Comedor De Memória

Chapter. 1. The Predator of Memories

The full moon shone perfectly behind the leaves of the trees in the dark forest. A ray of light peeking out from between the leaves shone on me who was lying resignedly on the ground with a hole in my chest. The hole in the heart was pierced by a silver peg made by a priest from G*****a. Yes, my fate will end that day after centuries I preyed on humans to suck their blood.

Greed is the most terrible lust. In order to satisfy my desire, I slaughtered all the humans that inhabited a village. I killed all the inhabitants of the village one by one, regardless of whether it was children, adults or even the elderly, I slaughtered them all. The endless thirst in my throat made the sense of humanity that I had lost. Oh, forgot. I really don't have any sense of humanity because I'm not human anymore, but bloodthirsty monsters they call vampires.

Until a priest managed to trap and stab a silver stake right in my heart. I was helpless under the moonlight, waiting for death to pick me up. However, for some reason the death has not yet greeted? I'm still alive with a dying state endured the pain in the chest is very, very. Every now and then I spit out black blood, the blood of the vampires. Trust me, this is the first time I want to scream, begging for my own death. Even though the first time I was made a vampire by an Ancestor, the pain wasn't as intense as this. I closed my eyes just to relieve the stinging pain. 

"Você está esperando a morte?¹" Suddenly a voice echoed in my head asking me to die.

I, who was feeling endless pain at that time, thought that I was starting to hallucinate because the blood from my body was drained out through the wound. I ignored the voice, just lying resignedly on the wet ground full of fallen willow leaves from their branches. 

"Você está esperando a morte?" The voice came again. Annoyed, I slowly opened my eyes. And, there, beside my body which was lying on the ground, stood a tall, skinny creature, pale-faced, wearing a black robe with a hood over its head. He has five wings formed from an array of sharp black spikes, and his eyes are covered with a cloth that matches his robes. 

"Are you the god of death?" I said softly looking at the figure who made goosebumps, goosebumps.

"Você está esperando a morte?" he asked a third time. 

"Haa." I sighed at the creature's repeated questions. 

"Yes, I was waiting for death. All this time I was only left to die as if death refused to welcome me." 

The creature lowered its head, opening its mouth to say something. Strange, I got goosebumps when I saw the sharp black teeth lined up on his gums. Maybe this is the figure of a god of death for a bloodthirsty monster like me, there's nothing good about it. Scary! 

"Too bad, you bloodsucker. The god of death you hoped for I prevented from taking your life," the creature hissed. "Look!"

Behind the hooded figure, another figure appeared in the form of a beautiful creature wearing a black robe, wings like the wings of a crow with dark black feathers, carrying a large scythe which is usually used to slash the lives of creatures that are about to die. The god of death's eyes looked furious. I don't know what happened to make the god who carries a  scythe as a tool of death angry. 

“Ultrajante!² Don't get in the way of my job of taking this vampire's life, Memória!” rebuke the god of death. 

The creature called Memória drifted from place to place towards my head. His clothes, which were shabby black robes, dangled in the wind.

"Unfortunately, O Morte. This blood-sucking man has given me his life. The great sin and cruelty he has committed so far has angered the Creator, so that he assigned me to overcome all his actions," said Memória. 

"You can't! He must be executed immediately, I will take his spirit to the worst place to atone for his sins," said Morte the god of death.

The two creatures argued as I felt the pain. Honestly, I expected death right then and there. This pain is really unbearable. 

"Aaargh. Take my life, I'm in pain!"

Hearing my scream, the god of death approached my body which was sprawled on the ground. He prepared to swing his scythe to take my life. However, just as the sharp edge of the scythe was about to touch my neck, the shiny object suddenly stopped. 

While Memória lingered near my head, a sinister grin spread across it as the god of death was about to take my life, but stopped suddenly. I don't know what that handsome life-killer was thinking. It was just that he was silent for a moment as if contemplating something. Soon Morte pulled back the scythe that was about to be used to take my life earlier. 

"Well? Will you continue taking this vampire's life, Morte?" quipped Memória still with the same grin. 

Morte the god of death was silent. Then with a cold stare he said, "Alright, you won, Memória. He's yours!"

After that, the god of death suddenly disappeared somewhere without leaving a trace. Hey, wait! What about my fate? However, the pain in my chest was getting worse. I was expecting to die right then and there. However, why am I just being left without this life being taken away first. 

"What happened? Why didn't Morte take my life?" I asked breathlessly in pain. 

Memória giggled at my behavior. A laugh that seemed to mock me for not dying. 

"Calm down, Senhor Vampiro³. It's not his turn to play games with you. The Creator has told me that it's my job to punish you." 

I don't understand Memória's meaning. What's really going on? Why did this strange creature come? Punishment?

"Are you curious about my arrival? There are so many questions in the head of a dying monster like you. Ah, yes. I did come to give you a punishment, more like a curse!" Memória crouched down, a pale index finger with sharp black nails tapping my forehead. Apparently he can read my mind. 

"Where do I start?" Memória looked up, the index finger that had been tapping his forehead was now touching his chin. 

"Okay, I'll start with the main purpose I came here. But before..." 

Memória moved to the right side of my body. Then he violently strangled my neck, with the sharp nails of his pale fingers digging into the skin of the neck, to be more precise in the veins. After that he lifted my body, which had been lying on the ground, into the air. The pain now increased beyond my chest, my neck also felt the sting of Memória's sharp fingernails. I screamed in pain until I coughed. Another mouthful of blood spit out from my mouth.

“W-what are you going to do, Memória?” I stammered asking Memória's actions that suddenly hurt me. 

"I'm casting a curse on you through my fingernails. Shut up!" 

I gasped for breath holding back the pain that grew apart from the wound in my chest. Oh shit. I'd rather die than be tormented by this pain. 

"Would you rather die?" Damn second time, I forgot Memória had the ability to read minds.

"You have no choice, Senhora Vampiro. Slaughtering a village of humans without being selective is an unforgivable sin. Ah wait, that one human that you sucked blood is also a sin. Then, you killed just for the sake of satisfying your thirst to the point of destroying a village. it's more than bad," said Memória at length. 

While I was struggling with pain. Even my hand grabbed Memória's wrist. "Then what are you going to do to me? Isn't my death better than you giving me this kind of torture!" I shouted. 

Some leaves scattered in the wind as my feet thrashed. The atmosphere was suddenly tense. The sounds of the nocturnal animals that were usually noisy suddenly fell silent.

"Shut up!" Memoria snapped at me. 

His fingernails pierced deeper into the skin of my neck. Again I screamed in pain. This time, I felt a heat flow from those sharp nails.

"Maldição de memórias!"⁴ 

A single sentence of incantation was uttered, then a stream of heat began to creep from my neck spreading throughout my body. The pain pierced through this body like being slashed by a smoldering sword. I screamed, wailing feeling the enormity of the wheels crawling through my body. 

I even stomped in the air ferociously. Hoping the monstrous creature that lifted me up released its grip on its nails. Worse yet, the pain from the hole in the wound was throbbing, along with my heart which was beating fast again after starting to weaken from the exhaustion of pumped blood. 

“It hurts! Let me go, Memória!” I screamed unable to hold it in anymore. 

Instantly Memória removed his nails from the skin of my neck. Did the burning heat go away after I was released by Memória? In fact, it didn't get any worse. My body fell to the ground. then I floundered after the grip of the sharp nails was released by Memória. It was as if millions of electric voltages had electrocuted my body. Is this what death feels like? I thought. 

“No, death is more painful than the curse I am giving you right now,” said Memória who somehow changed his standing position, now sitting cross-legged to my right. 

I screamed. Liquid lava seemed to flow in my veins. The burning pain is indescribable. There were a few minutes I was floundering. Until suddenly the heat and pain that whacked me disappeared. I got up in a sitting position with my legs stretched out.

Sweat soaks the body. Wait! I sweat like a human? I don't know how long I haven't felt sweat coming out of my pores after becoming a vampire. And even more strangely, the hole caused by the stake healed just like that, not even leaving a trace of a scar on the skin of the chest. I turned to Memória who was sitting cross-legged. 

As if realizing my amazement at the healing of the wound from the stake, Memória smirked.

 "What is it? Is there something that amazes you Senhora Vampiro?" 

I subconsciously nodded my head. What's this? Am I back to being a normal person? 

“No, no. I didn't turn you back into a human. However, I did give you one other curse besides the one you got earlier,” explained Memória. 

Before I asked what curse Memória had placed on me, I smelled a sweet scent. The scent beats the sweet smell of blood that my nose usually smells when it's about to prey on humans. 

"Oh my. This smells so sweet," I said unconsciously. 

"Too sweet. Hey Memória! What is this? Why does a sweet, honey-like scent smell in the air? Is this the smell of blood?" 

"Aha, you smell it. It smells so seductive, doesn't it?" Memória looked enthusiastic.

“This is what I mean by curses as punishment for you, Senhora Vampiro.”

I rise from the ground. My body wobbled a bit when I stood up. I closed my eyes to smell the sweet aroma that sinks into my nostrils. The smell really makes my mouth water. I was made impatient to taste the sweet taste. I shuffled along following the scent wafting in the air. 

However, a sharp black-toed palm was placed on my chest, stopping my footsteps that were about to follow the sweet scent. 

"Don't be in a hurry. This is just the first step in my curse. Listen to my explanation before you follow the scent." Memória stopped my steps. 

"Don't stop it! I can't stand this smell. 

My thirst is getting worse than before I was cursed by you." I rebelled, refusing to be stopped by Memória. 

"For that, listen to my explanation first or I will destroy your body so that your soul cannot be reincarnated!" threatened Memória pushing me against my body until I fell back to the ground. 

"Then just destroy it. Wouldn't that be better." I challenged Memória's threat. 

"Tch, if it wasn't for the Creator's job, I would have handed you over to the god of death earlier. It's like this..." Memória snapped his fingers. Then a vine appeared from the ground that ensnared me.

 "I'll explain how you feel right now. You're no longer a blood-sucking vampire but this time the curse I gave you turned you into Comedor De Memória. Your job is to devour memories that humans don't want. One of the hallmarks of humans. I don't want that memory of a sweet race that only you can smell."

Wait! Wait. How does it feel like the curse given is so easy without a challenge. 

Then what Memória gave me was not a curse but a blessing. However, I got goosebumps when the five-winged creature grinned sinisterly. "I wouldn't say that if I were you. Don't ever think that curses are easy to live with, because behind the sweetness of unwanted memories there is an extraordinary surprise waiting for you, Senhora Vampiro. " 

¹ Are you waiting for death? 

² Outrageous! 

³ Lord Vampire 

⁴ Curse of memories