He stopped at the shattered doorframe, controlling his tone before speaking in the ancient tongue,

‘Clever, clever Arsalan - what shall you think of next? For next it must be dear pupil. I shall return shortly. Be prepared, for the beast within has yet to show himself to you. Hold fast to your false dreams till we meet next.’

And with that, Seth left Karachi, racing across the plains of the Earth as if the hounds of hell were at his heels...

___________________________________________

The Chronicle of Creation (XIIVI) (Concerning the nine immortals - their creation and attributes)

The Creator decided to let itself experience existence in multiple forms, lending its presence into everything ever created. One of the fundamental decisions taken was to break up nine of the greatest attributes of the Creator and form immortal entities possessing a single attribute each. These immortals could roam the worlds with a large degree of freedom. The nine were:

The Oracle (Al Alim, Al Hasib): Holding the Creator’s ability to see all, the Oracle has insight into all possible futures and pasts. The Oracle exists in infinite threads of life in an infinite number of forms.

The Vampire (Set, Seth): Holds the Creator’s attribute of self-love. He is a creature of awesome power, his ego allowing him to bend the will of living beings to his desire. The Vampire feeds his insatiable ego with the souls of mortal creatures, drinking their blood and devouring their essence. The Vampire skips between parallel destinies at will, appearing always in the form of an attractive youth.

The Provider (Arias): Holds the creator’s provisions which he metes out to whomever he chooses. The Provider can create something from nothing. Traveling in the form of an old beggar, the provider has been recognized and revered as a great magician in all parts of the world.

The Watcher (Al Wali): Holds the Creator’s ability to protect any creature from harm, if it is called upon to do so – if it chooses to do so. The Watcher is an unseen entity, dwelling in the thoughts of man, occasionally making its presence felt by appearing in the form of a black dog.

Thanatos: Possesses the Creator’s power to call upon death and destruction at will. Thanatos is a terrible sight to behold, appearing in the form of a black shroud carrying the scythe of death in front of him. Thanatos’ nature forces him to remain unseen by mortal creatures until he is called for, hiding in the depths of a great cavern.

The Distresser (Ad Darr): has the power to hold living creatures in a state of despondence and misery. The Distresser feeds upon tears of despair, traveling unseen through space at the speed of thought.

The Sylph: Holds the power to hear the truth within all creation. Unlike the Oracle, the Sylph can see into the heart of creation and learn its true intentions. The Sylph is an air traveler, akin to the fairies in appearance.

The Wadud (Isis): Possesses the Creator’s infinite love for all things. The Wadud chose immortality in a single thread of time, preferring to love freely within one part of existence alone.

Ishtar: holding the absolute strength of the Creator, Ishtar is a fierce warrior of the Astral Plane; choosing sides when she pleases. She appears in the form of a beautiful princess, resplendent in battle armor. Ishtar was once recognized and worshipped in the ancient cults of Babylonia. She dwells in the land of dreams where few creatures dare approach her.

_____________________________________________

Desperation

Traveling during daylight had weakened Seth considerably, but panic – something he had never felt before urged him onward with an almost unbearable haste. He reached Alice’s abode just in time to feel the dark form of Thanatos enter her apartment. The cold chill of death incarnate ran through his frame as he leapt onto her balcony and entered the darkness which was once their home. Thanatos’ overbearing presence left Seth blind and weaker than he had ever felt before, yet he managed to call out to the dark entity.

‘Thanatos! Leave this place or declare yourself at war with me. This is my home and you shall not interfere! Leave.’

The dark form of Death approached Seth, gliding softly through his body as it made toward the balcony. A soft echo spoke in Seth’s mind,

‘Very well Master of Darkness – I shall wait in the streets below, if that is the way things must be. Death has great patience, yes indeed...’

Death flowed out the balcony and into the still night, leaving the apartment looking fairly normal, yet in his heart Seth knew Thanatos would not have appeared unless there was a soul he wished to collect nearby. He followed the soft sound of Alice breathing into her bedroom...

_______________________________________

Alice in chains

Alice lay in her bed, absolutely still, covered up in heavy sheets. Her oncebeautiful eyes were glazed over now; staring out into empty space in utter despair. Seth had seen this look twice before in his immortal life. Ad Darr had conquered her mind, leaving it in schizophrenic horror. Emotions flushed into his system, leaving him weak at the knees. He sank down to Alice’s eye-level and stroked her cheek softly. Her eyes swiveled to look up into his face, but there was no recognition in her empty stare...

‘He used to stroke me like that once you know.’

Despair had driven Alice over the edge and Seth knew that rescuing her would be almost impossible. His mind was in utter turmoil – burning with a rage he had never felt before, yet crying softly for the pain his fragile human companion was in. He spoke to her in his gentlest whisper, concealing his fears.

‘Darling girl – little Alice, why are you so sad? Have you lost someone very dear to you? Has it really been long since he departed? Did he not promise he would return? Speak to me little one.’

Tears began to flow, tracing a path down Alice’s cheek. She sat up in bed, shivering uncontrollably as she hugged her knees and cried softly. Seth slipped behind her, cradling her frame in his arms - holding her gently till at length, her silent sobs died down and she spoke,

‘I don’t know who you are stranger, or how you got into my room – but your little acts of kindness hurt me further still. You see, I had a lover once. And he loved me

and treated me as you do now. We were so perfect together. I used to feel special around him - but then, he left me...’

‘Why did he leave you Alice?’ Seth whispered softly into her ear, ‘He loved you. Why would he leave you alone forever?’

Alice distraught, stood up and began pacing her room slowly; running her hands through her hair in a nervous flutter...

‘He left me. I don’t know why. I can’t seem to see why. There is this wall of sadness and pain standing in my way and I can’t see over the top no matter how hard I try. So now, I guess I can just lean against the wall and wait for him...Though he shall never return you know...That’s what the wall is. It’s the truth, telling me I’ve lost him forever. Gone, gone, gone, and all I can do now is... I don’t know...What should I do now?’ she asked Seth, her eyes gleaming dangerously, ‘Do you understand what love is stranger? Have you ever loved another? For here before you stands a woman, a girl if you wish, who is lost and infinitely sad. Do you know what loss is? I am in pain so cruel so shattering - I have no strength left to weep. Do you know what tragedy is? Do you? The tragic formula dear stranger requires one. Just one, just one to know tragedy. Just one, alone, singular, separate. Just one... Just one... I’m so lonely. Would you hold me, please?’

Seth got off the bed and embraced Alice once more. Her tiny frame did not resist him, yet it did not offer any comfort back. Her memories refused to be stirred. As they stood there in silence, Seth felt the distance between them growing...

‘Tell me Alice, is it possible that perhaps all this sadness is actually lies? That perhaps your lover is holding you right now, in his arms. That he only left you for a short period

of time, for which he is deeply sorry. Alice, speak to me...Tell me, if the memory of him is too painful, could you not perhaps love another?’

Alice stood silently, held in Seth’s embrace. He couldn’t tell whether she was listening or was lost in the torturous labyrinth in her mind.

‘Alice, I love you.’

For a moment, everything in the world was good and whole for Seth. He had finally glimpsed a moment of that glorious gift that humans carried within them - the choice and freedom to love another. Alice’s head pressed deeper into his chest and she sighed softly to herself. He felt her tears soak through his shirt, and deep inside him, something snapped. A solitary tear made its path down his cheek. Fate had finally shown him his destiny. Yet Alice pulled free of his embrace, leaving his company. Barely perceiving his presence, she stepped onto her balcony in silence, her eyes an enigma to behold. Drawing her night suit around her, she stood looking out over the great city sprawling in front of her.

‘This is where he would always be waiting for me.’

Alice spoke out into the landscape before her, ignoring Seth. A slow wind began to blow steadily east, catching her hair as it flowed over the balcony. Shivering in the sudden cold, she spoke once more,

‘I’m sorry for being so weak dear stranger...I...I tried. Perhaps we shall meet in another place... another day... not here. Someplace beautiful.’

She turned to look at him, her teary eyes filled with a despair Seth had never beheld before...

‘I’m so sorry. You must forgive me. You simply must. And, if you ever see him...Tell him...I’m sorry for being so weak.’

And with that, Alice pushed herself off the edge of the balcony.

_________________________________________

In the Streets

Seth jumped along with Alice but fate stood in his way. Even as he fell, he knew he would be too late. Her body hit the ground hard, crushing into the hard concrete of the street below. Seth landed alongside her, yet he didn’t stay long for he had already felt Alice’s soul leaving with Thanatos. Gazing upon a dead and bloody corpse held little comfort for him now. He slunk off into the darkness of the alleys nearby, walking for many hours with the emptiness growing deep inside him. A lone beggar made a quick meal, yet the act held no meaning anymore. What use was feeding upon the essence of others when the one he loved had ceased to be? In truth, Seth had been living upon Alice’s love for so long, he desired nothing else; yet as he strolled through the empty streets, he began to feel again – a deep, rushing hatred for the one who had killed his Alice. The bloodlust roared within him, and instinctively, Seth began running once more. Running through the winding paths of ethereal dimensions in search of allies. He wanted blood and he would have it.

________________________________________________

Ishtar’s Domain (As remembered by Jurel, Guardian of the Gates)

It had been many years since anyone had dared to venture into the palace of our mighty princess. Times had changed, and most of creation - the humans in particular, had given up believing in immortal entities, so my job in the palace had been reduced to waiting for the occasional dreamer who would accidentally wander upon Her lands. Usually, I would scare the trespassers away, sometimes giving them a momentary glimpse of her Majesty’s divinity in the hopes that they would return again, eager to learn more.

They never returned...

It had been just such a moment in time when the immortal prince of Darkness made his way through the ethereal plane, striding towards the palace, demanding an audience with the Immortal one herself. As was customary, I approached his majesty, bowing low before his incredible beauty. His aura was strong enough to make me cringe under its steady fiery glow. I guided him past the watchers and the Rahkur, leading him through the maze in safety, though I made no promises about her Majesty’s desire to meet him.

As we approached, the palace gates were lowered and we followed our reflections through the twilight hall of mirrors, pausing at the entrance of my lady Ishtar’s chamber. Here I asked the prince to wait, while I approached the lady with his urgent request.

Princess Ishtar lay naked upon her bed in crimson sheets made of dreams; her sword and armor discarded as she slept - roaming silently through the vast dreamscapes of mankind’s sleeping imagination. I interrupted her Majesty’s journey

and delivered my message, trembling in fear of her wrath at being disturbed while roaming her lands. Surprisingly, she seemed eager to speak to the Dark Prince, whom I led in directly. The two immortals gazed upon each other - then Ishtar smiled, greeting our Dark lord as a friend. I still remember clearly the crushing weight of their presence being too much for me to bear. I quit Her chamber and returned to tending the gardens of the palace. Of what my lady and the prince spoke of, I cannot say.

_______________________________________

Princess Ishtar’s Chamber

Seth sat down at the edge of Ishtar’s bed and lit a cigarette, offering it to the Princess who accepted it gratefully. He lit a second cigarette for himself, and for a moment, the two entities sat in silence as their smoke intermingled in the air. Finally, Ishtar crept forward and embraced Seth warmly, whispering into his ear,

‘Beautiful one, you’ve become a stranger in my palace. I haven’t seen you in ages... Though I always feel your presence in the dreams you create for the humans you keep company with.’

She leaned in closer, her lips almost touching Seth’s ear,

‘I’ve seen the dreams you’ve been giving the girl you know. Don’t worry... I know your nature. I always knew you could never love me. Yet those dreams... She must have done you a great favor indeed.’

Seth smiled softly at the memory of his little gifts to Alice; then his heart hardened as the reality of the present leapt out at him. He turned to Ishtar and began his tale, telling her of his unnatural desire of the girl-child whom he had lost at the hands of his own creation. Ishtar sat and listened to his tale in silence, frowning at what she saw in Seth’s aura. His hatred and anger did not hide the fact that there was something seriously wrong in the manner of his feeling. There flowed from him the fading shades of light blue that were unmistakable signs of a soul expressing love unconsciously - a human trait she was familiar with in her travels yet never witnessed in the nature of the entity before her. The tale however was a singular torrent of silent despair, forcing Ishtar out of her musings, and at its conclusion, the princess, overcome by and overwhelming surge in her emotions, agreed to help the Dark Prince in any way he desired. They

spoke for a long time, their combined presence filtering into the dreams of the sleeping world, creating surrealistic nightmare visions in the minds of adult and child alike. A decision was reached by both the immortals. Seth was to approach the Provider wherever he was to be found and ask for his services, at which point Ishtar would set up the astral plane for a revenge both terrible in execution and consequence.

_________________________________________

A meeting at Dawn in Quito

A distant clock chimed the darkest hour of the new day as Seth stepped through the deserted marketplace. The silent, twisting roads set against the surreal backdrop of towering mountains lent Quito the air of a city lost within a timeless landscape of infinite physical beauty. At four am, the atmosphere was heavy, laden with the weight of dark shadows looming over the huddle of buildings that formed Old Town. Even the night creatures were still and watchful at this hour.

All this went unnoticed by Seth as he strode through the streets in a dreamlike state of emptiness. His mind could only see Alice’s anguish as she plunged over the edge, and the face of Arsalan. The pain pushed Seth onward in his search for the Provider – the immortal presence having called him deep into the mountains of Ecuador. His senses led him to the steps of La Compañia de Jesus – a church of phenomenal power, visited by the human population and beings from all walks of creation as a place of worship. The steps leading up to the church held an assortment of characters; parallel dimensional travel allowing a number of entities to visit the Church at odd hours of the day – today being no exception. Most of them appeared in translucent ethereal form, frozen in time and space as they meditated in silence. Giant beasts, fairy creatures, hero’s from the past and all forms of alien beings appeared before Seth as he ascended the steps, his eyes scanning the rows of figures, looking for signs of the immortal. His search ended in front of the most unimpressive figure among the eclectic crowd - an old man sitting crosslegged at the entrance of the church, walking-stick in hand and very much a member of this world. His begging bowl and tattered grey hood hid his true form from the eyes of humanity, yet this was no ordinary beggar.

The old man’s gaze shifted from the dark horizon to look upon Seth’s form standing in front of him. His eyes shone with recognition and he patted the floor next to him, indicating that he wished to converse. Seth sat down, and the two immortals began communicating silently, talking through mental projection. To the ordinary eye, it seemed as if the two figures sat silently beside each other, gazing off into the surrounding hillside, yet there was a hushed conversation taking place...

‘You have traveled far son of the night. No need to tell me of the misfortune that has befallen you – I know of it already; as I know of many things’ spoke Arias, echoing inside Seth’s head. ‘I know of your anger, and I know of your meeting with Ishtar and furthermore, I know why you are here seeking my presence – yet speak, for we may not get another chance for some time. Tell me what you desire.’

Seth spoke back, ‘I need to defeat my enemy, whose face you see here, imprinted as a bleeding scar in my mind. Look upon him and help me wise one. Give me the strength and knowledge with which I may destroy him, and make him suffer pain. Help me...’

Arias sat in silence for a long period of time, struggling with fate’s overriding emanations. At length, he drew a long breath and blew a soft whistle out into the emptiness of the night. Moments later, a lone crow appeared on the horizon, flying between the mountaintops to come and rest beside the two immortals. It hopped towards Arias, who picked the bird up gently and began stroking its soft, dark feathers.

‘The crow came to me an hour before your arrival. It bore news from the Oracle...This gentle creature was sent with the message, tracking me down from his home in the otherworld to tell me of your imminent arrival. He also spoke of your request, and as the Oracle desires, I am at your disposal, to aid you in whatever

way you wish me to do so - if you agree to do as the Oracle requests... Visit Isis. The Wadud awaits you at her home atop the eternal mountain. What she wishes to say and what more the Oracle has foreseen I cannot say, but I wager that there is reason in all this and all that must surely come to pass. Now, go in peace son of the night and let this old man rest till action is called for. I shall pray for you.’

With that, Arias returned to his original reverie, staring out into the void; over the heads of the creatures on the steps; far above the mountains that formed the horizon. Seth found himself cold and alone on the steps of the great Church.

________________________________________

The Chronicle of Creation (VIIVI) (Concerning reproduction/regeneration among the immortals)

The

Creator’s

original

moment

of

inspiration

included

reproduction/regeneration within life, and in keeping with this dimension of the great plan, three of the immortals were given the power to create companions for themselves. The two immortal beings that feel the emotion love (The Wadud and the Vampire) both possess the ability to create companions for themselves in order that they may fulfill their existence. Isis possesses the ability to produce offspring through intercourse with any living creation in order that she may love fully, while Set possesses the ability to convert living creatures to his nature – feeding on the souls of others to feed his eternal desire. The only other immortal possessing this great power is Arias, the provider. Having the power to create something from nothing, the provider is able to make multiple re-incarnations of himself if he so chooses. The Wadud, the Vampire, and the Provider all reproduce/recreate immortal beings like themselves in nature, though holding the essence of the original soul they have altered/created. Both creator and creation hold the power to destroy the other as long as the essence of the immortal stays intact in one being.

________________________________________

Atop the Mountain

Traveling without rest and ignoring his incessant hunger, Seth made his way to the eternal mountain deep in the heart of the Mediterranean. The hazy wind of midday carried the heady scent of the blooming flowers lining the path he followed with his keen eyesight. There were no markers left of the ancient routes leading to Isis’ temple – indeed, there was no temple either. Memory alone of having taken this journey before allowed the solitary figure in black to make his way up the sharp incline. A short distance from the peak, he paused to rest in the shadow of a rocky outcrop. The numbness was spreading into his body and despite his feverish desire to continue onward and upward, his body resisted and forced him to close his eyes. He soon drifted off into a deep sleep. The approaching Wadud went unnoticed by his drugged senses, for Seth had already entered a new reality...

____________________________________

Waking life

It had been a dream after all.

Seth found himself in Alice’s living room, the soft glow of the setting sun illuminating the girl-child’s soft frame curled up against him. The shock of realization was too much for him. Though they had been asleep for an hour at most, he could not bear to let Alice nap while his mind sought desperately to come to grips with reality. He shook her shoulder gently, whispering her name into the air, half-afraid of seeing the empty gaze she had held, crushed on the cold concrete of his nightmare. Alice smiling turned around to give Seth a soft-sleepy gaze.

‘Seth... My Seth’ she crooned. ‘What’s wrong Seth? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

Seth watched Alice talk and watched Alice curl her feet under her as she always did on the sofa, yet the emptiness deep inside him grew wider still.

‘Alice darling...Not a ghost, definitely not a ghost my love – but there is something so strange about today. I had this nightmare vision... It was intensely real, and now this all seems a shade false in contrast. It’s almost as if the colors in here are stale... Alice, are you listening?’

For Alice had crept up to his body and was now nestling down for a deeper sleep.

‘Of course I’m listening dearest’ she replied, covering her mouth as she yawned. ‘I’m here just for you and you alone. Tell me about this nightmare if you must, though just to remind you, I don’t appreciate horror like you do.’

Something was nagging Seth’s mind. His senses were sending him faint warning signals. Instinctively, he drew his arms around Alice, encircling her into a protective circle.

‘Alice, forget the nightmare. Listen to me for one moment. We aren’t safe here. You’ve always wanted to travel with me. Tonight I want to make it happen. The only thing I’m worried about is, Alice, I don’t think I can move my feet.’

Alice looked down at his feet, a frown forming across her brow,

‘Of course you can move your feet silly! They’re right there in front of you. Just, get up and walk!’

‘I can’t Alice’ said Seth gently, ‘these aren’t my real feet you see. I’m dreaming here Alice. My feet are asleep with the rest of my physical body. Which means you are the dream too. Yet I can’t control you. Where am I...and who are you?’

Alice rose from the sofa, slowly morphing into varying shades of women of all form and beauty. A radiant glow burst forth from within the bronze frame of the immortal woman who stood before Seth. The room slowly melted away to a scenic view of the ocean at sunrise. Seth and The Wadud stood close together, watching the red orb rise from their vantage-point on the stone balcony. Floating in the sky of this surrealistic landscape, Seth began to relax his anxious grip on reality, enjoying the moment of simple serenity. He broke the silence hanging in the windless air,

‘This is pretty indeed...But mere beauty doesn’t always work Isis. You asked once why we could never be friends - the answer is simple. In my eyes, you are empty. Devoid of the darkness without which you cannot see, for darkness came first

immortal one. You tried to play Alice, yet you failed and you shall always fail for the perfection you send forth in dreams is just so – a dream, lacking that which makes life real. The otherside. It is pretty though...I can appreciate your work quite unlike the others.’

Isis gazed out into the landscape, her radiant eyes capturing the red rays of the sun. She was now resplendent in sheets of silver and gold, her beautiful auburn hair done up, a mass of curls cascading down her soft shoulders. She slipped her hand into Seth’s and the two stood looking out into the flowing canvas.

‘And what do you know of love dear Seth? Your nature is of the otherside as you say, yet you speak as one who has known love. Strange is it not? If you understand the workings of love so well, why are you standing here with me today? Come come, I know you are clever enough to see why the Oracle requested that you see me. It is love that I am here to teach you about. Love, and - I must make a request of you before you leave...That too is connected, like the steps you do not see leading down to the beach. Come; let us walk along the seashore. I put it there just for us you know...’

The two immortals descended the invisible staircase onto the deserted beach. The soft crunching of their feet digging into the golden-brown sand was the only sound to be heard as Isis led Seth forward. At a distance from the rippling sea, she sat down, inviting Seth to sit beside her.

‘You know, in the end, we’re all one being Seth.’ She spoke. ‘That’s where our innate sense of loneliness comes from. Some say love is fool’s play... We spend lifetimes searching for something which can be recognized as separate, yet once we have it, we make it a part of us, bending it to fit in with who we are. Infact, that is the only way things can be. But let’s speak of Alice... She’s not dead you know.

Not as you think. There is a strange beauty radiating off you in gentle waves Seth. Alice is living within you – as change; as you. Everything is connected. I am she and she is me and I am you. Wherever you go, you can’t escape that which you have loved and called your own. Even once...Even once...In the end, the only real task asked of us is acceptance. Accept it Seth – your nature has been altered.’

Seth laid his head upon the hard, dry sand, staring up into the purple sky with vacant eyes.

‘Accept? I have accepted far too much already Isis. Alice is dead...The change you speak of is burning pain. Is that connected too? So now I shall love into eternity with living pain? You play games with your desire to plant your perspective in me.’

Isis shook her head slowly, leaning closer to Seth, a dark figurine set against the rising sun.

‘Suffering and loss don’t exist Seth. Those two are only in your mind; only in your mind.’

‘Well I have a mind. It lets me see what is real, and at the moment, my only reality is the knowledge that Alice was killed to break me. You can’t really be asking me to give up my mind, are you? This is my nature great queen of the Nile.’

Isis looked out across the flowing expanse of water once again,

‘You do not understand how the infinite functions dearest. You of all people who causes the most permanent of changes among the humans we dwell with cannot see the consequences of your choices – your own humanity. You looked shocked? You think I jest? You think we are all-powerful and unchangeable. The truth my

dearest is that nothing, not even your rules are permanent. So let go. I shall try no more. Just remember what I told you when you are ready to understand. I’m sure we’ll meet again at the right time, in the right place... In the end, we’ll all be one. Now, would you do me the one favor you were brought here for?’

Seth frowned, ‘What favor would you have me do?’

‘Do not fight and slay Arsalan as you have been planning in your heart of hearts.’

Silence.

‘You will lose dearest, and the loss shall be the greatest waste of what you have become and what you can be. Look Seth! Just open your eyes to your new self. Alice has given you something none of us could ever have, something that the creator never showed us – an alternate nature. You have been blessed. You my loved one, are one step away from becoming a mortal man. Don’t throw this gift away in anger. Let Arsalan have his power and his immortality. Think Seth! What would Alice want you to do?’

‘What would Alice want Isis?’ the bitterness of his now-acknowledged human nature rising with full force, ‘Alice wasn’t here to make that choice Isis. You ask me what would a human choose? Ah Isis, ever the Queen with her visions and her talk of love. If I am truly human as you say, than I am doomed to vengeance and violence. It is too late...’

Isis paused and reached for a shell nestled deep in the sand of her dream. She placed it in the palm of Seth’s hand while whispering in his ear,

‘Then that which makes you human, as you say, will make you inhuman once more. I pity you Seth. Choose wisely. Know who you are before you battle.’

Without replying, he thanked the Wadud silently, striding out of the dream which fell apart at the seams as his consciousness returned in full force. The bright summer day struck him full in the face as the fresh scent of the mountainside wafted his way once more. It seemed a fine day to put an end to things...

_______________________________________

As the world sleeps

Princess Ishtar had spent the last few days in a constant state of readiness. Seth’s signal was due any time and her task required great speed and infinite accuracy, yet the princess was not afraid. Being the most powerful entity in creation, her unrest stemmed from the recent conversation she held in her memory. Seth was fighting a losing battle and she was on his side. Ishtar did not lose battles, yet this was all in accordance with the Oracle’s insight. A greater dilemma had never before made its way to the princess and the confusion mounted as Ishtar wandered through her ethereal realm, searching for reason within the inevitable. The palace grounds were lit by the soft-yellow glow of her aura. Here and there, ancient entertainers of by-gone eras materialized out of thin air to amuse the immortal in her moment of deep thought. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, the air stood still and the gardens were infused by blood-red shades. The time to act had arrived.

Without missing a step in her stride, Ishtar began the quick descent through the dream portal, entering the Earth’s atmosphere in a heartbeat. She made herself known to the human population, sending out deep shock waves of dread into their hearts. Her mighty presence absorbed into the Earth’s natural rhythm, giving her complete control over physical reality. She squeezed tight the flow of oxygen to the living beings in the cities and villages below, sending entire nations into death throes. People choked and faded away into the world of dreams, terrified of the haunting death that surrounded them. The darkness of oncoming nightmares and unleashed demons left humanity sprawled on the ground, helpless under the demigod’s influence.

Ishtar held the lives of creation in her hands till each and every mortal lay dying on the floor, breathing their final breaths – yet at the very last moment, she let loose her fearful grip. Oxygen flowed once more, yet sleeping humanity remained

oblivious to the fact. The cavern of dreams had been forcibly thrown open in their faces. Their collective unconscious was forming a dream of terror. Hell was in the air, waiting for those who wished to enter it...

_______________________________________

Arias’ Task

“Shall we start then?”

Two individuals took their designated places at the seats of destiny. The pentagram was complete and darkness enveloped the small room. Already, the paranoiac effects of Ishtar’s actions had begun to thicken the air around them, lacing it with a pungent, acidic odor. The solitary black candle’s flame fluttered and died away as Arias spoke the ancient key of Enoch,

“Ilasa micalazoda olapireta ialpereji beliore: Das odo busadire Oiad ouoaresa caosago: Casaremeji laiada eranu berinutasa cafafame das ivemada aqoso adoho Moz, od maoffasa. Bolape como belioreta pamebeta. Zodacare od Zodameranu! Odo cicale Qaa. Zodoreje, lape Zodiredo Noco Mada, hoathahe Saitan!”

His proclamation died out in the claustrophobic atmosphere of unseen psychic emanations. Silence poured into the still air of the ritual chamber, tearing at Seth’s mind, feeding it with the combined fears of the world. The circle of white chalk around them was their only protection now as the stench of death and the creeping sensation of the watcher circling their cage consumed the last semblance of reality. The fear of a perceived damnation infinite in proportion had driven frenzied minds unwillingly to the Astral Plane. Ishtar had played out her part well...

Arias spoke out in a crystalline voice, already receding into the backdrop of dreams,

‘Remember Prince of Darkness, stay beside me and do not make yourself known to those who approach us. You have appointed me as your bearer and I shall see you

into Hell itself, but do not interfere with the task that I must perform; else you may damn us into limbo forever. Come what may, do not lose yourself in the nightmare. If you should slide into believing what we must face to be your reality, all will be lost.’

Taking advantage of the nervous electricity in the air, Arias returned to the ritual at hand, sending himself and Seth into a deep hypnotic trance; opening a gate to the fields wrought and colored by the sleeping population. The descent into hell was begun – now it remained for the two immortals to meet at the edge of destiny itself. Arias signaled him forward into the void, and Seth followed...

________________________________________

Into the Depths of Hell

The barren fields of the fourth circle soon broke away, revealing the dark waters of the Drowning Sea stretched out across the horizon. Arias and Seth ventured forth to the water’s edge, avoiding looking into its murky depths. Dead humanity lay deep within, hiding from the bleak light of the astral plane. The souls of the damned rippled a tuneless whisper as their gazes followed the two immortals walking along the seashore.

At some distance, near an outcrop of black rock, Arias paused and silently called Seth close. The two immortals used their combined powers to counter the ancient guarding spells, uncovering the conch of Charon within the blackened strata. Arias blew upon the conch and the serene drone of the age-old shell echoed and reverberated through the dreamscape, calling forth Charon, the hooded boatsman who safe-guarded the only path across the Drowning Sea, leading into the third circle of Hell itself.

Minutes turned to hours as they waited along the seashore surrounded by the trembling misery ebbing back and forth.

The boatsman appeared on the

horizon as the dark clouds of Hell began to close out the little light that filtered onto the canvas. In darkness, his little craft approached the shore, gliding gently across the rippling water’s surface.

A hushed conversation took place between the hooded bearer and Arias. An exchange was made, and Arias promptly settled himself into the little boat, inviting Seth to do the same. The sails unfurled as Seth boarded and the tiny craft turned around, gliding across the inky-blackness and all that it contained in its dark depths. The fourth circle was at an end, and before long Seth beheld the Marshland of the obsessed. The lagoon they now floated across held creatures bogged down

in mud, yet their pitiful state went unnoticed by these miserable beings. Their naked bodies writhed and fought each other in a desperate frenzy of anger, tearing and biting, leaving pieces of their flesh floating in the blood and filth which gave the lagoon a clinging, thick consistency.

The Arc of Pain loomed overhead, a silent marker signaling the end of the third circle and the beginning of the end. The horrors beyond waited in silence by the muddy banks, watching the little boat make its way along the river Styx. A mockery of the dreaming tree leaned across their path, forcing them to pass under its venomous branches. Visions of madmen and murderers confounded Seth’s mind as he sat in silent meditation, looking across the sails for the end of the tree’s reach.

The hour inched forward slowly as Seth sat in the boat, watching the skeletal vultures circling in the dark clouds above. Charon stood gazing out toward the horizon of glowing fire, his face hidden deep inside his hood. As time passed, the fire took on form – their destination had been reached. The city of flames rose before them, coming closer with each stroke of the Boatman’s oar.

____________________________________________

At the City Gates

Seth and Arias debarked on the inky black shore, biding farewell to Charon who floated away to guide another distant caller. The two immortals began their slow trek around the cliffs that served to guard outsiders from the inner city. An unnatural wind roared through this landscape, making conversation impossible between the two as an hour passed and their journey came to no end. Strange creatures blended into the background of their vision, ever watchful for a breach in the protective circle still drawn around the two as they walked.

The unforgiving Cliffside came to an abrupt end, giving way to a sheer wall made of pure obsidian. Jutting out of the smooth black rock were the gates of the city, towering a hundred feet in height, barred close by the weight of the haunting evil residing inside. As they approached, Arias signaled Seth to cloak himself quickly. The invisible vampire slunk behind Arias’ form, taking great care in remaining unseen and unheard as they approached the gates. Arias spoke out once more as the howling wind died under his chants,

Before me HERNE The Huntsman Behind me ARADIA The Maiden On my right hand CERNUNNOS, the Horned God On my left hand HABONDIA, the Great Mother About me flame the pentagrams And above me shines the light of the Goddess. With this shall my will be done In this my action shall hold true The gates shall allow entrance To the immortal who stands before you

The calling spell had been cast and its effects were instantaneous. The gates of Hell flew open and the deafening screams of unleashed demons struck Arias and Seth with a searing hatred as they made their way into the final circle of Hell. Weakened by the madness surrounding him, Seth allowed his cloak to drop, making him visible to the terrors hiding in the flaming city. As he did so, a terrible silence descended upon the deserted streets and a heavy fog crept up to the edges of their circle of protection. Arias raised his finger to his lips, ordering Seth to stay quiet as they crouched in the blood-red dirt.

The moment of silence was cut short as the choking fog thinned, revealing the presence of the three furies surrounding Seth and Arias in a circle of hatred and violence. Stained with blood and armed with the hacked limbs of their victims, the maidens of Hell stood chanting ancient spells of the dark ages, forcing Seth upon his knees. Arias alone stood in silence, beholding the spectacle of flesh being wrought and mutilated in a frenzy of violent desire. In their rage, the furies made themselves visible before him, materializing out of the fog in their complete form. The serpents that formed their hair fell to the ground and prepared to attack the two immortals. The air was torn asunder by the wails of the dying dead as Arias chose to act. Great flashes of brilliant gold went flowing from a single source, forcing all that was evil to shrivel away and die as a path was cleared for the two travelers. The Provider had let lose the light of dawn upon the hellish reality that surrounded them. The furies were no more; the fog had drifted away into the shadows and the giant acropolis stood before them in crimson splendor, awaiting Seth’s entrance into the arena. The hollow boom of the ancient gong was sounded across the layers of Hell. Arias backed away into the shadows, having completed his task. It was Seth’s turn to face fate in a battle against his own creation.

___________________________________________

Battle in the Acropolis

The ancient acropolis stood in ruins, the winds of Hell having destroyed most sections of the gargantuan arena. Seth’s eyes could barely make out the ground in front of him. Hot fiery blasts of incredible rage made the dust rise in a twisting cyclone standing a thousand miles high.

Avoiding the dust storm in the center of the ground, Seth cautiously scaled the walls of the acropolis, making his way to the balcony of the ancient kings. His overcharged senses finally eased their rigid grip, giving him a moment to think and plan out his line of action. Crouching in the overhanging balcony, he scanned the area surrounding him. The silent seats reserved for spectators towered into the blood-red sky– all dark, all empty. There was no sign of Arsalan’s presence in the arena, yet it was not in the nature of his one-time companion to back down. Something was amiss. Having made it this far, Seth grew impatient playing the waiting game. His hunger for blood overcame his need for strategy. Leaping off the balcony, he descended into the eye of the cyclone in the grips of rage, circling slowly so all could see, he was exposed and at a disadvantage.

Arsalan rose from his dark corner, emerging from the rising dust, terrified and haggard from his long descent into the hellish nightmare. He stood at some distance from Seth, sticking close to the edge of the dust storm. His hands trembled with fear, gripping tight a small dagger of an unknown origin. Seth frowned at the pathetic little figure that now approached him. Killing him would not be enough - torture would be too tame. Seth smiled as he began the calling deep within his mind.

In response, the arena shook with tremors rising from within the eternal sand. Arsalan’s bewildered eyes watched in horror as the arch angels of Hell rose out of the ground in groups of two - The stone goliaths; the despairing twins and the blind pair of chaos. Each entity shook itself free of the chains which had held it beneath the ground and stood miles high, waiting for Seth to command them.

Seth’s gaze remained fixed on Arsalan, barely perceiving the powers he had brought into motion. A mixture of wonderment and deepening curiosity filled his soul as he watched Arsalan race to the edge of the Arena and begin carving a circle into the wall using the small knife Seth had identified earlier. Entranced by the futility of the action, Seth advanced for a closer look, for indeed; a passage had somehow been carved into the side of the wall.

A distant place became recognizable to Seth who drew closer still, losing himself in the world he now recognized. The land of suicides lay stretched out as far as the edges of the hole allowed him to see, and in each direction roamed masses of tortured humanity, lost in the nightmare they had created for themselves – and in this crowd Seth found Alice, bleary-eyed and wasted away; her belly protruding, her limp arms hanging uselessly by her side. She glanced up just once and caught his eye, yet recognition escaped her. Seth however found himself losing ground...Somewhere behind his shoulder he heard Arsalan’s heavy laughter. Somewhere inside his mind he found himself screaming.

_____________________________________________

The Chronicle of Creation (VXIIXII) (The conditions of existence)

All that you do not understand, you shall become.

You and everything are entwined in harmony.

Do good, do bad, do nothing. Do.

Choose in all forms. Choose through wisdom – choose through intuition – choose through emotion – choose through another. Choose.

Fear if you must – love always.

All that you do not understand, you shall become – everything, nothing and all inbetween.

_______________________________________

Lost in Limbo

Dreams. A voice is calling from deep within the cavern. Strange. He had been here before but never seen that entrance...

Strolling with a threatening sense of unease - a queasy sensation in the stomach and a deep bass roar distorting everything. Tremors of an all-consuming power come leaping forth.

Flashing gold. A solitary symbol of limitless depth. Does he dare touch it? Stepping through the gate now; into the realm of the unknown source... He is close, whispering the unthinkable. He speaks many secrets for he listens to emotion. Pain is gathering in the void. The source speaks of the emptiness in Seth’s heart. It speaks of the fulfillment of tragedy. It speaks of the man next door and the old lady cackling to herself on a park bench at dawn. It leaves no space; its knowledge is unforgiving and relentless in its completeness – sinking, sinking as questions stab into the mind.

How do you feel right now?

Everything is broken and I cannot fix it. I am trapped in a world I have created for myself. I feel as if nothing exists. My existence is more than meaningless; it is not life at all. I am merely living out a dream and I am afraid. I am so afraid yet If I face it, I am doomed because I am uncertain. If I ignore it, I am doomed because I am uncertain. There were moments when I was excessively happy but now, just fragmentary moments of pain. And then there are moments of fearful clarity where I lose contact with everything here. Everything there.

The eternal questions are chasing me in hideous forms. If none of this is real, why does it hurt? Why do I suffer this fate? And why does all of creation hint at a

similar state? There is pain everywhere here in the dark. I feel terror - and an unbearable sadness. They are connected to me. I am in pain. I am hollow. Empty.

Empty?

I feel empty because I have nothing of worth in existence. I destroy creation. I have corrupted love. I am confused right now. The moment of clarity is ill-defined and I am truly lost in this maze. I need to escape. Please, please help me stay real. The sadness is closing in.

Is that all? Is that where sadness comes from?

I have felt sadness once and that was enough. There is no meaning in this pain beyond that moment. I lost everything. Life changed, out of my control, and yet, it is all my fault. I feel alienated and ashamed. I feel everything now and the sadness grows.

Alienated?

I feel alienated because I don’t seem to fit in with the flow of life that is taken for granted by the rest of creation. I feel alienated because nothing in my life seems to move in the ways of the infinite. The uncertainty about my future makes me afraid. Will the questions ever end? Am I trapped? I feel fear.

Afraid? What scares you?

I’m afraid because I have lost something very precious. My mind...My mind is no longer controlled by me. I feel it being influenced by unseen forces in this dark place. I’m sinking into the realm of the haunting. I’m so scared...

Powerless in this haunting maze of scattered thoughts. There is no escape on either side. Sitting, listening - screaming silently as the lyrical feats of the unknown create a dread never felt before...

And then, just when all is lost, a soothing female arm appears on the horizon, guiding the lost one forward – calling out his name; bringing him closer to her with each whisper,

‘Seth...Seth...Seth. Come to me.’

A fearful trembling arose in the immortal body as it fought to save itself from the drowning pool. The gentle rescuer sat patiently, holding him close beside her – letting the warmth flowing from her heart soothe him.

‘Don’t worry Seth’ she spoke, ‘I won’t let you die here... I won’t let you die.’

She cradled his body in her arms, waiting for the shuddering to subside before beginning her story...

_________________________________________

Farah’s tale in brief fragments

PART I

It was a strange day when Arsalan returned. A year abroad at college had brought about so many changes. Was I ecstatic at seeing him once more? I remember wishing deep inside that I were, but the reality was that my heart had broken, and I could scarcely stand the sight of the boy I loved so deeply. He had betrayed me, yet he felt no remorse, oblivious to the fact that he had made himself a stranger in my eyes.

We met and we made love and the pretence continued. The weeks passed in silent torture. I was torn between self-loathing and a desperate, deep-seated desire to make our love for each other conquer the distance between us. I tried – that much is true...

I cried some nights. Mostly, I bore the pain in silence, though Arsalan, my love did realize something was wrong. He tried to restore all that was lost in all the wrong ways. His ego had grown into a beast, warping the way in which he thought. He did blame himself in part; obsessing over how he was unable to help me conquer my many failings. At the time, I half-believed him, slowly sinking into a depression which spiraled out of control.

In six months, I was a wreck, and things had gone as far as I could bear. I had not slept in weeks. We were quarreling everyday now and he hurt me terribly, throwing my weaknesses in my face. Sometimes I would not see him for days after – hiding at home in my misery while he would go off on drug binges with his friends.

Arsalan was destined to go back at the end of that first summer, and both he and I knew that when the time came, I would leave him. In his anger, he would

lash out at me, telling me to end it all now, and then, when I would stay silent, he would jeer at my inability to act. I would cry those nights...

He left me in autumn and I mourned his departure as one would at knowing their loved one had died. Finally free of his dark presence, I gathered enough courage to engage in a final fight on the phone, ending everything in a frenzy of harsh words and bitter silence. He was a stranger to me then, and remains so to this day. He had changed phenomenally and strange rumors of his excessive and odd lifestyle filtered down to me over time. Had I believed in vampires, I would have understood, but the sad truth is, my love for him was great enough for me to accept his invitation to a small gathering at his apartment.

This was the summer in which you had stepped into his life...

Arsalan was exceptionally kind to me that night. As the evening progressed, I was bewitched by his haunting beauty and the intensity his eyes held. Foolish me, I believed he had decided to try to make everything work out between us again. We ditched his friends and spent most of that night on his balcony, overlooking Karachi’s suburbs. It was dark. It was a special moment, for what it was worth – for once we were talking and the love seemed to flow easily. I didn’t think he would be able to break my heart twice. He confessed eternal love for me, oozing affection and confidence as he spoke, yet before I had a chance to react he began to trace out a strange future - one so filled with fearful and loathsome consequences; I panicked and fled the apartment in terror, tears streaming down my cheeks. His sole purpose in inviting me had been to take over my life; to make me an unwilling partner in his great plan – in this he succeeded, but not as he had hoped...

Arsalan caught up with me in the darkened alley where I had parked my car. The keys in my hand refused to slide into the lock. My body gave in and offered

itself upto him then, my mind having submitted to the hypnotic hold he forced upon me. I remember a single scream escaping my lips as he raped me, but this was a large city and it was late at night; my call went unheard. I tried to struggle and fight back, but his insatiable desire and brute strength overwhelmed me. I fell to the ground when he drew back, yet he wasn’t satisfied, because he needed everything his way... That was when he changed me forevermore. Too weak to protest, I accepted his blood in my mouth, taking strength from its salty-iron taste; drinking my fill in a desperate need to consume – I loathe myself for that act. I should have been brave enough to let myself die...

PART II

The weeks and months that followed are mostly lost to my memory. Arsalan had me chained in a dark place where I was bled repeatedly so I would be too weak to escape. At first he came daily to plead with me, to make me promises of greater things, to offer me the world if I so desired. What could I have done? I stayed silent and eventually his visits became infrequent. He saw no love - just an object hanging on a wall in chains. His violent temper would surge at the sight of me and ever so often he would have the chamber cleared so he could try to beat me into submission. I would smile at his foolish attempt to delude himself – the watchers knew exactly what he did to my body, for the scars would remain for days; some of them forever.

Arsalan never broke my mind; though there were many times I cried tears of pain. When the agony would grow too intense, I would scream. And when he would bleed me within inches of death, I would faint and hang limp against the wall, but not once did I utter a single word to him. Its hard to forgive the one you once loved for trying to change you against your will; he hurt me so much - It is hard to forgive.

Then one day, upon visiting my prison cell Arsalan did not assault me at all. He gazed upon me for an hour, his face frozen, yet his mind working feverishly behind his cold, clear eyes. There was something different in them – they gleamed of desperation and I noticed his body had been corrupted by flames. I knew he had been in battle and mortally wounded by someone his superior, yet I refused to question his damaged frame or continued silence. And that refusal finally brought clarity to him. Still enshrouded in silence, he gazed at me for a moment longer and stepped out, never to return again. I was his pact with Thanatos you see. I was the second immortal he promised Death to save his own life. It took that to lift the veil from his eyes and see what had finally come to be. He loved me for what use I was to him, no more.

After that, I was left all alone to waste away and spend my remaining energy in a slow death of misery and starvation. I saw no hope for myself – even the watchers who had guarded me so diligently had quit the chamber. In silent acceptance, I fell into a deep sleep, fearful of dying yet ready for any escape from my misery.

The Astral plane was something I had never heard of, and having been forced into my current nature, I did not know the powers a vampire possesses. I slept in the deepest pit of misery and consequently, woke up in hell. The dank, ash-grey dust woke me, choking me as I tried to breathe. Dusting myself and standing weakly upon unsteady dream feet, I began to explore the haunting landscape that lay in front of me. There were valleys and there were paths and there were ditches and there was stone in all forms yet this is where the resemblance between the real world and my hell ended. Everything was in shades of grey here, even the miserable creatures who crept along the winding paths leading to nowhere, dragging with them an unseen burden which left them doubled over, crooked and broken.

It was towards one such creature that I turned my focus upon. She was tiny and completely malformed – human once, yet now mutilated and decrepit beyond description. Her hollow eyes had paused upon mine while passing and their empty gaze had made an impression on me. I had seen a similar pain in a mirror, a long time ago. The miserable creature was crumbling under the weight of her invisible load, and if I had not rushed forward to her aid she would surely have become part of the dust and simply hung in the still air forevermore. We continued onward for a while in silence – she trying desperately to walk straight while I did my best to support her shoulders. At length, she began to tell me her tale. Her name had once been Ophelia and she had been a beautiful young woman. Life had treated Ophelia with all the kindness it could provide, allowing her moment after moment of glorious harmony. She was fantastically wealthy, incredibly beautiful; loved by all who met her, particularly by her doting husband and their two children. It had been a warm, spring day when fate decided to deliver upon her an entire lifetime’s worth of sorrow in one instance. Rising early, she had decided to roam the gardens surrounding their home to pick flowers for the house. As she walked down the familiar, winding pathways, she remained oblivious to the fact that an electrical fire had run amuck in her home, giving its sleeping residents no time to rush to safety. Everyone was dead upon her return. The sudden vacuum created by the loss made suicide a simple task. The blade in her hand had served to end her life, plunging deep into her broken heart. At that point, Hell had become her reality and she was cursed like the other suicides to roam through the barren lands, carrying the burden of her decision upon her shoulders.

I had entered the land of suicides for indeed I myself was in the process of breaking the tie to living life, yet her tale affected me to tears and I vowed that I would forevermore live as an aid to these tormented souls. I would be their one unexpected moment of comfort in a land which kindness had chosen to abandon.

I learnt how to energize and feed my chained body through travel in different parts of Hell. It was during such a journey when I came across your body lying quivering upon the ground. I had felt Ishtar’s presence in me and rumors of a battle at the Acropolis had reached my ears. I knew you then, (Arsalan having spoken a great deal about you) and though it seemed that death had taken you away, I called your name again and again, till patience finally rewarded me.

_________________________________________

Two Paths

Seth lay in the cave of sorrow for many days, letting his soul recover from the terrible ordeal it had suffered. Farah visited him often, bringing nourishment, chatting of the deeds of the otherworld or simply appearing before him in silent reverie. It was during one such moment of silent contemplation that Seth finally spoke back to his savior.

‘Help me in my confusion immortal one’ he began slowly, testing the voice he barely recognized as his own,

‘You never knew my grief. You hate my nature. I am the one who brought about the greatest sorrow in your life. I corrupted your lover and brought about your ruination. Yet you saved me, and you took care of me. Explain gentle creature before I lose myself. The sickness is upon me in waves of feeling. I feel everything now. I have never felt before, as you do in all your thoughts, your actions. Tell me Farah, where do I go from here? The oracle has sight, yet you have something greater still. Speak to me of destiny and what you feel is true. What you feel is right.’

Farah drew her legs under her, looking away from the immortal prince as she spoke,

‘Seth, don’t you see? I know of your pain for I have borne the loss of my soul-mate too. The pain is real Seth; the sorrow is the truth. You want to save yourself and preserve your nature yet more than anything, you want Alice back. You can’t have both Seth. I’m sorry. The two paths are ready and waiting for you the moment you step out of this cave. There is another reality awaiting you. A reality without Alice – a different future altogether. Or there is the other path... Nothing is lost forever Seth. If it is Alice you love, you can find her and I shall help you do so.’

The words had hardly left Farah’s mouth before she found herself held in a crushing embrace. Warm-brown strains of love and gratitude poured off Seth’s body, enfolding her in a timeless moment. It had been years since anyone had held her so, yet the awkwardness of intimacy among strangers never came. The two vampires held each other; Seth with his eyes closed in a moment of freedom – Farah with her arms clasped around his neck, gently stroking his hair. Words did not need to be exchanged, for the choice had been an illusion which both the immortals had recognized. Seth pulled away first, his eyes gazing deep into Farah’s,

‘Where do we begin?’

Farah gazed back at him steadily, reading his inquiring probe into her mind,

‘First, you must return to the Earth and find my body. It hangs in a cavern deep inside Thanatos’ underground labyrinth. Wake me Seth, and I shall take you to Arsalan’s lair where we both may end tragedy once and for all...’

The sadness leapt into Seth’s heart at having to leave Farah’s presence so soon. The fear of leaving his immortal ally alone and unprotected clung to the back of his mind in haunting images of dark streets outside Alice’s apartment. Reading his mind, Farah spoke briskly,

‘Don’t worry about me Seth. I’ll continue as before till I hear your voice calling me into reality. If for any reason the call should never come...Well, I shall remain here and find happiness in sadness... Its time for you to leave now. Think of me...’

The cave was slowly dissolving into ethereal shades of purple as Seth slowly released his mind from the dream world he had inhabited moments ago. Earth

perspective returned with full force as the inevitable weight of gravity and the will of the senses interrupted the steady flow of thoughts in Seth’s brain. He awoke to find himself in the dark room where Arias had once led him, seemingly eons ago. The protective circle of white chalk lay broken – the floorboards of the room charred. The battle had caused havoc in the physical reality of the room.

Each step towards the unhinged door was a battle within Seth’s skeletal frame. He was weak to the point of fading away, yet luck was on his side – a family of rats served to give him new strength and a renewed desire to end the madness that reigned in his conscious mind.

______________________________________________

The Dark Labyrinth

In his element once more, Seth strolled at a leisurely pace in the dark labyrinth; home to the three infernals – Thanatos, Ereshkigal and the sleeping Serpent. Having fed many times along the way, Seth had managed to revive his body to its original ethereal beauty and strength. His thirst for blood emitted a fearful death scent, making the nightmare creatures nestle deeper into their homes as the immortal one passed. He encountered no one in the length of his journey downward. Gates flew open soundlessly before him, leading him in a downward spiral to Thanatos’ prison chamber.

Following the scent of the immortal was an arduous task. The stench of death crowded the darkened passages of the cellblock. The screams of tortured victims reverberated along the ancient hallways, making it impossible to hear Farah’s beating heart. Eventually, Seth came across a door marked with Arsalan’s blood; guarded with the ancient spells that Seth had taught him once. Gaining entry to the prison cell took a mere moment.

Farah’s body hung naked upon the wall in the desolate darkness of the small chamber. The pit of misery had affected the vampire’s immortal beauty. Her hair was long and limp; a silver sheen clinging to her pale skin. Her ribs protruded in fantastical physical distortion – her muscles reduced to singular sinewy threads - one step away from death itself. Her soft breathing was barely perceptible to Seth’s senses, yet he knew she was still alive; merely dreaming in another world. He quickly tore the chains that bound her, lowering her frame to the ground gently. He spoke to the sleeping vampire in a hushed whisper, ever wary of the intense weight of the evil presence in the chamber.

For some time, Farah lay weak and barely breathing in Seth’s arms, her tired eyelids refusing to open – refusing to acknowledge the existence of life. Seth sat for many hours holding her in his lap, whispering her name in her ear again and again. He fed her a few drops of his blood, which proved to have an instant effect. Farah’s eyelids flew open as the dark liquid made its way down her parched throat. In a hoarse whisper, she spoke one word,

‘More’.

Seth left her on the floor of the cell, walking out briskly to throw open the cell next door. Inside he found a human child half-crazed with despair – the unwanted daughter of a great sorcerer. Seth dragged her by her matted hair into Farah’s chamber, slitting the girl’s wrist as he knelt before the vampire’s body, giving her a chance to feed.

As the dying girl’s last breath escaped into the air, Farah sat up and hugged Seth, clinging to him, unable to speak. Seth supported her weakened frame, providing what comfort he could to the weeping vampire. The darkness of the cell was playing tricks with his mind – already strange entities were gathering together to launch an attack upon the weaker of the two.

In one motion, Seth swept Farah into his arms, cradling her as he ran through the labyrinth, sticking to the safety of the shadows as he strode on. Night turned to day before the two vampires exited the black hole, making their way to the relative safety of the urban jungle.

_____________________________________________

Strange Days ‘You’re missing the sunset...’

Farah glanced up momentarily from her reflection in the mirror. Ten days had passed since Seth had rescued her from her prison cell and she could clearly see a remarkable change had taken place. Her silver hair now lay in soft ringlets flowing down to her hips. Her body had toned up considerably and a healthy green aura surrounded her physical presence. She looked upon her reflection once more and smiled,

‘You know I’d come join you, if you’d just turn that damn thing off.’

Seth lay in front of the television flipping channels in hopes of passing time. He watched Farah admire herself in the mirror, awestruck by the immortal’s incredible beauty. A strange awkwardness descended upon him as she joined him on the floor of the living room.

‘So, what’s on TV?’

Seth

flipped

through

channels

scanning

the

flashing

images

and

disconnected sounds flying by. He began calling out in a soft monotone, his fingers tapping the button,

‘Murder, death, rape, disease on the news...Giraffes fucking on the Discovery Channel...Britney Spears covered in oil...ads, ads, ads, ads, ads; children missing, hate-crimes, bombs, pulp fiction; sitcom featuring two lovers; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; more news, new bombs, ads, ads, ads, ads, ads...’

Farah snatched the remote from his hand, hitting the power button.

‘Quit it.’ ‘Quit what?’

She stared down at him silently, her eyes flashing,

‘Let’s talk about something – anything! What’s on your mind? What are you thinking right now? Look at me...’

Seth turned to face her in silence. The awkwardness was now mingled with a nagging pain he could not trace.

‘I’m just tired, that’s all. I have nothing to say really. I don’t think often. Perhaps I don’t think at all – I really can’t say. I haven’t been myself in a long time.’

‘How can you not be yourself?’ she asked inquisitively. ‘You are you no matter what you do or think, dontcha think?’

She grinned at him, her eyes shining white light.

‘I don’t feel like myself’ he replied briskly.

Farah smiled mischievously, an eyebrow rising in mock-surprise,

‘I thought you didn’t believe in feelings Seth.’

The unbearable awkwardness, the strange pain deep inside and the pressure to respond made something snap inside Seth. Without thinking he spoke out in bitter tones of inky black,

‘Quite honestly, you were a better companion in Hell.’

Silence.

Farah turned to gaze out the window, her fingers clawing at the floor rug in a distracted manner. Instant waves of remorse came pouring off Seth as he quickly apologized,

‘I’m sorry... It wasn’t meant that way.’

Farah shrugged in a pretence of non-chalance. Seth had hurt her deeply, but it didn’t matter. Being a vampire allowed her to live with the pain in silent acceptance. In the end, nothing ever really mattered. She interrupted her reverie to ease Seth’s growing anxiety,

‘There’s nothing to be sorry about. My mistake. So...What do you want to do now?’

Seth got off the floor and headed towards the open window,

‘I want to show you something. Come with me.’

‘Is it far?’

‘Not far. Come. The sun is setting.’ _____________________________________________

Atop the Watchtower

Farah ran across the rooftops of Urbania, giddy with delight at having the freedom to push her body to the limits once more. Heading steadily south she chased Seth across the dense suburbs and the project area of the giant city in a single breath. Downtown raced by below as the two blurs burst out across the sky, flying in leaps and bounds across the high-rise buildings.

An incredible collage of dirty-grey and shining neon flashed by in Seth’s vision as he ran, yet his eyesight was not his guide. Following this path had been a daily routine in his life, seemingly ages ago. He knew the way to the watchtower like the back of his hand. As long as Farah’s presence remained fairly close behind him, he could race away at full tilt. Barely a minute had passed since their departure and already, the tallest skyscraper of Urbania appeared before them, towering over all the buildings surrounding it.

Seth and Farah leapt the final twenty stories to the watchtower atop the roof of the skyscraper, crouching low as they landed heavily upon the cold iron structure. The sudden lack of momentum left the two dizzy and momentarily blind.

Vision returned soon enough and Farah found herself gasping at the splendor of the world spread out in front of her. The city stretched out as far as the eye could see in unimaginable geometrical chaos. It seemed as if reality had blended into the dream-world, bringing the surreal nature of imagined beauty into the present landscape.

Seth walked over to Farah’s side, sharing in the transcendental sensations emanating from within her heart. He spoke softly into her ear,

‘Wait for the moment Farah. The sun is sinking even as I speak. Wait for the moment before darkness falls.’

As Seth spoke, a wondrous change took place in the canvas that lay before them. The final rays of the dying sun hit the dark clouds scattered above the city, causing a riot of colors to flood into the world. For one instance, a singular shade of blood-red surged forward, enveloping Urbania – reflecting off the cars, buildings and trees that lined the streets far, far below.

Tears flowed down Farah’s cheeks as she stood in silence, her senses being overwhelmed by the strange beauty that seemed to flow from every direction. She grabbed Seth’s hand, entwining his fingers in her own.

‘Seth. This is the happiest moment in my life. Thank you... Thank you for bringing me here… It all seems so unreal... Did you come here often?’

Seth nodded, gazing out toward the horizon.

‘Tell me Seth, did you ever bring her here? Did Alice get to see this?’

Silence followed as the pain welled inside Seth.

‘Is there a reason you brought me here Seth? Is there something you want to tell me? Why don’t you look at me Seth? I’m here, right beside you...Speak to me. I...I can help.’

He couldn’t bear to turn and look upon her. A strange fear had risen within him; a fear of the unknown. If he turned to look at her now, he knew that something

deep inside would be unmade – he would lose something precious...He would lose Alice...

‘Seth’ She called out again, ‘Its okay...Lets leave this place. It’s cold now that the sun has set. Odd...Just a moment ago I imagined I could have stood here with you by my side and been happy forever. Its sad how fast things change’ she sighed. ‘Let’s leave now. Tomorrow I’ll take you out to the desert. I can sense Arsalan’s presence even now, ten thousand miles away... Perhaps tomorrow your desire will be fulfilled.’

Nodding slowly, Seth turned to face Farah, relieved yet oddly disappointed at finding her lost in her own thoughts as she gazed out into the night. He led her back to their apartment, still avoiding gazing into the eyes of the immortal who ran alongside him.

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The End

‘Are you sure you’re ready for this?’

Farah remained silent and dream-like, ignoring Seth’s question as she skipped lightly over the desert sand. The two had not spoken for several hours now. The whole day had passed in silent preparation for the final journey to Arsalan’s home, deep in the expanding desert that surrounded Karachi.

‘He’s close by, isn’t he?’

‘Close enough’ she replied curtly, turning to give Seth a searching look before disappearing over the top of the rising dune. Things had changed inside her, but to reveal her feelings at this moment would be futile. She accepted this fact with a false-pretence of calm indifference as her heart beat a strange rhythm inside her. The two continued their journey, lost in thoughts.

Seth was surrounded by a plethora of haunting images projected into the calm desert air around him. His mind tried to focus upon the sense of familiar dread rising inside, but Arsalan’s lair was drawing closer with each footstep, drowning him in hatred. The surrounding air grew hot with rage and rose away from his body, making him shimmer and fade softly; another surreal mirage walking across the desert horizon.

Time flowed...The sun began its steady arc into the horizon, casting long shadows across the dunes. The two vampires began to change their rhythm as darkness spread, choosing to weave their way through the shadows, their senses alert to the movements of the night creatures which prepared to waken. There was

no real danger here. Arsalan’s minions were pathetic creatures raised to fawn over their lord and master; to never challenge his word or position.

They came in twos and threes with bared fangs and dim minds, moving as if surrounded by a large body of water as Seth cleaved his way through them, ensuring Farah a safe path, though she moved at a fair distance from him. She marched on as if unaware of the silent battle cries of blood hungry young. Her mind was set on the ever-nearing goal of Arsalan’s beating heart which began its drone some steps away from the entrance to the fortress. A false sense of security ensured open gates and silent halls as the two entered the stone-walled outpost. Both knew the path they had to follow as the sound of Arsalan’s heart grew louder and steadier into an almighty rhythm as their concentration focused in on the source. And they knew that he would similarly be gauging their approaching hearts.

Farah, who had led the two upon entering the grounds now slowed her pace to a leisurely stroll, having crossed the final domed hall into the central chamber where Arsalan lay sprawled upon his raised throne. Seth followed closely behind, locking eyes with his adversary who waved a hand in greeting to the two intruders, not once allowing his composure to fall. If either of the three felt the sway of emotions, none of them showed it. To all outward appearance, it seemed that three friends were meeting at an appointed destination for a late cup of tea.

Swiveling slowly to face the two, Arsalan rested his elbows upon his knees, cupping his face in his hands to pose as an angelic cherub with his pouting lips and glowing skin. He motioned with a nod of his head, asking the two to come take a seat before him upon the lavish rugs spread across the floor. They accepted the invitation and once more, silence and stillness permeated the darkening chamber.

With a soft musical lisp, Arsalan began to speak in rhyme,

‘Seth and Farah, sitting on my floor, waiting waiting to see what’s in store. It’s ironic really. You could almost say the two of you have had a second awakening from death.’

‘You’re a fairly poor killer my pupil’ spoke Seth shortly.

‘Indeed it seems that way,’ came the retort, ‘But you dearest creator of my blood and soul, you are a fantastic killer are you not? Shall we have a count perhaps? How many of your children have you killed Seth? How many?’ Breaking into laughter, the cherubic mask fell from Arsalan’s face as venom filled his eyes, ‘All the world assumes I am the villain! I am the one who has no control! I am the one who kills his maker and his lover! I’m the one who strikes deals to save himself, but you! You have nothing to do with all this because you are so pure with your reason and your feelings and your doubts! The truth Seth! Your decay into human tendency has resulted in your failure to comprehend that all this is your doing. You abandoned me! You abandoned yourself! You leave everyone eventually. You kill, but with heart and soul – mores the pity.’

‘Never this way Arsalan. Never this way.’ ran the silent whisper from the pale statue by the floor. ‘It is the intention which shapes the action. Murder happens, but evil is a creation of your choosing. Quite a human trait as well. One I do not choose.’

‘And there we have it!’ cried Arsalan with a manic gleam in his eyes, ‘You admit to it! The one difference that makes all the difference! Oh how I would laugh in your face if I knew you would comprehend its meaning! You? Evolving into a human? The irony of it makes me laugh! You are so weak! I can see it in your mind’s feeble attempts to reason against your real nature. What a dilemma! To have lived and killed to the point of generating compassion. I call you hypocrite, killing in the name

of good intentions! I call you a liar! I call you deceived! All of this is your doing! All of it! And I am the fulfillment of that part of you which you deny so vehemently now. The real you. I am the vampire Seth...And your choices are what have led you to this point. The death you unknowingly seek.’

‘And what of your choices Arsalan dearest?’ Began Farah slowly rising off the floor, ‘You are so bold in judging others...perhaps you should apply the same principle to yourself. Don’t you recognize me? You used to love me once...Was it that easy to forget?’

If there was pain to be felt, it was not visible in Arsalan’s eyes as he finally brought his gaze to rest upon his one-time human companion.

‘Why Farah? Why this way? Must I kill you twice? You have destroyed everything... Everything.’

‘I destroyed everything?’ she retorted sharply, ‘I? I destroyed everything? Well since nothing I say or do will convince you to see things otherwise...Lets leave it at this – everything was destroyed a long time ago Arsalan, that much is true. This is just a fitting end to it all. Don’t you see Arsalan? The choice isn’t mine or Seth’s anymore. The choice is really yours Arsalan. What do you choose?’

‘Choice is an illusion here’ Arsalan snapped, ‘Choice? There are no choices. There is what is and what must be. Did I choose to love you? Did I choose to kill you both? Do I still choose to kill you both? Or perhaps you would like me to submit to your wills and begin to doubt myself. I should have known better. I should have known better...’

The three vampires stood in sync, prepared for the next step, each of them unsure of how the story would end. Arsalan racked his mind for a third path – any escape from what faced him but found his mind running in circles. Seth was haunted by a sense of dejavu – he had seen and felt this moment once before, yet he could not find the quality that defined it as such. He shifted his gaze to Farah who stood with calm resignation on her face, having innately understood the end some time ago. She sensed his gaze and raised her hand in warning.

The spell had been broken. As Seth’s attention drifted, Arsalan acted, fading from his place on the throne moments ago to circle behind Farah and clasp her in a death grip. Her warning signal had barely formed before she found her arms pinned behind her back. Half a second later, she felt her arms snap as Arsalan bore all his force on her limbs, snapping her spine in two.

Arsalan had one momentary glimpse of the devil rising off the stone floor before the darkness clouded his vision. His face remained frozen in horror as his lifeblood flowed from the gash carved across his chest. His arms waved haplessly about his exposed ribs, trying in vain to find his lower body. Seth had torn him in two. Death came quick enough, excited at the prospect of dealing with another immortal’s passage into the third realm.

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Requiem

Seth held Arsalan’s still-beating heart in his hands yet the pain would not end. Without a thought in his head he left hate behind him, his ears ringing with the sound of Farah’s death scream. He approaches his companion and leaned over her sprawled body. She lay in a dark pool of her own blood. The damage was done. Her lips parted and she spoke in a soft tremble,

‘Seth...Hold me. I’m scared. The shadows are closing in. Hold me.’

Seth wrapped his arms around Farah, holding her up so he could gaze into her eyes one final time. He tried in vain to feed her, to stop the flow of her life running across the cold stone floor. It was in vain. The damage was done.

‘Farah. Please don’t die Farah...Please. I love you...’

As he spoke, Seth felt his mind unraveling. Before him, Farah’s face was slowly changing as a slow smile broke out across her face. As he gazed into her eyes, he found himself looking into the face of Isis who appeared deep inside the body he held. She continued to smile at him, changing form as time froze in the moment. Alice was in his arms now. She held Seth’s eyes in a steady gaze, speaking as she reached up to enfold him in her arms,

‘I love you too Seth. You always knew that didn’t you? Doesn’t it feel good to give in my love? To just let go and feel? You’re crying. That’s okay – you look beautiful tonight. Look out the window Seth. It’s the darkest hour of the day – just before the sun rises. I used to lie in bed pretending to sleep while you would step onto the balcony to worship this moment. We all hold things in our hearts Seth. Keep this moment with you. I know I’m dying and you feel your existence shattering...Don’t

feel that way Seth. I’m being set free once more – free just for you. Look for me again Seth and you will find me. I’ll be right beside you forever. You just have to look...I love you Seth. Hold me.’

The immortal body curled up as it was wracked with pain. Seth lay his face against the smooth skin of the cheek and spoke gently, as if the words would damage the dying soul,

‘Farah. Alice. I made a mistake. On the roof when the sun set...I should have told you. What Isis meant…I know what it means to be human. I know what love is. I made a mistake dearest one. The wrong choice of revenge when I had been returned the one thing I thought I had lost. Forgive me.’

With a sigh, Farah’s body went limp. Her now-vacant eyes gazed up at Seth, an eternal enigma in their expression. Silence descended upon the room. Outside, the North wind began to blow, gathering up the dust and scattering it across the distant plains. Seth rose slowly, breathing in the final moments to a new beginning. He followed the shadows along the walls to the great gate. Stepping outside, his figure faded into the distance, enveloped by the dust storm rising in the darkness of the new day.

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