Kylar Knight was imprisoned.

The chains he wore had been forged from his love, the pain of what it meant to feel conquering his devoted heart. Her eyes, a green so dark and full of lush color, awoke a yearning inside of him, a thirst for her tender love to be his and her heart to be merged with his own. The love that had vanquished his heart, the same love he felt for his treasured Blythe, was what tightened the chains, denying him of his liberty to run, to soar or to dream without limit. Formed from an iron as strong as his love, the chains served their purpose well for they could not shatter nor break until his very love for his beloved dwindled to nothingness. Until the love withered, diminishing to a complete void, he would be in chains.

His love had once been a single drop of seawater which had found home within his heart at the beginning of their budding friendship. In time, the droplet became more; at first it was a stream, then a river, a lake, and finally, an entire ocean. It was a sea of his favored memories—every moment he had spent with Blythe dwelled within its affectionate waters—that resided within his very heart. Kylar lost himself within the vast forest of green that shone within her eyes; his eyes wandered on her lips, and the warmth that radiated from them captured his soul. Her words had always been comforting, and the light-hearted manner in which she carried herself was admirable.

But Blythe was no longer the same.

Once smooth and colored a shade of soft pink, her lips had become rough and jagged without delicacy. Her teeth, once innocent and the purest of whites, had been tainted by blood the color of crimson. The wondrous green that had once brought such beauty to her eyes had blackened, and the shadows that had been cast over them brought only darkness. An ominous aura of obscurity shrouded her very soul in a darkened mist. Before, she had moved with grace; now, her movements had become shallow and without emotion nor depth.

She was a girl, but to Kylar, she wasn't Blythe.

His greatest love was gone; another wore her face. They had bit her, creating the vampire she had become. The girl he had loved so dearly, the girl who had stole his heart, no longer existed. She had disappeared, taking his heart with her, and leaving Kylar with nothing. His heart was stolen, and his love was gone, so where was the emotion he should have felt?

Everywhere.

A fury stronger than death's blade blossomed within his soul; hatred burned the scarred remains of where his heart should have been. A passion for violence triumphed over the serenity that had once given him balance, and the world within him began to crumble without the harmony between peace and war to keep it stable.

They had found his weakness, his Achilles heel, and they had charged forward in battle. The very clan that had given him a new home, a new family, was all but a facade. They were the true enemy; they were the thieves that took his only love. She would never be the same again; his Blythe had disappeared forever. The leaders, the promise of blood, and the newfound strength was a lie; his entire life as a vampire was just a lie. He had been deceived, but now, he could see past the veil of fraud that had been placed in between himself and the world around him. He no longer was looking through a clouded filter, but rather he saw the true world.

He saw what they had taken.

A girl stood in front of him, her eyes sunken and drained of their color. Her skin was stained with dirt; the tan of her skin was lost within the crumbling remains of ash and soot. The ghost of a smile that lingered on her lips taunted Kylar. She stood in the place of his beloved. They had tried to destroy him piece by piece; they had chosen his life for him. His lips trembled at the sight of the girl's charred brown hair that was matted with a layer of thick blood. His hands shook, and his teeth bit into his own lips. They took away his Blythe, but they couldn't take away his life. They couldn't choose for him; they couldn't force him to be a pawn in their own game.

He was Kylar Knight; he wouldn't go down without a fight.

The heart of a warrior roared within him; a warrior's valor possessed him. His trembling lips stilled to a firm line, and his eyes shone with defiance in the dimmed lighting. Her laugh rang out in his mind, and he closed his eyes as he breathed in her ocean scent from the past. This was a game, and he wouldn't be their pawn. He would be a player, their opponent, and didn't intend to lose. He controlled himself; he controlled his life.

He jumped without thought, his feet colliding with her buckling knees. She was still within his arms, her eyes closing from exhaustion. A shade of red clouded his eyesight, and his face fell beneath her lovely hair as his teeth sunk into her neck. Her familiar scent brought Kylar some solace in the past and in her memory, and as the blood swelled within his mouth, the taste satisfying his thirst, he let her go. Her body was limp as it fell, her head cracking with a final blow as it pounded the ground below. His love, once strong yet dying away, fell with her body; the memories and all that was tied with the girl he had loved sank to the depths of an ocean in which he swam. He let himself live the life he chose alone as he broke the water's surface and flew towards the limitless sky.

Kylar Knight was free.