Fang's Kiss

This is my first submission ever. Feedback will be greatly appreciated. There is no sex in this chapter. Maybe in the next one. Enjoy.

*

The bar had an odd name.

Fang's Kiss. The bar was at the end of the main road, away from the center of the city. It sat on a deserted stretch of land, with old warehouses and broken down apartments.

At first glance it had looked deserted, but then Sophia had noticed the movement inside. From the window, it looked like it was almost full.

She hesitated at the corner. Fang's Kiss was odd, that much she knew. It wasn't a scary odd, but just an odd that interested her and made her want to stay as far away from the place as she could.

Sophia walked to the bottom of the walkway and paused again. She almost turned and went to go find someplace else. Bust she shook it off and continued up the walkway and opened the door.

She felt a gust of warm air as she walked in, she heard the quiet hum of the patron's voices. Then silence. If felt as if everything had stopped when she walked in. Every eye was on her as she closed the door.

This isn't a regular bar, she thought. There was no music playing and everyone was deathly quiet. No one moves, they just sat and stared at her. She smiled sheepishly at them and started to move to the bar.

As her eyes swept the room, she notices that everyone was in groups of two's or three's. All of them were pale and wore dark colored clothing. Their eyes seemed to reflect what little light was there.

Sophia slipped off her jacket and hung it over her arm as she moved to the bar. Still no one moved. Their eyes were locked on her, following her every movement. Sophia sat down in one of the bar stools, with her back to the room. Slowly the conversations started again. She knew they were talking about her, the new arrival.

She waited for the bartender to make his way down to where she sat. She resisted the urge to turn around and stare back into the curious eyes glued to her back. The bartender reached her and brought her out of her thoughts.

"What'll ye have?" he asked.

"Bloody Mary," she answered.

He stared at her for a moment with a strange look on his face, and then turned away. She watched as he mixed the drink and sat it in front of her, trying to figure out what the look was for. Giving up, she raised the glass to her lips, and realized he was still standing there, watching her.

"yer not from 'round here, are ye?" he asked.

"No, I just moved here to take care of my dad. How could you tell?" she asked.

He paused for a minute. "Because the locals stay away from here. We dunnot allow visitors."

"You don't ALLOW visitors? Why? Is this some private 'members only' bar?" she asked, confused.

"Ye could say tha."

Sophia sat surprised for a moment. "I'm very sorry, I didn't know," she smiled at him shyly. "I'll just leave then .How much is the drink?" she asked as she started to get up.

"Dunna worry about it. Drinks on tha house. When ye finish it, ye can leave."

"Thank you."

The bartender leaned forward suddenly. He caught the collar of her shirt before she could move away. "Make sure," he whispered, so low she could barely hear him. "When ye leave go straight home, dunnot stop for anythin."

He released her shirt and abruptly moved away. She stared at him for a moment. Once again she raised her drink to her lips. She gulped it down ready to leave. These people are crazy; I have got to get out of here.

She stood quickly, smiled at the bartender and turned to leave. When she turned around, she noticed that everyone had gathered in one large group towards the back. That's strange, she thought. I didn't even hear them move. Once again everyone was staring at her. She put her jacked on and moved towards the door.

She could feel their eyes watching her as she went.

"Excuse me."

Sophia turned and looked towards the voice.

A tall black haired man had stood and started making his way over to where she stood. He was tall, much taller than her small 5'2" frame. His hair was long, and shaggy. He had beautiful green eyes. He wore a band t-shirt under a black blazer with silver buttons, and dark jeans. He moved smoothly over the floor, as if her were floating instead of walking. His movements reminded her of a jungle cat on the prowl.

Everyone had stopped again, and was staring at her. Even the bartender was looking at her with intense concentration. As she met his eyes, he seemed to be telling her to just leave. She shook it off again, crazy old man, she thought.

"Where are you off to so soon?" the man in front of her asked. "You haven't even introduced yourself."

The way he was staring so intently into her eyes made her nervous. She really wanted to leave now. "I just cam in for a minute," she replied.

"Nonsense," he said, grabbing her arm. "It isn't often we have visitors."

He pulled her over to the middle of the large group. "Liam!" he called. "Bring over another of whatever she was drinking!"

As he was ordering her a drink, he moved to a table and two chairs to the center of what was becoming a large circle. He then pushed her into one of the chairs. 'Liam' came over and sat another Bloody Mary in front of her. Sophia watched him as he went back behind the now empty bar.

She turned back as she heard the chair opposite her move, as the man sat down.

"So," he said. "What's your name?"

"Sophia, what's yours?" she replied.

He laughed loudly and the circle joined him. "My name isn't important," he said when he had controlled his laughter. "Everyone here knows who I am, it is you we need to get to know."

"Me? Why am I so important?"

"Because, my dear, you are the center of this conversation."

"I don't think I want to be part of this conversation if I don't even know who I'm talking to," she said as she stood up.

The man reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him. He looked as if he were insulted and angry enough to strike her. He gave a small smile that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "You don't need to worry about who I am. All you need to do is answer my questions."

"So, you're telling me that I shouldn't worry about who I am talking to?" she asked. "My daddy told me not to talk to strangers," she added sarcastically.

Then entire circle got still then, the phrase 'you could hear a pin drip' floated through her head. The man's face contorted into a mask of rage. Sophia recoiled. For the first time since she had walked into the bar, she was truly afraid.

The man across from her got control of himself, and smiled at her again. She felt cold dread in the pit of her stomach. His smile seemed like he was a dog baring his teeth at her, she imagined she could hear him growl.

"That's not very polite. You don't know who your messing with."

She looked back at him and tried to keep her fear under control. "It isn't nice to have a conversation with someone and refuse to introduce yourself. Not to mention your implied threat."

His smile seemed glued in place. He was making sure he kept his cool. Sophia could almost feel the circle close in on her from behind. She wanted to turn and see if the had actually moved, but she was too frightened to take her eyes off the man in front of her.

Suddenly he was inches from her face. Startled she jerked back in her chair. His hand flashed out and caught her head. Fury flashed in his eyes as he made a snarling noise. She shuddered in terror.

Sophia could feel her eyes widen. If she had been afraid earlier, she was absolutely terrified now. She tried to struggle out of his grasp, but he was too strong. He kicked the chair from under her. She brought her hand up to hit him, but his hand flashed up and caught it.

He's fast, she thought. Too fast! What is he?

Sophia panicked. Once again she tried to break his hold. As she struggled, she saw the circle closing in on them. She could see a type of animalistic hunger in their eyes. She wanted to get away more than anything.

What are they going to do to me? She asked herself.

She felt two more pairs of hands grab her, and spread her out across the table and held her down. She tried to fight them off, but their hold was as strong as the man's. Their skin felt like ice.

Someone took a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back. The man that had first called to her was standing above her head. His eyes had changed from green too blood red and he was grinning down at her. His eyeteeth were longer than the rest of his teeth and looked very sharp.

What's going on here! She thought. She heard laughter from the rest of the circle, but she was frozen with fear. She watched in horror as he lowered his face to her neck.

"No, please stop," she pleaded. She felt a sharp pain in her neck as his teeth pierced her flesh.

Oh my god! He's biting me! She heard the others laughing loudly.

"Stop this foolishness."

The laughter stopped at the sound of the voice. She felt the rush of cold air as the door opened and closed. Suddenly the pain in her neck was gone, as the man straightened, and stood.

"Let her go," the voice commanded.

The hands holding her to the table released her; she fell off the table and crashed to the floor in a heap. She could feel the blood from the wound in her neck drip down onto her shirt, mixing with her tears. She crawled to the wall, as far away from the circle as she could get. She searched for the owner of the voice.

Then she saw him standing near the door. Everyone was staring at him with a look of fear and hatred. He was handsome, almost beautiful. His short auburn colored hair that was messy as if he had just gotten out of bed. He was tall and dressed like a bad boy from an old fifties movie. He was wearing tight dark blue jeans, and a white t-shirt under a black leather jacket with the collar turned up against the wind. His eyes were dark brown. They were hard, but it looked like they could change, and go soft enough to melt your soul.

His arms were crossed and he looked at ease, almost like he could be at a party with some friends, if it weren't for his eyes. His eyes wandered over the crowd until they met hers. He motioned for her to move to where he was. The circle parted and let her through.

She stood on shaky legs and walked over to where he stood. When she reached him, he looked down into her eyes. He gave her a small smile and gently tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

Sophia nodded, not trusting her voice.

He smiled again as he pulled a chair over for her. "Just sit tight for a bit, I'll have this all straightened out soon."

He turned back to the group, which had formed a semi-circle around them. The man that had bitten her was standing closest to them. He looked furious.

"Seth, so nice to see you again. It's been ages. But I see you're still up to your old tricks," her rescuer said. He sounded amused. Sophia couldn't see his face from where she was, but she was almost sure he was smiling.

"Gabriel," Seth said. "It has been a long time. And you are still ruining my fun."

"I only ruin your fun when you try to harm those under my protection."

"Since when is she under your protection!" Seth shrieked. "Your blood has never touched her!"

"Since now," he said. Gabriel turned to her, his wyes still hard. He pulled his lips back and bared his teeth. Then he lifted his hand and bit himself hard enough to draw blood. Then he placed his hand on her forehead.

His blood was cold. Sophia could feel it running down to sides of her face. She shivered. It seemed as if his blood was trying to mold his hand to her head. The blood was so cold it was burning her. He moved his hand to her neck where Seth had bitten her. She felt a white hot flash of pain and then it was just his hand on her neck.

When he removed his hand, she noticed that there was no blood or wound there anymore. She reached up and touched her head; there was no blood there. She felt for the wound on her neck but she knew there would be nothing there. She didn't know what to think. She didn't know how to feel.

Gabriel was looking down at her, judging her expression. As she raised her eyes to his, she realized that they were connected. They were bound to each other forever. She didn't know how or why she knew, she just did. She could feel it in her soul. She also knew he had saved her life; she would always be in his debt. At that moment nothing else mattered. The bar, Seth and the others seemed to melt away, and it was just them. It was then she loved him, and she knew it would last forever. Sophia smiled at him and he smiled back, and she knew that he knew exactly how it felt.

He turned back to face Seth.

Seth looked furious. His eyes were bulging out of his head. He took a step forward and looked as if he was going to attack the both of us.

A girl from the crowd stepped forward. "You can't put her under your protection now," she said. "Our business with her started before you put her under your protection. We will settle this with her, not you."

"Too bad," Gabriel said. "All business you had with her is with me now."

The girl lunged forward, but Seth caught her. "No, we will finish him first. Then when he is gone, we will finish her."

"Fine with me," Gabriel said. He turned and picked Sophia up. "If you'll excuse me."

Holding her close to his chest, he moved to the door. Somehow he managed to open the door and step out with her in his arms. She felt the gust of cold wind as he walked outside. He paused for a second, turned and started running. She could only tell that he was running because she could feel the wind whipping against her skin. She buried her head against his chest. When he stopped she expected them to be a couple of blocks away from the bar, but when she raised her head, she realized that they were in the middle of a side street downtown.

Sophia could feel the shock on her face. "How did you…?" she stuttered.

Gabriel just smiled at her. "I don't have time to explain right now. We are in danger, Seth and his followers will be after us soon."

"WHY IS HE AFTER ME?" she screamed at him. She could feel the rest of the tears she'd been trying to hold back emerge and start to cascade down her cheeks. "WHAT DID I DO? WHY ME?" she sobbed.

Sophia collapsed against the wall and placed he head in her hands and sobbed. She felt Gabriel's hands on hers, gently pulling. When she finally raised her head, he wiped away her tears with one hand and held her hands in his other.

"Its not anything you did," he said when he finally spoke. "You were just in the wrong place and Seth likes to hurt people that are weaker than him. He..." Gabriel paused. He seemed to be listening to something. He let out a hiss of air. "Damn them," he growled.

He stood and pulled her to her feet. In the same moment, he had released her and had a small pad of paper and a pen in his hands. She stared in shock as he hurriedly scratched a note, and handed it to her.

"These are the directions to my hose. This," he said and he handed her another note. "…Is for my house keeper. Give this to her and she'll explain what she car. Here is a key so you can get in."

"Wait. I don't even know you, how am I supposed to trust you? You might try to bite me like that crazy guy at the bar!" Sophia nearly shouted. She could hear the panic and hysteria in her voice.

Gabriel sighed and looked down into her eyes. His eyes were soft and warm. They made her feel like he was looking into her soul and melting it with the intense heat the burned in them.

"Just trust me. Please," he said. She could hear a faint pain in his voice. "Seth hurt me and now he is hurting you. I just want to help."

How could she not believe him? He seemed so sincere.

Sophia nodded slowly. He smiled again and pulled her close, holding her gently against his body. She wanted nothing more than to just stand there in his arms forever, she felt so safe. But too soon he released her.

"Go," he said. "As fast as you can. I'll follow as soon as I can."

He started walking away, and then he came back. He grabbed her, pulled her close and kissed her hard. She felt herself melt into him, his kiss was demanding. It felt like he was trying to suck her soul out of her. He ended the kiss just as abruptly as he had started it, smiled and was gone.

Sophia stood motionless for a moment. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out the slip of paper with the directions to his house on it.

Am I really going to trust him? She asked herself.

Yes, a little voice inside of her answered. You will because you love him. And you need to figure this out.

She nodded in agreement with the voice. She read quickly over the paper, and started running.

*

Thank you for reading!!!