Invaluable Error

Vincent listened to her as she recounted Allistair's story to him. It was sad...a boy who since before he was thirteen years old was beaten by his father. A boy who contemplated killing himself. Something more deep came into Vincent's eyes as he remembered his childhood. It was good...till the cancer came. Then It was a living hell. Doctors had told him he had a certain amount of time left before he would die...and that was when he was fifteen years old. When He was sixteen he was sitting rotting in a hospital, sitting outside near the time his nurse would come and put him back into his room. Vincent was come to by a man offering him life...a cure. He glady accpeted it thinking he would return to a normal life. A life where he would have a normal first kiss, where he would fall in love, where he would marry whom he wanted and would have a family and children. But no...it robbed him of normal but he got life. Now he was charged to take lives in order to survive. His maker rather cruel to him so he escaped the first chance he got. Leaving behind his maker and his human family who was dead by now. He knew cause he attneded his grand Nieces funeral in Russia. When he looked up Rachelle wiped the tears away from her eyes. She must really care about this kid...working the hours she did and paying him what she did all in order so he could stay away from home as long as he possibly could. He did seem like a good kid and she was such a good person to take him in like that. He smiled sweetly at her as she stooped talking.

"Rachelle...I've never seen such a person as you in my life. Not only are you very Pretty you seem like such a good person. I'm sure if you care about that boy as much as you do...like a dear friend or Son...then I'm sure he knows that. I hope he gets along well in everything he aspires to do. Wish I could do something for him but I am also due to move soon...out of country. Plus I have to take my son with me."

He finnished eating his meal and waited for her to finnish eating. When she did he helped the child out of his high seat then looked over at her. Vincent offered his hand to her and waited to see if she would take it. Weather or not she did he would pay the tab by himself and lead her back out to the car, opening the door for her and securing the child in the car. The vampire took a few moments after shutting the door behind the child to collect himself. The beast inside of him was demanding something to eat and Now. He then debated Rachelle's safety if he got back into the car with her. Could he resist the urge to feed from her...? From The child. The vampire bit his lip, blood dripping down his lip and chin.
 
Rachelle smiled, at both his words and his gesture. Taking his hand, he led her out to his vehicle, and opened the door for her. Once inside the car, she heard the back door open, the child talking to Vincent and himself. It was mostly nonsense, but she noticed how he would refer to Vincent as "Monster", and how Vincent took more time than necessary to get into the driver's seat. She didn't pay much attention to it though, as different people had different cultures.

She did notice, however, how he got into the car with blood dripping down his chin.
"What did you do to yourself, Vincent? It's not healthy to do crap like that." Taking a handkerchief from her pocket, she dabs at the side of his mouth, mopping up most of the blood.
 
He leaned against the car, contemplating the risk factors of getting back into it. Rachelle was in there along with the human child. If he got back into that car and his monsterous side took over he would attack and consume both humans. Then he would have to move away and buy a new car, not to mention hide or destroy evidence of thier deaths. Then again no one was going anywhere without him driving and how much would she like him if he kicked her out of the car and basically told her to hitchhike home? No...that wasn't...couldn't happen. He sighed heavily thinking about how much her fresh, warm, pulsing blood would taunt him as he took her back to her home. Forgetting about the blood dripping down his mouth and chin he went back around and climbed in the car. As he looked over at her about to say something she saw something. He rememberd the blood dripping down his face now and she reached out, wiping the mess from his face. Vincent looked at her, suprised but thankful for the kind act. Then she asked what he did to himself and that it wasn't healthy to hurt himself like this.As she finnished wiping teh bllod away he chuckled.

"No need to worry...I would never hurt myself intentionally. Got over that phase senior year of high school. It's never worth it eh? I was just coming back around and tripped landing face first. I am okay but thank you...for your kindness and gesture. So...where do I take you from here...?"

He listened to her instructions and followed them, starting the car. Through the background music, the child speaking non-sense, and his conversation with Rachelle her pulse stuck out like a sore thumb. The vampire could hear just how strong and lively her heart was. The temptation was hard to reisit but he swallowed the lump in his throat and endured, still fighting temptation every step of the way.





 
"Just back to my building. I might get some more work in before I go to sleep." She smiles, tucking her hair behind her ear. What she really meant, was that she was going to get more work in before she went to sleep in the same building. She had sold her car about a year ago, but by now had more than enough money saved to buy a new one; she just hadn't the need for one at the moment. Plus, Allistair was always more than happy to drive her where she needed to go, and she didn't mind, even if he drove around in a hearse.

When he had driven her to her building, letting her out and opening the doors for her, she thanked him, and asked if he wanted to do it again sometime.
 
He was thankful the ride was over. As he helped her out of the the car she asked if he wanted to go out again sometime. The vampire smiled warmly at her and nodded.

"I would love that if you can spare the time Miss. Sucsess."

He reached into the car and pulled out a pen and paper, scribbling something on it before handing it to her. A number was beautifully scrawled across the scrap of paper.


"This is my Cellphone number, I don't have a home phone since I don't live in the city. I'm usually just around home watching my son...Give me a call when you've got the time. Then I can arrange a baby sitter. It was great tonight, thank you. I'll try and be in better health next time we arrange another get togeather. Just need some rest is all. Take care of yourself Rachelle, don't work yourself too long or too late."

With that he climbed back into the drivers seat and watched, making sure she got inside before driving off himself. It was dark now and as they drove home he glanced back at the child then back to the road. Who was this kid anyway? What was his real name...? The vampire contemplated asking but would probably recieve a non-sensical awnser anyways so he kept his mouth shut till they arrived home. It was pitch black as he took the child inside to the office and pulled a big blanket over him on the couch. Vincent looked down at him, the monster ready to claw its way out of his body.

"STAY HERE...okay? I will be back soon."

Before leaving he secured windows and door, taking a set of keys with him when he left. Vincent picked up a scent of a hiker who apperently was by herself out here doing a long-term hike. His senses went absolutly crazy as he got closer and closer. Before the woman could cry out he ruthlessly sunk his fangs into her neck. Her blood tasted like the elixr of life sustaining his hiding spot a bit longer. It was warm, smooth and not too runny for his tastes. Before he could stop himself she was too far gone...had lost too must blood. He waited until she lay lifeless before wrapping her in her camping eqiptment and giving her a suitable burial far beyond human sight. To this day he still felt the guilt of taking a life to sustain his own to a degree.. But over the long years he had learned to deal with the guilt. It was apart of his life now. With a full belly he went home and collapsed, falling deeply asleep on the couch.
 
Waving goodbye to Vincent, Rachelle closed the doors, locking them, and went back to the workshop she was in earlier. Upon arrival, she found she hadn't the inspiration to continue. After all, it was late at night, and she had worked a few hours before going out with Vincent. So, with that being decided, she checked all the doors, making sure that all of the workshops were locked.

After making sure everything was okay, Rachelle went back to her living area, and changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. She drank a quick cup of orange juice before going to sleep on the small bed she had.
 
The boy say uselessly on his bed. At only sixteen years old just days before he had been condemed to die before his seventeeth birthday, something had happened that changed his life. He was now a vampire, or atleast that is what had been proven and told. His throat was dry and scratchy and his head was pounding. Vincent was desperetly craving blood...hungrier than he had ever remembered being in all his human years. A tall man came into the room, having his longer blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail and red eyes. This was his creator...a man by the name of Aldwin Yoser. He was an englishmen who as of recently fled his homeland to take up residance here in Russia. Vincent was struggling to learn english because Aldwin refused to learn Russian. If he wanted anything he had to ask in English. So far he had learned the words he needed to survive...well most of them two of the most recent being blood and human. Aldwin looked down at him with a frown.

"You need to Feed Vincent otherwise you'll die. There are plenty of humans in this world and not as many vampires left. Quit being useless and get up now!"

Aldwin took his cane, that was used more for decoration than support and hit him roughly across the face with it. He then struck him in the head until Vincent got to his feet and fled out into the streets to feed. Once there his senses went out of control and he caught the first person by the wrist he saw and drug her off into the shadows. It was a woman with an infant in her arms. She begged and pleaded for her life and the life of her infant son. The monster inside him though was totally oblivious to the cries though as he carelessly sunk his fangs into her neck. The sixteen year old boy drained the woman of her blood, leaving the child an orphan. The image of him coming back to reality soaked in the blood of a young woman and mother haunted him. It was the first time he had ever killed when he hunted...it was also the time he had hunted by himself for the first time. The young man looked at the child crying and shivering on the ground...begining to be soaked...in the blood of his mother.

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Vincent sat up quickly, jerking from his sleep. He wiped the perspiration from his forehead as he calmed down his heart rate. That dream...was a memory really. The memory of a time he despised looking back to. That memory was of the first week of being a vampire...the first week of seperation from himself and his real family. His family thought he had died and was buried...Aldwin being on the hospital staff team had arranged for it to appear that way. But infact until he could resist temptation enough to obtain a job and money he lived with Aldwin's abuse. Then the money finally came in and he fled, leaving a trail that his creator could not follow. The vampire stood up and took his cellphone from the coffe table, slipping it back into his pocket before going back and undressing, showering hopefully before the child woke.
 
A banging sound, the front door flying off its hinges. A family, one young girl with a mother and a father, all sitting around a table, the father saying grace. All three look up at the sound, no one but the father recognizing who it was. Commands shouted to the mother and the girl. "Get out!" The father, grabbing the kitchen knives from the block, throwing them at the figures striding through the doorway. Since that night, Rachelle couldn't see who it was that came through the doorway, couldn't see who killed her parents.

One of the figures jumped onto her father, the other on her mother, exposing teeth exaggerated into fangs, easily three inches long. Simultaneously, they bite into her parents neck, blood flying everywhere. They were dead in seconds. Screaming, her mind nearly broken from the sight, Rachelle runs into the night, calling for neighbors miles away. The small family lived in a smaller town in Wales, the nearest store was ten miles away. Surviving only by hiding in an old World War II bunker on her family's property, Rachelle was found by authorities a week later, when her father didn't appear at his work.

Having no other family in Wales, she was taken to
America, where her mother's parents lived. They offered her no love, having disowned their daughter for marrying Rachelle's father.

Again and again, the murder of her parents repeats, the blood staining the porcelain vases her mother made.


Waking with a scream, Rachelle's eyes fly open, her heart pounding faster than it ever has. It was a dream, she kept telling herself, but more like a memory, one she has had at least once a week since that night. And every time, she couldn't see who was it that killed them.
Just the glint of their teeth.

Tears roll down her eyes, the dark red blood against the white porcelain imprinted on her eyelids. This was definitely the worst dream of that night, more vivid and real than any of the others. She hoped it wasn't because of Vincent. Even if he had every resemblance to them, he was too kind, too gentle to have done that. It must have just been the sight of his...teeth that made the memory seem so fresh in her mind. She shakes her head, clearing her mind, as she gets ready for the day, her commission to sculpt a vase, ironically.
 
As he finnished showering he went to his room, dressing into a his usual clothing. After his nightmare last night another memory had come to the surface. The Vampire laid back on his bed, covering his eyes from the sunlight as he sighed heavily. It was a memory from the time Aldwin had brought him back to England to 'Show him around his new home'. One night Aldwin had disappeared then reappeared mad drunk with blood. He laughed and laughed then talked loudly. His creator had happily related to him the story of his gruesome murder/hunt of a couple with a young daughter. It still made him Ill think about how soaked in blood his master was. It wasn't just a murder it must have been torture. His creator must have played with his food before sucking their veins dry. It haunted him to think that now this little girl was an orphan...just like himself. Vincent was without family or friends at the at time. He wondered How the girl was now. It was not too long ago seeing as he had only escaped his masters grip fifteen years ago. He sat up and bit his lip as he stood up. The two memories were jumbled in his head, mixing up his thoughts. The monster went over to the Office and opened the door. He sighed...the office was destroyed but he would have to fix it later. Vincent took the child and went to the car. He put him in car and drove into town. The vampire could only think of one thing...perhaps if he got the image into paper it would leave him be. He clenched his jaw a bit as he knew where he needed to go but also a smile tugged at his lips. He drove until he got back down to Rachelle's work. The man hoped she wouldn't see him as creepy for coming back so soon. Little did the man know he looked exausted...sleep deprived and a bit more sickly than he did last night. As he walked in, the child with him. The man looked around, fixing his hair and sat back in a chair, leaning his head against the wall and closed his eyes. She would get to him when she did. The wait didn't bother him.
 
Sitting at the sculpting bench, her foot on the paddle, Rachelle makes the vase, now just a light beige color, but after she cooked it in the kiln, she could paint it the lovely violet the commissioner wanted. The steady movement of the wheel calmed her, settled her thoughts. After she had finished the vase, she lightly picked it up, leaving the sculpting room for the main one. Seeing Vincent, she calls, "Hey, I'll be just a second." Allistair wasn't back from school yet, he had an Honor's Society meeting, and wouldn't be back until later. Moving to the kiln room, Rachelle places the vase into the glorified oven, making sure no dust or anything got into it.

After wiping off her hands, she goes to Vincent, smiling, then saying,
"I haven't been entirely truthful with you, Vincent. I...I need to tell you something. Can we talk, in the sitting room?"
 
The Vampire dozed off for awhile while he was waiting for Rachelle. When he did he saw his childhood in vivid colors. His parents were and had always been poor. Vincents father was always working and his mother raising seven children. He had five sisters and one brother with whom he lived happily...crammed but happy. It didn't take much to please him not his siblings. At a very young age he and his siblings had learned to enjoy the siple things in life. His carpenter/builder father made them toys out of what they had left of building materials. Then time passed and he saw himself again to when the doctor told him he only had limited time to live. That was when he was fifteen years old....very skinny and pale, very sickly looking. When they returned home and his mother delieverd the news to his siblings. They were devestated. The next scene his mind skipped to was years and years later...It was when he returned to Russia after being away for so long. His baby sister had passed away at the age of sixty and his niece was now fifty years old. She was just as beautiful as his sister even at her progressing age. He walked silently with a funeral procession to the bural site. After she was buried he examined the graves of his mother...father...and six siblings. Tears tugged at the vampires eyes in that scene. All those years had just been a blur...but they had been rather brutal to his family. Now he was alone...all alone. Vincent jerked awake as he heard Rachelle come into the room. She smiled a lovely smile and wiped her hands off. He listened to her as she spoke, she asked him if they could talk...that she had not been entirely truthful. Vincent smiled sleepily and pushed himself to his feet, nodding.

"I'd love to..."
 
"Thanks, that means a lot." Her eyes flicker shamefully for a second as she leads him to the sitting room, holding the door open for him. "Allistair hasn't been around yet, so all we have is coffee." She sits on the sofa, gesturing for Vincent to do the same. Unconsciously, her nails dig into her arm.

"First of all," She takes a deep breath, steadying herself, "I don't want this relationship to be built upon lies. Especially mine. So I feel it is necessary to say this. When I was little, something terrible happened to my family," Tears spring up at the corners of her eyes, "and you look just like what I remember of the...thing that killed my mum and dad. So, I've secretly been afraid of you, wondering if you've come back to finish what you started. But, I don't want to be scared anymore. And I know that you're too good to have ever done something like that. Therefore, I have decided not to be scared of you anymore." Rachelle bursts into tears, remembering. "I'm-I'm so sorry to have done that to you, Vincent!" She sobs before wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace, whispering, to herself more than anything, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
 
He followed her back into the sitting room and she motioned for him to sit on the couch and he did. The vampire looked up at her confused. He watched as she took a deep breathe and dig her nails into her arms. She began to speak telling him that she didn't want the relationship to be focused on lies. His jaw clenched thinking of all the lies he had told her and all the lies to come followed by ditching the demon child upon her. Then she told him that her mother and father had been killed...and by the way she described it, it sounded like a Vampire. He knew that because she said that the people who had killed her parents looked like him. And by looking like him she meant his eyes...piercing evil red. Tears began to form in the corner of her eyes and he wanted to look away. Now was not the time to become attached in any sort of way. She had admitted to him that she was afraid of him and she was afraid he had come back to finnish the job. Then she said that she didn't want to be afraid of him so she was going to try her best not to be. Then to his suprise she burst into tears and wrapped her arms around him, apologizing to him for some reason. His eyes widened in suprised and he tensed.

"R-Rachelle...What are you apologizing for? You didn't do anything to me..."

He looked down at her and tried to untense his muscles. Then he noticed her neck again...and despite feeding so heavily last night he craved her blood. The sound of her pulsing blood called out to him, he tried to pull his eyes away from her neck as he moved his hand. He gently stroked her hair with a shakey hand. Vincent rememberd his master, looking down at her. What if she was that little girl...? But then again it could be any orphan girl out there in the world. He had to know...this could change everything.

"Rachelle...I don't mean to intrude...But...how long has it been since they Died...? I mean I can't say I know how you feel but....I kind of do...I was...the oldest of seven kids...all of my siblings died plus my parents....I was stuck with an irrisponsible gaurdian...I"m sorry. I wish I knew what say or do for you..."
 
"Ex-exactly seventeen years come August. I was five, then." She sobs, looking up at Vincent, feeling better at his comforting touch. Her shoulders shake as she buries her face in his sleeve, like a child. "Just being here is enough for me, Vincent. You make me feel safe again." Voice muffled by the cloth of his clothing, Rachelle looks up, smiling lightly. "The world needs more people like you."

Pulling away from him, slightly embarrassed, she covers her eyes with her hands, covering most of her face. Kicking off her house shoes, she pulls her knees up to her chest, draping her arms over them.
 
When she said seventeen years ago his heart stopped beating his his chest, Almost choaking on air. It was only 15 years ago he had escaped Aldwin...so this was the little girl. All of a sudden his new knowlage squeezed his heart and chest. His maker had brutally slaughtered Rachelle's parents and he wasn't with his maker to stop him. The vampire felt responsible for her family's untimely end. Then she looked up at him and he almost turned his head to look away. How could he possibly be here comforting the girl who wasn't so little anymore...the girl who's parents were slaughtered with out second thought like animals...? The man felt a sick feeling in the pit of his stoumuch. He was such a terrible person. When he heard her say that he made her feel safe again...that she was glad he was here...the vampire wanted to look her in the eyes with all seriousness and tell her that she shouldn't feel safe. That he should wish her away and tell him to never come back again or come near her. Then a pretty light smile came across her lips. He Clenched his jaw, visibly so. The woman spoke saying the world needed more of him...more people like him, Right here he wanted to tell her who he was...how many people he had killed...that the man who killed her parents was still wondering free probably looking for her...that he could have prevented her parents deaths...but instead he said:

"No...I am a terrible person. My father was a killer and so I am destined to be so. I don't know how but I will...I don't want to be who I am but I can't change it..."

As he looked down at her he could still hear her pulse and his body craved her blood. As he clenched his jaw more blood dripped down his chin. He looked down towards the ground and squeezed his eyes shut. This was a time in his life he was ashamed to still be alive. Humanity dictated his death to be over fifty years ago but he had defyied it. This was his punishment. An Eternal exsistance as a bloodthirsty creature wasn't a blessing...it was a curse...a curse from some high power he had defied.
 
Looking at him with complete seriousness, Rachelle said, "Our parents do not dictate our destiny. You create your own destiny, and if Fate hands you a lemon, throw it back, demanding he gives you an apple. I can tell that you aren't a bad person, or don't intend to be." She tells him, not sure if it's right, but resting her head on his shoulder anyways.

Seeing he has started bleeding again, she makes a tsk sound, and gets up, grabbing a tissue paper from the box next to the coffee maker. Dabbing at the blood, she smiles again, trying to make him feel better, even though inside she felt bad. The blood gone, she throws away the tissue, again sitting next to Vincent and placing her head on his shoulder.
 
He could feel her eyes burrowing deep into him as she spoke, seriousness in her voice. She told him that parents did not dictate the destiny of their child. See that was where she was wrong...his biological father's family had a history of fatalties from cancer. It did dictate weather he would recieve the Illness or not and he did at the age of fifteen. That dictated him to die very early and this is what he got for fighting the dictatorship that was biology. It forced him to choose weather to lay in a hole and that be the end of it or to choose weather or not to live. As a fifteen year old He was none aware of the concequences and responsibilities being a vampire entailed. No one told him that he would not be able to stop had he bitten a human for food, No one told him he would stop aging at the age of twenty-three and live to attend his great-nieces funeral. No one told him how many people would have to die in order for him to live...and no one told him that he was doomed to spend the rest of eternity as a player or in the end draining his lover of her life source. Then she said that if life threw him a lemon throw it back and demand the apple. But as a vampire, figuritivly, throwing back the lemon was not an option. Vincent could not go back to Aldwin and demand his humanity back. His humanity was the apple and Aldwin gladly snacked away at that many, many years ago. The Apple of humanity was gone and he was stuck with the lemon or if he dared throw the lemon back at his make, or figureitivly life, than that left him with nothing...death for himself.

Then he felt her rest her head against his shoulder. It was beating even louder now...her pulse in his head and he began to shake a bit, clenching his jaw tighter. No matter how much he would feed the monster wanted his blood and refused to have any other. But Rachelle's blood was something he could not endulge himself on. She needed to stay alive...or the child might end up at Child Care Services. But the closer she was to him the louder her heartbeat was in his head and the more he wanted her blood. He swallowed a lump in his throat, using a hand to wipe away the sweat that was forming on his forehead. As he did this she got up and went across the room, making a 'tsk' sound and came back with a tissure, wiping the blood from his face. As she sat down his stoumuch churned from the human food he had eaten last night. HIs body still had not rejected it but it would not be too much longer at this rate. The vampire was still shaking, some of it apperent in his voice.

"I hate to disappoint you Rachelle...but I'm really not the person you think I am. And As much as I'd like to throw the lemon back at life...It's much too late for me to do that..."
 
She replied, quoting Allistair's favorite author, "'Art is a revolt against fate. All art is a revolt against man's fate.' The inevitable will come, but all works of art defy it, prolong it." Rachelle could feel him shaking beneath her, and wondered aloud what was the matter. She got up again, asking if he wanted coffee. Either way, she'd make some for herself.

Once it was done, the one cup coffee maker beeping, she took a tumbler from the cabinet beneath it, pouring half of the coffee into her mug, along with several teaspoons of sugar, one of honey, and another of vanilla. Again, she asked,
"You sure you don't want any?"
 
He was a bit puzzled at her quote. The Vampire had heard it once before but didn't quite understand what it meant. Before he could ask she got to her feet and went over the the coffee maker. Pretty soon the smell filled his nose with the rich scent of coffee. The Vampire rememered how every once and awhile his father would bring home coffee beans, enough to make three cups of coffee and make coffee for them. It was a small amount...a treat back then but the family throughly enjoyed it. If his father found out how cheap coffee was now he would roll in his grave. She asked again if he wanted any and he looked up at her, trying his best to pul a smile for her.

"In fact...sure. It's been awhile since I've had some. That would be nice if you wouldn't mind..."

He waited for his coffee the looked at her, some regret in his eyes.

"I really hate to bother you...seeing how busy you are but I came here because I Need a few comissons done...I will pay you a good deal for them and I don't care how you do them...But I've hadf these images bouncing around in my head for years and years. I've tried to push them away but I can't...I think I need to face them and having them down in picure form ensures that I can't push them away. And...Also...I've heard that quote somewhere before but I don't recall...what exactly does that mean...applying to the conversation now...?"

He took a sip of the drink and a smile came across his lips. It so much reminded him of his real family life of which he was so fond. It helped sooth his nerves a bit but the coffe didn't supress his real longing at the moment...but it did somewhat soothe his acheing belly.
 
After handing him his coffee, she says, "I'm talking about you. You seem to have this air about you, like you've seen beyond your years. As for the commissions, what would like done? It's no trouble to me, it's not work if I like doing it." Rachelle sits down, grabbing a pen and paper from the end table. "I'm more than happy to, and I'll even give you half off." She smiles, the pen poised above the paper. "I agree, having down on a picture of what bothers you definitely helps. It's what I did, to deal with things. Which is why they say I've become such a good artist." She laughs.