A/N: Time for the sequel! I'm really excited to post this and see everyone's reaction. Please read and review!
Disclaimer: I own Mae, and…yeah, that's it. :)
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT: PROLOUGE
In most places, they call them the Children of the Night.
A woman will be standing on her porch at night, sweeping it of the fall leaves, and spot a lone, thin figure in the distance, bent at an impossible angle, unidentified by the veil of moonlight, drinking from the throat of a false lover.
Two girlfriends would turn up sitting in the bathtub at a college party, their heads lolling on each other's shoulders, appearing to be in a drunken stupor, until their ripped necks were discovered.
Mysterious deaths such as these would come up all over the country. The case would be declared "unsolved" and sit in the back of some fat policeman's filecabinet, never to be touched again. But everyone knew who was responsible.
It was the Children.
And though they were always young and beautiful, they were never, ever caught. When someone would spot them and run to save their victims, they would disappear as if they were never there before, their kill lying on the ground, dead.
The churchgoers all thought them to be works of the devil. If one of them were to show their fangs, their unnatural eyes, their skin white as if were ill with leprosy, the people of the church would scream, "Devil!" holding out their crucifixes like weapons.
And the question had always remained. What were the Children of the Night? Vampires? And if so, what truly is a vampire? Were they sent from Hell, to corrupt the world with these horrid deaths? Did they choose this path of damnation? And who were they?
But the truth was, the Children did not choose their curse. In fact, many loathed their way of life and struggled against it, many times resulting in their smoldering deaths. They hated killing, thought it much more terrible than death. Many of them seeked it. But some…
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Sweat dripped off Riku's face, mingling in the silver hair that was matted with water and sweat from other bodies. A girl with a cut-up black t-shirt rubbed up against him, trying to block his path and distract him. He shoved past her carelessly, desperate to find his friend.
Sora was doing just the same. He held a drink in his hand, something red that smelled strongly of alcohol, but he couldn't remember whose it was or how he ended up with it. Feeling strange, he dropped the cup, feeling its warm contents splatter on his tight jeans. The crowd was screaming and dancing and bumping to the beat with such enthusiasm, that he was sure no one had noticed. He pushed past, saying, "Excuse me!" out of polite habit when he had to shove by someone, even though surely no one could hear him.
Finally, after minutes of slamming into people he thought were Riku, and some that were definitely not, he finally saw the mass of silver hair slinging towards him. "RIKU!" he screamed, but he could hardly even hear it as soon as it left his mouth.
He shoved through the party to his tall friend, who looked distressed and overheated. His shirt was twisted and riding up, but he didn't seem to notice. He cupped a hand to Sora's ear and yelled, "Let's get out of here! This is really stupid!"
Sora nodded, and Riku grabbed his wrist, pulling him through the moving bodies, several girls attacking them each, shaking around and wailing like banshees to whatever popular song was playing.
After a long, difficult search for the door, the two boys burst out of the house, which the party was located, staring into the streets of New Orleans.
Riku ran a hand through his matted hair, grimacing as he caught the tangles. Sora's usually spiked hair had long since fallen into his eyes, making him look much older.
"I can't believe we actually went to this party." Sora said, sighing. Riku slid his hands into his slightly damp back pockets and started down the street back to his house, Sora running to catch up.
"Well, we wouldn't have gone if a certain someone promised you she would be there." Riku said, cocking an eyebrow.
Sora sighed and kicked a rock, sending it skittering across the road and near a tall bar called "Christian's". "I can't believe she wasn't even there." He said, making a face.
Riku smiled at his younger friend and said in a friendly tone, "Girls don't always do as they say. Its something I've learned over the years."
This time it was Sora's turn to roll his eyes. "You're sixteen."
Riku shoved Sora playfully, and had them both smiling again, unaware of the Children lurking in the night, and so close…
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The Child wept as he drank from the girl, wondering why, why him, why was he cursed so? Why did he have to kill to survive? What was he?
Her body was slumped in his arms, her head leaning back, exposing her torn throat. The park was quiet and deserted at this late hour, aside from the Child and his kill.
Why had she approached him in the bar? She was so beautiful, with her brunette hair in a curly ponytail, with round, pink cheeks that looked like a child's. She had asked him his name, began dancing with him, up against him, her warm body feeling so good, so alive. And he hadn't drunk any blood yet, any, ever. But she smelled like sweat and flowers, and before he could help himself, he lead her outside, seduced her until she lie on the ground in the park, under the spell of his pale beauty, and he leaned in and pierced her neck.
His white hair fell in a sheath over his pale forehead, lingering in front of his eyes so that for a moment he couldn't see her face, the look of terror forever imprinted upon it. He couldn't bear to look anymore.
He dragged the limp body off into the bushes and laid her there, making sure she was in a fairly suitable position, and that her clothes didn't catch on the branches.
The Child walked off down the somewhat abandoned streets, wiping the blood from his mouth, his denim jacket swinging in the breeze. It would be dawn in another hour or so. And he was still so thirsty…
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Kairi pushed her way down the stairs at the party, scanning her eyes over the huge crowd, looking for those unmistakable chocolate spikes, or perhaps his silver haired friend, but she had been looking all over for them all night, and hadn't seen them once. The party had been a bigger turnout than she had anticipated.
It had crossed her mind several times that perhaps the two boys had stood her up. She frowned as she pushed past people, deciding to leave and get some fresh air. Sora didn't seem like the type to just lie to a girl, but he was very popular at school. And everyone knows how the popular boys can be.
Kairi sighed and shook her head, starting out the front door and down the street, picking her cell phone out of her pocket and calling her mother, who hadn't wanted her to attend the party in the first place.
"Mom?…Hey, yeah, it's me. Can you pick me up?"
"No, I'm not upset. Just tired is all. Okay, I'll wait here." She closed her flip phone, crossing her arms over her undeveloped chest.
It was a curse of being petite. Guys wanted girls with boobs; it was just a fact of life. And she was cursed with having little to none. Her A cup was not much to brag about. Sure, she was pretty cute, with short auburn hair and stunning azure eyes, but she also had a set of enormous ears, gigantic feet, and the most hideous laugh.
But it seemed that Sora had seen through that. But maybe not, now that he had stood her up.
Mostly older people roamed the streets after midnight on a weekend in New Orleans, which made Kairi feel very unsafe. She made sure that she had her phone in her hand, so that she could call 911 if something were to happen.
All people seemed dark and unrecognizable tonight. They all laughed and talked under their breath, as if they were all secrets that had to be kept. A man approached her with a hat in his eyes and tried to grab her. Kairi, alarmed, yelped and walked off quickly, leaving the man and his friends to laugh at her.
The heels of her kitten pumps clicked on the sidewalk as she tried to find somewhere light and public to wait for her mother. She chose a bench by a market, which was under a streetlamp. Sighing, she took a seat and waited.
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The Child could not get over what he had just done. In the middle of the night, to a perfectly innocent girl, he had drank her blood like a cannibal and left her corpse in a shrub.
His eyes were red from weeping, and he started to feel the drowsiness of reality sink in. He had to stop and think for a moment. He was walking down a fairly deserted street, or deserted for New Orleans, for that matter. Several groups of people walked to wherever their lives were leading them, hopefully not into the arms of a monster like himself…
Feeling worse by the moment, he quickly crossed the street, seeing a bench under the streetlight. The light, which would not shield his face, the face so white and perfect it looked like it were sculpted of marble. It would not disguise his eyes, the horrid eyes that were once a beautiful shade of ocean blue, but were now like blue ice rimmed with black. And that light would definitely not hide his worst new feature of all, his white daggered canine teeth.
He noticed, only too late, that there was a girl sitting on that bench. She wore a light yellow cardigan over her silk black dress, and she had her arms wrapped around her as if she were cold, or perhaps frightened. Her blue eyes stared straight at him as he approached the bench, burning through him.
He didn't want to be anywhere near a human. Especially a human so pretty and young as she. But he needed somewhere to stop for a while, and he was already headed straight for the bench. He promised himself that he would not touch her, would not talk to her, and would not let her know of his inhuman secrets.
He sat beside the girl, hoping she wanted to be left alone, and would leave. After several minutes, she sighed, but despite his hopes, did not get up. He prayed she would let him alone and not say anything…
"Are you waiting for someone?" Her voice was soft and delicate, and rang in the night like tiny bells.
He shrugged. "I don't know what I'm waiting for." He answered, hoping she wouldn't ask any further.
She placed her chin on her hand, leaning over. She didn't look at him, but he kept a close eye on her out of the corner of his eye. Please get up, he begged in his mind. Please, before I do something I don't want to do…
"Me either." She replied sadly. He wondered what that meant, but remained silent.
A group of figures in black approached. He could tell they were male. With his vampire senses, he could sense things that humans could not. He could smell the cologne, even though they were fifty feet away. They reeked of masculinity and self-proclaimed power.
They laughed and shoved each other as they walked, just as he had done before he turned immortal. They were just a bunch of harmless Goth boys, no more or less. But the air about them worried him.
Once they reached the bench, he prayed they would continue on their way. But one of them held out his hand, stopping the others. He turned his head toward the Child and the girl, a smirk on his face. He was shorter than the others, with long black hair with a streak of pink in the front. He was obviously the leader.
The others nodded at each other and approached the girl with curiosity.
"Hi, sweetheart." Said the black haired one, extending his hand.
The girl looked up at him with obvious nervousness in her eyes, and she didn't shake it. He lowered it, his smirk widening.
"Hi." She replied dully, her voice like a whimper.
The other boys snickered and elbowed each other.
"Are you waiting for somebody?" He pried, and reached out to touch the side of her face.
She flinched, then said, "Yeah, I am."
"Who, then?"
With a furious blush on her cheeks, she said quickly, "I don't think that's any of your business."
The boy's smirk left his face and he nearly growled; "Honey, I thinks it's completely going to be my business here in a minute…" He took her by the collar of her cardigan and yanked her up. She looked so frightened that it broke the Child's heart. But what could he do to help her, when it would only result in her thanking him, which would only result in her wanting to get to know him, which would only result…badly.
The boys began ripping off her cardigan. The Child became quickly aware that if he didn't do something, the girl would end up hurt, raped, or killed. He stood up with vampire-like speed and stood in front of the girl, leaving the ones who were undressing her looking stunned, wondering how he got there so quickly.
"Don't touch her." He said calmly, grabbing the girl by her wrist and pulling her next to him. The boys were so stunned that he yanked her cardigan from their hands with ease, and handed it to her. She, herself, looked somewhat frightened of him, and her eyes shone with tears.
The leader stepped close to the Child, inches from his face, sizing him up, even though the Child had at least a foot on him. The Child kept his face serious, and didn't even flinch while the boy did his best to be intimidating. He knew that with his superhuman strength, it would take ten full-grown men to make him back down.
"What are you gonna do, faggot? Got some pepper spray or something?" the leader taunted, pressing a fist into the Child's ribs.
With ease, he took the fist, wrenched it backwards, watching the boys face contort in pain, and said flatly, "I've got a little more up my sleeve than that."
As if hurting the leader were some sort of signal, the other boys advanced on the Child, but the leader held up a hand, and they halted. "I'll take care of this one," he muttered.
He grabbed the girl by the waist and pulled her to him, out of the Child's grasp. "I'll touch her as I please." He said bluntly, tearing off the cardigan once again. The girl cried out as he tried to rip open her dress.
As if the Child were going to stand there and watch him rape her? He laughed and sent his steel fist slamming into the side of the boy's face. The blow knocked him backward, onto his own group of friends, who all had the same look of utter shock on their faces. The Child took the girl by the hand and gently led her away from the boys, who were too scared to move.
They walked down the street in silence, before the girl said, her voice quivering, "Why did you do that?"
The Child kept his face low, so that she wouldn't see his gaunt, beautiful features. "Why shouldn't I have?"
The girl laughed, "Because you don't know me! A normal stranger would have gotten up and left, had they seen that! But you didn't! Why?"
The Child shrugged. "I couldn't have left you. I couldn't bear to see something like that."
The girl stopped. "Who are you? At least tell me your name?"
The Child stopped as well. He turned to her, considering this, praying she could not fully see his face.
"My name is Mae." He said, and like magic, he left, as if he had never been there at all.
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Please read and review! Chapter one should be up very soon.
Mel