Chemical Attraction

Chapter 1

Perched in a tree I watched as flames licked the city of London. The fire relentlessly consumed homes, stores, and offices leaving little behind. Next to me my companion Isis sat on the branch, her expression quite serene with just a small smile playing on her lips. Whereas my gaze was transfixed on the fire she thoughtfully watched the people as they struggled to salvage what belongings they could.

“Do you suppose it’ll reach this far?” I asked her.

“Doubtful” she shrugged, “We’re at least five miles out, we’ll be okay.”

“Think it’ll stop soon?” I pressed on with questions, “It’s been almost three days!”

“I hope so” she sighed, “The sooner it stops the sooner we can get to work.”

“You really think any valuables survived?” I asked doubtfully.

“Many will have left behind iron-chests” her smile grew, “There’s bound to be some valuables in those”.

 I crawled up onto a higher branch and rested on my stomach. I glanced down at Isis below me. She sat perfectly still the only motion was her dark silky hair flowing around her in the late summer breeze. The moonlight shined upon her copper skin, the reflection creating a glow about her. Her beauty far surpassed anyone that I have ever met in all my years. Her looks were exotic and seductive, which helped with our lifestyle greatly. Not that I wasn’t a looker, or so I had been told. My looks were just softer and had more of a graceful air about them, which also had it benefits with our lifestyle.

“I sure hope we find some treasures” I sighed, “I could really use a new petticoat.”

Isis giggled and tilted her head up toward me, “Hopefully we find enough to get you a dozen new petticoats”.

I giggled with her until I felt that familiar tingling in my throat, “Isis, are you ready to eat?”

“I suppose” she replied and sprung out of the tree.

                I followed suit and once my feet hit the ground we sped off into the night. We stopped our sprint not far from the tree where we spent much of our evening. An intoxicating smell engulfed our senses and immediately we halted. Not far down the road two men were carrying a crate towards our direction. Immediately I lay on the ground and grabbed my ankle, the expression of pain decorating my face accompanied by moans of distress. Isis hid in the trees behind me, unable to be seen by the human eye.

                Upon hearing my cries of distress, the men down the road began to quicken their pace. As they approached me they dropped their chest and rushed to my aid.

“Miss, do you need some help?” the one asked.

“Yes” I whimpered, “I think it’s broken.”

“Let me take a look at it” the other piped in, “I’m a doctor”.

“Oh would you please” I said sweetly. The man began to examine my ankle, being gentle all the while. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Isis slowly creeping up behind the doctor’s companion.

“What do you think sir?” I questioned as I leaned my head closer towards him.

“Well Miss I do believe it’s…” his sentence however was replaced with a violent howling as my razor sharp teeth pierced his flesh. My mouth was soon flooded with that warm, crimson liquid that I craved so much. A familiar tingling coursed through my body, warming me all the way through. As I finished I glanced up to see Isis dabbing her lips off with her handkerchief. I let out a chuckle as I let the man drop to the ground. After wiping off my blood stained lips I stood up and brushed myself off. I walked over to the chest that the men dropped, which Isis was busily rummaging through. My eyes lit up at the treasures that lain inside. A mound of loose pounds and shillings inhabited the chest as well as a few silver goblets and platters, plus a wooden box. I reached over her shoulder and grasped the box. A delicate pattern was carved into the wood, which I assumed to be cherry due to its dark, rich color.

“What d’ya think is in it” Isis asked as she stood next to me.

“Well there’s only one way to know” I answered as I gently lifted open the lid to the box. I was delighted with the sight that met my eyes. A sea of silver, gold, and various gemstones flooded the box.

“Jackpot” Isis chimed, “I think we can survive a few centuries with this.”

                I nodded my head and closed the box back up, laying it back in the trunk. “We should probably get this back to the campsite before anyone else wanders on by.”

                “You’re right,” Isis smiled mischievously at me, “I’ll clean up dinner if you take the trunk back.”

                “Do be thorough” I smiled back, “I made a bit of a mess.” I picked up the trunk with ease, thankful once again for my superhuman strength. My walk back to the campsite was brief, I was all too eager to pry back into the jewelry box again.

                Isis and I, we didn’t own much. We met up about fifty years ago, both wandering vampires like many of our kind. To the human eye most of us appeared to be gypsies, and to be honest many of our kind were. Isis was a gypsy when I met her. I was in the area of Bath at the time residing in the forest on the outskirts of town. One evening as I was prowling about town for a meal I spotted Isis feeding off of an elderly woman. She had been discovered by a passerby who immediately began shouting for help. I snatched Isis swiftly and threw her onto my back, sprinting full speed into the forest. I shrugged her off of my back once we reached my campsite.

                “Who are you” she demanded.

“No time for talking” I snapped, “Grab whatever you can, we’ve got to get out of here.”

 She didn’t hesitate for a second and began scrounging up all she could carry. That night we took off toward Oxford and never looked back. We found that although lethal apart, together we were a force more formidable than any army to roam the land. Our beauty and strength combined with our years of knowledge made us a dangerous duo. We roamed much of England and Ireland, camping just outside of various towns, staying just long enough to remain inconspicuous. We never went hungry and though we lived a life on the road we were comfortable with our lifestyle, well until more recently.

                Living in 1666 London Isis and I found ourselves longing for a more permanent lifestyle. We were becoming tired of moving from town to town and living in tents and caves. We started out slowly just taking money from our victims once we were through with our feed. Then we realized with our speed and agility we could pickpocket anybody. We had gathered a small fortune which we kept hidden near our current campsite. This London fire however, was our big break. People would be leaving behind all sorts of treasures in their homes, and you better believe that whatever survived, Isis and I would be the first to get our hands on them.

                I gently set the chest down at the opening of the cave in which we were currently residing. With a box of matches we had I began lighting the various candles we had placed about the cave. I then sat down cross legged in front of the chest and dug out the jewelry box. I fingered through it marveling at the beauty that laid in the box. A particular piece caught my attention and I gently removed it from the box.

“It’s lovely” a voice spoke from behind me, giving me a startle.

“Isis, you scared me” I gasped.

“Sorry Char” she chuckled, “Here let me put that on you.”

                Carefully I handed her the necklace and pulled up my pale, golden locks from my neck. Once she had the clasp fastened she pulled out a mirror from the chest. It was beautiful, silver and decorated in jewels, but I was too busy admiring the reflection the mirror held to truly admire its beauty. The simple, silver chain rested on my neck, a small round blue sapphire laid upon my sternum, then another silver chain trailed down to the top of my chest where it was met by a teardrop sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds. The sapphires looked an electrifying blue in contrast with my pale, white skin. It was absolutely breathtaking.

“It’s lovely” Isis whispered, “You should keep it.”

“I think I will” I smiled, “There’s plenty of treasure in here anyways.”