When the Sun's Away

The night was alive with the sounds of city life echoing off the towering sky-scrapers, horns blowing and brakes screeching. City lights flickered in the night, beckoning travelers to its comforts from miles away. While the lights dusted the earth, the crescent-shaped moon glowed in the dark of night surrounded by its usual halo of stars. Scorpius continued its summer chase of Orion while the Sagittarius centaur aimed its arrow towards Antares, the heart of the scorpion.

As the constellations waged war on each other, the people of Chicago continued on about their nightly business, ignorant of the activity above them, no thanks to the city lights that formed a dull haze over the lower layer of the atmosphere. To those who ventured to look up, the dim moonlight cast a faint shadow across the top of a building, illuminating a dark silhouette. The fact was, nobody looked up; well, none of the mortal world at least. A few businessmen rushed down the street preoccupied with getting home to put their children to bed, while others were merely interested in getting drunk at the nearest bar or having their bit of fun with some of the locals. What their wives didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

It was the time when the real monsters of the night began to emerge from the shadows and disperse amongst the busy streets. A smirk slowly spread on the lips of the creature crouched over on the roof of a giant law firm as she watched her kind filter into the crowds as if they had been there all along. She learned quickly enough that the worst parts of town were the best parts of town for hunting. The people caught there were the least likely to be missed. Then again, the occasional suit and tie was a nice treat to get the evening going.

The humans seemed to think that the scariest things out on the streets at night were the drug dealers, hookers, gangs, and local mafia. Perhaps, in a way, they were right. Those groups offered nothing but subservience and death. No matter how much people paid or begged, it always ended in death, whether by overdose, bullet, or other means. At least she and her kind offered life. Well, it wasn’t a mortal life, but it was an existence beyond death. It was more than what the hooker at the corner of the street below could offer.

Deep crimson eyes watched as the woman below hiked up her skirt another inch, leaving barely anything to the imagination, her chest already bulging over the corset that was three sizes too small. The woman was in desperate need of attention. She had overdue rent, a five-year-old boy’s plate to fill, not to mention the usual nightly percentage owed to Rick, her ‘boss.’ Unfortunately, her features were rather plain and her hair somewhat ratted on the top of her head. Her makeup was overdone, but whose wasn’t? She had stiff competition that night, but she stood proudly on the corner, raising her chest just a bit to accentuate one of the main perks she had to offer over some of the other women patrolling the streets.

At that moment, two men exited a bar and parted ways, one of them dropping a hand to the woman’s ass as he passed. “Hey! Hands off the merchandise unless you’re willing to put up a price,” she cried out to the man, catching his attention and making him halt in his step. Raising an eyebrow, he turned back to look at the woman standing next to a light pole, hands resting on her hips. A smirk slowly spread across his face, his tongue darting out to trace his lips as he took in her figure beneath the pale street light.

“And how much would that be?” From the rooftop of the building, Kara observed their interactions, following their movements as the woman led the man into the building that she now sat atop. Of course, the man didn’t disappear from the sidewalk until after he’d called his girlfriend to inform her that he was having a ‘boys night’ at a bar with some of his co-workers. Kara rolled her eyes as he followed the woman into the building, expressing through his very actions why Kara felt no remorse for the pathetic, weak humans.

Before they die, they’ll beg for their lives, tell her about their families, their wife and children. How Susie just turned three and is having a circus party tomorrow. As if Kara would care. It was men like that who didn’t make her blink twice before sinking her teeth into their necks. They would plead for her to think of their families, and yet they’re out slumming the streets, three-year-old Susie never coming to mind when they were moaning and crying out in ecstasy twenty minutes earlier. In Kara’s mind, the men deserved what they got, and it was always the men for her. They were easy enough to seduce and were usually stronger, making the chase much more fun. Women were weak, so she didn’t bother to feed off of them.

It wasn’t long before Kara felt the familiar burn in the back of her throat, her eyes becoming an even deeper crimson. Her senses began to take over as she sniffed around for her midnight snack. Her throat tightened as she shut out the sounds of the moans that filtered through the roof below, though it wasn’t those sounds that turned her on. It was the sound and smell of blood pumping furiously below as numerous people began their night of pleasure.

On top of that, Kara could detect a murder about five blocks over, the fragrance of the spilled blood slowly making its way to her nostrils on the back of the slight breeze. It was tempting, and Kara’s body shuddered as her animalistic nature burned to take over and leap from rooftop to rooftop to carry her to the steadily growing pool of blood.

But that was the exact reason why she remained stationary. The blood was pooling in the middle of the street, and she was no dog. She liked her meal straight from the source. A dead human was hardly worth the effort. Kara wanted to feel the throbbing pulse against her lips as she bit down into her victim’s neck. She wanted to hear them cry out in pain. She wanted to watch as the light slowly faded from their eyes, the whisper of life disappearing from their bodies. That was where she got her enjoyment.

Kara continued to sniff around in search of something better. “Eeny meeny miny moe,” she whispered to herself, her eyes darting between the men on the street until her eyes landed on a head of dark, shaggy hair exiting one of the bars nearby. He had one arm draped over the shoulders of a blonde woman, his other arm wrapped around the waist of a freckly redhead. The thudding of his heart in excitement was speeding up, like the background rhythm of a song that was calling to her.

Without hesitation, Kara dropped the eight stories into the side alleyway, not making a sound. She ran a hand through her long, jet black hair as it softly cascaded down to her waist. Stepping out of the shadows of the alley, Kara leaned up against the brick corner of a building, her eyes following his movements as he strolled down the sidewalk towards her with his two ‘friends.’ As he approached, Kara managed to catch his gaze, and once that was done, she had no problem keeping it.

The man’s step subconsciously slowed down as Kara stepped in front of the three people, not breaking her stare for one second. She placed a cool hand on his chest to stop him completely. It wasn’t until the sudden movement occurred that the two women even noticed Kara’s presence. Both girls scoffed at the interruption, but Kara paid them no mind. Instead, her eyes narrowed as her hand slowly rose up to the base of the man’s neck, her fingers gently brushing up and down the exposed skin of his throat.

“I’ll take it from here ladies,” Kara said, still not looking at either of the two girls.

“Jason? What is she talking about? I thought we were going to have a bit of fun back at my place,” the redhead whined, trailing her index finger down the front of the man’s shirt. While the girls were clearly annoyed at Kara’s presence, all Jason could do was stare, speechless, at the beautiful woman in front of him, the faded moonlight casting a soft glow framing her raven black hair.

“I--uh--not tonight girls. I’ll -- I’ll catch up with you later,” he managed to stutter as both arms dropped from their respective positions. Jason wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but he could not for his life break his stare with the woman before him. Not that he wanted to. Her eyes, a deep crimson, startled him at first, but that hesitant fear quickly turned to curiosity and attraction. The sensation of her long fingers stroking his neck sent a chill down his spine, and Jason knew he was hooked. The other two girls didn’t matter anymore. He only wanted them for a bit of fun, but that desire was replaced with one for the pale beauty before him. Jason wanted -- no, needed -- her.

If just her hand on his skin sent a shiver down his spine, he could only imagine what her lips against his would do. Jason shivered at the thought as a smirk slid across Kara’s lips. It was taking all of her will-power not to sink her fangs into him at that very second, and with his racing heart and increased blood flow, it was certainly making her situation difficult. She noticed the slight movement of his body as Jason shuddered, and she knew she had him hooked.

“Jason,” Kara muttered seductively, letting his name roll off of her tongue with ease. “Why don’t I take you some place a little more private?” The jaws of the two girls he had been with dropped as Jason silently followed her, a deep lust filling in his eyes as she guided him down one block and then into the nearby alley that connected the street with the neighboring road.

The smirk remained on Kara’s lips. It was almost too easy to get Jason alone, and as much as she loved a good chase, the blood rushing through his veins was calling out to her more than ever, and she was hungry. Kara was well aware of a set of crimson eyes watching the entire scene from across the street, but she just ignored their presence as she continued to lead her appetizer into the depths of the alley.

“Sorry I don’t have a place nearby, but then again, I always liked the thrill of being out in public,” Kara whispered as she came to a stop, leaning up against one of the stone walls and pulling Jason in front of her as her eyes locked with his once again. A smirk to mirror hers graced Jason’s lips as he stared intently at her.

“Well then we both have something in common,” Jason replied, bravely taking a step closer to her. “One thing we don’t have in common, however, is that you know my name, but I don’t know yours.”

“Kara….”

The name, however, did not slip from feminine lips. Instead, both heads turned to see a man of tall stature with bleach-blond hair standing a few feet away from them. “Kara,” he repeated. “Will you stop playing with your food already? I have a present for you.” The man flashed a grin of his brilliantly white teeth as Jason stiffened in front of her, his hand tightening in her grasp.

Kara let out a deep sigh. Nathan. Relationships didn’t work out in the vampire world. Everyone was too busy looking after their own ass to bother building relationships, and Kara, in particular, steered away from others of her kind. She acknowledged the others’ presence as they all hunted at night, but she’d fed off of enough failed human relationships to know to avoid them. Nathan was different. Kara and Nathan found a bond in the fact that they were some of the older and more experienced of the vampires that roamed the area. They would watch and laugh at the newborns and play bad cop whenever a vampire would come to close to risking the exposure of their kind. The two of them co-existed in peace, occasionally sharing meals when the pickings got slim.

“Now Nathan,” Kara replied coolly as she switched her gaze back to Jason. “Why’d you have to go and frighten him. You know that just makes him all the more tempting.” She reached her free hand up and pushed back some of his hair off of his eyes. Her statement, however, was correct. Jason’s nervousness had caused his heart to work double time, and the movement of the fresh, warm blood not a foot from Kara was too much for her. Nathan knew that.

“Well now we’re even. You know my name,” she whispered as her hand trailed down the side of Jason’s face and came to rest at the base of his neck. Kara pulled him in closer, despite his pathetically weak resistance, and trailed her nose from the base of Jason’s jaw down to his collarbone, inhaling the sweet scent of his blood. She let her tongue trace circles on his neck, and she smiled into his skin as she felt his hands fall to her waist in helplessness. Despite his fear, Jason couldn’t overcome the attraction and desire coursing through his veins.

His pleasure was immediately interrupted by a searing pain as Kara sunk her fangs into the soft tissue of his neck and began drawing the warm liquid into her mouth. Jason attempted to let out a cry, but he was paralyzed with the pain, only a small gasp falling from his lips. Kara’s hand gripped the back of his neck tighter as her other hand let loose his and wrapped itself around his back, pulling his body flush into hers. The warmth of his body radiated against hers as she continued to drink, his life flow warming her to the core. When the blood stopped flowing into her mouth, Kara sighed and let Jason’s limp body fall to the ground with a heavy thump.

“How was he?” Nathan’s deep voice broke the silence.

Kara turned to him and licked her lips, a devious smile quickly spreading across them. “Delicious.”

Nathan was at her side in less than a second and leaned forward, his tongue gliding along the corner of her mouth to catch the spare drops of blood that were lingering. “Indeed,” he commented, his crimson eyes glowing in the dark of the alley. “It almost makes me think twice about the present I have for you.”

Kara’s eyes immediately lit up as she licked her lips again, making sure that all traces of blood had been removed, though Nathan had already taken care of that. “And what would this present be?”

“Ah ah ah.” Nathan wagged his finger in front of Kara as he took a step forward, guiding her until her back hit the same stone wall as before. “I haven’t had my snack yet,” he hinted, letting his tongue trace the shape of his full lips.

Kara knew immediately what Nathan was referring to, and it was not the same snack that she had just devoured. Despite her unwillingness to get close to anyone, Kara couldn’t deny herself complete physical pleasure. Humans couldn’t satisfy anything but her hunger, not that she would stoop to that level anyway, so she and Nathan had come to a mutual understanding decades ago. There were no feelings behind it. Creatures of the night didn’t have feelings, only instinct. And at that moment, Kara let her instinct take over as she leaned forward and captured Nathan’s lips with her own.

Nathan pushed back, hard. Kara heard the stone wall crack against her back, but it had no effect on her body. The kiss was violent at first, hungry and greedy as both battled for dominance. The remnants of Jason’s blood on their tongues added fuel to the fire until it finally simmered into something much smoother. Kara let her fangs trail across Nathan’s bottom lip, a guttural growl instantly rolling from Nathan’s throat. When Nathan finally pulled back, identical smirks rested on their lips.

“Now where’s my present?” Kara asked, holding out her hand, palm facing up. Nathan took her hand and began to walk with her back towards the sidewalk.

Nathan then leaned in closely, brushing his lips against her ear as they stepped back into the busy night life. “I have a delicious, young lawyer waiting the next alley over. Care for a little desert?” he whispered, an excited grin spreading over Kara’s lips. Her throat wasted no time burning in thirst at the thought of her awaiting present, desire once again lighting her crimson eyes as they effortlessly turned the corner to greet their awaiting treat.