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She darted her eyes. What was that sound? Stopping, she heard only the echo of her own footsteps resounding off of the damp walls behind her. Reluctantly, she continued on. Her footfalls on the stone path pounded in the continuing echoes until she was sure she heard another set behind her.
She stopped. They stopped. She turned. No one was visible in the shadows of the dark alley. After a few minutes, she shrugged and went on. Yet paranoia clawed at her and she listened intently for those other steps, fearful thoughts racing through her mind. Where were they? Were they ever even there? Who was following her? A thief? A rapist? A murderer? The third assumption made her wince. And then they were there again, clacking across the wet stones just as clearly as her own. But faster. Beads of cold sweat leaked from her pores as she whirled around. What? she thought, her eyes wide and alert. Turning again, her vision filled with the pale face of a tall, black-haired man. She gasped and stepped back. He towered over her, his dark trenchcoat the only clothing visible. It melded him into the eve nicely, even as it whipped about his form in a sudden wind that just as soon died, leaving his curly black locks to rest about his rounded shoulders. Her wide eyes were fixed on his face; ghastly white, a hue she'd never seen a human possess before. The only contrast were his dark green eyes, the deep, vivid hue piercing through his countenance and hers. His lips were smoothly sculpted, and a strange, beautiful shape became them. He did not move, but kept that constant stare. "Uh, d-do you, uh, I mean..." the woman stammered. She straightened and cleared her throat in a means to collect her confidence. "Can I help you?" she asked coldly. The man did not respond, but continued to stare, unblinking. In an instant, his cold, slender hand was on her shoulder, though she did not see it move. She jerked away with a gasp, footsteps scuffling on the stones. Looking up, she saw his hand back at his side, as if it had never moved. "Excuse me," she snapped, "who the hell do you think you are?" Again, no answer. She gazed into his eyes. His face began to alter, as if the piecing of the shapes didn't make sense suddenly. Then her vision blurred, and she closed her eyes... When she discovered this, she snapped them open again. He remained. But now a smile perked at his lips, a dark, charming smile. As it parted his lips, his canines exposed themselves. Small, pointy stubs, hardly longer than the neighboring teeth. The woman gasped again, fumbling at the collar of her dress. The vampire appeared to float closer, growing taller as he again filled her vision. She felt metal beneath her fingers - there. She closed her fingers around a slender chain about her neck and jerked at it, snapping the latch as a diamond-studded cross swung into her attacker's face. His vivid green eyes focused upon the cross. With a shriek, he flung back and was instantly crouched on the ground, the trenchcoat folding messily about his bent legs. She took a step closer and a low, hisslike growl eminated from his balled-up form. But she continued to approach. Her back and face straightened with confidence in her tool. She raised her chin and even smirked at him. Her smile faded. The fearful growl that the vampire had produced now transitioned into a deep laugh pushing against his perfectly sculpted pursed lips as he stood. Those vibrant green orbs stabbed her gaze as the same tiers tugged to a malicious grin, and he struck the cross from her hand. Her eyes followed it to where it had fallen and cracked into two v's hanging precariously over a crack in the stone. For the first time, he spoke. "Fool!" he roared, "You trust your life with such trinkets?" "I... I..." she stammered, stepping back, her boots scuffling awkwardly on the pavement. She spun on her heel, caught herself from a fall, and began to run. But she hadn't accumulated any impressive speed before the vampire was before her again. Her face rose, and his slender fingers snapped around her throat, lifting her effortlessly from the ground. She clawed at them with progressing weakness. Three strained moans crept past her lips before her limbs fell limp at her sides. Her head lolled to the right, lids slipping over her eyes. The vampire smirked, and lowered his face to her exposed neck, piercing the flesh beside her jugular vein. The hot, stinging blood poured into his mouth and he drew it out passionately, embracing the woman's cooling body in his arms. The liquor cascaded down his throat in a river of ecstasy... yes, this is what he had come for. He released her by force, and laid her gently against a nearby wall. He watched her for a moment as gravity overpowered her head and it fell against her right shoulder, carrying the rest of her body in a slump. He blew her a kiss, and sent a thought to her mind, which was barely conscious. Farewell, my beauty. And those glowing green eyes gazed off into the darkness as the echoing footsteps resounded in the night. |