Fan request. Arthur is a vampire, Ariadne is a witch.
I said I would never do it, cuz VAMPIRES SUCK, but here it is.
CALM DOWN PEOPLE!
I am working an a squeal to "Arthur's Betrayal" as we speak. It will post very soon.
"The suspense is horrible! I hope it will last." ~ Oscar Wilde
The Dream Walkers
1.
~ I could feel his eyes on me for the past few hours. I knew he was watching me as I went to the library, the market, the bakery and then home.
I quickly climbed up my stairs, ignored my nosey, judgmental neighbor I called Bertha in my head, and unlocked my door.
The casual observer would have seen my little apartment was empty. My personal space indicating nothing more unusual then the normal furnishings, art prints and kitchen supplies.
I sighed heavily and started to unpack my cloth bags. My mother and aunts always insisting on using canvas sacks and I can't go against my early teachings.
I could feel his eyes were here to. I knew he must have sneaked into my home in a way no one could see. No one human anyway.
I put my milk in the fridge.
"I know you're there." I said without turning around.
Nothing in my apartment moved. The place was empty. But yet, it wasn't.
"I saw you in the market place, the library. You might as well come out." I said as I unpacked a promising new flavor of tea I wanted to try.
"I suppose my ability to blend in isn't as well honed as I thought it was." His voice was deep and beautiful. Pure and masculine.
I looked out into my miniscule living room to see the elegant vampire detach himself from an unseen place by my bookshelves. My heart raced at the idea he was so neatly camouflaged in a place my eyes passed over.
"You could have knocked on my door. Given me the chance to refuse you entrance." I said pouring water into the kettle.
"The rule of invitation only applies to humans. You know that." The vampire said.
I placed the kettle on the stove top.
"Would you like some tea?" I asked trying to sound casual. Trying to fight the chill his eyes gave me.
I looked at him. He didn't look like the vampire one would expect. No pale skin or strange eyes. No cape, fangs or claw like nails.
He wore a vintage style, three piece suit. His hair was slicked back neatly. His body was long and lean and his movements slow and graceful.
To any human, he looked perfectly normal.
"I think not." He said in a cold tone as the kettle boiled.
He looked annoyed by my oh so human habits. My human need to eat, have electricity and everything he no longer had a need for.
"I assume you're not here to suck my blood." I said as the kettle whistled.
The vampire looked amused.
"Hardly. Witch's blood is toxic to my kind." He said.
"That's just legend. Only one way to find out." I said boldly.
I felt the pull of magic spark in my skin. It felt like electricity was igniting in my fingertips and before I could change my mind, a large mirror swung from it's place on the door and shone on my uninvited guest.
The vampire jumped and hissed away from the hideous image of his true self.
It's only a myth that vampires have no reflection. If one of these creatures looked at himself in any mirror, it would only show his former body. The body he used to have. The shell he had shed so long ago.
"Please don't do that." He growled looking angry as he moved away from the mirror that moved to catch him again.
"Do you want to tell me what it is you want?" I asked pouring my tea into a mug. I liked the ritual of preparing raw tea. I liked steeping it and adding the sugar or honey. It brought back happy memories of my time with my Coven in America.
"I need your help." He said.
A deep scowl was marring his handsome features. I didn't look at the mirror. I liked his chosen appearance.
Another myth of vampires is that they never age. This is only partly true. They never really grow old. But they certainly don't remain the same for hundreds of years. They can change their features. Their height and build. It helps them blend into the modern world better.
Who knows what this vampire used to look like before he changed. Before he became this thing in my living room.
"Help with what?" I asked releasing the mirror. I casually sipped my tea.
We both knew he couldn't hurt me.
"I need a dream walker." He said relaxing a little.
"Aren't all vampires dream walkers?" I asked blowing on my drink.
"Yes. But so are all witches. I need you to make the dream more powerful." He admitted.
He gracefully approached the the kitchen island,and tried to get me to meet his eyes.
I didn't look him in the eyes. It's how a vampire to hypnotizes a person. It mainly works with humans but occasionally it will work on witches to.
"More powerful dream?" I asked intrigued. "Why?"
"My associate, Mr. Cobb has been going into people's dreams with me. All to extract information from a subject." The vampire explained.
"Is Mr. Cobb one of your kind?" I asked. Already I sensed the answer was no.
"Human. His late wife was a witch and the three of us would dream together." He explained.
"A witch who died? How?" I asked.
It was unusual for a witch to die in modern times.
"Suicide." The vampire asked.
"Did you have anything to do with that?" I accused.
"Hardly." The vampire chuckled darkly. "I also need your help in breaking a nastily little curse she put on him." He added.
"What kind of curse?" I asked.
"She haunts him in the shared dreams. I believe she cursed him just before her suicide so he would never be happy without her." The vampire told me.
"A lovers hold." I said.
Lover's hold is a powerful enchantment that uses the energy of a dieing witch to create a hold on her lover so that he would never stop loving the witch. So he could never let her go.
"I can't break a lover's hold." I told the vampire.
"Why not?" He growled. His face pulling into that scowl.
"It would be the height of bad manners to tinker around with another's witch's spell." I told him.
I passed my hand over my tea and the spoon stirred itself. The vampire watching my hands with interest.
"There must have been a reason she cast the spell. He must have done something." I told him as I stepped closer to him.
I expected him to move away from me. A witch can hurt a vampire if she got it into her head. It impressed me that his wasn't afraid.
I leaned closer to him. He smelled of old things. Not of decaying things, but of old books and paper. Of old, well cared for wood. The kind of scent you would find in a nice antique shop or library. It made me smile as I breathed him in again.
"Mr. Cobb is a very decent man. He doesn't deserve the torments of his wife." The vampire said.
He paused and sniffed the air. His eyes dancing over me.
"Your entering the fourth moon." He said in surprise.
I pulled away from him. Away from his stupid vintage suit, his ugly lean body and away from the smell of old books and wood.
"What?" I said hurrying back to my kitchen.
"Your time for motherhood is approaching. Your face, your skin." He observed in delight. "It's blooming." He pointed a long finger at me. His eyes dancing in delight.
"I'm not in the fourth moon." I said bitingly. I could feel heat licking my face as I knew my skin was becoming pink. I knew my body was roaring into life at his observations.
"Have you found a consort yet?" He inquired.
"Get out!" I shouted.
Vampires were famous for being polite, yet, this one was anything but well mannered. Asking about a consort, the lover, who would father my children. Who would be my companion and protector for myself and our offspring was a sacred bond. One this creature could never understand.
I felt power snap into my fingers and it hurt. I raised my hands to the vampire and the magic pushed him against the wall.
If the vampire had breath in his lungs, he would have been left gasping from my assault.
He recovered quickly. His body gracefully jumping up.
"Forgive me." He said. "It was impolite to discuss such things." He said.
His long hands went to his breast pocket and retrieved a business card. He placed it on my kitchen island.
"I really need your help, Ariadne." He said using my name for the first time. How he knew it, I didn't asked. Somethings his kind just know.
"Please, call me day or night. I never sleep, as you know." He added giving me a weary look.
I didn't touch the card as he stepped lightly out of my apartment. The door opening before he even touched it.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Pleased that the rooms were totally empty now.
I looked at his business card. Like the vampire, it smelled of old paper. It's color was once white, but age had made it a darker shade of sepia.
There was no number on it. No email. Only one name.
Arthur