Ancient Darkness (On HOLD)

Chapter Seven - Creature To Call

Sang felt her whole body blanch as she recognised the voice. Silence followed the degree as power rolled through the room. It wasn't her imagination as she both saw and felt everyone shiver at the warning laced throughout his words.

She looked into the almost black eyes of Mr Blyre and frowned, if she didn't know any better, she would have thought that he looked both disgusted and...hungry.

Her body moved further back without any conscious thought of her own - she felt as if the walls were closing in, there was no escape. The phantom - the man that she had thought to never meet except for in their secret conversations - was waiting beyond the crowd of people frozen in their spots in front of the chaise.

"Miss Sorenson?" The evocative sound came again and a blush rose, unbidden, on her cheeks. The very sound of it made something deep within her clench in reaction.

She very much wished to be anywhere else at that moment, or she wished that she could have somehow changed what had occurred between them. She would not have sacrificed his sanity or life but she now recognised that he was a threat to her.

There were things that she had glimpsed in his mind, strange images which didn't make sense to her, that made her shy away. Visions of night time explorations peppered with blood-stricken battle fields and strange creatures she instinctively knew meant death to any who stumbled upon them.

Again, "Miss Sorenson?" although this time it was laced with seduction and she knew that he was becoming dangerously impatient.

She didn't want to admit to being so in tune with such a man as he but there was no escaping the knowledge that, since that furtive moment when she had desperately tried to save a stranger in trouble, they had become...connected.

"Y-yes?" Finally her mouth opened, the effect making it feel as though warmth poured back into the room.

"Why do you feel so terrified, little one? Surely you knew that we would one day meet? It took me this long to track you, which in itself is quite a feat, but..." his voice faded as those still around began to move back to their places, their minds filled with the need to linger, hoping for drama.

At first she kept her eyes glued to the floor, flinching only slightly when Mr Blyre touched her knee before he stepped back. Sang didn't want to have to look up and face a creature that was sure to change her life in ways she couldn't even begin to imagine but she was also eager to escape the attention of the crowd.

Her own face flashed in the curious minds of the inn's other guests, causing her to sigh with reluctance.

He wanted for her to acknowledge him, wanted for his 'little one' to see him.

She was scared, more scared than she had ever been in her life. What was he? Who was he?

A chuckle floated to her ears, "Perhaps you should look up and find out." His voice played sweetly. "Come, little one. Don't act shy now, look up and see what kind of creature you have called to your side."

Fighting down cold shivers, she finally glanced upward, meeting his eyes as she felt the world disappear.

Perfection, that was her first thought, he was an image which totally eclipsed her vision. His eyes were a deep and gorgeous grey, making Sang think of all things ancient and powerful.

It seemed as though the Earth tilted on its axis and the oxygen was sucked from the room. The beating of her heart increased until she could hear nothing but blood rushing and his silent voice urging her to move, to give herself over to him.

He moved through the room as all of the forgotten others stepped out of his way. His body held the feral grace she had only seen in predators but never in a human - it was mesmerizing, the way that his very presence seemed to make everything else pale.

He got closer, close enough that she had to suck in a breath at the unnatural beauty of his face and form. He wasn't an overly muscular man but the line of his shoulders and waist set off a tingling sensation at the base of her spine.

His face was sensual and elegant with high, cut cheekbones and heart-shaped lips. If anyone could be described as the epitome of male magnificence than here it was. All wrapped up in a non-descript outfit of black trousers and a dark button shirt.

All too soon he stood close to her knees as she fought back the need to move further into the wall.

The thought that she couldn't appear weak in front of him flowed through her mind and she squinted up at his face as his mouth quirked up into a small smile.

Had he heard that?

"Of course I did."

"You look as though joining me for the evening would be a good idea, Miss Sorenson. I am so very sorry that it took me so long to get to you." His eyes gave off a warning that anything other than her capitulation would lead to trouble.

She shivered, not wanting to mention that she had already made plans, as she returned his look with a weak smile, "It does seem that way, Mr Blackbourne. Shall we go?"

Sang thought that if she could get them both away from the intense scrutiny of the others, it would allow for her to regain her composure and some control over the situation.

Every iota of common sense screamed that leaving with him would have consequences beyond reckoning.

There was just something about him...something other.

She watched with apprehension as he lifted an elegant hand, the unspoken command explicit within the action. He wanted her complete compliance.

She lifted her own and lingered it over his palm before he removed even that distance and took a firm hold on her suddenly cold fingers.

If it had just been the warmth of his shockingly smooth skin she could have calmly pulled herself onto her feet and moved away from spying eyes so that they were a distance from the limelight, but a pounding invasion of images suddenly smashed through every mental shield she had.

Scene after scene passed swiftly and silently behind her eyes - his memories, impossible memories that told a story of things not natural. Shocking moments of blood, death and loneliness. Sang felt whatever he had whenever his eyes caught upon the faces of those he believed to be family.

It was too much, she lost complete control of her body as everything within her turned in an attempt to remain grounded in time and space.

"Stop this," his defeaning roar cut the connection much too abruptly and she welcomed darkness, whispering to him, whispering only one thought, "What are you?"