Life and Death

Luka smirked satisfactorily to himself as he strolled leisurely through the forest.

He had finally gotten back at that bitch, and it gave him so much pleasure. For days he'd been planning on how he'd teach her a lesson, and it felt good to finally get it done. It'd been a while since he'd had to punish anyone like this, so he was admittedly a bit rusty, choosing a gentle punishment instead of his usual grotesque style.

Not that it made much of a difference anyway. The poor girl looked about ready to pass out when he'd left her behind.

He could only imagine how terrified she must be right now- she was probably crying. Poor thing, Luka thought sarcastically, she's going to be traumatized.

Next time she'd think twice before raising her hand to him.

Cackling darkly, the Prince of Hell pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his jacket pocket. Lighting a blunt, he gingerly put it to his lips, inhaling deeply. The cool forest air caressed his fair skin, creating a pleasant contrast to the warm smoke circulating in his chest.

Smoking was one of Luka's many bad habits, and while he had promised his guardian that he'd quit, he wasn't planning to ever stop. It served as a mood balancer for him, calming him down whenever he was stressed or distracting him whenever he was bored. The health risks were also negligible to him, as he was a vampire and hence, immortal.

Blowing out a puff of smoke, the vampire sighed deeply.

Immortality was one of the many perks of being a vampire, and though it was often times useful, Luka had always wondered what it would feel like to be able to die. As a pureblood vampire, it was almost impossible for him to die, unlike other vampires who despite being immortal, could be killed by other supernaturals. Though he would never admit it, he envied them.

He could only imagine what finite life would be like, where every moment would mean something more than the mere passage of time. Each new day would be a thrill, an unpredictable cesspool filled with uncertainty. The limit of time would spur dreams and aspirations, creating purpose and fueling the race against the clock to fulfil destiny. Living would feel less like a monotonous chore and more like an experience to be cherished, because one could never know just when their days were numbered.

That was perhaps what made mortal life so special; death.

Death qualified life, and made it worth living. It gave life meaning and made it special, so without it, life was nothing more than an infinite blur of events. Limited time is what made mortal life so precious, because a life without end loses value. It's like a story that goes on forever, becoming more boring and pointless as it goes.

Luka felt like that was his life- a never-ending, boring, pointless story. And it suffocated him.

Running his fingers through his dark locks, he blew out another puff of smoke, unease settling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't certain if it was from his weighty thoughts or the strong feeling in his gut that he was being watched.

Halting, Luka focused on the sounds of the forest around him, his heightened senses searching for any signs of an observer. He could feel a mystical aura settle on the previously serene forest, a clear indicator that there was a supernatural presence nearby. A putrid odour wafted through the air, and Luka got wind of it, immediately recognizing what it was.

Suddenly, a dark figure leapt out from the shadows, lunging toward him. Luka jumped out of the way with impossible speed, his eyes glowing gold as he glared at the creature that had dared to attack him.

It was a ghoul.

With razor-sharp teeth and superhuman speed and agility, ghouls were one of the most uncommon supernaturals around. They were remnants of lost souls, cursed to wander between the netherworld and Earth, feeding on human flesh. Unintelligent creatures, ghouls could only be summoned and controlled by black magic.

So how on Earth was a ghoul here?

The ghoul bared its teeth at Luka, its deformed head and human-like body giving it a demonic appearance. Luka felt his fangs push out of his jaw, peeking through his lips as he shifted from his humanoid form to full vampire. His brown eyes shone bright gold and his fair skin turned ghost-white, claws growing out from his usually short fingernails.

Snarling, Luka lunged at the ghoul, landing a punch on the screeching creature. Before it could retaliate, he grabbed it by its neck and flung it at a tree, a deafening crack rippling through the silent forest air.

Vampires were much stronger and faster than ghouls, easily being able to kill them, so Luka knew this wasn't a fair fight. It would take more than one ghoul to make him, a pureblood, break a sweat.

But that was the problem- ghouls never travelled alone.

Sensing an incoming attack, Luka ducked and moments later, a ghoul came flying over his head. It landed with a thud at his feet, and he immediately crushed its skull with his foot. Turning round, six ghouls stepped out the darkness, growling maniacally as they surrounded him.

Smirking, he cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Now this was a challenge fit for a Prince.

The ghouls attacked, and a series of loud cracks and wails ensued for the next few minutes. Soon, Luka stood alone, mostly uninjured and panting wildly as dead bodies lay around him. Apart from the sound of his ragged breathing, a deathly silence hung over the forest.

He couldn't sense the presence of any more ghouls nearby, but their demonic aura still loomed in the air. Just how many ghouls were in this forest?

A shrill scream pierced through the air, echoing through the woods. Luka's mind immediately went back to the girl he'd left shackled to a tree, and his eyes widened in panic.

What if a ghoul had found her?

It would kill her for sure, as he'd left her defenseless. He'd been bluffing about the whole 'leave her to die' thing, as he didn't actually plan on killing the girl, but rather leaving her there for a few hours until a forest ranger found her. The goal was to traumatize her not turn her to ghoul food.

"Shit," Luka cursed, taking off at lightning speed. As his body whooshed through the air, dashing toward the place he'd left her, he couldn't help but pray that the scream he heard wasn't hers.

Because if it was, he was already too late.

-

(Moments earlier)

For the umpteenth time, Keisha tried to wiggle her arm free from the handcuffs.

She'd given up screaming as she was scared it would attract the wolves, and she'd given up crying because it was ruining Shalini's beautiful makeup. Though she was in a deadly situation, she couldn't bring herself to destroy one of the best makeovers she'd ever had.

Yes, she was that girl. Moving on.

Realizing she couldn't break free, she groaned in frustration. Her hands were starting to hurt from being held up for so long, and the biting cold wasn't exactly helping either. There were also so many mosquitoes, and her sleeveless top did little to protect her arms from their bites.

At this point she would die of malaria before the wolves got to her.

The thought of wolves sent a wave of fear through Keisha's body, jerking her head to see if any carnivorous creatures lurked in the shadows around her. Finding nothing, Keisha let out a relieved breath, although her worries were far from over.

She still needed to find a way out of this restraint if she wanted to make it out alive.

That idiot had said the knot was impossible to untie, so she didn't bother wasting time trying. Her panicked wiggling hadn't worked either, the handcuff wrapped securely around her wrist serving as proof. She couldn't break the branch either, as she wasn't strong enough.

There was nothing she could do; she was stuck.

Terrified, she let out a small whimper, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Willing herself not to cry, Keisha's mind wandered to the reason why she was in this mess in the first place- Luka Haydes.

That psychopath had really left her here to die all because of a stupid slap! Is this why Steph was so afraid of him, because he was a cold-blooded killer?

Realizing Steph had tried to warn her, Keisha felt like a fool. Her roommate was just looking out for her and instead of being grateful, she'd been awful to her. And now she wouldn't even get the chance to apologize because she was going to die in this godforsaken place!

Keisha broke down, bursting into tears. "I'm sorry, Lin," she muttered between sobs, "I'm ruining your beautiful makeup."

Was she really going to be eaten by wolves? Was she really not going to see Steph and Lin ever again? Was that devil Luka really going to win? Was she really going to die a virgin?

God no!

Mascara trailed down her cheeks as she sobbed uncontrollably. She couldn't believe this was how her life was going to end; dying alone in the middle of nowhere all because of an egotistical mad man.

If she made it out of this alive, Keisha swore she was going to kill Luka Haydes. She was going to make that smug bastard pay, even if it was the last thing she did.

The sudden buzzing of her phone in her back pocket startled her, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. Her eyes widened in realization, a soft gasp escaping her lips as she remembered that she still had her phone on her.

How could she have forgotten?

Her familiar ringtone pierced through the quiet night, and a sense of relief washed over her. She could use her phone to call for help!

There was one small problem though; how was she going to reach it?

Racking her brain, Keisha tried to come up with a solution. She remembered seeing a video online once where a girl twerked so hard that her phone fell out of her pockets. Since her hands were tied up, Keisha didn't see the harm in trying.

"No," she chided herself at the ridiculous idea. "That's just absurd."

There was no way she was going to twerk just because it worked for some random lady on the internet. She wasn't that desperate.

Scratch that, she was desperate.

Arching her torso, Keisha began throwing it back wildly, attempting to force her phone out of her pocket. It felt stupid gyrating like a worm to no music, but it was either this or being eaten alive.

"Please work. Please work."

Keisha muttered anxiously, thrusting her posterior as violently as she could, hoping the phone would fly out. It didn't budge, only shifting around in the deep pockets of her leather pants.

Frustrated, she stopped her embarrassing dance since it was yielding no results. She'd learnt her lesson; don't believe everything you see on the internet.

Internet - 1, Keisha - 0.

Feeling a presence, Keisha jerked up to see what it was. She noticed a shadowy figure a good distance from her, and from its silhouette it looked like a person. Excitement overwhelmed her, and she called out to the stranger.

"Hey! Excuse me! Please help!"

The figure slowly inched closer, staggering unnaturally. The person was making strange growling noises, as if they were some sort of rabid dog. Unease settled in her stomach, and she wondered if she'd made the right choice calling this person over.

It was pretty late at night, so what was this person doing here? For all she knew, this person could be a creep that could try to hurt her since she was in such a vulnerable position.

Fear suddenly gripped Keisha, and all the hairs on her body stood as the figure made it to the clearing. A hellish aura exuded from the tall shadow, and Keisha gasped in horror as her eyes adjusted to the dark, finally able to make out this person's features.

Except it wasn't a person.

As far as she could remember, people didn't have oversized daggers for teeth, glowing red orbs for eyes and ashy, rotting flesh for skin. Most importantly, people didn't look at other people as if they were about to pounce on them and feast on their flesh.

No, she wasn't looking at a person. She was looking at a monster. And it was looking right back at her, albeit predatorily.

Petrified, Keisha did what every normal teenage girl would do in the face of danger. She let out a blood curdling scream.