My warning came in plenty of time to avert any danger. A part of me knew it was not an empty threat. However, I chose to listen to the advice of others and in the end, the innocent ones suffered.
I was sought after because of what I am. I had run for my freedom only to lead a condemnation on others.
My existence on this Earth came on the eve of the end of mankind’s reign. I was born into a powered down world, void of any gadgets. I remember the early days of my life, when my mother struggled to feed me, find proper shelter, when there were no medical men. A time when quiet was the defense against the savage beasts that hunted us down and devoured us by night.
Those were my young years. Most of those memories were fuzzy at times. A good portion of my life was sheltered and protected; I was bred to be ‘chosen’. We were taught to look a certain way, act and speak in a manner that was proper.
We were told it was an honor to be chosen by the Ancient Sybaris, to be their fighters, their entertainment, chamber maids or more.
They came to our town monthly, picking through us like fresh fruit at a market stand.
Deep within my soul, being chosen was never what I wanted and when the opportunity to escape arose, I took it.
Not long after I crossed the age of adulthood, I ran for my life… or so I thought.
My stupidity did not think through the well fantasized escape. I failed to think of my sister that I left behind. Or my mother. Disappointing as she had turned out to be, she was still my mother, and perhaps my leaving was the reason for her selfish turn against me.
Arrogance, however, had caused the deaths that eventually catapulted my return to the Esperanza Straits, the area where I grew up in a little village called Akana.
Allow me to go back to the beginning.
There are Sybaris and there are humans. Sybaris need a certain amount of human blood not only to keep their physical strength and beauty, but also a steady intake of human nutrients kept them from deteriorating and becoming Savages.
There are two breeds of Sybaris. The Ancients, which are human in appearance, and the Savages. The Savages are distorted, monstrous beasts, who are nothing more than mad animals that attack, mutilate, then drain the human body of all blood. They move like apes.
One human being can supply one Sybaris for decades, however, should the Sybaris drain the human too quickly, the human becomes nothing more than a Savage himself.
The Ancient Sybaris age slower than man, and if nourished properly can survive millenniums. While they can consume fruits and vegetables, they require human fortification for sustenance.
The Sybaris once had great power over the Earth, until man outsmarted them, forcing them into the shadows. They rose to power again while man battled a global plague, one that evolved into devastating wars.
They had diminished to mere beasts, and once replenished on the blood of humans they took control of the world, promising a better life to the humans that survived.
In a sense they did. In the Esperanza Straits, a Sybaris built communities for man; there was no hunger, fear, hiding, sickness, or wars.
There was also no freedom.
We dressed alike, acted alike, dared not speak our minds, and were taught only what the Sybaris wanted us to know.
That was only one pocket of the Earth. Outside of Esperanza Straits, Day Stalkers, that were nothing more than transformed humans, ravaged what was left of the barren world, stalking humans and animals, devouring them, fighting for their blood against the Savage Sybaris. The Ancient Sybaris, or Civilized Ones, feared them as much as the humans did.
All the while, the human survivors that remained fought for their lives, hid from the beasts, and grew in numbers so as to one day eventually reclaim their world.
I wanted to be a part of that movement, that rebellion, to rise up and live in a world without Sybaris.
No one knew where the Sybaris come from. The Sybaris claim they were always there. Some say they came from the stars. I was given a book called The Bible. That story claims that Man’s God created the Earth and the sun. He also created man and woman, who broke God’s laws by eating the forbidden fruit.
Of course, I will not chance ever eating an apple again. If Man’s God truly does exist, I do not want him angry with me.
I learned about this God while I was in Angeles City, the stronghold of the rebellion. I learned of that God, music, I watched as people laughed, sang songs, ate food that was different, and everyone was an individual. Unlike in the Straits.
I learned to speak and act like them, understand them. I learned about people before their fall.
My intention was to take arms and stand side by side, fight with them and die with them.
The world was a beautiful place once, I wanted it to be that again.
I had fled my home in Akana, stumbling across the rebellion. I had a gift that the Sybaris wanted and the rebellion needed.
Unfortunately, the Sybaris’ need and want for me was greater than the protection I could offer Angeles city. I was given a warning, and then they attacked.
A second warning was given and it wasn’t a chance I could take. I had to tuck all the knowledge I had learned deep inside and try to find that person I was before arriving in Angeles City. I had to become once again what the Sybaris expected of me.
Though leaving my friends in Angeles City wasn’t easy, I had to return to Akana.
My fight against the Sybaris had not been abandoned, I just had to fight the battle a different way.
I had to do so from within.