A Lonely Prince with Fangs (completed)

Beachen with the Devil

Alexandru lowered me to the ground. My feet dug into the soft blue sand, loving the feeling as my toes wiggled around.

I hadn't been to the ocean in a while. Traveling always had my parents and I on roads, and no time to go to the beach.

I looked out to the ocean and admired seeing it at night—I've never seen the ocean before with the moon shining on it like it was. I looked at Alexandru and was in shock at how calm he looked. One would think he would be tired and breathing hard but one must remember that he is indeed a vampire.

"Why come to the beach?" I asked.

He was smiling a soft smile, allowing the wind to go through his hair.

"I used to come here every time a friend of mine died. Whenever I was on another continent, I would just find the nearest ocean."

"Why the ocean?"

Alexandru hesitated, then answered. "My mother used to take me here when I was a boy. She said if I came here as much as I could I would be able to see her ride the waves. I know now that that was supposed to make me feel better as I watched her slowly die but even so ... . I come here to clear my thoughts. But when someone passes away, this is my haven that allows me to remember them in their best lights."

Alexandru had said that only his mother called him by his name. He must have been close to her as a boy. I bet it would be terrible to know that your own mother was dying and you couldn't do a thing about it.

I wanted to lift the moment, though it wasn't exactly sad, so I slipped my shoes off and began to run towards the water.

My feet splashed into the cool waves that sent chills up my legs. Alexandru was right, the ocean really does calm one down. I looked back to the shore and found Alexandru just smiling at me. I waved him over and next thing I knew the uptight vampire had his shoes off, his slacks rolled up, his vest off, and his white shirt untucked.

We splashed around in the water until the liquid felt warm on our skin.

We walked back to shore allowing sand to get all over our legs. We sat down and just stared at the moon which was leaving the sky. "Can you run across water? Like a superhero." I asked having the question if vampires were truly that fast like the Incredibles kid or the Flash.

"No ... . You see, I told you that it's kind of hard to explain how that works." Alexandru seemed to be missing the right words to say. "Okay, here's an example: if I were to want to freeze my prey, I would be able to suck right into their skin without the skin freezing solid. If I were to stop the waves, I would fall right through the water. Do you understand?"

I sort of did. So vampires aren't exactly fast ... huh.

I nodded my head then looked back out to the ocean. If Alexandru can truly stop the waves, I bet it must be beautiful to see the ocean like that; frozen as if on a canvas painting.

"Thank you for bringing me here," I said. I looked at Alexandru with a smile and he returned it. I liked him better this way; messy hair and loose figure. He is constantly looking stern and in pain.

"I haven't seen a sunrise in fifty-four years." The sun was rising. The clouds were beginning to turn yellow and orange from their purple and blue. And the tide had gone down. It was really pretty. His voice for once sounded normal ... not as firm as it usually is.

"It must be hard being a vampire and not being able to enjoy a sunrise." I sympathized.

"Yes, but why wish to see them if you have no one to share them with?" The Count was a very handsome man, and based on the two women that I have seen in his past experiences, they both seemed to love him deeply, both being beautiful too in that fact. Why has the Count avoided women for so long? But I bet he means a friend. He is cursed to live for so long that those he comes to love die.

The sun was making its way higher into the sky in our moment of silence. Almost forgetting vampires and sun, I immediately looked to Alexandru and gasped at the steam coming from his skin.

"Oh, haha," he said as though just a small bug had crawled onto his hand.

"You're burning!" I said.

"Well, then I guess we better get back."

Alexandru gathered up his things and then instead of carrying me bridal style I rode on his back.