4Chapter One - Fledgling
Her eyes fell to the floor followed by stray drops of blood. She hadn't suspected a thing. Not since the few hours ago that she had walked over to his table at that smoky café and he'd offered her a drink. It couldn't have been possible. It had to be a dream. All that she thought she knew of reality- it all proved false. All the stories she thought to be fantasy… The pain brought her back out of her thoughts, and the draining feeling. "Daniel- why?" she choked, feeling all the warmth fade from her skin. The man clamped his fangs deeper as if to silence her, and she felt the last of her fluids being sucked from the punctures in her neck. Everything faded… The last light gone.
"Listen to my voice, Michelle," just when she thought it was over, she found herself regaining sense, hearing Daniel speak. She could feel something cold on her lips. "Don't be frightened. Just do what your body tells you. There will soon be no more pain," he assured, though his voice sounded rehearsed. Her sight came back, and Michelle saw now in the dim light the horror. On the couch in her apartment she lay, the black-haired man looking down upon her from kneeling beside her, a rather strained face as she clamped her mouth onto his wrist. She was doing to him what he had to her. There wasn't enough time to be shocked, as her mind was screaming to keep on taking his blood. She took huge gulps, clasping his arm with her fingers, holding it to herself. Daniel cringed, carefully measuring within himself how much longer she needed. Momentarily, he briskly tugged away, though Michelle persisted. "You'll kill us both," he warned calmly, pulling with more intensity, and she was forced to release, crimson trickling from the sides of her mouth and panting. Surges of energy pulsed through her body, and she felt a strength she had never known within herself. She realized that he had been right as she put her hand to her neck. The wounds were already gone.
She laughed for only a brief moment. Realization set in, and soon tears came from her eyes, pouring down her cheeks as she rested her head on the arm of the couch. "What have you done to me? Why me?" she wailed, but Daniel shook his head. "It's best that you calm down," he advised rather quietly. "No!" Michelle yelled, pulling herself to her feet faster than she thought possible, fury burning in her eyes. Daniel stood, perhaps a foot taller than Michelle, and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders. She tried to break free, but he held tightly with an unforeseen strength. "Calm yourself!" he demanded, raising his voice. She had no choice, obviously outmatched. She would have gritted her teeth, but cried out in pain. Daniel took one hand off and held her chin with his thumb and index finger. "Open your mouth," he asked calmly. She did so, though a bit confused. With his other hand, he gently pushed on her canines, which had quickly doubled in size in a short period of time. Michelle was still breathing quite heavily. She backed away now that he wasn't holding her still. "What are you?" Daniel put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and sighed.
"The proper question now would be, 'What are we?' I think you know very well what the answer to that question is," he answered. Michelle shook her head, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. "Vampires," she whispered, barely audible. Daniel nodded slightly, and Michelle again sobbed. "Look at yourself," he instructed, motioning to a mirror on her wall. She looked back, a bit hesitantly. "Don't worry, it's not like in the movies. You can see yourself." Michelle stared at her reflection in disbelief. Her face was deathly pale, her normally gray-green eyes bright emerald. Her formerly frizzy light brown hair was now perfectly strait and to her shoulder blades. Her lips were the only hint of any sort of life, a light pinkish color to them. She touched her face in disbelief. It was a sad sort of beauty. "To laugh at death," Daniel voiced, as if reading her mind somewhat. She turned back around, not wanting to see anymore. "But, your skin is perfectly normal," she objected. He took a few steps nearer to her, wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of his finger. He quickly wiped it on his own skin, revealing a smudge in the color. White beneath. "Never underestimate the practicality of modern cosmetics. It comes in handy to avoid suspicion in dimly lit places," he told her with a slight smirk, "And you're going to need energy." Michelle had to interject, "Now wait a minute, I want some answers!"
"I'm sorry, but now is not the time," he motioned to the window. He grabbed her by the arm before she could do anything more, threw it open easily with one hand, and jumped with her close behind from the twelve-story apartment complex. Michelle was too frightened to scream, as was common to herself. When they landed, they were bolting off at lightning fast speed as if nothing had happened.
The city lights were going by as if in time-lapse photography. Neon streaks were all Michelle could see, and a few people on the sidewalks with blurred faces. Just when she was about to protest, Daniel slowed down and came to a stop. She looked around the almost deserted street, the only source of light the one streetlamp by a bench. It didn't matter, because she discovered her new vampiric eyes allowed a sort of night vision. There was a young man sitting on the bench, dressed in black, headphones blaring in his ears, a cigarette between his lips. It was almost too perfect, as Michelle's instincts kicked in. Her hunger was soon realized as she found herself approaching him. Daniel stood behind, safe in the shadows from view, arms crossed.
The young man's artificially red eyes flickered upward for a moment, perhaps unsure he had seen movement, then did a double-take. He was quick to look away, perhaps hoping not to spark any conversation. But, of course, that was in vain. Michelle had her mind set on one thing, and one thing only. She stopped directly in front of him and gave an innocent smile. Without realizing it, she'd revealed her fangs, and perhaps that sparked a bit of something with him. He lifted one of the earphones and it was a surprise that he wasn't deaf from the volume. Or maybe that was Michelle's newly honed senses. "Can I help you?" he asked in a raspy voice. Too much screaming with the music maybe? "I seem to be lost, can you tell me what street this is?" she told him, keeping up her seductive charm. He pressed pause on his CD player and took off his headphones. He sort of tilted his head to look around Michelle to a nearby street sign and nodded. She turned around and sighed. "Damn, it'll take forever to get home," she kept up with her little scheme. "Where… where're you trying to get to?" he asked a bit cautiously.
"North Thornton," she told him the name of her street since she knew it was far from here.
"You can sit down if you want," he suggested after a moment. He began to drum his fingers on his leg, possibly a nervous habit. She smirked and took up his offer. "My name is Michelle," she introduced.
"Austin."
"You like the night, Austin?"
"Anything associated with the dark."
She grinned, catching his glance again. He smirked ever so slightly. "Are you a vampire?" he asked, and received a nod. "So am I. I can't afford caps though, so I have to file," Austin said, assuming that Michelle's fangs were acquired through dentistry. "You want to know the secret?" she said in a lowered voice, a mischievous smile on her lips as she leaned closer. He nodded, leaning in as well. She placed her head near his, "They're great for feeding."
He made no movement as she dug her fangs into the flesh of his neck. His breathing momentarily stopped, perhaps from shock. "Glad- to- help," Austin sputtered in a whisper. Michelle barely heard him as she clasped his shoulders tightly, taking in his blood in great quantities. She could feel his last heartbeats in her arms, hear his last breaths as she took his remaining life. She could hear Daniel speak behind her: "And so was the first meal of Michelle the Seductress."
AN: And... there it is! Hopefully it'll be a bit different than most of the vampire stories, but then again, that probably won't happen. Oh well, I'll do plenty more chapters, so go ahead and review! Thanks!