1Chapter 10: The Hunters
The snowy night whispered about the school grounds, light showers of white ice floating around in the over-cast moonlight. The delicate snowflakes had begun to settle when the boy stepped out into the chilly air, his graceful feet marking their way in the fragile blanket which covered the ground, shallow and glistening. Tiny speckles of soft ice melted against his warm features as he wound his silent way across the grounds and to the drift deep edge of the hill, where he poised a moment, gazing out across the white town below, glimmering, sparkling with the bright tangerine lights; then he was away from the school, a carefree wanderer yet again, free and cheery.
He felt the icy snow whip about him as he stumbled out into the oppresive night, cold snow carried on the wind in large sweeping arcs. The wind ruffled his cloaks about his ankles and he tugged them tighter about his sturdy shoulders, blinking frosty drops out of his sinister eyes. Above, the moonlight was muffled into a soft misty glow by the grey clouds and he stared up at the uneasy sight for a matter of minutes, before turning to leave the white grounds, heavy footprints explaining his course.
Shoulders hunched to protect himself from the falling snow, he paused momentarily on the verge of the hill, scanning the wintry sight before him. An empty feeling of aggression began to ache in his chest and he clutched his badge-decorated robes around him, before proceeding hastily away from the grounds.
Matthias swept about the shimmering town of River-Dale in the comforting snow, smiling childishly. Winter had always been his favoured time of year, not just because of the Christmas celebrations which were packaged amongst it, but the arrival of snow. He was most certified that there was no sight more beautiful than a town or country-side, city or village, covered in a thick blanket of cheerful snow.
He wandered about the empty streets, surrounded by orange windows and amber street-lights, warm glows casting down over the white scenery. A small pulse began to throb in his chest, a tiny pricking of a familiar hunger. It seemed that nature was calling him to succomb to his being, once again.
Gentle snowflakes kissing his ruddy face, he lifted his head to the blizzardy skies. The heavens floated above him, white and spangly, delicate pieces of it drifting down to touch against his sensitive skin and disintegrate. He opened his mouth slightly to allow a crystal to fall into it and melt on his heated tongue, somehow the world seemed like a calmer place. But the thudding hunger in his veins was beginning to creep throughout his body...the night would not remain calm for very much longer...
Romeo was beginning to grow rather agitated. All around him the little town seemed serene and quiet in the winter light. Hunched in the shadowy recesses of a snow covered alley-way, he slunk beneath his personalised cloak, seeking refuge from the weather. He felt the dampness of his robes at his back, as he rested against a flickering street-lamp.
His head ached and pulsated, thick blood throbbed through his being, hungry and sickening. He felt his insides churn and thrust in anticipation and his hands became numb in his robe pockets. But he had searched the snow. He had retraced the wintery streets. He had researched every alley-way and every hidey-hole. And still nothing answered his call except desertion.
But wait! What was that? His breath ceased, eyes unblinked, heart no longer pulsed...footsteps? Soft crunching of gentle ice benath heavy boots? Muffled footfalls...gentle and graceful...slowly padded through the darkness towards him.
The footsteps made slow and careful progress...aimlessly barely a few metres a minute...stalling...waiting...and then pressing onward again.
Romeo began to grow restless, his hunger building itself inside him. He grew tense and skittish and still the footsteps were so far away in the dark. He grew edgy, ready to dart out at any moment relevant.
The footfalls neared, carefree strolls, slow steps advancing closer and Romeo startled. He broke too soon. He left his hideout too early-for the stranger had him pinned into the snow before Romeo even had time to make for a grip. "Romeo, you idiot!" the voice seemed familiar, sharp-yet rather distant.
The palms about Romeo's shoulders lifted and he scrambled to his feet in a matter of haste, brushing the snow from his cloak. In the darkness of the alley-way he could not see his opponent, but he recognised the voice enough and the swifness of the reflexes. "Matthias..." he replied, turning away, "What do you want?"
"Excuse me, but I'm not the one who jus' 'appened to try and attack me!" said Matthias, his form starting to outline in the lack of light.
"Mistook you for a mortal..." Romeo answered and began to step away.
Matthias took to follow him a short distance behind, "Yea...easy mistake to make..." he mused, grinning slightly in the snow-fall.
Romeo sneered, unamused. "Go get fucked." he snarled as the echoing thud of vampiric hunger began to ring once again.
"You were careless back there, Romeo." Matthias strolled behind him, carefree and unphased. "Even if I was a mortal, I'd have been able to sink a knife into your throat wi' the time ya presented me wi'."
"I thought I told you to go get fucked?"
Matthias kicked up snow in a childish manner and skipped to Romeo's side, falling in step with him, "I'm sorry, Romeo. But...I can't...my boyfriend can't deliver-remember."
Romeo rounded on the cheery adolescent, brow furrowed in agitation, "Why are ya followin' me?"
Matthias halted, blinking down at him, "I actually wanted to apologise for what I said earlier on, in Spline's office. It was wrong of me to bring your mother into it...it was an uneccassary point to make. Though I do still stand by what I said back then...Kitti's preferances have nothing to do wi' you." he told him.
Romeo waited a moment, then replied, "Is that all?" and when Matthias did not reply, he added, "Well if ya don't mind, Matt...I'm hungry and would preferably like to hunt alone..."
Romeo was gone before Matthias even opened his mouth to call him back.
Matthias turned his shiny eyes upon the sky above. Overhead the clouds had drifted wide of one another, the heavy snow falling delicately now and through the ghostly wisps of stray cloud hung the silvery orb of the moon.
It had been a long time since Matthias had actually stopped to take in the sight of the moon. In his younger days the moon had been his only companion, both outcasts amongst a dark open space, both infinate in desolation and both never untiring of travel. The moon had become his guide and counsellor-his only lasting friend about the world. But now, as she dwell there in the smokey remanants of the wintery clouds, the snowfall becoming lighter, her eerie glow spreading through the dark recesses of space and gazing reluctantly down at him...Matthias no longer felt in league with her. In fact he felt he had fallen out of touch with her some long time past...the precise day he had touched down in River-Dale...
He put a smooth palm to his cheek and as he did so, was suprised to find that no cold ice fell upon it. The snow had ceased falling. The white alley was still and unmoving. Only he and the moon remained.
Slowly Matthias stepped back to sit atop an icy doorstep, pulling his robes about his chest. Wrists resting over his knees, he lifted his head to the soft moon above, his apathetic eyes bearing into her.
He stared for a while, ashen hands wringing limp and numb with cold. It now seemed so surreal how he had travelled the entire globe in this seventeen year old form and stayed amidst one place for no longer than it takes for the sun to pass East to West several times, before he moved on again. And then how he could simply settle at River-Dale so quickly, without thought or recognition.
He slipped frozen fingers through his wet hair, pushing long strands from his eyes and sighed, "All those years of travelling...all those distant days in which I searched for my true destiny. The sun-kissed beaches with listless crystal waters lapping at their edge...The frozen ice-caps with magnificent panoramic views of the sparkling towns below...The dominent sky-scapers and miniture cottages...The flashing cities and desolate country-side. Whoever would have guessed that of all the breath-taking countries and landscapes that the world has to offer, that my area of settlement would reside here...in the small, yet mysterious town of River-Dale..." he whispered, the cheery air now deserting him and aggression swelling somewhat inside him, his restless digits writhing for something-anything-to explore. "All that time that I spent searching for my past. Why didn't anyone have the decency to tell me the truth? Why didn't anyone point me in the right direction? Hint if they could as to where my forgotten life may lie? Didn't anybody except Lockwood know of my past? My foster family, they knew I was English...why didn't they tell me? Why didn't they speak with me instead of claiming that they knew not where I had been born, simply appeared in their care with no origin... Maybe...perhaps...if somebody had told me...I wouldn't have spent half of my life drifting about the world, seeking refuge...and finding NONE!" he scuffed his feet into the deep snow and let his head fall onto his knees, eyes burning with tears of resent.