The Vampire's Curse Chapter One

300 years later

Lukas was bored. Three hundred years had done that to him- he couldn’t lift the feeling he had of boredom, no matter that he did.

It was night, and Lukas was prowling round the village again. It would be time to move on again soon- the humans had nearly caught his second a few nights ago. He couldn’t risk it again. He would give the Nest one more week, then leave

There was laughter from a doorway nearby. His head snapped round, to see a young girl kiss her sweetheart goodnight. Lukas’s grey eyes narrowed in disgust. Love. The thing about Mortals that Lukas hated the most. He smiled, fangs showing, and waited for the girl to start walking away.

He followed her, his feet silent on the ground. She turned into a small alleyway, and his grin widened. This was his time. He jumped, and landed on her back, his hand over her mouth.

“Scream and you will die.” He whispered into her ear. She whimpered and nodded. His eyes flashed as he bent towards her, his fangs near her skin.

She started to struggle, panicking as he bit down, drinking her blood. Its richness seeped into him, strengthen him and weakening her. He could feel as her heart stuttered, her weight collapsing onto him, unconscious. He carried on drinking until her heart stopped altogether, and he tossed her aside. Love- the thing he hated- now someone else would be broken.

Leaving the girls body behind, he walked back the way he had come, towards the Nest. The sun would be up soon, he could feel it. Although he could go out in the day, he preferred not too. All others in his nest were bitten vampires- and he did not like showing differences between him and them.

As he walked, he couldn’t help the memories of his early years come back to him. He frowned in annoyance- but could do nothing to get rid of them.

He had known it was stupid, saying no to Persephone. But back then, he had been in love with another girl- a human in his town. And he would never have given her up for someone like Sophie. But because of Sophie, he had ended up giving her up anyway. He had gone to her for help. He could feel the emptiness inside him, the lack of a beating heart. And he had killed her. Drained her of blood.

“Lukas! What are you doing?” her mother had run in, appalled. He was sat with her body on the lap, tears streaming down his face.

“Don’t come near me!” He shouted, palms raised to ward her off.

Her mother realised something was wrong- his eyes- and his fangs. “No, Lukas. Please tell me I am not seeing this.” She had whispered. He didn’t reply. “Lukas…I don’t care what happened. You have to leave. Before anyone finds out.”

“Why? I…I killed her. You should want people to know.” He had said hoarsely.

She smiled then bent and touched his cheek. “Because this isn’t you. Someone did this to you; it’s not your fault. You loved her, Lukas. We all did…but you have to leave.”

He had. He ran far away, trying to leave Humans alone forever, but it never worked. Wherever he went, they were always there.

He shook himself away from the memories. A lot had changed since the start. And he was better of now. He was a true vampire. Nothing could change that.

“Sire?” a young vampire ran up to him. “Your second is waiting to talk to you.”

He nods. “Tell her I will be there soon. We have much to plan.”

“And the Werewolf pack leader is there as well.”

Lukas raised an eyebrow. “Really? I wonder why…very well.” He sped up, running down the street.

On the edge of the village, a small, half destroyed house stood alone. It was perfect for the nest- it had underground rooms- and as the local humans believed it was already haunted, so they refused to go near it. That was where the Nest had been living for the last few weeks. As Lukas approached it, he saw the pack leader and two ‘Wolves standing outside. The leader- or Alpha, to give him his correct title- had his arms crossed. Something was wrong.

Lukas walked up to him and smiled. “Samuel. It is good to see you looking so well. Is the pack doing well this spin?”

Samuel snorted. “Lukas, no need to sound so formal. I know you don’t care about the pack. I have known you far too long for all that stuff. How many spins has it been since I was bitten?” Lukas had found the boy shortly after being attacked and left to die- and the only reason Lukas himself had not killed him was because of the deal they had struck with each other. Lukas had helped him gain rank and respect in both Wolf and vamperic communities, which in tern granted Lukas full range of the land with out having to be stopped by any wolf pack.

Lukas nodded. “You know me far to well, Samuel. Sometime it worries me. What is wrong?”

For the first time since arriving, Samuel looked nervous. “You know the rules we have about Prospects?”

“We don’t kill attack or bite them. Of course I know that.” Prospects were Humans the ‘Wolves had chosen to become one of them, and being bitten by a vampire tarnished the blood, meaning they could not be turned.

“We found this one drinking from a Prospect.” Samuel look a side step, to show Lukas the vampire stood behind him, between the two other ‘Wolves. “Now she is useless to us. And you know the punishment for vampires when this happens.”

“Death.” Lukas looked ant the vampire, his eyes unfathomable. “He broke our rules, Samuel, do what you need to do.”

Samuel nodded. “Very well.”

Lukas turned away, and walked into the Nest’s house, leaving the screams of the dying vampire behind him. There was no regret, no emotion at all showing on his face. It was the other vampire’s fault. They all know the rules.

As he walked through the door, pale arms slipped round his waist, and a tall brown haired girl stepped out of the shadows. She snaked round him, reaching up and kissing him, humour dancing in her purple eyes. “Where have you been, oh Fearless Leader?”

Lukas groaned and pushed her away. “Don’t, Sapphire. I am not in the mood.”

She stepped away instantly. “Sorry, Lukas. What are we doing then?”

“We are leaving. Tomorrow, after dark. I will tell you when I tell the rest.”

Sapphire rolled her eyes. “Fine. You are obviously punishing me for what happened. Sometimes I don’t understand why I am your second, Lukas. You never tell me what is going on. What would I do if something happened to you?”

Lukas grabbed the front of her dress, holding her nose to nose with him, his voice deadly. “Nothing will happen to me, will it, Sapphire? Unless you are planning something I don’t know about.”

Fear flashed in her eyes. “No! I’m not planning anything, Lukas. I was just asking.”

His grey eyes looked her up and down before nodding, dropping her to the floor. “You know why I chose you, Sapphire. I have known you for over one-hundered years. You are useful to me.”

She laughed. “Useful how? For you to relieve your boredom on? Oh, yes, my second is a female. Lets go and kiss her, mess with her emotions.”

His eyes flashed angrily. “Please. You are the one who started it, and anyway, you have no emotions. Neither of us do I want to be like this but you- you were born heartless.”

She stood up and walked over to the door, opening it. In the time they had been talking, the sun had risen, and she recoiled, snarling. “If I seem heartless, it is because I learnt from the best. From you. And maybe I do like the little…agreement we have. But it doesn’t mean that I don’t have emotions. It just means I can’t show them. Its not my fault I am not human!”

Lukas took a step closer to her “Then our agreement suits both of us. I get you as my second, and you get the interaction you crave.”

Sapphire sighed, reaching out and pushing him against the wall. She kissed him ferociously, before pulling back. “Sometimes I hate you, Lukas.”

“I know you do.” He said, expressionless.

She turned away from him, walking down the stairs her purple wyes darkening slightly. Everything she had said to him was true. Sometimes, she hated him. So much, she could leave the Nest. But she never would. I’m not heartless. She thought, throwing open the door to her room. If only he knew what I really though. She shook her head, knowing that she would never tell him.

The day he found her, it had saved her life- her death? – And when he had rescued her from the Humans, she had fallen in love with him instantly. Or, she supposed, fallen in love with him for a second time. And that’s why she stayed by his side. Through everything that he did- even through the pain she felt in her unmoving heart- she stayed by his side, never showing that she loved him the way the thought impossible.

She snorted. Lukas- the ultimate vampire- heartless, evil, incapable of love. And he wasn’t even a true vampire, but a shadow of one, created by a curse, not a bite. She knew why he was that way. He had been curse not to love, so after the years he had lived, he switched off his heart. But he forgets that no one else could do that. An unbeatable heart did not mean they couldn’t love. It just meant they weren’t truly alive.

Upstairs, Lukas slammed his fist into the wall, furious. Sometimes he regretted taking Sapphire on. She was loyal to him, and one of the few people he trusted, but she was argumentative, changeable, determined. She was exactly like him. But the only thing that stopped her taking over was that she had vowed to follow him.

He whistled loudly, the sound echoing through the house. It was the call to tell every vampire in his Nest that he needed to talk to them. One by one, the vampires appeared in the room, but Lukas noticed that his second didn’t come back up. She would find out what was going on soon enough.

“Brothers, sisters.” He greeted his Nest. “It is time for us to leave again.” A groan went through the room, and Lukas’s eyes darken. “None of you want to? Does anyone wish to talk?” some of the vampire’s shuffles, but none talk. “Good. We may have a good place here, but as you know, Sapphire came close to true death. It is no longer safe here. So we are moving.”

“Where to?” Lukas looked around for the speaker, spotting one of the old vampires at the back of the room.

“The one place I know we can go. Back to the place I came from.”

“What?” a shocked voice shouted out by the stairs. Sapphire had crept in, and was staring at him, her purple eyes blazing. “Are you stupid, Lukas?”

He frowned. “Everyone, you may go. We will leave early tomorrow night, as soon as the sun goes down.! He watched as they left the room, then looked at Sapphire. “Don’t call me stupid, Sapphire. I know what I am doing.

“Of course you do!” she laughed humourlessly. “The amazing Lukas, all knowing, all powerful.”

He slapped her, sending her flying back towards the fall. “Do not mock me, Sapphire. We are going there. It has been over three-hundred years- everyone who knew me will be dead. It is time I went back.”

She shakes her head. “Fine, Lukas. Lets go back there.’ She winced slightly, not meaning to say back. But he didn’t notice, to busy pacing, thinking. “Lukas?” Sapphire said, taking a small step towards him. “What are you thinking?”

He gave her a cold smile. “Just the last time I was there.” He shook his head slowly. “It wasn’t when this happened. I went back about ten years after the witch changed me. I thought if I killed the one who cursed me, it would break.” He laughed bitterly. “It didn’t work, as you may have guess.”

Sapphires eyes flashed pink in shock. ‘You killed Persephone?”

Lukas frowned, glancing at her. “How do you know her name?”

She laughed quietly, her voice slightly higher than normal. “Lukas, we have known each other a while, you did once tell me about it.” He carried on staring at her, his eyes grey. She suddenly saw an image in her mind, a younger version of Lukas, laughing, green eyes sparkling. She dropped her eyes away from his, knowing she could never tell him the truth- that she had grown up with him, although he never looked at her. She had kept it a secret since he had saved her and would take it to true death before telling him who she was.

“Sapphire?” his voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “What are you thinking?”

She smiled. “Of the past. And how we cant change it.” She sighs. “Anyway, if we are leaving as the sun goes down, I should go and sleep.” She turned away from him, towards the stairs.

“Sapphire, wait.” His voice was expressionless, but Sapphire knew what was coming next. The same thing he always wanted, even though he never admitted it. Contact. “Stay with me tonight.”

She smiled briefly before turning back to him and walking over. He picked her up, and carried her to his room, and placed her on the bed… she sighed, lying back on the pillows, watching as he sat next to her, then bent down to kiss her. She responded, rolling over and pushing him down, sitting on top of him. She bent down to him and kissed him back as his hands tightened around her waist. He may not love her, but his lust for touch and comfort made up for it.

This was the reason she had never stopped loving him. The passion he held inside, that he tried desperately to hide. A part of her wondered if, deep down, he knew who she was, and if that was the reason he did this. But if it were true, why, three hundred years ago, did he refuse when her mother told him that she, Sophie Riddle, had chosen him?