Mirror Glass

Chapter 3

He began to look around the room almost like he had to make sure no one was there to listen in. This only worried me more. What could have him acting so paranoid?  When he started to speak again his tone was barely above a whisper. "Do you believe the vampire scriptures about the prophesied vampire mimic.....?"

WHY WAS HE TALKING ABOUT THAT?!! I DON'T CARE ABOUT SOME STUPID SCRIPTURES! I WANT TO KNOW WHY I HAVE BEEN RUNNING FOR MY LIFE THESE PAST MONTHS!!

"Ugghh.. Sure, I don't know, I never really have been into the whole vampire mimic folklore." DAMN IT HELIX! GET TO THE POINT BEFORE I DIE OF OLD AGE!!!!

"What if I told you they weren't just folklore or myth, they were all true. They say that when he arrives he will be our messiah and lead us into the New Dawn. Some of us believe that the New Dawn is a complete overhaul of all we know. Kind of like the saying out with the old and in with the new. We think he's going to recreate the vampire world from the ground up. Starting with the exiled scavengers all the way to the top where the Elders are. This belief whether it be true or not has the Elders scared to death. They will do anything to stop a revolution of this magnitude."

"This is all really entertaining and all but what does any of this crap have to do with me?" I didn't mean to sound so disgruntled but everything I'm just now learning everything I thought I knew, I actually knew nothing about.

"Well some months ago they say there was a vampire mimic born into darkness. From the sounds of it he really is something else. I've talked to hunters that have tangled with him before and they've all told me the same thing; never in their lives have they fought someone so powerful and these hunters aren't new bloods. They were all seasoned and experienced assassins. Ever since he came into our world he has left nothing but carnage in his wake. I found some of the people who have claimed to see him. One was spiced out of his mind but in my business I've learned that even the most deteriorated and crazed of minds have some truth in their ramblings.  They said he was unlike anything they had ever seen, a whirlwind of mercilessness and malevolence. Listen Talon, I'm one of the best hunters out there but this guy even scares me. I'd hate to be the poor fool who get the task of taking him out. Anyways, like I said he has been doing nothing but destroying and racking up body counts where ever he goes. There have been more bodies found these past months than I have ever seen in any of  my one years as a vampire. That's why the Elders have deemed this the Crisis. So because of this kid everyone with abilities even close to that of a mimics are by order of the Elders to be found and terminated. And your abilities Talon fit that description almost perfectly." He was sympathetically looking at me now but this time it was my turn to look away. I was already crumbling as it was without his help.

"So you're telling me because of some sick demented murdering BASTARD my life is being CUT SHORT!! I DON'T EVEN KNOW THIS GUY AND IM BEING PUNISHED FOR HIS CRIMES?!!" Helix tried to put his arm around me to comfort me but it was wasted. I pushed him away as my world began to fall. I didn't need his sympathy, what I need was to find those self-righteous Elders and give THEM A REAL REASON TO WANT ME DEAD! After all these months I find out the real reason for being hunted wasn't something that was even my fault, it was something I didn't even have control over and it was all because of someone else. My body wouldn't stop shaking. It was like I had caught hypothermia and I could get warm. Tears threatened to run down my cheek but I held them back. I told myself when he died, the only person who ever helped or gave a damn about me that I wouldn't cry ever again. Tears don't change anything... they can't fix the past or change the future so why bother with them? As I worked to compose myself I wanted to turn the attention away from me. He didn't need to see me like this. "Keep going, what else is there?"

"Well your extra isn't true mimicry but it comes very close. While studying you and watching you I've learned that you can steal peoples abilities for a duration of time. Although I'm not sure how long it last." I could tell he was looking for me to fill in the blanks for him. He was half right. Maybe if he had some more time he could have figured out the full extent of my abilities without any help.

I took in a short breath wondering how much to tell. "When I take someone's ability all I have to do is look at them. Then my eyes glass over and I do mean that literally. A friend told me once that they look like the surface of a mirror. What I do is I look into that person and then they are reflected back into my eyes. I'll have their memories, I'll know their hopes and fears, and if they have any handy skills like let's say... hand to hand combat I can take that as well. You see taking their extra isn't my power; it's just an added bonus. At least that's what he said."

Helix looked at me puzzled, "I have been following you for a while now and I have never seen you with anybody? Who is this he? Is that the friend you mentioned?"

"Yeah, when I first crossed over I didn't have anyone to teach me anything or tell me when I need to feed and when and how to sniff out the bad blood or anything like that. I was all alone and I was a mess. He found me one night crying in an alley. I was had terrible hunger pains and I didn't know what to do about it. He told me his name was Jarrod. At first I was afraid.  I didn't think I could trust anyone. He said he knew what was going on with me and that he could help. He took me under his wing and he was kind. He taught me everything about what it means to be a vampire. He also taught me what I know now about my extra. You see the way he figured it was back when I was human I came from a divorced family and when I was younger I lived with my mom and we didn't have a lot. I would look at other kids and I would see that they were happy and had everything I didn't. A mom who didn't work all the time, a father who did more than just the bare minimum. After Christmas I would always hear about all the cool gifts my classmates got but I didn't get... as much as they did. When I got older all I cared about was fitting in and being who everyone wanted me to be. I would look at everyone else and wonder what made them so special. I became the straight A student, the prodigal son, the popular kid everyone wanted to be around. I wanted so much to be every individual person's idea of perfection; so I could be special like them. When I crossed over that want manifested as a mirror into a person's soul. I can see into a person and know everything about them. If I wanted I could write a biography about their lives. I would know so much about them you would think that I was their best friend and I guess I could be. I would know exactly what to say, how to act, what persona to take on all because I knew what they would respond to best. Me gaining their abilities was like I said, just an unforeseen bonus. The first time it happened I was with Jarrod at his underground radio station. I was messing around when all of a sudden I became flooded with these images and feelings. Jarrod seen something was wrong and came to my rescue. Later he was trying to give one his broadcast and the frequency was messing up.  He had the dumbest look on his face because he just COULDT figure it out!" I was smiling now, reliving the fond memory. "It wasn't until he used his extra to fix the problem that he honed in on the frequency I was admitting. At first I couldn't control the powers I took. You see normally when you learn someone else's extra you will never be able to use it as well as them because they understand it in a way you never will. The extra was created from their life experiences and to understand the extra you have to understand the person that created it but for me that's not a problem. When I take someone's memories I take everything, even their feelings that go along with each memory. So when I take their extra I know how to use it just as well they do; maybe even better."

During my whole spiel I hadn't been looking at Helix. I had just let him know one of my most-fondest memories and it left me feeling vulnerable. I chanced a glance and saw that if Helixes jaw dropped any further he would have looked just like one of those Christmas nutcrackers.

"But like you said, it's not true mimicry. I get their powers because of absorbing their memories but how long I keep them depends on my own memory. After that day with Jarrod I was using my extra no stop. But I quickly found that my brain is like an outdated cell phone inbox, I can only hold so much before it starts erasing itself. I went to use Jarrod's extra and was dumbfounded when I couldn't, I was even more stupefied when I found out I couldn't recall any of his memories. I idolized Jarrod he was my hero. I was in the dark and he turned on the light for me. I never felt closer to him than when I had absorbed his memories. The next time I seen him I used my extra on him again and it all came back. Not too long after that is when things got bad. I should of left it alone but I couldn't. And because of me he died."

It was a painful memory for me to dig back up. I had buried it under so much dirt that I had to really get the shovel in deep to be able to talk about it again. "Before you told me the real reason why you were hunting me I thought it was for something else."

Helix leaned into me again. This time he was closer to me than before. His eyes were staring holes into me, it was like he thought if he just concentrated hard enough he could mentally pull the information from me. "The things Jarrod did weren't exactly legal in the vampire world. He had a lot of underground connections and knew a lot of privileged information. Before I tell you this I know what you're going to say but please hear me out. All this time since Jarrod's death I have been on a scavenger mission of my own."

I took a deep breath knowing it was either now or never. "Okay, you know that like humans us vampires have our folklore and myths?" I looked to see Helix nodding his head slowly in agreement.

"And like some humans we also have in our own way vampire royalty. Well not to long after I was turned I heard a story about a girl. This girl was an only child born centuries ago to a noble family. Now legend has it that this girl was kind and her kindness was only matched by her unprecedented beauty. The sun itself rose and shone only to please her. On moonless nights all she had to do was sing to beckon the moon from its slumber amongst the clouds. For her People would gather in droves from all around just to catch a glimpse of the raven haired beauty with the alabaster skin. On her sixteenth birthday she was betrothed to a prince who had sent for her after word of her beauty reached his ears through a passing bird's song. She was to ride in her carriage accompanied by an army of men to the prince's home country to be married. But on the night of her departure her carriage was attacked and the army sent to guard her killed. The princess feared for her life so she tried to run only to be caught. The man that caught her was stronger than any other man or woman she had ever met. His teeth were as long and sharp as daggers. In the moonlight all she could see was the crimson glow of his eyes and the cold paleness of his skin. She never made it to her prince's home because she was turned that night. But for some reason that no one knows, something truly amazing happened when she awoke that has never happened before or since. She was born with an extra so profound, so unique, So Very Blasphemous she had to be spirited away to a place she would never use it. She was a threat to everything the vampire world held dear. The Elders had her locked away far from civilization. You see this girl had a gift. The beautiful princess was so kind and pure that it manifested itself as her gift. She had the unheard of gift of purification. She could turn the deadliest poison into harmless liquid. She could turn the most rancid meat fresh. But those aren't the reasons she was so dangerous. No, it was also said that she could even purify....a vampire. She could turn a vampire into a human again."