Rafael delaRosa...Human Vampire.
Lover of the written word, music and beauty. Made a vampire at 26 years of age. Roamed the world for 407 years after wards. He stands at 6 feet 2 inches, easily carrying his well built but slim frame.
His eyes change between a deep emerald to a warm gold depending on his mood. Rafael has long, black hair which take on a blue hue especially under the light of the moon. Rafael is pretty and has always had the face of one not of this world. His looks were perfect...and he knew it.
Rafael is contemplative, quiet, brooding, thoughtful, conceded, insatiable and loyal. He can have a mean streak but is ever the friend if the need arises. He always comes to the aid of a friend.
Giovanna Medici...noble's daughter
White skin and hair down to her hips. Waves of hair the colour of warm chocolate cascade across her shoulders and fall perfectly against her hips and the small of her back. The beauty only matched by the brown of her sparkling eyes.
Giovanna has a hunger for the darker things in life. She usually finds these in secret meeting areas or homes of the influential people who also share her fetish. Her fetish being pretty faces. She loves men who leave their hair long and have smooth chins. She adores it when they beg her for mercy from the pain she gives them.
~*~
Giovanna Medici had often traveled to the city when she needed to be amongst those like her. She frequented only the best private clubs for those who wished to be ravaged and abused. She was all about how far a man could take her punishments. If they took it all, they would be gifted with her body. Not many were strong enough to take it all and so, she rarely gave of her body.
Tonight she was in a mood. It had been nearly a fortnight that she had found such release and so decided to visit the one private organization that dealt only with men who were prettier than the women. Giovanna loved the pretty men. She so loved to put them in their place. She did not travel by coach but instead walked the deserted streets on this cold night.
~*~
Rafael felt his body shudder as the Beast took hold. It wished for release...it wished to finally take hold of the Vampire who through centuries gained control over it. It wanted satisfaction...immediate satisfaction. It wanted blood and gore...flesh and bone...it wanted the Life and then it wanted the Death.
Rafael stopped mid step and pulled a book from the many he purchased from the book shoppe, the Inkwell. He could still smell Lavana, the shopkeeper, near him...the sweetness of her blood that nearly drove him insane. His eyes followed his finger as he struggled to read the words on the page. He couldn't make out the words at all. He fell to his knees and cried out. The book fell upon the wet cobbles and the cool wind of autumn turned the pages furiously. It was as if the wind spirits read the words within.
~*~
Giovanna stopped at once to the sound of agony. It was a sound that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked behind her. She looked to both sides and shook it off. And while it brought fear to her, Giovanna never ran from anything. She waited as her eyes danced across the moon lit streets and silvery, autumn leaves which gathered in piles. Her eyes went to windows and doors nervously and when nothing came forth, she continued to walk.
~*~
Rafael clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. This only made the taste of blood even more stronger for his thick fangs elongated on their own and ripped slightly through his lips. He breathed heavily and trembled as he called out once more. His insides turned and his mind raced.
"For gods sake! Isabella! Why? Why have you taken everything from me?!"
Rafael spoke of his wife. He gave her all but in the end she used him for his wealth. She had taken many lovers in the city and made a mockery of their marriage. How he despised the woman...how he despised all woman because of Isabella.
~*~
"What the..."
Giovanna stopped a second time. And while she felt fear once more, she knew she was not hearing things this time. She specifically heard someone calling out in the dead of night. She held her breath to see if she could listen closer. It was the sudden appearance of an owl that startled her. She yelled out as he flapped nervously his wings near her face. Giovanna sighed with relief as she realized perhaps the owl was playing tricks on her or was a human cursed to live within a birds body. She shooed him away angrily with her arms.
"Oh for Gods sake...go on...shoo...shooo...scaring me so! Go on!"
~*~
It was the sudden thoughts that came to his mind. They raced through his mind and nearly made him weep.
Thoughts of bondage and punishments beyond what most mortals would think possible. The wish of Blood and the yearning for Pain. This all controlled Rafael in a way he had never thought possible.
Since his wife's death so many years ago did he take a victim monthly. It was always done in memory of Isabella...his sweet wife with hair as golden as the sun...eyes that spoke of trust and adoration and a heart as black as hell.
But he didn't know of her betrayal. For hundreds of years he would take those who wished death. They begged the gods for a way to die for they were cowards to take their own lives. Rafael heard their pleas and gave them what they wished. He was a beautiful Angel of Death. Merciful. Cruel.
But this one...this woman who drew near...she loved life...she desired pleasure...she yearned for love...and she was a woman. All women lie and tonight, she would die. Rafael would take his first victim against their will...he would murder.
~*~
Giovanna felt her heart pounding in her chest. She knew this was a stupid thing to do but always she would keep her family safe from scandal. If word got out of her activities in the underworld she would me banished and left in the streets. As hard as Giovanna liked to play she was certainly not street wise.
She heard a whisper in the wind...like a kiss from the spirits of Autumn themselves. Spices, coriander, cinnamon, ginger and caramel...all her favourite scents at the same time. She inhaled through her nose once again and this time she caught the scent of rich blood. Giovanna did not cower, in fact, she became ever more curious and followed the scent.
Her heels made soothing sounds against the cobbles of the streets. She turned around a bend and came upon a lone figure in the middle of the street. This person was crouched down and their face was hidden behind a curtain of the loveliest hair she had ever laid her eyes on. She did not approach but stopped. Her eyes fell upon the empty windows of the area...warehouses and storage houses and several houses of thievery no doubt. She saw not one set of eyes.
"Signore? Do you wish help?"
~*~
Rafael knew what he was doing...he knew what she would allow. He went to the core of her mind and put things to give her a sense of security. Women's intuition was a tricky thing. They often speak of not recalling or not understanding fully when they actually know all too well before stabbing you in the back.
He made her think of her family for Rafael knew they were of means. It was the scent of her perfume for the perfume he knew to be imported from a far away land. It was the sound of the heel of her shoe for they were not hollow but made of the best material that only the rich could afford. It was the sound of her step for she was light on her feet and graceful in stride.
He put in thoughts of her favourite smells for truly the sense of smell was one that would calm the savage beast in any other but himself. The spices she would come upon as the cooks prepared family dinners. The coriander used for baked goods. The cinnamon used for her favourite muffins. The gingerbread treats her family prepared for the holidays. And her absolute favourite candy, caramel.
Rafael embedded those in her mind and somehow, she favoured the scent of blood as well. This intrigued Rafael greatly but it also made the Beast salivate.
"Per favore...I've lost something dear to me."
~*~
Giovanna smiled for the man knew her native tongue. She took a step closer and spoke once more.
"Lo perdonate, che cosa avete perso...what is it that you have lost?"
Giovanna took another two steps closer for the man not only seemed weak but his voice was too sweet to cause her harm. There was a long pause but she waited patiently for him to answer. Slowly he moved a shoulder before lifting his face.
And Giovanna sighed deeply at the beauty this man was. He was perfect and the moonlight made his skin look at bleached marble. His eyes were the most deepest of gold she had ever seen and they seemed to brighten when she smiled. There were words in her mind that kept repeating...over and over...painful yet pleasurable*
~*~
He repeated these simple words over and over in her mind.
~Take me...make me...do with me what you wish...take me again and again~
He looked at her face and caught similarities with Isabella. Her cheekbones and jaw line...even the way her long, wavy hair fell across her shoulders and stopped at her hips. His eyes met hers and he knew as he knew whom he loved, that she would be his tonight.
"Closer...I cannot...find the strength..."
She seemed mesmerized at his stare for not only did Rafael place images in her mind, but he controlled her thoughts as well. He filled her with desire and lust...not that he had a hard time of it. This woman was hot...and it was just that heat from a woman that was the downfall of men.
~*~
Giovanna felt herself flush. The blood ran from her face but her flesh became hot to the touch. She felt beads of sweat form on her brow and her lips become moist. She swallowed hard as she approached the strange but beautiful stranger.
She went to her knees before him as one hand came upon his tender cheek. Her heart burst with love for this man before her...for the unknown danger at her fingertips.
~*~
Her scent nearly made him want to run but tonight the Beast had full control. He thought of Isabella and her lies as his lips came to her tiny hand. He kissed her slender fingers with eyes closed and fought the urge to speak. Never speak to the ones you are about to kill. All that is ever needed is the look, the stare, the emotion of it all. Sweet romance.
She yielded to him as a soft summer breeze and tasted of honey and wine. His tongue moved across her hand and wrist before raising his eyes. She was beautiful and seemed so pure but Rafael knew all too well what she liked. He would not move, he would give her one last wish before he took her life.
~*~
Giovanna closed her eyes. Her breath came into her body slowly but yet, she trembled. His lips were cool for it was a cold night. Her blood raced through her veins as well as her passion growing. And when she opened her eyes when his kisses stopped, she could swear she touched an angel. Pure innocence.
He submitted to her with that one single look. His hands fell unmoving and his lips waited to be commanded. Giovanna wanted him and she wanted him now. She pulled her cloak over her shoulders and let it fall behind her. In slow movements, her buttons became lose to the ministrations of her shaking fingers.
"Take what you wish, per favore."
As soon as the words left her mouth, he lunged for her throat. He nibbled and sucked lightly at the tender flesh there. She smiled as her eyes closed to the sheer passion she felt for this dangerous man. Sinful.
"Per favore."
~*~
She said please. And she said it more than once. She wanted him and he knew this in his heart...however black it had become.
He snaked his arms around her slender waist and pulled her gently to his own body. It was too much for he loved the act of kissing. To Rafael, kissing was something even more erotic and sensual than having sex.
He heard the rumbling in her chest. It was the same time he felt his heart break. He opened his mouth until his jaw nearly dislocated and bit into her throat. In a single moment he felt the ripping of her flesh beneath the pressure of his strength.
Rafael held her tighter against his body until all her weight was on top of him. And Rafael drank her sweet blood that tasted of liquor and lust. He drank until he felt her blood pressure wane. It was the moment of Death...so close...the heartbeats...the symphony...the dance.
~*~
Waves of pleasure rolled through Giovanna's body as the waves of the sea. So deep was she entranced by the way he kissed and tasted of her that she fell in love even deeper. She would do anything for him without even knowing his name.
It was what awoke her from the trance...a slight pain...a sudden heat...a devilish glance her way. When she noticed the colour of his eyes, she pushed at his chest for his eyes were no longer a warm gold but a were a bright yellow. She wanted to scream but the energy seemed taken from her.
"Stop...sttt-op."
~*~
Her struggles only made Rafael want more blood. She fought hard and twice he lost his grip against her neck. Blood splattered all over him, his jacket of crushed velvet, his face and hair. This only made him angrier and he howled to the moon as a wolf would.
He kept taking from her until he felt the vibrations of her heartbeat slow. She was near death and he knew this. Never before had he taken one who fought...never before did he murder. He drank until her heart stopped sweetly in his arms. She paled under the moonlight and became limp as a tender orchid in the frost of winter.
He looked at her and knew she was dead. Rafael was no longer just one of the Dead, but he was a murderer as well. He threw her to the ground without regret and stood. Looking down at her he spoke softly through fisted hands and clenched teeth.
"Bitch."
Rafael caught sight of something beyond the street...it moved slightly and hummed softly. But he could not get enough of the dead woman at his feet.
~*~
Rafael heard the voice of Isabella in his head. He fought it but to no avail. He felt as if his head would explode as the taste of blood tears fell to his lips. Turning once he returned to his home so deep in the city. You see, Rafael hid right out in the open.
~*~
And so it came that the vultures of the night descended upon the body of Giovanna Medici. They ripped the necklaces from her neck and pulled off her jeweled earrings. While she had a ring on every finger, now, there was not one. The not only took her coin but took all her belongings. The only thing left on Giovanna were her clothes for her fur lined coat had been taken as well.
The City Watch found her body sprawled near garbage containers left by the warehouse workers. They examined the area around the body before placing it in a blanket. They placed the body in cold storage and tagged her with the information surrounding her discovery.
They did not recognize the woman for she seemed not to be a citizen and she held no identification upon her. They figured her to be a prostitute that was at the wrong place at the wrong time and with the wrong person. She would be examined and laid to rest in the cemetery under a blank tombstone.
~*~
And the next evening Rafael did it all over again.
Insatiable.
End
With the Stars...
Sometimes I wish I could fly.
Just to rise above it all.
Look down at the world below my feet as it silently moves through time.
Perhaps to become one with the silent darkness that is space.
The planets and stars...the moon and constellations.
Ah to be a star.
To shine no matter the time of day or night.
To brighten up any who look upon you.
To be the one others whisper wishes and desires to when all else fails.
To fall through the deep blue of night and never touch the ground.
To be a star in the eyes of those that look upon you.
Perhaps it would be something to stand on the moon.
To look at the earth as a celestial being.
Alive.
Breathing. Beating.
Hot and full of living bodies.
Sadness and tears...joy and laughter upon this one blue planet.
To love me is to hate me
To know me is to fear me
Come closer but not too close
Touch me tenderly but do not kiss
And if it seems I desire more
Just turn your eyes
Walk through the door
I am not one that crave's for love
Neither the companionship or company
I am, deep down, so much more
I will scream
and shake
and rip your flesh apart
I don't want this pain
I don't want this darkness
I don't want you.
Darkness is a blessing once
you become one with it.
While you cannot see your surroundings
with human eyes,
you can create
a world around you
with your mind and,
with luck and courage,
you can see deeper into
this curse called Darkness.
I await you
patiently
I count the
minutes
I keep watch
from my window
above our garden
The garden that
we planted
together
and lovingly
tended to
Nourishing with
the sweetest waters
Sheltering it
from the storm
delicate garden of
our hearts
do you cry out
to me again
for I have not
watered thee as
of late
and the dryness creeps up
upon thy leaves
I have neglected our garden
I am torn
I am shamed
Home is where I can be me
Without fear
Without pain
Where I can clearly see
those I love
those I adore
Where I can close my eyes
and not fear
not cower
if another comes near.
Where I can sleep
without keeping one eye open.
Where I can dance
without music playing.
Where I can just
be me.
The years
The months
The hours
The woman sits with hopes inside
of brazen wants
of raw desires
I want the beauty, barely touch
I reach and feel my hands come empty as which was always meant to be.
Always meant to be.
The daughter dances freely
taste the sun
touch the moon
Graceful steps into the contrast
The sound of the soul, the beating heart, unheard music ever deafening.
Music ever deafening.
Mother kisses angelic faces
tender fingers
hot, wet tears
soothes until morning sunlight graces.
Console embrace the tender innocence, to have done so for the years
To have done so for the years.
The years, they slowly slip away.
The months are just seasons passing.
The hours are untouchable.
Like the petals of your soul.
The hours embrace us
but before you know
They flutter past
sometimes, too fast.
nothing ever lasts.
time waits for no one.
waits for no one at all.
Autumn brings change, you see.
Metamorphos, some fear it
But it tenderly transforms me
I do not turn from it.
The colours of the leaves.
The sweet, mellow scent
of a cool, soft breeze.
A time well spent.
The longer nights,
and stars above,
clear and bright.
Ask me again of which I love?
Best sounds and sights?
Yes, it is Autumn
With you the world fades.
The voices dissolve,
movements, slow,
though sensations heighten.
I bare my soul to you,
freely, to show the pain,
the chaos and the depth
of who I am.
Of who I feel to be.
I open my mind
to speak what engulfs my
thoughts as well as desires.
I can close my eyes
and though I am before
one who is known
for illusions,
I do not shudder
nor do I cower.
It is you, after all,
that would grasp
exactly what I desire
and not choose
to run or waver.
Not many share
my thoughts.
Would you ask me
of these things I speak?
Would you even dare?
All writing © Miranda.