A Vampire’s Christmas Flame

"You don't know what you're walking into." Every instinct screaming at me to turn and go froze me; something deeper held me immobile. His voice was strong and deep, clearly marked as desperate. Though I had no idea who this man was, the way he gazed at me—intensely, as if he could see right through me—sparked something terrible in my breast. Though all I felt was an unsettling draw, a magnetic force keeping me still as he moved slowly closer, I should have been scared, afraid. His eyes, an amazing shade of silver, sparkled in the low street illumination. "Get out of here, while still able." Heart thumping, I blinked. " What are you talking about?" I murmured, but on my tongue the words seemed weird. This was ridiculous. Though my body disobeyed my mental directive to leave, I had no reason to trust him or even stay here. The wind whirled about us, smelling of rain, but all I could smell was him—rich and sensual, like an earthy forest following a storm. On my neck, the hairs are on alert. Something did not seem quite right. "Who are you??" I insisted, my voice stronger than my feelings. I retreated timidly, but his movement was too quick, his hand too strong, and he grabbed my wrist, dragging me in so near that I could feel the cold radiating off his skin. His grip tightened, and I found my breath stopped in my throat. "I said, get out," he continued, his voice austere but this time there was something different. Anxiety is it. Emergency? I blinked, surprised by the vulnerability I saw in his eyes, then quickly replaced it with something darker—something I couldn't define. I yelled, pulling on my wrist, "Let me go," but his hold merely tightened. His other hand slipped to the side of my face, his fingers cool on my skin tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "Please," he muttered, the odd word emerging from his mouth. "You have no idea how much risk you are running." His voice shivered my spine like a song, calm but with a hint of threat. "You have to leave before it is too late." Of course, I was terrified; however, he also had a certain appeal. Indeed, it is hazardous, but it is also quite magnetic. "Why are you undertaking this?" My heart thumping in my chest, I inhaled. He seemed to hesitate, as if weighing something, then I knew he was tightening his lips into a nasty scowl. This went beyond me simply running from peril. This man, this vampire, was foretelling to me the choices that awaited. And I doubted my own strength to make the right choice. Reflecting the furious thrum of my heart, the rain began to pour harder, pattering against the pavement like a drummer. Between us, there were a lot of unresolved questions and I missed so much. I felt a strange calm, an inexplicable relationship to him as if my entire soul sensed his presence even as panic seized me. "Who are you??" I repeated, but more gently this time. "What do you want from me?" His silver eyes flicked to the shadows behind me, as though he had heard something I did not. Once more his eyes turned frigid. You don't want to know. He said, "Not yet," mumbling. "But if you're smart, you'll ignore you ever see me." Thick and electric, a profound, stifling quiet enveloped the space between us, and for the first time I felt the weight of his words. It was something darker than just danger, following him. His past, his secrets, too much to understand and untangle. Though I couldn't, I longed to turn away and sprint. My eyes stayed fixed on him while my feet stayed anchored to the earth. Every breath I took seemed to pull me closer to the danger hovering over both of us and more into his universe. I started to ask him something, anything, but before the words could come out, a sharp sound broke the stillness—hurried footfall closing in fast. My heart missed a beat. Ravyn had not told me his name, but I already knew—pulled me against his chest, his body a wall of icy muscle—before I could even react. My breath stopped as I struggled to flee, but he held me with an unyielding grip. "Stay quiet," he screamed in my ear, with a strained and angry voice. Through everything, the sensation sent a flutter through my gut. I felt the heat of his breath on my neck, the hardness of his chest on mine. But time was not on our side for it. Now I could hear them, the footfall getting louder, the deep growl of something rather terrible. I strained in his arms while my mind flew. "Who is on here? What's going on? As I fought to myself free, panic began to fill my veins and the adrenaline surged. His hold grew firm. SHh. "They're here." His voice hardly got above a whisper. He was talking about something I grasp, not simply some arbitrary threat. Once more, I heard the low growl; this time, it was closer. I twisted my head around, trying to catch a sight of the darkly shadowing figure coming. Nonetheless, there were several figures. Under low light, dark, shadow-like beasts crawled on all fours with crimson flashing eyes. What the heck was happening? "Ravyn," I said. "What are you?" "Monsters," he growled, his voice bristling with wrath. "They're after me, but should they find you—" His words vanished, then his hands grabbed my shoulders and drove me back into the darkness. "Travel! Race! "I cannot depart from you!" I objected, trying to keep my cool under my own panic. "you have to!" His eyes glowed with need. "I won't be able to guard you should they find you." His voice broke but it was something else, something deeper, not from fear. "Please," I cried, my voice trembling, his words weighing me like a terrible blanket. Tell me their identities. Tell me what this has to do. You truly want to know? His voice dropped to a low growl full of terrible anger. "They are hunters; you are now their target." Ravyn drove me farther into the night, his body so close to mine that I could feel his heart's steady pulse—his inhumanly cold heart—and I couldn't ignore the strain between us. The thrill that sizzled each time our bodies met and his breath caressed my skin. Though I should not have, I did feel and care. Of the animals, of him, of whatever turned fate had brought me here, I was scared. But he looked at me and I saw something in his eyes: a promise of something more, something dangerous but definitely alluring. "You can't let them catch you," he said with a harsh, anxious voice. His lips grazed my neck's side; I think he stopped, as though he wanted to say more but didn't. "Ravign..." I breathed, but before I could finish he was already tugging me away. Down the alleyway, a piercing scream echoed, then the terrible sound of a corpse meeting the ground. My heart shot up into my mouth. The hunters were on their way in close. These were audible to me now and visible. They were hungry and concentrated on us. "We really have to relocate. Ravyn roared now, his palm gripping mine so tightly I worried my fingers would snap. Every curve as we hurried down the narrow alley seemed to close in on us; the darkness thickening and the sound of heavy feet approaching. I could not outrun them. I could barely breathe. Still, even with horror gripping my chest, I found myself fixating on Ravyn. Though I had no idea who he was or why I was drawn to him, one thing was clear: I was in this with him, whether or not I wanted to be. Ravyn stopped quite suddenly. We were captured. Around us were the animals, their eyes brilliant and their growls thunderous. Then Ravyn spoke with a voice as cold as ice. "It's too late." And as the hunters jumped at us, I heard the terrible screech of something far more massive and dreadful than anything I had ever seen—coming squarely at us. I knew then that everything would be changing. Stress permeated the air, and every breath seemed weightier than the last one. Still clutching my hand, Ravyn's was colder than I had ever felt it. His usually cool-headed approach vanished, replaced by something primal and desperate. My heart beating, I looked around but the lane suddenly resembled a maze of shadows. The creatures were closing in; their snouts twisted with ravenous expectation and their eyes glowed a terrible red. Every stride they took pounded fiercely in my chest. "We're trapped," I said, my voice shaking as I battled to get away from Ravyn, but his hold strengthened. "No," he murmured faintly, his eyes fixed to the darkness, every muscle in his body stiffened like a coiled spring. Not yet. "We are not trapped." Though I wanted to yell at him that we were as good as dead, I couldn't. As I watched the animals approach, their hunger clear in the air, my throat grew dry and my pulse surged. Then I saw something bigger, far more terrifying creeping in the darkness behind them. "Ravven... what is that?" My voice hardly passed my lips. His eyes fixed on mine with such intensity it astounded me. His voice tense and strained, he said, "That's not something you want to know about." When I heard it—a thunderous blast that made my blood stop—I was intending to ask more questions. Revealing its actual form—a large, terrible beast with eyes shining like embers in a fire—the creature entered the meager light. It was something ancient and savage, more than just a monster; in that instant I understood it was not coming to hunt Ravyn. Here we were gonna hunt together. 'What is it?' I insisted, fear building in my throat. I found my gaze fixed on the beast, unable to stray. It was enormous, fangs glistening like knives and claws dragging over the earth as it drew toward us. Ravyn's hold on me slackened just enough for him to take something from his coat—a sleek, silver sword too little to be useful against the beast. His jaw tightened and he murmured, "That," "is why you should have left when I told you to." The thing surged before I could ask any more inquiries, its howl rattling the ground underfoot. Ravyn drove me behind him, his voice low and lethal: "Run. Now." I turned away, but my feet stayed still. I wasn't sure whether I should flee, hang about, or fight. But I knew there was nowhere out as the creature's claws tore through the air, barely inches from Ravyn. Our time ran out. Something cautioned me that the darkness was only starting to assert itself.