.....chapter 4...A Vampire Tale~

Instead of going back into her house, she decided to take a walk downtown. She only had only a small amount of money but she liked to pass by the stores and see what was on the window display. 1

After a while of this it grew dark and she found herself longing to see Dravyn again. She turned around, ready to walk back home and found that Dravyn stood directly in front of her, grinning. She smiled, thinking of how awesome he looked when he grinned. He kisses her passionately, bringing her body closer to his. Then he gently pulled her away and held her hand. 2

“Hi,” Dravyn said, still smiling.3

“Hi,” Veyta responded, still a little blown away by the kiss. 4

“Do you want to come to the park with me?” he asked.5

She smiled, nodding. Hand in hand they walked to the park silently. Dravyn decided that he would tell her tonight what he truly was. He just hoped that she wouldn’t fear or hate him, as his last love had. This time though, if she hated him he didn’t know what he would do. She was ten times more special to him then the other girl had been, so much more understanding.6

When they got into the park he sat on a swing and she sat down in his lap, holding back a grin of pleasure as he kissed her neck. He had fed earlier that night so he wouldn’t have to worry about the taunting scent of her blood.7

“Veyta, tell me. What do you think about vampires?” Dravyn asked casually.8

The question confused her but she said, “Well, I’ve read some books about them, like by Anne Rice. I think they’re awesome.”9

He smiled at her response, kissing her neck again. He then kissed her on the lips, and gently pushed his tongue into her mouth. He got caught up in the moment though and bit her lip, accidentally making it bleed and she pulled away, staring at him accusingly.10

“I’m sorry, it was an accident,” he apologized.11

She licked the blood from her lips, tasting it. Then she kissed him again and excitedly he licked the last of the blood from her lip.12

Suddenly he heard a noise in the forest and pulled away, all his senses on full alert now. Someone else was in the forest; about seven other vampires whom Dravyn knew well.13

Urgently he pulled Veyta along after him as he ran, but she was much to slow. He could hear them chasing after him and he lifted her up into his strong arms and began to run in vampire speed. Veyta let out a small gasp of surprise and wonder but didn’t ask what was going on. She knew there was danger and that Dravyn was protecting her.  14

He had brought her back to her house and put her gently down on the ground again, feeling slightly safer as he didn’t hear them chasing after him anymore but still tense, just in case.15

Veyta stared at him patiently, waiting for him to explain, she never even asked how he could run that fast.16

Sighing he said, “Veyta, I can’t explain right now. There are some—people after me,” he explained shortly. 17

Then he heard the sound of them again. The other vampires. “Quick, get inside!” he ordered. Stubbornly she shook her head, refusing to do as he told her. “Please! I don’t want anything to happen to you! You’re only a mortal after all but I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine, I promise. But please, go inside!” he whispered urgently.                                                      18

Wondering what he meant when he said she was only a mortal, she reluctantly did as he told her. As soon as she was safely in her home he went in vampire speed to where he heard the voices. Over the many years since his becoming a vampire his senses had sharpened. There were only three of the vampires when he got there.19

He stood a few feet away from them, staring coldly. There were two women vampires and one man. Dravyn knew them well.20

“What do you want?” he asked, a dry voice.21

“Where’s your pretty mortal friend Dravyn?” the man asked, his name was Daemon.22

“I feasted upon her, not that it is any of your business,” Dravyn said, the lie leaving his lips smoothly.23

“Yes, I’m sure you did,” the girl vampire said, her black hair hung loosely. She was known as Thorn.24

The other girl was known as Rose, Thorn’s younger sister. Dravyn knew these vampires all too well. The same vampire, Arilen, had made all Dravyn and these three vampires. These three however, are dangerously jealous of Dravyn though because Arilen had given him so much more power than them and she loved him in her own twisted way. Dravyn remembered how she had kept him locked away in a dungeon for nearly a century of his immortal life and shivered at the memory.25

“What do you want?” Dravyn asked again.26

“Well unfortunately for us Arilen wants to see you again. She sent us to fetch you. What’d you expect?” Daemon asked.27

“Tell her I will be unable to attend,” Dravyn said. He had been running from her for nearly two centuries now and would not become her prisoner again. 28

Daemon grinned as if this was what he had been hoping I would say. “Oh but she said you have no choice. Now we get to take you by force,” he threatened.29

He nearly laughed aloud but forced myself to hold it in. the thought of these three taking me by force struck me as so pathetic it was hilarious. Arilen had given me so much more strength and power than any of these three. In fact, Dravyn was nearly stronger than her, and she was well known by thousands of vampires for her strength and power.30

As if Daemon could sense these thoughts of mine he grinned delightedly. He jumped on me and pinned me to the ground with a force he had never expected from him. Dravyn kicked him in the stomach, nearly breaking his rib cage. The two female vampires attacked Dravyn as well and he cried out in surprise and pain as one pulled my arm out of its socket so he now had a dislocated shoulder. Dravyn had Rose in his control and sank my sharp fangs into her neck, ripping it open with fury, killing her. Thorn howled in rage and anger at the death of her sister and soon she had him tight in her newfound strength and Daemon began beating me furiously until nearly every part of me bled. My ribs were cracked and splintered and my other arm had been broken.31

Dravyn still had some strength left however, and they didn’t know it. They thought he was weak and perfectly helpless to do anything at the moment, which was only partly true. He was still very capable of escape, but for now Dravyn had to just play along or soon he would be beaten until he really was weak and helpless.32

Thorn was forced to hold him up or he would’ve fallen down to the ground. Daemon grinned triumphantly, thinking he had won. They walked in normal speed down the streets of downtown, Dravyn being half carried. Thorn didn’t ever loosen her grip and he could feel the alertness of her body and soon he began to panic slightly. What if they were able to bring him to Arilen before he could escape? Would she imprison him again, this time with more precaution, never giving him a chance to ever escape again? He’d never see Veyta. He pushed the panic down into the farthest corner of his mind and concentrated on the right moment to escape.33

He moaned in pain and stumbled along whilst being dragged by Thorn. He felt her tight grip loosen slightly as her muscles relaxed a little more. Now was the time to retaliate. He suddenly shot out of her arms and in vampire speed jumped onto the roof of an old building and ran on the rooftops, not caring exactly where he was going, just as long as he got away from them. He sensed them far behind him. He was faster than either of them and soon he heard them no longer following him. Without slowing down he ran to Veyta’s house and stood outside the door, nursing his broken arm with his other one.34

It was dangerous for him to have come here and he knew it, but he didn’t know what else to do. The last thing he wanted was to endanger Veyta, but before he could leave she had opened the door and let out a small gasp of surprise at seeing Dravyn like this. Standing up straight he turned to face her miserably.35

Her heart poured out to him once again as she saw the fear and sorrow in his eyes. 36

“I shouldn’t have come here. I’ll go now,” he said, turning quickly to walk away.37

She grabbed his arm and he winced. “Please, come in,” she offered almost pleadingly. Her father was gone and wouldn’t be back for at least a couple of days so she wouldn’t have to worry about him coming into the room and getting pissed off at her for having a boy in the house.38

He stared at her in surprise. He was being invited into her home? A vampire had to has to be offered before he is allowed to come into a house and he didn’t honestly expect her to invite him in. Slowly he walked in and she offered him a seat on the couch. She sat down next to him, studying his wounds with her eyes.39

“What happened to you?” she asked, clearly concerned for him.40

He sighed. Could he really tell her what he is? If he did, would she fear him, hate him. Something terrible could happen. He shoved the what- ifs out of his head and kissed her. He couldn’t help it. He would tell her, but he needed one last kiss from her before she despised and feared him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding his head gently where it was so he couldn’t pull away from her.41

When she finally needed to come up for air, he kissed her neck. He could smell the blood in her veins. He tried to force himself to hold back but irresistibly his fangs sank gently into her neck. She let out a surprised cry mixed with slight pain, but he knew it also felt good to her, and she pulled him even closer. A small taste of blood flowed into his mouth. Her blood. Her life. He lifted his head from her neck and pulled away.42

Her arms untangled from him and she brought a hand to the new bite marks on her neck. A look of confusion and fear crossed her face and she slid away from him slightly. She instantly regretted doing this as she saw the hurt look he gave her, filled with pain.43

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to,” he said.               44

“What did you do?” she asked accusingly. 45

“Veyta, I--,” he began, but knew that he better not lie to her. He would have to tell her the truth and risk her hating him for the rest of her short, mortal life. “Veyta, what I had been trying to tell you earlier was that—I’m a vampire…” he said, waiting for her to scream at him to get out, possibly even throw things at him.46

She sat there staring at him, looking for some sign in his eyes that this was all just some joke, but deep down she knew it wasn’t. She’d had those dreams, and now she wondered if they had all been really happening.47

“Let me see your fangs,” she said, surprising him very much. He put on a fake smile, showing all his teeth, including his sharp vampire fangs. She stared at them a moment, then said, “How old are you really?”48

He grinned, all fears of her being afraid and hating him evaporated. “Four hundred seventy three years old,” he replied. 49

She stared at him a moment longer, then said, “Do you like it? Being a vampire I mean.”50

The question startled him a bit and he hesitated before answering. “Sometimes I love it. I heal fast, I can run faster than any mortal man or woman, and I’m stronger than the strength of ten of the strongest men in the world. Other times I wonder how I could’ve made it this long without going out into the sun and just ending it. I think what kept me alive for so long is fear. I was burned by the sun once before, and it had taken months for the burn to heal. Its lonely when you have no one to be with,” he explained.51

She slid closer to him and lay against his strong chest, exposing her throat to him unintentionally. He had control over himself now though and he knew he could never hurt her, no matter what.52

She soon fell asleep and Dravyn stayed with his arm around her protectively for a while. Only when daylight was an hour away did he lift her up carefully and carried her upstairs and into her bed. Kissing her on the cheek he turned and left. He hurried in vampire speed to his daytime hideaway. Daylight slowly crept up as he continued to run. He had cut it too close and was afraid he’d make it in time.   53

Dravyn had been burnt by the sun once before and he never wanted it to happen again. He made it to the door of his hideaway and flung it open. Once he was safely inside he slammed it shut. Oh shit, he thought. He had forgotten to close the windows! He opened them last night when he had woken up. He ran to the window but the sun was already shining brightly and he put a hand up to cover his face. He bit back a cry of pain as his hand burned as if it were on fire. With his other hand he quickly closed the blinds and the room went dark.54

Slowly he brought his hand down and stared at the open blisters. Walking to the darkest corner of the room he nursed his sore hand. His hideaway was very small but it suited its purpose well. He lay curled up and soon fell into a deep slumber.55