Vampire Reincarnation

A voice whispers in my head, about something I had seemingly forgotten, and it scares me more than this ever-watching forest.

Kai’s finger trembled, his mind raced, and fear coursed through his veins just as much as adrenaline and cortisol. Raymond kneeled in front of him, and looked at the boy with a deadpan expression. Any hint of emotion he had a second ago completely disappeared, which drove Kai mad as he couldn’t read the man. Who am I? What sort of question is that? What does he mean by that? Fuck! One wrong answer and my finger is gone!

“C-could you be more specific?” Cold sweat dripped down his forehead, however his question didn’t serve much purpose, besides helping the tip of the blade make contact with his skin. A line of blood dripped down on the chair, and then on the floor. Fuck! This heartless bastard!

Kai cried inwardly, and his pupils shook as he gulped, his voice stuck in his throat together with any other questions he wanted to ask. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Think, Kai, think! His throat trembled as his breath sped up, and the chair shook as he moved his bound feet. Please, think! He grit his teeth and closed his eyes.

Who am I? Who am I? I am Kai… the vampire, son of Elena and Ray. It is who I am, right?

Suddenly, as he asked himself that, all of his anxiety, pain, and fears faded away. His eyes snapped open, and he caught his breath as he looked around. A dark space surrounded him, completely devoid of any light. He looked down - blank, not even his body was visible. Looking up, nothing yet again. The tranquility of this place weirded Kai out, more than that, it scared him. This feels familiar… He took a step, as silent as the void, and then another. Nothing changed, the dark void didn’t shift, or disappear, however he kept going forward. It’s warm… Something called out to him, from the void, from the emptiness. He followed it, unquestioning, and kept a steady pace. He kept going, without a goal or destination.

Gradually, the void shifted, a red light manifesting before Kai, which transformed into a bright-red eye, with a lizard - like pupil. Its imposing presence caused Kai to fall backward, and yet, despite the magnificent spectacle, he felt nothing.

The eye blinked, and stared at Kai with a burning gaze.

Child, not running away anymore? It asked, its voice echoing rapidly as it spread within the void.

“No…” Kai said as he stared blankly at the thing, feeling a familiar - more than familiar - blood - linked feeling. “Who are you?”

Bwahahahahaahaah! It laughed, its voice scraping Kai’s ears. Quite an ironic question, isn’t it? Weren’t you just asked the same thing?

Kai stared at the eye, almost expressionless, or at least he thought he was. “Right, I guess it is. Where are we, then?”

Well, isn’t it obvious? Inside your head, aren’t we?

“This is… my head?” Kai looked around with confusion.

A little empty, isn’t it? The boy nodded, prompting the eye to squint slightly. You know why? Because this is the innermost part of your brain, where the ‘original’ you lived.

Original me? Kai repeated the sentence, and his thoughts echoed inside the empty void just as his voice would.

Yes, the original you. The one who was supposed to inhabit this body. Hwahahahaha! The eye’s laugh scraped Kai’s mind, like a fork on a plate. And you killed it twice, isn’t that fun?!

Twice? What do you mean?

First, when that damned soul of yours took over the newly born baby. Second, in the church, when you let your mind gate open, it tried to take over, and failed. It disappeared afterwards however, and now this part of your mind is empty.

Kai gulped and stared in shock, unable to believe the words coming out of this strange entity. He didn’t want to believe them, how could he? After all… I didn’t know any of this- I-

So what? You still killed it, haha! And without remorse nonetheless, Kid, I like you more than whoever the original was.

Taking a second to rearrange his thoughts, Kai took in a deep ‘breath’. Why are you telling me all this?

The eye rolled its pupil and said, Well, considering your current situation, to put it in your terms, you’re fucked, aren’t you?

Fucked? How are you so sure?

The man is stronger than you by a lot, and no matter what you say, the answer will always be wrong. But-

But?

I can help you, accept me. Tap into my power and defeat that man. It said, and a shiver ran down Kai’s spine as an enormous magical aura enveloped him. It was warm, like the sun which he hasn’t felt in a long time. The aura hugged him, sending a wave of powerful warmth all over his body, stimulating his core and veins.

What…

This is a fraction of my power, reincarnator. I can give it all to you, let you borrow it, if you will. The only condition is allowing me to reside inside your mind.

Borrow? Kai scoffed, So that means you’ll take it back at some point, isn’t that right?

The eye squinted and approached Kai, standing inches away from his face. Well, aren’t you a smart one? Little boy, if you were to keep my power for more than one minute your entire body will shatter into pieces and turn to atoms!

Well, isn’t that a convenient excuse? Haha, don’t make me laugh. I may have died young but I’ve seen enough shows to know what you’re scheming.

Scheming? Stupid boy, I’m offering you a way out.

Kai remained silent, not thinking or speaking, however, his lips parted, and said in a loud voice. “I don’t need your help. Now, if you were to be so kind as to fuck off from my brain-”

FOOL! YOU THINK YOU CAN SURVIVE THAT MAN ALONE? YOU DON’T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA ABOUT HOW STRONG HE-

“Yeah, yeah. Shut it, monster. You’ve been haunting me for so long, and you expect me to trust you?”

It’s an exchange. You want to live and get your revenge, I want you to help me later. Simple as that.

“Sure, thanks, but no thanks. Now-”

Boy, listen to me. The eye said, sounding almost desperate to Kai’s ears. Just let me take this empty place, and call upon me when you want my power. I will help you with whatever you need to deal with.

“No, now fuck off from my mind, I don’t need an unknown thing’s help.”

You-, fine… I’ll be watching you, let’s see who will have the last laugh.

…

Kai woke up, his blurry vision making out Raymond’s figure, staring at him with a deadly look. The man took a rushed breath and looked away for a moment before locking eyes with Kai. “So are you going to tell me?”

Taking a deep breath, Kai closed his eyes and prepared himself. Just as his lips parted, however, Raymond grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him and the chair in the air. His aura flared up, and intense magical force burned against Kai’s skin as the man’s voice rang in his ears like a bell. “I’m losing my patience here!” One hand gripped Kai’s neck, and the other held him in place by the collar. However, alongside it, Raymond also grabbed the necklace, which immediately rejected his presence.

However, due to the intense mana fluctuations, it couldn’t fight against his touch. Instantly, a bright flash of purple enveloped the room, trapping and extinguishing Raymond’s magic before his eyes rolled backward, and he let go of Kai as his unconscious body collapsed on the ground.

…

The much too familiar void greeted Kai once again, and he let out a sigh of relief upon finding himself in the world created by his father, somehow. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, his pupils widening upon seeing a man chained up, unmoving not too far away from him.

He quickly hurried over, his silver hair flowing in the non-existent, yet present wind, and gazed at the magical prison with intense curiosity. The man, of course, was Raymond, and surrounding him were chains made out of magic. A dark-ish purple hue coated the metallic bindings, and they bound around the man, and a pole, tightly holding him in place. His eyelids blinked softly, and he inspected the surroundings with confusion.

The chains clinked as he attempted to move, however his pupils constricted upon feeling the force of his restraints, and quickly gave up any such thoughts. “What is this place?” He asked Kai, who stood before him with a similarly confused expression.

“How did you get in here?” He replied back with a question, and circled the man a few times.

“Aren’t you supposed to tell me that?” Raymond scoffed as he followed Kai, “That hair color…”

“Ah? Yeah, this is my natural color.”

“Natural? Then did you use a spell to mask it previously? But that’s not possible, you’re too weak for it. How did you do it?”

“Oh?” Kai grunted, “Do you not know about hair dye?”

“Hair, what? Wait, forget about that.” The man’s voice grew a little annoyed, surprised by this sudden change of dynamics. “What did you do to me?”

“Me? Nothing. Must have been a defense mechanism dad put in place in case of intruders.”

“Dad?” Raymond repeated, looking around the world surrounding him. A land that stretched deep into a thick fog, a purple sun and a small building not too far into the distance. “Your dad… created his pocket space?”

“Hmm? I guess so, if that’s what you want to call it. I never actually gave it a name.”

Cold sweat dripped down Raymond’s forehead, and any thought of escaping or fighting back had completely escaped his mind. A light chuckle escaped his mouth, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Kid… just who is your dad?”

“First you asked who am I, then who is my dad. Well, aren’t you curious?” Kai said sarcastically, finding the sudden turn to be quite comedic, despite all the very real danger he was in earlier. “I’m not going to answer your second question, but I’ll tell you one truth.” He locked eyes with Raymond, who had a sudden chill run down his spine. “I am Kai, and I care not for your city or kingdom. I only have one goal, and, just like you’d do everything to protect your property, I will do whatever it takes to achieve it. You got it?”

I’m so glad this necklace activated when it did, otherwise I’d have had to tell him my entire story just to hope he’d let me live. I have to at least scare him a bit, right…? Just as that thought passed his mind, the chains around Raymond tightened slightly, just enough for him to be short of breath. Oh?

Kai giggled and looked at the man’s shirt, which immediately disappeared, leaving his upper body almost naked safe for the suit. “Amazing…” He murmured, and took a step, immediately appearing in front of the library, then another step, which made him return to his original location.

“Kid just… what are you doing?” Raymond asked, his cheeks slightly red and voice filled with fury.

“I don’t know either, I didn’t know I could do this until now.” A slight smile creased his lips, and he manifested the shirt back on Raymond’s body. “Sorry for that.”

The man looked at Kai with an annoyed expression, however simply sighed and seemingly gave up. “This isn’t a funny situation to be in, kid.”