The sound of rhythmic, hurried footsteps sounded off the cold, stone walls of the cathedral, along with terrified, breathless gasping. The cathedral's cardinal looked up from his evening prayers, and found a young man stumbling along the pillars. The young man skidded to a halt, and bent to catch his breath, his long, blond hair obscuring his handsome face. He looked around, and spotted the cardinal, letting out a cry of relief and running to him, falling to his hands and knees,
"Oh thank heaven!" Lightning flashed and thunder clapped, and the young man whimpered at the feet of the cardinal. "F-father... Please help me... I'm frightened!" he whined. The cardinal looked down on the young man with sympathy, and reached down and touched his blond head.
"It is all right, my son. What's bothering you?"
"I hate this weather!" he wailed, clutching the robe of the cardinal tightly and sobbing loudly.
"It's only God's way of tending to his creations. All things need water, do they not?"
"Y-yes, I suppose so... But, Father, I saw a monster! A terrible monster! It eats Methuselah!"
"What?" he chuckled, "Surely it was only your imagination, my son? Or a nightmare? A Methuselah-eating monster? What did it look like?"
"I-it was tall..." the young man climbed up onto the pew, "and it looked like a man. A blond man. And he was my height! He was dressed all in white and red, and he looked like an angel! It was terrifying!"
"You are dressed in white... Are you certain it wasn't just your imagination?"
"No! It wasn't!"
"So he looked like you?"
"Y-yes! And he... He... He was wonderful liar. Or a good enough one to fool a cardinal, at least," he smiled dazzlingly, dropping the frightened shouting for a quiet, pleasant voice. The cardinal looked shocked.
"What are you...?"
"You're the only vampire within a hundred miles in any direction, do you know that?" Cain said softly, almost contemplatively.
"What? Excuse me, but the proper term for my people is—"
"I know, I know... Methuselah. See, I only use that title word for someone I wouldn't eat." The bewildered expression on the cardinal's face made Cain laugh aloud. The nanomachines stirred in Cain's blood on his command; his blood boiled with excitement, and his eyes blazed brilliant crimson.
"What in heaven's name...?" the cardinal edged away from the young man, who promptly grasped his forearm and stopped him in his tracks. The cardinal pulled, not wanting to injure this odd man, but when Cain refused to release him, he employed his inhuman strength, his heart rate spiking when even that was insufficient. Cain chuckled warmly, as if the cardinal had just told a funny joke, and jerked him to his feet, spun his arm around, and sent him to the floor. There was a sickening pop and a surprised wail from the cardinal, signifying his shoulder had been pulled from its socket. Cain rested a foot on his back and tugged his injured arm, laughing once with glee when the clergyman cried out.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME!?"
"I'm starving," Cain purred, and forcibly flipped the cardinal to his back, fangs poking past his lips as he licked them, the demonic glow in his once pure blue eyes making the cardinal tremble with fear that a Methuselah should never have to experience. With nails that had grown to razor sharp claws, Cain nicked the cardinal's skin on his left cheek bone, and held him to the floor by his shoulders as he leaned in and licked the bloody trickle before it reached his jaw, taking time to suck at the wound, satisfied to feel his prey shudder beneath him.
Suddenly, the cardinal's good arm gripped Cain's hair and yanked with all his strength, succeeding in pulling a few golden strands free as he whined in pain and pulled back. Cain smacked the hand away, his expression consumed with disappointment.
"How dare you?" Cain seized the offending limb, and twisted gently, gradually straining the joint of his other shoulder until the snapping of broken cartilage met his ears, along with the scream and babbling from the cardinal. Cain was smiling pleasantly again, more than content, and released his arm, letting it flop sadly on the floor.
"I don't like being touched," he said rather cheerfully, raking his claws down the clergyman's body, tearing his vestments to shreds, catching flesh here and there. The blood soaked through Cain's skin, and he smiled brilliantly. Squirming and kicking his legs to escape, the cardinal nearly kneed Cain in the stomach. The Krusnik growled softly and sank his claws into the man's flesh, ripping a gaping hole in his abdomen. The cardinal screamed and Cain slipped a hand inside the bloody mess, followed by his other shortly afterward, enjoying the warmth and wetness on his hands. He took hold of the man's organs, and pulled them free of his abdominal cavity, tossing them on the floor beside him with a sickening splat.
"AHHHHHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"I'm not eating that. That's disgusting," Cain grimaced.
"Oh... Ohhh merciful Heavenly Father... My Lord God... Please save me... And save your child from damnation... He does not know what he does..." he shuddered, and Cain scoffed at him.
"Go ahead and pray some more. You'll need to once I really get started... Now..." with a single claw he carved a shallow, straight line from his initial cut all the way to the man's collarbones. The cardinal bit his lip and tensed but did not cry out. Cain frowned, and dug in, slicing the cartilage to the left of his breastbone, freeing his ribs. This time, the cardinal howled satisfactorily, and Cain split his ribcage entirely, pulling his heart free and consuming it quickly before it cooled.
The screams had died down, and Cain turned the Cardinal over and sat on his back, licking his fingers, the glossy, dove-white feathers of his wings standing on end, his eyes still vivid crimson. Footsteps made Cain smile, as he knew who it was already, and was satisfied to see a tall man dressed all in black stepping up to the altar. A brilliant smile graced Cain's face and his wings shrank, his fangs diminishing.
"Are we ready to go yet, my Lord?" Isaak asked softly, his velvety voice hardly echoing in the church.
"Not just yet, Isaak," he purred, leaning down to suck on his victim's skin, drawing the blood from him. "Hmm..." Cain stroked his chin contemplatively, "It's a shame you're not Krusnik... Otherwise I'd offer a taste to you." he smirked.
"If I was, then I would gladly partake," Isaak returned the smile.
"Hm. If I wasn't covered in blood, I'd hug you. I know you don't like to get dirty if you can avoid it." Isaak simply chuckled, his smile pleasant. "I'll be finished in a moment, lovely." Cain puckered his lips and made a kissing sound. Isaak smiled, and blew him a kiss in return,
"Take no offense to it, my Lord. I mustn't get my uniform dirty." He sat on one of the pews, further away from Cain than he would have liked to be as he returned to devouring the last of his victim's blood. Isaak yawned, lying down. "Ah... Ich bin müde..." he covered his eyes with his arm, "Ich könnte ein Nickerchen machen, während ich warte..."
"Aw, you don't have to do that. I'm done," Cain was there at his side, drinking from a bottle of communion wine to wash the taste of blood from his mouth for Isaak's sake. He knelt beside the pew and rested his head on Isaak's stomach. Isaak stroked his hair affectionately.
"I might anyway... But this pew is not very comfortable..." he chuckled. Cain jumped up onto it, coaxing Isaak to lay his head in his lap. His hand rested on Isaak's chest.
"I'm tired too, actually... I'm nice and full and I could just fall asleep..."
"That is a drastic change compared to how you usually are," he smirked. Cain did the same.
"Oh I know, but even if I was insatiably aroused, I would've at least given you some time to rest." He laughed and stroked Isaak's hair some more, "I'll bet there's beds in the clergy's quarters. We can go lie down and have a nap before we head home. How does that sound, lovely?"
"That sounds delightful, but... There are definitely no large beds in his church. After all, they were only made to accommodate one person."
"Mmm, and if we had sex on the altar it'd be the worst example of sacrilege on the planet! I know, Isaak, I know their customs. Any relationship was looked down on if only for those dirty, carnal desires... But ours," he laughed, his melodic voice echoing in the long hall. "Well, we can sleep in separate beds if you'd prefer, but I don't have a problem with sleeping one of us on top of the other." Cain shrugged.
"That would be just fine, Lord," Isaak sat up, "Come, then, my dear. We can sleep here and go home tomorrow." He got up and grabbed the blond's hand, leading him to the clergy's quarters. He shivered once they were in the bedroom, closing the door behind them. "Brrr... It is frigid in here..." Cain chuckled and wrapped his arms around Isaak, pulling him onto the single bed, him on bottom and Isaak on top facing him. Isaak kicked off his shoes and pulled the blankets up over them, kissing Cain tenderly.