A Vampire's Desire

Chapter Seven

Rose

A slight breeze brushed past the two of us and renewed my fear of heights, forcing me to cling tighter to Gabriel. But the view eased my anxiety, wonder swiftly replacing fear. I allowed myself to lean back against him. His arms wrapped around my middle, holding me in place. I wrapped my arms around his. We kept each other warm against the chilly night air. It was rare to get a view like this of New Orleans, unless you were flying over it. The city looked majestic. "This is incredible," I said.

"After all these years, I never tire of it. And now, enjoying it with you, it's like experiencing it for the first time."

I became suddenly curious about Gabriel's past, and what he had been like prior to becoming a vampire. A hundred and fifty years was a long time, perhaps long enough to lose one's humanity. "Do you feel very different?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, from who you were before."

"When I was human?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

He took a breath. "In some ways, you may find it hard to believe, but I don't feel very much different at all. Yet, of course, in so many others, my past life often feels like it belonged to another man."

"I can't imagine," I said. "Having your biological clock suddenly paused forever. Getting all these supernatural abilities. Plus, the other thing."

He laughed. "The thirst for blood?"

"Yep."

"All of it strangely becomes normal with time. One day, you catch yourself converting into a shadow to slip more easily down a darkened alleyway, or you float up the stairs instead of walk, and you realize you didn't even think about it. In a sense, that's when you truly become a vampire."

Glancing down at the reflective surface of the water below us, I asked, "But what about that other day? When you were actually turned into a vampire. What was that like?"

He took another breath, this one heavy with troubled thoughts. "It began like most others back then, scheming for my next meal."

"You were poor?"

"That I was. A common street thief. Although, I ought to give myself more credit than that. I was more skilled than my colleagues, as it were. Among the most cunning, which was how I attracted the attention of a certain aristocrat who eventually revealed to me his true identity."

"A vampire," I surmised.

"Indeed. A coven master."

"Like yourself."

His voice dropped low. "I would never compare myself to that man." His hold on me tightened, and I sensed an anger ratcheting tension in Gabriel's body. I guessed this aristocrat had been one bad dude. "But it was not until some time later that I saw him for what he truly was. When we first met, his charm and charity seduced me. He seemed to enjoy surrounding himself with a scruffy sort, who he then cleaned up and made part of his coterie. Like projects, we were, each of us a feather in his cap. He fancied himself a miner, seeking diamonds in the rough. When he saw a spark in someone, he brought them under his wing, showing them how to comport themselves within high society, teaching them the machinations of the world, providing for them a glimpse of reality they hitherto had no ability to see."

"Much like you and me now, huh?"

His grip loosened, his hand began to run up and down my arm, which I enjoyed. "In a sense, yes. He had caught me attempting to rob his mansion, then gave me much more than I ever would have gotten away with even had he given me enough time to clear out the entire place. When my education was complete, he showed me one last thing." Gabriel pulled me close to whisper in my ear, "The world is not as it seems."