“My Lord Vaistian is waiting inside, Lord Lazarius.
I am to stay out. Please go on in.” The boy pushed the
door open and Lazarius walked into his fate.
I stood in the center of an ancient Japanese stone garden -
huge boulders, lots of sand and rocks, a small pond in the center with
koi splashing playfully in the moonlight. Everything was dark,
darker than it should have been with the light of a full moon shining
down on me. I could see nothing beyond the circle of light I stood in,
but fear struck my heart. There was someone standing within the
shadows of the sugi trees. I knew the visitor was a vampire and I
assumed male. The height of the glinting red eyes gave me that much
detail.
“Who are you?” I asked the figure. “What
business have you here with me?”
The darkness did not answer, but merely breathed deeply,
inhaling my scent. My skin crawled and an irrational fear overtook
my senses, as a long-fingered hand reached its way out into the
moonlight. It was the only thing I could see of my visitor. A single
finger beckoned me forward, wanting me to join the madman in the
shadows.
I shook my head, unable to utter a sound. My voice was
frozen like a lake in the dead of winter, and no sound could be forced
past my vocal cords. Again, the fingered beckoned, and I felt my
heart turn to ice. I was not used to fear drowning me. What could
cause me to feel this way? I tried to step back from the shade among
the shadows but found I could not move a muscle. The feeling of want
and desire flowed out from the darkness, calling to me to submit; to
give in to the being’s wishes.
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