"I want... you, my dear Alexia." His hand trailed on my face and I thought to myself initially how smooth his fingers were before the thought melted into a deep despair over how ice cold his touch was. I shuddered on contact while all he did, was simply smile.
"How do you know my name?" I demanded, keeping my outer armor fastened, away from my inner desires.
"I know a great deal of things about you Alexia." He began moving around me again, this time leading the way to look out to the boats in the horizon, "I know that you grow tired of all these petty things you're burdened with. I know that you dream of not just seeing the sea, but crossing it and walking into places of old, places of far... " He turned around, smiling as his head tilted to the side seductively. "and places to call your home."
I remember just staring at him, speechless. My eyes were so locked into this statue of a man that I wasn't sure I'd even heard his words properly. My heart was racing but I was not afraid. I was... excited. Renewed. A sense of adventure, tugging on my heart's strings.
"Are you afraid of me?" He smirked.
"No." I stood my ground mirroring his piercing eyes fearlessly.
"Oh, my child. You really are special... "
"Is that your charm for whisking young maidens away? I will not buy into such stale bread. You must try harder than that, I'm afraid."
"No." He dragged on the'oooo' of the word, "I can only be honest with such a beautiful creature like you. I can only be true. Naked in your light."
His fingers parted my long hair and part of me was wondering why I shouldn't knee him in his groin, and then the other part, the curious part that gets the cat killed - wanted to be frozen.
"Come with me. Tonight. We can go wherever we want, whenever we want, however we want. This is the chance of a lifetime, my angel. I will make all your dreams a reality and no one will stop you from being free."
I looked away, back to the ballroom. The traditional, monotonous living-dead fashions of life were clawing their way into the very fringes of my heart, beckoning me to leave it all behind. Then I looked back to him to give my answer, but he was gone, along with the coldness in the atmosphere abruptly departing with him. My heart still raced as I heard his whispers calling from the shadows in the graves of my hindered mind.
"Midnight. Come to the waters and the sand... "
How could I return to the party as if nothing happened? The subtle gestures on everyone's warm-blooded, wine-soaked faces may have well been allegorized to the walking dead, blindly following old customs without asking why. I still felt the cold of his hands, trailing on my face. It should have felt like death, but to me, it was life. I would only spend another hour or two before the calling would get the better of me. No part of me wanted to stay. Seeing the world was a fantasy I'd only read in books. Experiencing it in person? How could I resist?
I quietly slipped away into the shadows, leaving the ball the moment the temptation got to the last edge of my finely crafted discipline. For a moment, I wondered how I'd explain this to father. I could tell him I was taken. I could tell him I was followed. So much I could get away with, wrapping that man's head around a thinly veiled lie. They'd forgive me - at least, that is was what I hoped. If they knew I was willing to run away with a man, the story would be quite different.
The waters and the sand, he had said. It sounded like a test. Surrounded on three sides by water, the peninsula on which the city of Constantinople was built, had numerous beaches. How would I know which one he meant? His voice did not echo in my mind. I started walking, thinking only of my desire to escape the stranglehold of my circumstances. I let my legs take me where they saw fit. I only followed my primal urges and the leading of my own inner voice that took me to one particular beach. The waves were unsettling. They couldn't decide if they wanted to be gentle or rough. The boats I saw earlier were all gone, except for one that drifted a short distance off the shore. I wondered how the lantern was still lit. There was no one in it. It was abandoned, and alone.
Had he abandoned me?Was this even the right place? I berated myself for entertaining such foolish notions of escape. I didn't even know his name! I should get back. I continued, sulking angrily at not only him, but the whole world. A cold gust of wind brushed against me, robbing me of my vision as my hair covered my face, forcing me to turn around and when I did, he was there.
"Alexia... " He smiled from ear to ear, his eyebrows crunching intently. "you came."
I held my hands together, taking leery steps closer to him. If I had to guess now, I'd say he was standing next to the boat that had somehow, miraculously landed on the beach on its own, as a kind of ferryman, waiting to take me on a voyage.
"Yes." I quietly responded, "I came."
As I got closer to him, he extended his hand in the act of chivalry to take me on board the water-crossing vessel. I found myself naturally extending my hand to meet his. I was not afraid of his coldness. I wanted to feel it. It may have been painful, but I discreetly enjoyed it.
He carried me on board and sat me gently as a passenger, then he reached for the boat's paddle which was beneath my feet where I sat. "Sorry." I whispered ignorantly thinking I was in the way, but all he did was smile as he gracefully lifted the paddle overhead and dipped it into the water, leading us bit by bit, row by row, away from the shore. I kept looking at him while he steered us to the dark open blue. He was so graceful. So refined and relaxed, confident and sure. It was unlike anything I'd seen in a man at the time. He knew where he was going and he knew what he wanted. Nothing would get in his way.
"May I ask you something?" I broke the silence. He did not look at me. Only kept his eyes fixed on our destination, "What is your name?"
The question provoked him - "You are travelling with a stranger and the only thing you wish to know is my name and not where we are going?"
"I assume you would take me to the places you promised. The destination does not concern me at this time, only the hand guiding me there."
His eyes peeled away from the horizon to focus solely on me, "You are wise my child."
If he'd thought that would be enough to shut me up, he was wrong and he knew I wouldn't let it slip away, so he sighed, contented by my curiosity and answered - "I've been known by many names in my time. Some have called me angel, others - devil, but you may call me... Aristide."
'Aristide', I recited his name in my thoughts, wondering if he'd be tuning in to hear. He probably did. Only a smile that said, I know would be my only hint.
"Here we are." His chilly voice lifted happily. I looked back to see the setting. It was difficult not to stare at Aristide on the ride. His physical attractiveness aside, there was this magnetic force that kept pulling me to him. I couldn't run away even if I tried. To look where we were going came second.
He helped me off the boat, once again showing how much of a gentleman he is.
The air was windy and I remember feeling embarrassed over the dampness of my dress but he didn't seem to mind. I didn't recognize the land at first. The hazy weather and the night's creeping fog were only just starting to clear away. It was Terebinthos. A small island just an hour's boat ride away. At night, you couldn't see it from where I lived and during the day, I was warned to stay away.
Aristide gently took my hands into his own. His cold touch still remained foreign to my body but with a gentle kiss he promised me all will be well.
We moved away from the shore and headed upwards to the thick of the island. As the trees cleared away and the clouds unveiled the shimmering moonlight, I noticed where he was taking me. It was a home, no, more like an abandoned castle: lying dormant on the outskirts of a hill's rise, sporting a strange architecture which did its best to differentiate itself from the norm. It was calling to me. Looking up at it made me feel I'd be a queen, should I be willing to take a step in there.
We entered through a side passage, passing through a large, unlocked oak door. Inside, Aristide lit the wall's lanterns with what appeared to be nothing mor
e than a kiss from his hands. He was truly a mysteriously wonderful creature and as the time went by, I found myself wanting more of him. He took me deeper inside his fortress and I must admit, it was hard to experience it in its entirety. The walls were bristling with garden flowers, carefully placed one by one as a decorative pattern.
The living room was very spacious, having a velvet red couch and two opposite chairs with the unfinished artwork of a woman looking out at this very island... the same way I looked for it at the ballroom.
"Who is she?" I asked knowing the answer already.
"The girl who wanted to be free." He responded from behind me.
I turned to face him with the intent of showing some sort of defiance, or at least making him try for what he wanted but he was seated in the opposite chair - the dim, orange, hazy lights highlighting his pale skin and the bottle of wine he'd fetched while I pranced about unnoticed.
"Care for a drink?" He asked, his fingers slowly sliding down the bottle appealingly. I found myself smirking at his offer. Taking careful, seductive steps closer to him, I reached for the bottle - our fingers interlocking just for a second or two before I gently seized it away from him to observe the brand. There was nothing on it. No label, no maker. Just an ancient burgundy glass with a dark, red liquid dancing about inside. I didn't turn away from him, but I felt his signature coldness moving behind me, crawling up my spine and making its way to my right shoulder. He parted my hair as his lips softly pecked the nape of my neck, then he slid his kiss slowly along my collarbone. My body shuddered at his touch. I'd forgotten everything in that moment in time. My eyes were already shut till I felt an object touching my breast. I reopened my eyes to see a glass in front of me. He was expecting me to do the rest.
"Tell me something." I quietly spoke as I poured the dark liquid into the glass. "Will she be free?"
"That depends... " He handed me the glass and waltzed away to gaze at the work. I watched him silently.
"On what?" I finally asked.
He refrained from talking immediately. His mind was too busy collecting his carefully planned suave.
"On whether she'd walk with me or not."
"Is that what you want?" I took a sip of the wine, leaning back into the chair he was in and crossing my legs. He finally turned around again, observing me as if I were the next subject of art - "It is."
My eyes fluttered upon his remark. I'd be lying if I said any part of me wanted to run back home. His demand, and the way he looked at me made me felt... naked. I was being sucked into his theatric and he was directing the drama splendidly. I did not want it to end. No man had ever been so sure and it was intoxicating to feel so desired. He folded his hands behind his back and took a few steps closer.
"Can I ask you something now?" His face grew curious for a change.
I enjoyed seeing him, a little less solid and more, vulnerable - "Go on."
"May I draw you?"
I looked to the unfinished painting with a smirk, "Haven't you already?"
"No... " He dragged on the 'o' again, "Not the way I should have."
My head tilted sublimely as I took another sip of the wine, unconsciously already giving him the answer - "How would you draw me this time?"
Aristide came closer, bit by bit, his coldness getting stronger but the heat of my own flesh: rising. He gracefully came to his knees and placed his hand on my thigh, looking up at me with eyes that eagerly craved me.
"Without restraint... " He silently whispered as his hand glided up the curve of my hip and to my side, "without limit... " he continued to my ribs, a finger or two softly brushing against my right breast while his upper body leaned closer to me, his lips coming nearer - "without fear... " his hand on my shoulder.
"Free... " He said to me, his lips touching mine, pulling me into his world affectionately. I was petrified. The coldness of death in his touch did not bother me. I wanted it. It made me warm, moist, melting... wanting and needing... My hips arched forward, my head tilted back and that poor glass of wine spilled all over the floor while I released a soft moan as he marked a trail of kisses down my body, each cold touch being countered by the rising warmth of my skin. I felt his cold lips soothingly grasping parts of my lower body - my belly, my hips, my thighs. Soon he'd stripped away my undergarments, and I felt his lust taste my soft, quivering womanhood.
My eyes were half shut from the things he was doing to me. I was fading away to paradise, panting and moaning without a care in the world. In the blissful haze of the moment, my eyes wandered all over the room while my hands ran through his hair. I saw the depictions on the walls - paintings and icons of supposed ancient gods and goddesses: some the likes of which, or anything similar, I'd never seen before. Winged creatures and statues of pale figures.
He broke me to his will. He had an unrivaled technique with that tongue of his and yes, it pushed me so fast to the edge that within a mere minute or two of him being down there, I'd already erupted into the wildest orgasmic frenzy no virgin girl could have concocted in her wettest dreams. I was shaking when he came back up, his cold eyes staring down at me telling me, more and his lips drenched in lustfully savoring me. I caressed his face with my hands, looking into his eyes, speaking volumes without a single word, and pulling him into me to taste myself on his lips. He was gentle, but dominant. A strange mixture that, as I would eventually find out, few men can ever pull off so well. He was ready to connect to me, man to woman, and as he did, he held my wrists down restraining me: planting more of his kisses around my neck - each one sprouting another soft moan from my lips.
I felt the grip on his lips growing firmer on my neck. I was enjoying it at first, but then it grew stronger. It felt sharper, like knives were slowly and painfully penetrating my flesh. I started losing my mind. I was in pure ecstasy, feeling the greatest pleasure and the worst pain at the same time. Everything was spinning. For the first second or two, I wanted to get him off me. Time went on and the pain only deepened... I secretly wanted it... I didn't want him to stop giving me either. If it was more pain for more pleasure, so be it.
Take me as you must, just don't stop...
I could see my blood, dripping from the corner of his mouth, felt it escape me, dripping on the cobble floor. His eyes were no longer cold and dying, they were amber and life was brewing. 'Take me.' I whispered in my mind as he sucked on my neck - pulling the liquid of life from me. Each gulp, my vision growing fainter, the sounds around me losing their vibrancy, the colors fading...
Take me...
If I were to die, what better way to expire? End me here. Let me be free.
I should have screamed. I should have called for help. I should have fought with every last survival instinct and got up and ran, but I didn't. I let him have me. I let him take me as his own. And I loved it. I loved every, single, moment of it.
My legs wrapped around him, pulling him into me deeply and I think that surprised him. Excited him more, if you will. He gazed into my eyes, dumbfounded by what he was seeing. I didn't resist.
Was that what he was looking for?Acceptance?
A new face unveiled itself on him. He wasn't just cold and seductive, like his usual manner. I saw feeling in him. Warmth, hope, and above all - care. He held his wrist out and bit into his own flesh. I was laying there, life fading from me, crossing the threshold to the other side. The world around me had sprinkled into an ethereal atmosphere. I was smiling delightfully as my eyes were ready to shut for the last time, a tear slithering down my face wondering if at last, I was finally... free.
Then I felt something drip on my mouth. It was ice cold at first but strangely became warm as it soaked my lips. The more it drained into my mouth, life started singing in me. I opened my eyes again and saw him presenting me with his wrist - an offer of feeding. Some, natural urge to sustain life crawled out of me and I held his wrist weakly with my hands, pulling it down and slowly sucking on his veins. He caressed my hair gently as he laid next to me, feeding me. Life was coming back and
I wanted more and more of him but as I looked up, I could see his rising discomfort.
Why didn't he tell me to stop? Why didn't he tell me to pull away?
I could've kept going, repay the favor and suck him dead yet I stopped. I slowly licked my lips as the blood dripped out of my mouth, tasting his life as my eyes called innocently to him while his looked down on mine. Suddenly, memories of things I'd never done - thoughts of places I'd never seen and dreams that challenged my carefully fixed perception on reality all came rushing into my mind like a furious waterfall, tossing me over the edge.
I knew him. I knew him more than what should be possible. More and more of him kept flowing through my thoughts. The places he'd been, people he'd met, people he would meet... and then I saw a whole new history unfold before my eyes. Figures of shadow, from days ancient and old. Times that went so far back in history that would seem absolutely crazy. I saw the stars and space - the null and the void, an endless expanse that connected every fragment of the cosmos. There was no stopping what was happening around me.
The pain I'd felt before was nothing compared to this. My body began pulsing with heat. I became overwhelmed seeing all these visions and Aristide knew that. He leaned down and kissed me deeply, still holding my hands restrained - his fingers interlocking with mine. His kiss was distracting from all the images. All the thoughts were racing through my head so fast and so suddenly, I was sure that I would die right there.
"Stay with me, my love... " I heard him say. "Stay with me... "
Interlude
Samuel Speaks, 2017
"Wait... " I stop reading and take a long hard look at her, trying to visualize the tale I was gobbling. The disturbing part is that I can actually picture it. Disturbing in a bad way? Not really. It is more disturbing in the way that I always had a feeling, something about her leading down some dark alleys and I was right. Always trust your gut feeling.
Cognata: A Vampire Romance Page 2