The throbbing bass of the techno music pounded the floor and the flash of the strobe light electrified the room with a hypnotic thrum. Hundreds of sweat soaked bodies gyrated on the floor in time with the music relashing the release of emotion and stress with every sway of the hip. Those not dancing in the hip New York club lounged at the bar or in dimmly lit booths mingling with dates or significant others. Melanie moved with the beat feeling the music flow through her veins, here was where she felt free from all responsibility. Free from the expectations society imposed on her. Her long blonde hair whiped around her face and she could feel a bead of sweat tickling the side of her head but she cherished it. The power hummed in her veins and the beat made her feel electrified with life. Soon the music would end and she'd have to go back to her duty bound life but for now, for now she could dance.
From across the dance floor he watched her body sway, jealous of all the men who had put their hands on her perfect hips, moving with her to the thump of the bass. She was too perfect for these men, they didn't appreciate her beauty and her power, none could be her equal. The people surrounding him shifted instinctively from the surge of power he eminated. Darkness consumed his heart as it had for centuries. It was his job, and his duty to watch and protect Melanie as it had been since her creation. Her name had changed over the years and she had no memory of the lives she had lived but the dreams that haunted her in her sleep, yet even as the centuries wore on and the sands of time shifted her beauty had not waned nor had her power and love of music. He longed to touch her, dance with her, feel her body against his but alas that was his curse. He was to guard and protect the most sacred of treasures but never allow his presence to be known. He was her shadow, her guardian angel and nothing more.
~*~
Phoebe strolled along the lit up boulevard humming quietly to herself feeling the calm air of the night take over her spirit. Throughout her whole life she had felt a connection with the moonlit nights and the crisp evening air. It centered her, allowed her to feel uninhibited and safe. It was only one night a month she felt alone in the world, unsure of her surroundings and paranoid of the faces that swarmed past her on her way home from work; the night of the new moon. Darkness frightened her and she took comfort from the moon's strong rays but that would not be tonight for tonight was the New Moon. Her feet and shoulders ached from the long day at work and she wished to just be home, safe from the darkness of the night. Being a twenty-one year old elementary school teacher in a city with millions of other people sometimes took a tole on her body and her spirit but there was always this knowledge in her mind that she was on this earth for a reason and one day she would find out what that reason was. Her dreams spoke of peace and a world she was meant to protect but at the same time they warned of an evil invisible to the rest of humanity. Phoebe knew of the evils in the world, she saw them in the eyes of some of her students parents. She mourned for those children, the children she had come to love and protect as much as she could from the horrors of the world. Inserting her key in her one room apartment door Phoebe felt a presence, one she had often experienced in the past couple of months. This looming heaviness in the air that made her shiver and seek the solace of her bed.
Harkin watched his prey from the corner of the dimly lit hall. From the first night he had been assigned this woman he had been confused by her reaction to his presence. Each morning when she left her home and each night when she returned she felt him standing watch, never before had this happened. No one was supposed to feel him, he was a Watcher, a stalker of the Night. It was his duty to stalk his prey, learn its weaknesses and when the time was right eliminate the enemy. By the powers granted him by the Prince of Night he could become invisible at will and mask his presence from those he wished to be immune, but this woman felt him. She perceived his aura somehow and this left many questions unanswered to him and if there was anything he did not like, it was being unaware.
~*~
A light breeze filtered through the trees forcing their heavy branches to sway and bow in reverance to the mighty element of Air. The trickle of a small stream blended in with the ambiant noises of the night bringing Branna back to the conscious world around her. There was no light to illuminate the surrounding wood but her eyes cut through the darkness with ease. No moon graced the sky but Branna felt comfortable in the darkened silence, here was where she felt most powerful and centered. The Night had long offered her solace from the grime and evils of the modern world. Darkness was the only pure thing in the universe, existing even in the presence of light. Closing her eyes once again Branna centered her thoughts and her mind allowing her spirit to roam free, releasing it to the natural elements around her. As her consciousness waned a cloud of negative energy slammed into hers knocking her back to earth. Her eyes snapped open suddenly hypersensitive to her surroundings. Never before had something such as this happened to her. Deep inside her she could feel where the negative energy had touched her own and she felt tainted by its hatred, feeling the need to be cleansed and pure once more. Branna moved with ease following the stream down further into the forest until she came upon the deep pool it created in the center of the wood.
Completely nude, she slid into the freezing water gritting her teeth against the chill. Once submerged a warmth flooded her body and she felt the hatred begin to wash away into the depths of the pool. Her pale milky skin shimmered with unseen power and her emerald eyes sparkled with an unearthly light. Branna centered herself once more ignoring the cold that slowly seeped into her veins but soon her feet and hands became numb. "Make the water warm." Branna's eyes snapped open, this time it was not in fear but in surprise. Often throughout her twenty-one years she had heard this familiar voice speak to her, giving her guidance and warning of danger but never before had it spoke to her like this, so obviously.
"But how?" No answer came to her so once again she centered herself. Right away she felt the power stir under her skin, like subtle pin pricks at first until it soon felt as if her very veins were on fire. Branna submerged her hands in the water and it eased her pain, soothing the burning sensation. After the pain had subsided she noticed the warmed temperature of the water, as comfortable as the bath she poured for herself at home. Needing answers she fully centered herself for the third time that night and let the darkness enter her soul and give her guidance. A figure swam before her eyes slowly coming into focus. A tall, slender woman with raven tresses and emerald eyes that mirrored her own stood before her with power flowing off her in waves.
"My child, you are in grave danger. The Prince of Night has gained much power in these last years since your reincarnation, your sisters need your guidance once more. As the centuries pass they forget who they area meant to be, caught up in the world of modern technology, you are the only line left to the ancient ones. You must find them and gather your strength and power for the Prince has a new adversary for you, one that will catch you off guard and present the most danger. This new enemy can walk amidst the light of both the moon and the sun and cannot be changed. Find your sisters and he shall find you." Branna sought to grab the fading figure but as her fingers brushed her skirt the image disappeared leaving her once again alone in the silent forest.
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