The sky, once gray, now turned into a hue of purplish green as the night began to fade, though never completely vanishing. As if even the heavens refused to offer hope for a new day.
At the very least, the color shift in the sky depended on the atmosphere. However, if the mind were to process imagination and personify the atmosphere into a figure, it too could alter the color within every creature's heart.
In the end, that supposition might become reality the moment he met the one who had always been an 'if'.
A beautiful smile painted across the canvas of a lovely face, accompanied by a voice that echoed and trembled through the chambers of emotion. It felt soft when hands touched, and warmth was shared in an embrace of that body.
"Alaric."
Once, before blood became inheritance and shadows became companions, Alaric would often treat that name, spoken from her lips as light itself.
Seraphina, a name that resounded within Alaric, though the woman was not of noble blood as he was, but a mere human. Seraphina's brown eyes resembled autumn, bringing warmth. Yet the world never favored things that were too simple—or perhaps it was Seraphina who despised simplicity.
As fate had it, a string seemed to pull Seraphina to cross a boundary. She turned herself into the same kind of being as Alaric, a vampire.
To Seraphina, Alaric's life was like a captivating black pearl.
"Milord."
The word that marked the beginning, when Seraphina offered herself to another vampire noble, letting him feast upon her blood. Fangs pierced Seraphina's neck, pain leaving a beautiful impression as though it was alluring which body reacted with delight at the transformation that brought her joy.
The red flush upon her cheeks, the smile, the beads of sweat like radiant glimpses of happiness. That trace, a lingering madness in the mind, especially after Seraphina killed the noble vampire once she had taken what she wanted.
From the start, Seraphina had only intended to strike a sweet deal with death as the price.
"Sera."
Ah, how Seraphina adored that nickname when it left Alaric's lips.
Those brown eyes, once like autumn, now dried maple leaves stained with specks of blood.
"Why?"
A simple word, yet it bore the weight of disappointment within Alaric.
Seraphina smiled softly, stepping forward and embracing him as if no guilt resided in her heart for the wound she had caused.
"Aren't humans weak?"
Alaric understood the meaning behind her words with hand reached out and embraced her slender waist. The intoxicating scent that once clung to Seraphina's had vanished when Alaric sought it near her neck. He searched for a remnant of the past among her strands of hair, only to find emptiness.
But Alaric was no fool to falling into Seraphina's fate was never his obligation.
"Do you love me, Seraphina?"
"Of course," Seraphina replied with a smile, her hand holding a porcelain cup filled with human blood, not tea. Seraphina's fingers caressed the surface of the cup as if savoring the scent of that exquisite liquid. Alaric observed in silence, letting the bats and owls compose their nightly melody an orchestra of darkness, knowing that both of them belonged to the same shadowed world.
Seraphina loved the night, the deep blue, the stars, the varying shapes and glows of the moon, the silhouettes of earthly creatures, the owl's call, and every detail that defined its character.
From the moment Seraphina met and came to know Alaric, she believed she had found her black pearl.
"Once."
That should have been the word Seraphina said in response to Alaric's question about love, a simple confession but Seraphina knew she would lose him if she ever said it.
"Seraphina."
Seraphina's madness blinded her to the fact that Alaric had called her full name, not the endearment she cherished.
The deep blue gown that draped elegantly over Seraphina's form was stained with the blood of human corpses scattered around her. Movements that once flowed with dance slowly came to a halt when their eyes met, each seeing the other's shadow etched in their own gaze.
"Lowly, huh?"
Vampires held three ranks before splintering into various titles. The highest was noble, followed by wanderers, and the lowest was corruption.
Alaric's fingers touched Seraphina's lips just as she leaned in to kiss him, not with passion, but a silence that denied, not retreating but offering no permission.
He disregarded their intimate posture.
The brown eyes that once belonged to the Alaric she knew still held unchanging affection.
Alaric was one of the night's traits Seraphina had longed for. Misunderstandings grew from the way she interpreted his touch and his gentle voice in the void.
"I want you, Alaric."
Not love but want.
Seraphina's voice was soft, sneaking between the narrow space left between their bodies.
Alaric did not touch Seraphina to plant a seed but to give her a curse.
The first thing seen when eyes close to savor such intoxicating contact—iron bars, a distance between them.
"Why are you doing this?"
Seraphina's question was met with Alaric's fingers touching her forehead, as if to transfer fragmented memories as an unspoken answer. Seraphina's voice echoed off the walls of the dungeon. Alaric only watched her in silence, his blood-red eyes shrouded in darkness.
One of Seraphina's hands reached out toward Alaric, while the other gently rubbed her belly, smiling and humming a tune.
"But you still love me, don't you?"
Alaric exhaled slowly, then turned and walked away from her, "Once."
The door creaked open with Seraphina's soft laughter behind him, finding humor in that single word.
Déjà vu, realized.
Sometimes, confidence is needed at the right time even if it turns into madness.
"Disgusting."
Alaric muttered, leaning back, hands clasped together. Bottles of liquor were scattered across the table, some upright, others fallen spilling their contents into meaningless puddles.
Moonlight cast shadows across every glass object in the room.
Those shadows fell upon Alaric, as if sending him a message.
"Annoying."
Alaric ran his fingers through his tangled hair, sweat slowly dripping, his face distorted by emotion. Thunder roared across the night sky, flashing streaks of light across the black canvas above.
A raven cried out, adding to the strange melody written across an invisible musical staff stretched over the dark blue night, like a discordant note in a symphony of darkness.
Leaves rustled in the wind, a beautiful yet eerie sound joined by the gleaming eyes and haunting hoot of an owl perched amid tree branches.
Footsteps echoed gently across the floor. Then a sound arose, not from man, nor beast.
Slowly, the moonlight was cloaked by clouds, leaving everything in absolute darkness.
"The world doesn't even bother to pity it."