A/N: Greetings all regular readers. I've been busy writing chapters for my newest project which is slowly but surely taking form now. My muses have obviously been returned with the added treats as promised by SilverOnith (thank you very much). This chapter sounds a bit final at the end, but trust me there are still another 2 chapters to come.

I know that no one is particularly interested but I really appreciate all of your nice comments and reviews. It's really making a difference to my currently pretty miserable existense and the reason I'm continuing with this is becasue of you guys. Thanks very much ^_^

Especially Alivewiththegloryoflove xxx

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Survival Instinct

Chapter 3

The Beast Within

We sat like this for some time, and I took this opportunity to increase my knowledge. I asked Kain many questions about himself and his nature, and he in turn was surprisingly open with me about this.

The creature revealed to me that he was actually the Scion of Balance, although I could not be sure if he told the truth for I always knew the Guardians of the Pillars to be humans. He told me of his adventures, his epic journeys through time. He was a King, and I was here listening to the tales of how he's achieved this. He had such great plans for the world, although they would not be to the benefit of us humans.

He even told me of his weaknesses when I asked, such strange vulnerabilities such as the touch of water, the rays of the sun, fire and an object projected through the heart. I could not tell whether this was an act of trust in me or that he simply did not care if I knew for I still would not be able to defeat him.

I guessed it was about midday by the sun's position in the sky and I was starting to feel hungry. My stomach growled.

"Kain? I think I should eat something." I looked around, "But I don't know if I should move from the sunlight?"

His eyes widened, "Don't move from the sun." He warned. He got up from the floor, and started looking around, I directed him from the bed to a small cupboard where I kept a loaf of bread. He brought it back to me and I picked at small pieces while he watched me. I was thirsty too but I just couldn't ask him for anything else. For a moment he had looked so lost just looking for something for me to eat that I felt sorry for him.

The sun progressed across the sky. It was the first time that I'd noticed the window above my bed received sunlight all day. Our conversations had lasted the whole time and we were growing to know each other quite well. I'd almost begun to forget that he was a vampire. He was so friendly in this close setting, we sat barely four feet from one another and he had reminisced about his already long life which even he could only guess to be over five hundred years old for he had long given up trying to recall his exact age, or maybe he just wished to keep the information from me.

Kain had eventually gotten bored of my questions and instead wanted to know about me.

"Tell me of your mother and father?" he asked, I noted the hint of caution in his voice for he already knew my mother had died.

"My mother's name was Samantha, my father told me she was a beautiful lady, he always said that I was lucky to have inherited her looks. My father's name was Tobias and he was a woodsman. He was such a nice man but suffered with illness his whole life. He died when I was eight."

"And you have lived here on your own since?"

"Yes," I replied, I started to run my hands over the wooden posts of my bed, it made me uncomfortable to talk about my past. My auburn hair hung over my face and I looked down.

"Are you a virgin?" he asked slyly.

"Excuse m… - Argh!" I yelled as I closed my hand around the wood on my bed as he asked the question. I had stabbed myself through the hand on one of the sharp nails that stuck carelessly out of the bottom. I brought my hand back up and saw that it was covered in blood. It was warm and shone brightly in the sun.

I hardly saw him move, he was upon me in less than a second, his fangs bared, his lips pulled back, he was pushing me against the hard wall with such force, and then he was off of me in the same moment, scorched temporarily by the sunlight. Kain screeched inhumanly and held the left side of his face with his hands where the sun had burnt his flesh. He turned away from me. It took me a moment to realise what had happened. My head spun from the impact. My hand bled fiercely and the pain had finally struck me.

"Cover the wound!" Kain cried, "Cover your wound, human!!!"

I tore at my bed sheets with all my might, my hand bled on the fabric and it felt like it was burning. A thick strip finally came away and I wrapped it tightly around my palm. My eyes flittered between my injury and the vampire. He still held his face which had smoke coming from it and low growls came from his chest.

"Kain?" I asked in a hushed voice.

His eyes were closed tightly and his jaw was clenched, his teeth were still exposed as he turned back to me, "Keep your distance..." he growled.

I held my injured hand in a fist, trying to stop the flow of blood so as to not draw him again. I looked at the window and made a dash for it. I opened the panel and thrust my bleeding limb through it, hoping that the scent would be drawn away by the wind.

He was silent and still for a long time and I started to think about what I had just seen. He had lunged for me like a wild animal, this beautiful creature with snow white skin and hair, his expressions had changed so instantly from the educated man to a hunger driven beast. His eyes had flashed red at me.

My God, he'd gone straight for my throat! I remembered now exactly what this thing was that I shared my home with, I remembered the stories again and thought of how this too had not been accurately described. I kept my hand out of the window. My eyes remained on Kain. Although I was concerned for his welfare, I was suddenly so scared of him.

"Kain?" I asked again.

He slowly took his hands away from his face. I expected to see scarring of kind, but his skin was pristine and smooth. He looked at me wearily.

"I'm so sorry, Kain," I said to him.

"Shelindria?" he asked, "I just tried to kill you… and you apologise to me?" he laughed at this, "Don't be simple, child." With that he sat back on the floor and continued to look at me.

"Are you not hurt?" I wondered, he had seemed in so much pain just a minute ago.

"No. Any pain I feel is a mere inconvenience. Our flesh begins to heal as soon as the damage is done. And so long as I've fed recently" He looked at the window and saw my hand sticking out, bandaged and red with gore.

"Why did you respond so violently to that? I am bleeding constantly anyway from this woman's curse I've just discovered. Why does the blood from my hand excite you so?"

His eyes never left my hand which now had started to drip blood onto the ground outside, "Your 'woman's curse' as you so delicately put it, is different. I cannot gain sustenance from that. It's different somehow… even I don't understand it fully. Your true blood is like a drug to me, it's something I need to keep living. It smells so… sweet." He breathed in before he said the last word and when he exhaled he sounded as if the pleasure of it may be too much for him again. I tensed and waited for his reaction, although it never came.

We were silent after that for some time. The afternoon was drawing in and he would soon be leaving me.

"You didn't answer my question, Shelindria."

I thought back to what he had asked me, it seemed like so long ago already. Then I remembered, "I think that's none of your business, Kain." What is his interest in my virginity anyway? Although I was curious about it, I could not bring myself to ask him. And by the way the sun was gradually starting to set, it would've appeared that I would never get my answer, and neither would he get his.

The sky outside was burning an amazing orange colour as dusk descended upon the land. The colour had begun to fill my room and Kain sat as he had done the whole day. In this light he was even more spectacular to behold. I could sense that he was becoming more powerful with the setting sun and it cast beautiful shadows across his perfect features.

My hand had stopped bleeding by now and I had disposed of the sodden 'bandage' out of the window. I looked at my captor in silence observing his expressions. I wondered what would stop him from killing me once the twilight came and the sunlight no longer protected me.

As if he sensed what I was thinking he began to rise to his feet, his amazing sword in his hand. He walked over to me but still avoided what sunlight there was. He sheathed his sword and then extended his hand to me, "I thank you for your hospitality, Shelindria."

I reached forth my own hand, the one I had wounded towards him and shook his hand once again, "Will I ever see you again?" I surprised myself, Why would I ask him that? I began to realise that I was drawn to him, his mystery, his very aura. When he left, I would go back to the life I had led previously. It would be me, on my own, drifting from day to day with no direction. For this single day, I had been shown another existence, could I really just let this go?

"You may never see me again. But fate takes us down mysterious paths, so there is still hope of a chance meeting." He relinquished his hold and withdrew his hand, his fingers were stained in my blood. He brought them to his lips and licked them, his eyes rolled back at my 'sweet' taste. I felt my insides shake as he did, but strangely, it was not an unpleasant sensation. I almost wanted to see him do it again.

Not wanting to push the boundaries further, Kain turned and made for the door.

"Goodbye, child." He said as he left.

"Goodbye, vampire," I whispered. I could not be sure if he heard me for he did not respond. I looked out of the window, hoping to see him but he had already disappeared into the approaching night. I looked at the ground beneath my window while it was still light enough to see. My temporary bandage was no longer where I had dropped it.

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I let my husband read this and he was like "uh, what a perv!" and all I could say is, "just wait till you get to chapter 5!"