La Cantante Immortale

As I entered the clearing it hit me. Like walking into a wall of bricks. No, bricks are like cornbread to a vampire. What was it? Steel? Rock? The side of a mountain? Oh who cares? They get it.

She was there, directly in front of me, staring at me as though I were the worst demon that had ever existed. Granted, I was, but she was, too.

I had tried to convince myself over and over of my decision. Victoria. Victoria is your mate, just as you are hers. You are tied to her existence - to her well being. You are destined to be with Victoria for eternity. But the thoughts - pleas - never quite reached me. I had been undoubtedly tied to her, but more out of guilt than anything else. She had determined that I was her mate, so I allowed her pleasure through the misguided belief that I felt the same. I didn't. In fact, I didn't believe in the idea of a vampire having a mate at all. It seemed like such a sad, desperate wish that so many of our kind had. Their need to hold on to the emotional binds of humanity led them to believe the myth of 'soul mates' - shortened to just 'mate' since we no longer had souls.

But now, standing only yards from the exquisite creature I had encountered once so long ago, everything I had known became insignificant memories. Ash and rubble that was piled in a far off corner of my mind. The legends, myths, historical bonds - they were all true.

But instead of running and embracing the goddess-like creature as I so wanted to do, I stood there, frozen in place, fighting an internal battle with the crude, detached vampire I had spent so long training myself to be.

I stood face-to-face with my mate, completely unable to release the decades of anger and determination that had built walls within me, blocking me from the outside world.

I forced the overwhelming attraction and desire below the surface as we began to slowly approach the large coven, my senses heightened as I scanned each of the faces, searching for a key to the mystery I saw hidden in their glares.

Her eyes. All of their eyes. They weren't the deep-red color of the typical vampire, but golden. They don't feast on humans?

I had heard of such anomalies in my time, but had never actually encountered anyone with that amount of control. I momentarily wondered if I would ever be able to execute the same lifestyle, but quickly dismissed that thought. Why, so you preserve the useless, mundane life of humans? Hardly worth the effort.

My chest ached at the mention of her name when she was introduced. I knew it already, but hearing it spoken aloud was different. It was the perfect name. Why did he not give her the special attention she deserves? He spoke her name just like everyone else's, with no feeling. No fervor. He doesn't deserve to have her in his coven. None of them do.

Angry with myself for having such sentimental thoughts, I cursed internally and tried to focus. But I couldn't. My mind was being pulled - manipulated - in a hundred directions, none of which the direction I needed to go. Away.

As Laurent spoke to their leader I watched. Her. Every few seconds she would shoot a concerned glance at a male a few feet down. He had bronze hair and those sickening golden eyes, and was placed protectively in front of another girl from their coven. I was suddenly finding myself desperate to know their relationship. Why was she so concerned about him? Why did he seem completely oblivious, instead focusing his efforts on protecting the extremely ordinary girl behind him, who didn't hold a candle to her?

I let my eyes fall on the girl he was protecting. Something about her seemed odd. Her long brown hair was dull, unlike the perfection of most vampire's locks. She also seemed to fidget, squirming and gasping unnecessarily. And then I heard it. Saw it. Smelled it. Her elevated and erratic heartbeat. The pink pulsing of the skin on her neck. Her blood.

I responded as any logical vampire would respond. And he protected her. Not the 'her' he should - but the human. Only once in my history had I encountered a human being protected by a vampire, and that outcome was much to my distaste. That would not happen again.

And so began the best chase of my existence. It wasn't the human's blood - that was easily obtainable - it was the win. The knowledge that not only would I come to triumph over a coven as large as theirs, but they would pay. For what? It's not like they stole her. She chose them. She is not yours to claim. They would pay, nonetheless.

***

I tried in vain to keep my thoughts off the mysteriously addictive creature I had encountered, but she filled my mind, flooding the dam I had so eagerly built. I felt myself moving, thinking, acting, but was unable to focus on the world around me. I could only see her intoxicating face around every corner I turned, awakening senses and emotions I didn't know existed.

The chase was only slightly more difficult than any other because of the meager and ridiculous attempts they made to protect the human, but I felt no satisfaction as I used my usual misleading techniques to lure her to me. I felt no excitement as I watched her enter, smelling her potent scent once again. Instead I felt an odd sensation - sorrow? remorse? - as I prepared to reveal the most crucial, life-altering story of my existence.

I continued my all-conquering facade with the human, not allowing my hesitation to show, but actually feeling faintly smug at the knowledge that soon they would know - she would know - why I came. Why this human. Why this coven. Why her.

But then he came for her. I was stopped. Defeated by the bronze-haired bane of my existence.

How could this have happened? Did you miss something? Overlook a detail? Were you so wrapped up in your obsession with her that you brought on your own demise?

I fought him, desperate to regain the control that was so rapidly slipping away. I fought not for the human, but for my dignity, for my reputation, for my...

I sensed her, and was no longer able to fight. To think. I just watched. Waited.

I was vaguely aware of the goings on around me. A fire being built; the human's agonized screams and the pathetic blonde vampire tending to her wounds; the snarls erupting from my own chest. All of my senses were focused on her. The ethereal beauty descending from the balcony with an unfathomable grace.

She approached me with a determination I had never before seen, not allowing me even a moment to catch my breath - so to speak.

Her hands raised to surround my face, her own filled with hatred. For me. What have you done?

I couldn't focus on my regrets or remorse. I could only see the flawless creature before me. I could only feel her soft, sweet hands enveloping my face.

For a moment I thought I saw a glimmer of recognition cross her features. I almost felt hope at the thought that she remembered me. Could she?

No, she couldn't. She never saw you. You were invisible, stalking from the shadows. The semi-comatose state she had been imprisoned in for so long prevented her from seeing anything beyond her obvious surroundings. She never knew you existed.

My hopes slowly fell away as I watched her, feeling as though we were moving in slow motion. I heard a faint scream in the background which seemed to trigger a volatility within her. Her rich golden eyes darkened and shrunk into tiny slits. I felt her fingers tighten their grip on my face and saw the dainty but defined muscles in her shoulders flex in preparation.

I allowed myself to become completely lost in her eyes, pretending for the last second of my life that she felt the same. That she loved me just as I loved her. Needed her. Worshipped her.

I thought her name one last time before falling into the awaiting blackness.

Alice.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story!

In case you are wondering, La Cantante Immortale is Italian for The Immortal Singer.