As Dusk Falls

Chapter Two

She did not hesitate, she just squeezed the trigger, releasing a stream of water from the nozzle of the water bottle. She didn't look to see if the water hit him, or if it had any affect on him at all, before she ran, pushing past him.

She sprinted as quickly as possible, only slowing once her feet hit the concrete of the parking lot. Her car was less than ten steps away.

She had made it!

Her heart still pounding in her ears, she made her way towards her car.

A cold hand clasped her shoulder, and she could feel cold breath hitting her neck.

"You do realize that holy water isn't all that effective on us," he murmured close to her ear.

Her heart stopped.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked. She sounded calm, almost like she had figured this would be the way her life would end.

"Kill you? Why on earth would I do that?" he asked, his tone innocent.

"I don't know...possibly because you're an undead creature of the night?" she suggested. The end of her sentence shook, as memories overtook her. Memories of slivery blond hair, of scarlet red, of a rusty scent. Unconsciously, she ran her thumb across the scar on her inner wrist. She could feel her pulse fluttering like hummingbird's wings beneath her inner wrist.

She dropped the water bottle, freeing her hands so she could grab the stake if need be.

She felt him lean closer, his mouth startlingly close to her skin. He inhaled.

"Mmmm," he exhaled. She was paralyzed with fear. "It has been a while since my last meal."

She ripped the stake from her belt, whirling around, hoping to catch him off guard. Perhaps wound him. Probably not kill him.

He dodged, looking at her weapon with blatant amusement. "Those things do kill...if you can use them correctly. Obviously a skill you lack," he chuckled, as she reared her arm back, ready to strike at him again.

"Stop trying to kill me, and listen for a moment, please," he demanded, red eyes wide. "I only followed you to protect you."

"Oh...I suppose you call every damsel in distress a 'meal'," she snarled.

"Only the particularly annoying ones," he paused, pushing a strand of dark hair from his face. "I am not the only dark thing that lurks through shadows. Take heed of that, marked one."

The scar on her wrist tingled. "How do you know about...what do you even mean?" she stammered.

"I know many things," he said, but there was not a trace of pride in his voice. He said it with the voice of a man who had seen more than he could take. "And I do believe you know what I mean."

"I have followed you everynight since I have first seen you. Perhaps if you would park somewhere other than the parking lot at the back of an abandoned alley, we would not be having this conversation, would we?"

"The other parking lot is always full, and I'm not sacrificing my favorite pastime just because of a few shifty shadows," she defended. "And besides, how do I know you're telling the truth?"

"How would I benefit with lies? If I wanted your blood, I could easily take it without too much effort...and if I wanted amusement...well, I could think of other ways to gain that as well," he tilted his head to the side, eyeing her for some sort of reaction.

She chose to ignore the innuendo. "So...you're not going to kill me?"

"I never drink to kill...that's incredibly immature. And furthermore, rude. Besides, I haven't any hunger...I robbed a blood bank a few days ago," he smiled, as though he had just shared with her some private joke.

"That's um...very...good for you, I guess, " Aurelia mumbled. This is crazy! she thought. I'm having a casual conversation with an evil creature that thinks of humans as meals.

"What's your name?" she asked, deciding to treat the situation like it were totally normal.

"'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,'" he said, his soft, faintly French accent wavered, his eyes sparkling with. mischief.

"Listen, it's like, ten o' clock at night, I'm tired, this is insane, and I just want to go home. So please, by the love all things sane, do not start quoting Shakespeare! Especially not Romeo and Juliet. I hate Romeo and Juliet," Aurelia ranted, realizing she sounded pretty insane.

"Not a romantic, I see? My, that's refreshing," he grinned, a lopsided grin that bordered on crazy. She took a step back.

"I have to go," she said, a note of finality in her voice.

"Then leave," he paused. "But know that we shall meet again."

"What do you mean?" she demanded. "Are you stalking me?"

"'Stalking' is such a crude word. I just hate farewells...perhaps next time we meet, I can show you how to use your wooden toy properly. Or introduce you to more effective weapons. You never know when you'll have to use your skills," he laughed, before sobering quickly, his ruby eyes somber. "The darkness beckons us all, marked one," he murmured, lifting her hand in his own, and turning it over so that the moonlight illuminated the pale pink raised scar tissue. He ran his thumb slowly along the ridge, sending shivers down her spine. "Venom runs in your veins.

"Until we meet again, remember me," he said, smirking.

"What makes you so certain we will meet again?" she inquired, crossing her arms. "I don't even know your name."

"Nor I yours...all the more reason to meet again. I intend to learn more of you," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

"You seem...different. I enjoy different. Most girls swoon over Romeo and Juliet."

"I'm personally more of a Hamlet fan myself," she said, not sure why she was even telling him. "'Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't,'" she quoted, before she could stop herself.

In ninth grade, her friends had attempted to memorize the entirety of Hamlet, so that they could perform it for their families, but most had given up halfway through. Aurelia, dorky over-achieving theatre-lover she was, had memorized more than she was proud of.

"Next time we meet, we shall discuss our literary preferences, but for now, darkness beckons, and I must succumb to the true nature of my soul," and with a wink, and a curtain of shadows, he disappeared.