Vampyre: Desire Immortal

Chapter 1

                                      Awakening                                  

Who knows how to react when Evil knocks?

Evil doesn't care. It has its own agenda.

*****

I was a beautiful child. Everyone in the village said so. I look around the room – stone walls, a bed, a table, a bronze candle stand. No one else hears the faint scratching on the window pane. The whole house sleeps like dead men.

Dead.

That's how I feel.

The cold winds blow in. I shiver, stuffing a rag tighter between the cracks at the sill. I hear the sound again above the screaming winds. Louder this time. More insistent. The candle's orange flame flickers.

Will it go out and leave me enveloped in the depths of darkness?

Beads of sweat pop out on my forehead. I feel my fluttering heart waver inside my chest. I should be under the covers, not traipsing about barefooted with nothing but my nightgown on. I will surely catch cold. Then, what will I do?

Perdix says there's only so much his alchemy can do to remedy the diseases of the body. I think Perdix can do anything. He's a wonderful alchemist and a great wizard. He knows the Great Secrets. But he says no, not everything. Perhaps, he is right.

A large rat skitters across the floor, seeking invisibility in some far corner. I pay him no heed. The scratching is getting louder. Louder, still. It threatens to drive me mad.

"Who are you? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

I cover my ears. It does no good. It seems I will drown in the sound that grates upon my nerves and echoes in the chambers of my ears. I sink to my knees.

"Oh Sovereign, help me."

The sound, like iron nails scoring over slate, stops. The winds abate. The room becomes as quiet as a tomb. The candle flame burns steadily, its faint glow casting dim gray shadows here and there.

The unicorn hangs on my wall, white and noble, and about to be slain. It is a most lovely tapestry. I can spend hours looking at its intricate detail. The dogs are many. The hunters number more. They have their spears drawn. It won't be long before it's all over. I feel the old ache in my heart. I wish I could enter that woven scene and set you free, my friend – my companion for all these years I have lived behind these castle walls. I feel for you. I am you in so many ways. There are not many of us, you see. Unicorns and princesses. We are both dying breeds. Perdix says so.

The wail of the gale picks up again.

He rides the wind.

There. There it is. The scratch upon the pane. Louder, now. Louder still.

It is no use. No use. I cannot stand it.

Throwing open the window, I feel the damp, cold burst upon my skin. I thrust my body into its blast. The howling madness of the night swallows me whole.

And there he is, floating in front of me, high above the ground like a black mourning dove. I wince as the needles of his sharp fangs pierce my neck.

I see the unicorn before my eyes. The hunters' spears have hit their mark.