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As days and weeks blurred I tried to map the place and time I was in. At first, I thought I was in the past- deep past. Our house was carved into the forest, hidden so thoroughly that it took me weeks to realize we were even near civilization. There were no TVs, no phones. Just old books, oil lamps, hand-stitched clothes. Sometimes I thought I saw a record player.
But then one night, when my parents were out for their usual meal time I snuck out of my crib and padded barefoot to the study and there I found it.
A digital wristwatch. Cracked, but faintly blinking, I ignored the time and focused on the date- the year: 1994.
1994… it is much closer to the year I died… no! It is perfect.
The '90s is the decade of technological advancement. Being reborn in this decade with future knowledge is a game changer. Many Tech giants of the future were just starting, best time to invest in them.
I returned to my crib and waited for my parents to return and feed me while getting lost in my future economical dominance.
.
.
.
"You're growing fast," my mother said one day, her fingers brushing the side of my face as I sat in her lap. I must've looked six years old by then, though I was barely a year old. My thoughts were clearer now, speech easier.
"Why?" I asked softly despite already knowing the answer, knowing what I was.
She hesitated to answer. My father stood by the window watching the trees. His body looker tense
"You're not like others," she finally said. "You're like us… but different. You were born, not turned. A hybrid. Human and vampire."
She paused, putting me off her lap and kneeling beside me.
"You're a miracle."
The words hung, I cringed at those repeated words but I agreed with her. I was a miracle. A being of two worlds with all their advantages and none of their weaknesses. I was a perfect being.
Leaving aside my growing narcissism, I know the implications of my existence, my kind are feared by the ruler of vampires. I don't remember why and how but I know from the movies hybrids like me are taboo existence in this world.
And it scares me thinking what Volturi would do when they found me. My parents don't seem to have alliances big enough to fight Volturi like Cullens. And I don't have any reincarnation perks that can help me fight an army of vampires too.
The best thing I can do is pray that Volturi doesn't find me before the birth of Renesmee Cullen.
.
.
.
The more I grew, the more I felt. Emotions weren't small anymore they were tidal waves. It makes me remember reading about the heightened and never-changing emotions of the vampires in this world.
And I felt firsthand how true those words were.
I loved my new parents. I truly did, probably more so than my previous parents no matter how bad may that sound.
They also gave reasons to love them. Whatever strange experiment of biology and fate had made them my parents, they had raised me gently. Every bedtime story, every carefully prepared meal, every protective glance, layered bricks of affection I didn't know I'd crave.
But beneath it all was fear and secrets. I heard them whispering at night when they thought I was asleep.
"They'll come for him eventually."
"Not yet. He's still too young."
"If they find us—"
"Then we fight, I will not let them take away our son."
I knew what they were talking about, and whom they were talking about and frankly, I shared their feelings.
On that night, I dreamed of them- red cloaks against firelight, eyes glowing like burning coals, voices like wind over graves. I woke up gasping, cold sweat on my skin.
I walked outside. The night air bit into my lungs, but it didn't slow me down, I was too strong for it to affect me.
I could hear everything, the rustle of deer in the trees, the snap of a branch two miles away, the blood rushing through a squirrel's heart.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves as I felt my parents coming towards me.
"Atlas baby did you have a nightmare?" My mother Iris called making me look at her.
'Atlas…' I repeated my new name thinking how it would sound on my tongue. After a moment of consideration, I found the name pleasant. Not because it sounded better or was cooler than my previous name, no.
But because of the meaning and reason behind that name. My mother was born in Greece and later moved to Spain where she met my father. Being born in Greece she grew up on stories of Olympians, she always admired those godly beings, especially the Titan Atlas who held the whole sky on his shoulder.
She wanted me to be strong, strong enough to hold the world like Titan Atlas so she named me after Titan of Strength and Endurance.
She was a kind woman who recently became a vampire right after giving me birth.
"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Seeing me silent my mother asked.
I gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm okay Mama."
She gave me a skeptical look but fortunately, my dense father unknowingly came to my rescue.
"He's fine. Probably can't sleep. Remember he's a part vampire too so he doesn't need all that sleep like humans." He said.
Unlike my mother, my father Demetrius was an old vampire. He was so ancient that concepts of mental health, emotional health, and depression were foreign to him.
It's not that he doesn't know them, he perfectly knows and understands them but can't relate like all old people can't with the newer generation.
My mother gave him an exasperated look which made me laugh. I can't imagine how hard it is for a modern woman like her to be in a relationship with someone so outdated.
All those modern concepts be it feminism, equality, or woman empowerment were nonsense to my father but make no mistake that doesn't mean he doesn't love mother.
He loves and follows her words to the Z like every hopelessly loving husband maybe even more so considering he's thousands of years old love-deprived vampire.
"Mama he's right it was nothing let's go inside the house I'm going back to sleep."
Saying that I head inside the house under the watchful look of my parents. My mother looked at my father who just shrugged and followed after, completely clueless to probing behind her gaze.
Sighing she too followed.
Time started passing again, each day I woke up to find myself grown visibly. I was growing so fast that a few months after my nightmare I looked like a boy of ten years rather than one and half my true age.
As I grew I noticed a peculiar thing, a muscle I never had in my past life, well it's not truly a muscle but a metaphor I used but you get the point. It was located behind my forehead between my eyes. I can feel I can control it but not sure how, each day it becomes more noticeable. A pressure that keeps increasing.
I couldn't contain my curiosity so I asked my parents. My mother didn't know anything but my father was different he immediately recognized it and said it was my vampiric gift. He told me that some talented vampires or cold ones as he calls are born with innate gifts and that pressure is probably mine I just have to figure out what it is.
After learning about my gift my daily schedule changed most of the awake time was spent trying to manipulate that pressure rather than reading books from my mother's collection.
I tried to move the pressure towards my hand and when I did I saw my hand envelope in neon blue aura.
From there it didn't take long for me to discover what my talent was. It was the creation and manipulation of pure Psychic energy. Not telekinesis, not telepathy, not pyrokinesis but pure Psychic energy manipulation. That means as long as I have enough Psychic energy and control over it I can use all Psychic abilities.
Of course, it is not all sunshine it has problems for example manipulating is very hard, till this moment I can only lift a small stone and after that, all my Psychic energy gets completely drained.
My control over it is bad that I waste most of my energy trying to use telekinesis and I also have a small reservoir of Psychic energy.
Good thing it keeps increasing each day and wastage of Psychic energy becoming less with each practice.
Over the next few weeks, I became completely invested in my new schedule so much that I forgot about the rest of the world.
My schedule involved eating, spending time with my family, training, and sleeping.
This peaceful time went on for months.
But then it happened…
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