Keeper of Blood

[[Hea]ther[/sky]]

<sub>((Yay, I'm finally doing a shorter miniseries so you can see my writing! It's about my character Serenity, AKA Ren. She's a vampire, having moved from city to city, feeding on the criminals and such. She runs into a character by the name of Luke and... well, you'll have to keep reading to find out what happens! ;D I'll post the chapters here, but they're also on my DeviantArt. { pandashinobi.deviantart.com } Enjoy! <333))

I watched the rain streak down the window, seeing my reflection in the glass.
Pressing my hand up against the clear thickness seperating me from the water pouring in a torrent out of the sky, I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. I may have been immortal, but sitting in a bus for hours on end was certainly boring. It didn't make sense to me that it wouldn't be boring to anyone, even if they were abnormally beautiful predators of human blood. Vampires.
Yup, still boring.
Casting a glance to my right, I noticed as yet another man was gawking at me. He wore a gray wool suit with a matching hat, and was holding a newspaper, with a briefcase on the floor next to him. Sighing and slumping in my seat, I turned my back on him and tried - note the word tried - to ignore him. Couldn't they just get over it and stop making such a fuss over us?
Nah, that was what we were intended to do. Distract humans from the fact they're our prey, anyhow. And I was ready for some blood. I hadn't had any in nearly three weeks, simply for the fact that I was always in a crowded place. Always busy, traveling to a new home, but that sure didn't help that dry ache in my stomach that came from the emptiness.
Nevermind. No one here smelled particularly good. That businessman that was staring at me? His blood carried a musty, stale scent, almost like it'd been sitting there stagnant for a week. Bleh. Not even remotely worth the chase.
The scents that appealed to me most were the somewhat sour or bitter ones of the guilty. Guilty, as in, criminals or murderers or something. They were the best, although if I desperately needed to slake my thirst, anyone would do. Even that guy's stale blood. I wrinkled my nose at the thought of ingesting it.
And not in the audience of the bus's crowd. That'd get me caught and apprehended in no time... and that would definitely be no fun. They always ruined a good bit of fun, but then again, I'd agree as any self-respecting vampire would, better safe than sorry. If people witnessed a vampire attack, there'd be publicity, and fear, and all this other nonsense that was absolutely unnecessary. Well, it was inevitable if any of us - even someone like me - were to stage an attack in a public place.
Me. Guess I hadn't gotten that far yet. My name's Serenity Raine, and I'm stuck forever sixteen, since around 1960. But that's okay, because I travel a lot, so no one really remembers me. Yep, I drink human blood. Yep, I know there are alternatives, like animal blood. I like to think of myself as more of a... connoiseur, if you will. I'm sort of on a personal mission to taste every kind of blood there is. And yet, everywhere I go, there's new stuff.
That's kind of frustrating sometimes, but I just live life day by day - or, should I put it, night by night. Unless there's no sun out, in which case I'm more than happy to spend my time out of the dark, but then I get gawked at even more. Don't get me wrong, I adore attention, but not all the time. Sometimes I just want to shout, "Give it a rest!"
The bus's brakes squealed a little as it came to a stop at the bus station. A couple people got off, including the woman to my right, holding the baby. And a few got on. I didn't bother to look up; their scents came to me immediately. And besides, my red eyes were a little disconcerting to a lot of people. No point in scaring the sheep.
Folding my arms, I leaned my head forwards a little until my jet-black hair hung in a sheet in front of my face, hiding me from scrutiny. More often than not, people would look my way, studying my pale skin and delicate features, and then I'd be tempted to feed again as I caught the torrent of tantalizing scents, announcing the flavors of the blood.
More commonplace salty blood took place all around me. Occasional bitter or sour scents announced the usual menu for me, the guilty. And then, a new and more powerful flavor caught my attention, causing my throat to tighten and making me look up to behold the bearer of such a tantalizing smell. It was bittersweet, like dark chocolate, like nothing I'd ever sensed before.
And then he came, and sat right next to me.
I was so tempted in that moment to take that which would slake my suddenly more intense thirst, but I beat back the thought and retained control of myself. I had a lot better hold on myself than to just attack, but I'll admit it took a lot. Leaning my head back against the headrest and exhaling deeply, I closed my eyes and thought about something else - anything else.
But nothing came to me, and my attention kept being drawn to the person sitting directly to my right, where the previous woman had sat. He had sand-colored hair, and his eyes were a deep and brooding green. Human, and altogether far too vulnerable sitting next to a blood-drinker like me.
I sat there, not breathing for a few minutes, not tempting myself to go in for the kill. I almost jumped when I felt a finger tap my shoulder.
"Are you alright?"
When I turned to look at him, I met those green eyes looking at me, concernedly. He didn't seem too overly interested in me, like that creepy man in the gray suit with the briefcase, but he did look a little startled as my piercing scarlet eyes met his.
"I'm fine," I said quietly, nodding a little, breathing in for some air to speak but gripping the cotton seat handle as the bittersweet enveloped me. I was lying through my teeth. Of course I wasn't fine. But I couldn't exactly leap up and say, "No, I'm not okay, and it's your fault, you delicious-smelling human!"
The very image of that in my head distracted me momentarily, and I worked up a small chuckle. It was uncomfortable, not breathing for the sake of not killing a human. Why would I care? I knew the answer. I didn't care at all, except for the fact of getting caught in public as what I am.
Utterly frustrating.
"Well, you just look kind of tense, is all," he said slowly.
I nodded again. "I've got a lot to think about," I replied, in my most velvet-smooth voice. Better not to give him any hint of what was going on.
"So, where're you headed?" He continued.
Absolutely irritating.
"New York City," I said, and it was true. I'd have the best chance of hunting in the city, and night was almost like day. So, that was my new choice in a place to stay. I hadn't been there for a good twenty years, and the odds of someone recognizing me were slim to none, so it was a much better shot than most other places.
Blinking, he said, "I'm headed there too." We were almost there, having just been at the next city over.
The bus's tires skidded to a halt, sliding a little in excess on the rain-slicked road. Glancing up at the light sign at the front of the bus bolted to the ceiling, I read the bold red letters that spelled out "DOWNTOWN NEW YORK CITY, FINAL STOP". "My name's Luke," he said.
"I'm Ren," I replied, standing up and waiting for Luke to leave so I could make my escape from the crowded bus.
"Nice to meet you, Ren," Luke said. It sounded like he meant it. I nodded.
"Maybe we'll meet again," I said ominously, but before I had the chance to say anything else, a big woman cleared her throat and gestured for Luke to get out of his seat. He jumped up, waving once at me and pacing down the aisle, not glancing back as he stepped onto the sidewalk. I scooted out from behind the seat, grabbing my duffel bag and waiting for my turn to leave. I didn't have to wait long; another man stopped, tipping his hat to me. I threw a grin at him and he was momentarily dazed as I darted out of the bus and into the bustling and crowded street.
I was thankful for the moment that most people, while admiring me, still maintained an instinctive distance from me. My marble-hard body wouldn't be a welcome feeling against the limbs of the humans around me. I walked quickly, holding down my black-and-white pleated skirt as a gust of wind overtook me. My black tanktop provided scant protection from the wind, protection that was even then unnecessary for me. I was silently grateful for the storm above me that shielded the sun and sent a small rumble of thunder coursing through the sky.
Making a sharp right-hand turn, I stood in front of an apartment building, unusually singular. It was a tall off-white building with seemingly endless windows that extended into the sky. Looking forward again, I pushed through the door, ending up in a baby blue room. I had this all planned out, having chosen a bustling but lower-class apartment building that was near to the bus stop downtown, in case I had to make a quick getaway. The man sitting at the desk in the office space had his legs crossed on top of the desk, but when I arrived, I caught the motion in my peripheral vision of him sitting properly and straight in a hurry, adjusting his tie and glasses.
"Can I help you, miss?" The man inquired.
"Yes, please. I'm Ren." I flashed a grin, which caused him to look down for a moment at his papers, pretending to shuffle them and muffling a cough with his hand. "I'd like to place rent on a one-room apartment, please," I said quietly.
"I'll just need you to sign here, and... do you have a waiver of parental permission?" He sounded reluctant to ask, but I smiled again.
"Oh, I'm eighteen," I said, smooth as silk. He nodded, retrieving the paper from behind the counter and placing a different one on it. I picked up the paper, quickly filling the information out. It was too easy.
"Good," he said simply, taking back the completed form from me. Handing me a set of keys, he said, "Your room is on the fourth floor, room 143."
Wow. Big apartments.
"Thanks!" I called over my shoulder, already walking towards the elevator. Pressing the button to go up, I waited for a few seconds, got impatient, and started running up the stairs.
Of course, vampires can run pretty fast, so I was up to the fourth floor (with no witnesses -- the stairwell was practically abandoned) in just a few seconds. Opening the door to the fourth level, I paced the halls until I found room 143. Placing the key in the lock and twisting, I stepped into my new room.
These particular apartments had the forethought to add basic furnishings (a couch in the main room and a bed in the bedroom) to the room at an additional cost, which I'd already paid. A bit relieved at not having to buy and move a whole bunch of stuff, I unpacked quickly, getting the job done efficiently with the decorations and leaving my clothes in the duffel bag.
A scream pierced my sensitive hearing, and I whipped around. It had come from the hallway outside my room. Shoving one key on its clip onto the edge of my skirt, I moved towards the door and was there almost immediately. Forcefully, but still carefully, wrenching my door open, I stepped out into the hallway and felt a slight jab in my side as a bullet glanced off my stone-hard skin. Turning slowly, I looked into the eyes of a man holding a gun right in front of my face.</sub>

[[Hea]ther[/sky]]

<sub>Chapter Two

I heard the scream again, but it was muffled, as if the person screaming had a hand placed over their face. "Don't move!" The man's voice was audibly shaky, and I narrowed my eyes at him. The handgun didn't intimidate me. I'd faced death before, it was no big deal by that point.
Snorting derisively, I said, "Who just screamed?"
"None of your business!" The man's thick Brooklyn accent was apparent.
Narrowing my eyes, I said, "It is very much my business." His blood carried a strongly sour scent. He was obviously a criminal, accented by his black clothing and ski-mask. "Why are you going around doing whatever it is you're doing in broad daylight?"
He grinned. "We need a quick getaway, sweetheart, and I don't wanna hurtcha. Just go back into yer room and I won't pull the trigger." I reached out, twisting his arm. The gun fired, the bullet glancing off my leg with a soft tink noise. His eyes seemed to bulge out of his head, and he took a couple of steps back. I maintained my grip on his arm. I could feel him straining against my icy, stone-hard grip. A simple flick of my wrist and he was howling in pain as I dislocated his entire arm. Wouldn't be too good to let any of the blood escape by tearing it off or even breaking it. He was kneeling, and I kicked him in the chest, breaking a couple of ribs. He crumpled, and I stepped over him, pinpointing the location of the scream. As an afterthought, I picked up the gun.
I could hear their footsteps, and by the sounds and scents, there were two men in the room, and one other person. A few rooms down, an open door appeared to be where the noise was coming from. Peeking around the door, I spotted one man combing through the objects in the apartment, and another holding a girl around her neck with one arm, another gun held to her head with the other. His arm was covering her mouth, and another scream suddenly tore itself from her throat. Letting out an involuntary growl, I stepped into the room, holding the gun from the man I'd kicked down. I pointed it at the man holding the girl, my finger on the trigger, poised to shoot.
He aimed his gun at me and fired, but the bullet glanced off the wall to my right. "Not too good of aim, huh?" I said, laughing. He fired again, and this one streaked over my shoulder, grazing my stone-skin. His eyes grew wide with panic.
"Jack!" His sudden exclamation was cut off with a gurgle as I aimed for his throat and shot. The other man, Jack, looked up from the drawer he was rummaging through. His eyes met mine for a brief moment, me holding the gun, and he ran into the bedroom. I darted after him, leaving the girl to pull herself up. She was visibly trembling, but I didn't have time to help her pull it together.
Jack was shoving open a window. We were on the fourth floor, so I didn't see how he intended to survive -- unless he just didn't. He turned to face me, and, spotting the gun again, raised his hands slowly. He was backing towards the window, and suddenly backed into it, attemtping to plummet out and onto the ground below.
I let go of the gun just as he was doing this, whipping across the room and grabbing his ankle. He dangled high above the pavement, and I quickly withdrew him into the room, slamming the window shut with a bang. I glowered at him, unleashing the full force of my crimson eyes on him.
Jack shuddered, staring at me with instinctive fear. "I'm not going to hurt you," I soothed, my voice like silk again. His eyes were still wide with fright as he cowered around the back corner of the bed.
"D-don't come any closer," he stammered, drawing a gun out of his jacket pocket.
"Don't worry," I purred, drawing nearer. I was at his side in an instant. Feeling my mouth water at the prospect of a meal, I bared my teeth, detractable canines sliding out of my jaw. He shouted, but it was cut off as I sunk my fangs into his throat, savoring the warm pulse. He was definitely a lot more innocent than the man I left in the hallway. His blood tasted salty and somewhat tangy. I drank thirstily, then released my teeth from where they had been fastened, and picked up the body. I'd left enough blood to make it look like an accident...
Opening the window, I tossed his body over, and he splatted on the pavement below. Not thinking about what I'd just done, I knew already I hadn't let any blood escape to run onto my clothes or the floor. Stepping back out into the main room, I saw the girl, huddled into a ball. She was staring at the cold corpse of the man I'd shot. "It's alright," I said reassuringly. I wasn't thirsty anymore, so it was easier for me to be around other people. I held out a hand to help her up.
"Y-you shot that m-man," she said simply, indicating the sprawled body on the floor, Blood was slowly soaking into the carpet.
"He was going to shoot you," I said curtly. Stepping over to the phone after helping her stand, I dialed 9-1-1. After a few minutes of waiting and reassuring her that she was alright and it was all over, I heard the police talking. One of them stepped into the room holding another gun and shouted, "Freeze!" I obeyed, as did the girl, although she started trembling again.
"It's alright," I called to the police. "The only one still alive was in the hallway." The man in the room with the gun nodded.
***
After some talking, the other girl, whose name was Riana, was escorted out of the room for medical investigation. I politely declined, washing the blood off myself in my own apartment sink. The police wanted some more questions, and by this time serveral news crews had flocked to Keystone Apartments, as it was called, so I made my escape into my room and locked the door. The doorbell kept ringing and I would hear occasional knocks, but my eyelids slid shut and I did my best to block them out. It was easy enough when I retrieved my CD player from the bedside table and started listening to music.
Waking up with a start, realizing I'd fallen asleep, I looked around quickly to make sure the invading news crews hadn't found a way to get into my room. Heaving a sigh of relief as I noted that nothing seemed out of place, I walked out into the living room. Night had fallen. I must have been asleep a good few hours.
Pushing up my window and peering out into the street, I looked around at the neon lights for a few moments, just enjoying the scene. My enhanced vision allowed me to view the people below with amazing clarity, and the first person I noticed was Luke.
Same sandy hair, same brooding green eyes, and he was crossing a crosswalk.
I saw something I wish I never had to.
A truck speeding right towards him.
Before I even knew what I was doing, I had vaulted out of the window. I landed with only a soft noise in the grass right below the window, planted with trees all around. Rocking onto my heels, I stood up and ran over to him at an average pace, so as not to draw attention to the fact that I could, if needed, speed faster than a car. "LUKE!" I screamed. He just had time to turn around to look at me before the bus was too close.
I had to do something.
I ran straight out into the street and knocked him down. I heard the air whoosh out of his lungs, but he had the sense to tuck his legs under him as the truck rolled an inch over both of our heads.
When it was gone, I grabbed his arm, heaving him up and practically dragging him to the sidewalk. The scene had drawn a bit of a crowd, everyone's shocked gasps at our safety causing a lot of noise among the crowd. "Come on," I muttered, still clinging onto his arm.
He didn't speak, just stared at me with those piercing green eyes. I didn't look at him, barely breathed as his tantalizing blood-scent wafted over me again. It was the same, it was like the richest chocolate, right next to me. The bustling crowd pushed us aside, but I forcefully shoved open the door to the apartments. Marching in and over to the elevator, I tapped my foot as I pressed the arrow and waited for the machine to grind to a halt. The doors slid open and this time I didn't have to drag him, he just followed me in.
It was taking all my willpower not to reach over and sink my fangs into his neck. He just stood there in silence with his arms crossed, peering at me curiously. It was kind of frustrating. Even conversation would have been preferable to the hollow silence. When we reached the fourth floor, we met the eagerly awaiting news cast, all making their reports on the murders that had occurred in this building.
"Yeah yeah," I hissed through gritted teeth as the paparazzi invaded me. I just tried to ignore them, putting the key in the lock to my door and opening it. Shutting it quickly and relocking it, I turned to face the ash-blonde boy standing there in front of me with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on me.
"I know you've probably been questioned enough for one day," Luke said quietly. "But how did you get to me so fast?"
"What?" I said. "I was taking a walk and I happened to look over when a woman pointed and see you."
He looked a little skeptical, but I crossed my arms and stared at him for a few minutes. Neither of us spoke, but he still didn't look convinced. "So, why'd you take me up here?" He asked, breaking the silence.
"Seemed like the safest place to keep away from prying eyes and ears," I replied. He shrugged, motioning towards the door.
"Doesn't seem like the most likely of places to do that."
"Well, if you want to leave, you can." My voice held a little derision. I sniffed. "I'd think you'd be a little more grateful for me having saved your life."
"I am." He sounded, once again, like he meant it, so I didn't argue. "My mom will be wondering where I am. I wasn't supposed to be gone for too long." I nodded once, putting my hand on the doorknob. He hesitated, seeming like he wanted to say something else, but when I opened the door he shrugged, waving goodbye and shouldering his way through the crowd of people.
Letting out a long sigh, I stepped into my room and grabbed pajamas. For the next half an hour I took a long, warm shower. Of course it did nothing to increase my temperature, I was still as cold as stone, but it was comfortable anyhow. Changing, I laid my dirty clothes in the corner and pulled my bedspread out of its vaccuum-sealed bag, spreading it on the bed. Pulling my pillow out of the bag, I curled up on my bed, covering myself and closing my eyes. That was when I heard the crash.</sub>

[[Hea]ther[/sky]]

_{I'll be posting the new chapters on my DeviantArt if anyone's interested in reading them. ^^}

[~.:Twilightspeaker:.~]

wow. That's really good. It should be published when you finish it. I'd buy it.