Topic: Past the past

In the Pale Moon Light

Date: 2010-06-30 22:54 EST
Night.

The time when the darkness rules, in more than one form.

It's become his escape, the darkness of night. A shroud for the darkness of his own life, a respite from the pain of loss, of so many things.

And there is no shortage of evils here to direct that pain and rage upon.

He'd already made a collection of vampires, capturing them with the ease of demonically enhanced power and muscle. All of them seemed so surprised that a mere human could subdue and imprison them, burying them beneath the earth where the suffering and death they brought to others would be repaid as they spent eternity down where no one could hear them, where only he would know or care to find them.

It eased some of the pain.

This evening he sits under a tree, on the shore of the Glen's lake, the sunset casting colors like warm fire on his bronzed, shirtless chest and lighting up the sunbleached blond of his hair. Not happy, not content, but close to it. He's always liked being near the water - even before the mess his life had become, there was something soothing about it.

And, for the first time in many moons, thinking of something other than the faces of the family he had lost.

A dark, thick fall of hair framing ivory skin, the kind that practically begs you to run your fingers through its waves. Dark, warm eyes that seemed to see right into your soul. Soft, full pink lips just waiting to be kissed. The luscious, smooth curves that made his hands tremble at the thought of following them.

And the voice. Sweet, soft southern charm that reminds him of home in a way that doesn't hurt.

And something else there, too. Something vague, shadowy, a purpose and power that she holds secret.

He leans back against the tree he sits under, his hands coming up to interlace behind his head, a slight smile crossing his face.

For just that moment, he's not the demonically twisted, vengeance driven monster, but just Talbot, a man touched by beauty.

In the Pale Moon Light

Date: 2010-07-16 07:42 EST
~then~

"Ah'm lookin' fer a demon, old woman."

"Ya t'ink I didn'know dat' Ya t'ink Miss Jeri be some kinna coonass?" The old woman's hand like old, well-worn leather on his cheek. "Mais non, cher!"

A terribly tiny little thing, too. He remembers being afraid to touch her for fear she might shatter like glass.

"Y'came t'Miss Jeri 'cause she got de pow'ful sorci"rie. She know where de demon yer lookin' fo', shonuff, yassuh." With a cackling laugh she turns to her armoire and opens it up to reveal an altar. As if they had merely been waiting this cue, the candles sprang to life all at once, throwing the shadows within away to reveal a strange and eclectic collection of objects.

He'd been expecting crow's feet, a chicken head, perhaps something to sacrifice. He had seen a small skull resting near the center of the alter, what might have been some small kind of rodent, but the rest of it is colorful cloth-covered dolls, a picture of an ancient woman - more ancient than the one before him, if that were possible - and several tins that were unlabeled.

The old woman pulled from this a very worn-looking velvet bag, turning back to her table and pulling the drawstring on the bag, from which spilled several colorful looking stones as well as seashells that seemed to be mostly in fragments. The old woman had stared at this configuration very intently, as though she could see something in the jumble. From where he stood, he couldn't see anything other than a mess.

Finally, the old woman looked up at him and smiled, showing a collection of teeth that looked too white and strong for someone her age. "De demon you be lookin' fuh c'n b'foun' at de Sain' Roch cemetary. But he not de one ya ought be lookin' fuh, mon cher."

He'd been about to turn away until she said that. Looking back at her, he'd glared. "What're ya talkin' bout, old woman?"

She'd grinned that grin at him again, looking back to the jumble on the red cloth before her. "Seem dat de mojo a'ready got de claim on you, cher. She be dans l' fond d'l' eau,, de one wit' de skin o' la Lune, de one dat walk wit' de Shadow Man." She stopped, looking up at him with eyes that were gleefully vacant. "She be de one dat has de claim on ya, mon cher."

He'd turned away, dropping a wad of cash into the jar at her door. "Yer crazy, old woman. Ain't nobody got a claim on me no more. Anyone that did is dead."

~today~

He snaps awake as day's first light touches his eyes, resting under that same tree. The tea shop had been the last place he'd seen her, the one with the skin like the moon, the tresses the nighttime sky to frame the lovely ivory face.

He'd forgotten the old woman and her strange words, discarding them at the time as the ramblings of an old bat. Now, though, thinking of it...

Was it possible that he had been claimed then" That he had no choice in the matter, that he was for some reason supposed to be hers"

If that were the case, then what the hell had been the idea behind his life before"

Occasionally, he thinks that maybe the powers that be in this life should maybe step down in favor of better management. It doesn't seem right to him that his family should have died in order for fate to have its way.

Of course, he can't do anything about it now, not even be angry. He's found himself drawn to the woman from the first moment he's laid eyes on her, and he can't think of having it any other way.

She'd had her claim on him well before he'd even laid eyes on her.