Shadow Hidden in the Darkness

Shadow Hidden in the Darkness

Chapter two: Remus

Her? Blood relation to one of the families that my own had been suffering against? What utter nonsense! Certainly not that little girl. I was inside one of the many cafés they had in San Francisco. Somewhat large, dark, and full of ear-pounding beats, it was a favorite spot of many vampires in that area of the country and most certainly a favorite of mine. Plenty of humans looming around the front of the place, dark and shadowy surroundings, and the drinks were pretty good, ranging from anything to bottled water to bloodwyne, a drink made with blood and some type of wine, depending on the bartender. The floor was made of polished, dark brown wood that was cast blue due to the infinite number of the many laser lights they had flirting around the place. It had been here for quite a while, and though the managers have come and gone, the place has been kept more or less the same, save the fact that the music has changed throughout the years. The bar was of oakwood and a few shades darker than the floor, matching the shelves in the back where they kept the wines and other beverages. Add this to the crystal wine glasses just above where the bartender worked, and it looked like a classic bar one would see in the old black and white movies. At least, it would if there wasn't an occasional blue strobe light running across it every now and then.

The deep crimson stool I was sitting in squeaked slightly under my weight as I turned from the bar to study the guests in the club. Lifting a hand to brush back my dark brown hair out of my eyes, the corners of my mouth turned up slightly. No, not in a smile. I hardly ever smile, I suppose I'm just never in the mood.

At the time, I was wearing a midnight blue, relaxed fitting sweater over a similar colored t-shirt. It was winter, and I wanted to blend in and not draw attention to myself, so I had of course put on something warm. The sweater really had no pattern on it; just a simple one, looking as though it had been knitted. The jeans I wore were of a navy blue, a few shades darker than the sweater, not loose fitting, not tight, but just right. You couldn't get jeans like this just anywhere, they were of high quality. I find I'm disgusted by the new style jeans they come up with…Children these days! No taste in clothes whatsoever. The jeans were pulled over a pair of black boots that came up just over my ankles, so the bulge of the boot cuff didn't show.

I set my drink, which happened to be bloodwyne, down on the counter, it making a soft clatter as it came in contact with the wood. I doubt anyone, except others such as I, heard the sound as the music was so loud. The song, tune, whatever you wish to call it, was one of those new "techno" beats. Incredibly fast paced beats with no words, only various instruments who's names I do not know, nor wish to know, thank you.

I leapt gracefully off my stool, and landed silently on the ground having caught sight of a girl by herself in a corner. Waiting for someone, most likely. Alone, worried…should be easy enough, I thought with a small smirk.

Walking across the dark-colored wooden dance floor, my shoes made a soft "tap-tap" noise as I strode over to the girl, assuming the friendliest expression I could, my eyes flirting over to her, arms swinging just slightly, the corners of my mouth tugged upwards just barely, not quite smiling, but not wearing my regular expression either. Upon crossing the vast ocean of dancing sharks and always zooming, always shooting blue-colored lights, I reached her. I stopped and smiled, my dark eyes seeming to light up as the grin spread across my pale features. She turned her head, her blond hair whipping back her shoulders in surprise to my sudden, silent appearance. Her green eyes looked me over, took in my clothes, my pale complexion, my jet-black eyes, my dark brown, almost black hair which was combed back at the time. She smiled back at me and said "Hello, there. What's your name?" Fool girl.

I played along with this..this foolish game of where the one partner leads the other on, then leaves it up to them to start the music. I find humans foolish. Find their habits foolish. Don't get me wrong.. I felt the same those many years ago when I was still alive. I sort of set myself apart from the rest of humanity and watched them as a bird watcher might watch a group of rare birds, oddly different from the rest. I didn't just develop this attitude when I was changed, heavens, no. My views on humanity have changed very slightly over the years in which I have been able to study them from an entirely different point of view.

I returned her smile, having dropped it unconsciously while I was recalling a bit of my past character. "Does that really matter?", I asked her, taking her hand and raising it up to my lips, kissing it softly before letting it go.

She was surprised at my response and even more so by my action. I was in one of the darker, pooroer areas of London, England and I suppose she didn't meet many "gentleman" (I smiled inwardly at the word, wondering what she'd say if she had guessed what I truly was, though the girl most likely didn't believe in such "superstitious nonsense") in this part of the city.

She smiled once more, from the action or from my influence I couldn't say, and murmered, "No..I suppose it doesn't." Straightening up, I smiled at her yet again, yet pitied her at the same time for having succumbed to my "spell" so easily and so quickly. "Care to go outside? It's rather loud here, don't you think?" Nodding, she followed me outside to the side of the club.

I led her outside, away from the crowd and then noise and into the night, the shadow-filled night which harbored me so easily. She seemed to be thinking her decision to leave the building with a strange man (or at least..something that resembled one..) over now that we were away from the roaring crowd and into the darkness of the night. She looked back at me, her black hair billowing a little in a light breeze, her light brown eyes looking me over again as if trying to discern what kind of person I was. Once again…fool girl. Why must humanity insist that everything is exactly as it appears to be?

Seeming to relax a bit, she said, "You know..I should really be going back.." I looked into her eyes and felt her slip slowly into a state of relaxation in which she allowed me to gently take her by the hand and use it to draw her toward me. "Are you absolutely sure you couldn't stay here with me a while?", I whispered to her, her mind numbing at the sound of my voice. She was now drawn up to me and was making a reply of some sort while I lowered my face to her neck and gently, very gently nuzzling it then pulling back just a bit so I could examine her features as to see just how "out of it" she was. (She had now stopped talking and had her eyes closed, her mouth open just slightly)

Smirking a bit, I stroked her face lightly with my right hand. If she had not been completely in a state of relaxation, she was now. Most vampires simply induced sleep upon their victims. I did that sometimes, when I was in a rush, but I much prefer to simply get them into a state of hypnosis. They don't struggle and I don't have to go through the trouble of holding them up when they're about to fall after going to sleep.

The girl was breathing deeply and I placed my hands on her shoulders while my fangs slid down. Drawing her close to me gently so as not to rouse her, I sank them in neatly into her throat and drank. The bloodwyne had not sated my thirst, rather it gave me a craving for something fresher and I took it gladly, drinking in more of the girl's blood.

Like always, the memories of her life came to me as quickly as the blood, however I had learned to push them away, and push them away I did letting her blood roll over tongue a bit before moving it down into my throat, swallowing it gratefully and supporting her body on myself when she started to pass out from the blood loss. I had my arm around her waist, continuing to drink, trying to satisfy the thirst I had developed over the past few days.

I finally dropped the girl, having finished with her and licked my lips, my fangs sliding back into my mouth. I hadn't fed in a couple of days..simply hadn't found the time, busy as I had been. Needless to say, I was quite thirsty at the time and dissapeared, off to find another victim.

Back in the United States, I was sitting in a vampire club called Calypso. (Named after the nymph in The Odyssey by Robert Fitzgerald Homer, which entertained Odysseus for seven years while he was marooned on an island.) The club played its music just as loud, if not louder, as the club in London, and it had a far wider range of varieties. I was drinking, as always, another glass of bloodwyne. I'm rather fond of the drink, the wine stereotype of being for the upperclass, the blood supposebly for the vampires, so I found it suited me perfectly. (I have such modestly, do I not?) The glass, the wyne, everything was tinted a crimson shade due to the flashing lights that dimmed and boldened depending on the beat of the song that was playing. I took another sip of the wyne, but lowered my glass and look over the brim of it to Sheila, one of the usual vampires that came to Calypso.

Sheila wasn't really old, though not that young. Made about ninety years ago, give or take a few years, she had built up a reputation for knowing exactly what, where, and when any events have happened. Sort of like the vampiric version of those schoolgirls who make it their business to know who did what and so forth.

She was a nice girl, I suppose, though quite annoying at times.

I sighed and looked at her over the rim of my glass, "What is it, Sheila?"

She looked at me then at someone over her shoulder. Who it was, I couldn't say, though I knew she had obviously been put up to this.

Lowering my glass to the counter, I asked her again, this time lowering my tone of voice. "What is it you came to tell me, Sheila?"

She looked at me, her brown hair tumbling over her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her eyes and murmered. "Remus…Lyre's dead."

Well, of course, that didn't tell me anything.

"Sheila," I said, lightening my tone, though it must not have been lightened up enough, it seemed she knew there was impatience behind it. "Would you like to tell me how Lyre died?"

"He…he was killed, Remus..," she responded, her eyes still on the ground.

Is this girl going to give me a direct answer, or am I going to have to pull it out of her mind? I chose neither.

Relaxing back on the counter, I lashed out with some of my power, seeing it strike her and force her back into a table of several vampires who's named I forget, all who got up and moved. I'm not exactly a patinet person. She gasped and looked up at me as if studying my expression would reveal what I was planning. "Sheila," I said, not bothering to hide my agitation and impatience. "What exactly do you know about Lyre's death, and more importantly," I lowered my voice. "How do you know about it?"

"He…he was killed by Matthew," She shut her eyes and continued stammering out. "I-I don't know where or why…and.." She looked up at me pleadingly. "I can't say who informed me and told me to tell you..he..he'd kill me."

So….Lyre was dead. Well, that wasn't of much importance to me! It doesn't matter to me that he's dead, I didn't like the boy much anyway. What was important was that he was killed by someone who I threatened, and that seemed like a challenge to my reputation, seeing as how he knew I had taken to letting Lyre hang around.

"Sheila," I said, softening my expression which seemed to relax her. I smiled almost sadistically walking over to her, stopping until I was right in front of her. She saw the malice behind my smile and leaned back onto the table, but I took her lightly under her chin and used it to raise her up again, gently. "You really should tell me who it was that told you," I whispered to her. I dropped my smile. "Because if you tell me, you die later. But if you don't tell me, you die now…" Smiling again, her pale violet eyes widened and she stammered out the name of her informer. "B-Bran…he told me.."

Bran? I have heard very little of him. He was supposed to be somewhat strong, though just how strong had yet to be seen. If I killed this girl, it would probably annoy him, but I don't think I'd have anything to worry about. Very few people have ever openly challenged me and those that did didn't live to tell about it.

Why is this? I was naturally strong as a vampire, though thanks to the one who created me, I had one other nice little gift.

Letting go of her, I stepped back. The crowd in the club had been watching, but seeing as I stepped back, they returned to their own affairs and I saw, out of the corner of my eye, several couples a couples head toward some of the rooms in the back. How very entertaining.

Sheila's expression relaxed and she started to turn when I lashed out once more, sending her back into the table with such force, the heavy wooden table was knocked over, making a loud "CRASH!" as the glasses that were on it fell and shattered, splattering glass and various liquids everywhere. Coolly, I continued walking over to her, seeing her panic but remain on the floor. Wise, should she have standed, I would have taken that as a challenge and most likely have killed her. I'm like that, I suppose. I have a great reputation, and I wasn't going to let a childe like this put a dent in it.

I shook my head. "Tsk tsk…shouldn't have made me wait so long for the information, Sheila.." I smiled again, but my smile dropped as I was thrown a step back, and knocked into a stool by some invisible force. She had thrown a whip of her energy at me. Now, really, she should have known better! I had been planning on torturing her a bit more before walking off and letting her live, but now it seemed as if I had to kill her.

Frowning momentarily, I took another step forward and lazily threw a whip of my own at her, smiling in meager satisfaction as it successfully latched on to her own aura. She had her teeth gritted, sweat on her forehead and her lavendar eyes narrowed. She was trying to throw me back, I knew. But I was far older than her, and of course, far more powerful and reckless.

At this point, some of the vampires who had been nearby got up and left the club. Smart move, I suppose as I was now about to use my special "gift".

No one inside club would have noticed, but the moonlight outside was suddenly covered by dense clouds. Dark black clouds that rumbled ominously and showed a spark of lightning now and then. Inside Calypso, I smiled again and the shimmering space between me and Sheila glowed a light yellow and saw her aura being sparking. I heard her gasp in pain as some of the crackling glow moved toward her and my smile grew. I hadn't even started yet.

A loud crash of thunder was heard outside and I felt my aura start crackling with electricity. I held it in, waiting for the crackling to build up and with the strength I had left, held Sheila down in place. She was now crying out a little in pain, the yellow instensifying and moving over her aura, and even some tendrils visible, creeping over her body.

I could feel the electricity building up and I gritted my teeth, my forehead perspiring from the effort of holding it in. My eyes were narrowed, the shimmering space between me and Sheila was now writhing around, a bright gold. The hair on the back of my neck and on my arms was standing on end from the high amount of electricity in the air. Sheila was trembling, her eyes closed and her head tilted up as she struggled to loosen my hold on her, her hair flying around from the static.

The club was now somewhat empty, though I could sense several of the stronger auras behind me, in the far corner.

A loud, ear-splitting crash of thunder was heard outside and even inside, over the blaring music. I couldn't hold the electricity in anymore and my eyes brightened up into a dark gold, a wicked smile playing maliciously over my lips. I let go.

A blast of golden light illuminated the room and the sound of something rushing through the air was heard coming from what seemed to be every directly while what seemed to be a giant bolt of lightning zoomed through the shimmering space in front of me and hit Sheila full blast. Her eyes scrunched up in pain and she couldn't hold it in any longer; she let out an ear-piercing, blood curdling shriek that I'm sure must have been heard throughout the neighborhood.

I sank down to one knee from the energy it took from me, though it was plain I had enough for the broad grin on my face. My eyes were still a gold, though it had paled a little, black streaks now visible among the gold.

The table behind her was now reduced to nothing but a pile of cinders, and I'm afraid I could say the same for Sheila. Ah, well. We all must go sometimes, must we not? Some of course, more quickly than others, I thought with a slight laugh.

Pulling myself up by a stool, I chuckled softly to myself, casually sitting down and sliding my glass of bloodwyne over to me. The clouds outside thinned and let out a light rain letting a bit of moonlight in through the clouds, as if pouring out the tears that no one would cry when word of Sheila's death got out. As I finished up my glass, several people came back into Calypso, heading for the back rooms. Honestly, what a nice society we're living in..

As I slid my glass away from me, I sensed someone leaving the club, but by the time I turned around, he was gone.