"What is wrong?" he said in a worried tone. She had turned from him quickly and he wondered what she had seen. The feeling was still there, that haunting feeling of dread. It had been lost in the alley, but had returned soon after. Something did not set well with him this night. All of his instincts said danger, he should just run but here he was talking to this beautiful young woman, outside in the cold.

Lillie sighed and shook her head. "Nothing." she replied gently. She smiled at him, shivering slightly. "What do you mean by I will understand in time?" she asked, not realizing his hand was still on her hair. She looked up at him, lost in his deep blue eyes. She snow was landing on her hair and sticking there. She hadn't noticed that the wind was still blowing rather hard and picking up even more. Though, standing there with him she felt safe and more warm than she was walking home alone.

He saw her shiver, and without thinking he removed his jacket and placed it on her shoulders. He popped the collar up to protect her neck a little more, and buttoned the top button. He stepped back and looked at his handy work. His black leather motorcycle jacket didn't quite look right on her, but he figured it was better than nothing.
"This should hold you for a little bit," he said smiling. "What I meant was, well a rather long story. Since this place seems to be closed is there somewhere we can get you inside. I will attempt to answer all your questions that you might have, if you really want to know the answers." his voice barely more than a whisper

Lillianna nodded, smiling as he put his jacket on her. "My apartment is just up the street." she replied. "Every where else is going to be closed." she added, nodding in the direction of her apartment. She knew that his jacket looked odd on her but she wondered why he wasn't freezing and how he could offer his jacket to her in this kind of weather.

"Then if we may go then," he said as he bowed to her in a courtly fashion. Suddenly he realized she was wearing his coat, he couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. He stood up and produced his arm in a gesture reminiscent of another time. "If you would allow me to escort you, I would be honored." he couldn't help his smile. It had been a very very long time.

Lillianna giggled slightly then nodded. "You sure are strange." she said playfully before she started walking with him towards her apartment. She figured he was brought up learning the old way of mannerism.

((short post sorry))

He walked along with her, for some unknown reason he found her giggling to be most comforting. He glanced a few more times at her eyes, so young and so full of life. He would not enjoy telling her the truth, and watching her innocence shatter as a mirror on a floor. He had never taken the time to tell any mortal what he was. The few of his kind that had, were shown no quarter and their possessions distributed among the remaining lot. This was the shadows that his kind held onto so tightly. There would be a time for him to answer for this. But tonight, he did not care.

Lillianna had no idea what would become of her life when she found the answers she needed. They reached the apartment complex she lived in and she led him upstairs to her apartment. "It's not much." she said, almost embarassed that she even lived in an apartment. She pulled the keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door. She pushed the door open and allowed him to enter. "Make yourself at home." she told him. (Big invitation to a vampire right there. ^^ That means he can now come in anytime he pleases. But she doesn't know that yet.) She pulled off his jacket and thanked him for it. "Do you want anything to drink?" she asked when she came back from going to her bedroom to peel off her frozen clothes and change into some new ones.

"No thank you," he said as he looked around the apartment. He took his coat and laid it over a chair, looking for any pictures of family or friends. "Do you live here all alone?" he asked her still scanning the entire apartment. He made sure not to follow her to her bedroom or be anywhere near the door.

Lillianna was coming back from her room when he asked the question. "Yep, all on my own." she replied. There were a few pictures of her family and friends from back home but that was about it, none were from this town. She was now wearing a sweater and sweat pants, though the sweater was a little low cut. She sat down on a couch and pulled on some long socks, trying to get feeling back in her toes. She watched him explore her apartment with interest.

"I can not believe that someone like you, would be all alone. I find it shocking, quite frankly." He said with a smirk. He went to living area and found a chair to sit on. "You have a very lovely home. More than I have," he chuckled,"Now, if you find yourself comfortable we can begin." He grinned, all the while holding back the heartache of what he was going to do. He knew that others would find her eventually, and they would destroy her or worse yet turn her. She wanted the truth, hopefully she was ready for what that meant.

Lillianna nodded and pulled her knees up to her chest. She watched him as he sat down, smiling. "Alright, I'm ready." she told him. Though in reality there would be no way she would even be remotely ready for what she was about to hear. She had pulled her hair up into a ponytail high on her head. Her highlights making her hair look like a brown and pink candy cane.

"Excellent," he paused for a second to think really where and when to begin,"What I am about to tell you is the truth, not some fantasy, or alternate history. This is the reality of the world we live in. There are things in this world which, until you crossover can never really truly understand." He gritted his teeth as he found himself saying the exact words that his "Father" had told him on that fateful night so long ago.
"In your world there are things that are considered myths and legends, dragons, angels, and demons so on and so forth. I, and that man out there are one of those myths. We have been among you for centuries, we have even become quite popular in todays modern world. Where once we were feared now people imitate us and call themselves by our once terrible name."

Lillianna looked at him from across the room on her couch. She was holding her legs gently against her chest. Each myth that he named flashed in her head. Pictures of angles, demons, and dragons. She frowned, trying to think of other myths that she knew of, but when he said that they had become famous in her time was when it clicked. 'Vampire...' she thought quietly. She thought back to the man dead in the alley, his blood thirsty eyes. She looked at his eyes, they were blue, not where near what she thought they would be. She stayed quiet while he talked.

"I find it funny that once we were feared, considered a scourge upon all of mankind. Our origins have long been forgotten even the oldest of us does not know why we were made. Yes, I said made. Not one of my kind is true born the way you humans are. Each of us was once human, some of us choose this path for power, immortality, even fame. Others had no choice, we were dying of old age, disease, injuries. When you are young the thought of dying is a truly frightening one, you yearn to see your family one last time, to see the one you loved, to see your child. So each of us became this, abomination, to serve our own goals, lusts and desires."

Lillianna swallowed hard. "So why were you.... made like this?" she asked quietly. She hadn't realized that she was gripping harder onto her sweatpants. Her different colored eyes watched him closely, curious now to see if she was a threat to her. She slowly reached up and untied her hair. letting it fall loosely around her shoulders again.

"Because I wanted to be something more than I was. I wanted to be powerful," he stood up and walked around to the door leading out into the kitchen. "I wanted to ensure that what happened to the ones that I loved would never happen to anyone else!" his fists clenched at that last statement. His eyes began to change from the brilliant blue to a crimson red.

Lillianna watched him as he walked towards her kitchen. She could see his fists clenching up. "But you aren't acting like that's all you want...." she said. "You just saved me, anyone who just wanted power would have just waited until I was dead then killed the other guy." she said, frowning. She was starting to wonder if she was in danger or not. She kept her eyes on him the entire time.

He unclenched his fists and looked at her in the face. "So you do understand. I wanted to be able to avenge the ones who were killed. I wanted to bring them back, but all to late I came to found out that there is no such power. It does not exist, it never has. I was merciless, I......," he placed his left hand over his face,"....killed them all." He leaned against the wall and slumped to the ground.

Lillianna watched him as he slumped against the wall, sliding to the ground. She slowly got up. She still felt as though she were in danger but she couldn't just watch someone go through this pain. She went over to him and pulled him into a gentle hug. She flinched slightly as his cold body touched hers. "I'm sorry." she said quietly.

He let her hold him. Her touch felt so warm and inviting, he let his head rest on her shoulder. He could have pushed her away with ease, but he couldn't. He found his arms slowly hugging her back. "You understand...........how........why?" were the only words that could escape from his trembling lips.

Lillianna sighed. "Sort of..." she replied, still holding him gently. "I suppose, given the opportunity, I would do the same thing. Maybe not for power but I probably would let myself be made." she told him softly, not realizing what she had just said.

He raised his head to look her in the eyes, "I.....hope you never have to make that choice." he said his voice softened. He used his right hand to brush back some hair from her face. "I did not come here to turn you, or to even tell you my life's story as bitter and wrought with stupidity as it is. I........really can't tell you why I am here now, looking at you."

Lillianna looked at him. "What do you mean?" she asked softly, trying not to smile to much when he brushed her hair out of her face. She continued to hold him against her, trying to comfort him as much as she could.

((Terribly short post. I'm sorry. Not much for me to write though.))

"I mean........I......," he closed his eyes to calm himself. He told himself not to hold her, to push her away. But, here now in this moment, nothing else seemed to matter. After so many years, decades of being alone and scared, one person, this woman said she understood him. He found himself resting his head back on her shoulders, his hands pulling her head down on his.
"Thank you."was all he could say
((still good, =))