Grave Five: Revelation

Her long, thin fingers were white as the bones inside them. Her neck curved gracefully, almost too exaggeratedly long like her limb, giving her an otherworldly image. In her own way, she was something more than human, like himself. It still amazed him that a mere mortal was the one to call him awake from his tomb. He, Amadeus, thought to be one of the oldest and most powerful immortals in existance. And here, a human girl, barely two decades of age had awakened him without even realizing what she had done.   But how could he have ignored her?   From his resting place deep in the earth, the vampire had heard her grief, calling him to the place where she lay dying. The image of her fragile form sprawled out in a pool of a blood, barely breathing played vividly through his mind. The instant he saw Artemis in the flesh, Amadeus knew he could not let her die. He gave her some of his blood and her wounds immediately healed. Most human bodies would reject blood as ancient as his, but Artemis' desperate cells seemed to take it readily, regenerating themselves instantly. Amadeus had stayed with her all night, gently probing into her mind to find out who she was, until the sun forced him back into hiding.    He returned again every night, following her to the city, tracking every bar she played at, and watching as she cried herself to sleep. Artemis was an obsession; after so many years of growing disinterest, his immortal life had found a new focus. Amadeus's resolve to watch remotely began to break as he watched Artemis fall deeper and deeper into an strange emptiness. He could hardly stand to see her cry, his ancient heart so wrapped around her fleeting existance. The once apathetic, unforgiving vampire was completely beholden to an unknowing mortal girl.     The final barrier broke when she was attacked. For the first time in centuries, Amadeus was consumed by a thoughtless rage. His calm, calculating reserve was gone and all his could think to do was destroy the filthy human who dared touch her. The man was dead before Artemis had finished her decent from the bridge.  Out of millions of kills, this man was the only one who had ever been found. His rage has gotten the best of him, and Amadeus faltered enough to let a body be discovered. No matter though, no one would ever find him, or even if they did, imprison him.   It was a relief to finally have revealed himself, even if it might take a Artemis awhile to get over the shock. He was a bit concerned that his display the previous evening would cause her to fear him even more... but he had  learned that humans were resilient things, they acclimated to change rather easily.  Now she knew the entire truth with no way to ignore it, at least.   Amadeus lazily ran a hand through his auburn curls and sighed, looking at the girl lying in front of him. The rain hitting against the window made tiny shadows inside the room, reflecting on Artemis's sleeping face. She was still out cold, but luckily the sun was far from rising. He could watch her until she woke up.   After Artemis had fainted, he took her back to her apartment and began his patient vigil. He sat across from her, staring intently, his eyes ate up every detail, as if she would suddenly disappear forever. He observed her chest slowly rise and fall as she breathed, her expression change subtly as she dreamed. Her face was the sleeping mask of mock-panic, she was beginning to make small, almost inaudible, whimpering noises. Amadeus's brow furrowed slightly, reaching out a hand to touch her cheek, hovering for a second, as if she were too fragile.    She was so beautiful it hurt him. *   I woke with a start, still desperate to escape some unknown dreamtime predator...I stopped moving, and letting out a shaky sigh of relief, realizing that I was awake. Sweat has begun to glisten on my forehead and radiated heat around my face.     I sat up, and saw him sitting near me with a concerned expression. His auburn hair lay in perfect, almost angelic, ringlets upon his shoulders; his smooth white face showed no sign of age or distress. Still protruding from his back were wings with feathers smooth and shiny as silk.    Amadeus.    My body tensed like a rabbit in the sight of a hawk, and I eyed him nervously. He made no move, simply sighed dishearteningly and kept his gaze on me.    "You still don't trust me, do you?" He asked, not really needing an answer.    I shook my head quickly, wanting nothing more than to jump out the window. Amadeus let out a amused chuckle at my jittery response. He had a deep, soothing laugh that made me want to melt, even if it was coming from, for all intents and purposes, a corpse. Hearing it, my body automatically relaxed a little. I settled into a slightly more comfortable position, scooting away to the far edge of my futon and tuckig my legs beneath me. He observed my movements with intense interest. It was uncannily similar to a hawk regarding a rabbit. I shifted awkwardly, staring right back at him. Seeing as he hadn't done anything so far, I let down my guard a bit further. Amadeus seemed to take this as a license to get closer, and leaned towards me cautiously. He stopped when his face was about a foot from mine, assuming his former watching position. "See, there's no reason to fear me, little bird." His voice was soothing, I reluctantly admitted to myself. A million questions were racing through my mind, I couldn't even fully catch a thought before another replaced it. Where did he come from? If he was a Vampire, how old was he? What did he want from me? As if reading me mind, Amadeus laughed again and raised an eyebrow. "Curious, aren't we?" He smiled. "To begin, I am two thousand seventy three years, nine months" (Here, he smirked at gasp of surprise) "And six days old."  He paused to revel in my disbelief, then continued "And I, several millennia ago, came from Finland. However, I've been leaning towards Spain the past few decades..." He mused, as if recalling a fond memory. I swallowed nervously. It was hard to comprehend that a Vampire was within a foot of me, casually chatting about his homeland, much less a 2073 year old one. I hadn't even been near a building that old. My curiosity had had been sated somewhat in the respect of his origins...but there still was another pressing to be asked. My fear began creeping back as I remembered all the things he had done. I fought to keep my calm. Amadeus obviously noticed, and gently laid his hand over mine. I flinched slightly at his touch. A look of sadness crossed his face at this, but it quickly disappeared. "But...why did you...?" "You woke me up." He said simply.  I gave him a blank look, obviously not understanding. "When one is as ancient as I, time can become...overwhelming...the world looses it's charms and everything around you dies, while you remain unchanged. I had locked myself up deep in the earth to sleep away a few centuries only five years ago, intending to wake far later on...but you woke me up. I heard you from thousands of miles away, Artemis...your soul screamed and I answered."  Amadeus's voice grew suddenly softer. "Can you now see why I can't let you die? You gave my heart feeling again...." Though I swam with questions again, something was remarkably clear ....Amadeus cared, deeply. I could suddenly recognize it in his voice, in his eyes, in his touch. He terrified me...but at the same time I was beginning to understand that he would never harm me. On queue, Amadeus slowly and carefully reached out his arms to close the distance between us. Impulsively, I shivered his icy skin against mine, but I made no other protest. It was as if he was touching another person's body. I stayed complacent and still, even though my heart was pounding. He pulled me towards him and wrapped his arms around my small frame. The smell of cinnamon lingered on his clothes. I felt so strangely paralyzed...I couldn't gather my thoughts well enough to stop him, but did I really want to?...He stroked my hair with one hand and gently ran the other over my body, almost as if reverence, like he had been waiting for this since the day he found me four weeks ago... The first morning rays of light began to flicker in through the window. Amadeus lowered his head, and I felt his lips touch my neck. I tensed, but they simply laid a gentle kiss there, moving up until I felt his breath tickle my ear. Somewhat unwillingly, my eyelids drooped and I felt my feeble consciousness give way. He smells so nice...

Reviews

[DarkAspen]

Love it, thx for the entry!

[Sharkapillar]

This is beyond excellent. You MUST finish this, or I shall surely go insane. I loved it.