Six
December 1994
Saben turned, half-smothered by the cool side of the pillow, to study Abberline's profile. His skin shone in the darkness, lit by a preternatural light that made him more enticing than he ought to be. It deceived her into thinking he was incredibly good looking, if you liked the fine boned feminine look, boyishly smooth chin and plump lips that would never wither. So different from the men she had known, so different from the sweat, spit and grunting.
She watched him sleep, traced the network of purple veins beneath the delicate skin of his eyelids with her eyes. She used to imagine his face, his hair, his whole being surrounding her, inside her when she was alone at night.
She had thought he was a dream. She was living in a dream.
How else could she knew that he never used to sleep when he was young. He had grown up on a remote island south of a great archipelago in what was soon to be called the Aegean Sea. Before it was claimed by tribes of Greeks it belonged to another tribe. It was an island populated by exotic creatures called the Night People. Though they were not known as such back then.
His People were once called the Nation. A scourge upon the face of the earth though they abided in peace to rules more strict than most.
Through his memories she had seen people change the shape of their skin and glitter with wild magic. They were all beautiful and fierce and a force to be reckoned with but those days had passed but the echoes of pain and blood of that long ago past resonated down the cord that bound them.
The People were different to what they had become. He was different now too. Night Lord. Responsible. Head of a House of the Night.
In this place she was made of glass, he could see through her, every dirty little sin, every flicker of emotion that she had endured for under two decades. She knew he liked to hear her sing. He liked the look of her on stage, prowling like a goddess.
She came to enjoy the sight of herself in his eyes: an idealised, glittering sight, something more than human. But it was just an illusion, she was human and suffered the flaws of all humankind. Humankind whom he hated as a matter of principal.
She was completely at his mercy, defenceless against his great strength, his incredible speed. He was a vampire. She couldn't fathom what this meant, she caught glimpses and flashes but she didn't truly know. He was born this way.
In the time that had passed she had somehow become completely his, bound to him through the strange constantly vibrating cord that connected their souls. Sometimes she could see it, from the periphery of her vision, a silvery glow reaching from her solar plexus to his.
"Stop staring at me." he said, his eyes remained closed.
It still hurt to touch him. If she wasn't expecting it, it could sting like the slice of a knife multiplying up her arm. Other times it was a pleasant simmering, the subtle build up of an all consuming orgasm.
She rose from the bed, setting bare feet on the icy floor and stretched, luxuriating in the limited freedom she now had. Her wrist was still red raw from where she had been cuffed. Abberline still didn't trust her not to flee and she didn't blame him, she would run given half a chance.
Claustrophobia was setting in, isolated from the vast world in Abberline's glass house. When he left the apartment he would cuff her wrist to the counter and she would resume her position on the marble floor.
She stared out at the planes of the desert. The city glistening like a distant kaleidoscopic mirage. She hated the desert.
She had been away from her life for so long she could almost forget who she really was, what she was before Abberline had abducted her. She was rubber soles on concrete, marching up and down a stage, sweat on her face, heart racing in her chest and not from fear but anger and exhiliration.
The thought of Abberline diffused this anger. The anger that had sustained her for so damn long. She was afraid and devastated, no amount of distance could tear her away from a need for Abberline. She hadn't thought she'd needed anyone before.
Even as she thought it he was suddenly beside her, staring down at her, scrutinizing her as he often did. She continued her vigil over the desert.
They didn't even like each other, she knew he hated that she swore too much and smoked too much and drank too much. She knew that he would kill her one day, she knew it was inevitable because she was dangerous, because he had feelings that were terribly close to true love.
He had told her often that if anyone knew she existed they may both die. Saben didn't understand any of it.
He reached out but didn't touch her, pale fingertips hovering near her shoulder but she could feel the phantom of his touch. Held her breath as if she could will him to touch her.
"You feel it too." He said softly.
"Time's running out." She said quickly cutting off any confessions he may have made, and turned to face him. "I won't tell, you know?"
His expression became fierce, angry and he stepped close, she was suffocated by his very presence. He sighed and stepped back, shaking his head slowly from side to side.
She closed her eyes tight and knew she was going to die. "It still hurts when I touch you." She whispered, hating herself for not having something smart to say.
She would be given over to his authorities and she would die. Better this way than the alternative, she supposed as his blue eyes filled her vision, becoming as broad as the sky. This world of theirs was not real. A dream…a nightmare…
The world isn't real if I'm not with you. Unable to stop her thoughts. There is no music…there is no future…there's nothing….I-
There was a knock at the door.
Abberline took a full step away from Saben as Celsia Verain came in.
Celsia looked from Abberline to Saben and back again and Saben knew it was time. Her shoulders sagged and Abberline strode away, slamming the bedroom door between them. That was their goodbye.
Celsia had carried in Saben's guitar case and she pushed a pungent pile of old clothes into Saben's arms. "Quickly."
Saben pulled on the clothes she had worn more than a month ago, smeared with alley grim and road dust. It was like slipping into an old skin. Celsia watched all the while.
When she was done, Celsia clasped her hand drew her to sit beside her on the couch. "I think it would have been interesting." Celsia said with an icy smile.
"What?" Saben asked distracted by Abberline's presence thrumming behind the bedroom door.
"To take you, to Turn you, to become…friends." The word 'friend' did not sit well on the vampire's tongue.
"Shut up." She said from between her teeth. This was hard enough.
Couldn't comprehend a world without Abberline, his skin, his scent, his touch, his mesmerising eyes. Couldn't comprehend even the phantom of him not there to greet her when she closed her eyes, or when the honey hot feeling in her loins crested.
The woman smiled and the world became her cruel blue eyes and she knew Celsia was glad Saben would not be around anymore.
It was transcendental rape. Celsia tore the memories brutally from her mind, some came away easily, things she'd rather forget but others were deeper rooted in her mangled psyche, some had to be pulled. Saben was screaming, she 'd already slid from the chair to the ground, convulsing as Celsia performed her metaphysical butchery.
Everything inside Saben was resisting. The silver illumination of the cord that bound her to the vampire Abberline was slowly choking her until she fell unconscious.
Saben woke with a scream dying on her lips. She was slumped on the sidewalk, covered in desert dust, collapsed against a railing that lead to a car park of some hotel. Her guitar case was somewhere nearby and she grasped the handle and dragged it toward her.
She felt immediately confused, near-frightened, was someone following her? She looked down at her hands, her wrists, as if she should remember something or had she forgotten something. She climbed to her feet, taking odd steps, testing her legs.
She had been trying to get away. She tugged on her t-shirt, thick crusts of black paint had matted into the fabric.
She closed her eyes, momentarily dizzy, a vision of gnashing predator teeth, the jumbled sounds of keening and cackling made her sway. Panic had fully set in and she was gasping for breath, she was running.
She ran trying to escape the phantoms of her mind, she missed a beat and tripped, flinging out her arms to protect her face from the impact. The shock and sight of skin broken and bleeding made her calm.
Silent tears marked her face but she was too numb to feel the pain.
She pulled a small crumpled piece of paper out of her bra. She must have stashed it there when she had been scared out of that old herb store. Hadn't that been only a few hours ago? Her hands were shaking as she peeled open the paper.
She collected herself together and walked slowly toward the nearest pay phone, she huddled inside the booth, looking stared feverishly through the distorted Plexiglas looking for fiends and devils.
She picked up the clammy plastic receiver, nervously punching in the numbers that were barely readable through the creases of the paper.
"Hello?"
There was a pause.
"Hi. I know this sounds crazy but…" She pressed her forehead against the cold metal of the phone box. "I think someone's trying to kill me."