Darkening - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Standing there, with the moonlight shining down on her, she looked so beautiful. The way the light reflected off her brilliant red hair made it shimmer as if made from precious stones. Even from across the cemetery, he could see the glint of tears in her emerald eyes. Though hundreds of long years had passed, it seemed that sh still felt the raw pain, the aching in her heart. He knew how she still blamed herself, no matter how much she was told otherwise. He hoped that one day she would accept that there was nothing she could have done.

He watched her kneel and set flowers on the grave. This was a sign that she was nearly done; that it would be okay to go to her.

"Charlotte, he would still have died, you know."

"Of course, I know that," she replied, "but he was my father, Ethan. And I left him all alone. It is hard not to feel, at the least, a little responsible."

"Well, my dear, I do believe I have a way to get your mind off things for a little while. We have a meeting with Aubrey and Seth," he said.

"Is it at the club?"

"Where else would they choose?" he laughed, his golden-brown hair falling in his face. He swept it back with his hand, then continued, "I am surprised that she still has not called demanding to know your whereabouts."

A faint buzzing noise accompanied by an electronic rendition of a classical song began playing from Charlotte's purse. "Speak of the devil," she murmured, finding the phone and flipping it open. "Bonjour?"

"Where are you damn bloodsuckers at?" Aubrey's voice screeched through the earpiece.

"We are still at the cemetery."

"Well, get yourselves over here! Seth and I are tired of waiting! I want to dance!" Aubrey whined.

"Are you sure that it is not just you that is tired of waiting? I do not think Seth would..." Charlotte was cut off by a click, signalling that she'd been hung up on.

"What did she say?" Ethan asked her.

"Aubrey would like us to leave now. She is becoming restless to dance."

"We should not make her wait, I suppose." He held his hand out to her. "I parked the car across the cemetery, so it may be a long walk."

"It does not bother me, so long as I can spend the time with you," she replied, taking his hand.

*************

"The music from the club pulsed through the concrete, all the way to Aubrey's toes. The beat was intoxicating, so much like an addiction, and appetite she could never satisfy. But that was perfectly okay. There was nothing Aubrey loved more than to dance. The dancing and music were her life; well, afterlife. The undead didn't really live, no matter how much they wished. But none of the mattered. She wanted, no, needed to dance; she was with Seth; and the music was completely fabulous.

The only thing wrong was that Charlotte had yet to show up. "Would it kill her to show up on time? Some days, I just want to stake her!"

"Stake who?" Charlotte asked, sneaking up silently behind Aubrey and tapping her on the shoulder.

"I'd like to stake you! You're impossible!" Even though she was trying to fake her anger, Aubrey couldn't help but smile.

"Ladies, sorry to interrupt," Ethan spoke, comping up soundlessly behind them, "but we really ought to go in. After all, it was you, Aubrey, who wanted us to get here so quickly. And now you are the one keeping us."

"God!" she cried out, throwing her hands in the air. "You two blame someone else for everything."

"Aubrey, this really is your fault," a man said, walking up to her. He kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"I hate you, Seth," she replied, catching him with a quick kiss.

"It is funny how she does not argue with you," Charlotte jokingly complained.

Aubrey glared at her. "Let's go," she muttered as she grabbed Seth, pulling him though the club's front doors and into the dancing sea of people. Without a word, Ethan and Charlotte linked hand and followed them inside. As they all danced, a blonde stranger would her way through the crowd, watching them carefully.

*************

"Could we get a couple waters?" Aubrey asked the bartender, flopping her body onto one of the stools beside the bar. Charlotte floated gracefully onto the seat next to her.

"Of course, miss, one moment!" the man stammered, as Aubrey used her vampiric beauty and charm to mesmerize him, rendering him clueless and stunned. He fumbled around the counter, unable to take his eyes off the two vampires in front of him. He jumped when his hands touched the iciness of the small refrigerator that contained the bottled drinks. Without looking away from Aubrey, he reached in blindly, somehow managing to pull out the two waters. "H-h-here you go," she said shakily. Aubrey flashed him a brillianty white smile. In his nervousness, he feel back against the bar, nearly landing on the floor.

"Aubrey, enough. Stop torturing the poor humans, " Charlotte chastised as the visibly shaken man moved further down the bar to serve the other customers. She looked over at him and could see that he kept glancing back over to them. As she met his gaze, he quickly turned away and concentrated hard on pouring cocktails for the other patrons.

In the split second that Charlotte had been distracted, Aubrey had remained silent. But as Charlotte turned her attention back to glare at her, the other vampire threw her head back and laughed. "Why should I have to leave them alone? They are only play toys. They're so weak, they're beneath us!"

"Do you not remember? You were once human."

"But why does that matter? Come on, I'm a vampire now! I should rule them!" Aubrey cried, raising her voice.

"Do not speak like that! The last time one of us said such things, we were all nearly killed!"

"Alright! You don't have to fucking mother me! I remember your stories," Aubrey sighed, her voice dripping with frustration. She looked about in boredom for a moment, then turned her gaze back to Charlotte. "Are you done bitching at me? I'd like to go back and dance. With your permission, of course, mother dearest."

"I am not your mother. But go dance. Seth looks like he is missing you out there." Aubrey was on the dance floor before all the words were even out of Charlotte's mouth. She laid her head down on the bar, exhaling a breath. Suddenly, she felt something strange. There was someone here; someone who should not be.

Ethan must have sensed her distress, for eh appeared sudding out of the crowd. "What is it?" Charlotte didn't answer; she simply stood and walked through the throng of dancing bodies, glancing thie way and that, searching for Aubrey and Seth.

Aubrey sighted her first. she pulled Seth after her as she followed Charlotte towards the door. As they locked their gazes, Charlotte transmitted what she'd felt to Aubrey with her eyes. Aubrey immediately became nervous. There were no vampires living in New York City that Ethan and Charlotte didn't know.

The second they passed through the club's outer door, Charlotte stopped, turning to sniff the air. "She is still inside. She has not yet realized that we have left. We still have time to flee."

"Why do we have to leave? I bet she didn't even know we were there!" Seth cried, laughing.

"She knew. She was specifically seeking us out. I could feel her focus," Charlotte whispered, sounding distant.

"You were not here when it happened, but we do not take these things lightly," Ethan told Seth.

"You old-timers, always giving warnings. Try to live one of these days, instead of always worrying and cowering in fear," Seth complained.

"But he has perfectly good reasons to worry," the blonde stranger mused, flouncing out of the club's door. "You never know when some strange new vampire might just suddenly...appear." The blonde smiled wickedly, her fangs gleaming in the moonlight. "Thought you'd lost me, didn't you? I hate to disappoint, but you're not as easy to lose as that."

"Why are you trying to follow us?" Seth demanded.

In response, the blonde merely laughed. "You are so obvious. It would take a blind man not to tell that you're all vampires. Especially after I saw you," she glanced over at Aubrey, "put that poor bartender in thrall." Seth glared at Aubrey, and seeing this, the blonde giggled. "Did I get you in trouble with your mate?"

Aubrey lunged at her, fangs bared. The blonde jumped out of the way, nearly missing Aubrey's gnashing teeth. With her first defeat, Aubrey decided on another tactic. She contorted her fingers into a claw-like grip and began thrashing at the blonde. The blonde danced around, taking care to stay just out of reach of Aubrey's dagger-pointed nails. After several moments, having tired of the blonde's evasiveness, Aubrey feinted to the left, and as the blonde stepped right, Aubrey turned quickly and grabbed her. Tackling her to the ground, she began to bite and scratch at the blonde.

"Ladies! What the bloody hell are you doing?" a new male voice called out in a strong British accetn. The two women paused and turned toward the voice. Walking out of the shadows of the building came a dark-haried man dressed in black punk threads, his nose ring glinting in the lights from the parking lot.

"William!" the blonde shrieked, shoving a stunned Aubrey off her and sprinting to the man, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"My oh my, Alaine. What have you gone and gotten yourself into now?" Shaking his head, he turned to the others. "Hello, Ethan, Charlotte. Seth," he finished with a disparaging tone. Seth glared back at him. "I'll take that as a hello, then." William glanced down at Aubrey, who remained on the ground staring up at him. "Why'd you two have a row, huh? Can't have my two best girls ripping each other to pieces."

"Who the hell is she, and why the fuck is she following us?" Aubrey screamed, breaking out of her shocked trance.

"Oh, damn," he sighed. "I forgot to come tell you about her. But first, let me do some introductions and then I'll let Alaine here tell her story. All of you, this is Alaine Denton, a good friend of mine," he told them, pushing her forward slightly.

"Sorry about just now. I'm not good with meeting new vampires."

"S'okay, doll," William assured her, putting an arm around her waist, and started to lead her closer to the others. "This is Ethan Harper," he explained, gesturing to the golden-haired mand and the redhead on his arm, "and his wife or girlfriend or mate, whatever you want to call it, Charlotte Malone. And this anti-social one here is our Seth Gallagher," he said, pointing to the raven-haired man leaning against a wall. "And the lovely blonde you were fighting is Aubrey Parks. Okay, now that introductions are out of the way, let's get you telling them your story, shall we?"

"William, would it be to much to ask to let the girl make decisions for herself?" Charlotte asked him, feeling exasperated with his bossy manner.

"It would. No one else around here gives a damn about taking charge, so while I visit, I intend to," he replied.

Charlotte ignored him. "Alaine, if you wish not to tell us, you certainly have no obligation to do so. We would understand."

Alaine opened her mouth to respond, but Aubrey cut her off. "How about going to Bite? It'll be more comfortable if she wants to talk, and I can get myself a few drinks."

"Brilliant!" William cried, linking arms with Alaine and dragging her down the sidewalk.

*************

Work had been hell that day, Sophie decided. Clients refusing to tell her what had really happened usually made her day somewhat difficult to begin with, but stalker ex-boyfriends made that seem like a piece of cake. She had no idea what Brent had been thinking, showing up at her workplace. But even though she didn't know why, it still irked her that he had had the gall to show up for any reason at all.

"Men," she sighed, annoyed all over again. She started up the bath water, pouring in some scented soap. After having to deal with Brent and all of his "baby, come backs" and "I still love yous", she definitely deserved a nice, calming soak. She walked to the door, tying her hair up as she went, and shut it quietly. Easing herself into the tub, she felt the steaming water soothe her stressed out body. Trouble began to melt away instantly. Then she heard a sinister laugh outside the window.

She sat up, peering outside through the blinds; nothing out of the ordinary on the street below. "It's just the neighbors. These apartment walls are so thin. I bet they're just watching a scary movie or something." Closing the blinds, she sunk back down and relaxed, having explained away her fears. No reason to be spooking herself when she was trying to calm down.

Closing her eyes, she sunk lower into the water and heat. As the warmth began to lull her to sleep, a buzzing from the counter pulled her from her dreaming. Cursing, she scrambled out, wrapped herself in a towel and grabbed the phone. "Hello?" she answered, her irritation blatantly obvious in her voice.

"Sophie? Hi, it's Abby. Mr. Atherton just called and said he needs to meet with you."

Sophie held the phone away from herself and looked at it. What was her secretary thinking? Putting the phone back up to her ear, she asked, "Do I have anything open in the morning? I'm sure..."

"He said he needs to meet with you immediately. He sounded really impatient."

"Oh," Sophie sighed. "Fine. Call him back and tell him I'll be there. Goodnight, Abby." Setting the phone back down, she walked back over to the bathtub and opened the drain. "So much for a relaxing night," she muttered as she turned the shower head on.

*************

"Whoever suggested this bar is a genius!" Aubrey cried.

"That would have been you," Seth grudging told her, watching her down her sixth beer since they'd arrived. "Aubrey, tone it down," he cautioned as she flagged down the bartender for another drink.

"You know what? Bite me, sir," she slurred. "You can't tell me what to do!" she yelled, starting in on the drink the bartender had just set in front of her.

Alaine stared at her in amazement. Normally, alcohol had absolutely no effect on vampires, but at Bite, all of the drinks were laced with just the right amount of synthetic blood. Blood was necessary for the vampires to survive, and for some inexplicable reason, this new type of blood created a chemical reaction that enabled vampires to absorb alcohol into their bodies, in turn allowing from drunkenness. Thus, Bite was quite popular among vampires.

After receiving her Bloody Mary from the bartender, Alaine returned to the small circular table that William, Ethan, and Charlotte sat around. William looked up at her and motioned her to the seat next to him. "So, would you please tell these people what happened? I'm getting tired of waiting around for it."

"Okay," Alaine murmured, nervously looking around the table. "Several months ago, my coven was attacked by a vampire hunter. When I told William about this, he said it might be someone named Cory... or maybe it was Delilah..."

"Cordelia, perhaps?" Ethan volunteered.

"Yes. When our home was attacked, I had been out hunting. When I returned, all I found were piles of ash. There were so many of us there, and my mate had been among those killed. I was so distraught, that it took me some time to track William down. When I finally found him, in England among a band of loners, he told me to come to all of you, that you might be able to help. He was supposed to let you know about me, but I suppose he became - distracted," she said, giving William a knowing look.

"Hey!" Aubrey cried, spinning around on her barstool to face their table. "You're telling us he was gone chasing guys in Europe for two years and that's why he couldn't be bothered to come tell us anything?" William nodded sweetly, trying to gain her favor back. Aubrey launched herself out of her chair in an effort to attack him, but only succeded in falling off the barstool. William began to laugh raucously, Seth and Aubrey joining in, much to Ethan's chagrin.

"I beg your pardon, but this is not the time for such activities. After hearing Alaine's story, I believe we need to take action and find Cordelia."

"Jeez, lighten up. We've got plenty of time to catch her. No need to rush," Aubrey said.

"I am sorry, Aubrey, but you were not here when she attacked us. If she was able to take out a large coven of us alone, now, not later, is when we need to act. She's grown stronger and more powerful, and will likely come after us again."

"Why did she go after you?" Alaine questioned, her curiostiy piqued.

"We really never understood why," Charlotte answered her. "We have never killed a human, and when that synthetic blood was invented, we stopped drinking from them entirely."

"You don't feed on the humans?" Alaine choked out, shocked.

"No, we do not. The synthetic blood sustains us well enough."

"So that would mean that Cordelia has no reason to hunt you down," Alaine said mostly to herself, with a hint of secrets in her voice.

*************

Sophie stepped carefully onto the fuzzy rug in front of the bathtub, shivering as the water on her skin began to evaporate. Toweling off and shrugging into a robe, she walked into her bedroom and flicked on the TV. As she was walking back into the bathroom to finish getting ready, she caught a few words of the broadcast.

"...breaking news... vampire murders..." Curiosity drew her back to the TV, and she leaned closer to turn up the volume. "This afternoon, what is believed to be the bodies of 2 vampires were discovered in an apartment that the police believe was owned by the two. No names or further details have been released, but we'll be sure to keep you up to speed. Now back to Max with the weather," the female newa anchor finished cheerfully.

"Thank you, Casey. Temperatures are expected to stay in the low 30's, with things heating up this weekend, with a high of 42 on Saturday and possible snow flurries on..."

"Huh," Sophie sighed, slowly standing. "Oh, well." She turned off the TV, and retreated back to the bathroom to dry her hair.

*************

Ethan was about to reply to Alaine, but jerked his head up when he noticed the new bulletin flashing on the television above the bar. As he read the words scrolling across the screen, he turned to Charlotte to direct her attention to the TV.

"Mon dieu," she said, glancing up.

William looked up at her, then followed her stare. As he watched, he yelled to the bartender, "Henry, turn it up!" The volume was on mute, so Henry hit the clicker's volume button up a few notches, just loud enough so that the vampire patrons could hear it.

The others looked up at the sound, watching and listening to the broadcast. "Well, shit, guys," Seth murmured, turning to look back at his friends.

*************

Before stepping out of her apartment, Sophie gave it a cursory glance to make sure all the lights were off. Seeing that things were as they should be, she shut and locked the door, then walked down the hallway, heels making dull thuds on the thin carpet. She stepped out into the brisk night air and breathed in the smoky scent of the air. There was nothing like a late Brooklyn night in December.

Being wary of the cracked sidewalk, she carefully made her way down the block. As she neared the bus stop, a sinister laugh stopped her in her tracks. "Who's there?" she asked, feeling. She heard it again, much closer this time.

Slowly, she turned to her left and looked intot the darkened alley. "Stop that. It's not funny," she called, trying to keep her voice even. She waited a moment more, and not hearing it again, continued down the sidewalk much more cautiously than before.

Just as she turned the corner, a man stepped out of a nearby abandoned building, watching as she vanished. He made his way toward the alley, then stood directly in front of it. As he stared deeply into the darkness, a pair of glowing red eyes revealed themselves. "You think to protect her," a voice hissed. "But there is no protection against the dark."