Perched on a cold, damp rock, I looked out at the city lights glimmering in the distance. Though it seemed so far. The way the colorful lights sparkled. Like a huge blanket of stars, really made me feel welcomed. As if they were greeting the only guest of this lonely night.

The night was unusually chillier tonight, and the cold seemed to sink deeper into my bones, making me shiver involuntarily. Exhaling, a soft cloud of condensation formed from between my lips. As a constant reminder of how cold it was, at snowy nights like this one.

Gentle cold breezes kept caressing my long, black locks. Locks as black as this night that I let sit freely on my shoulders and down to my exposed chest. Where a silver necklace with a Dimond blue gem was wrapped around my neck, while the gem rested gently on my chest.

I call it, my chain, my beautiful restrain.

Some people would think that this might feel lonely. But I see it as time to relax, without feeling like the black sheep along my own people. Or being called names, none of them my actual name.

Adonis.

I've always loved the name my parents gave me. I loved the meaning of it. And I won't deny it, despite being an outcast among Elves, I am really loved among humans. They are dumb enough to think that, breath taking beauty is enough to trust a person.

The perfect straight hair, the sharp mesmerizing sea blue eyes, the toned and muscular body, the young and youthful smile, and the clear white skin. I call these, my curses.

The curses that decided my fate. The curses that forced me to be a monster. A cold and heartless monster, with blood stained hands. A fox, a manipulator.

And I am really good at it.

Seducing humans is one of my best talents. You would never suspect a thing from kind innocent eyes, will you?

Humans are so gullible. They are slaves to lust, just promise them a good time. And they'll bow to your feet. And all of their logic and reason seems to go out the window.

I sighed as I laid back on the huge rock, my eyes fixed on the stars now.

No matter how many human hearts I got, no matter how many times I've killed and heard pleading and screams for mercy. And no matter how savage I was.

I was never accepted by my own people.

I was known as the son of the traitor. I was a disgrace. Only because my mother fell in love with a human. As a result, no matter how hard I try to be like everyone else.

I will still have human blood running through my veins. They wanted to get rid of me just like they did to my parents, to erase any traces of my mother's major sin.

But I was born with gifts. My curses.

I have the ability to shapeshift into a human form. My long sharp nails would become soft and unharmful. And my really long hair stops at the nape of my neck. The pupil of my eyes would turn round instead of vertical and sharp.

It's not like I ever had a choice in this. In fact, I hated blood so much. But if I don't obey, they never have mercy on me. Even if shapeshifting is dangerous to my health.

The elders knew this, but they didn't care. They still forced me to shapeshift to hunt down humans. They saw me as nothing more than a tool, a weapon to use against the people they hated so much.

And I had to obey silently, just like a slave.

They would say it is my responsibility to atone for my mother's crimes. They would always tell me how she betrayed our kind by falling in love with a human and giving birth to a monster like me.

I let out a bitter laugh, feeling a pang of pain in my chest.

"I don't belong anywhere," I muttered to myself. "Not with the elves, and not with the humans either."

I am a no body.

"Just a monster with a pretty face," I whispered under my breath, the words leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

~~~~~~~~~

The village was bustling with life as the sun slowly set in the sky. Children ran around playing, and adults chatted amongst themselves, discussing the day's events. It was a peaceful and ordinary scene, until suddenly everything went quiet.

The monster has arrived. Me of course.

I avoided their gazes, and started walking. I like to think that I was some kind of, what did the humans call it again? Oh. A celebrity.

Everyone would clear my path and mothers would pull their children close. Geez. I am not gonna eat your child woman.

I couldn't help but smirk as I walked through the village. The stares and whispers followed me wherever I went, and it was honestly quite amusing.

I tightened my grip on the worn straw bag I was carrying. I just wanted to pass this street as fast as possible. Problems usually happened when I passed here.

But as I was about to exit to the next turn, someone bumped into my arm and knocked everything in the bag out. All the herbs and stuff I gathered were spread on the floor. Damn.

"Watch where you're going," I snapped at the person who had bumped into me.

But just when I looked at their direction, it turned out to be just a little kid. He was shivering like a leaf, and his hands wondered next to him trying to grab anything to protect himself with. From me. "I am sorry! I am very sorry. please don't kill me! Please don't take my heart!"

I tilted my head. So they started a new rumor today hah.

I reached out to help him up. "I won't hurt you It's ok-... Agh!"

"Stay away from the little child you monster!! We won't allow you to hurt us!"

A drop of blood fell into the ground and soon the sand absorbed it. Followed by another, and another. I looked at the hand I extended to the little kid. A wide scratch was on my hand, and blood flowed freely from the wound.

A woman quickly grabbed the child and hugged him tight against her chest. "Oh my god! Thank you Evan. He almost hurt my son!"

Evan.. That makes sense. He would do anything to appear as the hero, his father was the eldest master after all. So everyone trusted and cherished him. Bullshit.

I turned to face him, my hand still bleeding from the scratch. "You again," I growled.

He smirked and pointed his sword right to my throat. "What are you gonna attack me too?"

Too? When the f-ck did I attack anyone??

I decided to shut up and swallow my ego. I picked my stuff up back into the bag. Then I stood up, completely ignoring my injury. I was used to have them, it didn't hurt anymore anyway. I shot Evan a glare as I started walking again.

I could feel his smug look burning into my back. He always enjoyed putting me in these situations, making me out to be the villain in everyone's eyes. But who cares. Not me.

I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me react. I just clenched my jaw and kept my gaze fixed ahead, ignoring the whispers and glances of the villagers as I passed.

Once I was far enough away from the crowd, I stopped by a nearby alley and leaned against the wall. I let out a weary sigh and inspected the cut on my hand. It was starting to stain my shirt, but I didn't bother bandaging it.

It was just a small scratch, after all.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again. I couldn't afford to waste any more time standing here. There was still more work to do.

~~~~~~~~

Finally I reached Mr. Olivier's shop. And I placed the bag on his table. But he didn't look happy at all.

"THIS delivery was supposed to be by noon! What took you so long?!" He yelled as he slammed his fist into the wooden table. God what a headache.

I shrugged and didn't even bother getting my hands out of my pockets. A small straw was in my mouth as I moved it around with me tongue. "I had a little accident. Sorry sir."

Mr. Olivier's face turned red with anger as I spoke. "A little accident?! Do you have any idea how important punctuality is in this business? I pay you to be on time, not to make excuses."

I rolled my eyes and continued to play with the straw in my mouth. Pay me? My ass. That's barely enough to get one meal a day.

But I knew better than to say that out loud. Mr. Olivier was a difficult man to deal with, but he was the only one who would give me work in this town.

"It won't happen again," I grumbled, though I knew that was a lie. It wouldn't matter how hard I tried to be on time, accidents and mishaps were bound to happen.

"You better make sure of that. If you can't handle this simple job, I'll find someone else who can."

I chuckled inwardly at his threat. As if he could find anyone else willing to work for such low wages.

"Yeah sure, sure. Can you pay me so I can leave now?"

He gave me a disdainful look before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few coins. He slammed them onto the table, the sound of metal clinking against wood.

"Here's your payment, you ungrateful brat. Don't expect me to pay you more than this."

I gathered them and stared at them for a moment then looked back at him. "That's only five. I am supposed to get 10."

He rolled his eyes irritably. "Don't get greedy with me now. You're lucky I'm even paying you anything at all."

I clenched my jaw, feeling a wave of anger rise inside me, but I held it back. I knew better than to argue with him. It wouldn't change anything.

I silently stuffed the coins into my pocket, my grip on them so tight that my knuckles were turning white. Then turned and left.

Five damn coins? I worked all night to gather those herbs. But all I got was worth a loaf of bread.

But who am I to complain. I am lucky I am even eating tonight... Sometimes I don't.

~~~~~~~

"Finally... This one was a bit tough." I panted heavily, in the middle of the rustling trees.

Everything was so calm now, except for the sound of gentle drops on the stone ground, unlike the loud screams that filled the air a minute ago. This human kept fighting back, and almost slipped from my hands, but I luckily caught it in time.

With my other clean hand, I reached to my pocket and took out a small glass container, which had a purple liquid in it. I pulled the lid out with my teeth, then spat it out on the floor. Then slowly started pouring that liquid on the bloody corpse on the floor.

I took out a match, and lit it up. Then with a swift move, I dropped the small flame on the corpse, only for it to explode into a huge fire, and the only evidence of what I've done... started to disappear.

I looked at it coldly as the flames had begun to consume it and erase any traces of it from this world. As fire sparkled in my eyes, and casted a gentle orange shadows on my hair. My right hand, full of blood, where I held this human's heart.

The most important thing, that kept elves alive for centuries. And besides being a delivery guy, I was also a hunter who worked for the elders.

Though I hated this with all my heart. By now, it wasn't hard to kill anymore. I wanted to prove that I can be as brutal as them. Maybe then, I could at least be accepted here.

<<<~~~~~~>>>