Ragon woke quickly the following night. His hands pushed against the roof of the freezer, where he slept, forcing it open. As the frosty air cleared, he knew instantly that Bell was gone. He could no longer feel her heart beat; the house was silent. In a fury he rushed to the front door, blurring through the house, hoping he was wrong.
"Fool," he said out loud in a hiss.
He was not talking about Bell; he was talking about himself. The truth was plain and simple. He had decided not to lock her away, because he wanted her to be happy. If he could have let her go, he would have; at least he hoped he would have. Part of him, the very small part which held onto his humanity, knew that what he really wanted was for her to be happy; with him. In many, many years he had not felt like this. To be truthful, he had not felt like this since he had become the monster he was. Ragon was reluctant to think of his feelings for Bell as being love; for the soul reason that he didn't believe Vampires were capable of love. But now as he left the house that he had bought for his captive he wasn't so sure.
It didn't take Ragon long to find, and loose, Bell's scent. He had followed it along the driveway, up a hill, and onto a side road that serviced a main road. Ragon ran along the road, until suddenly, Bell's scent vanished. One moment it had been there, and the next it was gone. Breathing in harshly, he forced the air surrounding him into his lung. His head hung in defeat, and as it did so, Ragon noticed two long tyre skid marks along the road. Breathing in again, this time slower, his non-humanly senses picked up the faint trace of something they recognised. At first he wasn't sure, and so he breathed in deeply again; trying to isolate the smell that he recognised from the sweet, fragrant jasmine, that crept into his nostrils from a nearby garden.
"Kiara," he breathed after a moment.
Instantly he was running, blurring through the suburbs to a house he had hoped never to see again; while his mind stunk of memories of a vampire he hated. Kiara had been the first non-mortal he had met since becoming the monster he was. It was 1815, and Ragon was a soldier of the United Kingdom Army. Napoleon's War against the kingdoms had bought him many enemies, and so the nations rallied to bring about his end of tyranny. 14 flags had risen against Napoleon, and the first French Empire. Though the war had been coined the hundred day battle, Ragon did not live past the first 2 months. It had been a relatively painless death for him. One moment he was charging at the enemy, and the next he was lying in a ditch, blood staining his dark blue uniform. No one could have told you how long he was dying for. Back then, the war fields were the perfect scavenging grounds for the un-dead. Vampires, and other blood hungry creatures, searched the battlegrounds for easy prey. On one particular moonless night, a female vampire feasted on the dead soldiers. Kiara didn't like the taste of cold blood, but it was a free meal; and she was starving. She almost didn't notice when she began taking Ragon's life.
Though his blood was luke-warm, it was only when her eyes locked on his, that she realised he was still alive. They were open wide in horror watching her drain him. It had taken her a second to decide not to kill him; to decide that she wanted to keep him for himself. And so she changed him. The next night Ragon was a vampire. For a time Ragon followed her, hunted with her, and laid with her; but he did not love her. When finally he decided to leave, many years after his transformation, Kiara was completely obsessed with him. On learning of his desire to leave, she had promised him, that only an eternity of solitude would amend his betrayal. And so Ragon left her. Determined to never love, rather only exist; until now. His mind was racing with memories of Kiara as he neared her residence. Her house was high on a hill overlooking the city. The moon shone pale in comparison to the neon lights of the high-rises. Tearing his eyes from the moon, Ragon urged himself onwards; it would be morning soon. Large brick walls lined the property, but only one closed iron-gate gave entry to it. Ragon leapt across the 12 foot fence in a single bound. These walls were struck to keep mortals out, not immortals; little could do that. As he circled the house, Ragon spied several mortal guards and smirked. His speed was no match for their dull human senses, and he entered the house quickly and undetected.
"Welcome," came a high cold voice from atop a mahogany staircase.
Ragon froze. He knew the voice well. It was Kiara. His eyes draped the staircases until finally they spied the landing. In a bright yellow dress, that swept to the floor, stood Kiara. Her brown hair was tied into a bun, with whips of hair framing her face. She was Latin-American looking, with deep olive skin and dark brown eyes; that were almost black. Though she was beautiful; Ragon's eye narrowed, and he growled under his breath, when he saw her.
"You don't look happy to see me," Kiara said, batting her eyelashes furiously.
Ragon hissed. He had lived with Kiara long enough to know her games.
"What do you want?" he asked simply.
"Want?" she exclaimed "What do I want? Nothing more than what you have already promised me."
"Where is she?" Ragon asked, while trying to remain calm, as he forced his words through his teeth.
"You don't deny it then?" she shrieked, before breathing in deeply and adding "you and I had an accord. You promised me that you would not find another."
Kiara was pacing along the landing atop the staircase when Ragon braced himself and forced through a barred door desperate to find Bell. He did not have time to argue with Kiara; there was no fault in her statement. He knew he had told her that she need never be sad or jealous, as he would never love. He had broken that promise the moment he had saved Bell. This was why he had warned Bell that she could not live without his protection. Not because other vampires would kill her for knowing his secret, though many might. But because Kiara would take the life of any woman he loved. Instantly Kiara blurred after him, her rage fuelling her speed so that she was only a nano second behind him. Ragon had forced himself through two doors before he found Bell. A thick glass wall revealed her, lying on a cruel stone bench as Matthew drooled over her. Ragon made to break the glass but found that he was unable to. He couldn't see Bell's face but listened as Matthew spoke.
"My slaves have done a good job," Matthew said, continuing to feel inside her, as he began pulling his finger in and out of her pussy "but I think we can do better."
