A tall, dark figure enters the room. This place was new for him and he paused just inside the doorway for a look around. A black blazer and royal blue shirt define his upper torso accompanied by a neatly pressed pair of black dress slacks. Black Wingtips finished the look for him. Obsidian irises gaze about the room, taking in the faces of numerous strangers. With slow steps he makes his way to the fireplace, sitting casually on a plush sofa near it. The firelight shone as it reflected off his slicked-back black hair, which had been neatly gelled into place. A few people made their way to him, curious and drawn to him seemingly. He beamed of elegance, sophistication and charm. Casually he glanced at a few gathered, and much to their apparent surprise, spoke to them. His voice perfectly mirrored his appearance in charm and subtle grace.


“’What does it profit a man, to gain the whole world. And lose him eternal soul?’ Stay by me this evening my friends, and you just may find out.”

With that he smiled and began.

“My name is Simon Nightheart. And this is my story…

“A soul… Every living thing begins and ends with one. No? Well, this story is no exception to that rule. It begins with a soul. A soul rent from its rightful owner. Rent away by the greed, hunger, passion, love, lust and thirst of one night. Taken away by the ivory fangs of a kindred.

“There I was.. Still a boy at heart. Just a normal guy from the middle class of a Western Tennessee suburb. Freshly out on my own, making ends stretch to meet. Somehow. So one night, I went to a nightclub a friend had told me about, ‘The Rave’ it was called. And on that very night, my life changed.. forever.

“As most good stories go.. I met a woman there who changed my life. A beautiful blonde named Lara. She was absolutely incredible in her beauty, intellect and charm. I would find myself spending that night in a lushly furnished condo alongside the river. And that night will forever haunt my memories.

“It was a passionate night, to say the least. I loved her, and I knew it. She whispered promises of forever. Of course at that point in time, I thought she merely meant it as mortals do. I’ll admit to you, she made me a bit nervous at first. Although I was twenty-four at the time, I still had not shared a bed with a woman. She was my first. She seemed so understanding and compassionate as she gently placed her crimson lips to mine. That single kiss brought more desires, cravings, and urges than I had ever felt in my entire existence.

“The next morning, I awoke to find her in my arms. A smile crept along my face as she stirred to consciousness. She smiled, yet said nothing. She merely let her arms snake around my chest and back, encircling me in her rather strong grip, laying her head on that muscle between the shoulder and the neck. In that somewhere I thought I heard an ‘I love you’. I closed my eyes as I felt her lips upon my skin. That was all I had left. I was lost in her touch now, delivered into her embrace as she took of me, draining my body slowly of my life-giving blood. And I allowed her to. That previous night she had taken my innocence, if such exists in a male, and thrust me into manhood headfirst. That glory, however, was short-lived, as she soon took that as well. It came seeping from my veins alongside my life. That morning, in a heavily shaded room, she embraced me.

“Over the next three years, we grew together as both sire and childe, and lovers. I was still new to this world of eternal night and she, my sire, was patiently teaching me all she knew. We were all but inseparable; she and I. Until, the one night came when we were to be separated. They barged in, a group of four powerful kindred. Three of them it took to hold her down; two to actually hold her, while the third drained her almost to the point of death. In that weakened of a state, she could provide little resistance.

“Now, you’re probably asking yourself, ‘Where was he?’ That is a good question. I was being held by the fourth one. The one who had taken her blood was their leader. This was the next in line. He whispered a warning to me as he forced me to watch the draining of my sire and love.

‘It is not your time yet childe, but make no mistake. It IS coming. This is her punishment for making you, mongrel.’

“Oh, now, I did put up a struggle, but against one who out-powered me by that much, there was little I could do save be dragged to the rooftop just behind Lara. Ripping an antenna from the structure, he circles her, one laying her atop a cement slab. They need not hold her down; she was far too weak from the blood-loss to fight back. I watched in horror as they plunged the rod into her chest. I cringed at the blood-chilling scream she let out, her pain echoing in my own heart. Downward they continued, drilling it more than a few feet into the slab, ensuring she could not remove it. A pitiful sound came from my lips as they let me go, watching the love of my life flail helplessly about a steel rod. I looked to where they had been, but they were no more. Simply, gone.

“Blinded by a mixture of pain and anger, I rushed to her side, hands grasping tightly at the pole. But as new as I was to my new strength, I found that even I did not yet have enough strength in me to undo the damage they had done. Regardless, I tried tirelessly, hands bleeding and raw, until finally she stopped me. Reaching a weak hand towards me she tried to smile, failing obviously through the crimson tears streaming from both of our eyes. For the longest time I merely looked blankly at her, noting the mouthing out of the words ‘I’m sorry’. Finally I found my hands cupping around hers and I laid my head upon her shoulder. From that view, I could see her doom coming. It was coming in a spherical shape in the east. Its long glowing tendrils just beginning to touch the eastern skyline. It seemed she too saw it, for she motioned me closer. So I leaned in closer.

‘I love you..Always’, she whispered and moved my face to hers, kissing me one last time.

“Oh how I cried as I returned her words of compassion. Streaks formed on my face from the blood tears that frequented there. Whether it was adrenaline or desperation I will never know, but frantically I again began tearing at the weapon lodged through her chest.

‘GO!’ she half-screamed, half-growled at me. But I did not go. Already my skin was beginning to steam, wisps rising from it like smoke. Still I labored away until at last she shoved me aside with the last bit of energy she could muster. As the pain grew unbearable from the rising sun’s rays, I finally gave in, taking refuge in a nearby stairwell. Helplessly I watched as the cruel sun took my love, reducing her to a pile of ashes upon a concrete slab.

“As my period of mourning ended, rage ensued. I knew I was still too weak to destroy them, so I began my studies, of all sorts of martial arts. And I also honed my kindred skills, perfecting both arts within the span of a decade or two. And then I began hunting them. One by one I subdued and destroyed three of them. The last, their leader..Marco Franchi, still remains, hidden, scared.

“After a few decades of searching, I settled down a bit, my rage cooling now as life moved on. I went back to our old condo and lived there as I bought a clothing company. I kept a pretty low profile among the remaining kindred in the city, still keeping an ever-keen eye for Marco. Soon though, I grew tired of even that. And the city. That is how I came to be here. I still have my company. I control it remotely from here. I am in the process of building another factory here.

“In total, it has been a year shy of a century and a quarter since the night she took me in her arms and showed me life..And made me what I am now. A vampire. A kindred.”

Eyes as yellow as that of the sun glowed eerily from within the depths of the shadows, an unfriendly taint to their depths. Thoughout the story being told, they could be seen to widen, and narrow, the only visible aspect of the listener's reaction... since the rest of the listener was not visible at all...

Shimmer was old... ancient in fact. She had seen so much it had become too much for her mind to handle, and it collapsed with the burden of such memories. That had been eons ago... those who knew her, those who had survived and were still alive to remember her, knew that she had been insane for as long as they had known her.

When the story was finished, Shimmer stood from her crouch in the corner where she had been playing tic tac toe with the beetles, the game was forgotten and only her mother was important. Crossing over to where the Simon one sat, she entered full light.. well, as full of light as could be had in the dim surroundings.

Flame red hair curled madly about a face whiter than that of a dead person, sunshine yellow eyes outlined with black kohl, lips a glossy black... lips which were peeling back in a defensive hiss, directed at the one who would dare sit on her mother. There was a reason that particular chair was empty... regular visitors of this place knew better.

Reaching into the basket of deodorant she carried on her left arm, Shimmer glared ferociously, uncapping the anti-perspirant and waving it before her as she might have one day weilded a sword..

"You're SITTING on my MOTHER!!!!!"

The voice was an odd mixture of highs and lows... it pierced your ears to blast an instant migraine through your skull while at the same time growling with the low deep tones of an enraged animal....

So there she was... black latex outfit, flame red hair, sunshine yellow eyes, glossy black lips, advancing courageously with her anti-perspirant wielded before her... fighting for her dear mother.... the chair in which Simon had made the mistake of sitting in.

A gentle smile parts his lips as he slowly turned his head to the one adressing him. My my.. A woman wieldinga stick of antipersperant.. ANd ranting about him sitting on her mother.. Ever the pacifist he stands, looking down to the seat and apologizing to it, before turning to the lady speaking to him.

"I am dreadfully sorry Madam. I meant no harm. Please forgive my intrusion. "

He nods respectfully, not letting known the thoughts that this one was insane. He was nonetheless polite to her.

"My name is Simon.. and yours? "

He finds a seat nearby and looks to her as if asking permission..

"is this seat fine?"

Her eyes widened and narrowed intermittently as she listened to him speak... no other muscle so much as twitched on her face as the words processed in her brain. It was actually a rather eerie thing to gaze upon, vacant eyes which showed no recognition of her own kind, a yellow as bright as the sunshine that she would never again see... hair as flame red as the fire for which she would eternally be fearful... translucent skin which had the veins not shown through, might have even been almost attractive.

As soon as he lifted from her poor Mother, she was on her knees beside the chair in an instant, stroking the gentle velvety texture of the upholstery, murmuring apologizes, her cheek resting against the arm of the chair. Her hand dropped the anti-persperant back in the basket, arms wrapping around the sides and back of the chair... her poor dear mother.

No other chair in the room classified, but this one with it's high and delicately arched back, upholstered in the finest of fabrics, a soft velour velvet... intricately carved legs. It was the kind of chair that someday would be contained within a glass case in a museum... no other chair in the room mattered quite as much as Shimmer's dear mother did.

Content and settled, convinced that her mother was alright from her traumatic experience, Shimmer sat on the floor next to her, cheek still resting against her dear mother's arm and looked up at the man expectantly... ready to hear more stories now.

"You can sit... just never again on my mother."