A vampires touch

Shrieker could not find anything that would lead to Selene's whereabouts. He was now a mix of angry and extremely disappointed. He was so close and yet could not get any closer. As he though this he heard the person behind him get closer.

In his anger, he thought of killing the person behind him and was getting ready to do just that when he heard her voice, her melodious unforgettable voice. His heart would have skipped a least half a dozen beats if still beat. It was Selene! There could be no mistaking it.

He thought quickly of turning around and jumping into the arms of the woman he loved. And then they would get married (not in a church), go into the hills, and have lot of little dhampires, and they would all sing everyday and live happily ever after . . . forever. At least, that is what he hoped.

But he realized that they were in an ally, smelled and looked terrible, and she had walked in on him dumpster diving; the reunion of two "lovers" had to be something romantic and epic and this situation was neither. Shrieker did not want them to meet this way but he also did not want to lose her again.

Shrieker had to think quick; she had just put her hand on his shoulder.

Shrieker pulled his shirt up over his nose so as not to be seen, and turned around smearing the blood of the man he had found on Selene (he could track the blood later, any vampire can track blood). Shrieker then proceeded to jump to the nearest fire escape climbing up

 

Tabris calmed down after a while, but it was far too late to save the nun. He realized that the police would probably be here soon, because Tabris was sure someone had heard the nun's screams. Not that it mattered. Tabris felt like he could kill an entire swat team.

"I've shed enough blood tonight" Tabris thought. Tnd speaking of bloodshed...

Tabris reached two clawed fingers into his left arm and pulled out the bullet. The wound disappeared, but tabris could move his left arm again. Tabris didn't feel like answering any questions at the moment, bu there were no sewer grates for tabris to go down. Tabris took off down the street, looking for one of the doors to the closest thing to home he had...

 

Selene watched the stranger disappear up the fire escape. She wiped the blood off her hand and threw the tissue in the dumpster. A strange encounter for her. She had not expected him to run. Vampires usually stood their ground, especially when feeding. He would be destroyed soon at this rate, so would not be her problem. She wandered home, thinking about the strange vampire. He behaved almost as if he knew her, but that was impossible. She had been in love many years ago. Selene remembered turning her first human. He was charming and Paris had been romantic, but it was all an illusion. Lestat disappeared, people hunted vampires, and Selene had gotten scared. She wanted to flee to America, where no one knew her. Leon had refused, wanting to settle. They had argued and she ran away. He was probably dead now, captured and destroyed. She had moved on, and had started a new, arbeit lonely life in this bustling metropolis.

 

Tabris had always felt at home down in the sewers. This was mostly because that was where the gangrel had made their home. After all, what better place for a vampire clan to make ground zero? There was no sunlight and no prying human eyes. It served as an endless maze of paths to get around the city. It was the perfect place for a vampire coven, especially one as feral as the gangrel. The only downside was that rare occasion where an alligator occasionally got hungry and attacked one of the members. That kep everyone on their toes.

Tabris spotted a sewer grate. He quickly opened it up and slipped down into the endless dark labrynth that he had made his home.

 

Selene walked slowly home, disappointed that she had not found someone worthy to become her companion. She remembered the old days in France, parties and abundant food. Life had been good then. She wore fine clothes and was happy. Nothing of that time was left. Now she was a lone hunter, returning to the old house. Tomorrow she would follow the same pattern again. Existence was becoming meaningless. She got to the house and bolted the door. Going down to the cellar, she sat at an old dressing table, brushing her long strawberry blond hair. She had always loved her hair, and it caught many a young man's eye. Now she didn't care. She felt that love had died within her, and only hunger controlled her waking movements.

 

Shrieker sighed thinking about Selene. He remembered her hair, long and strawberry blond. He remembered how that had been the first thing that attracted him to her, he had been looking out the window on that rainy night in Paris and, despite Paris being the city of lights, he could suddenly see nothing but her. He might have jumped out the window to talk to her, but his sister had stopped him, and had not seen her again for a long while. He also remembered the smell of her hair (he was not even sure that he needed the smell of the blood the track her now that he had smelled her again), his own personally intoxicant.

Shrieker realized, that caught up in his dream-like thoughts, he had not noticed that sun rise would rise soon. He climbed into the abandoned building he had been staying in. his coffin was hidden under a pile of old newspapers so the homeless that frequented buildings like this one would not find it.

Shrieker fell asleep thinking of what he could possibly do to prepare for his eventual leap back into her arms. He slept more soundly then he had in a long time.

 

As he walked through the hot, dark, rank labrynth of the sewers, Tabris found himself thinking about his days with the Gangrel. Their primal and animalistic ways always did make Tabris feel free and at home. He had only been with them for ten years before him...

Tabris knew the paths through the sewers by heart now. He made his way into his special room that he had found one day while he was wandering around, after the days of the Gangrel. It was hidden deep within the sewers, farther than any human would dare go. Tabris had been amazed at how perfect it was. Since then he had dragged two matresses in to serve as a bed, some rusty file cabinets tabris used as drawers for clothes, and a burnt desk that had assorted a few books that tabris read in his spare time.

Tabris flopped down on his "bed". It had been a long night, and he was tired. He thought about the Gangrel one more time. He thought about his sire. Tabris missed Orpheus. She was the one that had given Tabris his new name. Tabris had been miserable as a human, but she had shown him the joy of being a vampire, of being free of the rules of being human, and most importanlty, been his friend...

If Tabris had stopped thinking about Orpheus for a moment, he would have realized he was asleep.

 

Selene returned to her coffin. Today had been interesting. The film had be temporarily amusing, and the stranger had confused her rather than scared her. She scolded herself for approaching him. She could have been attacked. He seemed so familiar though, like some half forgotten dream. No, he must have been a frightened stranger. She also thought about the stranger with thenun that she had passed. She realised that likely he was a vampire, and even more likely that the nun breathed no more.

She climbed inti her coffin and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about the events of the day.

 

Dodge rolling off the building Adrain ran off feeling a blood lust coming on as his vision turned red and dilated.
"S***, Have to reach home." Running back to the small apartment in back of the fish market. Retreating Adrain locked himself in his bedroom as the blood lust transformed him into the creature he hated. It must have knoced him out because it was 3:45pm when he awoken.

 

Tabris had slept for a good three hours before he was awakened by hot breath on the side of his head. Tabris groaned,rolled over and opened his eyes.

It's a good thing tabris had good reflexes and was able to jump away quickly. Otherwise the gator would probably have ripped his head off. Having grown fat and pale from all the sewage, it would have been considered huge when compared to it's ancestors. Luckily, it was only an adolescent. Tabris grabbed a pipe lying on the ground and smacked the alligator on the snout.

"Get out of here, ya pest! Go on!" The alligator attacked him again, but tabris gave it one final smack on the side of the head. The alligator lumbered away, knowing it was defeated.

Tabris knew for a fact that it was daylight, so he rearranged his matresses that had gotten messed up, and went back to sleep.

 

Selene woke in the late evening. She stretched cat like and wandered upstairs. She climbed the second set of stars to the bedroom and opened the wardrobe. Inside were a few of the many gowns and dresses she owned. She looked around the room, wondering what she should do. It was too early to leave the house, and she was bored and lonely. She remembered laughing and joking with Lestat. Selene had never intended to be alone for eternity. She was so naive at the beginning, thinking she would spend eternity in the presence of her sire partying and laughing. Those days were just ghostly echoes now. Selene had accepted the depressing truth that she would probably never laugh again.

 

Shrieker awake to find that the newspapers that he had use to cover his coffin had not been effective as during his time away from it a pool of sick had appeared at the feet. The night previous he had not noticed because he had been so tired.

Shrieker cleaned his feet off best he could, tonight he would be doing a lot of hunting. He crossed the street and and pressed random call buttons on the apartment building until he found someone he could "sweet-talk" into letting him in, a technique that he had learned from Selene but had never been quite as good at. Unfortunately, the man was an unemployed bricklayer in his forties, not even worth killing. Shrieker quickly knocked him unconscious with a blast of sound, and found his shower. Shrieker loathed to think where the man's soap had been, but he scraped off the top layer and used the soap just the same.

 

Tabris awoke once more, and this time there were no giant reptiles here to try to kill him. "That's a relief", said tabris aloud, as he jumped up from the mattresses. Tabris walked outside, feeling chipper and energized. HE even waved at the crocodile that floated by in the river of human sewage. The Crocodile just looked at him as it floated by.

Tabris climbed up a ladder and looked through a small hole in a sewer grate. The sun had just set. Good. Tabris pushed open the grate and climbed up. No one seemed to notice, or care. Well, thought tabris as he put his hands in his pockets and walked down the street, Let's find food.

 

Shrieker left the mans apartment smelling much nicer. He was wearing some the man's clothes that were several sizes too big, but until he did laundry they were the only clean clothes he had. He took all the quarters in the man's house and left, heading toward the nearest 24 hour laundry mat.

On the way he saw a necklace with amethysts inlaid in to it. "She will like that," Shrieker thought. He continued down the street looking more respectable than he had in years, albeit still in ridiculously over-sized clothes.

 

Selene walked into the quieter area of town. She was not in the mood for night clubs and crowds. This was not her usual hunting ground, but she loved a challenge. It would help cheer her up. Life was mundane at present. She had grown with wisdom and experience, but not as much as she'd liked. There was something missing, and she'd cursed herself to an eternity of living without it. She spotted a lone figure walking in the dark. this was too good a chance to ignore. She sped up a little so she could catch up.

 

Tabris hadn't even walked three blocks when he heard it. Footsteps. Tabris cursed under his breath. They even sounded like they were coming towards him. But something was wrong. The footsteps were too obvious, too heavy, and too fast. A hunter wouldn't be running towards him. Tabris's claws were in his pockets, so he didn't look abnormal. So why would someone be following him?

After reaching the street corner, tabris had the nerve to turn around. it was a woman. She looked relatively normal, but there was something odd about her, something dark...


"Is anything the matter, Miss?"

 

Shrieker now had clean clothes. He quietly changed in a back ally, thinking about his next steps, he would get some money, then he would get that amethyst, after that he get some flowers (hopefully jasmine, the night bloomer), also he would buy a new suit (even with his clothes clean he did not look that great), and finally he would find a nice meal that they could play with and eat, maybe a hunter or a virgin (not a nerd, too greasy).

Shrieker returned to the gem store, only to see a rather well-off looking woman buy the necklace he had wanted, with cash. Shrieker smiled. He followed the woman Shrieker used his voice to imitate a police siren and the woman ducked into a nearby ally. Shrieker smiled again. "I knew she stole that money! Nobody buys expensive jewelry in cash!"

"Been a while since I had a hot meal," Thought Shrieker as the blood dripped down his mouth. "Looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone," he though as he pride the purse from her still warm fingers, and found a lot of cash and the necklace.

 

"Do...I know you? I don't think so."

Selene decided to act aloof to the stranger, pretending that they had met by accident. He looked almost feral, and she was not someone to tolerate an animal. She looked at him calmly, with an air of superiority.

"Are you lost or something?"

 

Tabris stifled a laugh. "No. Actually, i live here." Tabris was only half telling the truth. He did live in the neighborhood, but he lived was in the sewers.

The way she talked to him confirmed tabris's suspicions. If there was one thing tabris remembered about the vampires he had met other than the gangrel, it was that they all acted like they were better than anyone else. The gangrel were boasters, too, just in a different way. Her scent was odd, too.

In the Vampire community, the gangrel were treated like animals (for obvious reasons), and tabris had been treated no differently.

"You're like me, aren't you?"

 

"Like you? Yes, I suppose I am. You like the night just as I do." Selene watched to see the reaction of this stranger. "I'm Selene. Who are you?" Selene held out her hand to see how the stranger would react She smiled in a reassuring way. This stranger was wild, and perhaps he could show her the adventure she craved. She wanted to live again, savouring the dangerous delights of the vampire life. Laughing at death. Perhaps the stranger was the solution to her mundane existence.