Rise Of The Immaterial Man

Final Breaths

I lay there on the ground, my last breaths rattling around loosely in my chest like the dying gasp of a rusty car. 

I didn’t want to die. 

The thought burned in me so strongly that it was the only thing I could think about. 

It was such a strong notion that I wasn’t even feeling the pain of the blade wedged between my shoulder and my spine anymore. 

In fact, I was pretty sure that thinking about not dying was the only reason that I hadn’t died yet. 

I was focused on survival and survival only, and if that meant thinking about how much I didn’t want to die then I would lie there unable to move and think about not dying even harder.

Maybe if I thought about it for long enough someone would stumble across my bloodstained body and call an ambulance. I could hold on for that long, I was sure of it. 

A noise distracted me from my thoughts. 

The sound of an empty glass bottle bouncing along the cobbles of the alleyway, each bounce a distinct and sharp glass ting against the silence of the night and the background thrum of the drum and bass from the dance floor of the club. 

“H…Help…” I managed to croak, but it came out as nothing more than a whisper. It would have been too quiet for anyone to hear, I was barely sure if I’d managed to say it or if it was just a hallucination of my slowly dying brain. 

But then… 

As if by some miracle. As if all my prayers had been answered. I heard footsteps, the clacking of high heels against the stone floor. Someone had managed to hear me, and they were coming my way. 

“My goodness!” A voice said, it was a woman and she sounded like she was around my age, “What on Earth happened to you!” 

With great effort I managed to lift my head up off the ground, my cheek peeled away from the floor with a wet sticky snap as my own blood tried to keep me secure to the cobble. 

“A….Ambulance,” I slurred, my tongue was starting to feel heavier and heavier in my mouth and my vision was starting to grow dim. 

I caught a glimpse of the woman for the first time, she was beautiful, with shoulder length auburn hair, full lips, and hips that could probably knock a man out if she hit them hard enough.

The woman snorted. It was a harsh sound, a bark of laughter that I wasn’t expecting considering the situation that we found ourselves in and I was brought back to painful Earth as my strength gave and my face slammed back down into the pool of blood. 

“Don’t think an ambulance is gonna save you, mate,” the woman remarked, “You’re almost all gone. So, in that case, let’s have a little look at what we’ve got here.” 

The woman crouched down and started rifling through the pockets of my jacket. I didn’t try and fight her, I didn’t have the energy, and I could feel myself beginning to fade faster and faster. 

It was funny how my mind was starting to accept the fact that I was going to die. 

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

The woman found my wallet and pulled it out with an “Aha!” of victory. 

She rifled through the notes and made an appreciative hum before pulling out my cards and identification. 

“Oh, I see,” She breathed, “Richard Parker… I know who you are, I dare say there isn’t anyone who doesn’t know who you are. Surprised you don’t have bodyguards or something. This whole situation probably wouldn’t have happened if you did.” 

She wasn’t wrong about that. 

Alex had said I should get bodyguards. People would want to try and hurt me because of how wealthy I had become, that’s what he said anyway. I thought it had been nonsense, I could protect myself after all. 

Now it was an all-consuming regret because if the knife sticking out of my back was anything to go by then I definitely couldn’t look after myself. 

“I could save you, though,” The woman mused, “If you wanted, I mean. It’d be pretty rough, but I could get you out of this mess you find yourself in… or you could just be my prey, you do look to be a tasty little morsel…” 

I wasn’t sure if it was the oxygen starving my brain and making me mishear her, or if she was actually saying the things that I was hearing, but the notion of her saving me struck my mind like lightning. 

“S…S….Save me,” I gurgled, blood spilled over my lips from deep in my throat, I was sure that wasn’t meant to happen. 

The woman chuckled, this time darkly, “Well, if you insist.” 

One moment I was lying on the ground, the next my body was a rictus of renewed pain as the far-too-strong hands of the woman pulled me off of the ground and onto my feet. 

Her eyes were glowing a deep red, and twin fangs had protruded from underneath her lips. 

She looked like… the idea was preposterous but considering how the night was going I couldn’t dismiss the idea… she looked like a vampire. 

The woman opened her mouth wide and clamped onto my neck. 

In an instant, the pain drained away. It was like she was flooding my body with the strongest painkillers known to man, and it almost felt… good. 

She started to drink, slurping my blood down thirstily like a dehydrated man who had just stumbled in from the desert after days of being lost. 

There was a growl from deep in her throat, guttural and animal, as she fed… and then, as quickly as it started, she pulled away with a wet smacking sound. 

“You taste good,” She muttered into my ear, “Almost a shame to have to make you one of us, really.” 

And then my world faded to black.