All the pretty little horses

[jackson]

I froze as her lips moved within inches of mine. I could feel my heart rate speed up as she leaned over me, reaching into my pocket and removing my card,"I guess your place."
I followed her lips like a drug addict looking for a fix as she pulled away from me. I knew now was not the time to go growing a crush. As the car ride progressed I tried to think of a reason she would want to go to the church. We had been in the car what seemed like eternity, but it was only 45 minutes when I saw the long dirt road that lead to the white walls, and steeple that I usually found solace in. However tonight was a different story, what was my haven was about to be invaded . We moved up the winding drive passing the cemetery on the right before arriving at the front of the church.

I looked around frantically hoping no one was seeking safety and shelter from me tonight. For tonight I don't know if I could offer it.
I wasn't sure what this hot vamp was up to, and I wouldn't want anyone's life to be in danger. However being the clever man I am, I couldn't help but ask, "So I thought vampires couldn't go into a church? You know holy ground and all...or was that just the movies?" I had hoped my question didn't land me the back of her hand.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

We pulled up to the church and I was instantly overwhelmed with the past. I was not going in there. There was no way. I couldn't go in to a church, it wasn't even my own church. I wasn't the same person I'd been the last time I'd set foot in a church. No, now I was a whole different thing all together. I was a murderer, an accomplished one at that. I was a ruthless killer and I didn't care. But, walking in to that church, seeing the cross and the podium, it would make everything I've done, everyone I've killed, that much more real.

"So I thought vampires couldn't go into a church? You know holy ground and all...or was that just the movies?" His voice pulled me back from my past and I turned slightly to glare at him. I wouldn't dignify that question with an answer. I cut the engine and dropped the keys in to my coat pocket. I stepped out of the car and stood, running my hand down my black dress, smoothing the wrinkles from the silk.

The church was little, quaint, like my church in Atlanta. But, this church was dark, run down, a place for people to hide. A place for people to be hidden, from things like me. I glanced over my shoulder at the man I'd, well, kidnapped and gave him a smirk. I walked to the door and pushed them open, the creak they gave off set a jolt through my body. I took in a deep breath, though it wasn't so much necessary anymore, and I stepped in to the church.

It was dark, except for a few candles lit here and there. There was no one inside, at least not anyone that I could see. I breathed in slowly through my nose, taking in all the scents of the building. There was the faint smell of death, but a toxic human did live here and I was sure there were more here on a regular basis. I walked up the main isle and ran my hands across the top of the pues.

I spoke low and soft, with my back to the man I'd brought here. "The last time I was in a church, was the Sunday before.. Before everything had happened. I was with my Momma and my Daddy, my best friend Amber Anne and her brother, my fiance, Tristan." I didn't know why I was spillin my guts to this man, but there was so much inside of me, eatin me alive and it all wanted out.

[jackson]

She got out of the car and I could only assume it was safe for me to get out of the car as well. I reached for the handle and opened the door slowly, watching her every move. I stood next to the door once out of it, with my hands in my pockets observing her straightening herself up. I was slightly amused by the gesture because it was such a human thing to do. I had observed my mother and several other church ladies do it numerous times upon exiting the cars they arrived in. I reached back as she walked to the entrance of the church, and shut the car door behind me trying not to slam it. It may be the car of a kidnapper, but a 1967 Chevy Camero was a rare calamity this day and age.
She looked back at me and smirked before pushing the doors open and stepping into the sanctuary, I guess that was her way of answering my question.
I felt slightly disappointed at this moment because that meant I was her hostage for however long she needed me.
I let out a sigh and followed her into the church, my curiosity over her starting to obsess at me again. If my father only knew there were a vampire in his church he would roll over in his grave.

She started to run her hands over the back of the pews as she walked through the main isle, "The last time I was in a church, was the Sunday before.. Before everything had happened. I was with my Momma and my Daddy, my best friend Amber Anne and her brother, my fiance, Tristan." I watched her closely still as she spoke these words and confirmed my suspicions about her. I made my way from the door where I was standing to her. I stood just a few feet behind her, knowing this could be a trap or something crazy like that. However the hurt in her voice was real as day is to night, "I'm sorry." was all I could mumble out for the time being. I walked over to the pew across from her and lowered myself into it. I watched her a few more minutes before asking, "What happened?"

[Scarlett Devereaux]

"I'm sorry." He said, and I could tell that he was sitting down without having to turn around and see it. He was sorry, everyone was sorry. I don't think there was a single person left on this earth who wasn't sorry. It was pathetic. "What happened?" Those words, what happened, I'd heard them so many times and so many times I'd left them unanswered. What happened? My parents were probably dead, my fiance and his sister, still missing. Their mother.. I wonder what they thought happened to her.

My back straightened and I spoke again, this time my voice was harsh. "Sorry.. Everyone is sorry these, darlin." I turned around to face him. "As for what happened.. Just like most the people in this here small town, I'm still not too sure what happened." I wasn't opening up, it was not happening. This man was nothing but a meal and I was forgetting my place. I was the hunter, I was the kidnapper, he should be pouring his pathetic little heart out, not me.

I cocked my head to the side and stared at him. He was handsome, I'd give him that. But, the toxins ran through his blood, poisoning him even more every second we sat here. "What about you? What happened to you? I can certainly smell the toxins all over you.. Your sick." Everyone was sick, hell I was sick. My body just reacted a different way.

[jackson]

"Sorry.. Everyone is sorry these days, darlin." she turned around to face me. "As for what happened.. Just like most the people in this here small town, I'm still not too sure what happened."


I looked up at her, her harsh voice taking me by surprise, "I-- I didn't mean to anger you." I said quickly, hoping my ticket wasn't about to run out. Apparently I had struck a chord she didn't even want stroked lightly. Now I was seriously lost for words. Without conversation she'd get bored quick with me. Thankfully she had a topic in mind, "What about you? What happened to you? I can certainly smell the toxins all over you.. Your sick."


"Thanks for the notification." I answered barely above a whisper without thinking first. I moved my hand up to my mouth covering it. I was a goner for sure now. Good going Jack, back talk the lady with the fangs. I stood to my feet, "I mean yeah I am sick. I was going to school to be a doctor when it happened. Luckily though, I am not as sick as the others." I took a few steps away from her, still expecting her to strike since I was rude.
I tried not to show fear but this was a moment I was truly afraid.
"Hey I'm sorry. I shouldn't of--" my voice trailed off and I moved back to the spot I was sitting in. Silence fell over us for a moment again, then I opened my mouth without thinking once more, "So you had a fiance?"

[Scarlett Devereaux]

"Thanks for the notification." His voice was a harsh whisper, obviously I'd struck a nerve, but I didn't care. No, I was way passed the point of caring. The animal that lived in me now was hungry and this guy was beginning to look more and more tasty. I swallowed hard, trying to pull myself back out, trying to bring my level headed self back to the surface. "I mean yeah I am sick. I was going to school to be a doctor when it happened. Luckily though, I am not as sick as the others." I listened to him babble and was even starting to calm down a bit, until he stepped back.

There was fear in his eyes as he stepped further away from me and that fear excited a part of me that was taking over once again. A low growl rumbled its way up my throat and over my lips, letting him know that I didn't like him backing away. "Hey I'm sorry. I shouldn't of--" His voice trailed off and he sat down in the pew he'd been in before. I took in a deep breath that shook my body all over. For some unexplained reason, I didn't want to eat this guy. I wanted to keep my cool, I didn't want to kill him. It had been a while since I'd come across a man that I didn't want to drain dry.

"So you had a fiance?" That was when it hit me. He looked so much like Tristan. They had a similar face structure, both with blue eyes and the same little smile that was always on their lips. That was why I didn't want to kill him, he reminded me so much of Tristan. But, that realization didn't sit well with my inner beast and I was suddenly very on edge. "A doctor huh? I find that hard to believe, since you don't seem like the brightest crayon in the box." It was mean, but he was being stupid. Yeah, asking the angry vampire about her presumed dead fiance, great idea.

I sat down in the pew beside me and shrugged out of my jacket. The trench coat pooled around me, revealing the top half of my silk dress. (see avatar) Why I still wore dresses, who knew. I suppose jeans or something else would have been a little easier, but I was use to dresses, I'd worn them my whole life. And lately, they kept me sane. Putting on this dress had reminded me of what I'd once been. It had reminded me that I wasn't just a mindless killer. Once upon a time I'd been in love and been loved in return. Once upon a time. "Yes, I had a fiance, I left him in Georgia last year. I don't know what happened to him."

[jackson]

"A doctor huh? I find that hard to believe, since you don't seem like the brightest crayon in the box."

I looked up at her, taken by surprise at how mean and rude that comment was just now. I slowly lowered my head, my eyes looking away from her. I wasn't about to argue with her about it. my life didn't matter to her, but the more I thought a bout it, the more the comment upset me, "Weren't you taught manners? You're not suppose to play with your food." I said harshly. To me that is what she was doing, she wanted to aggravate the hell out of me, then take a bit when she was finally bored. She was forgetting that I'm not the only one sick here, that she was sick as well, just in a different way, a less humane way. I was toxic but I didn't eat people. It did me no good to say anything more. The more I talked the sooner my death would reach me, but I had to state for the record, "I would've made a great doctor."

I watched as she took a seat on the nearest pew to her. She removed her jacket and my eyes focused on her as she removed her jacket revealing more than I have seen in a long time. She was beautiful and dangerous. Right now I was angry at her and scared. I wasn't sure rather to stake her in the heart or make love to her.
I tried to imagine both in my head when I heard her say; "Yes, I had a fiance, I left him in Georgia last year. I don't know what happened to him."

And there, she was human to me again. I knew how it hurt not knowing where my parents were, so I could only imagine how it felt to lose a lover, "I'm sorry." That seemed to be the only phrase that I could manage to spit out again. I had never been in love, so I couldn't say I knew how she felt.
"I-- I lost my parents." I said hoping it showed I understood the magnitude of lost at least to some point.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

"I'm sorry. I-- I lost my parents." I said hoping it showed I understood the magnitude of lost at least to some point.

I knew that he meant well, but those words, I'm sorry, they sucked. It was all anyone ever said anymore. Everyone was sorry. Sorry that we killed the earth so it killed us. Sorry that seventy five percent of the world is dead and there isn't even enough room to bury them anymore. Everyone is sorry for everything that they've done. Now. No one was sorry before when the polluted the air and didn't recycle. No one was sorry as they smoke their cigarettes and did their drugs. But, their sorry now.

I stood up again letting my coat fall to the pew. I was faster than a normal person would be but the speed came with the vampirism. "Yeah, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that my own parents are dead. I'm sorry that my fiance and his sister, my best friend, are dead. I'm sorry that when I was turned, the first person I trained dry was their mother. We're all sorry, aren't we." I turned to face him and I knew the look on my own face was anything but friendly. I glared at him and I knew my eyes were burning red. Red eyes. I had red fucking eyes. Yet another thing about my new life that I couldn't stand. It went right along with the fact that I could now curse with no problems.

I took a step in his direction and that was when the pain hit. I wrapped my arms around my mid section and in doing so, I felt my left strap fall down my shoulder. It was a simple thing, but even the feel of the silk sliding down my skin made me writhe in agony. My skin was on fire, I could feel the need to wretch rising in my throat. I had fed this afternoon, but it had been too long. I'd been saddled with a strain of the poison that causes me to feel the need to feed more often than the others with my poisoning. I fell to my knees and I felt the first bead of cool sweat cross my forehead.

I was in pain, such horrible pain and there was only one way to fix it. My eyes rolled slowly up, looking almost like a stalking lioness with her eyes on a sickly zebra. My eyes met Jackson's and a low growl crossed my lips. This wasn't the stay away growl, no, this was the come closer growl. The sound that passed my lips was the come hither moan that drew many men to their ending fate in my hands.

[jackson]

She stood up so fast I would've missed it if I blinked. Something within her had changed. She looked at me different, "Yeah, I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that my own parents are dead. I'm sorry that my fiance and his sister, my best friend, are dead. I'm sorry that when I was turned, the first person I trained dry was their mother. We're all sorry, aren't we." A rage grew in her eyes and she started to caresses herself, she was starting to act crazy and possessed. Her strap fell off her shoulder revealing her skin and I swallowed hard watching as she fell to her knees. Her eyes went closed as sweat started to pour down her once sweet face. I wasn't sure what to do. I was rendered speechless. Then her eyes flew open and the whites of her eyes were all I could see for a moment until her red pupils rolled up looking directly at me. I heard a growl arise from her belly into her throat, and I knew then I was in trouble.

I stood to my feet nervously, "I can help you. Please." I pleaded to her as I climbed over the back of the pew I was sitting in. I nervously was fumbling trying to get away from her, "Let me help you." I walked into the middle isle. I looked up at the cross that was on the wall and silently started to pray for my soul.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

My breathing slowed to almost nothing as I stared up at him. He climbed over the back of the pew he was in and I could smell the scent of the sweet sweat that was not gathering all over his skin. "I can help you. Please." He moved to the middle of the isle and kept his eyes on mine as he did. "Let me help you." His eyes skipped to the large cross behind me and I knew what he was doing. He was praying and it would do him no good.

I stood up, slowly, and kept my eyes on him. The hunger had dulled. But only because it knew it was about to be satisfied. "I know you can help me. And you will." I said to him. I kept my voice low but I didn't bother to put that extra little bit in to it that would guarantee the kill. No, I didn't want him to walk to me, I wanted the chase. He was healthier than the ones I normally fed from and I would bet the plantation that he was faster than them to. I wanted to run, I wanted to track him.

I moved so fast I was nothing but a blur. Before he could even think, I was behind him, wrapping my arm around his throat. His skin was warm, hot even, and he was sweating. he smelled.. delicious. I bent my head down to his neck and tightened my arm on his throat at the same time. "You smell like sweet honeysuckle on a hot day." I said to him as I ran my tongue across the big throbbing pulse in his throat. "You taste like it to." I said to him and then shoved him away from me. "You better run."

[jackson]

"I know you can help me. And you will."

I started to back away from her shaking my head. She had tricked me. I believed she was pure and innocent but it was all a game like I had suspected. I felt stupid for allowing her to play me this way. I felt the crippling grip of fear squeeze at my heart again as my breathing became heavy. I turned around to run out the door but before I could even lift a foot to move she was right upon me, "You smell like sweet honeysuckle on a hot day." she said as her tongue ran across my neck. "You taste like it to." "You better run." I yanked out of her grip and started to haul ass out of there.

I knew she would be behind me somewhere. I ran out the door of the church and turned left headed for the woods. I didn't know where I was running but I knew I had better run somewhere.
I could hear the leaves and the branches snapping and crackling under the weight of my feet as I made my way through the forest.
I had to stop for a moment to catch my breath and get a game plan. My chest was heaving hard and my breath was loud as I gasped for air. I bent over placing my hands on my knees hoping to slow my heart rate and breathing, "What.." my voice trailed as I tried to piece together what just happened. I knew the longer I stood here the closer she was getting, but if I took another step I was going to fall over.

I could hear sounds in the forest, but I couldn't be sure if they were wild animals or her. My life was in danger and I was out here all alone. Still though it hadn't made sense to me why she would bring me to the church to kill me, unless she was familiar with the place and knew it was isolated. My breath had slowed down just enough to continue on foot again. I started to gain speed as I took off running, jumping over rocks, tree roots, and ditches. My plan had become to make it to the highway in hopes of flagging someone down. Unfortunetly I tripped on an unseen branch and fell to the ground hitting my head, knocking me out.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

He turned and ran for the door. I didn't go right after him. He wouldn't get far and I could smell him the whole way. Every thing he touched, every time his foot his the earth, I could track his scent. He was as good as mine.

I turned on my heel and went back to the pew I'd been sitting in. I grabbed my long black suede trench coat and slipped it back on. It fit like a nicely broken in glove and now that I was hunting, I loved the feel of the material on my shoulders. Nothing hurt anymore, because I was going to feed. The anticipation dulled the hunger pains and I was ready to eat. I walked, not ran, out of the church and closed my eyes, putting my nose up to the wind. I caught his scent almost immediately and headed to the left, to the woods. "A chase through the woods, how fun."

I took off at a dead run, slowing only to catch his scent again every few feet. I stopped short, my hair and coat blowing ahead of me, stuck still in the speed I'd just been going. He had stopped here, to catch his breath maybe, he was sick after all. I closed my eyes and took in the scent of him once more. I was beginning to enjoy his scent and that part of me that could still enjoy things poked her little head out. "Maybe I don't have to feed from him." I thought to myself, but before I'd even finished the sentence, a hunger pain had me back on the right track. Back on his track.

I heard him hit the ground before I saw it. I slowed as he nailed his head on a fallen tree. I was still now and cocked my head to the side, staring down at him. I was like an animal when I was think hungry, every thing was instinct and reaction. He was down and that made it easier for me to get to him. I knelt down beside him and rolled him over on his back. His forehead was bleeding and the smell had me falling back, landing hard on my ass.

I stared down at him, the blood running down his forehead, staining his skin as red as my eyes. That was the why of the red eyes, too much blood intake. We ingested so much of it that it had begun to change the iris' to this disturbing crimson color. As I stared down at the man on the ground, I suddenly thought how much I missed my brown eyes. They had been a deep chocolate brown, "I could get lost in your eyes forever." Tristan had said to me. I wonder what he would think of my eyes now.

I got to my knees, my dress was starting to be caked with mud, and put my hand on his cheek. He was warm from running and his breathing was starting to slow back to a normal rhythm. I could see the pulse in his throat throbbing, pulsing, talking to me every time it moved. His blood sang to me and I couldn't stop myself. It was like a slow motion scene from a movie. I lowered my head to his neck and licked the layer of sweat that was blocking my way from his skin. I placed a gentle kiss on the pulse that I craved so much and it sealed the deal.

I pulled back slightly and bared my fangs. I hit him hard, sinking my teeth deep in to his vein. He tasted of the poison that we all tasted of, but he was slightly cleaned and.. and there was something different. His blood tasted.. different. His blood on my tongue was meant to be. He tasted so perfect, so amazing and it had me snapping my head back from his neck. I crawled back until I slammed hard in to a tree trunk. I felt drops of blood running down my chin and I didn't bother to lick them. I shouldn't have done this, I shouldn't have fed from him. I hadn't wanted to, he was different. He was.. we were.. I didn't know. But it was there just the same. I wasn't supposed to kill him. He would help me.

I sat there, with my back up against the tree, watching him, waiting for him to wake up until long after the shards that were left of the sun had gone down. He started to stir and I stayed where I was. I needed him and sitting here this long staring at him, I'd come to want him. And not for food.

[jackson]

I don't remember anything but falling. My eye lids started to flutter as light hit my retina. I must've been unconscious. I slowly opened my eyes and pain rang out in my head. I moved my arm up from my side, my hand resting against my temple. The throbbing was intense and I was a little confused. I tried to move but was to weak, I fell back to the ground after attempting to raise up.
I then felt a pain hit me somewhere I hadn't noticed till now. I moved my hand down from my head to my neck, "No.." I said as I realized I had been bitten. I removed my hand from my neck, bringing it into eyes view, my blood had covered my hand and I looked, turning my head to see her resting against a tree, "You bit me?!" I was outraged, happy to be alive but outraged. I laid my hand back to my side and rolled onto my left side taking my hands and trying to push myself up off the ground.
I was covered in mud and blood from the neck line up.

I don't know which pain was worse, the head injury or the two holes in my jugular. I had to get help or I would bleed to death.
I managed to make it to my feet and propped myself up against a tree, "Why didn't you finish me?" I asked her weakly. I looked around the ground trying to find something to use as a stake afraid she would strike again. At this point I trusted her about as far as I could throw her. I saw a piece of thick barb wire lying in the grass from the fence my father had taken down years ago. He had thought the mess was cleaned up, but lucky for me they left a piece. It was tangled up around a branch. I bent down and picked it up, my head throbbing and I let out a slight moan from the pain before standing back up. The spikes from the barb were long and the branch was like a club. "Stay back." I demanded her as I drew the branch back into a hitting position. I tried to walk backwardly away from her, keeping my eyes on her but it proved difficult with a pranked ankle from the fall as well.
This was not looking to be my lucky day. I backed into another tree and fell against it in pain. No matter what happened from this moment on, I knew I had tried to escape and I looked forward to seeing my family again on the other side. I braced myself for my death.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

"No.. You bit me?! Why didn't you finish me?" He spoke frantically and I didn't say anything. I was mostly back to my senses with the little taste I'd had from him and I knew not to provoke someone hell bent on killing me. I watched him grab a piece of barbed wire twisted around a tree branch. He fell back against a tree and I could see now that there was something wrong with his ankle. "Stay back." He said as he slid down the tree.

I still didn't move, but I could see now that in my hast, I'd forgotten to close the wound at his neck and he was bleeding out. I put my hands slowly to my side, because he was watching my every move, and I sat forward. "Jackson," I used his name, even though I hadn't before. I needed him to know that I wasn't going to hurt him. Again. "I.. Your neck is still bleeding. I forgot.. I didn't close the.. wound." I started to stand up, very slowly, not wanting to scare him more.

My back was still against the tree and I slid up it to stand. he was still on the ground with his weapon toward me. "Let me help you." I used his own words and took a step toward him. "I'll just close the puncture marks. I won't.. I promise I won't drink from you again. I promise." I took another step in his direction.

[jackson]

I sat there, my eyes fixed upon the beast whom killed me. I thought back to earlier in the night when I had heard her singing.
It reminded me of the story in the Bible about the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve were told to stay away from the tree in the middle of the garden, but it's fruits must've appealed so strongly to them. The apple probably looked pretty and smelled pretty, making it easy for the serpent, Satan, to entice Eve to go against what she was told by God himself. Only in this story Scarlett was the apple and the serpent all in one. I was foolish, I knew vampires were bad and to be feared but she tricked me into going against everything I had been warned. I watched as she placed her arms to her side and raised forward, "Jackson,"

I glared at her. By now I was growing too weak to fight her off.

"I.. Your neck is still bleeding. I forgot.. I didn't close the.. wound." she started to stand slowly.

I looked up at her, my eyes barely able to be held open, the life was literally draining out of me.

"Let me help you." "I'll just close the puncture marks. I won't.. I promise I won't drink from you again. I promise." she started to move toward me and I let go of the make shift weapon I had found on the ground. I knew this was my only chance of survival. I had to trust her again. As much as I knew I needed to, at the same time I was terrified, "Ok." I mumbled allowing her to come closer. There was no other way I assured myself as I braced for her lips to touch my neck again.