Lady of the Night Ch. 02

He was a predator. His eyes flashed red as he watched the woman leaving the Tavern of the Nine Bells with some other ladies of the night. They were laughing as he silently followed, wrapping the shadows about himself in a lover's embrace. He waited for her to separate from the others with a smile on her face before following her down the alley.

She was wearing a faded blue dress that seemed to be made of a soft material. He thought of how it would feel on the back of his hand as he ran it from her small ankles up to the tender flesh of her inner thigh… He shook his head clearing it. Darien, what is wrong with you?, he thought to himself.

But then his eyes drifted to her raven black hair that was confined in a French braid neatly down her back and he imagined how it would feel in his hands as he freed it and crushed it between his fingers as he kissed her. The sudden clatter of a rock bouncing off his shoe brought him back to reality. He cursed silently as he watched her run the rest of the distance to the corner and turn it.

What kind of idiot are you?, he asked himself sternly, she is a London whore and barely worth your notice even for a quick feed! And you just ruined that too with your day dreaming! But regardless of what his good sense was telling him, he couldn't help but think of her. He closed his eyes and immediately her image appeared before him. He thought of what it would be like to press her against his hard chest as he kissed her his tongue dueling with hers. The smell of her would permeate the air as he loosened her hair from its hold, the silky strands falling between his fingers and down her back. Then he would push back from her kneading her breasts through the soft material of her gown. His finger nail would elongate into a sharp talon as he cut the ties her pert breasts bursting forth from her gown for his eyes only. He would bend down and suckle on them drawing the nipple into his mouth making her moan for him. The discomfort of his pants brought him back to reality as he shook his head watching her approach with a customer.

As she lead the first poor, and unattractive man down the alley way the sharp smell of sulfur permeated the air from the match he had just struck, He light a cigarette with it and slowly smoked it as he watched the man's brutal assault on the poor Lady of the night. Even as he crushed it out the man was throwing the coins at her in disgust and walking away. He watched her pick them up, apparently very much in need of the money, and walk back around the corner, her hips swaying in a manner that made him want to take her on the cobblestones and damn those watching.

A few minutes later the theatre let out and he saw the crowd filter past. He was wondering why he was still standing around and not trying to find another meal. She came back a few minutes later with another man a gentile one this time apparently fresh out of the theatre. As soon as he saw the man he felt the presence of evil. He suddenly felt the need to pick her up and away from the situation which left him again wondering what was wrong with him this evening. Suddenly he realized why he was feeling worried as he watched the man bring up a sharp knife and slash the throat of the Lady.

Almost before he knew what was happening he was on the man and had broken his neck. He threw the body against the wall of the building where it hit and landed with a sickening thud as the bones in the dead body broke. He sat down next to her and cradled her head in his lap as he licked the jagged wound, clean sealing it as he did so. The blood entering his mouth was like the finest wine he had ever tasted, but he ignored the sensation it caused as he healed her wounds, including the ones on her arms.

Am I in heaven?, she thought as her eyes fluttered open, but the pain in her neck told her otherwise, I guess I am in hell then. She thought sadly as she looked at the man bent over her. He surely doesn't appear to be a demon to me, she thought, as the pain increased feeling like a red hot brand on her neck. As her eyes fluttered closed her life flashed before her and she mourned the loss of her girlhood innocence. Soon she did not have the energy to care as the permanence of oblivion started to come over her.

He felt her eyes open and suddenly he realized how much blood she had lost. Picking her up, he ran with a supernatural speed back to his home and placed her on the couch. Feeling for her pulse, which was coming weakly and sporadic, he cursed and ripped open his wrist letting the blood drip into her mouth.

"Drink, Chère," was all he said, and when he was convinced that she had had enough, but was not turned he sealed his wound.

Her face now was not as pale as before and he nodded, smiling as he placed her head back on the settee. Looking down at her, he realized she was asleep. He stripped the ruined, blood soaked dress of her, and turning to a side table he grabbed a towel and a basin of water set there by one of the maids. He carefully washed her body, his own making demands of him that he hadn't felt in centuries. He looked down at her thinking of how much like an angel she appeared in sleep, certainly nothing like the lady of the night he knew her to be. Then he covered her with a light blanket before he snuffed the lamps and moved to the library to work.

"Was it another profitable evening, milord?"

Darien jumped, and looked up from his desk. "Damn it Mars, you scared me!" But Darien smiled at the Valet who had been with him for more years than he dared count.

"I am sorry, Milord. I noticed we had a guest this evening, and when I came to inquire about the length of her stay you were so entrenched in your ledgers, I had to ask," The man had a sly smile on his face, damn him, thought Darien.

"Well, it has been as profitable as any," He responded to the man's earlier inquiry, "And as to the Lady," he shook his head, "I am not yet sure."

The man nodded before saying, "Is there anything you require before retire for the evening?"

"No thank you, Mars. I believe I can see to the rest of my needs this evening." He watched his valet leave the room, closing the door behind him and sighed. What was he going to do with strange Lady of the Night? Oh, he had ideas.