People often ask me. . . What is there in the darkness? The haze the clouds the mind when all rational thought has fled, what is there when you fall into the confines of such a place within you mind? The answer. . . Nothing. . . But everything.

The light was fading. Creating a new world of shadows and darkness. The ground lacked the vibrancy light gave instead looking dull and dingy. The wind wailed between the tangled tree trunks which stood like statues in a museum still, stoic and unmoving. The wind carried the sickly stench of rotting wood as it wound around the branches causing them to creak and groan in protest to its advance. Shadows danced and flickered over the sodden ground which was layered in leaves.

Bright eyes glimmered from deep tree hollows betraying their residents' locations. Insects hummed their own melodies which clashed to form a symphony of sound within the dark expanse of trees. Somewhere overhead came a rustle soon succeeded by the sounds of leaves clattering against each other as the wind once again whirled, whipped and stirred the trees to life once more.

The night was still young and the stars were yet to appear in the vast blackness that waiting far overhead. Niklaus made his way down the twisting and turning path which he followed each day away from the manor house. The smaller bushes and plants brushed his trousers as he made his way along the path his mind blank and unscripted merely letting his natural instincts guide him as he continued through the pale shafts of moonlight which streamed through the small gaps in the canopy of trees above him lighting the way he followed.

People often ask me. . . Does it hurt? Is pain the one thing that can distract you from life? I answer. . . No. . . . Nothing can distract you from the mess that is life you should stand and face it like the enemy it is. Again people ask me. . . Does it hurt? When you change into that beast that craves blood to survive does it hurt? And I answer. . . Every time.

The wind not only carried the familiar sickly stench of wood rot but also the trace of something more. . . Appealing. Instinctively his muscles coiled and tensed all over his body – he was a machine made to kill and hunt those who wandered the night recklessly. He could feel the change beginning to occur all over his body the cells inside beginning to mutate and shift down into their strengthened form as always when he was near a human.

His usually perfectly shaped set of teeth were soon replaced by knives as strong as diamonds perfectly shaped to cut the carotid artery which ran just below the skin on either side of the neck, his teeth were the perfect weapons for hunting and feeding without spilling a single drop of that precious liquid that he sought for his own life. He knew that if he did not consume blood he would eventually die – His curse was to prey on the blood of others in order for his own survival now was one of those moments.

People often ask me. . . Is it a good life being immortal? I answer. . . No. . . . The years that you have end up pointless. . . Each one will be the same with a slight change of events what is life it is just a continuous cycle going on and on? Never ending nor beginning again.

Niklaus' nails began to change growing and curving their shape until only dark claws remained, his entire being had shifted to become more predatory in that moment his eyes changing from dark brown to pitch black as though he had been claimed by the devil himself. In the next moment his form was moving at a full blown sprint easily dodging down or rolling under logs that crossed his path as he closed the distance between himself and his new prey – it didn't take him long to discover the tracks he needed and soon enough he was off after the prize he so sought.

The blackness had already come – Like a saviour in a way – To help him stop fretting about what it is that he has to do but also to keep him from being distracted from his current task. Niklaus moved through the under bush slowly and undetected his larger prey bang just down a long alleyway. In that moment Niklaus was up and down the alley hands in pockets. "Hey. I'm sorry for this." Without a single word more he moved over to the human grabbing his shoulder and neck tugging these in opposite directions with this. His claws hand grasped down onto the man's neck already throwing him up into a tree then. With this his perfectly moulded lips moved down against the skin of his victim. Niklaus' fangs sank down through the tender flesh until he tasted the familiar sweet and tangy almost metallic taste of blood then.

His fangs severed the skin and muscle tearing this away from the bone in that moment as he let his fangs sink down into the sweet red liquid that was the one thing that he sought more than anyone else. Eventually after a moment's waiting the salty liquid ran down his throat in that moment allowing it to run down his throat quenching the fire that scorched him then.

A body has 70% blood inside of it. . .When I'm done it has 0% because the blood itself quenches the other thirsts that resided within his being the need of such a liquid to calm his muscles after a fight, this liquid which would heal his wounds. Niklaus continued to feed until the corpse was dry before tossing this down onto the floor with a sickening crunch it'd rot away with this his figure turned before leaving the corpse in the middle of the road then. His body vanished into the night along with the rest of his mind.

With each feed a single more strand of Black is added to my list.

People often ask me. . . What is there in the darkness? The haze the clouds the mind when all rational thought has fled, what is there when you fall into the confines of such a place within you mind? The answer. . . Nothing. . . But everything.