helpUNEDITED
Frankfurt, Germany – Approximately 151 years after the WWDE
The streets of Frankfurt were wet, the weather heavy and humid this dark night. Between the occasional sheets of rain coming down, and her son asking questions, Sarah Bearnstred wasn’t paying nearly enough attention when she took a left down the wrong alley.
“Oh!” she pulled little Michael close when she noticed the man turn around, holding what looked like a body close to him farther in the dark alley.
“What is it, momma?” Michael asked, peaking around his mother’s hip to stare into the darkness.
“Yes, what is it, mother?” the man’s voice asked from the darkest shadows. Sarah was screaming inside, the aggravation she was feeling a moment ago lost in the recesses of a mind now paralyzed with fear.
“I’m sorry, I was trying to get back home,” Sarah spoke in a clipped fashion before she was able to take a step back, gently pushing her son behind her.
“I do believe,” the man’s feet clicked on the pavement in the alley as he came closer, “that you are far away from home, little woman.” The man took another two steps closer, into the pitiful light cast by a dim bulb that must have been found in a building in the half of the city that had fallen into disuse. “I smell France on you.”
“Oui,” Sarah answered, able to take another step back, now little Michael was almost out of the alley and Sarah set her shoulders. She was completely aware of who, no what she had found.
And probably who, as well. “You are the one named the Duke, are you not?” she asked, trying to keep as much fear out of her voice as she could.
This made the man pause and turn his head slightly, raising an eyebrow in surprise, “You know of me?”
“Oui,” she agreed, “I’ve heard of you.” She grabbed her young son’s arm again, his straightforward nature not a benefit at the moment as he stepped forward to see better. She pushed him back behind her.
“How delightful,” the smooth voice responded as he took another step closer.
Sarah kept her eyes on the man who was but maybe ten steps down the alley. She had already accepted that her trip to this city was a mistake, her faith insufficient for the task at hand. She set her lips and kneeled, pulling Michael closer to herself and when he was close, she leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. “Momma loves you, now do as I tell you and run down the street to our hotel, I’ll be along to meet you at the room later.”
“But,” the young boy started to argue but stopped when his mother’s fingers tapped him on his lips.
“Go!” She told him, and was relieved when he obeyed, his little running steps taking his body away from the alley.
The man’s eyes opened in surprise, “You are a brave one, little child. I can hear your heart,” he told her, taking another step forward as he tapped on his chest. “Bah bump, bah bump, bah bump.” He smiled, “That was brave of you, to deliver your blood as the sacrifice for your son’s life. I am not a totally cruel and heartless man. I recognize the love you have, and I will honor the sacrifice you provide.”
“I’ll not go down without fighting!” She hissed, “You are the spawn of Satan himself, and …”
His rush caught her by surprise, her feeble attempts to pull his head, to separate his teeth that penetrated her neck impossible. She wanted to scream, but the warmth as he pulled blood from her was making her sleepy. A single tear released from her eye and traveled down her face as she lost the ability to stand. Her body easily held up in the dark alley by the man holding her in a caress.
Her final thoughts were for her son, hoping he would stay away and that this monster willing to kill for blood was telling the truth…
FROM MICHAEL >>> WOOHOO, we are back into the groove, right? At least, we have the first snippet from The Darkest Night out for your reading and a little bit of the evil that is “the Duke.”
I already hate his vampiric ass.
One of the old ones that was protected when he should have been dead … Valerie shouldn’t be expecting a reunion, that’s all I have to say.
