Nocturnal, BK 1 of Lightwalkers (completed)

V - Seth

I tried to look around for him but as the song grew louder in my mind, I picked out some differences. It was just a hint slower, and the pitch was a little lower. The melody sounded so...dark, and old. It wasn't Jon's melody at all.

The vampire picked me up by a handful of my shirt, his other hand reaching around to grip my hair. He pulled my head back, exposing my neck.

Shit.

I tried to struggle, but it was too late. His hold was solid. I didn't have the strength left to fight him anymore. His teeth seemed to hover in the air before viciously sinking into my throat. The pain was immediate, even the screeching in my head kicked up an octave.

"What is going on here?" The voice came from the alley's opening.

I forced myself to look, ready to shout a warning, as I realized it was him. The man with a melody so similar to Jon's. He stood there dressed in a tailored suit and rain jacket, like he'd just stepped out of some old detective movie. All he was missing was the hat.

"This doesn't concern you old man," the vampire hissed at him, my blood dripping from his mouth.

I took advantage of the vampire's distraction and punched him. He dropped me in surprise and I lunged for the knife. Pulling it from the pile of dust, I turned, letting that calm intensity wash over me. But my momentum died as I caught sight of my prey.

The man, I'd thought he was human but it wasn't possible. He had the flailing vampire by the throat, pressed up against the brick wall. He glanced at me, before turning his attention back to the vampire.

"What business do you have with this child?" His voice was icy.

"He killed Kas. I couldn't just let him go-"

"Then let me make it up to you." The man released the vampire, but in the next instant, stabbed his bare hand into the vampire's chest. When he pulled it free, he held it's bloody heart. He crushed it as the vampire fell to dust.

I watched, wide eyed, as he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the blood and dust on his hand as if it happened everyday.

"Who are you?" I asked him, trying to gauge whether or not to trust him. I was glad that the shrieking and pain in my head had died with the vampire, but this guy's melody was unnervingly close to Jon's. My body was shaking and my legs were threatening to give out. The wound on my neck throbbed painfully, the loss of blood was making me dizzy.

The guy looked at me. He had pale blue eyes, and sandy hair that was clipped short.

"You can call me Nick. Are you badly hurt?" He calmly folded the handkerchief and stuffed it back into his suit pocket before taking a step towards me.

I stumbled back, raising the knife between us, and he stopped. My arm shook so bad it was all I could do to keep hold of the hilt. Even though I was calm, my body was on the verge of giving out. The blade still glowed, the blue hue softening the harsh light the street lamp threw into the alley.

Nick looked at the knife and frowned. "How did you come by that blade?"

"It was my father's." I pulled it back, closer to me. My voice was rough with exhaustion. "How'd you know how to kill it?"

"Vampires are easy to kill if you know their weak points." He looked at me closely and raised his hands in defense as he took another step forward. "Look, you've had a bad night and you are hurt. Let me help you."

I hesitated, glancing down at the piles of dust. "Can you teach me? How to kill them, I mean."

"I'm afraid that it's not something I could teach," he said.

I let my hand fall completely to my side.

Nick took a slow step forward, then another. "This isn't a safe place for us to stay."

"I thought it was them," I mumbled.

"Them?"

"The ones who took my brother." I stumbled over to the wall. I sat down, leaning against the brick since I wasn't able to hold myself up any longer. "It was the same noise. The same, so why wasn't it them?"

I set the knife down, but kept my hand close to it. My head fell forward as the emotions waged war within my mind. A drop of water hit me, quickly followed by another. Soon, the rain was steady. I wiped at my face, glad the rain gave me the excuse.

A pair of shoes appeared at the edge of my vision. I looked up at Nick, and those blue eyes that actually glowed in the darkness.

I picked up the knife again.

"You're not human, are you?" I asked. I knew that he wasn't, but I didn't care anymore. He seemed nice, and he'd already had plenty of time to kill me if he'd wanted to.

"I am technically a vampire," he replied, not bothered by the rain.

I wasn't expecting that answer. "But you just-"

"Killed a vampire? Yes." He looked down at me. "I am different from the ones that attacked you. I don't make such uncivilized meal choices."

"They didn't attack me," I said, looking away. "I attacked them. I thought, I thought they had Jon."

"You mentioned that already," he said with a half smile.

I laughed. I knew it wasn't the right thing to do. How could I laugh with Jon still in trouble? But I couldn't stop. Here I was talking to a vampire that had helped me; one that'd killed his own kind for a human. This was so fucked up.