Subject: Reality (01/01) Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 10:23:55 -0700 From: clark To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU This is one of the darker ones. Feedback is always welcomed. Permission given to archive at fkfanfic website, the Dark NN archives, and the FTP site. No other permission is granted to repost/reprint/reuse. If you're interested drop me a line. This story is based on characters and situations that aren't mine. Thanks to TPTB for their use. "Reality" by S. Clark The prey was there. Alone. Unarmed. Warm, supple flesh. Coursing blood. To the vampire, these aspects were all that was important. Other details, that this man was someone's child, someone's lover, were meaningless. To the vampire, this was prey, nothing else. With speed borne of hunger, the vampire took what it coveted. The prey had even been willing, initially, misunderstanding what was desired. The realization of the ultimate outcome dawned upon the prey. It was weak, but it tried to fight. The vampire, strengthened by the blood lust, easily subdued the prey, the final outcome inevitable. And the woman the vampire once was, in some ways still was, screamed against the actions. Screamed against the way the beast within drove her with its desires, its hungers. She'd return again to him, her lover, confessing her sins. He'd comfort her, sharing blood. And she'd feel his sadness, his pain. He'd tried to warn her of the hunger, the need for possession. She'd never understood until that moment she'd awakened, hungry. Natalie shed a tear at what she'd become, what her own pride and lust had let her become. She again wished for the day she'd master the control that allowed Nick to exist among mortals in a way she could not. She returned to him, knowing she'd face the look of disappointment. Knowing she'd reinforce his burden of responsibility. Knowing she loved him. These things kept them together. Forever.