“Have you seen Michael lately?” Shelly asked, “He looks really tore up about Rebecca’s death.  They had been going out for three months.”
Alissa simply nodded. She knew something wasn’t right.  Two weeks ago a girl named Rebecca was found dead.  Michael, her boyfriend said he knew nothing about it, but the tone in his voice told her otherwise.  Alissa thought silently to herself, wondering how she could find the truth without getting herself killed as well.  She thought of the events that had happened in the last three years – since Michael moved into town.  No one knew where he lived, where he was from, or where he was going.  Always silent, he moved in and out of crowds, not even noticed.  Since this time, three years ago, many mysterious deaths had happened in Crimson (the town in which she lived.)  Most of the deaths were violent.  Autopsies revealed that many times the skin was torn from the victims as they were still alive, then the organs were strewn around the body – the heart was always gone.  What, Alissa wondered, could be so strong and insensitive to do this?
“Alissa, are you even listening to me?”
Her thoughts were interrupted by Shelly’s voice.  “Mm-hmm, I’m listening.”
Shelly looked at her. “Yeah right, then what did I just say?”
Alissa shrugged and went back to her own thoughts.
Shelly sighed, “I said, I think Michael needs a new girlfriend, maybe that would cheer him up.”
Alissa suddenly looked up.  A new girlfriend?  Yes! That’s exactly how she would find out the truth.  She smiled and looked at Shelly.  “I think you’re right…And I think I’ll take care of that little problem.”
Shelly looked at her in amazement. “Are you kidding??  Not now, midterms are coming up and we have that physics project due in four days.”
Alissa shook her head, “Are you kidding?  I’ve had that project done for a month now!”
“Oh yeah, I forget… not everyone is a science and math genius.”

Later that afternoon Alissa spotted Michael sitting beside one of the campus’ fountains.  She ran a hand through her hair before taking a deep breath and walking towards him.  His back was towards her, but she could see he was staring at the water, deep in thought.  When she was about five feet away from him he said spoke. “Hello Alissa.”
Alissa stopped, somewhat startled.  “Um… Hi.”  She walked over and sat down beside him.  She remained silent a moment before reciting her short, but well rehearsed speech.  “Hey, I’ve noticed that you’ve been pretty tore up after Rebecca’s death, and I was wondering if you’d like some company.  I mean, we learned in our psychology class that a lot of things are easier to handle when you have someone to share things with.”  She smiled to herself, thinking that went quite well.
Michael smiled faintly, “yeah, I guess I could use the company.”
 
 

Over the next two weeks things in Crimson calmed down and everything returned to normal. (If you could call a town like Crimson normal).  Alissa even found herself being strangely attracted to Michael.  Friday night came and found Alissa and Michael in a local pizza place.  Michael wasn’t acting like himself and when he looked up at Alissa she felt a chill go down her back.  “Hey, Alissa…there’s something you have to know about me.  But not here, let’s go to my house.”
‘To his house’, Alissa thought that sounded more like a threat than a suggestion.  Watching Michael’s eyes she thought she saw them change from brown to a deep green.  Alissa blinked and his eyes were brown again.
He smiled, “Well, shall we go?”  Michael got up and they walked through the town until they got to the north forest, an area of dense trees that surrounded the town for three miles.
Alissa stopped, sensing the danger surrounding her.  She looked up at Michael, only to see his eyes turn green again.  But this time they stayed that deep, sinister, green.
She sat down on a nearby log and thought things out.  Finally she looked back up at him.  “What happened to Rebecca?”
Michael sat down in front of her on the ground.  “She couldn’t handle what I told her, and she wouldn’t stay with me.”  Michael looked away, obviously not wanting to talk about the subject.
“So you just killed her!?” Alissa almost screamed.
Michael nodded and looked up, the green in his eyes so bright, yet so dark.  “I had to.”
Alissa thought for a moment before looking back at him.  “You won’t do it again though.” She said calmly as she quickly pulled a .45 out and shot him directly in the chest.
Michael fell back and lay there, blood flowing from the wound.  After a short time he closed his eyes and lay still.  Alissa watched him sullenly, thinking he was gone.  Yet, as she continued to watch in horror and amazement the bullet found its way back out of the hole and within 3 minutes the only trace that he had been shot was the hole in his shirt.  Michael sat up and shook his head. “That stings,” is all he said before smiling at Alissa.
She sat and stared at him, unsure of what to do.  “What are you?” she finally managed to say.
Michael looked at her, his eyes still that same green color.  “I’m human…kind of.”  He thought for a moment before going on.  “I’m immortal, obviously.  There are very few of us – The Ravagers.”  Michael shook his head.  “It’s too hard to explain, you have to see for yourself.”
Alissa continued to stare at him.  “You mean, you want me to…”
“Yes,” Michael interrupted, “I want you to become like me, and stay with me forever.”
“How long do I have to think about it?” She asked him.
“You can’t leave here tonight until you decide yes or no.”
Alissa sat and thought for a few minutes.  Finally she looked up.  “I will…for the scientific thrill of it.”
“You know you’ll have to leave your family, and now we
 will both have to leave the school…they will recognize a change.”  They talked awhile longer about the changes that would happen and the consequences of everything.  Finally, they got up and walked deeper into the forest.

Surprisingly, the house in which Michael lived was fairly nice looking.  Built by hand out of the sycamore and oak trees surrounding it, it was a modern day log cabin.  They went in and sat on a long couch made from the same type of wood.
Alissa looked at him.  “Now?”
Michael nodded and left the room for about ten minutes.  He returned and signaled her to follow him.  She followed him down a long tunnel of stairs.
“How long have you been here?” Alissa asked, looking around at the torch lit walls.
“A long time…I’ve been alive for 639 years now…I’ve lived here for 79.”
“Why do you move?”
“People find out.”
The silence closed back in around them and they continued their decent without talking.  When they arrived in a basement type area Alissa stopped and looked around.  She couldn’t help but notice the huge chemistry lab on the far side of the room.  On the side of the room in which they were standing was a single wooden chair – that reminded her too much of an electric chair.
Alissa looked at Michael, who had moved over to the chemistry tubes.  “This will probably hurt?”
Michael smiled, a bit sadly, “I can’t lie to you, it will definitely hurt.”  He led her to the chair and carefully strapped her in.  He went back to the table and brought back a long syringe filled with a dark blue liquid.  Alissa managed a weak smile as he walked towards her.  He returned the smile, “Ready?”
She nodded and tried to relax.  Michael quickly put the needle into a carotid artery and injected the liquid.  He stepped back, tossed the needle away and watched Alissa.  For a moment nothing happened, then she began to contort, twisting in agony.  Michael turned away, not wanting to watch.
In about two hours she stopped moving and fell asleep.  Michael carried her back up to the house and laid her in a bed to rest.  With the amount of drugs in her system, she’ll be asleep approximately 96 hours.
 
 

Alissa awoke in five days to find Michael sitting at the bottom of the bed watching her.  He breathed a sigh of relief, seeing she was awake.  “I didn’t think you were going to make it.”
She smiled weakly, “I made it…I think.”  She tried to sit up but Michael pinned her down.
“No, you have to rest – your body hasn’t had food or drink in five days.”
“Five days!?” She looked at him astonished, “What kind of drugs did you put in me?”
Michael smiled, “I don’t know, it’s been passed down so many generations, I just know how to make it.  The reason you took so long to come out of that sleep is simply because I doubled the dose, which will allow yourself to grow in strength more quickly.”  He pointed to the glass beside her. “Drink.”
She slowly picked up the glass and looked at the deep red liquid. “What is it?”
“Blood,” he simply replied.
She shook her head “There’s no way I’m drinking that.”
“Just try it…. For me?”
Alissa slowly brought the glass to her lips and took a sip.  Surprisingly she found it to be the most wonderful she’d ever tasted.  She quickly finished off the rest of the glass.
Michael looked at her and smiled.  “It’s amazing what a drug can do to you, huh?”
Alissa nodded, “So…is this what we live on?”
“Mainly,” he replied.  “Although we do have to actually eat something at least once a month.”
Alissa thought for a moment.  “A heart?  That would make sense, there’s been a death in Crimson about every other month.”
Michael nodded. “I’ve only killed people every other month…what our body needs is human hearts at least every other month.  In between, it can survive on animal hearts.  You won’t have enough strength for awhile to kill with your hands, but I’ll give you the knife I used when I first started.”
Alissa nodded sleepily.
Michael smiled, “Go to sleep, I’ll see you later.”  He left the room and let her sleep to gain some strength.

Three weeks later Michael walks down to the basement to find Alissa working on something in the lab.
She looked up at him.  “Almost done.” She said as she watched a bright green liquid slowly drip into a glass.
Michael stepped up behind her. “What is it?” He asked curiously.
“You’ll see,” she smiled.  The liquid finished dripping and she picked up the glass.  After pouring into two different glasses she gave one to Michael.  “Drink it, unlike your drug, this one won’t hurt.”
Michael looked at it a moment before drinking it.  “Well…nothing happened.”
Alissa drank her glass of it then smiled. “Not yet. It will though, give it time.”
Michael nodded and thought for a moment. “It’s 1:00 AM, we should go now.”
They left the house and roamed through the woods Alissa was already becoming familiar with.  Soon they found what they were looking for.  A pack of wolves walked through the woods, hunting.
Michael thought for a moment.  “This will be easier with two of us.  I’ll circle around and we can close in.”
Alissa smiled and shook her head.  “Let’s just run up and attack”
Michael looked at her. “Are you crazy?  They’ll recognize us and run.”
“So?” Alissa grinned, “Just do it.”  She made a noise to alert the wolves.  Michael cursed under his breath and ran towards the wolves.  Alissa followed, smiling.  To Michael’s surprise he found he could run at least 20 times faster.  They were soon on top of the wolves and subdued seven of them before the rest ran.
Michael looked down at the wolves trapped in a big net.  “Did the drug…”
“Yes,” Alissa interrupted, “The drug gives us the speed of a leopard.”
Michael shook his head, “You’re amazing.”
They drug the wolves to the house and put them in seven of the ten pens made from the same sycamore trees.
Alissa looked at her watch. “2:30, shall we go to town?”
“You think you’re ready?”
She nodded and they walked in the direction of town.  Standing at the edge of town they spotted their two victims.  Two drunks staggered down the road, unaware they were being watched.
Michael spoke softly “We go together, just follow everything I do.”
They strode up quickly behind the drunks.  Michael grabbed the first guy, pinned him down, and skillfully ripped his voice box out of his throat.  Alissa did the same, but using the knife instead of her hands. Since it took a little while longer to do so, the guy was able to get a short scream out before she managed to dislocate the vocal cords.
Michael smiled sullenly. “Now, we have to work a bit faster to get to the heart before it stops beating.”
Alissa smiled back, “Just go, I’m following.”
Michael nodded and quickly tore open the guy’s abdomen.  Pulling the skin up the chest of the man and ripping it off, Michael exposed the insides of the man.  He quickly tore the stomach, pancreas, liver, and spleen out of the body and threw them to the side.  At this point he increased his speed, pulled the lungs down and out of the rib cage, threw them to the side, and finally pulled the still beating heart out.  Michael looked over at Alissa to see that she had kept up fairly well and was cutting the lungs away.  He smiled as he bit into the left atrium of the heart, blood running down his chin.  Alissa finally managed to take out the heart and tentatively tasted it.  Just as with the blood, she found it delicious and quickly devoured it, getting blood everywhere.
Michael laughed softly and tossed her a piece of the guy’s shirt.
She wiped her mouth of with the shirt and grinned, her eyes glowing in an almost fluorescent green.  “And we’re only allowed to do this once a month?”
Michael shook his head, “Every two months.  Unlike normal people, who eat whenever they feel like it, we eat only to sustain our bodies.”
Alissa thought for a moment, “Just out of curiosity…”
Her words were broken off by the sound of voices.  “John, I think I see something over here!”
Alissa looked at Michael.
He grabbed her hand and ran into the shadows.  “We may have to kill again…if they see us.”
Alissa shook her head, “They won’t see us.  Just don’t move, whatever you do…they can still see our shadows.”
“What do you me…” His voice was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming closer.  They listened carefully.
“Oh man, John…it’s another one of them murders…but now there’s two of ‘em!”  There was a sound of someone getting sick.  Another voice began speaking.  “It must still be around here.  This blood is fresh…let’s find it.”
A flashlight beam began to flood the shadows and soon shined directly at Michael and Alissa.  Michael was just about to step out and kill the man when the beam moved.
“Sam, there’s nothing back here.  Whatever it was is gone.”
“Let’s get out here then… before it decides to come back.”
The footsteps of the two men faded away.  Alissa and Michael breathed a sigh of relief.
“How…?” was all that Michael could managed.
Alissa shrugged, “The drug I gave you also makes us invisible whenever we need to hide.”
“How does it know?”
“It doesn’t.  When we become scared our bodies release large amounts of adrenaline.  The drug increases that production and also reacts with it to make us and anything we touch invisible.”
Michael shook his head again, “You’re amazing.”
She smiled, “Let’s go home.”
They walked back into the forest to the house, content with their meal.
 
 

For 92 years they continued this way of life, killing to live, terrifying the town of Crimson.  Over
that time the town became nearly deserted, most people moving away to simply save their lives.
 
 

Michael awoke with a feeling of anxiety; he could sense something was wrong.  Standing up, he found himself light-headed and everything soon went black.
When he came to, Alissa was sitting beside him, staring at him.
He sat up slowly, “What happened?”
Alissa looked at him sadly, “I don’t know what’s causing it, I’m still running tests,” She paused, “But something is slowly breaking down all your internal organs.”
He stared at her, “What can you do?”
“Nothing,” she replied simply.  She told him to rest and then left the room.
She walked down to the basement where she was examining the blood taken from Michael.  When she got to the lab her computer screen was flashing, signaling it had found something significant in the blood.  She walked over to it and hit a few keys.  Information began scrolling down the screen, showing a complex system of DNA.  Flashing red at the bottom of the screen were the words, “Virus Found”.  Alissa scanned through the info, looking for a certain phrase.  When she found it she sat back and cried.  There, highlighted in the middle of the page were the words, “No possible solution.”  The drug that had kept Michael alive for 721 years was now killing him.  She pressed a button and the screen went black.  Walking up the long passage-way of stairs, she thought of how she would tell Michael what was going on.
 
 

Michael woke up three days later, sweating from fever.  Alissa gave him a glass of blood mixed with a drug to slow the deteriorating process.  He sipped the drink, then curled up in pain.
Alissa watched him carefully, “Michael?”
He looked up. “Yeah?”
She took a deep breath, “The drug that made you immortal 721 years ago is now dissolving your internal organs…and there is no cure possible.”
Michael looked away, his face expressionless.
“Also…” She started, “The pain will continue to increase drastically.  I’m trying to at least come up with something to take away the pain, but with all the drugs in your system, all the pain killers will only hurt you more.”
 
 

Weeks turned into months and as Michael’s condition worsened, so did his pain.  After six months of this, they both knew he would die soon.
Alissa looked at him, “Let’s go out tonight…one last good time.”
Michael nodded, “I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve found a drug to temporary strengthen you.”

They left early that night, and walked into town.
Michael smiled, “Why haven’t you ever given me this drug before?”
Alissa looked away, “Because in about 6 hours it will kill you.”
“Good reason.” Michael grinned.
They reached the town and silently entered the first house they came to.  On one side of the house they found two children, boy and girl.  On the other side of the house were the parents, sound asleep.  They walked back into the children’s room and grinned.
Michael stepped up beside the boy, carefully stuck duct-tape over his mouth to avoid noise, and tossed the tape to Alissa, where she repeated the procedure on the girl.  Michael gently shook the boy and woke him.  The child stared at him, terrified, and tried to scream.  Michael smiled a false, reassuring smile and took the child’s hand.  He quickly twisted and pulled on the hand, wrenching it from the arm.  Michael looked at Alissa and smiled as arterial blood splurted out of the amputated arm.  The child quickly passed out and Michael sat, drinking the oxygen rich blood pumping out of the wound.  Soon the blood stopped and the child was dead.
Alissa thought for a moment before waking the six-year-old girl.  The child looked up and, as the boy, tried to scream.  When the girl realized she couldn’t speak she pulled an old stuffed teddy bear close to her and began crying.  Alissa shook her head and spoke softly to the child.  “Don’t worry sweetie, we must all die someday.”  The girl stared at Alissa, trembling.  Alissa grabbed the girl’s throat and looked at her; a cold grin forming on her face.
Suddenly a noise was heard close to the door.  Alissa quickly ripped the head off of the child to silence its pathetic whining.  She stepped back into the shadows and waited.
Soon the father of the children opened the door and stepped inside.  He opened his mouth to scream but before he could Michael had already stepped up to him and put his hand through the man’s chest.  Alissa watched as Michael’s hand came out the man’s back, grasping the heart.  Michael grinned, slowly ate the heart and let the man drop to the floor.  They stepped over him and walked into the other bedroom where the mother was still sleeping.
Alissa walked up beside the bed and pulled a small vial out of her back pocket.  After putting on gloves she twisted the top off of the container.  Using an eye dropper, she took out an amount of the steaming yellow liquid and dropped a few drops on the woman’s stomach.  The acid immediately began eating through the flesh.  The mother woke up and began screaming wildly as the acid slowly ate through the skin, muscles, and organs.  Alissa soon tired of the game and dripped some of the acid over the woman’s throat.  In about a minute her screams were cut off as the acid ate through her trachea.
Michael and Alissa left the house and moved on to the next one.  They proceeded through the town killing the remaining population in similar ways.  When they reached the last house they stopped.
Alissa looked at her watch, “Michael, you only have two more hours.”
Michael nodded and they walked up to the house. Stepping inside, they looked around at the various musical things.
Alissa walked up to a certificate on a wall and read, “This certificate of Excellence is awarded to Montgomery Ashton…” She stopped reading and grinned.  “Montgomery Ashton…the local band director for the Crimson Schools.”
They walked into the bedroom where they found the sleeping Mr. Ashton, totally unaware that he was the only person alive in Crimson.
Michael took a coil of rope out of his bag.  They tied the man down securely then woke him up.  He opened his eyes and immediately tried to jump up, only to realize he couldn’t move at all.
Michael smiled, his eyes glowing, “Hello Montgomery, we’ve heard all about you.”
The man just watched them silently.
“Michael?” Alissa looked at him, “The time.”
Michael nodded and glared down at the director.  “Tell me, do you think it would be fair if everyone in this little town got to live and I had to die in two hours?”
The man shook his head…a smart answer.
“Good, because I’d hate to think I was doing something wrong.  If it interests you, you’re the last one alive in this pathetic excuse for a town.”
Montgomery stared at him, his eyes wide.  “Why…”
Michael interrupted him, “Because if I have to die so does everyone else.  I was destined to live forever, and now that its time for me to go, I’m taking you all down with me.”  He silenced the rest of the man’s questions by ripping off the man’s little finger.
The man screamed and tried to twist out of the ropes, but was unable to do so.
Michael shook his head; “Some people can’t even die in dignity.”  He proceeded to pull off all of the man’s fingers and toes.  Grinning, he dropped a bloody finger into the guy’s mouth and duct-taped it shut.  Michael pulled out a large vice grip out of his bag and began tightening it on the man’s leg.  Alissa watched as the man’s face contorted in pain.  Soon there was a sickening crack.  Michael took the vice off and repeated the procedure on the other leg and arms.  Alissa took the vial out of her pocket again while Michael was busy and put a drop in each of the man’s eyes.  She laughed as he began shaking his head violently, trying to somehow stop the pain.
Alissa looked at her watch again, “Michael, we need to go.”
Michael looked around and picked up a nearby clarinet.  He grinned, brought the clarinet up, and rammed it down through the man’s chest.
 

They walked back to the house in silence, Michael’s strength beginning to fade.  Michael laid on the oak couch, waiting for his body systems to quit.  After an hour he went into seizures.  Alissa watched, unable to do anything.  Michael became still and his body disappeared into the air.
“Well, at least I don’t have to bury him.” She sat down and thought, sobbing to the empty room.
Finally she got up and walked down to the basement, where she began to create a new drug.  Alissa worked for a steady three hours before leaving the lab.  She went back upstairs, quickly drenched the house in diesel fuel, and set it on fire.  She ran back down to the basement and put the liquid that she had just made into a syringe.
“I hope this works,” she said to herself, “Reversing the immortal drug and adding cyanide…but that doesn’t guarantee it will work.”
Alissa looked up the stairs to see that the fire was coming very close to the basement door.  She quickly walked over and smashed the chemistry lab and poured out any liquids.
The heat from the fire began to smother her.  She looked around at the place that had been her home for the last 92 years.  Alissa sighed, closed her eyes, and injected the drug into a vein. It took maybe three minutes to work, first having to break down her immortality, then stop the cells from functioning.
During that time she thought about her life…that night in particular.  She smiled, knowing she had lived a long, and good life.  The drug kicked in and she fell dead to the ground.  Her now mortal body lay there, as the fire swept over her and burnt her body into a pile of ashes.