Forever Young Ch 03

I sniffed the air and detected the scent of a Succubus. I ran through my memories and found a match. Delphine, his mother. The scent trail was strong less than 15 minutes old, easy to follow yet I hesitated.

If I was to meet Delphine, I wished to be fully fed. I moved quickly along the alley and scented the air picking up that of an adult male. The scent was heady with testosterone, and I grinned, I had caught sight of him, he was large with bulging muscles and a strong heartbeat.

He was walking slowly down the darkened street; this area of London was run down. The street lamps flickering in syncopation with one another, I quickly scaled the building to my right and moved swiftly along the rooftops dropping down in the darkened corner ahead of the man.

I reached out and touched his mind slowly drawing him towards me. He walked towards me and into the darkness of the doorway, I pulled his face towards me and tilted his head to the side, sinking my fangs into his neck. I drew his blood out, my fangs causing him to relax against the wall. I tasted the hint of bitterness caused by steroid use in his blood but ignored it, as long as steroids were the only things in his blood.

I drained around a pint of his blood, enough to cause possible fainting but no long-term damage or danger to his health. His size gave me an indication that his blood volume was above average, meaning I could feed more than normal with him. I pulled away from him and moved my index finger to my fang. I pricked the tip and rubbed the resulting blood into the bite wounds I had caused. They healed and I leaned in and licked the blood off his neck before erasing our encounter from his mind.

Humans were so easy to control, their minds naturally shying away from anything they could not understand. I knew his mind would come up with some explanation for the lost time, anything to shield his sanity from what he had experienced.

I stepped out from the doorway and quickly moved away, I found Daniels scent trail again and followed it along with that of Delphine. She was travelling quickly, carrying Daniel across London I assumed. I tracked the scent for around a mile, she was moving quickly and soon she was in a car, as a result the scent trail was fainter but not undetectable and I followed it across London. I was now moving into the richer areas of London. The houses now consisted of three floors and the cost of the cars parked outside increased as I moved along each street.

Daniels scent trail was now stronger which told me the car was slowing down, the scent led to a house at the end of the street with a car parked outside. I rested a hand on the bonnet of the car. Still warm. She wasn't so far ahead of me, even after I had stopped to feed. I slowly walked towards the front door of the house and froze on the doorstep. I inhaled and turned around. Face to face with Delphine, now wielding a stake an inch above my heart. I sniffed again. It was ash wood, one of the three capable of killing vampires.

"Why Darren, what an unexpected surprise. I take it you are here to see my son." Delphine said slowly but with a mocking lilt to her tone.

I nodded before speaking "He wished me gone, but Zachariah has given me his consent to see him."

"You saved my son once before, and for that I am grateful but he is resting now." She said slowly lowering the stake.

"He did not recover psychologically from his previous attack when he was 16. His memories resurfaced and he collapsed." I said straightening myself up.

She stepped forward into the light and I scanned her features. Her pitch-black hair fell down past her shoulders like a cascading wave, and her eyes were the same shade of sea green as those of her son. She was smaller than her son but not by much. She had the same eyes but her hair contrasted with Daniels light blond. She stepped past me and into the well-lit house and beckoned me forward.

I stepped over the threshold subconsciously chuckling at the myth about vampires being unable to cross the threshold of a house without invitation. She laid down the stake on a small table and turned back to me. She grinned slightly and then beckoned for me to follow her again, leading me into the front room of the house and motioned for me to sit down in one of the two arm chairs present in the room.

She sat in the other chair and my eyes quickly scanned the room taking in the ornaments scattered around. The room was filled with expensive knickknacks and furniture. All wood was mahogany judging by the smell with a few objects of Oak and Hawthorn dotted around.

Delphine looked at me with eyes older than her face, she was an old Succubus, and a powerful one at that, yet her body gave no indication of her age. She was the head of a global porn company and a multi-millionaire, and as a Succubus she had the ability to control and create fire, a formidable weapon, Daniel had limited control due to his lack of feeding but Delphine was a Succubus in her prime, strong and powerful, and most of all a very bad enemy to have.

Her eyes scanned over me and she grinned weakly. She wore clothes younger than her age but matched her outward appearance. She wore a black dress reaching down to just above her knees with black tights and stiletto heels. She wore a charm necklace with jade ornaments which repelled me. Jade was an irritant to vampires as well she knew. Her mind was well shielded, better than most non-vampires I met, giving me only the faintest inkling of her emotions.

"You care for my son." she said slowly, her green eyes glistening in the dull light of the room.

"Yes." I said, without a doubt.

"I will admit this, I do not like the idea of a vampire being with my son. I admit at first I hated the idea of my son being gay, but he is and always will be my son." Delphine said her eyes holding mine.

"Zachariah feels responsible for his trauma, as such he wishes to help him." I said leaning forward in the armchair.

"What do you want with my son?" Delphine asked her green eyes flickering over me

"I wish to help him." I said cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Darren, I'm a Succubus I know every sense of the word 'help'." she said grinning sarcastically at me.

"It is true that I find him attractive, that is what first drew me to him. When I saw a vampire attacking him, I felt... possessive." I said drawing in a breath through my nose, unused to this new emotion.

Delphine crossed her legs and wove her fingers together. "I thank you for saving my son. If you had not saved him, I would not have stopped until that vampire was dead. Although I do not totally approve of you... yet, I give you my blessing to continue seeing my son. Under one condition." Delphine said leaning forward in the arm chair.

I nodded and she inclined her head and continued. "You will protect him, but I warn you. If you break his heart, I will end you." Delphine said in a deadly serious tone, I could tell she meant every word of it.

I nodded and Delphine rose to her feet and motioned for me to follow. She led me from the front room and towards the flight of stairs. She spoke slowly as we walked up "My son is resting; his memories were being held back but I am assuming you inadvertently caused them to resurface. Although he is resting you are welcome to sit with him."

Delphine had led me to a door on the third floor. The door was half open and led into a white walled room with few adornments on the walls. A single bed was pressed into a corner with Daniel lying beneath the duvet. His eyes moved beneath his lids as I watched and his brows furrowed together.

"He has said your name a few times." Delphine said pulling a chair out from under the desk and placing it by the bed. She motioned for me to sit which I did. She reached out and lightly ran her hand over her son's forehead.

"He resembles you." I said leaning forward in my chair.

"And you are like Zachariah." she said lightly resting a hand on Daniels head.

I inhaled Daniels scent and sighed. Delphine looked at me and giving me the barest hint of a smile, before turning to leave the room. She lightly patted my shoulder before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

I slowly reached out and took Daniels hand. His skin was warmer than it should be and I felt his accelerated pulse in his fingertips. I watched his face and his eyes moved quickly beneath his lids and his brow furrowed again. He seemed to be in some form of pain. Daniel was shirtless and my eyes moved up his arms and froze at his elbow. There was a set of fangs marks just inside the crease. I stood and looked at his other arm and found the same marks but this time on his bicep.

The scars were the only physical evidence remaining of his attack. The other damage was in his mind. The wounds may have healed but the damage there remained. That would be the main extent of his trauma.

Daniels fingers twitched slightly and I retook his hand. I lightly squeezed his hand and saw his brow relax. I liked to think he could sense my presence but I knew that was just wishful thinking. While he was asleep Daniel seemed to go through cycles, at one point he seemed perfectly relaxed and calm his breathing smooth and even, but at others he jerked in his sleep and his eyes danced crazily beneath their lids.

I did not need to sleep, Vampires could go without sleep if necessary and although I would have preferred to undertake the death sleep, I stayed awake and watched Daniel. He slept soundly for the rest of the night. At least he began to once I started to lightly stroke his hair.

I wasn't used to being romantic. I did not form close relationships with people. I fed, fucked then left them, that was the usual cycle. But with Daniel I was at a loss. I was having feelings of possessiveness towards Daniel foreign to me. I didn't have a good explanation, something about this small man called to me, seemed to be touching upon all of my possessive instincts. He was just so fragile, so lost and scared. He needed a champion, and I knew I wanted to be the hero to fight his demons.

As I looked over his features again and again, I began to pick out the similarities between him and Delphine. Like his mother I knew they shared the same eyes. Daniel was taller than his mother, but his build was sleek and elegant. As to be expected from an Incubus I surmised, utterly perfect. I had met Incubi before, however none had been quite as well formed as this one, at least to my eyes.

Returning once more to my assessment of him, I noted his light blond hair contrasted with that of his mother. I assumed he took his colouring from his father. I scented the air but was only able to detect the scent of two people, Daniel and his mother. I inhaled deeper, trying to draw on whatever vestiges may remain, yet was still unable to detect any other scent.

Either his father was dead, or his father had left his mother and him a very long time ago. I hardly noticed as the sun rose and shone in through the bedroom window. I looked at the watch on my wrist and read the time as 6:30 in the morning. I heard Delphine moving around downstairs and I regretfully left Daniel and slowly descended the stairs.

Delphine was in the kitchen, preparing some form of food for Daniel I assumed. She turned at my presence and inclined her head slightly. She was dressed in a knee length floral dress with flat sandals on her feet. My eyes grazed over the silver band on her ring finger.

"Daniel seemed to sleep well, when I first brought him here, he wouldn't stop crying. Even while asleep." Delphine said turning away from the pot she had placed on the stove.

She moved to a cupboard and pulled out a few bottles filled with dried herbs. She opened each of them and added a few pinches of each herb into the pot. She continued to mill about the kitchen talking to me as she went.

"I am guessing you are curious about his father." She said still preparing the concoction in the pot. Obviously noting my gaze upon her wedding band.

I nodded to her question and she continued around the kitchen. She must be well over 200 years old yet looked no older than 23 at most. All Incubi and Succubi were eternally young, but that did not mean immortal. Although Daniel would live forever, he was still in danger of being killed, such as the Vampires who had almost killed him before.

"He died." She said answering my question

"When Daniel was 15 his father died protecting me from a Werewolf. He cast a spell to hide me from it and he immobilised me to keep me safe. I was forced to watch as it tore him to shreds." her voice holding no hint of sadness, as if she were talking about leaving the washing out in the rain or something similarly mundane.

At this however Delphine froze by the pot, she slowly turned around and caught my eyes. Her face showed no hint of emotion, but her eyes seemed to show more. I had never known for Succubi to overly trust vampires. Aside from our similar sex drives we had little in common. She was obviously more complicated than I had first thought, what was obvious though was how much she cared about her son. She soon recovered from her self-induced pause and stepped towards me.

"Daniel will be awake soon, if you could bring this to him." She said stepping back towards the stove and pulled the saucepan off the heat.

She opened a drawer beneath the granite worktop and pulled out a small glass vial. She carefully poured the blood red liquid into the vial, filling it to the brim. She placed a cork stopper in it and I reached out a hand and took the vial from her, contrary to what I expected the vial was ice cold, the colour was almost exactly that of blood. My eyes however picked out the subtle difference. I had seen enough blood in my life to be able to pick out the different shade of red.

I slowly left the kitchen hearing Delphine walk behind me, she followed me up the stairs as I walked towards Daniels room. My ears picked up the quiet sound of his breathing, soft and even, the even rhythm of his hear drawing me closer. I approached the door to his room with Delphine following behind me, she stopped at the threshold and left me to enter alone.

I pulled away the chair next to his bed and perched on the edge of the mattress. I looked back at Delphine who still stood in the doorway.

"Pour it into his mouth and massage his throat to induce the swallow reflex." Delphine said leaning against the door frame.

I did as she directed and was glad to see that Daniel had swallowed the liquid, his colouring seemed to brighten but he still showed no sign of waking. I half turned to Delphine still present at the doorway, she took a step into the room before she began speaking.

"That should help stabilise his body for now, but it requires a spark, that is why you are here." She said crossing her arms. Now I understood why she had fewer objections to my presence than I first feared.

"And I take it by spark you mean..." I said trailing off.

Delphine finished my sentence. "By spark I mean some form of sexual energy other than my own."

"So, this is the reason why you allowed for me to stay?" I said standing up from Daniels bed, a slow anger building in me.

"No, I could have brought anyone to feed him but I allowed you to stay because I know how my son feels about you even if he doesn't realise it yet." Delphine said stepping forward to face me.

"Very well." I said turning back towards Daniel, willing my rage to subside. Unfortunately, one thing I found difficult to control was my temper as I had been told by my maker.

His breathing had grown stronger and his heart beat was now beating more evenly, I heard Delphine close the door to Daniels room, and I sat down on the bed next to Daniel. The blanket was down just below his ribs, his chest bare. I lifted my hand and lightly placed it against Daniels cheek, his skin was warm to my touch, and my fingers curled lightly around his jaw.

I leaned down slowly, inhaling Daniels scent as I neared his face. My nose neared his neck and I inhaled deeply taking in his scent and slowly drawing closer to his face. I reached his lips and slowly, lowered my lips to his, my lips tingled pleasantly as his natural instincts kicked in, and the feeding began.

I sensed Daniel beginning to wake up and I began to pull away from his lips, however a hand grasped the back of my head and pulled my lips more firmly against his. Daniels other hand reached up and gripped my jaw holding me to him. I moved my hands to my leather jacket and shucked it off casting it aside before moving further onto the bed.

Daniels eyes opened and he pulled me further on top of him, I braced myself over him, careful to place no weight on his body. His hands moved to my hair and I felt his tongue tap lightly at the seam of my lips, I opened my mouth and his tongue met mine and I groaned. At the present moment Daniel was feeding deeply from me, his hunger for energy seemed enormous. I could not care less about the fact he was draining me; he was welcome to.

Daniels eyes flared red for a moment before he pulled away from my lips. He froze, and I looked down at him cocking an eyebrow. He removed his hands from my body and then pushed lightly on my chest, I pulled back still looking down at him. "Daniel?" I asked to no avail.

He pushed against my chest seeming to be embarrassed, I pulled back and sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled his knees up to his chest and threw back the covers. He was wearing only boxers.

I reached out and lightly rested a hand on his shoulder, he sighed slightly at the touch before shrugging off my hand.

"Daniel are you alright?" I asked trying to catch his eyes The fact that his eyes were now red informed me his energy levels were back up. But now as before he seemed to shy away from me. Daniel looked up at me and gulped before lowering his head again. When he looked up his eyes were once more their natural sea green.

"Daniel, please just talk to me." I said reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder again.

"Why are you here?" he asked his eyes shifting to their natural green, albeit glistening slightly.

"I am here for you." I said staring at him.

"Why?" he asked again cradling his legs against his chest.

"Because I care for you." I said leaning slightly closer to him.

"Why me?" he asked clutching his legs closer against his chest.

"I don't know. But I know that there is no place I would rather be than here." I said reaching out to cradle his face.

He sighed and his arms released his legs, he reached out his hand and met mine. His fingers traced lightly over the skin, my flesh tingled pleasantly at his touch, he gently squeezed my fingers and I squeezed back.

"I know you don't like the fact that I am Vampire. I know that, that is not all that I am, but it is part of who I am. Those Vampires who attacked you were not me, they were two members of an entire group of people. What saddens me is that their actions now colour your view of me." I said my thumb lightly stroking the back of his hand.

"Now do you want to come downstairs with me?" I said, my hand gently guiding him.

He nodded and swung his legs of the edge of the bed, he still seemed slightly apprehensive but I tugged him by the hand off the bed. He let go of my hand and moved to the wardrobe standing against the wall, I turned my back to give him some privacy and stood and waited.

I heard a subtle chuckle coming from his as I did so. "Something funny?" I asked my back still to him.

"A little." He replied, "I was surprised you turned your back was all." he continued.

"I try to be as respectful as possible; you still only know me a little." I replied a faint smile edging its way onto my face.

My ears picked up the sound of fabric sliding over skin followed by the resounding noise of a zip being done up, I chuckled slightly thinking of all the times I had heard that noise, usually however they were going down instead of up. I inhaled slightly scenting the air. I quickly wished I had not, the pheromones exuding from Daniel had become stronger, slightly odd seeing as how he had just fed. Daniel lightly tapped on my shoulder and I turned to see him dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt, his face slowly looked up to meet mine, and he tentatively reached his hand towards mine. My hand tingled pleasantly as he made contact, and I could feel his energy bristling at the surface.