Title: Sire and Childe

Author: Savage Enchantress Aurelia

Date Began: September 11, 2001
Date Ended: January 26, 2002

Warnings: Vampires, death themes. Both characters in this story are supposed to be male, just to clarify.

I watch you silently, my darling childe, as you walk through the moonlit garden. Your eyes are on the ground beneath you; dull, green eyes. I remember how they used to shine in the old days as you and I argued philosophy, and you felt so passionately about the most simple, yet so complex, things. But the joy you used to find in death has now diminished, if not disappeared completely.

You sit on the edge of the fountain now, your fingers gently gliding over the surface of the water. You raise those eyes to look about you, at the trees under which we used to sit, when you would lay your head in my lap and listen as I read poetry aloud.

You used to cherish our bond as we spent every waking moment together. That bond used to be unbreakable, inescapable...but no longer. I wonder if you can even feel me now. Do you know that I watch you in the shadows? No...I see tears glistening in those eyes of yours, tears that you would never let me see. Your pain is more real than my own, my childe, and it hurts me to know that I have caused you anguish.

You begin to weep openly, and I curse myself for what I have done to you. Terrbile crimes can never be forgiven when they are committed by those that you love. And you used to love me so much.

I reach out with my will, gently covering your soul with a blanket of reassurance, trying to make you understand in one gesture what I have failed to say in words. You're startled at first, eyes wildly searching the dark for my form, but it is not until I move towards you that you finally find me.

You protest as I come closer, moving slightly away. With every ounce of my being, I concentrate on calming you, letting you know that I am here to comfort, not to harm.

I am less than a foot-fall away, and you do nothing as I sit next to you. You do not resist as I carefully take you in my arms, letting my chin rest upon your head, running my hands up and down your back.

You begin to sob, burying your head in my shirt and staining it with blood tears. Your emotions are tangled together. Waves of sadness, fear, and distress radiant from your being, and I hold you even tighter as I feel them palpable in the air around me.

"Why?"

The word is forced from your lips, and your voice is hoarse when you speak. I close my eyes at the sound, at the question, having no way to defend myself. How can I defend betrayal?

"I am sorry," I whisper, and I place a kiss on the top of your head, letting my lips press against your blond locks. "Forgive me, mon amour."

When I speak that name, your cringe, withdrawing yourself from my embrace. I try to catch you again, but you push me away roughly and stand. You step backwards, and your eyes are shining crimson in the moonlight as you shake your head.

"Why?" you demand again, but I cannot answer. You stand before me as the seconds pass, and finally you let out a strangled cry and flee. I watch your body retreat into the dark trees, towards the house. A few moments later, I can briefly make out your form in the window of your room before you fall onto the bed.

"Chéri," I murmur, and the word lingers in the air until I finally rise and walk to the house. My feet are soundless on the carpeted stairs as I make my way to where you lay. Your door is open, and I creep inside, quietly sitting next to you on your bed of silk. I reach my hand to caress the pale planes of your face, and you move your head away slightly.

"Leave me be," you plead, but your voice is tired and I know that you will not force me to heed your request. As predicted, when my hand continues, you close your eyes to the touch, but do not recoil. Oh, I know you so well.

"Mon chéri, mon amour..." I say affectionately, allowing my fingers to graze your lips. "Can you not forgive me? 'Twas never my intention to hurt you. Please, chéri, forgive."

You are silent for what could be a millenia, leaving me to wait in agony for a response. I can see you swallow hard, trying to find the right words to say.

"Do you love me?"

If the heart within my breast did beat, it surely would have stopped at that. How could you question my love for you? Oh, I have hurt you more deeply than I could ever dream...

"Oui, chéri, I do. With everytihng I am and will ever be, I do." The words came forth without a second thought to them, without a doubt in my mind. I know what you mean to me. You are mine, my childe. I will love you for eternity.

Your bottom lip trembles as your eyes look into my own. You study me for a brief second, and then those eyes flash angrily. Tearing yourself from my arms, you stand, stumbling backwards toward the open window.

"Liar!" you cry, and I flinch at the conviction in your voice. You throw something at me and then turn on your heel, jumping out of the window and into the night.

I stare after you as minutes pass, a cold chill running through my body. At last I look down at the object you had thrown at me, picking it up with paralyzing realization.

Your band of silver glints in the moonlight as it sits upon the palm of my hand. The same symbolic band that you had worn upon your finger for thousands of years. The band I had given you out of devotion, out of all-encompassing love.

So it is over.

Suddenly I scream in agony. I can feel it, I can feel your essence being torn from me. Oh gods, what have you done? What have you done?

I scream, every fiber of my being on fire, my soul feeling violated. The rays of the morning sun fall across the floor of your room, and my fears are confirmed. I crumple to the ground, sobbing as I crawl under the bed for cover.

You're gone. I cry, cry into the hardwood floor. There is an absence, an indescribable void where there used to be you. Oh, mon amour, how dare you?

My eyes, blinded by tears, look out into the golden light. I scream, anger and sadness and determination all wrapped into one. Your ring still clutched in my hand, I roll out into the fatal sun.

Good bye, my love. I shall see you in hell.

FIN