Gabriel (Book 1)

Him...

April 25th, 2011

I follow her gaze to a platform that wasn't there a few seconds ago. Its in the back of the room over looking the crowd. There is a large throne with a man sitting on it, he sits there looking relatively bored. And I wonder how someone can be so bored while watching this kind of dancing. His never ending black gaze is set upon me. He is tall with shaggy blonde, windblown hair. For some reason I begin to feel nervous and that feeling gets worse when I hear a voice in my head, 'Gabriel.' It says over and over.

Before I realize what is happening, Brielle is pulling me towards the man and the bartender is following behind us.

At last, I am standing in front of him with my escape blocked by the bartender.

"Gabriel, this is Rodrick, our king. Rodrick, this is Gabriel."

I feel powerless standing in front of him and I'm not sure why. He hasn't even moved yet, let alone blinked!

The song ends, Rodrick speaks, "Boo." The expression still comes across rather bored.

"I thought you didn't have a king? I thought you were in control of yourself? What kind of place is this?"

I try to run away from them all but I find myself somehow in a different room. Locked in a different room. And I haven't the slightest idea how I ended up there. I try ripping down the doors or tearing through the walls but its iron. Or something, something I can't get through. And there is no door, which makes me wonder how I got in here at all. I yell, but the room is soundproof. I start hearing that voice again, 'I see you didn't like my welcome, un-dead one.'

"Rodrick." I say.

As if on cue, he appears in front of me.

'Speak of the Devil and the Devil will come. Isn't that the expression they say these days.' I hear in my head.

"What's your deal? Don't you ever speak out loud?"

"Yes. Yes I do. As my dear Brielle said: I am the king here. Welcome to my bar, The Seven Deadly Sins. A place where vampires can be who they truly are and not hide from the mortals."

"Well, I don't know what century you are still stuck in but most of us don't hide anymore! We get out there and live our lives!"

"And that's exactly what you shouldn't do. That's what the mortals do. They "live their lives" as you put it. We're un-dead. We get to live someone elses life."

I agreed with this, fully and totally.

'Let's see what your power is.' Rodrick says in my head.

And then I feel as if my insides are being twisted, I feel like I'm being burned alive. And when it is all over, I look like that guy at the bar.

"Hh-mmm. The mind of the old vampires, the style of the new ones, and a power to be both." He says while circling me, "A shape shifter. We don't get any of those. How interesting."

I resume my vampire form again, "I guess I'm just one of a kind."

'You are.'

"So? What now?"

"You seem to be a corpse without a coffin." I give him a look that says I have no idea what the hell you are saying!

"You need a place to stay, yes?" I nod, "Good. I can help you with that. Come along." He disappears.

I wait for a few minutes and nothing happens, "Uh...Rodrick?"

He appears again.

'You were supposed to follow me.'