Silver

 

293 AD

            Cold wind stung his neck as he marched through the pitch-black forest. Impending doom fell over him like a massive blanket as the trees became thicker and thicker. This was the first battle he ever fought and he didn’t even get the chance to kill anyone. He had become separated from his militia after seeking shelter in the woods when the war became too overwhelming. He felt physically and mentally weak, and was ready to give up when he saw a dim light coming from a couple yards away. He rushed to it, hoping it was a fellow soldier, but instead stumbled upon a small cottage. His initial shock from finding a house in the middle of nowhere was subsided when he realized what bad shape he was in. He softly knocked on the door, hoping to find some sort of refuge. The door opened just a crack, allowing the candlelight so spill out onto his face.

            “Excuse me,” he managed to croak out, “I’m in the need of assistance. I was hurt and require a place to stay for the night”. The door stayed motionless for a minute then opened enough to reveal a tall, slender man with skin whiter than snow.

            “You can come in”, the man was young, no older than 30, and yet something about him seemed aged.

            “Th-thank you”.

The man stopped him at the threshold, “What’s your name?”

            “Maximilian. I am a soldier in Emperor Diocletian’s army”.

The man looked at Maximilian as if to examine him, “Is that so?”

            Maximilian nodded and walked into the house. It was more spacious than he had presumed, but was still only large enough to house one person.

            “You live alone?” Maximilian turned to look at the man, who was sealing the door with a large lock.

            “I do”.

            “Why do you live alone?”

The man walked over to him, “Why are you asking questions?”

Maximilian smiled, but felt a strong sense of fear in the presence of this strange man.

            “So, what’s your name?” Maximilian took a step back.

            “Felix, and I’d like to address that wound on your arm”.

            “Huh?” Maximilian looked down and remembered the large gash on his right bicep. “Oh yes”, he said allowing to be lead him into another room with a large basin of water.

            “Take off your shirt”, commanded Felix. Maximilian hastily unfastened his armor and slipped off the white shirt underneath. Felix knelt beside him and began to wash the blood off. “You’re young aren’t you?” Maximilian nodded. “How old exactly?”

            “Seventeen”, he said wincing as the cold water hit his wound.

            “And you’re already a soldier? How impressive”, Maximilian smiled at the compliment, however, Felix’s voice sounded condescending.

He finished dressing the wound and wrapped a clean bandage around his arm.

            “Better?” Felix asked.

            “Yes, thank you”.

Felix smiled and looked at Maximilian, “You know, I think you’re too strong to kill”.

            “Sorry?” the fear Maximilian felt earlier came back.

            “You’d make a strong asset. Killing you would be a waste”, Felix inched closer to Maximilian and grabbed his arm.

            “I don’t know what you mean”, his heart was pounding as he tried to step away from Felix, “I’d like to thank you for your help but I think it’s time for me to go”.

            “Hm, It’s too late now. Why don’t you stay the night”, Felix had now pinned Maximilian into a corner with no means of escape.

            “Please, I don’t understand your intentions. Just let me leave and I won’t tell anyone”.

Felix laughed, “My intentions are to make you strong like me. How would you like to never die?”

            “What?” Maximilian panicked.

            “You’d be a god, Maximilian. You’d be immortal”, Felix pressed him closer to the wall. Maximilian pushed his chest as hard has he could and felt the bleak emptiness inside.

     “You’re dead, aren’t you?” Maximilian whispered.  

            “You’ll thank me one day”. Before Maximilian could respond, Felix grabbed him and threw him across the room. He leaped onto him, knocking over the basin and spilling water everywhere. Felix pinned him down with one hand and began to undo the buckles on his pants with the other. Maximilian tried to scream but was too frightened to make a sound. Felix roughly pushed Maximilian over so his face was against the floor. Any attempt to get out from under him would be futile; his unnatural strength could fight off even the largest of men. Felix’s hand began venturing down to Maximilian’s crotch, grabbing his cock. Maximilian let out a silent cry as he felt Felix’s hands all over his body. Felix pushed the sobbing boy’s legs open with his knee and, without any warning, forced himself into Maximilian. He could hear Felix’s awful cries of pleasure as tears flooded his eyes. He prayed with every ounce in him that this would be over soon and he would be allowed to go. Felix finished inside him, leaving Maximilian with a dirty and disgusting feeling. Felix wasn’t the slightest bit weakened and grabbed him so he was looking right in his eyes, then he leaned in and licked his neck. His rough tongue sent shivers down Maximilian’s spine.

            He could feel Felix’s cold breath on his ear, “Mortem est principio”. Then he bit him. Sinking his teeth into his neck. Pain shot up into every inch of his body, like there was fire burning from the inside out. Maximilian wanted to scream but nothing came out, just heavy breathing. Blood began to pour out all over their bodies and onto the floor. Maximilian’s senses went dull and slowly everything turned to black.

            “How are you feeling?” Maximilian blinked open to see a blurry person standing over him. “We found you this morning in the woods just outside camp. You were badly injured”.

Maximilian recognized the voice to be Julius, a fellow soldier.

            “I’m fine”, Maximilian piped out, his voice weak from last night.

            “I’ll leave you alone to rest”, Julius handed him a container of water then left the tent.

His body was sore and weak and he had no reelection of what happened after he blacked out. Then something came back to him: the bite. He reached up and ran his hand over the two ragged holes in the side of his neck. He held his breath as he shakily pressed his hand onto his wrist. Felix had actually done it, he had killed him.