Love Within Death
Chapter Three
By :
Celeny
The creature stepped silently over to Christian's bed, its pallid skin absorbing the yellow glow from the dripping candles so that it radiated a tawny gleam. Christian's glazed eyes drifted over to its slim hands, wrapped daintily around the long slender silver base of the candelabra. Its fingers were covered with the dull white wax that had drizzled down the sterling stem from the dribbling candles, yet it didn't seem to pain the creature at all. Dully horrified, he looked unwaveringly at the ghastly beautiful face.
"What are you?" he whispered. The creature smiled bitterly, sitting gracefully down on the wooden stool and leaning over so that its frame almost touched his. Christian was amazed at this being's lack of body heat, almost instead of warmth, it shedded an icy chill.
"My name is Claude." it said, its voice musical and almost haunting. "And I am a vampire. You made your choice, my dark haired prince." Christian's eyes widened, but before he could gasp Claude buried his long ivory fangs into Christian's neck. He struggled against the hard body at first, the pain in his neck pulsing, but then he fell back among the softness of the pillows, almost unaware that the white lace was being tainted red by his blood. He could feel Claude pulling the life out of him, his blood gurgling in his veins, he could hear Claude's heart pound, hammering in his ears as if it was in his own chest. The sound, like a drum being beat in a lazy rhythm, amplifying and consuming everything in the silence, the deafening silence. Pleasure. Rapture. Yet multiplied by a thousand times. His body was floating, falling, his senses drunk on mixture of heat and darkness. He was still aware of Claude's cool embrace, wrapped in his strong yet fragile arms as his existence was being tugged away. And then it stopped. He was lying amongst the blood soaked pillows again, looking up with an almost childlike innocence at the vampire hovering over him, wiping his blood from the pale down turned lips.
"You must drink, my Christian." Claude hissed, biting into his own wrist and pressing the pooling blood onto Christian's mouth. Christian pulled away in revulsion, but as soon as the first drops leaked onto his tongue he eagerly lapped at the wound, drinking the blood like wine. He sucked zealously, like a baby from its mother, now feeling the life flow back into him, his breathing quicken as his heart throbbed, his body coming alive. His mouth widened and locked onto the cut as he moved closer to Claude, his thirst for the blood devouring his thoughts, hissing like a serpent inside his mind. The blood gave off an unknown warmth as it filled him, and he became glutted on the liquid as he guzzled the crimson fountain spilling from the white skin. Again came the drum, dizzying in its volume, shaking his bones with the heavy vibrations. Soaring, flying, this was completeness, this was love. Finally, through the flurry of emotions, he heard Claude's helpless cries of pain and the wrist being pulled away from his grasp. He instinctively tried to yank it back, but Claude, looking more ashen than normal, shook his head.
"No more." he said raspily, drawing in a shuddering breath. "You must listen to me now Christian."
"Yes.." he answered drowsily, his eyes half lidded from the now inexplicable urge to sleep.
"I can read your thoughts, as you will learn to do in time. But you must listen so that you learn what I am telling you. If you don't, you most certainly will not survive. You are a vampire, immortal now, unable to be killed unless by burning or staking. You must drink from humans, they will give you your life. You cannot step into the sunlight, and you must sleep during the day." He paused, as if not liking the next words he was about to speak. "I must leave you in the evening. The sun is about to rise, you are tired, and need to sleep now.." Christian grasped the cuff of his long sleeved shirt desperately, staring up at him with a pleading expression, but still seeing how different the room looked now, so shiny and fresh with his new eyes.
"No! You cannot leave me so soon. I know nothing of what I am now or-"
"These things you will learn. Is it not enough that I leave you with an immortal life and the rest of the world to be learned and loved in ways naïve mortals never will?" Claude hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "In the evening young one, my dark haired fledgling vampire." He brushed his icy hand over Christian's face, closing his eyes and resting his fingers in his tousled dark hair.
"I never wanted the whole world, I just wanted..." he said half-heartedly, unable to stay awake any longer, "to live." he finished in an inaudible whisper before slipping into sleep.
Christian woke up as he sensed the sun setting, sitting up in bed with the sheets stiff with his blood. The room, though still cloaked in the same mixture of shadow, was sharper in focus, the colors more pronounced, as if it had taken on another dimension of beauty in the passing of one day. He turned to the empty stool resting by the side of his bed and saw a thin piece of paper balancing on the edge, along with a small velvet box. He delicately picked up the paper and read the gracefully scripted words.
My dear Christian, I have left you my possessions, you will find it in the room directly across from that which you are in now. Perhaps we will meet again one day, you and I. Until then,
Claude
Christian opened the black box and found the silver and gold ring he was to give to Satine nestled among the white satin. It shimmered back at him in the failing light, how happy he had been at that moment, how much more innocent. Something else gleamed at the creamy bottom, the crucifix he had been wearing, he realized with a start. He reached in his now colorless fingers to pull it out and yelped when the metal stung his hand with a sharp pain. The cross fell onto the dusty floorboards with a high tinkle and skitted under the bed. *Vampire* his mind screamed, *unholy*. The full realization of what he had done hit him, and he buried his face in his frosty hands and wept.
The creature stepped silently over to Christian's bed, its pallid skin absorbing the yellow glow from the dripping candles so that it radiated a tawny gleam. Christian's glazed eyes drifted over to its slim hands, wrapped daintily around the long slender silver base of the candelabra. Its fingers were covered with the dull white wax that had drizzled down the sterling stem from the dribbling candles, yet it didn't seem to pain the creature at all. Dully horrified, he looked unwaveringly at the ghastly beautiful face.
"What are you?" he whispered. The creature smiled bitterly, sitting gracefully down on the wooden stool and leaning over so that its frame almost touched his. Christian was amazed at this being's lack of body heat, almost instead of warmth, it shedded an icy chill.
"My name is Claude." it said, its voice musical and almost haunting. "And I am a vampire. You made your choice, my dark haired prince." Christian's eyes widened, but before he could gasp Claude buried his long ivory fangs into Christian's neck. He struggled against the hard body at first, the pain in his neck pulsing, but then he fell back among the softness of the pillows, almost unaware that the white lace was being tainted red by his blood. He could feel Claude pulling the life out of him, his blood gurgling in his veins, he could hear Claude's heart pound, hammering in his ears as if it was in his own chest. The sound, like a drum being beat in a lazy rhythm, amplifying and consuming everything in the silence, the deafening silence. Pleasure. Rapture. Yet multiplied by a thousand times. His body was floating, falling, his senses drunk on mixture of heat and darkness. He was still aware of Claude's cool embrace, wrapped in his strong yet fragile arms as his existence was being tugged away. And then it stopped. He was lying amongst the blood soaked pillows again, looking up with an almost childlike innocence at the vampire hovering over him, wiping his blood from the pale down turned lips.
"You must drink, my Christian." Claude hissed, biting into his own wrist and pressing the pooling blood onto Christian's mouth. Christian pulled away in revulsion, but as soon as the first drops leaked onto his tongue he eagerly lapped at the wound, drinking the blood like wine. He sucked zealously, like a baby from its mother, now feeling the life flow back into him, his breathing quicken as his heart throbbed, his body coming alive. His mouth widened and locked onto the cut as he moved closer to Claude, his thirst for the blood devouring his thoughts, hissing like a serpent inside his mind. The blood gave off an unknown warmth as it filled him, and he became glutted on the liquid as he guzzled the crimson fountain spilling from the white skin. Again came the drum, dizzying in its volume, shaking his bones with the heavy vibrations. Soaring, flying, this was completeness, this was love. Finally, through the flurry of emotions, he heard Claude's helpless cries of pain and the wrist being pulled away from his grasp. He instinctively tried to yank it back, but Claude, looking more ashen than normal, shook his head.
"No more." he said raspily, drawing in a shuddering breath. "You must listen to me now Christian."
"Yes.." he answered drowsily, his eyes half lidded from the now inexplicable urge to sleep.
"I can read your thoughts, as you will learn to do in time. But you must listen so that you learn what I am telling you. If you don't, you most certainly will not survive. You are a vampire, immortal now, unable to be killed unless by burning or staking. You must drink from humans, they will give you your life. You cannot step into the sunlight, and you must sleep during the day." He paused, as if not liking the next words he was about to speak. "I must leave you in the evening. The sun is about to rise, you are tired, and need to sleep now.." Christian grasped the cuff of his long sleeved shirt desperately, staring up at him with a pleading expression, but still seeing how different the room looked now, so shiny and fresh with his new eyes.
"No! You cannot leave me so soon. I know nothing of what I am now or-"
"These things you will learn. Is it not enough that I leave you with an immortal life and the rest of the world to be learned and loved in ways naïve mortals never will?" Claude hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "In the evening young one, my dark haired fledgling vampire." He brushed his icy hand over Christian's face, closing his eyes and resting his fingers in his tousled dark hair.
"I never wanted the whole world, I just wanted..." he said half-heartedly, unable to stay awake any longer, "to live." he finished in an inaudible whisper before slipping into sleep.
Christian woke up as he sensed the sun setting, sitting up in bed with the sheets stiff with his blood. The room, though still cloaked in the same mixture of shadow, was sharper in focus, the colors more pronounced, as if it had taken on another dimension of beauty in the passing of one day. He turned to the empty stool resting by the side of his bed and saw a thin piece of paper balancing on the edge, along with a small velvet box. He delicately picked up the paper and read the gracefully scripted words.
My dear Christian, I have left you my possessions, you will find it in the room directly across from that which you are in now. Perhaps we will meet again one day, you and I. Until then,
Claude
Christian opened the black box and found the silver and gold ring he was to give to Satine nestled among the white satin. It shimmered back at him in the failing light, how happy he had been at that moment, how much more innocent. Something else gleamed at the creamy bottom, the crucifix he had been wearing, he realized with a start. He reached in his now colorless fingers to pull it out and yelped when the metal stung his hand with a sharp pain. The cross fell onto the dusty floorboards with a high tinkle and skitted under the bed. *Vampire* his mind screamed, *unholy*. The full realization of what he had done hit him, and he buried his face in his frosty hands and wept.