Weary. That was the single word which echoed in my mind as I sat in the dimly lit club. The smoky atmosphere making it seem even darker than the night outside. People walking past me, some coming within inches of where I sat but none saw me. It was childs play for me to hide from human sight, a trait learned long ago, perfected over time.
Parlor tricks, a simple matter after so many years. Only being seen when I so deemed it necessary. Sitting there, watching the minions, their clumsy mating rituals in full force. Doms seeking their prey, the weak seeking the strong. I too had a need, one I hadn't allowed myself to feed upon for far too long.
I almost laughed, the opening bars of a song performed by a band who it seemed had endured the test of time almost as well as I. "Sympathy For the Devil" filling the crowded room with even more sound, turning loud into deafening. A smile playing on the corner of my lips. Compared to the life I had lived, the devil...was an amateur.
The decades, nay, the centuries had passed and I had survived. I had been hunted through the years. From a time when weapons involved the ridiculous to the sublime. Wooden stakes and crosses giving way to silver projectiles, fired from the latest glut of automatic weapons, favored by the new breed of vampire hunters.
Closing my eyes I forced myself to remember the last time I had allowed the beast within to get the best of me. Ever since that night my enforced rest during the day had been filled with visions of what had transpired. Dreams painted in blood, today forcing me to awaken, the need so painful as to entice me to endure the remaining light at dusk. I had sworn I would never allow the animal within to surface in such a way but one thing was certain, I was as much a prisoner to him as he was...to me.
I could feel the tension in my body, every muscle taut, the call of the night filling my mind. With a deep breath I fought to relax, to will the desire to subside but as I slowly opened my eyes I found to my surprise that I was no longer alone.
The woman who sat across from me was not dressed like most of the fairer sex in the establishment. They favored leather and lace while she went for more of a, shall I say, rustic look. Her worn suede jacket and jeans clashed a bit with the three inch heeled boots she wore, still the look favored her. The garments rather masculine in tone yet there would be no mistaking her for such. Her body carried a raw sensuality to it, like that of an animal, one stalking its prey.
I took in her physical features, her body lithe and muscular, her chestnut hair worn short, framing her face. It was her eyes though that drew me in. I had read in older times where the eyes are the window to the soul and if this were true, then hers promised...death. It was a soul which in her case caused a man like even I to shudder.
On the table before her was a glass of red wine, a merlot, the color reminding me of the very bane of my existence. I sat there motionless as she lifted her own glass to her lips, her white wine in stark contrast of the glass of red sitting there. She put the glass down slowly, looking up, her hazel orbs seemingly staring directly into mine.
Unmoving, I watched as she opened her mouth to speak. Her voice was soft, barely above that of a whisper. No one in the room could have possibly heard what she had to say with the exception of one, me.
"Don't worry, no one can see you, only I...in a manner of speaking. It's a talent I was given at birth, all thanks to you, Jonathan Samuels."
She could have physically struck me and not brought about such a reaction as she had done by calling me such. I had gone by many names, many different lifetimes but she had addressed me by the name I was born with, my Christian name.
She must have sensed she struck a nerve, a laugh escaping her lips though her eyes reflected no such mirth. "Oh, I know quite a bit about you Mr. Samuels, much more than you can ever imagine. Here, let me tell you a tale."
She took yet another drink from her glass, confident in the fact I was going nowhere. In reality I could not have done so even if I had so dared desire. I felt paralyzed, incapable of motion. An emotion filling me, one I'd never deemed might exist in my lifetime, fear.
"Think back good sir, four centuries in time. A woman, a common streetwalker, the oldest profession if you will. In London, a woman with a body not only full of promise but also seed...your seed. You used her body like most but you had other needs as well. To your dismay though you were unable to finish the task. Do you remember?"
I did, the vision of the beauty beneath me. My physical needs met, her head turned to one side, the skin glowing in the dim light. I'd just had time to pierce the skin, the bite quick, sharp, painful but interrupted by a pounding on the door. There was only time to melt into the shadows, my taste, my task unfulfilled, my deepest hunger unabated.
The hunter's eyes shining, amber in the dark, standing mere inches from where I stood yet unseeing. Finally turning and taking the woman in his arms, carrying her from this place and from me. I had never seen her again.
"She lived in spite of you. She lived long enough to give birth to a child, my great, great, great grandmother. Each succession has brought forth a daughter into the family line. From one to the next, growing stronger with special traits, talents bestowed upon them all thanks to you. A gift which has manifested itself in the woman before you. A gift that will allow me to finally fulfill the prophecy and put an end...to you."
Only then did I fully realize who the dark haired stranger before me was. There had been whispers, rumors abounding through the night of a woman whose path had left countless dead. Those who had been deemed indestructible now vanquished for all time. Words had been spoken, a single initial, X heard but she had become known best as The Angel...of Death.
I could not help it. I was not even aware that it was happening, her presence, her words combining to leave me reeling and I allowed my self imposed mask to slip. With that like a picture slowly swimming into focus I appeared before her and all eyes.
