Of Darkness and Fire (Updated)

CHAPTER THREE (PART TWO)

“Who are you to tell me where I should and shouldn’t be?” I thought to myself, literally. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

He laughed again. He may be dark and sinister-like, but his laugh, I could hear it all day. It’s so sexy, and the laughter, it suits him. “I remember you telling me that, yet you looked pretty helpless the other night to me.”

I spun my seat around to see him still having his back towards me and he was still talking to the woman in front of him. I’m so confused, yet I’m so intrigued. I had no idea a Vampire could do this, even though my mind feels invaded a bit just from him entering my thoughts to have a stupid conversation. I turned back towards the bar, towards Margot before I was caught staring too long.

“How are you talking to me right now? Are you in my head?”

I could feel his eyes on me. I could feel his glare literally layering a hole into my cloak. He was staring at me, I just know it. I want to look back, but I can’t, I won’t. I will not give him the satisfaction that he actually effects me in such a way.

“Why don’t we move this conversation outside, so we could converse like real people?” He asked cooly. “I know you’ve been dying to talk to me again.”

I didn’t move. I was too scared to move. Should I really do what he wants and talk to him again, in person? What if he were to figure out who I was? What if he already figured that out?

All of these questions and concerns floated through my head. My mind was pure chaos, and it didn’t help with his voice still lingering in my ears.

“Come on, Love. You know you want to.”

I heard two chairs rustling against the cold wood, as I noticed two bodies near the front door. I glanced over without making it too obvious and it was him and that woman he was sitting with. She bid him goodnight, as she kissed his cheek. I immediately winced at the contact. The thought of her lips on him, lit a small fire inside of me. But just as he crossed the threshold, opening the doors to walk out, she stayed behind, tending to some of the customers.

She must work here.

I never actually realized Margot had help the nights that I did come. Maybe I was so consumed in my own thoughts, my own freedom that I paid no attention to other things and everything around me, but she does work here. It’s clear as day now.

But how does she know Wyatt? Are they an item? f**k buddies? It’s clear they’re obviously friends, but is there something more to their relationship that I am missing?

I glanced over at the door once again, noticing he was gone. I was ready to stay and have another drink, but my legs started climbing off of the bar stool before I could even realize.

As my feet flattened on the floor, I quickly finished my champagne, setting the flute down, along with a few dollars as always to give to Margot as a tip. She smiled at me, and gave me a quick wink. That was her goodbye. And I made my way out of the door and back into the darkness.

As I walked outside, into the moonlight, I looked around. He wasn’t anywhere to be found. I was way too cautious to call him out-loud, so instead I hoped he was still connected to me somehow and he could hear me through my mind.

“Where do you want to meet?”

Nothing. My mind was clearly my own and there was nothing but silence in response. I moved forward, along the stone walls of the bar, walking down the bricked road, hoping that maybe I’d catch a glimpse of him, but I didn’t see him. He was gone.

That asshole played me like a f*****g fiddle. He made me think he wanted to meet up with me again, but I fell for it and actually thought he meant it.

I was internally laughing, more so at myself than anything. This whole thing is stupid. Why would a Vampire be so interested in me? Maybe he liked the way I looked, as a snack of some sort. Maybe he just wanted to feed off of me than actually get to know me and converse.

I continued walking, but this time I just decided it was time to go home. There was no point in staying behind any longer when he clearly wasn’t here, and I would rather not stay out here by myself any longer than I have to.

Normally, I’d take the back ways, the alleyways and such towards the back of the city to make my way across the border and into the woods, but as I continued my way forward, I saw a glimpse of beautiful fountain in the distance behind a wall of hedges. It was lit up a soft blue, and shone so bright in the darkness. It was surrounded by shrubs and hedges, so it was barely visible from the city streets, which was perfect for me.

As I walk up to the fountain, I sit at the bench nearby. I take a deep breath, breathing in the cool, moistened air around me. The sounds of running water was so soothing.

We had a fountain similar to this back at the Palace, but this fountain clearly represented the Blood District. There were clear carvings of not only sigils of the different Houses within the District, but also pictures, images of the Vampires and what they represent. Words were etched into the marble around the base of the fountain: strength, speed, cunning, formidable, powerful, immortal, perceptive and lastly, children of the night.

Such powerful words, that hold true meaning to the Vampires, to their race. I’ve never actually met a Vampire before meeting Wyatt and that creep. I’ve seen short glances and images of Father’s guests and allies at times, but even just by the look of them, they’re so regal and all of those adjectives, descriptions, fit them perfectly.

“Looks like you couldn’t stay away,” a voice from just behind me said, startling me, causing me to grip the end of my dagger underneath my cloak.

I spun around quickly, noticing the familiar face. I quickly let go of the tight grip I seemed to have on the dagger, as I turned back towards the fountain. “Why do you have to do that? Why do you have to startle me constantly?” I said with clear annoyance behind my words.

He walked around the bench, taking a seat next to me. We both just sat there for a few moments staring at the lit water as it fell down into the small pool.

“It’s beautiful,” I quietly said. “The fountain.”

“Yes. It holds a lot of meaning to our kind, to our people.”

“I’ve noticed,” I replied pointing at the engraved words. “Those words. There’s a lot of power behind those words. It’s quite captivating.”

He turned and looked at me. The fountain gave off a small amount of light within the darkness around us, but my face was still clearly covered by my hood, so he couldn’t see my face. He didn’t say anything though. He just sat there, staring, studying me, as if he was trying to use some sort of x-ray vision to see through the fabric between us.

“How did you talk to me through my thoughts? Through my head?” I asked, interrupting his continuous stare.

“It’s a gift of mine. A power that was given to me after I was fully transformed. I could communicate through minds. I could make others see things that aren’t real, just pure fantasy, only it would seem real to them, as if they were living it. I could persuade minds to think a certain way, to feel a certain way if I truly wanted to. I could practically destroy ones mind if I chose to.”

I’m no Vampire expert, but someone of that sort of power, that kind of ability has to be pretty high up there in the rankings within the Houses. I’d only assume, even though I do lack a lot of book knowledge of their kind.

The thought of him being able to do such things scares me a bit. I’m human. My mind is practically at his disposal. There’s nothing between my mind and his powers that would keep him from doing such things to me. I swallowed hard at the thought. My legs trembled a little bit, from both the cold air and the fear that seemed to blanket me.

My words, my own inner thoughts came out shaky as I asked, “w-would you do such a thing to me?”

This time I looked at him. The darkness still consumed my face just enough, but I was able to fully look at him. His jaw was so sharp, as if sculpted by the Vampire gods themselves. His nose, smooth and prominent and his eyes were like a pool of deep waters at night, barely visible, just a mass of darkness and they were staring right at me.

“Would you want me to?” He asked quietly. Seconds later, he reached out, his fingers caressed my cheek as he moved downward, his thumb brushed against my bottom lip. “Who are you?” He asked, looking at me as if I was the mysterious one of us two.

I know he could see it, but I closed my eyes as his thumb caressed my lip. His touch, once again, shocked me to life, igniting that once lit fire again to burn, and it was burning bright. A sense of warmness filled my stomach and flowed through my veins as it warmed my entire body up.

He was such a dark character. A mystery, but his touch, his touch was soft and inviting. There was so much meaning, so much emotion behind just a simple, small touch that didn’t match his exterior at all. It was as if the exterior, the hardshell he put around him, is a facade to what is actually real on the inside, nothing but fluff and softness.

“I can’t say…” I quietly murmured, almost too afraid to say too much. “I can’t tell you.”

His voice was quiet, soothing me like the darkness that rippled off of him. “Just let me see that face, those eyes again. Let me look at you.” He reaches out again, this time cupping my face. He reached out with his other hand, ready to pull the hood back and expose my face to him and the moonlight above us.

I pulled back in instinct. “No!” I shouted. I stood up, glancing his way. He wasn’t mad, or sad, or surprised. His expression was blank, flat, emotionless. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I can’t.”

And before he could say anything else, I ran off towards the border. I didn’t look back, I didn’t stop, even though everything inside of me wanted to. Everything inside of me wanted to tell him the truth of who I am, to show him once again what I look like so he could remember me and every feature of me, but I continued running. And just as I reached the woods, which wasn’t far from where he was, I heard his voice once more in my head.

“You’ll come back to me, Love. I’ll figure out who you are, I’ll find you and I won’t stop, until you’re mine.”

And I crossed the invisible threshold and made my way back into the Thresbon Forest, back to the Palace, back to Legardia.