We Were Gods Once

I basked in the sun, relishing the warmth of the rays against my pale skin. The cool drink in my hand perspired so rapidly that clear, crisp drops of condensation dripped onto the sand below.

"It's probably not safe to drink alcohol in direct sunlight," Ethan warned from beside me. I looked over at him, tipping down my sunglasses to get a pointed look at him.

"You're warning me about sun safety?" It was more than a little ironic.

Sure, I was pale compared to everyone else on the beach, but Ethan was almost ghostly. Strangely, it was alluring. I never would have thought I'd admit to being attracted to an overly pale man, but for Ethan it worked phenomenally. It was magical, in a way.

His mouth picked up at the side as he gazed back at me with glittering eyes. With his dark, wet hair pushed back out of his face he looked like an old time movie star. "I know I've told you this before: that's a myth."

I was still thinking it was probably a better idea if he'd stayed inside at the hotel. We were getting quite a few stares from members of my fellow gender. To say they were unwanted was an understatement.

It was quiet for a few more minutes until Ethan asked, "So what would you like to do today?"

My situation was too surreal. I was in Hawaii, tropical paradise, sitting beside the most beautiful person I'd ever seen in my life, and he was asking me what I wanted to do. Weren't we supposed to be fleeing, or at the very least, hiding?

"Is it safe to stay out in the open too long?" I asked him in a hushed voice.

"Would you rather go back to the hotel?" He asked in all seriousness, and I immediately knew I didn't want that.

For the past few months I'd been locked up in Ethan's mansion, whether by physical or mental devices. It was beyond any expression of words to be able to be free, in a sense, to be out in the sun and ocean breeze. I felt like a butterfly finally coming out of my chrysalis.

But my new found freedom wasn't the only thing keeping me away from the hotel room. I was afraid to be in there with Ethan. I was afraid to be too close to him. Since we'd arrived at the hotel my gloomy disposition almost melted instantly, and I could see the beginnings of Ethan's withering away as well. The joyous aura of the island was bleeding into us and I was sure something would happen when we let our guards down. I knew that if Ethan tried to make any advance, and I doubted he would, I would give in almost immediately. I was no match for his beauty or charm.

"I'm going to get another drink," I told him, slipping away before he could stop me.

Ethan's eyes followed Audra with every footstep she took further away from him. The way she avoided his eyes at all cost told him everything she wouldn't say.

He could understand the worry she harbored. They wouldn't be too difficult to spot, especially to a trained eye specifically watching out for them. They were supposed to be hiding, not out celebrating.

But being in such close proximity with Audra, alone, didn't sit very well with him. She was being quite pleasant as of late and their conversations seemed to carry themselves, but it wasn't her attitude or demeanor that made him push her away. No, it was his overly-cautious, controlling tendencies; the control he struggled to maintain that had somehow fallen from his desperate grasp the very first day he'd met her.

Audra was a beautiful, lively, strong-willed woman and Ethan wasn't sure he could resist her any longer; he wasn't sure he wanted to. Giving in would be so easy.

But what then? After he told Audra his true feelings, whatever they may be, what would happen? Eventually, he would lose her, or worse, hurt her. Both of those scenarios made his chest ache.

She was ordering a drink, leaning over the counter to speak with the bartender. Ethan noticed a man at the bar watching her closely and glowered at him. Yes, he wanted to tear man from his stool and order him to keep his eyes to himself, but he really couldn't blame him. In her swimsuit and wrap she looked breathtaking. Ethan hungrily scanned her body, drinking in the sight of her taught stomach and the swell of her breasts down to the long lengths of her legs. So much of her creamy skin was on display… on second thought, maybe too much.

I waited patiently for my drink while the bartender hurried around the cabana bar. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist and the only reason I didn't immediately break free was because the telltale coolness of it pointed to only one person.

Ethan's hand pressed against my stomach so that my back was to his chest. I stiffened for a moment, suspicious, but decided any reason he had to put his hands on me really made no difference; I enjoyed it all the same. Relaxing into his embrace, I received the drink from the bartender graciously and took generous sips. I turned in Ethan's arms and looked up at him. "Let's stay outside. It's beautiful here," I smiled, hoping he would agree.

Thankfully, he did. "What about a bike ride?" He asked, looking down at me while I took another sip of my drink. His eyes looked a little dark, but I figured it was an effect of the sunlight; Ethan had fed from Jessica not too long ago. The thought made me shudder and I looked away from his eyes. I was faced with his shirtless chest, immaculate and intimidating and touching my lower stomach as he squeezed me closer.

"Alright," I nodded. He could have asked me to eat a frog and I would have said, "Yes."

"I saw a bike rental back that way," he motioned behind him, over his shoulder, and released me. I finished my drink quickly and set it on the counter, taking Ethan's offered arm while we fell into a comfortable conversation.

Vivienne Moreau watched the humans titter by with a blank expression. Her chin tipped up slightly as though everything she saw was beneath her. In a way, they were, she mused. They're all simple-minded human beings.

Her white-blond hair looked like spun strands of platinum gold and silver beneath the sunlight. The warm climate was favorable in Hawaii, but all of the crowds were a great displeasure. Surely, something must be done with all of the scampering vermin.

It might have been a nice, relaxing vacation had she been able to spend time with her brother, Isaac. Even their family friend Armand and of course, his brother… her Ethan.

A burst of white hot fury exploded from her poisoned heart as her thoughts drifted to him. There was a time that they were so blissfully happy…

It wouldn't do to dwell on the past, she realized. One thing Vivienne had mastered in her many, many years of life was to push away her emotions; they were weakness.

Vivienne turned the street corner and caught sight of a beachside bar. One person immediately stuck out and she smiled at the sight of him looking so relaxed and comfortable. It was then that she noticed he was walking up to his human pet, and as she watched with a horrified expression, he wrapped her in his arms and leant down close to her face to talk as if the rest of world didn't even exist. As if she didn't exist.

She should have known she was going to see this, she told herself. She swallowed back the sickening taste in her mouth and forced her eyes away. The night of Ethan's birthday party had broken what little fragments were left of her blackened heart. After she'd first met Audra she wasn't sure what Ethan's motives for keeping her were. She was plain and above all, human! Yet, at Ophelia's mansion when she watched him take her into his arms for a dance, a sweet smile playing on his lips, Vivienne knew it was all for Audra. He was changing for her!

Vivienne composed herself and found a table at a nearby café. She couldn't chicken out; this was what she was here for. She could spend a few hours alone with her thoughts and catch up with the couple later, though.

A young, male waiter caught her eye as he asked for her order. Vivienne smiled brightly and used the silkiest voice she could manage; the one she had practiced for over a hundred years. The waiter noticed this and smiled back, a distant hope in his eyes as though her smile promised something he wanted very badly. As he walked off, Vivienne's smiled fell into a pleased smirk and she looked down at the menu.

She could put off a confrontation until Ethan and Audra returned home. It hadn't been easy to convince Christina to stay put back in the States. Of course, from the very beginning when Vivienne Turned her she hadn't been very easy to control. Once she finally convinced Christina that it was Ethan who had Turned her, Christina's overpowering emotions took control of her newly Turned vampire body and from that point on it was like trying to keep a rabid Rottweiler on a leash.

The waiter finally returned and Vivienne's smile picked back up in a second. She requested that he meet her that night and of course, he willingly agreed. She could almost taste him as she licked her lips; she could really use a real meal.