Keeper of the Dead Chapter 2

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Chapter Two

The next evening when I woke I dressed for the event and meandered over to Adrian’s room since I knew he wouldn’t be up yet and got into his closet. I retrieved a nice pair of black slacks and a dark burgundy pull over. Adrian always had unparalleled beauty in dark muted colors since his features were so animate.
“Well, don’t you look simply ravishing in you black suit? The hunter green shirt sets that off beautifully, here let me fix your hair. I walked across the room to sit down on the bed. He retrieved a brush from the small cabinets that doubled as nightstands by the bed.
“I wish I had hair like you Marcus, such a long, flaxen, flowing, pillow of black as night hair. It looks stunning on you.”
He pulled my hair back in a loose ponytail and pulled out a few strands to frame me face.
“There, now everyone will have their sights set on you tonight and you will steal the show from Lauren as he makes his Dallas debut.”
Such a comment made me laugh, “Get ready to go Adrian, you know Lauren will want to leave right away.”
He laughed as I walked out of the room and went to look for Miss Justine. As I happened to stumble across the stairs I looked up to catch a glimpse of her as a vision from a dream.
“Miss Justine, are you almost ready to go?”
She ran back and her head popped into view, “Yeah, come on up Marcus.”
“I thought we were not permitted to cross you threshold.”
“I invited you didn’t I?”
Without another word I proceeded up the steep narrow stairs and spiraled into her private domain. The layout quite surprised me, there were no dividing walls only enormous roman pillars supporting the ceiling in different places. Toward the left and against the back wall was obviously where she slept and dressed. There stood an ornate armoire and an elaborately painted dressing screen. All around were area rugs dividing space into particular rooms. But there she was - a shining beauty standing before a full-length mirror fixing her hair. She stood at full height and with tall-heeled shoes. I could not take my eyes off of her as I approached. Her dress was of a metallic brilliant shade of purple. It formed perfectly around the curves of her body with a slit up the left side to mid-thigh. There were no straps holding it up, just her well-proportioned breasts. She was exactly as I described her before, an absolute vision. When I reached her she was placing the last pin to hold her now curly hair piled high on the top of her head.
“What do you think of my humble abode?”
I nodded, “Very inviting.”
“What is it that you needed Marcus?”
I was viewing her from behind in the mirror. As she spoke she turned to face me. The smile on her face was intoxicatingly innocent and alluring. We stood very close; she came up to my chin even with the height added by the shoes. Her smell was sexually inviting and extremely provocative. I stepped back to provide her some comfortable space though secretly I desired her warmth.
“Um, I have been meaning to thank you for the flowers the other night, I did enjoy them. But the reason I was looking for you was to ask if you need assistance in getting ready. Many women need more than two hands to dress properly.”
“Well Marcus,” her voice was dancing and that smile spread wider across her face, “I believe you will find me to be a bit more independent than the women you speak of.”
She did a little twirl, “How do I look?”
For a moment my voice stopped in my throat, I was totally overcome by her beauty, even by her inner happiness. This party certainly couldn’t have set her to such a joyful level. Maybe the past couple of days were just not very good for her. Answer the woman idiot, “Positively radiant, a light in the dark.”
We could hear Lauren howling for us downstairs, she took off a step ahead of me, which suited my view just fine. Lauren was brooding in the library when we made it downstairs with Adrian sprawled across the loveseat and Lafayette waiting patiently by the window in a full tuxedo.
“Are you ready? Lets go!”
She had her purple Prowler sitting out front at the curb. In the driveway sat a red Shelby Series 1 and a silver Porsche 911 Carrera for us to take. Lauren and Lafayette leaped into the Shelby, which left the Porsche for Adrian and I. He hopped into the passenger seat and tossed me the keys. “You do realize that I have never driven a motor vehicle right?”
He rolled his eyes, “Fine I’ll drive, but only if we put the top down.”
Once on the road I felt the winds icy fingers pulling through my hair gently. My eyes closed and the wind continued until it completely picked up. We were moving faster than I had ever been without being in total control of my vampiric powers. My vision was blurring and I was getting dizzy. Adrian noticed me clutching the armrest tightly and slowed down. Upon reaching the site of the festivity the attendant parked the car with the other two and we waltzed up to the entrance to confirm our names for reservations on the list and were escorted to our seats. The meal was being distributed and the mayor was speaking and trying to win support for something that sounded extremely important, but I didn’t care. Michelle quietly sat listening to his speech with perfect posture in all regal adornment. She was beautiful; I was and still am in awe of her contradictions. She posses’ the beauty and poise of a queen with the strength and attitude of a kid that grew up on the street. She can play pool and handle herself in a bar and the next night attend the ballet and socialize with high society. The fork tapped the plate lightly against the fine china as she retrieved conservatively small bites. She chewed her food slowly, seeming to extract as much flavor as possible from each morsel. The look of her throat enlarging slightly every time that she swallowed all most drove me over the edge. I needed to feed badly. I was craving her in the worst of ways, watching the healthy veins in her neck pulse in such a way that no mortal eyes can see, but we view vividly. Wine was place before me that was the color of the rich nectar I so greatly desired, but not near so warm or thick or fulfilling. Before I even realized it the food was being cleared away and the people leaving the tables as music started up loudly. Miss Justine was lightly tugging at my sleeve to come with the rest of them as we were being herded over to a dance floor. Lauren was gone, of course, to mingle with his admirers. Lafayette was awaiting my permission to go and feed, so I gave it to him. Adrian winked and flashed his most provocative pearly smile, exposing the longs shape tools of his trade for only an instant, and left my side to be amongst the mortals. That left me starving and alone with an exceptionally sexy woman. I have always been confident in my capabilities of fasting and was certainly not going to forgo this excellent opportunity to spend time with this luscious being to sinfully gorge myself. So I did what any and every man there wanted to do, I asked her to dance. We did so for probably half an hour before a slow song was played and she drew in very close to me. My cold flesh didn’t stir her, my fluid movements didn’t startle her, the inhuman tonal quality of my voice didn’t frighten her, I had not been so happy in many years. She was a refreshing breath for me to inhale, and for the moment, Michelle Justine was all mine. Shortly after the song was over she made her move toward the wall and I followed obediently. We talked for several hours about her job and some of the exciting things that she has done in her eight years in this line of work. I discussed years past and even told her a few things about my mortal life, which I have never even told Adrian about my mortality. She made me feel so comfortable. Soon Lafayette approached warm and nourished to join our little entourage. The evening came to a slow end; Lauren had to be drug away from his pile of death. His glutton had left three young men dead in the kitchen. Thankfully it was not discovered until much after we left. Adrian had decided against feeding here, knowing that Lauren would over do himself. Actually he was waiting by the car when we got there. She offered to follow us home. Lafayette thankfully was in the driver’s seat; Lauren had drunk so much that he was on a natural high. We got home and it was time for he two young ones to make their way down to the chamber rooms. Adrian and I followed Michelle into the kitchen as she made tea. We began some useless small talk, which quickly escalated.
“You know Miss Justine, you really have surprised me. At first, you were so cold and heartless. Then in a matter of days you became gentle and openly befriending. I really don’t understand, but I like it and greatly appreciate it. I know that Adrian and Lauren didn’t vocalize that we had observed this change within you behavior, but we all have noticed.”
“We were not very kind or cooperative about giving up our complete freedom when you asked, we didn’t give you much of a chance. Now we understand why. Thank you for not giving up on us.”
By this time we were all sitting at the table. She was clutching the warm mug with both hands, seeming to revel in the heat that it brought. She nodded in agreement with some of the points we had mentioned, “I have to be fairly hard nosed at first to weed out those of you who will not take me seriously. But I’m glad that you are getting comfortable here, that is what you pay me to do, make you happy, comfortable, and safe.”
Adrian began to drift so I figured it was probably best for us to head back to our chambers as well. The night after that started out as any other. We all went out separate ways; tonight would be my first night for a feeding since I arrived in Dallas. I was growing weak and my desires more frequent. I told Miss Justine basically the direction I was headed and left the house. The wind was cold as it fingered fiercely through my hair and on my face. I assumed a normal human pace, steadily moving to the nightclub district. The evening was busy and loud with the unnaturally large crowds for such bad weather. Finally I decided on a particular position to roost, a dark and damp back parking lot behind a prominent club for young people. Before much time passed, a young girl came into view stumbling along, she was staggering around looking in cars and checking doors to see if they were unlocked. No noise came from my heels as I moved in for the kill. However suddenly and without reason she turned to face me. I startled her but she was so strung out that a physical reaction didn’t occur.
“Hey buddy, you got any cash?
She looked directly into my eyes and knew immediately that I could not harm her. Now she was real and innocent and in pain. How could I ever bring myself to ever wound her with the potential to become such a beautiful flower? She was alive and fragile and most of all human. I gave her all that I had in my pockets and walked away. My thoughts jumped and moved but centered on the fact that I was and am positively evil, nothing can save me now. An older couple was walking ahead of me. They were in their sixties in exercise clothes and moving at a quick pace. ‘Fine, if I am of the devil, if I am an agent of evil, what is the harm of a feeding?’
The sound of my steps was muted and my breath ceased. I caught hold of the ma and drew him down to his knees. The woman stood as a silent witness in complete shock. I held him under his chin with my left had tight enough to pull it back to expose the pulsing fountain of sustenance in his neck thoroughly. My other hand was around his torso. My lengthy teeth pierced his aging flesh with tremendous ease. As the sweet juices flowed thickly into my mouth I was lifting him from the ground. My swoon was reaching its height. My head was reeling; his body was limp, though not yet dead. That is exactly how I planned it, if he dies of heart failure no autopsy is necessary and nothing will raise eyebrows. The woman had fallen to her knees but sill hadn’t uttered a sound. I slung his body aside like a rag doll and it struck the side of a nearby building with a low thud and fell to the ground in a small cloud of dust. I extended my hand to the now weeping woman viewing her very dead companion strung carelessly aside. She shrunk away so I reached out with both hands and picked her up by the shoulders. That is when she snapped, she began to scream and wale and reaching out to the lifeless corpse, as if it could save her somehow. I covered her mouth tightly and securely. I bent down toward her neck, yet for some reason I stopped. She was pleading with me in small frightful means. I turned her slightly and coldly looked unto her glassy swollen eyes. With a quick movement of my wrist her neck snapped and the body fell limp in my arms. I carefully laid her by the man and took a short step back to take a better look at them. The looked tragically natural, possibly in sleep. Painfully I looked away, stuffed my hand into my pockets, and casually proceeded at mortal pace to the house. After hundreds of years I still feel guilty after every feeding. The pain within the core of my soul grew as my body was fulfilled, rejuvenated, and refreshed. As I turned the corner there was a tremendous commotion at the home. My heart leapt into my throat, something was dreadfully wrong. Dawn was close, yet vampires were approaching threateningly. I ran to the home. Adrian was in the entryway in hand-to-hand combat with another immortal. There were probably fifteen humans and five or six vampires. Lauren and Lafayette were mo where to be found. I was terrified.
“They are in the crypt,” Adrian cried out as he spun around to defend the attacks of another vampire, “nothing can reach them. Michelle is at the back door. Go help her.”
I darted for the kitchen door to find even more people. Michelle had a short sword strapped to her left hip. As she came into sight she had a vampire turned around with a wire to his throat. Evidently it was sharpened because she pulled it through the entire thickness of his neck without massive struggles. Both pieces fell limp before her and she turned to take on the next unlucky adversary. The vampire’s blood was splattered across the from of her shirt and she released the wire as it sprung back into a small container on her right hip like a tape measure retracting quickly upon release. I joined in at her side. The mortals surrounding had stakes and were now primarily after me instead of her.
“You need to get Adrian and yourself downstairs now! The sun is coming and they are relentless. Go now! Here use these if you can or must.”
She thrusted three stakes quickly into my hand. Now there were mortals everywhere. It was no problem for me to toss them aside but I worried about Michelle who lacked our supernatural strength and senses. Upon reaching Adrian things were looking better. There were no vampires here anymore, only uncontrollable swarms of angry human beings. I pulled him backwards through the throng, trampling lifeless and unconscious bodies. Once I saw an opening I pulled Adrian to me and took to my greatest speed to reach my day chamber. As the metal door was closing the first of the attackers were reaching sight. They pounded on the door heavily, yet the beat of my heart seemed even louder. Adrian was tucked into my arms as we stood in the middle of the room just staring in bewilderment at the door.
Then, the banging stopped. They were walking away, being herded out. I placed Adrian into the coffin since he had slipped out at some point during the incessant hammering and closed the lid securely. My heart leapt into my throat again, I could smell a fire outside. Now I had no one to hold and no one to share my fear with. Physically I was fading but I didn’t want to close my eyes, I didn’t want to die in my sleep. Michelle suddenly came bursting through the door.
“Marcus! Are you hurt?”
My voice was labored and slow, “Save the young ones first, I can survive the fire longer. Go hurry. Please save them Michelle.”
With that my eyes closed, yet consciousness remained for another brief moment. Ardeo had come for me and won. Michelle was there and had protected my loving children. She had even tried to protect me. The gesture was all that mattered. She had preformed the greatest task. That was the moment I realized my deep-set feelings for her. I smiled as the dreams came and I lost my worries for the time.

Interested in reading more? Check out "Keeper of the Dead Chapter Three"