VAMPIRATES

A look in the past

XXXXXXXX CHAPTER 1 XXXXXXXXX

The Demon Within

It was dark inside the dusty cabin of The Titania , yet I could see her angelic features perfectly.

Her hazel eyes, which looked longingly at me.

Her long, flowing, strawberry blonde hair that swayed in the breeze of the open window.

A sweet button nose that sat in the center of her face.

The long, slender arms that were neatly folded in her lap, as she sat on my bunk. Her dress was made of silk and lace. It was a deep, rich red. The lace was coal black, and weaved its way around her waste and flowed down to her toes. No doubt, a classic beauty.

I shivered, slightly. Longing to be something, other than what I was.

Then a feeling, no, more like a picture of my new found desire was placed in my mind. For a moment, I could almost feel her skin beneath my hands. Though she stood a few feet away, I could almost taste her blood, filling my mouth.I could hear her whisper to me, that she had never felt so calm in her life.

My mind jerked back into reality.

I felt a direct sense of calmness in my mind and, what felt to be, my heart, at the thought of feeding from her, a thought I never dreamed to imagine. Though the thought of taking her blood,

overwhelem me with desire, it also reminded me of who I really was. No. What I really was.

I began to walk slowly towards her, trying so hard to keep the thought that I was so desperate for, under control.

She smiled at me, completely unaware of what I was. It hurt me to keep my identity from her, but I had to. For her own safety.

You see, if I told Ms. Darcy Flotsam who, I mean, what I was, she would surely try and leave. But what you don't understand is, she had no where to go. Everyone that she used to call Family was trying to hunt her down. To kill her.

That's why, when she came aboard our ship and told us her story, we hired her almost imidiatly as an entertainer.

I still remember how she had looked that day. The image is as clear as night to me.

She had been wearing a baby blue dress, that had looked to be once a beautiful ball gown, but was now torn up, wet, and stained with mud. She had been wearing no shoes when we found her and I can remember with ease, that her hair was in a wet, messy bun in the back of her head, with strands of hair falling down on either side of her face.

She had had only a few cuts and bruises, but it was enough to worry the captian, so before we all began to talk about what to do with her, Captian Lansing had sent her to the infirmery to get her wounds tended too.

But now, as I sat myself down next to her, she looked fresh and anew.

Darcy had felt abandoned and helpless. Often, she would talk to me about how she felt, when her own family had turned on her. But as the months went by, she soon forgot about her troubles and found herself loving her life as a singer aboard our ship. Her ship.

"Fay?" She whispered, reaching out her hand, and caressing my cheek.

"Mm?" I mumbled, lost in thought.

"What's wrong? You seem so.. distant tonight. First at dinner when you ate very little, then as you watched me preform I could see pain in your eyes. I haven't known you for more than half a year, but I know you well enough to be able to tell when somthing's troubling you. You can tell me. What's wrong?"

"Nothing to be conserned about." I said, smiling fakely. But Darcy must have known it was fake, because she gave a slight frown.

"Fay, I can tell when you're happy, and you don't seem happy to me. 'Course it may be just me, but I think somthing's eating at you tonight. What is it, Fay darling. You know you can tell me anything." She said, running a hand through my dark, long hair.

At her words, a tear found its way down my cheek. It burned my cheek as the tear fell down my face. I had forgotten that my tears were made of acid. I coudln't let it fall onto my clothes, otherwise it would burn a hole straight through. I quickly wiped my tear away and began to compose myself.

"Oh Fay darling, what's bothering you. Now I know somthing's wrong." said Darcy, leaning back against my pillow.

Now I came to a fork in the road. I could either risk telling her what I was, or make somthing up. I quickly decided upon the second, for I couldn't take the risk of losing her. Losing my world.

"Oh, it's just that. Well, you wouldn't understand love." I said, trying quickly to stall for time, while I thought of an excuse.

"Fay!" She sat bolt upright. She glared at me.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that she wouldn't understand. But if I had decided to tell her the truth, of course she wouldn't understand.

"Fay, listen to me." She cupped my face in her hand, and twisted it towards her, so we were now face to face. She gently stroked my cheeks, which only made my hunger for her worse.

"I promise, on my life as an entertainer and on our love, that I will always try -albeit my very hardest- to understand you, and whatever problems you may face." She smiled at me, trying to get me to cheer up.

I smiled back, trying my very hardest to make it look real. Apparently I had, because her smile grew, and she leaned closer to my ear, and began to whisper.

"As long as I live, I will love, care for, and try my very hardest to understand you, Fay Michael Freed."

I shivered as her breath whisked across my ear. A wave of a desperate need for blood, flooded my mind. It was then that I was reminded of my inner self. My inner demon. Well, vampire to be exact.