Page 1 of The Slayer Seduction

Chapter 1

Slayer

Multiple Millennia Ago

My existence was nothing. I was nothing.

This place I was in was devoid of color, sound, light, or physical feeling. I was capable of thought, but I didn’t have a form.

My listless conscience just wandered through this epic void of oblivion, waiting, wondering how I got here and if there would ever be anything more than this, whatever this is.

I have no memories that extend beyond this place, only the here and now. My suffering is a lonely one, and I wonder if it’s an atonement or punishment for something in another life. I didn’t know how long I’d been here, or how time moved, only that I was starting to get restless.

“You are ready,” a voice says.

I don’t know how I recognize the sound, or how I have some awareness of self, but I understand the words completely.

“Would you like to leave this place? To serve a purpose and walk amongst the mortals?” it asks.

I wonder if the voice is a delusion. Maybe I’d spent too much time in the void. Maybe I’d succumbed to complete madness.

“This is not a trick. Perhaps a taste of what could be would change your mind,” it says.

Suddenly I can feel.

There’s a bitter cold around me, a small current of wind hitting…my face? For the first time in my existence, I’m able to smell, and somehow I’m able to name the scent as honey. There’s still nothing around me, but I am a me. I’m something, no longer a listless creature floating in the void.

I can feel my form. I have a body, one that moves.

Knowledge I didn’t have before is suddenly given to me and I’m nearly overwhelmed with new information.

“How?” I ask, and the shock of my deep voice has my hand reaching for my mouth, my fingers touching the smooth surface.

“You are to serve a purpose. The mortals, they’re dying. There’s an evil that lurks in their realm, feasting on their blood, ravaging their village. The beasts never age and are impossibly difficult to kill. The mortals are weak. They can’t protect themselves.”

“And what am I to do?”

“You will be their weapon. This nebulous form of yours is immortal in the void, a lonely, tired existence, isn’t it? If you agree to come to the mortal lands, you will have a body. You will be powerful, strong, and worshiped among the living.”

“What is in it for you?” I ask, and the voice belts out a laugh.

“A skeptical one. Many of the others like you accept my offer immediately, you know?” they say, making a whistle-like noise. “The vampires—the beings who are relentlessly killing on Earth, are destroying my kind, too. While I can not bring you here myself, I can help the humans do so.”

They want me to kill. They want to use me. Every ounce of me knows they’ve kept me in this place so that I’d ache for escape. They’re here to prey on my weakness and I don’t like the thought.

“And the smartest one too. Is a mortal form not enough for you?”

“You have everything to gain from this, not me.”

The voice is contemplative, and I know if they didn’t need me, they wouldn’t be negotiating at all. In fact, I wasn’t sure why they needed my agreement. Why couldn’t they just do what they pleased? I had no power.

“If having a physical form isn’t enough to make you agree. Perhaps something stronger?” it asks.

Suddenly I see color for the first time. It's so beautiful that my thoughts come to a halt.

“She would be your prize. Your mate. If you fulfill your duty to the mortals, she would be your ultimate purpose.”

She. I think to myself, no concept of what that means. Only that she is radiant.