"Here I was,on the other side of Paris.Not that I haven't seen all of Paris by now,but the urge to wander had struck again and I found myself nestled between the outstretched wings of an angel statue.It adorned the final resting place of some now unknown infant.It was a bit much,I thought.Quite large for the small infant that rested beneath the ground at it's feet.

Cemeteries were always my "haunt" and I often found myself within one when I needed time to think.And think I did this night.Many already knew of me,some would know of me before the night was out.I had this uncanny way of letting my presence be known if I felt like attracting others.My story is long as well as old,and I told it often to those who wished to know where I had come from.Being "reborn" in the old ways....the old school of vampyres.I was one of the more powerful of my kind.Not that I had ever shown my true power.Because I have always believed there was always one,more powerful than myself.

I was given this "Dark Curse" As I call it,in a place similar to the one I now linger in.Some ancient cemetary buried long forgotten in the city of Paris.I place I had chosen to lay to rest my second born mortal child.Kneeling at her grave in one last attempt of saying goodbye.
The monster came from the darkness of the treeline,smiling his way into my innocent life.At first I thought him to be the Priest of the nearby church or maybe the groundskeeper.But no....how wrong I was.I resisted his attempt as best a 24 year old mortal woman could.But he wanted me for some unGoddly reason I have yet to understand.Even when I begged for death,did he not give me what I asked.Instead giving me the first taste of blood I would come to crave.
He made me what I am that night.....and left me to fend for myself or die the very next instant.Oh he returned a few times after that,to bestow upon me his old ways....through beatings,fighting,what have you.More than once we'd faught to the death,only to end up a draw,both of us spent.I am his only surviving childe,I killed the others he'd tried to bring into this curse and soon he gave up trying to make more.I haven't seen nor heard from him in nearly 200 years,but I know he's still out there and one dark night we wil meet again.

Five hundred years have past since that night.Give or take a few years I cannot seem to remember.My first years as an immortal were filled with anger,regret,sorrow at the thing I had become.But as those years passed,I began to like what I had become and worked my way to the respect I now recieve from others of my kind.
I have met many others in my years,some young,some old....some ageless.Among those....Marius,who had become the closet thing to a sire I had ever known.A mentor of sorts.Rhenn...the dearest friend I had ever come to know,he'd helped me through more things than I can count.And countless others who've become friends and even family to me.

And yes,I've made others as well.Nearly went on a spree to populate the world with my kind.But as I grew,so did I grow in wisedom and now I make no more.Of the 100+ progeny I have created,only a handful survive today.The others died of their own will or by my hand as I culled out the weak and the unwanted of my brood.Amoung the living are my strongest and the most likely to better the race.Devilin,one I had made in love and love still to this day.Caladain....Once slayer,now one of the ones he'd hated most.Wolf...another made of love,but with the lust for killing that matched his grandsire.Chemarina....The only one who'd asked if she could leave my clan.I still think of her often.And Clayr...one who'd made his own way out into the world.

Yes,I relive every moment of my life,death and rebirth.Why?I do not know.Perhaps it is because I have always somehow regreted what I had become.Somehow wanting some sort of normal life from it all.But for now the lovely cold stone of the angel keeps me company,protected here within the comforting shadows of her wings.Perhaps some time soon I will venture out and explore this part of Paris,seek out new faces and once again regain that sense of belonging I have always searched for...."

~She runs from the woods... her torn black velvet cape flying behind just as the deep red curls fly wildly with her rapid pace... where the torn cloak parts is revealed a lavender silk gown that presses even tighter against her body than normal... her tiny pale hands clutching it high, her thin atheletic legs showing beneath ...clad in white silk stockings...~

~her chest heaves as she runs.. not caring to turn her face back.. her stockings torn away from the rough ground, now bare feet bleeding from scratches... eyes filled with fear... and no small amount of determination... she sees the cemetary in the distance... increasing her pace... feet pounding silently in the grass, she nearly runs into the wrought iron gates... scaling the cold metal, her atheletic body making quick work of it... although her now-bloodsoaked feet slip a bit so she has to use the strength in her wiry arms to pull herself up... vaulting over the sharpened posts on top carefully, she lands in the soft grass inside... she freezes... hearing a sound.. on her hands and knees... her senses alert to any danger... she senses there are others around, but they are neither strong nor clever... and yet... there is one... she sweeps her head from side to side... hearing the far off howls she shivers and silently pads quickly to the outside of the mausoleum, knowing she can gain entry easily... pulling her cloak tightly around her... the hood overtop her red curls... only her emerald eyes showing from within... her back rests against the door, her pale hand slipping behind to rattle the latch.. she backs into the doorway... slipping back silently into the shadows~

~she shivers slightly... the desire for her master's blood growing within her... his recent loss an ache within her soul... his gift of distraction so she could flee and be saved the was the ultimate sacrifice... but she's pale now.. and empty... and realizing she had scarcely drawn a breath since escaping the werewolves she at last let slip and pass sweet air through her lips... Not quite a sigh of relief, but these new surroundings somehow instilled within her a sense of comfort... Coming home perhaps... With another, more confident breath she stepped from her sanctuary of shadow and..... spied the shadow of the strong one she had sensed earlier... she froze, and backed silently again into the shadows...~

She walked through a row of statues, Her long black coat flowing behind her. She was wearing a long red dress that was was cut up one side, Black and white stockings were underneath. Through the dress you could see the movement of a gun on the side of her leg, Her black hair fell to just above her waist.
As she saw the girl running she heard the howls and the scents of the others.
She looked around her and saw another figure resting inbetween a statue..
She had seen her here before and ignored her.. Her eyes went saphire blue than red, returning to blue again she whistled a low key and walked from the shadows as blue and green mist began to creep its way along the ground..

"True to my nature,I had inadvertedly let my presence be known it seems.Not that I wanted company at the moment,nor was I as rude as to have any that crossed these hallowed grounds leave.Vampyres ,how truely for granted we took our own senses as humans.When given the "dark curse",A vampyre's senses grow 100 fold.As it was with me.I could have wept at the beauty the night possessed,never before really opening my eyes to the wonders of the world.My hearing was also unique now as well as my sense of smell.
I caught the scents long before I caught sight of any entering this domain.Not that I claimed it for any reason,it was for the dead ,not the living.I stayed within the shadows of the angel's wings ,watching the young woman as she haphazardly leapt across the gates and stumbled her way into the cemetary and towards me.Could she sense me,I wondered...I could smell the blood that seeped from her.Guessing her tender feet,bare as they were,were taking some damage as she fled.I could also smell fear,inhaling that sweet scent deeply.Mixed with the scent of blood,it tingled my desire for the hunt.But again,I was in another's domain.Not my usual territory.
I watched her silently as she made her way towards the ancient mausoleum.Not yet moving,I didn't want to scare the woman ,nor was I in any mood for any kind of conflict for the moment.
And there it was...I had to smile as the tale-tell signs she brought upon her body told me she had indeed either sensed me there,or perhaps I slipped up and unknowingly moved somehow.

I became suddenly alert to yet another presence.Lifting my head only slightly so that I could peer over the angel's shoulders.Scanning the far shadows ,tombstones and trees for any movement.My predanatural hearing caught the soft tune of the whistle,and I turned my head ever so slightly towards it.
The thing about myself I have always admired,I was ever the watcher.Even in my immortal youth,I had never leapt into something I had no knowledge of.Getting hotheaded and out to kill anything and everything would always end up getting some young vampyre his gift of final death.I was never that stupid,or at least I hoped I wasn't.
I watched in sme fasination ,the blue/green mist as it flowed like honey across the ground,and from within it,yet another female.This one I wasn't too sure about.So I stayed for the moment,on the back of my newest silent friend,the angel.And just watched between the two."

She sensed another person here besides the girl running and screaming..
Someone who wanted to be left alone maybe.. Oh well.
I walked on kicking loose pebbles...making no noise, at lest not really caring if I did..
But something about tonight was bothering me and I needed to think about what was going on..
I stoped in my walking, relizeing I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. That wasn't like me.. I was always alert of my ware abouts..But not tonight.
I moved my head slightly to the side and gazed at the girl between the statue.. She was catious and alert, but than again what vampire wasnt?..
I stood there for the breifest moment before moving in a blur to where the scared girl was..
On top of the mausoleum I could hear her breathing calming down now...
I sat there on my toes watching her looking around making sure the beasts werent following her..
They wouldn't anyway, they were to afraid to come in here right now...I jumped down and moved ontop of a tombstone, watching the two other females...
Funny, how I was doing just that of the other girl.. Watching and waiting to make my move..

~she stayed in the shadows momentarily, her emerald eyes seeing less than the other senses that she possessed... her masters blood still filling her... gifting her with a small measure of his strength and natural vampiric talents... a near silent sob broke from between her parted lips and her mind took an unwilling frenzied trip back to the warewolves attack upon him, watching him again in her minds eye as he fought them all so that she might flee... as ever he thought of her first... and the blood boiled within her ... anger at the clan that dared to use the animals to attempt to slay her master's brother... who dared to attempt to kill their prince... and then to attack the man who loved her in retribution for his protection... they would carry the body back to the nefarious rogues who planned the attack, using their hatred for her family, for all vampires, and collect their reward... the villiage itself... her eyes narrowed as the picture in her mind brought him back to life... the way he provided her with his own blood, to keep her young, and alert, not turning her though, for he was determined that she be ready for every repercussion of the act... and she slid down ... her back against the doorway... crouched silently... eyes upon the silent femme who was cradled by the angel...

... more pictures race through her mind... more moments with him.. the words of love... "I have not loved for hundreds of years until you, my gift"... and a silent tear slipped from the pools of green... the vision of him slicing open his wrist to let her drink what she so desperately craved... the moments of passion in his arms... when he turned from "man" to beast, yet always in control so to never harm her... the times... where he would revert to the dashing beau from his time... his aristotic breeding always evident... she wept then, not caring if she were heard... almost wishing the beasts would come tear her limb from limb as they did to him... wanting death without her love... nothing mattering any longer... her life as a Ghoul... the life she used to love now barren... why go on...

she stood... her back squaring with resolve, and slowly walked to the woman on the angel... knowing that if she tempted her enough, it was likely the vampire would bleed her dry and she could end this pitiful new existance without Clayton... she stopped in front of her... standing silent...her breathing calm now... accepting her fate... she raised her bright eyes to look into the woman's and in a soft voice spoke... ~

"I wish... to provide for you. You must be hungry, and I wish to die. It is a convenient arrangement for us both, no?"

"Please," ~tilting her head to the side, and pulling her hair from her neck... she offered her throat~ "Just drink from me... drain me fully... my torment will end, and you will have respite..."

** I was a bit saddened at the memories the young woman seemed to be reliving.Vampyres,not all of us mind you,but a few can often catch unguarded thoughts from others.Be they immortal or not.And this woman's life had not been a easy one.Somewhat like myself,I thought,and I found myself taking a likeing to this one.Not that I took to anyone,especially those I knew nothing about.Nor was I ever one to openly show emotions.

She threw me off a bit when she moved away from her hiding spot and actually approached me.I had to quirk a grin when the young woman openly offered herself to me.Not yet even slightly moving from my comfortable spot on the stone angel's back.She knew about us,that much I had gathered from the scent of her blood.Sometimes we could tell and immortal from a mortal.But by her thoughts,I knew of her past.

I had to admit to myself,the sight of her warmed blood pumping through that lovely vein on her neck,almost made me move.The lust for blood was strong within me,but as years passed,I learned to control it.Now,any that really knew me,also knew my love for the hunt.My love for the sweet scent of fear laced with the innocence of blood.And this one was offering herself to me.No fear laced her pretty green eyes.No trembles,no cold sweat,only the want for a release only death could offer her.But,I wasn't going to be her angel of death this night.

I Folded my arms over the angel's shoulder,laying my chin to rest in the crook of my elbows.Giving the woman another long moment of silence before I began to speak**

"A convienient arrangement,yes.But one I am not willing to undertake.I don't think you really wish to do that.Nor would the one for which those tears you shed,would have wanted that.But be careful,M'Lady....there are others,who would openly jump at such a chance to end such a pretty life.Had your master wanted such a thing for you,he would have given to you then.But he wanted you to live,didn't he?"

**I awaited her answer,quite aware of where the other woman had slipped off to.I was watching her as well,but for now,my eyes were on the one before me.**

I sat there on top of the tombstone, playing with a ring around my finger, watching them..
My eyes roamed the area and checked to see ..
I jumped down and walked behind the new vampire...
A silence echoed the air....

"I doubt that your lover would want you dead now.. Beside.. We always need new vampires around here..." I said laughing to myself inside...

It was so amusing these little things that always happened...

~she sensed the other femme move behind her and not a muscle stirred as she listened to the words, her ability for cunning hidden behind her glimmering emerald eyes... they never left the powerful woman in front of her...

... she heard the assumption that the other girl behind her believed her to be a vampire and her back straightened proudly... her chin rising in defiance to both of them, not with pride, but with an inner conviction that her love had instilled in her... his honor having become her own, the rest of her body not moving in the slightest as she slowly raised one perfectly arched soft auburn eyebrow, her features unable to seem offensive.... just as her soft voice was unable to convey aggression... however her regal bearing conveying her displeasure at the assumption both females were implying... yet the thirst within herself for Vampire blood giving a slight tremor to her words.... showing an underscore of innocence and vulnerability~

~her breath came soft and low between parted lips, a haunting song for a human...

"MY master was a Vizier, the brother and second in command to the Prince.... if you think you can know what -he- would want for me, you are wrong. You will always be wrong, for he thought not as a traditional Vampire, he thought not of feeding from the unwilling, he never once contemplated hunting a human... MY Master was magical in the Vampire world... his desires manifest in all those beneath him. HE chose -not- to make me into one of your kind, for he believed the choice should be mine and mine alone. Should you go against his wishes, and attempt to turn me, one of two things will happen: either I shall dispose of my own 'unlife' ... or any remaining survivors of my clan that find me will dispose of it for me. To me, it matters not... ~her chin raising a bit higher as her eyes turned with her body and stared into the eyes of the one behind her~ For every 'would be vampire' may choose whether to accept their 'gift' or not. At this point in my life, I -choose- not."

~her breath caught in a soft sob as she remembered his words and spoke them aloud in a disturblingly like parody of his, her eyelashes dropping closed for a moment~

"Gift. . . Your innocence. . . your joie de vivre. . . shall bind any vampire to you if they wish to turn who you from what you are. . . for once they taste your pure blood, they shall wish it for eternity, yet if turned yourself, turned also that which resides within you. . . they would prefer your death. . . to the loss of your divine purity."

~her eyes opened slowly... and she turned to the femme she first approached....~ "Madame, grant me my wish if you please. I fear the taste of Vampire blood is growing stronger within me, and I would rather dissolve into nothingness than I would prefer dementia..."

~her proud bearing paying homage to her master's memory even as she trembled slightly... a lone tear slipping slowly down her pale cheek, to drop to the grass at her feet~

Smiles to myself knowing perfectly well what I was talking about..
I stared at the girl a moment... Was she the..
"Time will tell.." Said a voice in my head...

I crossed my arms and rested my weight on one foot..
"So tell me girl.. Who was your master...."

~her eyes dropped closed as the question rocked her to the core ... tears falling freely from her eyes now ... her back -not- bending beneath the weight of her disconsolate soul... standing as proudly as she stood before him the first time... her slightly scottish brogue now apparent as she gave control over to his memory*

" he was"... ~she whispered raggedly, with her emphasis on the word 'was'.... a soft shudder raking through her as she felt his hands upon her...~

"Lord Clayton Westmoreland, first Duke of Claymore, leader of the resistance against the English, gatherer of the Clan of Westmore.... the man who untied the highlland with the lowlands, and thereafter his turning, the Vampire Toreador ...with the villiage itself ... they were their protectors against the beasts"

~her voice quakes now, as she sobs~ "He ... he .... loved.... against all possibilities... he... loved me... I am the 16th Duchess of McLahren, our families have fueded since the moment he was proclaimed Duke, my ancestor coveted the title... and he could have taken me in recompense.... yet... he did not...."

~her face showed her love for him in every square centimeter of skin as she collapsed weakly at the base of the angel... her breath faint, her body still~

**I watched the other approach behind the woman my attention had been drawn to.Silently listening to the tale the young woman told. A pitty sometimes,that one would give this so caled "gift" to any one.I myself having chosen never to bestow my blood on any human,unless I had chosen them to join my bloodline.Being some vampyre's ghoul...or slave ,if you will,could never be an easy task.I myself had known of the lust for a master's blood.But through the bond of blood did I have a master.Fortunately for me however,all such bonds had long sense been broken.

My gaze shifted between the two as they spoke,still cradled between the stone angel's wings.Would I stop this other one,if she chose to end the young woman's peril....or continue it by giving her the "Dark Gift"? Most likely not.It wasn't my style.Humans were as much cattle to me as their own livestock.I would rarely interfer in one's demise.

I lifted my head a bit as the young woman turned and again spoke,asking for that one final gift that could give her the peace she so desperately wanted.**

" The wish you seek tonight,will not come by my hand,girl.As much as the offer might appeal to me,I must decline.Nothing personal,but it's just not my style"

**My gaze went back to the other as she spoke,dropping once again to the young woman as she continued her tale.Toreador....I half growled the word under my breath as I watched the young woman sob and collapse at the angel's feet**

So it was true... She was the dutchess and he was The duke of claymore...

I looked at the girl, now relizing how much He actually did love her...

"Well Have fun choosing.. Just choose wisely.. For its such a shame.. such.." I said drifting off to my thoughts once again..
I bite my lip and brought myself back to reality....

Goddamit!!! I yelled to myself. Why was I wandering tonight of all nights!?.. It was because of her, thats why.... Said a voice so far and so quiet it was forgotten...