Chapter Five

Nathan

† It was that girl again. It seemed that she was following him. But that was ridiculous. A human would pay no interest in him, Nathan didn’t think any would. Anyway, she seemed preoccupied and a little something else when he bumped into her in front of the VIP.

Nathan strolled down the quiet Manhattan street, alone. He was on Fulton, a few blocks from Wall Street and Pace University; no one was out and about at three in the morning. Angel, who came out of the club with him, had returned to her penthouse suite on West 81st Street. Nathan just strolled and clicked his fingers out of boredom.

I guess this night won’t be terribly different from all the rest, Nathan thought as he mindlessly observed the plate glass windows of a Pace University dorm room.

As his reflection, ghostly and flitting, slid from window to window and from glass door to door, Nathan’s mind began playing tricks and his mind wandered freely. It wandered back, around eight hundred years…

† Bristol, England 1200 AD

Nathan wandered toward his home, just a small house in a large city. The many lights of Bristol shone through the trees as Nathan walked along the path. Nathan was still on edge. That voice kept returning every now and then to taunt him. Was he going insane? No.

“Nathaniel.” the voice whispered again.

“What do you want from me?” Nathan cried out, running his hands through his hair in exasperation.

And for once, the voice replied with something different, “You.”

That bone chilling voice’s answer sent unholy shivers down Nathan’s spine.

“Nathan!”

† Nathan snapped back to the present. He wielded round and Castor was standing in front of him.

“Castor? What…” But he wasn’t able to finish his sentence.

“You have to come with me now.”

Castor wielded both of them into an alley off the street. Nathan closed his eyes when he saw Castor close his. He felt his feet slowly lift up and off the ground; and soon Nathan was following Castor through the sky towards Brooklyn. When they landed, Nathan realized with a jolt, this was Garden Place. This was the home of that girl he had saved.

“Why are we here?” Nathan asked, looking around nervously.

“Natasha told me how you saved and brought a human to the hospital,” Castor said angrily. “Do you deny this?”

He held his breath for a slight pause then replied, “No.”

“Take a look over here.”

They walked over to a spot where someone was lying face down on the sidewalk. Only when they arrived under the streetlamp Nathan realized who it was. It was the girl. Her face was bloody and broken. From what he could see, her nose was cracked, and her right eye socket was broken, the skin leaking blood. A swollen lip and puffy chin suggested a possible broken jaw. Her arms and legs, barely mending from the last time, were slashed and several joints were dislocated.

“Well?” Castor asked, gesturing to the girl.

Nathan looked up at him, an expression of shock still about on his face.

“You saved her. You put her in the hospital under Natasha’s watch. You became responsible for what happen to her.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow then it became clear. “You mean…”

“That’s right,” Castor cut in. “She became your Youngblood.”

Nathan stood there with Castor fuming and the girl bleeding and defeated on the ground. Nathan had forgotten the laws. If a vampire takes it upon his or herself to intervene in a human affair; in doing so, looks after the wellbeing of an individual, then that human becomes the vampire’s Youngblood, a human servant to that vampire. The vampire becomes the human’s master, the Oldblood.

“Are you going to let your charge just lay here and die?” Castor asked. “Or are you going to fulfill your duty as this mortal’s Oldblood?”

“Well…” Nathan stammered.

“Better hurry, the police will be arriving, you can take her to the Water Street safe house if you need.”

“No,” Nathan responded, stooping down to pick her up. “I’ll take her to Angel’s place, it’s better for this.”

“You’ll need permission from the Manhattan Von Blood,” Castor said in an inquisitive tone.

“You can vouche for me, right?”

“I guess.”

“Good.”

Nathan hoisted the girl up in his arms and took off, gliding through the night, hoping he wouldn’t be too late.

† “Are you out of your mind?”

Angel didn’t like the idea that Nathan was using her 1.2 million dollar a month penthouse to foster a dying human.

“I couldn’t just take her back to the safe house!” Nathan exclaimed as Angel brought out towels to try to soak up some of the blood on the girl’s face.

“What if Circe finds out?”

Circe Du Luther was the Von Blood of Manhattan. She was not as understanding and forgiving as Castor.

“We’ll just deal with it then. I have to save the girl first.” Nathan snarled.

Angel just threw up her arms in aggravation and threw the bloodstained towel to Nathan. Nathan stood there as Angel stomped out of the room. He looked down at the girl and bent his knees to her side. This was the second time he would try and save her. He patted the moistened towel to her cuts and gashes on her legs and arms.

There was a fierce pain in the back of Nathan’s throat. It was the thirst kicking in.

No! Nathan thought fiercely, clutching the dripping towel in his whitening knuckles. I will not do it!

He was gasping a little, fighting hard against the animal inside him, willing it to stay dormant. He bit into the towel, blotched with the girl’s blood, trying to control himself. He could taste the slight tease of her nectar, toying with his senses, making the pain building in his throat more pronounced and quicker in intensity. He didn’t even notice the girl open her eyes.

“Who are you?” She asked in a weak gurgle.

Nathan and Angel jumped in shock.