#EurydiceInHell

[shamps]

Eurydice in Hell

"Please note that English is not my first language, and I used a tool to help with the translation. I hope you enjoy the story!"

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Synopsis:

Kihyun, an immortal vampire, is trapped in a never-ending search for his lost love. When he meets a woman in the shadows of the city, their brief encounter turns dark as his longing for the past blurs the lines between pleasure and pain. Haunted by memories and consumed by his love, Kihyun must face the eternal consequences of his tragic past.

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“You must be thinking that immortality is the best thing in life, right? But let me tell you something… You’re a real fool!”

The moon was in its waning phase, and it had stopped raining just a while ago. The neon lights of the city reflected off the wet sidewalks, their beams shimmering in the puddles. The warm air from the sewers condensed into smoke, merging with the thin mist that began to fall. The street was nearly empty at this hour—who would dare go out? To face robbers, rapists, murderers, monsters of all kinds? Only a madman would do that… And the robbers, monsters, etc. The silence of the cold night was broken by the sound of heels clicking on the pavement. Polished shoes, a sharp blazer, a red dress shirt with the first two buttons undone, and a loose tie; in his hands, a gold bracelet and two rings. His hair fell in soft waves across his forehead, framing a handsome face. He walked with his hands in his pockets, paying attention to everything around him. Besides the rats and cockroaches, of course, the sidewalks were frequented by workers, like prostitutes, who stood faithfully at their posts regardless of the weather. He passed five of them, and his dark, deadly gaze hit them like an arrow. A blonde, with roots showing, wearing torn fishnet stockings, a vinyl mini skirt, and old black high heels, with badly done nails and smudged makeup, approached him.

“Looking for some fun tonight, handsome?” Her breath reeked of cheap liquor and the scent of other men—“100 bucks for my service.”

“I’ll give you up to 500 if you do everything I want,” the man said with a crooked smile, revealing a prominent dimple under his left eye, a charm that made all the women around him murmur with admiration. The woman grinned, surprised.

“Deal,” she said, throwing her arms around his shoulders.

The two of them walked down the wet sidewalk, his hand sliding from her waist to her backside as she laughed in satisfaction.

“What’s your name, handsome?”

“Kihyun! And yours?” he asked with grace and charm.

“For 500 bucks, you can call me whatever you like,” she said bluntly, which made his smile widen even more.

“How about Eurydice?” His eyes narrowed slightly.

“What a fancy name. Are you a rich guy?” The woman’s voice still slurred from the alcohol or perhaps some other substance.

“Eurydice is a figure from Greek mythology. She went to hell for her true love,” he said nostalgically, gazing ahead. “But she disobeyed Persephone, the wife of Hades, the god of the underworld, and ended up staying there forever.”

“Wow… You’re one of those intellectual types… I like that.” The woman leaned in closer.

“I just like to read,” he glanced briefly at her. “Would you like to visit hell with me, right here, right now?” Without hesitation, he stopped walking and stared at the prostitute.

“You’re gonna give me 500 bucks… let’s go then, handsome!” She didn’t hesitate for a second to accept the proposal.

Kihyun pulled her into a dark alley and pressed her against the wall, which made her happy. His initially warm lips grew cold as they traveled down her neck in quick, nervous kisses. She moaned almost instantly. She felt a sharp, strange tug—painful yet bringing a pleasure she had never felt before, not with any man or woman. It was as if she was being taken to heaven, not hell as he suggested. So pleasurable that she didn’t even notice herself fading away. Her lifeless body weighed in Kihyun’s arms, forcing him to stop and release his fangs from her neck. Vampire saliva has mystical healing properties that make the bite marks vanish from human sight. So, quickly, he slid his tongue over the punctures his fangs had left in her filthy skin. Her body slid to the ground as Kihyun felt the liquid of life coursing through his veins, dry for centuries. He stared at the sky during what was the true orgasm for creatures of the night—blood-drinkers. There are two moments when a vampire is vulnerable: when sleeping and when in the Life Ecstasy—the moment just after drinking a victim’s vitae. He licked his lips, savoring the last precious drops of the prostitute’s blood, took the 500 bucks he promised from his wallet, and threw it onto her body before leaving the alley.

With swift steps, he headed toward the upscale neighborhood where his luxurious apartment stood. He found it strange that the cockroaches of the poor neighborhoods hadn’t shown up to bother him as they usually did on nights like this. The feeling didn’t last long, though, because one of those cockroaches came toward him with an old knife.

“Hand over the money now,” the man shouted, barely noticing his knife drop to the cold asphalt.

Kihyun was already holding the thief’s arm, twisting it. The unlucky man heard his bones crack as Kihyun dragged him to the ground. Of course, the thief’s scream attracted the attention of his companions, who appeared almost immediately: two with knives and one with a firearm. Between a bullet and a knife, the bullet would take more time to heal, so Kihyun had to neutralize the armed man first, and that’s what he did. In mere seconds, Kihyun had his hand around the man’s head, smashing it against the side of a building. The other two didn’t have time to run before their heads collided together with a sickening crack, both skulls shattered. The fourth man tried to get up and flee, but Kihyun didn’t need someone to tell the world that a monster had killed his friends, unlike the woman who wouldn’t remember anything. Without any rush, the vampire approached the last thug, and with a kick, his jaw flew across the street. Luckily, the blows were so fast that Kihyun didn’t even get his hands dirty. He hated getting blood from worms on him. Now, all he had to do was quicken his pace to leave the area safely. At most, tomorrow, those guys would make the front pages of the city’s crime papers. No one would miss those criminals; after all, they were like the heads of the Hydra—cut one off, and two more would show up in its place.

Minutes later, he was back in his luxurious apartment, modern with everything a vampire needs to survive. Gone were the old European castles, now outdated; modern vampires used advanced security systems, reinforced doors and windows, and devoted servants who were fed on their masters’ blood, binding the human to the vampire mystically. Even though his skin was still warm from the vitae he had just consumed, Kihyun hated the smell of death that seeped from his body. He went to take a bath. He sank into the tub for several minutes, not worried about drowning. Of course, water would get into his ancient lungs—something unpleasant—but all he had to do was cough, and his dead body would expel everything inside that wasn’t blood. His bedroom was immense, with a canopy bed in the center, and hidden beneath that bed was his personal safe. Coffins were useful for preserving the undead life of any vampire, and Kihyun was no exception, but he hated the idea. He was modern and used a more advanced preservation unit. At the foot of his bed was a panel with elegant arabesques, and there was the key to open his sarcophagus. He exposed his fangs and pricked his finger, using the drop of blood to activate the magic of the urn. His blood was the key, so only he could open his sacred mortuary urn. The base slid open, revealing the box where he slept during the day. It was filled with a mattress, pillows, and silk sheets, big enough to accommodate two vampires. Every night, he sighed, thinking about spending another night without his beloved, the woman who got lost in hell centuries ago. It was this search that kept Kihyun "alive." The hope of finding her consumed his nights, and with each passing day, he became more certain that he would find her. For all the centuries that had passed, Kihyun had always refused to accept that the idea of blood was the only thing that drove a vampire, his only passion. No, not for him... His beloved was out there... waiting for him somewhere. And every night, it was the same:

“Until tomorrow, my beloved Eurydice.”