[ONE] All the Pretty Little Horses

[Scarlett Devereaux]

Oregon. What a terribly drab place to be. However, it was filled with yummy healthy humans and I liked that. My long black coat billowed out behind me and I could feel the wind through the thin silk of my black dress. The streets were dark and I could hear the toxic's in the alley's running from the big nasty vampire in the street. Little old me? I giggled to myself, the should be running. They should be running faster before I decide to take back my decision not to feed any more this evening.

I reached my arms out to my sides, mimicking Kate Winslet in titanic as she stood on the bow of the ship. That had been one of my favorite movies, back when I cared about trivial things like movies. What were movies now a days? Something for toxic's and healthy's to watch while they huddled in fear, trying to make it through just one more night.

My mind wandered back to a time that seemed like centuries ago. The lullaby escaped my lips in a soft murmur and I closed my eyes as I walked the yellow line down main street.

Blacks and bays, dapples and greys,
Go to sleepy you little baby,
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby,
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses.
Way down yonder, down in the meadow,
There's a poor wee little lamby.
The bees and the butterflies pickin' at its eyes,
The poor wee thing cried for her mammy.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses.

It was my mother's song and her mother's before that. It was simple and most definitely southern but it was my childhood, something I could never have again. The song brought the picture of my mother to the front of my head again and I had to open my eyes then. I couldn't think of her, I couldn't see her in my mind's eye. Because, I didn't know what had happened to her. I didn't know what had happened to any of my family, or even my darling Tristan. I was alone in this world and frankly, I was getting sick of it.

[jackson]

I cradled my gun as I walked along the black and filthy streets. I wasn't one for adventure and violence but it had become a way of life for us who were left behind. Now that I had the church I had a way of helping those in need. I knew if I walked these streets long enough someone would need my assistance. My eyes gazed over the alleys and the dark places where people would hide. I pulled cards from my pocket that ha d the churches name and address on them. I had penciled in on the bottom that it was a safe haven for anyone in need of food and shelter.
I saw a man huddled in a cardboard box beneath a street light and walked over to him, "Sir," I said softly, "Here. Please."
I handed him a card and he thanked me for it, tucking it into his shirt pocket. I didn't know if anyone would come for my help, but I hoped. Maybe part of my eagerness to help was out of loneliness, the fact my parents were still unaccounted for and I was by myself.
After taking a few more steps I felt the pain burst in my gut, the ripping and tearing pain taking my breath momentarily. I stood still waiting for it to dissipate before taking any further steps. I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out a vile, and I twisted the top off of it taking a drink. It wasn't alcohol, in fact I don't drink, it was pain medication that was at the church, stocked on the shelves.
The medicine did as it was intended and dulled the pain.
I kept walking passing out more cards, it was then I heard her almost angelic voice;

Blacks and bays, dapples and greys,
Go to sleepy you little baby,
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby,
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses.
Way down yonder, down in the meadow,
There's a poor wee little lamby.
The bees and the butterflies pickin' at its eyes,
The poor wee thing cried for her mammy.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses.

I stopped in my tracks as I listened to her hum and sing the lullaby, it being the most beautiful thing I had heard in weeks.
I stopped at the edge of the street, my eyes glued to her as she walked the yellow line.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

The wind blew softly through my hair as I continued my walk. Humans scurried like rats to their hole, still trying to get away from the big bad in the middle of the road. I had never had this affect on people and a small piece of me liked it. That was one of the many new pieces of me. The part of me that loved to hear them running like the animals they were, was tight with excitement, ready for the pounce. But, not tonight. No, tonight was not going to be the same blood bath I've made of my recent nights. Tonight was a night to be praised, to be patient. Tonight of all nights, my mother's birthday, I wanted to keep myself as pure as I could. Try to keep myself the beautiful, well behaved daughter she had raised. Instead of the feral animal I had become.

I wanted to be alone, I had all intentions of getting my happies just from scaring the crowd of nobody's that constantly lines these streets. But, as I breathed deep through my nose, taking in the mixed scents of the night air, I caught one that I wasn't ready for. Him. Definitely a him, and he was sick, but not as sick as he should be. There was something else in his smell, something that tightened things low in my body. My breath caught and I gasped lightly at the feelings being brought to my body with only the smell of this man. But, he was human and I didn't mix well with human men. They were like the many china dolls I use to display in my room. They were pretty to look at, lovely to hold, but if you play with them too roughly, they crumble in your hands, leaving them limp and lifeless.

My feet kept going, stepping one directly in front of the other, causing my hips to sway provocatively. In my old life, my approach would have been dainty, proper, prudish. But what was the point now. I couldn't go back, there was nothing to go back to now. My mother, whose birthday I celebrate, was no where to be found. Believed to be among the dead, my family is nothing but a memory to me now. My attitude changed and the seductive creature that now lived within me came out once more. "Here, kitty kitty." I said softly, pushing my angelic voice in to the night air. A pretty little trick I've come to treasure. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." I sang the last part softly, hoping the tone would draw him out.

[jackson]

I felt hopeless as she drew nearer. But oddly instead of being scared, I felt alive. There was something about this woman that hypnotized my mind. I felt a hand touch my shoulder and I turned to see an older lady, she was maybe in her fifties, she wreaked of body odor and her clothes were torn and dusty, "You should run too." she said as she smiled with her rotted out teeth. I looked from her back to the Goddess in the street, "Here." I pulled a card from my hand and gave it to her without meeting her in the eyes again, my eyes stayed on the woman in the street.
She looked down at the card and started to walk away, declaring beneath her voice, "Fool. You won't be alive to help."
I shook off her comment, as I heard the beautiful creature say;

"Here, kitty kitty." . "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

It was as if I had no control over my own actions, I felt my foot slip off the curb, followed by the other foot. In the back of my mind I knew it wasn't some spell or mind trick, I wanted to go to her.
I moved slowly into the left lane of the road, "Hell-hello." I mumbled at her.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

I wasn't looking in his direction, but I could hear hit feet hit the pavement as he slowly moved in to the road. "Hell-hello." He was mumbling, I suppose that was my fault. My voice had never been this powerful, it still needed some messin with. "Hello Darlin." I said to him, my sweet southern twang vibrating through the air.

I turned slowly, bringing us face to face. He smelled sick, though it wasn't nearly as bad as the toxics usually smelled. I could almost taste the poison that lived in his blood and it made my stomach turn. Feeding from the sick humans was a necessary evil, disgusting as it is. But, I was already infected, so except for the nasty taste it leaves in my mouth, his blood couldn't hurt me.

He had something in his hand, a small pile of little white cards. I walked over to him, watching him as he watched my every step. The wind still blew softly in the cool January night and it lifted my hair off my shoulders. I stopped in front of him and he looked like a deer in the head lights. When I spoke to him again, I pulled back a little, letting him have some of his senses. I didn't know why, but I wasn't in the mood for a besotted fool. "What you got there?"

[jackson]

I froze in my place as she turned to face me, I wasn't sure if I had just done a foolish thing, or a brave thing but either way I was face to face with someone who had the power to snap me like a twig and make me a late night snack.
As she grew closer it felt as if I lost all inhibition, I was no longer in charge of myself, her powers spun over me, making me weak to her. Despite the possible danger I had put myself in, her face and eyes seemed rather inviting and I couldn't help but stare into them.
I felt the cool air brush my face and it was like a fog was lifted off of me.

"What you got there?" she asked as the wind blew her hair off her shoulders. I looked down at my hand, my elbow bending up in slow motion, "Um cards." I took one and slowly handed it to her. I knew I was suppose to feel frightened but I wasn't, perhaps it was her calming voice that kept me soothed. My eyes caught a moving shadow across the street and I could make out a shadow of one of the homeless people watching us interact.
I knew they were waiting for the show, the part where she picked me up and took a hunk out of my jugular. However I wasn't sure she wanted dinner tonight, but just in case I slipped a hand into my coat jacket and grasp the gun I had placed into it moments earlier.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

"Um cards." He said, a little unsure of himself. I took the card he handed me and watched as his hand slipped in to his coat pocket. Probably a gun in there, but I wasn't scare. Hell, I was probably better armed than him. At the moment, I had a knife strapped to each thigh, a glock at my back and a throwing knife on each wrist. I've found I was better with a knife, guns had always scared me.

I looked down at the card and read it out loud, my voice staying low. "The Free Will Baptist Church.. hmm." I hadn't stepped foot in a church since the Sunday before I left Atlanta and I had no intentions of every stepping in one again. I closed my eyes for only a moment but it was enough to send the memories floating back to me. I felt my perfect smile slip from my face as I saw my mother in my head.

"Momma, she's beautiful." I said as I stared up at the bride in front of me. Carolina Grant was getting married today and since my mother had known her mother for just about ever, we were sitting front row in St. Mary's Church. "Yes, she sure is darlin. One day Lettie, that'll be you up there. In your pretty white dress, with your handsome husband on your arm." The comment lit my face up like an early morning Christmas tree. It would be me up there some day and I would be the prettiest bride they've ever seen.

I opened my eyes and forced my pretty smile back on to my face. My eyes met the mans and I handed the card back to him. "Church just isn't my thing anymore, darlin." I pulled myself back together and looked him up and down. He wasn't as sick as he should have been and that just about boggled my mind. "You got a name, sweetheart?" I'm sure his name had been on the card, but I didn't see it before the memory stole my composure.

[jackson]

She took the card, read it and handed it back. I was sure that was a bad sign, my suspicions were true when she said;

"Church just isn't my thing anymore, darlin." "You got a name, sweetheart?"

I removed my hand from the gun, I was positive if she meant harm she would've done so by now. Her southern voice made me melt like butter, and I was wondering why she wasn't feeding on me already. But there was something about her, and I thought I may have figured it out. I looked at her for a moment searching her eyes and there it was...loneliness. I was drawn to her because I heard it in her voice just like I felt it in my heart.

"Jackson," I replied, "Jackson Church." No sooner I answered her I felt the pain in my stomach come back and I doubled over in pain grasping my stomach with my left hand while reaching into my jacket with my right. I needed to drink another dose of the medicine. This is how it went for me; I take two drinks twice a day and I have stomach pain only twice a day. My mind flashed back to the one sip I took before I seen this enchanting angel, and realized I skipped the second dose therefor the pain came back. I hurried and removed the cap off the vile again and took the dose I had missed."Sorry." I said as I stood straight again. I replaced the lead and put the vile back in my jacket slightly embarrassed.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

His eyes caught mine in a moment I was not prepared for and I quickly looked away. Tristan was the last person I'd ever let look in to my eyes like that and I wasn't about to let this man, a possible late night snack, look at me like that. "Jackson, Jackson Church." I didn't even get out a nice to meet you before the man was doubling over in what appeared to be pain.

He reached in to his pocket, for what I had no fucking idea, but it had me grabbing the gun at my back. Before he could even pull his hand out of his pocket I had my glock cocked and ready at the top of his head. He pulled out a vile of something, a liquid of some sort, and downed the whole thing. His hands were trembling as he drank greedily from the tiny vile. "Sorry." He said as he stood straight again. He replaced the cover and put the vile back in to his jacket pocket.

My gun stayed aimed at him and I moved my hand slowly up his body as he returned to his full height. "Sorry or not darlin, reachin' in to your pocket that fast, with a vampire this close, your likely to get your pretty little head blown off." I said to him as I turned the guns safety lock back on and let my arm fall to my side, still clutching the gun.

[jackson]

I smiled sheepishly knowing she was right, and that it was a foolish thing to do. She could've torn my head off within seconds,"Yeah, I guess that probably wasn't a smart thing to do." I let out a sigh and looked around as people came out from hiding. They must've thought because she hadn't torn into me yet, that they were safe to.
In a way this worried me. Did my daring and careless ways give them a false message that society was a humane place again?
I looked back at the hot vamp, "These people.. I made a mistake didn't I?" I was referring to my eagerness to befriend a sexy female vampire, "Why haven't you hurt me yet?" I asked now with my own curiosity.

She wasn't like the other killers, I felt it. Or at least wanted to believe it. I could sense she still had pieces of her former self inside of her. Perhaps it had something to do with the mournful and sad emotion in her voice when she would sing that song. Emotions are a powerful thing, and there was nothing like feelings to remind you underneath the curse of this disastrous world, you once breathed like everyone else. At that moment my eyes moved to her chest out of curiosity, was she breathing? I quickly looked away not wanting her to think I was checking out her breasts.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

He spoke to me, but my attention had gone else where. I didn't want to drain the man in front of me. Why, I don't know. But, I heard other shuffling on the sides of the street, people starting to come out from their hiding places and it raised the hunger in me. I cocked my head to the side, very slowly, and took in the view.

There was a woman on the street with a child, maybe about ten years old, but that was old enough. I was starving. I swallowed hard and tried to reign in the intense urge that was taking me over. "These people.. I made a mistake didn't I?" I was referring to my eagerness to befriend a sexy female vampire, "Why haven't you hurt me yet?" Good fucking question. Why hadn't I hurt him, why didn't I want to?! Okay, I did want to hurt him, just not in the murderous kind of way.

He out-weighed me by at least eighty pounds, but when I moved behind him and wrapped my arm around his neck, he was the weak little one, not me. My gun was still in my hand and now it had a purpose. I moved the muzzle of my gun to the indent at his temple and cocked it back. "This boy has in fact made a terrible mistake and he's comin' with me."

I took a few steps back and I could see the fear on the faces around me. "Now, ya'll just stay where you are and let me take this young fellow, or you'll all be on the menu with him tonight." I turned him around and the two of us walked down a side street where my car was waiting. It was a 67 chevy camaro that I'd stolen from a guy I'd killed. It was cherry red and matched my lipstick perfectly. I went to the passenger side and opened the door. "You don't really have a choice, so get in."


Scarlett's Car -->

[jackson]

Great I thought as she moved behind me before I could think or react. She had me in a head lock sort of with a gun to my head. What did I get myself into?

"Now, ya'll just stay where you are and let me take this young fellow, or you'll all be on the menu with him tonight."

I looked at the fear on people's faces as she warned them not to follow. I then looked back at her, trying not to move too much, "You can't take me. I'll be out of medicine by morning." I said.
I knew I should be afraid of her, but I was more afraid of what would happen once I ran out of the stuff in my vile. But I knew she didn't care, and I was really starting to feel stupid.
We turned a corner into an alley where her vehicle was waiting for her. It was the most beautiful car I had seen in forever, "67 Camaro? Hot." I commented with a smile, "Look you don't want to hurt me, I know you don't. So let me go, please?" I pleaded with her.


"You don't really have a choice, so get in." she said tossing me into the car. I did as she said because of the obvious reasonings. She was stronger than me, and to fight her would be pointless. "Where are you taking me?" I asked not sure what was about to happen.

[Scarlett Devereaux]

"You can't take me. I'll be out of medicine by morning." I wasn't listening"67 Camaro? Hot." I commented with a smile, "Look you don't want to hurt me, I know you don't. So let me go, please?

I shoved him in the car and shut the door behind him. I went to the other side of the car and got behind the wheel. "Where are you taking me?" I turned the key and the engine roared to life. Where was I taking him? Who the hell knows and what had he said about medicine? My head was swimming with thoughts of tearing out throats and bathing in blood. But, not now, not tonight. I glanced over at the guy and leaned across the seat to him. Our lips were within inches of touching as I breathed cool air across his mouth.

His eyes fluttered shut as I reached in to his coat pocket and took out one of his cards. I pulled back fast from him and could see the stunned look in his eyes. I looked down at the card in my hand and read the address. Apparently, we're going out of town. "Your place." I said to him as I peeled out of the alley and took main street doing about sixty.

:CONTINUE AT FREE WILL CHURCH: