1st Person Journal-Style Narrative

[Eizoryu]

Disclaimer

This work is what is termed an Anti-fic, and is placed in opposition to the Twilight series. Twilight fans, as well as Furries/Furry supporters, would do well to remember that I, the author, am a mind separate from the character who is the narrator, and penned this document for amusement. I am not responsible for any potential butthurt from any terms or character interactions that may offend the aforementioned demographic.

If you are easily offended by anti-Twilight prose or anti-Furry terms, then I advise you not to read this work. Should this advisement be ignored, I politely remind you that you were given fair warning.
Not recommended for readers age 16 and below. (Brief language; violence)

Excerpted from the journals of one K.S. Acheron, year unknown, presumed ca. 2009:

Morning, 6th month, 22nd day
A new journal to add to my ever-mounting collection. I must remember to thank my lieutenant for his attentiveness to my habits. Oh, what can I say to further break this little book in? I suppose there’s not much to say for it, really. There wasn’t an extraordinary amount of noteworthy unnatural occurrence today. Perhaps this will be enough to break it in for now. I have business to attend to.


Midmorning, 6th month, 30th day
New month coming up. As of my last entry, little else has occurred. The clan is running smoothly; no one has had to be executed or euthanized. In fact, I almost can’t remember the last death in the clan. Well, no, I retract that statement. One of my hunting party had a severe case of photosensitivity. A form of ultra-sensitivity that I’ve only seen a few times in my lifespan. He was one of my best, too. An eccentric old b*****d, but a loyal man nevertheless. (He liked to collect things. He liked feathers for some odd reason or another.) It was a shame to lose him to the light as we did.

What makes it all the more unfortunate is that even I didn’t know about his condition until the report came back from a late afternoon scouting excursion. He had been forced to stand in direct light; no shadows were about for him to hide in, despite the fact that he would always cover every inch of skin in a manner that makes mortal man shudder to even entertain such a thought. So he was well protected, except for his eyes. The head scout informed me that he had left his polarized lenses here.

Despite the party’s best attempts to get him to shade, he fought them every step of the way, throwing them off the rooftop upon which they were perched. His punches were renowned to shatter even our bones, slowing our regeneration by half; this made the situation worse. Moreso by the fact that the party was forced down to ground level. Down among the mortals. Needless to say, they were seen, and some prey have eyes like an eagle’s. The encounter was up on a blog the following hour.

Somehow, they managed to get him back to the compound, but it was too late for him then. Prolonged exposure had driven him off the ledge of mere eccentricity to full-blown insanity. Solar madness, we call it. We have thus far been unable to create or discover a cure. We held him in a darkened room for days, passing him medical blood packets as needed. It did nothing to help him, even with his beloved feather collection in the room. He never even touched them while in there. From day one they remained unmoved from their general vicinity in the southwest corner, factoring out disturbances.

We waited about a month to no avail. There was no way in Heaven or Hell that we were going to recover him. I made the choice after a long deliberation and a couple bouts of anger. He had to be euthanized. I can still hear his screams of “Make the flashes stop!” to this very day. I shudder to recall it. We took him from the room, blindfolded him, and explained what was about to happen. Whether he understood or not, I’m still unsure. It’s assumed that he did; he struggled less just before decapitation. We cremated his body and the severed head shortly thereafter, and laid him to rest via our own set of rites and ceremonies. Not that we are forbidden to use Christian methods, nor that we cannot due to some fabricated, nonexistent alignment with Satan (I have a crucifix in my bedroom, for that matter, hanging over my desk.), but it was the way set by the late Elder Acheron and I am not about to change that. I revered him too much.

Well, that was quite a nostalgic trip. I’ll probably lapse into another now that I’ve mentioned Elder Acheron, but that is best left for another time. I’ve taken up three pages of this little book with this entry alone.

 

[Eizoryu]

Late night, 7th month, 3rd day
There have been whispers about the clan concerning some strange behaviors noted in the prey, generally when there’s a large group of them all together in one place. I know nothing certain yet other than what rumors have been passed up. They may well only be rumors. I’ll know whether they are or not if the stories don’t die down, or pick up, after a few days.


Night, 7th month, 8th day
It would seem that the rumored behaviors are true. I, myself, went out into the light today on the pretext of purchasing a couple of classical CDs to add to my extensive collection of music. Bookstores seem to be a favorite haunt for the humans which my scouts describe, as proven by my entry into the local Borders establishment. Now, I’ve seen books stacked into an almost temple-like setup, but nothing quite as grandiose as what I saw. I paid it little heed and went about my business, selecting two piano albums and one gothic metal disc after hearing a preview of the latter.

As if on some unknown cue, a swarm of school-aged mortal females made a beeline for the stacked books. I watched them from behind my darkened lenses, confused as to their mannerisms, but writing it off as a young human thing. I continued to the register, handing the clerk my merchandise and making a small remark on potential sales for today. She replied that the store expected to make quite a few sales, indicating the shrine of books around which the chittering prey had clustered. I merely laughed as she rang it up. I was still chuckling as I paid, nodding a farewell and leaving just before hearing one of the girls scream in a high-pitched wail I had never heard before. It didn’t quite sound like pain, but it kicked my hunter’s instinct into overdrive for a moment.

Having hurried back home, I still wonder what caused that human to squeal like a stuck pig. Maybe something injured her. Maybe not. Ah well; it’s a thought that shall have to be put aside for now. My music calls to me, begging to be listened to. I feel quite obliged, as I was unable to open them due to business as soon as I returned…


Midafternoon, 7th month, 18th day
It has been a while since my last entry. Business matters have picked up and left me with little time to write. That said, we brought a new youngling into the fold. He will yet learn to be grateful, the impudent little rat. We could very well just have killed him last night after finding him mugged and left desolate in an alleyway. It was his decision, the coward, and yet he blames his master for his pathetic position. But I trust she will whip him into shape. I will if she doesn’t. All that matters for now is getting revenge off his mind; he’s young and as weak as a mortal with a bloodthirst. He wouldn’t be able to do anything to his assailants even if he could find them.

On a more lighthearted note, one of my subordinates had a bit of a funny encounter with a mortal a few days ago. I found it amusing, seeing as it posed no real threat. He told me that one human girl wouldn’t stop staring at him. It’s the pale skin that does it; we’re situated in a fairly sunny area and most people like to go outside and tan around here. She asked him about his skin, inquiring whether he was a vampire, to which he properly responded that no, he was stuck inside a cubicle all day.

I found it utterly hilarious that she was going to ask him to bite her and turn her, as she said to him after he told her the disappointing lie. He relayed that it took just about everything he had to keep himself from inviting her to a midnight run. If it were me, I would have done it anyway and left the prey just alive enough to return to society, unchanged. But then, I've done things like that in the past and I suppose it's just in my nature anymore.

Humans are a strange set of creatures. They have funny quirks that I'd forgotten they had. Quirks that I may have once had, but no longer recall due to my ages as a nightwalker. Perhaps this occurrence is nothing more than that. After all, we have always had the odd human come upon one of our kin and ask such a question, then beg to be turned. It has always been that way, and I doubt it will ever change.

 

[Eizoryu]

Evening, 7th month, 29th day
Today, an event most unsettling happened upon the clan; one that I would have laughed at before if it hadn't been happening in increasing instances. It was starting to agitate me. Especially when one of my younger kin, a male, relayed a tale that made me uneasy about the overall safety of the Acheron clan.
"Lady Katarina, mortal females refused to leave me alone when I went out today."
"Go on, youngling," I urged him, sitting on the edge of my desk chair and leaning on the desk in front of me for support. I call him a youngling merely for the fact that he has not been on this Earth for as many centuries as I; a mere two to my eight. With a nod, he told me what had happened. By the time he was finished, I was standing, my rapier's handle gripped tightly in my left hand. "They chased you? Begged you to be their... What?" He reiterated what I thought I had not heard correctly, then continued.
"I didn't understand this behavior, so I fled to safety." I had walked around the front of my desk as he spoke, leaning back on it while facing this youngling.
"This is distressing. I trust you lost them before you returned here?" I asked of him. He acknowledged that he had, adding that this was the first time something of this magnitude had occurred. I dismissed him to ponder upon this unusual chain of events. Mortal prey, pursuing the immortal hunter? Why had the roles been reversed? Only in times of discovery had this happened before, though with the clans dwindling down to nearly nothing before escaping into refuge. Have we been unearthed again? Pardoning the undead pun. By the Impaler, I hope not. I will record any further findings at a later time.


Afternoon, 8th month, 1st day
The news is ill-favored. In my research via the Internet off a tip from one of the more modern younglings (she was turned about three years ago and is still clinging a bit to her humanity, the foolish thing), I have uncovered reasons beyond my current level of understanding as to why that particular youngling, along with a slim young woman with a boyish haircut and a male who was once a football player, have been nearly mobbed by the mortals. The other two less so than he, but mobbed nonetheless.
I spent two days mulling it over after my initial discovery of these reasons, neglecting to record it in my faithful pages. As I ponder my next course of action, I may as well proceed to log my findings now.
Apparently, the outside world has reached a fervor over some book series. A tale that seems to document the life of a mortal and an immortal in a so-called star-crossed love that somehow goes the way of Disney fairy tales. It seems to primarily affect my own sex, mostly middle-aged and pre-adult prey, though apparently males are not immune to it. I have not found this book series to investigate for my own morbid curiosity yet, but I imagine I may have to look for a copy of the sequence. Something that drives the prey this mad over a single attractive male must be interesting enough to hold their mouselike attention spans for more than a quarter of the tome. Unusual for those it affects most, but not unheard of.
Other strange behaviors of the maddened ones that have been logged by other mortals are akin to a Neanderthal's actions; without warning and without much provocation. It seems to only arise in defense of this book series. I have not quite seen mortals throw such fits over bound stacks of paper with text printed on them before. It almost seems a disease that affects a less intelligent percentile of the population. Other mortals that express a neutral or even negative opinion have been attacked by this insane percentile, many times wounded physically or emotionally. Apparently none of them have been enough to make the news, else I would have heard of it via that channel. It would seem the loss of two small pets and the injury of a couple of larger pets isn't enough to attract the attention of their respective areas' Humane Societies.
It's all very bizarre to me. It warrants more analyzing and research. It still bothers me that my subordinates have been pursued on more than one occasion for curious reasons, but a couple have been smart enough to take advantage of the prey on their trail. To them, I say kudos and a job well done as a hunter.
Well, it seems that I may not have to leave the compound to find the texts that have driven so many mortals insane with thoughts of some forbidden romance. After glancing around cyberspace, I've found a way for me to indulge my curiosities. Despite how long I have been using the Internet, it never fails to amaze me with what has been posted. Tonight and tomorrow will be spent reading this druglike tale. Until then, I will only write as I deem necessary.


Midnight, 8th month, beginning cusp of 2nd day
I have hardly begun reading the story that is the mortals' cocaine, and I am bored out of my mind! I've read historical, mathematical, and scientific text dry enough to bore a respective buff that is more interesting than this! The Count lend me strength to continue. This will take longer than I had originally thought. I need to hunt; my body aches, desiring the thrill of the chase. I will continue later, both this and the mortal story-drug.

 

[Eizoryu]

8th month, 11th day
… I have lost all track of time. It has NEVER taken me so damned long to finish a four-book sequence! I can read a double trilogy in three days. This was ridiculously difficult for me to slog through. Not because of its level of difficulty, but because it bored me so damn often that my body required me to get up and hunt to reestablish my status as an immortal hunter. I'm just... Ugh. Not now. I'm going to go hunt again.


Early morning, 8th month, 12th day
I feel much better now. Hunting, whether I actually strike prey or not, always brings back my primal side. It's such a rush; I live for it!


Late Afternoon, 8th month, 12th day
I called a midmorning council with my most trusted subordinates. The only reason we gathered during the daylight was to discuss the increasingly worrying actions of the mortals. We wish to never risk another discovery, no matter what the actual consequences are, be it death or maddening pursuit. I brought up the subject of the godawful sequence that is apparently the root of this particular human insanity. More than one of my council members expressed a desire to try reading it. I personally advised against it, but will not stop them from doing so, a sentiment I made clear.
After deliberation, we proposed that we conduct an experiment among the mortals, using one of our own. I volunteered for the task, despite hearing negative reactions and insistences that I not go through with it due to my status as clan head. I overturned the vote by reestablishing that I am more than capable of protecting the clan; that I had done so for four and a half of the past eight centuries that I have existed, even when we faced complete destruction at the hands of the mortal hunters ages ago. I'm very confident in my abilities. I see no reason for me not to go through with it. Even though it's an action contradicting the very reason the council was called, it must be seen if the mortals will even accept that we are the true breed…
I embark upon my experiment tomorrow. Come the morning, I willingly, if begrudgingly, reveal my true nature to my prey…
We shall see the results…


Evening, 8th month, 13th day
I don't know what to feel. Whether I should be relieved and amused, or disgusted and enraged. The experiment was a success. It went off without a problem. But the data collected… It causes conflict between my sense of caution and my sense of nightwalker pride. Am I letting my personal feelings get in the way of this? Am I letting my pride blind me? Surely not. For it can't be wrong to feel proud of being the singular true breed. Can it? Elder Acheron would know; if only I could ask for his guidance. But since I cannot, I will do only what I know I can: Continue the experiment at the risk of discovery. Tomorrow is a new day. Perhaps my mood will be lifted.
I doubt it. But even an ancient woman like me can hope.


Evening, 8th month, 14th day
Much of the same as it was yesterday. The mythos we have so long cultured among the humans has been effectively destroyed among a majority of its population. The ones that continue to believe in the old tales are the only things keeping me comforted. If it weren't for those mortals, which I do believe I will let live, I'm sure our entire culture would be rewritten in favor of the… faeries… claiming to be nightwalkers. Or if they don't actually exist, in favor of the woman who created the blasphemous things. It would be one hell of a battle to stage, that's for damn sure. I'm not going to let my culture be completely rewritten because of one woman's sick fantasy!


Afternoon, 8th month, 15th day
Today was more of a downer than the first. Not because of the humans' reactions, no, but because I have discovered why that youngling was pursued by the female mortals. In fact, I didn't even go out today, spending my time on the Internet to do my research. I was merely browsing, ignoring the ads as I normally do, when one banner made me do a double take. I thought that someone had taken a picture of the young one and used it in a photomanipulation. And that's how I found the reason behind his plight. He resembles the movie adaptation's lead male in form and hair color. Not in facial structure, thank Heaven, but in most of the ways outlined in that damned book.
I'm going to bring this up with the council later today. This needs to be further investigated. Now.