Prologue
Faith sat in the far corner of the crowded night club, crossing and uncrossing her pale, stocking covered legs impatiently. She fumbled for a few moments in her Nightmare before Christmas clutch until she extracted a small, circular compact. The letter “V” was engraved elegantly on it's surface and embossed in gold. With some effort, she dug a short, black fingernail into the tiny crack down the center and lifted until the tiny mirror popped open.
Holding the compact in the air, Faith pretended to gaze at her reflection. She sighed as she did every time she looked in the mirror, realizing for the millionth time that there was nothing to see. Instead of dwelling on this issue, she looked past were her reflection should have been and focused on a laughing group of Gothic boys standing near her corner.
She could tell she'd caught the gangs attention, the boys were huddled together, whispering quietly. Faith's trained ears picked up enough of their conversation over the loud music to know for sure that they were talking about her.
Smiling slightly, she lowered the mirror and pressed it closed between her palm and black nailed fingers. Faith carefully replaced the compact in her clutch, then withdrew a tube of dark red lip stick and slid it across her full lips.
As she finished applying the stain, one of the boys stumbled forward. Faith jumped, as if surprised, then, looking him over, smiled shyly “Oh... you startled me!” she said, letting the innocent smile widen deviously. It was too easy!
“Uh... yeah... Sorry about that... I just... I wanted to ask if you'd... Want to dance with me” He stuttered, eyes trying to avoid looking toward her corset clad chest. Faith looked the boy over, he was skinny,but toned. His black hair stood in spikes, and his face had a chiseled look about it. He was attractive, not perfect, but attractive.
Faith bit her bottom lip slightly, as if thinking, then nodded. Gently, she lifted her pale hand, the boy took it eagerly and helped her to her feet. As he led her to the dance floor he babbled on about himself. Faith barely listened, and didn't catch anything but his name, Mike. She danced closely to him, not giving his mind a chance to wander.
Whenever she knew the silly boy wasn't looking Faith rolled her eyes, humans were so easy, show a little skin and they tripped all over themselves to be with you. Were was the struggle? She looked around the dank, smelly club, but found no one who would produce a challenge.
After a few minutes of obnoxiously loud music, the lights dimmed and a melodic tune swept through the club. Letting another smile play across those crimson lips, Faith wrapped her arms around Mike's neck and let her head rest on his shoulder, taking in the sweet smell of his blood. Unable to resist she touched her lips to his pulsating neck. The scent of metal took her over, causing the dizzying sensation she knew so well. Mike let out a tiny groan and his pulse quickened. Faith could almost hear the the blood gushing through his veins.
When the song was nearly finished, Faith led Mike outside, his band of friends gawked in amazement and jealousy. Without looking, Faith knew that Mike was grinning their way. She sighed and shook her head, knowing that he was too busy making sure everyone saw him to see her disapproval.
Once outside it didn't take Faith long to place her spell over the helpless mortal. They had walked to a nearby park, deserted by all but one lone vagabond sleeping peacefully under a worn bench.
Smirking, she led Mike toward a rusty old jungle gym. As they climbed, hand in hand, up the creaky steps, Faith ran the fingers of her unoccupied hand over the old graffiti. She smiled as she read each little note. The words Brooke + Dave popped out at her. Around these, people commented, an arrow was drawn toward Brooke's name, the word whore scrawled above it. Under the names, someone wrote in glittery ink you and every other girl sister. Faith chuckled quietly, not even Mike noticed. She wondered why humans thought so much of love, this is what it always turned up like. Turning from the graffiti, Faith led Mike higher up the play set until they reached the biggest slide. She sat then, Mike following without hesitation.
Within a few moments, they were tangled together, kissing as passionately as a woman and her soldier the moment before they were separated, possibly forever. Mike's hands twisted in her blond hair as he pushed her closer to him. The scent of his blood grew stronger, almost overwhelmingly. It seemed unnatural that anyone's heart should pump at that speed.
Carefully, she worked her lips downward, leaving a red stain of lipstick from his mouth to the base of his neck. Pulling away for a moment, Faith smirked at Mike who smiled back looking dumbfounded. Then, without any hesitation Faith let her fangs slide from their sheathes and pierced his fragile neck. Mike let out a sound that was half way between a moan and a cry. But Faith kept going. She wanted to go forever, perhaps until there was none left, but that would be irresponsible. She'd have to kill him then and a murder in a town like this would be front page news, besides, others had seen her.
Reluctantly, she pulled herself away from the horribly pale boy. She wondered for a fraction of a second if she'd taken too much, but instead concluded Mike was just frightened. Smirking, Faith kissed him once more, full on the mouth, then let herself drift into the night, leaving the boy smiling dizzily, as his memories escaped him.