ASHEN

A Story by Adraine

The start of a journey between a young witch and ancient vampire who have never met, yet share a strange link that will intertwine their fates

She stood across the dimly lit club eyeing him expectedly. Her long blond eyelashes batted in slow seductive movements over her brilliant blue eyes. She was lovely; there was no other word for it. Her long cascading waves framed her softly tanned face. She was petite and oh so confidant. She knew what she wanted and she knew that she could get it. Her small hips swayed as she sauntered towards him. Jesse, her name was Jesse she will do he thought and with a glance she was caught as sure as any fly who happened upon a spiders web. As she approached he reached for her hand and led her towards the back entrance. She followed him without hesitation, as he knew she would. Her heart rapidly pounded with anticipation as she rose on tiptoe to meet his lips. A most enticing rhythm As she pulled him towards her he began a slow line of kisses down her cheek to her jaw line and finally down her long slender neck. Underneath her foul, artificial flowery perfume was a much sweeter sent that tickled his senses. The intoxicating sent of the blood rushing in the vain just beneath his lips. It was too much; he was lost. After one final kiss he tightened his grip and pulled her head to the side so that her neck was fully exposed, and struck.

I jerked awake, sitting bolt upright, waiting for the shaking to subside and my heart to stop pounding like it was trying to punch its way out of my chest. I reached up to brush the strands of hair out of my eyes and felt the cold sweat beads that had collected on my face. "What the hell" I spoke to the blanket of darkness that that filled my room. I looked towards my alarm clock and groaned. 3:16 yet another disrupted night. Resigned to being awake I stiffly rose and felt my way to the bathroom light-switch and flicked it on. As the sharp light assaulted my eyes a single name whispered through my mined. Ashen… As my eyes adjusted to the harsh light from the bathroom fixtures, the name slowly began to fade from my mind till it was almost as if I had imaged it, and perhaps I had. But never the less I was shaken and the fine tremble in my hand seemed to emphasize that fact. I turned the old-fashioned bronze and marble sink handle and took comfort in the sound of the rushing water. I had never before been bothered by silence but the thick almost tangible silence that surrounded me was at this moment was completely unnerving. I dipped my hands into the rushing water and the liquid warmth thawed some of the chill that had creped into my bones. After washing the now dried sweat from my face I looked up at the mirror and was not at all surprised at what I saw. I was pale; my eyes were wide and looked slightly haunted. I closed my eyes and told my self that it was just a dream. Of course I knew better than that, it was never just a dream, but the idea that it was just my morbid subconscious was calming, in a way. I opened my eyes again and looked back at my reflection in the mirror. "Ah much better" I spoke aloud. Fortunately I no longer looked as if I had just spotted the grim repaper sneaking up behind me. I was still pail and my eyes still looked haunted, but then again they always did. After my heart slowed and the adrenalin rush dissipated, I felt completely worn out. So I turned and made my way back to my bead and the promise of sleep. As I settled into my bed I silently prayed for a dreamless sleep for the remainder of my night.

I awoke to the repeated pounding on my door. "GO AWAY" I yelled; the pounding came again but louder now. "LEVE ME ALONE" I shouted but the pounding became even louder. I sled out of my bed, mourning the loss of my warm nest of blankets and opened the door…….. To be continued………….