This is the Night

-1-

*1223 A.D.*

Hurry Dane!" Amara yelled behind her back as we ran through the crowded marketplace at dusk. "You're too slow."

"I bet I am," I yelled, running faster with all my energy.

The streets were quite full for it to be so late, the many merchants which lined the edges of the stone castle were still present, haggling and nagging peasants and even the aristocrats to purchase their goods. We pressed through the thickening crowd with ease, not taking time to listen to anything that the traders tried to tell us.

Spread over the entire ground was an abundance of orange and yellow leaves which seemingly levitated in small whirlwinds with the sweep of a soft breeze through the narrow market street. The trees had taken on a foreboding nature this autumn, they were nearly completely barren and the sun cast large shadows of them on the earth which were unsettling.

Amara latched on to my arm, snatching me from my thoughts and into the present moments.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To the castle, we have things to talk about," She said.

"Oh, things, eh? And in my own castle?"

"Yes." She replied with a hint of ecstasy rolling from her lips. We were courting, and had been for a very long time, and if I could guess what she meant, I would not be surprised.

I thought the horde of people would never end as we came upon the entrance to the palace. Amara pulled me along across the wooden drawbridge and under the metal gate that hung above us.

"Good evening, Prince Dane." A guard greeted me.

"Good evening, Gareth." I stated as Amara fell to my side and let me proceed first.

We made our way into the Great Hall and then into one of the many long and snake-like corridors. I felt Amara next to my body and it made me happy, for her to be here with me, so close to me and not in secret anymore.

You see, my father, King Turin arranged my marriage with another neighboring kingdom in hopes of peace between the two. Since then, neither of us has been hostile toward the other, and incidentally, the Princess Lara wed another prince.

Lara was always a girl of demands and snobbery. She would treat others as if they were vermin, while she was some gift directly from God himself. Whenever she or I was forced to visit, Lara would talk about nothing, save for how beautiful I should think she was, and how wonderfully ornate her dresses were. I tired of this after our third or fourth visitation.

Quite frankly, I, couldn't care any less about her marriage with another. I never knew the woman well, and actually did not care to. Also, we were never quite interested in each other. I believe what she did was for the better; the greater good, for the both of us. She was with the one she loved, and so was I.

My tall oak doors creaked from the aridness of summer which just passed. I'll have to get someone to wax those hinges, I thought. I held my arm out and let Amara glide past me and sit upon my wooden four-poster bed which was across from the fire place which had not long ago been set ablaze. I looked her over as she sat there, waiting, and became entranced.

Amara is a beautiful girl of sixteen, and I am of that age as well. Her long flowing curls of auburn sit atop her shoulders and beg to be let down. Her eyes are like jewels of amber. I can never stare in them for too long for the fear of falling into them. On the other hand, I have hair that hangs just below my shoulders and furls outward naturally. The color is quite deceptive; in one light, you may see jet black, in others pure snow white. However, I know that every other strand of my hair is black or white. One might say I have a head full of highly valuable salt and pepper.

I sat beside her. She welcomed me with a soft kiss on my lips. I smiled in return.

"I love you, Dane."

"I love you more, Amara." I countered her effort and we kissed deeply, for hours it seemed. My love for this woman was incalculable. "So, what are these things you need to talk to me about?"

"Oh, that." Her voice was solemn; full of gloom. She seemed to be on the brink of tears. She brushed my hair away from my eyes so that she could look into them. "It's nothing, Dane." Still, more distress.

"I'm sure it's just nothing, Amara. You seemed anxious to tell me something in the market. Tell me, whatever it is."

"It's just...just that I feel...." Amara began to cry uncontrollably. I reached out my hand to caress her silky cheek.

"Do not cry, my love. What is it?"

"I told you, Dane, it's nothing, I love you and I want to be with your forever."

"I want to be with you forever as well."

"I was hoping you would say that, love."

Amara looked up at me and the tears stopped. Her face became serene. I stared in her deep ambers and I began to fall. Darkness was coming closer, the shadows deepened. Was this happening to Amara as well?

I felt my body begin to fall forward, then I felt Amara's hands on my shoulders. She held me up, forcing me to look into the depths of her infinite ocher eyes and said to me,

"If you love me, say yes, and we will be together for eternity."

How could I say no? How could I say yes? This was my love and I did want to be with her, but would my answer bring me out of this stupor?

"Yes..." I muttered. My words echoed throughout my bedchamber and the rest of the castle, it seemed. Amara's eyes began to grow to an extent that I never dreamed possible. The bottoms of them became whole and took hold of me and forced me even further into the daze. I fell back onto the bed.

A small gust of wind blew across my face and I felt the weight on my bed lessen. Amara drew the thick hangings on the posts on all sides, climbed on again and we were in the darkness together, inside and outside the drapes.

At that moment Amara came close to me, climbed atop me and simply lay there. Was she waiting for something? Were we going to perform the rituals of adoration that we were so used to? I could feel Amara's curls cover my face; I felt them rise and fall with every delayed breath I took.

Amara kissed my left cheek. She worked her way down to my neckline; kissing and licking, until finally, I felt her mouth open around my neck. She bit me! She bit down on my flesh with the sharp teeth that I always noticed and dug holes into my skin. What was she doing? Why was she doing this?

The woman I thought I loved wrapped her lips around my wound and sucked the blood from me as if I was the Holy Grail itself. Pain resonated in my chest. There was a tug at my heart. She was pulling at my heart through my neck!

Witch! Somehow I was in love with a witch. How could this be?

The darkness inside my already closed eyes became darker, if that was possible, and I began to fade. I lost feeling in my legs and arms; my torso was slipping under the spell of an imp of Satan's. God help me....

*****

I lay in my bed, wavering between life and death; there was no way for me to know which. My limbs had a weight to them I never felt before. My breaths were faint, shallow, almost absent. I felt some of the weight of my body rise, then move to the side of me. It was the witch! How dare she do this to me! If I had the strength I would bring my fist to her face. But how could I? Was this not the same woman I said I wanted to spend eternity with?

"You can live now that death has whispered into your ear." Amara's voice reverberated through my head. Was she death? She was the only being that whispered into my ear.

I did not want to live with her. I did not want to see her face ever again in life. She was a witch and she had to be burned! No matter how much I loved her, we could never be, now that I found out about the spell she cast upon me.

Amara came and lay on top of me again. I could faintly hear her work the fastenings of the sleeve of her dress and then she came forward. She bent down over me and fed me her wrist. Her bloody wrist! With her free hand she held my mouth open, while with the other she fed me her blood.

As soon as the blood touched my tongue, I could feel my body absorb the liquid and take it along the works of my body, with it a pain came that felt like fire. The pain moved to the whole of my body. I twisted and contorted with Amara on top of me. It was unbearable!

Her blood took over my body and began to eat away at my mortality. I knew this. I would either die tonight or I would live a damned life. The fluid of damnation flowed through me and forced me into the sleep of mortal death. Behind my eyelids I could see a bright crimson, then I saw nothing. Darkness consumed me.

*****

The pain in my chest was still present, only now, it had spread throughout my whole body, even to my teeth! I could still feel the pulling at my heart, though There was now a new pulling and It was in my stomach. What is this? I thought.

Hunger is what you are feeling, my love. Amara's voice rang through my mind. How could that be? How could I hear her in my thoughts? You must feed, Dane. You will live.

"W-What..." I stammered, still trying to find the air to breathe and speak at the same time. It felt as if I was just born into this world. My chest heaved with every breath I took, and my eyelids seemed so heavy when I tried to open them they closed without discretion.

"Do not speak, Dane. Save your strength, you will need it for your hunt. Stay close to me and do not move," The witch said as she wrapped her arms around my nearly dead body. What was she going to do to-?

"I am taking you to a place of life, and death, my love."

Dear God, was she within my thoughts as well? Lord, Christ, help me. Help me to flee this witch, save me, Lord Jesus.

Amara hugged my body tightly, and soon I began to feel light. Then I imagined we both felt deep vibrations, and the bed on which we lay flew from under us and we were left standing. The experience was quite nauseating, though I somehow kept myself intact, while her strong arms held me upright. This process was faster than it took a thought to enter my head and play itself out before my lethargic mind. This was some sort of witchery that I hoped she would never put me through again.

I opened my eyes despite the weight of their lids. We were in a small hovel with a low ceiling and a door that was in front of me.

"You can walk, love. Just try." She told me. If I can get away from her I will flee with the help of God. He will never forsake me. I thought as I slowly pushed myself away from her, standing on my own two feet.

My legs were unable to withstand my weight. They felt as if they were stuck deep into the ground and they would never be moved without my consent. This was my chance; the Lord had given me this strength to get away from her!

As I stepped around Amara to head for the door a scent caught my nose and held me there, in the middle of the room, immobile. The scent was intoxicating and I could think of nothing else but to go to it. I let my legs take me back to Amara and into the room next to the small foyer we were in.

There was a large body on the small bed of straw. What was this smell? Where was it coming from? Surely it was not coming from this body. But just as I stepped closer, Amara walked past me, went to the bed and pulled the sleeping man up by his tattered shirt. The startled man flailed and wailed, but Amara held him to her eyes as she did me not long before, and he fell limp to her spell.

Lead me not into temptation, Lord.

Amara bent the man over her arm, exposing his neck. She took one of her sharp fingernails and broke the skin, then licked at the blood that flowed.

Taste him Dane. You will need it. You will love it. Her voice echoed through my mind.

Immediately, I recognized the blood that ran down his skin as the scent that I caught. It was wonderful, and I wanted it. I wanted to taste it inside me. My feet began to move toward her and the man whose blood flowed freely. I took him from Amara and wrapped my lips around the lesion. I drew from him the sweet, coppery blood and it filled me the way Amara's had. Only this time, it brought peace and calm to my body. It alleviated the pain and pull which was all over my body.

The cut was too small for my satisfaction. Instinctively I bit down on the man's flesh and opened the wound wider to my liking, to the point of my fulfillment.

"Yes, that's it, my love, you know the way. Take him. Take his life into you so that you will live." Amara told me as if we were engaged in our private rites within my bedchamber.

No! I could not do it. I would not take his life. This was a sin! I would be damned!

"I will not take his life, Witch! You will ensnare me with your spells, no longer!" I spat as I threw the man from me and the blood that I had not long ago loved spilled from my mouth and dripped down my chin. "I will never be what you are, I am not a witch. I am not a demon! God will protect me, he will provide for me."

"Ah, yes, I am sure he will provide for you, Dane. He will provide your food, your sustenance. Mortals-people. Surely he will populate this earth with humans to feed us both and every other creature like us. And what better way to spend eternity, than with the one you love?" Amara said, looking deep into my eyes, seemingly unable to hex me with her curses any longer, and moving close to me, lightly touching my face with the back of her hand.

"What have you done to me, you evil wretch?" I spat, throwing her hand away. "You have made me into something unholy. I will never forgive you for this, Amara. Never. If I ever lay eyes on you again in life, it would be too soon."

"W-what are you saying, dear? It's obvious you don't know. This confusion will soon pass and you will love me just as before. And-"

"No! I will never love you as I did before. You are nothing to me, nothing!"

-2-

*Today*

That night, I ran from the house in which I first took the human blood. Since then, nearly every night I have hunted. I remained on earth. I did not die or take my own life, for then I would surely be damned to hell. I went back to my home only to gather things I could carry, and I never gave the castle a backward glance. I could never let my father or anyone, for that matter, see what I had become.

God smiled upon me and granted me with the immortal life to seek the truth and bring others to him. It may seem blasphemous or contradictory that I take the human blood and still bring humans to God, but that, my friend, is for our Father to decide. Not you nor I.

I learned the ways of my kind soon after I fled my maker that night. I learned that I could move objects with my mind and rise into the air and take myself anywhere I wished with only a thought. The power of thought is essential with my kind. And the gift that Amara used to transport us into the hovel, I gained after two centuries of walking the earth.

Ah, Amara. My old love. I was never sure if I had forgiven her for the heinous crime she had done unto me, but I thought of God, and realized that it was always in his will for this to happen. Though I never saw her after the first night of my immortality, I always wished to. After my fifth century, I accepted the fact that maybe she went into the light of the noon day and took her life, distraught from my reaction, and I prayed for her, that she found the safe passage to Heaven.

Amara and I loved each other genuinely, and since then I have loved no one save for the blood I drew from mortals, and even then, the blood is nothing to love.

*****

The night was young and the moon was full with majesty as I stepped out of my home with the hunger inside me ravenous. It was nearly midnight when I rose. I took myself deep into the heart of Los Angeles to find my victim, into a very posh suburb, Beverly Hills. I walked down the sparsely populated Rodeo Drive, looking for a human worthy to see God this night. I found my prey near a large shopping mall that attracted flocks of mortals.

She was a thin, almost frail woman, walking down a darkened alley that I projected into her mind as a bustling marketplace. A market so like the one that I last visited, eight hundred years ago. I made a "thief" come to her and try and steal her bag. I ran to her and pushed the image of the thief away and showed the woman that I saved her valuables.

"Thank-" She started, but I stopped her with the force of my eyes. I pulled her close to me and took her into the shadows. I formed my mouth to her neck and began to drink her warm life. Go with God, Dear, I told her mind as I took the life into me more and more as something caught my mind. A familiar thought. A thought that I had not visited since the night it occurred.

"Still taking the innocent and sending them to your God, Dane?" Amara's sweet, soft voice filled my ears and made my heart flourish and bring back my love for her. Her voice made tears flood my eyes as I dropped the woman and turned to see my love's radiant amber eyes and beautiful auburn hair.

It was my Amara. The vampire who disguised herself as a mortal to gain my love, the vampire that loved me....

No matter how she changed me, I grew to love her even more in her absence, and I could be without her no longer!

"My lovely, Amara." I said dumbfounded as she ran into my arms and we embraced. "I love you, Amara. I never stopped, my love."

The tears now streaming down both of our faces, and my salty hair falling into our way as we kissed the kiss that mended the hate and malice forged centuries ago.

I never stopped loving you either, Dane. I've always watched you, masking my presence. We will be with each other forever, won't we? She asked during the kiss with her mind.

Yes, I will let nothing stop us from being with each other. Nothing. I said as we still kissed, our minds mingling together sensuously.

I brought her close to my body and took us into to the air. Thank you, I told her, this is the night I've waited centuries for; this is the night where all our futures will begin. After this, we will never be lonely again. We flew into the night; into the majestic light of the moon.

This was the night.

Epilogue

Yes, I decided to take Amara back. I know I could have cursed her or killed her the instant she came back to me, yes, I know, but I didn't. After centuries to think about what she did to me, as I have said, I began to realize that this vampirism is nearly a blessing, and it was The Almighty himself who created the first of my kind, Cain. However, that is not important here.

I acknowledge Amara did take me away from my family and those who loved me, but she also made me exempt from war, death, disease, decay, even. She did all this for me: The human with a monarch for a father; the naïve mortal who knew nothing of vampires and their ways. The human that fell in love with Amara, the daughter of an aristocrat which I later found were no more than fabrications made by her. Yes, I took her back.

Now that Amara and I are together for the eternity which she promised, what left is there to do? Is there really anything for an immortal to do but live and wait for the next night to begin? Is it possible for us to wear the guise of a human and somehow influence the mortal world? The answer is not known to me, and I do not advise it at all.

But where does my endless procession of words and descriptions lead you? I cannot answer that question either, my friend. My only hope is that in some way you have been influenced by my story, or my words. Do not fall into the same pattern I did, no human should ever be forced to endure what I have: betrayal, love, love lost, and immortal life. However, I am willing to put myself before the world so that some may learn. Let me be your sacrificial victim; let me be your martyr.

9:35 p.m.
Tuesday
September 16, 2003

The End