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There was no particular reason for him to be running through the forest. He liked the sight, the scent, the sounds of nocturnal life around him. Owls, bats, foxes… Tiny little heartbeats that filled his ears with their beautiful noise. He hadn’t been on the hunt, didn’t expect any mortals to cross his path.
However, shivering and stammering and walking with clumsy steps, he heard her not too far away, while running in the northern direction. Her heartbeat was quick with fear, almost a flutter.
How wise to dread the dark.
How unwise to walk around in it.
Instantly, as if flexing a muscle well-trained, he opened his mind to listen to her thoughts as he neared her location. Why was she here? There was no reason ⎯ the road was miles away. Why hadn’t she followed it?
A quick look into her mind told him that she had been on a trip by horse. A loud noise had sent it bolting into the trees; she’d fallen off, strayed from the path in order to find it and gotten lost.
Ahh. How marvelously foolish. Now it was dark, and who knew what could be out here on the hunt? Images ran through her mind ⎯ bears, wolves, flashes of razor-sharp white teeth made to rip and tear. None of them included his. Soon, this would change.
When she was only a couple of yards away, he came to a halt, heavying his footsteps in order to crack leaves and branches beneath them and announce his arrival. With a loud gasp, she turned around.
Her brown eyes were huge with fear, but it was evident they would otherwise be wide and doe-like, too. Her hair was dark and would probably have shone if it weren’t for the fact she’d been walking outside for hours upon hours. Her skin, though here and there dirtied with mud and dust, glowed with the little light there was ⎯ and the smell of her blood was simply mouthwatering.
Suddenly, he did feel thirsty.
“Who are you!?” Was her initial and instinctive yell. How funny. What did it matter who he was?
With narrowed eyes, he gave a knowing smile. “What’s it to you, ma chérie?”
He could feel her fear in his mind ⎯ could smell it oozing off her ⎯ and reveled in it. In her thoughts he found his image; hair that looked silver in the moonlight, skin that gleamed like platinum, eyes that pierced as if capable of seeing through her soul.
He liked to think he was.
“P⎯please don’t hurt me! I was lost, I’m just ⎯ can you help me find the way back?”
In a flash, he stood before her, looking down at her petite frame. So fragile. A little deer. A shiver ran through her, but she didn’t back up.
“Of course I can, my child,” He purred, lifting a hand to run the gentlest fingers along the curve of her jaw.
“Oh ⎯ thank you!” She said, now with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
His gaze flicked from her silk-like skin to those big, innocent eyes.
“But my love,” He breathed against warm flesh, shaking his head, “You have neglected to ask whether I will.”
Confusion overtook her expression. “What do you m⎯¨
His lips on hers cut her off from her words. It was a kiss of death, but she moaned out for it as his fangs pierced her plump bottom lip and his tongue lapped up the blood that came in droplets. The flavor made him moan in return, but this timid flow couldn’t compare to the one that would erupt from her soft throat if he bit her there.
Pulling away, he stopped, only to lean in to her ear and whisper.
“I won’t hurt you, child. But I will deliver you into the arms of death.”
Gasping again, her heartbeat almost a buzz, she could only gather enough air in her lungs to say one word.
“Please⎯!”
What was meant as a plea to stop was knowingly taken as a plea to continue. Groaning at the feeling, he sank his teeth deep into her soft flesh, the blood gushing instantly with the rhythm of her pulse. It was insane. It was delirium. It was ecstasy, and he could only wish the supply would be endless. The beating of his heart sped up as if he’d just ran a race.. As if he’d just played games that ended in mind-blowing pleasure. It was almost unnaturally fast, and it made his head spin.
A soft moan escaped her lips. Perhaps she enjoyed it, too. Perhaps she was just dying. With his mind entirely overtaken with bloodlust, he could no longer tell. This moment was perfect, and nothing existed outside of it.
Far too soon he felt her weaken in his tight grip, her featherlight body growing limp as she lost the energy to sustain it.
“N⎯no.. I..”
With a final groan, her head fell backwards. And, lest he be dragged along with her, he stopped gorging himself on her delicacy.