Fate's Vinculum

Chapter 5.

As the streetlights slipped over the windows in white streaks, Zoë slipped into the recesses of her memory.

The fact of the matter was, she was lucky to be alive. Years ago she had been Marcus' prey. It had been a normal night. She had gone to a club, danced all night, and then had begun to walk home, orange platform shoes in hand.

The club had a side exit, usually used by the owners to move equipment to and from. Zoë had made friends with the bouncer, and was allowed to leave out the door that led out into the alleyway. That night, her friend had warned her to be careful; in hindsight she almost wondered if he somehow had sensed Marcus lurking in the shadows.

Instead she had laughed her bouncer friend off and continued down the dark alley. Once the door was shut, and the frenetic thumping of the music within was muffled, a chill had caused her hairs to stand on end. She had felt like she was being watched, yet a glance over her shoulder told her she wasn't. Zoë had barely made it halfway down the alley when she felt sure someone was watching her; when she turned around that time, a tall man was standing beside a dumpster.

Feeling uneasy, Zoë began to walk faster. When she looked over her shoulder once more, and found the man to be startling closer than he had been a moment before, she had broken into a run. Against logic, the man was suddenly in front of her. He had grabbed her, and she had screamed.

Two things came to her mind before she had passed out. One was the man's grip felt odd, almost like rigid stone had wrapped around her arms. Second, and the thing that had startled her into a faint, were the young man's eyes. They weren't human, and in the brief moment she saw them, she couldn't figure out exactly what was wrong with them.

Zoë had, luckily, awoken some time later. Marcus introduced himself, and explained to her that he was a vampire. At first she thought he was insane; she assumed him to be a serial killer that thought he was an actual vampire. However, as time went on, she slowly began to understand he really was an actual vampire.

Marcus had brought her to one of his hide-outs. He had found old tunnels beneath Chicago, left over from mining days of old when the city was in its infancy. Marcus admitted to her he was living beneath Chicago in hiding. From what, exactly, she wasn't sure and he didn't say. All she knew was that he was once a very powerful and influential vampire, their king, but all that had changed and he came to Chicago in the 1960's.

Zoë had many questions. First and foremost was, why had he spared her life? It was simple; she had fainted.

"No one has ever fainted in my arms before," he had explained to her calmly. "Usually they struggle, scream, flail, fight back. You? You just...crumpled like a wilted flower in my arms. I felt guilty."

Zoë wasn't sure which was harder to believe, that vampires were real or that they could feel remorse. (When she said as much, Marc had actually been highly offended.) After some more brief conversation, Marcus had released her under the condition that she keep quiet about him.

"If you don't," he had told her simply, "I'll find you, and I'll be lacking remorse this time."

Zoë wasn't stupid; even though a small part of her still assumed Marcus was a delusional human, she didn't tell anyone about him. Marc would show up at random at her apartment. A slow friendship had bloomed from Marcus' check-ins. Her doubts about him being a vampire were quickly dismissed the closer they became and the more time they spent together.

Zoë thought about how he was able to control people's minds. Countless times they had gone to a late night showing of a movie, or to a restaurant. People always had the same reaction to him; a glazed look would overcome them, and when he told them to do something, they would briefly look confused, but end up doing anything and everything he asked (or flat out told them to).