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Red Strength: chapter one part one
Matthew Asheford leaned against a wall in the ever-darkening alley, his honey-blond hair in attractive disarray waiting for the sun to set. It took so damn long, just as it always has been during his one-hundred years of vampire existence. It was complete torture, especially tonight. He was thirsty –his red eyes becoming a darker crimson as his thirst amplified- and he would not meet his companion, his personal sun, when he was thirsty. He had to find a food source –another vampire, an animal or any other non-human creature- to quench his thirst before she came looking for him, but he could not to that until sunset. God, how this sucked! He kept his pointy, elf-like ears ready to hear the slightest noise. Luckily, his thirst made his senses stronger, making prey quicker to find.
Jess (not short for anything) Coon leaned against the windowsill in her socked feet, having just finished her homework, brunette hair playing with the gentle, slightly chilly breeze. She wanted so badly for the sun to set so she could see her beloved Matthew. She bounced with excitement while her sky-blue eyes looked out towards the west. Her parents weren’t home in their Pittsburgh apartment, but she new perfectly well that her Friday night curfew was midnight, meaning only about four hours until she needed to be back home.
A slight depression set in when Jess looked at her cat calendar and realized that it would soon be the start of daylight savings time, her least favorite time of the year, because the time she spent with her ungodly beautiful boyfriend would decrease more and more until the summer solstice. His being a vampire never scared her. After all, who could be scared of someone who had saved her on the first day…err, night that they met? He was her loving protector, and she only saw his different race as a minor inconvenience.
By this time, Matthew sat on the ground, back against the same alley wall as before. He pleaded with the sun, wanting it to slow down enough for dinner to cross his dangerous path before Jess did. Even if he got a small meal, he could hold off the rest of his hunger until Jess left to grab something.
Damnit! he shouted in his head.
Then, all of a sudden, the scent of an approaching stray bulldog alerted his hunger-heightened senses. He got into a crouching position, ready to drink the unsuspecting animal’s blood. The nanosecond it came into his line of vision, Matthew attacked, stealing every drop of the poor canine’s blood.
The sun set and the moon rose.
Matthew disposed of the dog’s body in a dumpster set not far from the alley and licked what blood remained on his lips off, careful not to leave behind anything to freak Jess out. His thirst was suitably quenched, as affirmed by his eyes, noticeably less dark, and his senses, a little less alert. He stood at the mouth of the alley and waited for Jess.
Finally, Jess’ long wait was over! She squealed with glee and she threw on the pair of sneakers closest to her. She grabbed a light jacket from a coat hook and flew to her apartment door, hastily locking it and throwing the key in her coat’s right pocket. She glided down the stairs leading from her fourth floor apartment and sprang out the door at the bottom, breathing in the night air deeply.
She strolled down the street, looking for the familiar alley where she and Matthew always met. She couldn’t possibly have him come to her home. She knew her parents would want to meet him as soon as he got within eyeshot, but they might not approve the second they saw his red eyes, pale skin and pointy ears (hidden by his hair), and that’s without revealing his fangs and retractable claws.
She rounded the corner and saw him standing there, seeing his pale skin reflect the moonlight, outlining his profile in silver. His honey-blond hair tossed by the gentle breeze made her jealous that the breeze had the privilege to do so. His slightly open eyes shown like garnet, the darkness of them made her think he was a little thirsty still. She put the neck of her jacket up, not wanting to tempt him and cause him to work harder to keep in control.
Matthew turned towards her, his garnet eyes opening just a little more, reflecting just a little of the moonlight that was to his back. His black, somewhat tattered suit-jacket was open while the three top buttons of the white dress shirt underneath were undone. He smiled softly, the sentiment reaching his eyes, and spread his arms open in a waiting hug. Jess gratefully jumped into them and threw her arms around his waist. His arms rested around her shoulders and the two embraced.
Jess pulled away just a bit to look into his dark, garnet eyes, infused with the moon’s light. His eyes were philosophical, wise, beyond his teenage looks. Understandable. He was over one hundred years old. His demeanor revealed that.
Matthew looked back down into her eyes; those dreamy, sky-blue eyes that gave him the sunshine he lost roughly one hundred years ago. Only, instead of simply losing sunshine altogether, he just traded untouchable, intangible sunshine to something he could feel and hold. He did not mind that. He was glad that these one hundred years of suffering were a means to obtain joy in the end. His joy. His Jess.
Matthew kissed Jess’ forehead and she caught the scent of his skin. Well, more of an aroma, really. It was sweet, floral and a plethora of other sensations that there were no words for. So, this was one of the characteristics that a vampire was given to catch his or her prey. This was one of the many things that she thought idly, not worried about them being used against her. These were the traits of her boyfriend, her guardian, her life’s savior and her true love. She could not fear him, or what made him who he was.
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