Black clouds rolled ominously across the horizon while thunder rumbled in the far distance.  Shards of blinding lightening sizzled through the dark night, as the storm grew stronger.  Shadows cast forlornly over the crypt hidden beneath the overhanging Spanish moss, all but lost to sharp discerning eyes.  Calpurnia Vladimir pulled her midnight cape tighter around her shoulders as she shoved against the crypt door, feeling it open slowly to the blackest of nights.  Her eyes gleamed deep red as she peered through the moss and slowly nodded.  Conditions were perfect for a midnight Valentine’s stroll. 

Cal sought the night inhabitants once a year on the eve of Valentine, looking for that one perfect bite that would help her continue her immortality.  She pushed aside the moss and stepped smoothly onto the grassy knoll.  She stood proudly as the wind buffeted her clothing, fanning her cape out behind her.  Reaching up, Cal adjusted the cape to ride perfectly across her broad shoulders.  Midnight hair, tall, statuesque but deadly pale, she appeared to be part of the night dressed all in black except for her face and hands.  Ruby red lips moistened as her tongue slowly traced the perfect line, whetting her appetite for the sharp metallic taste of blood. 

Her heels clipped steadily over the cobblestones as she walked away from the graveyard toward the dark alleys of town.  The streets were nearly empty as the storm burst and rain poured from the skies.  Cal pulled her cape tighter so that it repelled the dripping water.  Her hair was impervious to the wetness.  The silken strands whipped around her iridescent face while her eyes searched for signs of prey. 

Cal pressed against the old stone buildings as she heard the sound of two sets of feet moving in her direction.  One was heavier than the other and she knew it was a couple heading toward her.  She swept her cape upward, covering her face.  Her piercing eyes glared through a crack in the cloth watching the couple walk nearer and then past her hiding place.  Too involved with themselves, they never saw her as the male nearly trod on her foot.  The cold from Cal’s body caused the female to shiver as they walked past her.    

Once she was alone again, Cal shook her cape loose and moved further into the alley.  Her eyes darted side to side.  Her ears strained to pick up any sound of another person in the area.  It was deadly silent except for the drumming of rain against the glistening cobblestones.  A door creaked and then slammed closed just as thunder tore through the night sky.  A human would have missed the sound but Cal’s hearing detected that a female had just entered the alley not more than one hundred feet ahead of her.   

Quickly Cal leaned forward as her feet propelled her nearer.  Her nostrils caught the womanly scent as salvia began to pool at the corner of her mouth.  She could already taste the metallic warmth of her blood as she zoned in closer to her prey.  With one quick move she pirouetted until she stood before the woman stopping her dead in her tracks.   

Cal heard the sudden intake of breath as startled hazel eyes widened in fright as eyes met eyes.  Cal’s hands reached out until her strong fingers grasped the woman by the shoulders, pushing her backward until she bound her against the wall.  She could smell the sweat of fear and hear the rapid beat of the stranger’s heart as it skipped ragingly faster.  Leaning closer, Cal swept the woman’s dung colored cape to the side as her fingers struggled to rip the tie from around her neck.  The cape dropped to the wet ground as rain continued to pour down upon the couple struggling against the wall.  

Cal tucked her head and moved nearer as her teeth extracted from her gums.  Her tongue flicked across their sharpened point, touching the sensitive tips making the desire to sink them into the tender neck in front of her even stronger.  Her red eyes blazed with desire to taste blood, the warm, boiling drink of immortality for her.   

Ever so slowly, Cal’s tongue trailed against the cloth covering the woman’s neck as she felt the pulses throbbing violently against her sensitive taste buds.  Her own body fluids raced with unknown fever as she prepared to partake of the feast millimeters from her mouth.  Cal could feel the woman struggling as she fought to free herself from within Cal’s tightly clamped hands. 

Bending her head for the final bite, Cal shrieked in anger as her voice mingled with the worst of the storm beating down upon the town.  The woman had a white cowl circling her neck with a thick silver crucifix hanging dead center.  As Cal’s fingers tightened the woman began chanting. 

“Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me...” 

Cal’s hands burned with fire as she pulled back and ran erratically back the way she had walked.  Her once pristine ageless beauty began a metamorphosis.  Wrinkles lined her face and hands while a large curving hump bowed her back.  Her coal black hair turned pearly white then dull yellow as clumps streamed from her head in her mad rush to return to her crypt.  Her gait was slowed by the changes in her hips and knees as the hundreds of years rushed down upon her person.   

She neared the crypt pulling now with all her strength to open the heavy stone door. 

It was too late as time caught up with Calpurnia Vladimir.  In a flash, her body disintegrated until all that was left was a handful of wet ashes soon washed away by the rain that continued to fall.  As quickly as the storm began, it stopped.  The clouds peeled away as the bright new moon shone down upon the graveyard as if to mock the night, chasing away all evil that lurked within its blackened depths.

 

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Copyright © February 2006 by Shadylady