She Haunts

Tangent Universe entry Round 3 ~ Musical prompt: Crack the Shutters by Snow Patrol

She Haunts

         He was her first… just as She was his.

         Cool hands moved up Drake’s chest, touching and warming ever so slowly as they moved.  He frowned and the gossamer touch reached up to smooth the crease between his eyes.  Drake resisted her… but the touch beckoned him and he wanted more.  Her soft hands seemed to know how he craved their touch and moved from his neck to his chest, drawing a long, low moan from him.

         Drake was afraid to open his eyes, afraid that the hands that were so soft against his skin would disappear.  He longed to see her… to see the beauty of her face bathed in the first rays of dawn, to see the way the sunlight suffused her beautiful hair and made it glow radiantly.  He knew he would glory in possessing her body, but longed to see it again in true light.

         Without opening his silver eyes, Drake rolled against the satin, putting her back to the cool surface.  It was his turn to touch.  His hands found each valley of her tiny body and every hill as though by braille.  Her story was beautiful and sweet as he perused each contour.  He leaned down and buried his nose deep in the swirling mass of her hair near the smooth curve of her graceful neck and sighed. 

         She seemed to know, to realize that her freedom depended on giving him her innocence and she cried softly as he touched her.  He had yearned to have her… to possess her for so very long and now she lay trembling in his arms, yielding to his desires.  He knew he would have her body and soul… flesh and blood… before the sun rose but he could find no pleasure in it.

         The cry of her stolen innocence, the barrier of it torn, shocked Drake and his eyes flew open as he sank his teeth deep into her.  His heart raced as he relished the sweet nectar of her as it sated a deep need to have her body and blood... his essence flowing into her as her life essence drained into him. 

         Drake’s eyes opened in the deep darkness, his breathing erratic, and his body confined by his surroundings.  Tremors coursed through him violently.  She had haunted him once again...

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

         Drake was exhausted as he lit upon the chair sitting in the corner of the room.  He shimmered and shuddered as he resumed his human form.  His exhaustion was not because he’d been up all night… that was normal.  The night was his time… he lived as the moon graced the sky, just as he had for nearly a century.  But in that century, while Drake had lived, he had never known peace. 

         No, Drake was exhausted because She haunted him… as she had for the century that he’d lived by night.  She, who’d been his first, just as he’d been hers… was the one his heart still yearned for.  Medina had warned him not to get involved with someone so very different from himself, but there was just something about her.  He’d been drawn to her sweet, pure innocence and had been willing to do anything for it.  Drake snorted in disgust at the thought of Medina and he ran his hand through his chestnut hair in frustration.  Medina was cruel, leading the clan with an iron brutality and he had exacted his punishments harshly… had made Drake suffer for his moment of weakness.

         He had courted her before the night became his, but She had never really understood him.  Once the night had taken him, Drake knew he could not expect her to understand when he could never be truly honest with her.  Those stolen hours in which he’d held her were burned forever in his heart… his mind… his memory, even if they had been his punishment.  He remembered everything about her. 

         Her flaxen hair had been long, well past her waist and she’d always kept it wrapped in a bun on the back of her head, little wisps of shorter hair curly gently around her face.  Her face… it had been the picture of perfection.  Heart shaped and fair, always a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks and pert nose.  Her eyes had been the vibrant blue of a cornflower and her lips had been ruby red and full.  Her body fit his with a perfection that he’d never known before or after, a tiny waist that his large hands could wrap around and touch fingertip to fingertip, thumb to thumb.  Her skin had been flawless, all roses and cream, warm and sweet.

         Medina had warned him that denying his basic needs would become increasingly difficult the longer he resisted… had told him to give into the urge sooner rather than later.  Drake had not realized that Medina would force him to embrace the need to drink the sweet nectar of the human artery until that fateful night that Medina had gifted him with Her… the one human that was his one true weakness.

         Drake would never forget being called to meet with Medina.  Medina’s dark eyes had shown with malicious pleasure as understanding dawned in Drake’s.  When she’d been shoved into the chamber, fear and confusion had marred her lovely face.  She’d run to Drake looking for comfort and protection as she cowered away from Medina’s cool gaze.  The chilling smile that Medina had bestowed upon them still stopped Drake’s heart and his words echoed in Drake’s head… “Your gift… do not waste it.”

         Drake yawned hugely against his memories and sighed as he tried to get comfortable.  It was a soothing sensation to feel the soft confines, the cool satin.  He’d known satin that night with her.  With her innocence and trust, she’d changed who he was and what he wanted.  She had been hysterical in her terror, not knowing or understanding why she had been brought to him… not knowing she was his gift and punishment.  Medina had provided them a comfortable room, the large bed with a feather mattress and satin sheets and all of the creature comforts they could need.  She believed Drake as he had held her and comforted her with words that she would be freed by morning.  She had fallen asleep in his arms, trusting him. She’d changed him with that trust.  Unfortunately for Drake, he could change nothing of her circumstances and it ate at his very soul as he lay watching her sleep.

         Desperate for a peaceful sleep, he tried to push Her from his mind.  All went dark as the sun began to rise through the eastern window.  Drake closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing deeply.  He could smell the warm flesh and blood of the caretaker, but he’d sated himself tonight, feasting as he hadn’t in a decade with the hope that it would help him to sleep past the haunting.  The caretaker’s pulse soothed him, helped him to center his mind and slow his body… to sleep.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

         He was her first… just as She was his and cool hands moved up Drake’s chest… and She haunts him again.

word count: 1180 words