Athánatos: Death is only the beginning

redblood

redblood

Anxious Tomato Will Bite You!
Original poster
MYTHICAL MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. One post per day
  3. 1-3 posts per week
  4. One post per week
  5. Slow As Molasses
Online Availability
Afternoons, evenings and nights.
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
  4. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
Genres
Historical, fantasy, magic, horror, supernatural, survival, vampires, demons, pirates, mutants, ghosts, romance (FxF, MxM, MxF) (Romance should be part of the plot and not the whole plot in itself), etc.
"You won't have to worry about those things anymore, Caius." A voice whispered in the dark. "It will be over soon."

As the sun went down in the sky, humans prepared to get home. At least some of them. Others had to work late at night, while the upper-class citizens might have a party for no particular reason. One unfamiliar man was in the middle of one of those higher class parties, secretly seeking after something or someone to devour.

Many curious eyes looked towards his direction, who was that new young stranger? Little did they know that the blonde European man was much older than he looked. He chatted with the masses, until he found a perfect prey. He knew exactly what people thought would happen when he took her out to the backyard. If only they knew how wrong they were. Twenty minutes later he went back in, alone.
 
Here she was at yet another party; another gathering of snobs here for no other reason than to show everyone how spectacular they were. Victoria sat in a dimly lit corner, wearing an expensive dress and absently sipping at a glass of whine. Her mother would be furious her if she knew she was drinking whine as she was far too young, but she did not care. Life had become one drab party after another, searching for a husband she did not want to begin with. If she was old enough to start considering who she would wed, she was certainly old enough to have a few drinks while she looked. Not that this party had much to look at, a bunch of pimple faced snobs flaunting their father's money.

Thanks to her girlish good looks and her shockingly red hair she often found herself surrounded by these potential suitors. Tonight they had failed to notice her so far, to her great relief. Victoria noticed a man standing in the middle of the room who looked interesting. Beautiful blonde hair and an exciting look in his eye that Victoria could not quite define...
 
It didn't take long before the stranger noticed a girl with beautiful red hair that had looked over at him. She didn't stare or anything, but he still saw that she seemed to be curious. Well, everyone had been a bit curious of him that evening. It didn't matter where he went, he was always somewhere new, and every time people started to flock around him.

He couldn't blame them, who wouldn't want to talk with a beautiful stranger that has traveled the world. After some chatting with some beautiful women and men, he decided to try and start a conversation with the red haired beauty. And maybe get a second portion for the night.

"Good evening mademoiselle." He greeted her as he approached. "Are you waiting for someone?" He then asked with curiosity entering his voice, as if he was wondering why such a beautiful young woman would sit all alone. When in reality he liked it better when they were alone and didn't care much for why they would be alone.
 
Her heartbeat quickened when the handsome stranger moved in her direction. Finally a little excitement! Her mind ran wild with imaginings of who he might be, an adventurer just back from dangerous mysterious places? Or perhaps he was royalty of some sort, in search of a young lady to bring back to his far off exotic kingdom! The silly fantasies of a bored girl, she knew it but her life had become so mundane that sometimes her imagination was all she had.

When he greeted her she stood and gave a polite curtsy. "I suppose I am waiting for someone, in a manner of speaking. Perhaps I was even waiting for you sir." Victoria gave him a playful wink, hoping to start up a little harmless flirting. It was as much excitement as she dared to hope for out of this night.
 
He could hear her heartbeat pounding a bit faster than it should. Was it out of nervousness? Excitement? Maybe even fear? But both the first and the last could fast be put off the list of reasons, since she didn't seem uncomfortable in his presence as a nervous person would nor did she show any sign of trying to back away as a frightened person would. She seemed to flirt with him, but not in the same manner as the other women had done during the evening. Nor any other evening for the last century.

"One can always hope." He said with a charming smile lingering on his lips. "I am Caius Belgarde, I'm an artist and traveler. I seek beauty all across the world to find inspiration for my paintings." He introduced himself. "And what might your name be? If you don't mind me asking."
 
She smiled and blushed just a little. An artist! How exciting, perhaps this night would not be a total loss after all. She held out her small hand for him to kiss and said, "I am Victoria Pennington. It is a pleasure to meet you." She offered another small curtsy. She looked into his eyes and caught another glimpse of that inexplicable gleam, there was something there that she could not quite put into words. He said he was an artist so perhaps it was only that he saw the world a bit different than she did, still as she tried to define the look her mind kept wandering back to one word, hunger.

Perhaps she should have been more cautious but instead the mysterious quality of this stranger only made her more excited. She felt an unfamiliar warmth in her belly and a pleasant tension in her nerves. "Have you found any such inspiration at this party?" She looked around the room with an expression of distaste. "Personally I would expect the slums to be a better muse..."
 
Caius gave Victorias hand a gentle kiss. Her blood smelled as powerful and delicious as she looked. He would love to have a taste of her as soon as possible. As he let go of her hand he noticed from the corner of his eye that some women looked over at them, clearly jealous that she had gotten his attention. There were also some men looking towards them, first now had they noticed the beautiful red haired girl and felt jealousy over that another man had gotten to her first. They just hoped she would think of him as boring and soon reject him.

"Inspiration can be found in various places. Sometimes it's something simple as a flower, other times it's the hardship of a cruel world, and now and then it's a beautiful woman that gives the most inspiration." He told her. "But between you and me. It's much easier to find customers here than in the slums." He then confessed with a wink.
 
"Ah! Very sensible I suppose." She said, never considering that the 'beautiful woman' comment may have been directed toward her. "Still I believe this party is stifling even my limited creativity so I can only imagine what it must be doing to you..." Victoria looked at her hands, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious. "Perhaps you would like to escort me on a stroll through the garden out back? It is quite beautiful. If you are to find inspiration I can't imagine a better place to start."
 
He wasn't certain if she had picked up on his attempt to indirectly call her beautiful, but if she had then she hid it very well. "I would be delighted to do so." He answered. It almost felt like a challenge not to lick his lip at the thought of devouring this young woman's blood. For now he had to control himself. And he did so very well. Many centuries of practice payed off.

He offered her his arm as he escorted her out. "Though I have already found more than enough inspiration for my next project." He then told her as they started to walk. "and I would love to make a portrait of you, if you don't mind of course."
 
"Not at all." She said allowing him to escort her out the back entrance into the cool night air. "I would in fact be delighted." She could scarcely contain her excitement at finding such an unexpected and intriguing man at one of these parties. Her mother would be furious that she was not spending her time with more 'socially appropriate' men then a painter, but that only made it all the more exciting for Victoria. She smiled up at the man and pulled a little closer as they walked.

"You are quite an unusual man Caius. I mean that of course as a compliment, I am afraid the men here have become a long line of boring copies. One after another bragging about how they are already running their fathers factory and how they will be the youngest man to ever attain blah blah level of wealth and power... blah blah blah... quite tiresome."
 
More stars than could be counted could be seen in the sky on that cloud-free evening. Caius did indeed mean what he said, he wanted to make a portrait of her, and that night sky would be a beautiful background to it. But that wasn't the only thing he wanted from her. And the question was, would she live to see her own portrait or not? Well, he hadn't planned that far ahead. He took it as it came. But she were an interesting person, and it would be a great loss to just discard of her.

"I understand that feeling. Your life is stuck in a loop, every day is like the previous and no person can understand a different mind. It gets boring quite fast indeed." He said understandingly. "I suppose I couldn't convince you to come with me for a while, and travel to exotic and inspiring places." He was very interested in how she would answer. Would she take it as a joke or would she give him an answer.
 
At his question her mind burst into fantasies of jungles and castles and strange places full of strange people. She did not think he was entirely serious but to her surprise, she realized that if he was serious she would go in a heartbeat. Her parents were wealthy and needed nothing from her, and she had nothing else tying her down to this place. She smiled brightly at him and said, "I would leave now without any of my things if only for a chance to see something new for a change!" She thought that she was only playing along with the joke, although she meant what she said. "But only if you promise we can visit Italy, it has always been a dream of mine. And I do not wish to have the royal tour either, I want to see the people as they truly live."
 
Caius was quite surprised by her answer. Most women would completely brush it off as a joke and say that it wasn't possible. Others that would take it serious usually was too afraid to leave the secure walls of their home and family. Maybe he had found someone that could accompany him.

He took her hand a second time and kissed it once again. "Your dream will require a bit of discomfort. But after that you'll have an eternity to experience every place you have ever dreamed of." He told her in a whisper while still holding her hand. Then he pulled her forcefully into an embrace and bit her neck. Her blood tasted more delicious than he could ever have imagined. Would he be able to stop before she lost to much blood to survive a single second? Well, if he couldn't control himself enough he could just find someone else, but it would be a real pity.
 
She smiled as he kissed her hand, but then her expression was one of confusion when he began speaking of discomfort and eternity. She was about to ask why when he suddenly pulled her close and bit down on her neck! She was shorter than him and he lifted her feet right off the ground like she weighed nothing at all. She wanted to scream but her entire body seemed to have gone limp and she had to concentrate just to keep breathing. She could not believe what was happening, he was actually sucking on the wound he made in her neck. Her body got cold and full of pins and needles as she was drained of blood. "Please..." She managed in barely more than a sigh...
 
Her heart started to beat faster and faster, until eventually it started to slow down because of the blood loss. He stopped himself just in time. He gently took out his fangs out of the young woman's neck, and put her carefully down on the ground.

"Don't you fret dear, you will soon wake up to a whole new world." He whispered to her before biting his wrist so that the blood ran out of his veins. "Now, drink this." He put his wrist towards her mouth to give her his blood. The blood that would kill and then resurrect her.
 
She was only half conscious as he bit his own wrist and put it to her mouth. She was about to wrench her head back in revulsion but then her nose caught the scent of the blood. It was easily the sweetest and most tempting aroma she had ever known. She could not have stopped herself even if she had wanted to at this point, she grabbed his hand with her weak grip and began to suck on the wound. The taste was like nothing she had even thought possible. It tasted of cinnamon or chocolate or strawberries or perhaps all of them together, and yet altogether different than anything she had experienced. She continued to suck until very suddenly her mind reeled and her stomach clenched up, she felt pain so great that her mouth opened as if to scream but nothing came out but a quiet gurgling sound. Then everything went black.
 
Caius felt her every heartbeat as it started to race even faster than when he had been drinking from her, eventually as she let go of him he also heard it die out. It wouldn't take long for her to wake up again. He picked her up from the ground and carried her towards a bench just a bit away. For every step he took she changed little by little until it was finally over. She would wake up at any moment, confused and hungry. And maybe a bit scared. Other vampires had always told him how amusing it was to see their reaction when they didn't know what had happened to them. Caius had changed people before, but very few and for other reasons than boredom. It had never felt amusing to him. Though he had his own macabre hobbies. Most of his art was inspired by death, usually inflicted by himself.

As the young girl Victoria started to wake up, Caius stroke her hand gently in a calming manner. "Good morning dear, and welcome to the beginning of an eternity." He whispered softly.
 
When she first started to wake up Victoria remembered nothing. She laid there while someone stroked her hand and smiled a little. Caius, such an interesting gentleman. Then all at once the attack came flooding back to her memory. She opened her eyes wide and wrenched her hand away. She jumped off the bench she was laying on, but she underestimated her own strength because she flew at least ten feet and landed with a thud.

She sat there looking around, everything was so clear and she could smell something wonderful nearby though she did not know what it was. "Wha...what did you do to me?" She asked pitifully. "I thought...I..." But she did not know what she thought. She felt both powerful and helpless at the same time. She looked at Caius with pleading eyes. "Please tell me what is happening! And tell me what is that smell!" She looked back toward the party, whatever it was it was coming from there and she needed it right now! She stood and realized that she was actually baring her teeth at the guests, thankfully no one seemed to be paying any attention to them.

She looked back at Caius again, desperation painted her face. "Caius, please... I need it!"
 
Caius wasn't surprised at all over her sudden withdrawal. After all, he had just attacked her, and that was something you wouldn't forget in the first couple of centuries without a very heavy blow to the head. Confusion was showering over the young lady and she searched after answers just as her body searched for blood.

He moved closer towards her, but carefully so she wouldn't get more frightened. "That is the smell of life. The blood that flows through the veins of the mortals. Do not worry dear, you will get everything you need and more." He told her as he reached out his hand for her to take. "I will explain everything after we have calmed your thirst." He then promised.
 
Victoria stared at him for a moment. He looked different somehow. She was not sure how she had not seen it before but despite his young handsome face he looked ancient. She looked at his hand suspiciously, she wanted to trust him, she needed to since he was the only one that could explain what was happening to her. She reached up slowly and placed her small delicate hand in his which was larger and strong.

"Alright Caius... just please help me... I need it so bad that my throat is burning."
 
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