Chapter 63 The Boy in his Tomb (2/2)

Sometimes it was used to punish those who had broken high laws. Other times it was an unfortunate accident. But for those original few who claimed to be the Original Vampires, this state was nothing more than a way to pass their eternity. Sacred rituals would see them buried in their own secretive private tombs, only to reappear tens of thousands of years later after a sufficient blood sacrifice was paid. Rassa had asked why all Vampires didn't possess this ability. Victor had stated that they had, but it had long been decreed for 2 reasons that the average vampire, even the head of a coven, would not be allowed to undergo the process. The first reason was due to population control. Vampires may have had trouble conceiving but they had no trouble creating new bloodlines through The Turning. If all of those vampires became immortal, then eventually they would surpass their food source in terms of number. The second reason was one less spoken of but just as important. Only a few could live through eternity without becoming crazed by the passage of time itself.

So, at the end of that lesson, Rassa had asked a question he'd already known the answer to.

”Am I...like that too?”

Victor had given him an affirmative answer, ”You must be. You are both the last of the old and the first of the new, there will never be any like you ever again. There was a reason you were chosen Rassa. Your soul, despite its youth, we could see its potential, its strength. It will have no problem staring down time itself, if only you allow it to. For time will not wait, and it will not be generous. One must earn what they desire, and if to earn it is not enough, then take it”.

”Even if taking it means ensuring others don't get theirs?” asked Rassa.

”If they were not strong enough to hold on to it, did they really deserve it in the first place?” Victor had replied.

Those words had been his only company in the tomb of his body. Unlike when he was fully awake and he could tell exactly how much time passed thanks to his enhanced senses, in the sub-death state it was the complete opposite. There was no concept of time or even space where he was. It was both timeless and sudden, endless and enclosed all at the same time.

It gave Rassa plenty of things to think about, first and foremost being Victor's words to him.

Was he really strong enough? Was he really willing to take at the expense of others? The compassionate answer he knew he would have given originally became smaller and smaller, giving way to something far darker, and far more dominant.

If this is what I get for being compassionate, for not taking when I could have...I will not let opportunities slip past me anymore.

Considering I am going to live forever, perhaps it best I start embracing a new philosophy. Rassa chuckled to himself in the darkness. Oh how Victor would be proud.