A Vampire's Innocence

Prologue

Breathe.

She stretched her legs as far as she could reach them, her golden hair billowing out behind her.

Come on Serena, she thought, Breathe...

Her lungs contracted, barely allowing her to breathe at all, and she struggled for an intake of air. Please God...she prayed to herself as she choked back a sob. What was after her? What the hell was that thing?

First the fear was just a churning in her stomach. Then it flooded her veins, her mind. When she had finally realized the danger she was in, when her limbs finally wanted to cooperate, she had turned and fled as fast as she could. It had almost been too late.

Where she was running though, she had no idea.

She just need to get away...from it. Whatever it was.

Come on, Serena! Her legs were starting to give, her energy was depleting. But she would not stop, could not stop. Her body refused to obey her mind. Her feet kept thumping upon the hard concrete below her. She could see the shadow stretched along the sidewalk ahead, of her pursuer closing in. No!

Trying to lose her pursuer, she turned into a dark alleyway, blue eyes trying to adjust to the darkness around her.

Hoping that she had lost him - it - she chanced a glance over her shoulder. A chance she shouldn't have taken.

She was knocked to her feet, the breath taken right out of her. Tears were brought to her eyes as she tried to force the body off of her back. Strong hands gripped into her shoulder blades and her face was pushed into the cement. Letting out a small whimper her quivering voice cried softly, "Let me go!"

The growling emitting from the back of the creature's throat frightened her. She had first thought it was human, but the growl and it's animalistic movements made her think otherwise.

She wished she had the courage to yell, the strength to lift her head out of the creature's hold and make a run for the main street she knew was not far behind her.

She managed to turn her head to catch a glimpse of long, white, elongated teeth. Unable to control her whimpers and cries any longer, she gave all her strength to throw off the nightly creature. But it was not enough.

Unrealistically long nails dug into her shoulders and she let out a sob as she could feel hot breath on her neck, the trail of saliva that the animal had left as it tasted her flesh.

Fear was controlling her emotions, her body. She shook with the adrenaline that she wished she could use to throw off this inhuman creature. But just like it's actions, it's strength was inhuman also.

Then it happened.

Sharp teeth plunged into her neck and she let out a shriek of pain as blood splattered into her golden hair strewed out upon the pavement around her. The searing pain was more than she could handle and built up tears poured down her face.

It was sucking her blood. Drip by drip it sucked, relishing in the metallic taste that only otherworldly creatures would enjoy. She could almost hear the blood being pulled unwillingly from her veins into the creature's mouth. The only other sounds audible around them were her whimpers and the sickly sound of a creature feeding in the night.

Panic-stricken, she no longer had the strength to cry out as she felt her body fall into a state of paralysis. She fell quiet and the world went hazy around her. She could no longer make out the shapes of garbage bags or dumpsters, or even the pattern of the concrete below her. All she could feel was the nauseating dizziness as the creature, no, vampire drained her of her life's source. This isn't...happening.

Then almost as quickly as it had began, it ended. The vampire keenly pulled it's teeth from her vulnerable neck, and stood in an upright position, relishing in the feeling of her blood coursing through his.

And then it fled, leaving her for dead.

Using the last of the strength she could muster, she turned her body so she laid on her back, blood pooling beneath her and into her clothes and hair. The spark had left her beautiful sky blue eyes, her skin was a deathly white. Why didn't he just...kill me...instead of letting...me suffer? But of course, that would not have been any fun. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, struggling to keep her eyes open. No one would ever find her here, she would die alone, bleeding to death, in a dank dark alley.

Why did she insist Molly that she would walk home, why had she not taken a cab, why had she taken the short way? Dozens of questions skimmed through her slowly dulling mind as she struggled to stay awake. No one will ever find me here...

But something had willed her to look up, to open her eyes to see the world for one last time before she sunk into darkness. Through half-lidded eyes, she hadn't been expecting to see blue, the most royal, midnight blue staring down at her. Eyes that penetrated her soul. The figure around them was blurry, all she could see was the blue.

She felt the figure pull her into a sitting position, and she whimpered in fear of what he could want. Was he her savior, or enemy?

"Who...?" was all she was able to muster in an almost inaudible whisper.

"Shh..." the man whispered, placing a deathly cold finger upon her deathly-blue lips.

While the man supported the dying young woman in one strong arm, he brought his other up to his mouth, biting into the flesh of his wrist. After drawing blood, he tipped it to her mouth, mentally pleading her to take what he was offering.

She felt liquid being pressed to her lips, and she drowsily replied by parting her lips. What she did not expect was the metallic taste of the fluid entering her mouth. Repulsed by what he was offering her, she made to move her head to the side, but found that she could not. Fear and loss of blood had left her in a state of paralysis. So she drank what he offered, her lips closing around the wound he had self-inflicted.

She sucked the nourishment from his bleeding wrist, draining him as best she could with the energy she had left, her mind focused upon that vital source.

The light around her began to strengthen, until all she could see were his dark eyes gazing down at her, and the light surrounding them. Light that would have normally blinded a person. The blood he gave her rushed into her veins, she could feel the heat like a raging fire.

It was then that she noticed it, the dull thumping she heard in the back of her head. If she concentrated she could hear it louder, and another thumping joined it like a steady double-bass drum beat. It dawned upon her as she drank from the man it was their heartbeats that she heard, and it amazed her. His was a more upbeat thumping, while hers was slow, progressing faster as her life returned to her. She could feel the thumping in her temples, in her veins.

Then suddenly, he pulled his wrist from her mouth and she gave a whimper of displeasure. She wanted more.

The man fell back, breathing heavy, his sharp teeth glistening in the moonlight. "That is enough..." he whispered quietly, almost too quietly.

After her breath had returned to her, Serena struggled to bring herself to her feet. She was nauseous, so very nauseous. The light had dimmed away completely, the thumping fading to the single beating of her own heart. Her vision was blurry beyond control, and she felt drugged, a high higher than the clouds.

Then she screamed, the fire building in her veins until she could not take it, the pain unlike any other she had ever felt. Her veins were alight with fire, not even the coldest water could simmer the boiling of her blood - their blood - fusing and mixing together.

And just as it became too much for her to handle, the world went dark and she fell helplessly into the arms of her savior.

A/N: This is my first attempt at something dark and frightening, and I hope I did my best. I know I said that I'd complete my other stories first, my muses were telling me to start this first and finish the others later. I guess I've been reading too much from my inspiration Anne Rice lately, hehe. But don't fret, I am going to finish Platinum Hair. There's a new chapter in the midst as we speak. Anyways, let me know what you think.