Endless Night:

The Color of Nobility

“Fucking bored.” The words rolled off my tongue without any conscious thought put behind them. I had a tendency of saying the oddest things and it happened so often that long, long ago someone somewhere had deemed me socially unfit. Which was fine by me. After so long of being a social outcast, I’d grown into the role.

Indigo moved elegantly, stretching her small frame sensually over the entire width and breadth of her settee. She was cat-like as she languidly slid over the coverings, the whispers of cloth against silk and skin filling the air. Long shining ringlets of black fire tumbled over the plush cushions to brush and coil along the thick carpets we’d picked up from the Middle East ages ago. I watched in silence as she twisted and arched and writhed until she was satisfied. She finally lay still, arms still raised above her head, one leg half-cocked while the other was resting against the far arm. Her pale cheeks were flushed from sleep. I’ve always wondered if the fact that her pale cheeks were dotted in tiny freckles ever bothered her.

I smiled despite myself. Indigo was enchanting, a fairytale Sleeping Beauty waking after a thousand year nap. She was a china doll though probably one that belonged to a very adult girl.

“You make waking looking like sex.” I told her bluntly.

She made a small squeaking sound and cracked open a pair of stunning violet eyes. The vibrant color seemed to glow against her china pale skin. Full, pink lips parted to breathe in a delicate gasp of dismay.

Her first words upon waking were said around a wry smile and spoken with the softly lilting accent we both shared the curse of never being completely rid of. “How base, Vi. One would think that you would have grown out of such vulgarity with age but I see a few mere centuries is not enough to cure you of your fouler habits.”

“Why, no.” I assured her with a quick grin. Indigo was a constant source of jokes towards my unsociable personality. She made what would have otherwise have been several decades of monotonous existence worth waking up for. At least, most of the time anyway. “Who am I out to impress, hm? You? I would think I’ve long since been through with trying to impress imps like you.”

Her slight smile widened into a true one, the edge of a fang glimmering just beyond the curve of her lips. She fit this place of ours much better than I did. She was beautiful and delicate, a rare jewel within the world. The silks and velvet and bright colors had to have been created just for her enjoyment. Our lair was surely only fit for her. Something I shouldn’t even be allowed to lay eyes on. “You will always be but a boy, Vi.”

I heaved an exaggerated sigh and slouched down into the pillows I’d been lounging on. “That’s a relief.” I said with a quirk of my lips. Surging upward, I climbed off the bed and made my way over to where she was still sprawled majestically across her settee. “I don’t know what I’d do if I suddenly had to give a damn what people thought.”

That brought a ringing laugh out of Indigo. She loved to laugh, mostly at me. The strange thing was that she usually laughed at whatever came out of my mouth, which was never the nicest thing. It was easy to see what I admired in her, but I just didn’t understand what she saw in me that made her live with me for so long. It certainly wasn’t my sparkling personality.

“Being a girl doesn’t mean you would have to care, Vi. It would just mean you would take better care of yourself. Maybe you would have a higher view of yourself too, yeah?” She lifted a lazy hand towards me, a silent gesture for assistance.

I clasped her chill hand in mine and tugged her up off the couch. “No,” I told her as I steadied her onto her small dainty feet, “I think I would be worse off, Vi. From what I’ve seen, you’re one of the few women who think they’re the gods’ gift to mankind.”

Pleasure at my comments glimmered in her eyes as she kissed each of my cheeks in her usual morning greeting. I hadn’t really meant the words to be a compliment. More a statement of fact. However, Indigo was conceited and she’d learned long ago that to deal with me, she had to take what I said and twist it until it put her in a good light. For some reason, that made sense to her whereas I did not.

When nothing else came out of my mouth, she poked me in the ribs and nudged my shoulder with her head. “I am cold,” she pouted, eyes glowing up at me through her glossy bangs.

“Then let’s eat, yeah?”

At her slow smile, I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and led her out of our lair. There were so many things one could do in one night but, always, food was a constant.

I breathed in the crisp autumn air with a feeling of actual good cheer. It was rare for me to accompany Indigo on one of her hunts. It really wasn’t something I generally enjoyed. The nights were almost always lovely and the weather usually sound but I just didn’t care much for the exercise. It wasn’t as if I were going to go out of shape any time soon. Wasn’t that what immortality was all about? Young and beautiful forever without any of the hassle. Well, in my case, I think it had more to do with the youth being forever since I’d never call myself beautiful or handsome or whatever it was guys were supposed to be.

Beside me, Indigo was breathing fast, her eyes wide in her pale face. She loves the hunt. She said it made her feel powerful and gave her a sense of freedom she couldn’t get out of basement lairs and midnight parties. Truth be told, I didn’t really hate to hunt. For me, it was more that I loved to be on the outside looking in. Whenever I did bother to come out in the fresh air, it was to watch my lovely partner at work. It was like watching art, her hunting, so graceful and controlled. She was a true predator on the loose.

“The night is alive,” she whispered, almost in awe. Her gaze was wandering wildly through the trees that surrounded our secluded home.

I smiled and looked around at a more leisurely pace. The trees stood out vividly, more so than usual. White skinned Aspens at the edge of the forest glowed serenely in the moonlight as their slim leaves fluttered on the evening’s slightest breath. The supple poplars formed the inner most ring of trees around our lair though I couldn’t remember when we’d planted those anymore. All I knew was that they served as the base for our protective barrier, keeping all wandering hunters from uncovering our existence within.

I peered upwards at the sky, spread like blackened lace above us. Ah, there it was. The moon shimmered just beyond the horizon of foliage, dripping its silvery light down on the unsuspecting night. It was almost full, just at that point where it looked full but upon inspection one could see the slightest sliver missing.

Indigo drew my attention with a hiss and a quick grab of my wrist. “Violet!”

I drew my eyes back down to her. She was staring out into the trees, glowing eyes wide with alarm. There was anger in her, shown by the tiny tremors that coursed through her stiffened body and the tighter than normal grip on my wrist. It was actually painful. I winced and tried to tug my arm away from her. “Yes? What is it?” Though she may look the frailer of us, Indigo is most definitely my better when it came to strength as well as beauty.

“There’s a hunt out there.” She stated with a snarl of rage.

I sighed and stopped fighting her hold. This land was ours. Somewhere way back one of us had bought it, though neither of us remembered just who any more. But that made the land our territory and Indigo was like any other vampire. Or rather, any other strong vampire. She hated others poaching on our land. It was indecent, she said, and inconsiderate. Honestly, I could care less. The only use the land had for me was to keep other people away. If we owned it all, no one could move in next door. That suited me just fine. Indigo on the other hand...

The vampire in question was starting to drag me out into the woods. Each step she took was slow and heavy, fury radiating from her in waves. I didn’t fight her. That would be useless as she could out fight me any day. But neither did I hurry to join her.

Her next words floored me.

“They’ve a human, Vi.”

Her pull on my wrist became near unbearably painful when I stopped walking and she didn’t. Lucky for my poor bones, she took the hint and halted too. Her gaze was imploring me to continue on and punish those who would dare hunt an innocent in our forest on our land.

I merely blinked back at her. Who the hell hunted humans nowadays?

“A human.”

She stomped her foot impatiently. “Yes! A human!”

I sighed and laid my free hand over hers. “Let me go. I’ll take left.”

A dazzling smile flashed over her entire face and she let go as asked. “Thank you, Vi.”

My response was barely above a mutter as I brushed passed her, “You’re welcome, Vi.”

I slipped unnoticed past an ash that had seen many a better year and entered our protective wood. Some wildcat had taken it upon itself to use the poor old tree as a claw sharpener and territorial marker. It would be a miracle if it made it through another winter with wounds as deep as those. I’d have to remind myself to plant some new saplings come spring.

The forest was devoid of its usual nightlife, doubtless due to the hunters’ presence. I shook my head and stepped over a fallen trunk. What poor hunters to alert the entire area of your malicious intentions. Maybe they weren’t behaving in such a way consciously but it was unseemly nonetheless.

Even so, I was unable to locate the barbarians through the usual five senses. Not a trace of their scent lifted on the air or a rustle out of place in the deep stillness. The air still smelt of earth and decaying leaves and the slight chill that preceded winter’s coming. I wasn’t even sure how Indigo had figured out there was a human out there.

Shaking my head again, I delved deeper into the undergrowth.

It was several minutes of walking later when I heard the first crunch of dead leaves under a heavy foot. It was a softer breach of the silence than I’d expected. Ever my stealthy self, I sidled up under the shadow of a rather thick maple tree and waited for the intruder to come within my range of view.

I almost didn’t see them coming, even with as great as my night vision as mine was. They had stooped down low in the thick underbrush and had crept up until they were almost upon my hiding spot before I even noticed the telltale prickle in the air around me that warned of someone’s nearness. They hadn’t seemed to see me yet, however, so I took my lucky advantage and grabbed the arm nearest me. A pair of startled, dark eyes met mine for a split second before the intruder’s body collapsed under my will.

I blinked down at the dead weight in my arms with surprise. That had certainly been a lot easier than I’d thought it would be. Most of the paranormal didn’t practically wilt at a vampire’s gaze.

That thought gave me pause and I contemplated the person slumped against my shoulder, a smidgen of dread stirring the pit of my stomach. It was true that few things reacted so beautifully to one of the simplest tricks of a vampire. Lesser spirits such as elementals and a few forms of were-beast were susceptible. And, of course, there were always the humans, who couldn’t help but be subservient to all forms of magic. If someone even thought about magic around them, they were falling all over themselves in the next moment.

I sighed and bundled the limp body up into my arms. I’d leave Indigo to the hunt. It seemed that I’d already located our human quarry. Or was it that they had found me?