• The forces at work to bring Andre to that alley that night were beyond anything he could ever comprehend. He was lost in the big city, and every turn he took just confused him more and more, hence, leading him to that alley on that very night. He looked at the walls around him. The gray bricks were all staggered stacked, leading up to the black iron barred balconies. Andre pulled his dark purple jacket about his small body to attempt to protect himself from the chilling air around him. Steam rose from a few of the man holes, billowing up into the air in wisps of white vapor. The wavy plumes rose for a few seconds, bending and swaying to the occasional gust of wind, but otherwise just rose into the night air and dissipated, just like the lives that so often disappeared into the dark nights like this one.

    “It’s so god awfully cold.” Andre shivered as he walked down the dark alley, trying his hardest to find his way by the moonlight through the maze that was this great city. Occasionally, a transit train would rumble near by on its tracks, drowning out the quiet noises of the night. Looking around, there were no signs of any life in the deserted alleyway, but Andre felt the eyes of the night on him. He darted his eyes to every corner of the street.

    A small rustle of papers in the wind caused Andre’s eyes to dart to the shadows and his legs to stiffen as his body froze on the spot. He kept watching the shadows as the wind suddenly kicked up and a few sheets of black and white news paper tumbled out into the moonlight like a tumble weed dancing across the desert floor. Andre sighed in relief, his imagination settling down from its sudden frenzy of horrible images. He laughed to himself as he started walking again, lifting his eyes from the shadows and looking back ahead of himself. “Tonight, on the six o’clock news, small man murdered by-”

    Andre’s breath cut his sentence short as it caught in his throat at the sight in front of him. He wasn’t sure if his mind was playing tricks on him, or if the shadows were just toying with him. He walked a bit closer to the form he swore he saw, finding that it was simply the shadows playing with his eyes. He sighed again as he looked at the many shadows that made his mind so terrified. He started to back away from the wall, turning again to continue down the alley the way he was headed. “Get a grip on yourself Andre. There is no such thing as-”

    “Monsters?” A voice echoed off the walls around Andre, startling his breath from him, causing a sudden gasp as he looked around for the source. There was no one there. There was nothing but the wind. “I’m… I’m going insane.” Andre began to breathe heavily as he looked around like a panicked puppy, darting his eyes to every corner of the alley, into every shadow as he attempted to control his breathing. “This is madness”

    “Madness?” The voice whispered again, the echo seeming to come from everywhere at once as Andre turned and turned to try and find its source. “You are mad… Yes… you are so mad.” Andre turned to try and run to where he had come from, but he suddenly stopped as his eyes fell on the shadow that seemed to suddenly engulf the alley in the direction from where he came. The moonlight had faded from view, leaving only darkness in that direction, like something massive was blocking the light.
    Andre looked at the wall to his left, seeing the tendrils of darkness dancing along the cold stone, slowly growing to try and claim more of the light. Andre looked at the heart of the shadows, and his body suddenly went numb. Every single nerve in his being was cut off from his mind. The cold was gone, but with it, the feeling of his clothes too. He felt naked to the night.

    Blue eyes watched him from that abyss, bright royal blue eyes of devious beauty. They stared right into his soul, piercing his mind and body with their unwavering look. “Run.” Andre told himself, but no matter what he tried, he couldn’t move a muscle. It was like he was glued in place. He felt like he was being drawn into those eyes and into that darkness. He willed himself to run, but his body didn’t even twitch. He couldn’t close his eyes, he couldn’t look away. “RUN!!!”

    The eyes closed, and Andre felt his feeling returning, his control recovering. He turned as quickly as his body would allow, and started in the direction he was headed before. “Umph.” He ran into something, something soft, yet it wouldn’t give. He felt his face pressed against the fabric of a white, button up, short-sleeved shirt. Andre could smell the scent of a flower on the man’s clothes that reminded him of soft, white floral petals.

    Slowly, Andre looked up, moving his eyes along the conservatively toned torso of the person he had bumped into to look into eyes of bright, royal blue. Suddenly, his body went rigid again, and he couldn’t will himself to move away from the man looking down into his eyes with that amazing stare. His hands dropped to his sides, like a stone statue as he just stared back into those eyes, losing his mind to them.

    “Do not fret my precious.” The man’s voice was barely a whisper, but it seemed to come from every direction. A hand touched Andre’s neck, and his nerves there suddenly fired away, heightening every cold touch to his skin. His mind felt like it had frozen over, and he shivered as another hand touched his cheek. The delicate brush of that finger along his cheek bone caused a shiver to jolt up and down his spine, making his whole body break out in goose bumps.

    The beautiful creature smiled at Andre, and in the bright moonlight, he could make out the glint of two, deadly canine teeth amongst his otherwise common smile. Andre’s brown eyes widened in panic, and his heart raced and pounded in his chest. He could hear his heart beat louder and louder, like a drum banging in his ears. It was so loud; he almost couldn’t make out what the vampire said next.

    “It only hurts at first.” Andre couldn’t stop the vampire as he slowly leaned his smaller body back, making him arch just slightly.

    “W-what is your name?” Of all the questions Andre could think of to ask this beautiful being of the night, why he chose this one was beyond him. He could only assume later, that he had panicked.

    “My name? My name is Grayskies.” The vampire smiled again, this time at the panicked little mortal human in his arms. The last thing Andre saw before the moonlit night framed by the building tops filled his vision was Grayskies’ shimmering light brown hair. Then, hot breath washed over his sensitive neck, humid and warm breath. His whole body felt like it was heating up as he stared at the night sky.

    For some reason… he felt relaxed.