The Shadows

. . . . . . I donot know what it feels like, it iches me, the puss runs out of the chapped muscles. It's thick and cloying, and it seems to cling. There is a sickeningly sweet undertone to the smell of rot and decay. . . . . I feel the need, the very need to change my cover. . . . . .

"Mr. Felix, you never had been so quite, is everything alright?"asked Neena, the bartendress who came for a second round of whiskey. Mr. Felix looked at her with a blank face and moved his gaze to a lady dancing waltz. He decided not to answer.

Neena went away refilling the empty glass.

Days went by, I never feel comfortable. . . . I have to save myself and my sister. . . . she urges hard to live.

"Oh! Life is so pretty, its so good. . . . . "

It was a bond beyond every relationship, I have never left my little sister alone. I promised both our mom that I did take care of her. . . . . . I was her shadow. . . . I would protect her always, that was almost a century back !

But now every thing seems monotonous.

I keep changing my cover, my face, my voice, my character, I keep changing my places to keep her safe. . . . .

No, I am not a vampire but she is, her mom was but my mom was I don't know what she was, she was a shape shifter. I may have gotten her genes but this is . . . . . this is so different.

"I am dead but I am alive, I remain alive through human skins. . . like a parasite.

When I start to decompose, I look for a host. . . . & then. . . . . . the change takes place. I take his or her identity and start living like him or her. . . . I do this only for my sister. She is my step sister but I love her, love her beyond every thing, I am her shadow.

It's been a year I have been in the skin of Felix , my body started to rot again. She can no longer feed on me, my blood doesnot circulate. . . . she is growing sick. . . . . . she needs blood and I need a new host. . . .

"Hey, hey! What's up man, what are you doing here?" the ranch man shouted as I climbed down the fence to the ranch.

I was wobbling, the muscles were chapped, it had started to rot, I was getting out of breath, I held on to my chest, the flesh had started to decay and fall down. I felt the skin on my cheek was blown off. The ranch man looked horrified. . . . . I could hardly lift my self up and walked towards him with a hunch. No one was in sight, it was the onset of dusk. . . this was the perfect time. . . . . I walked slowly towards him, the setting sun fell on me elongating my terrible shadow. . . . . . . .

I walked slowly out of the ranch after burning the decayed body. I had collected the remains precariously and left no signs of cremation behind. He was my seventieth host.

Lorna fed on the fresh blood, she felt relieved but I was terrified. The technology has developed, people moved more to cities, they started using internet and news started spreading faster. . . . missing people, recovered remains, burnt and charred pieces of bones.

I felt no one would recognise me, it was difficult, but seems the clutches of the FBI was about to reach me. More often the news of cremeted or buried burnt bodies echoed in the television.

I had taken great care while cremeting them all but some how I had to flee from few places due to the police, alarms, smokes, smell. . . . .

I had to continue, Lorna could not live without me, she was a parasite vampire. She could only feed on a mundane like me who can host a human body and nothing else.

I was just a host for her, if I die , she dies too, she could not suck any other blood. Though 'step' we were related by the blood, the main element of our bond. Our dad was same, we were linked with the bloodline.

I love my sister, she had been so dear to me. I remember when we were kids, she once fell unconscious while playing, dad had taken her to his room and after about an hour she came out chirping but dad was weared out, tired and I could spot 2 dots of blood on his neck. I was too young to understand. Dad was killed by Vampire hunters leaving Lorna to her mother and me, my mom was a shape shifter, there had been no news of her. She left me when I was a kid and my dad remarried.

Lorna's mom was good, may be better than my mom.

I was an outcast of the outcasts. I never had shown any signs of being an outcast, though both my parents were. I was a combination of both a shapeshifter and a vampire. However days went by so did the weeks and years. I was a teenager who was brutally harassed by my fellow outcasts and ragged by my university friends. Lorna always stood by me, but she was younger and was quietened with a scold. The anger, the annoyance, irritation, mistreat every thing started to embed within me. My dad would often try to water the seed of vampire features in me assuming I was a vampire too like him. But I never wanted to meet his fate. Lorna's mom treated me well. Lorna and I were closely knit but luck would have it. When Lorna's mom suffered injuries and could not retain. Lorna was about to die without blood. . . . I was the bloodline of my dad and without any hesitation I offered to feed my blood. Now its been ages. As my blood was giving ways and I was about to die, Lorna too was giving ways, my flesh started to chap off, I was thirsty, my throat dried off. . . . then I saw this man, he was running away possibly from the cops, I clutched his hands for water, he tried to relieve himself, but I hold un to him fast and tight. . . . and in few seconds his human body turned into a dried corpse. . . . I looked at my hands, I felt young again, the breath in me generated. . . . I looked like the man. . . . . . then I realised I had this typical powers.

I almost scared Lorna when I reached in the new looks, it took me some time to make her realise that I was her big sister hosting a man.

Now I would have to carry on the same way change my host so that Lorna can feed on me. . . . for my little sister, I love her more than I love myself, I would have to take care of her for I was her only sister from her bloodline. We have to take care of each other. . . . we are connected. . . connected via a host!

But. . . . the cops, the FBI. . . someone located me when I changed my host, I was spotted, the CCTV camera spotted me, the FBI started to look for me, if I change host frequently, I was to be found. I fled with my little sister to some other place, the bus sped off. . . Lorna hunched on to me she was deep asleep, the glittering sun rays fell on Lorna's face enlightening her. Her face shone like the morning glory. . . . so calm. . . I felt to kiss her once. . . but there was something, I felt an itch. . something that turmoiled me, I could feel the piercing pain in me, the muscles cramps, chapping off, the pus started to run from underneath my elbow. . . "s**t, it affected my skin". How do I get a host now. I woke Lorna up and asked her to stay still, we would get down at the next stop. I tried hiding my over flowing puss, unfurling the sleeves of my shirt and jacket, pulled over my jacket's hood, how could I get the smell go off. . . . the rotten smell.

It became uncomfortable for us, for the passengers. . . . I could hardly breathe. . . .

Lorna had turned white, her lips dead white. . . she was to be fed. . . . . she couldnot get up. . . . I was starled. . . was that our end. . . . the bus was about to stop when some one shrieked behind. . . . "Look the girl has no face. . . . "I was nervous, for the first time I was scared. . . . . scared for me and Lorna. . . . my little sister, she was to die if she does not get the blood.

 The bus stopped with a screeching sound. . . . I pulled over Lorna and literally dragged her out of the bus. . . . . I knew this would create a fuss and I was right. . . . I was alarmed by the sirens. . . . we had to find place to hide. . . . . but Lorna was still she fell off with out a sound. Her breath was hold. . . . the heart almost skipped the beats, I could feel my death was near. . . . I was rotting. . . my muscles had given ways. . . . was this our end?

I sneaked in to the woods near by. . . . I could not carry Lorna. . . I need to find a host. . . . then I saw a squirrel. . . . That could only be the way out. . . . I caught hold of the squirrel. . . . the dead corpse lay there but what was I?

I was still the wobbling piece of s**t. . . . I could not change my forms.

What can I do now. . . . I saw my sister from a distance. . . . by the side of the road cranking in pain. . . she was turning white. . . . white as snow.

Her body, her face, her hair. . . . . wrinkles started to erupt on her skin. . . . "What the f**k!"

She was transforming. . . . . in to a corpse. . . . she needed blood. . . . her sharp carnivorous teeth erupted and she struggled to look for blood. . . .

She gripped the earth tightly. . I could understand the pain she was going through. . . . I was going through the same pain. . . . her withered nails gave ways. . . . she looked with willing eyes to me. . . . no one was in sight. . . . . . she craved. . . . my love for her could not save her any more. . . . she laid there slowly and gradually turning into a rotten corpse.

I was in the other side diminishing into a rotten ball. . . . . . forever. We lived together and we are dying together. . . . we were shadows of each other!