Chapter 1- Inside the fire
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire The Masquerade or any of its characters.
I'd decided to take a stroll that night.
It was past midnight and the streets were oddly empty. The city of Los Angeles is often crowded and noisy even when people were supposed to be sleeping. Not tonight. You must be asking yourself why someone decides to take a walk so late at night alone and unarmed. Well, I have my reasons. I suppose we could count boredom one of them and add to that my share of problems in the university which I won't discuss now.
So, here I am a twenty year old female walking all by herself in the middle of the night on this city whose fame of violent is underestimated. At least for me. I just needed to get my head out of hot stuff or else I'm going mad. What's the matter if I'm unarmed? If I don't have even a can of pepper spray to repel a possible and yet non-existing assailant? I could care less. My mind was full of meaningless worries at the moment. Even my name seemed to be mocking me. Sophia comes from the greek word Sophiai which means knowledge. However, I, Sophia Warren was at a loss. I'm always very confident and quick to solve anything but this time I was in trouble. A very big trouble. So, as you can see the fact that I'm a defenseless girl roaming aimlessly these streets don't worry me at all. I'm 5'4 feet tall and slender and I forgot to mention I'm a black belt of tae kwon do. Then, maybe I shouldn't worry about some creep on the loose waiting in some random corner. Besides, my form was concealed with a large trench coat and a hood. I was wearing these to not attract attention because my appearance attracts a lot of a unwanted attention everywhere I go. Have you ever seen a girl complain because she is gorgeous? Probably not. The fact is that being so attractive sometimes irritates too much. I'd like to blend with the crowd without being noticed. I wanted to be plain. Shocked? I just like to be invisible and not draw attention but I have pale ivory skin and very long black hair, my eyes are ocean blue and add to that a hourglass figure and you know now why I can't stay "invisible" for too long. I had to go and dress like this to walk undisturbed.
Where was I? I was walking with no place in mind.
Walking always help to clear my mind and I'm almost sure there aren't people roaming these streets at one o'clock except me. Wait…what was that?
There was a faint sound of footsteps not far. .Three. I turned myself quickly and observed my surroundings. The lamps on the street were malfunctioning and there was a light here and there turned off. The footsteps diminished without but never stopped. Whoever was following me was trying to conceal his presence. His, because I was almost sure it was a he. Now, think. Focus. Stay calm. Turn around and walk normally as if nothing is happening.
Hard to do but easier to say.
I did turn around. But instead of walk calm I panicked. All my senses were screaming at me to run the fastest I could. So I ran for the main avenue. Maybe there were people and some movement and I could ask for help. Why was I running? I really think this person coming after me was alone, I could overpower him. But my mind was screaming danger and my legs were moving on their own. I could already see a glimpse from the main street. Almost there. Just run a little faster and…
And then my legs stopped their auto run. I was breathless and my lungs were aching for the air which I couldn't breath.
Because my mind was concentrated on the view before me.
I was stunned. I was probably having a very bad dream cause the "someone" I was seeing couldn't be.
The guy was standing some feet far from me. He was alone as I thought. But this didn't help my situation. He was plain weird. Well, maybe weird is an understatement. He was using a very worn out jeans and I could see many holes in his trench coat. He had the appearance of a wild rock star with long but oily hair. But it wasn't this what was disturbing me. His eyes had a feral quality to them; a deep yellow like a cat's eye.
I tried to take a step back and this triggered a bad chain of events for myself. Before I moved the weird guy positioned himself into a crouch and came to circle me like a predator. He was so close now that I could discern many important things in order to survive. By this distance I could see he had very elongated limbs. His arms were longer than that of any person and his stance… he walked on four like a dog. He even sniffed the air around like one.
At that instance I realized many things very fast. This guy or this "creature",because I wasn't so sure it was human any more, was behaving as if it was in a hunt and more terrifying and unreal is that it wanted me. Not my money but my life. So if my brain shutted down again I was pretty sure I wasn't going to see the daylight.
He was kind of hesitant seeing I was unmoving and then without warning he leaped over me. Two seconds. That was the time I took to avoid his tackling and dodge out of the way. He seemed puzzled by this. But then, he decided to be amused was going to satisfy his hunger and made a quick lunge in my direction. I barely avoided him this time and I was already tired and going out of options. I almost slipped on the shiny thing on the sidewalk. What the? I recognized the object instantly. Turned out that the shiny piece was my dagger. It must have got out of pack. I looked at the my pack for the first time. It was lying next a car on the other side of the street. Ripped. He must have hit the pack when I dodged his attack. The strange thing is I never felt the attack. I thought I had avoided it completely. How wrong I was. He could have ripped me apart by now.
Not today, freak. I have many problems and I don't to deal with this right now. I took my dagger and in a fraction of seconds he came investing against me. I shot the dagger and… bull's eye! The dagger pierced the heart. The creature fell paralyzed. I did it. I couldn't believe it. My legs were trembling so much. I forced myself to walk in his direction so I could retrieve my object. I approached hesitant. I noticed he wasn't breathing but something wasn't right in this picture. I peered at him intently. Closer. Nothing. My hand went to take the dagger out and then his eyes opened. The creature growled so loud I stepped back. His long arm reached for my ankle and grabbed with such force that I thought it would smash to pieces. He could restrain me but he made no mention to stand. He was lying down crippled with only his arms to move. I still had a chance. I tried to free my ankle but he was too strong. He pulled me down next to him with only one arm. But no. No way. I'm not going to die here. I promised…
He was putting too much force on his grasp and I felt my blood was circulating like it should because I was light headed.
"Get away from me!", I was trying desperately to get his hand out of my ankle when I felt the other hand closing on my neck.
No. Not again. I have to be calm… I going to die but I can't. Not now. Go away. Dangerous…it's dangerous…away from me…right…now.
One moment I could feel the hand cutting my air and the other I couldn't. The creature, he seemed to be in such a pain. He was standing many meters away struggling in agony against an unseen enemy. I massaged my sore neck and I could feel that warmness inside me again. The guy started to burn and the scalding flames were consuming him. I couldn't look. I… couldn't control my power again. But except that this time I was saved by the same gift I tried so hard to control and to hide. The strange creature turned to dust to my amazement. This wasn't supposed to happen, but… I was forgetting this wasn't a human being. I shakily went to look at the pile of dust and I could discern something gleaming. I took back the dagger.
My brain was having difficulties to explain these events. What was that? Maybe, I shouldn't know.
"I'm going to get out of here before more of them appear", I said in a low whisper.
I found my trenchcoat lying next to the destroyed pack. I caught it and proceeded to put it on but something caught my attention. There were two men standing still on my way. They weren't close but I could discern their features and they didn't seem like a regular miscreant. Their tailored suits didn't fit with the images of the normal thugs.
One of them came in my direction and he looked intently to me and the pile of dust lying on the street.
"That was very brave, miss", he continued to look at me, "and I must say dangerous, too".
I was practically staring. I don't know if it was because I was confused at the moment or because he was too handsome. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen someone so flawless, so perfect. His long dark hair, ivory skin and light green eyes… I think I became dazzled for a moment.
"Miss, I don't think you are in conditions to go to your house right now. Can I ask you to come with me? I can give you the answers you might be inquiring at this moment and more importantly I can offer my protection".
My mind seemed to register the word protection with a little intensity.
"Protection from what?", I asked.
"I can't talk in such place, miss. Could you accompany me?"
"I don't even know you", I said and I was thinking about running a little too much.
"That's interesting", he seemed to ponder something for a while. "I could see your performance earlier and I'm sure this is not the best place for a conversation. You can trust me. I mean you no harm. But, now I need you to trust me and come", he pointed to a limousine parked nearby.
"By the way, my name is Dmitri Lacroix", he added.
I knew the name instantly because of the Lacroix tower. A big business building located in the middle of the city. I could trust him, right? I really had no choice. I think by his apprehensive face that the guy I finished off earlier wasn't so alone.
I have no time for thinking, I thought.
I accepted his offer and entered the limousine quickly.
"Mercurio, get us fast to the Lacroix tower", Lacroix seemed anxious for some reason.
The other guy heeded his order fast and we were driving above the speed in a second.
I released the breath I didn't know I was holding. I glanced to my possible savior at the moment .
"I'm Sophia Warren", I looked to him. "I'm sorry to put you into this, sir".
I didn't even know why I was apologizing. My brain was shutting down, really.
"Let's get you to safety first, miss Warren. I will give your answers, should try to rest".
A heavy sleepiness descended on me. I was too tired to resist this sweet torpor so I surrendered.