𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who spots your face in a crowd right away. he’s mesmerized and shocked, and confused. he’s enthralled with the way you move, your smile, your laugh, how you hold yourself. it’s been a few centuries since his wife was killed, and…there you were. he’s emotional, understandably so, and he swipes at the stray tears threatening his eyes.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who doesn’t believe it fully at first. he thinks it’s a witch playing tormenting games on him, so he follows you for a bit. everything about you whispers a difference from…well, his wife, but he really feels it’s you. come back from the dead to reunite with him. your body is not the same in the sense that it’s young, but visually, physically, you were her.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who gets emotional staring at you. his big brown eyes trail your figure, and his inhuman nose picks up your scent quickly. his eyes roll to the back of his head when the memories of his wife and him cavorting in his castle all those years ago, playing hide-and-seek in the cold corridors. somehow, you made it warmer.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who slowly stops distinguishing you from his wife, and now molds you into one person. he’s wracking his brain, thinking of all the ways to approach you. deep down, he’s terrified it’s a trick in the end, sent by god to further torment him on this earth. he wants to coddle you in his arms, press his ear to your heart to hear it roar in his head, smell your clothing as it was back then.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who catches on that you have noticed his lurking presence at balls and social gatherings. he knows he should avert his eyes from yours when you snap your attention to his, but he misses your gaze, unable to look away. he sees into your soul and knows it’s you. it’s you, his lover, his wife, his best friend. his beloved.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who eventually gets cornered by your gaze on him, and he uses that as an opportunity to come up to you for introductions. he lifts your hand to kiss the back of it, and loves the way your warm skin shivers under his lips. he holds your stare on him, trying to talk to you with his eyes.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who invites you to a night on the town, visiting one of his favorite fairs with balloons, games, and attractions. he promises good food and sweet chocolate, and you shyly accept. he’s delighted to have you on his arm, and his heart, though dead, pumps harshly against his chest. he learns to observe you through new eyes, trying to accept that you are not his old wife’s namesake, but a new person.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who is very competitive when playing the carnival games with you, but ultimately desires to see the light in your eyes when you win. he holds the crook of your arm to guide your aim at the balloon to pop, and he feels your breath hitch. your perfume fills his nose, and he can smell your sweet blood rushing through your veins.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who licks his elongated fangs behind his lips when he treats to sweet desserts after the games and shows. you lick a bit of chocolate at the corner of your mouth, not quite getting it. his thumb reaches up and swipes it, staring into your eyes as you watch him suck the sweetness off his fingertip. he can literally feel the blood creep into your cheeks when you blush, and all he can do is chew his inner cheek.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who walks you around the perimeter of the fields, asking you questions about yourself, and really listening when you speak. he’s pleased to find that most of the details about you are about the same as in your previous life, with a few differences, but he doesn’t care. he’s delighted to have you in his life again and sees you as a reinvented woman. he yearns to study you like a good book, re-reading chapters he missed through a new perspective.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who can’t help but place soft, adoring kisses over the lace gloves covering your knuckles. you’re modest, looking down when he does so, but he follows your gaze to the floor and seeks out your eyes. it’s the same soul, he knows that, and he never wants you to leave again. he asks you to look at him, look into his soul. if you oblige with a small smile, his kisses will travel higher up your arm.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who walks you to your apartments, leaning on the gate, begging to see you again. he promises to be your financier for anything you desire, any goals you wish to accomplish, he only asks to be your beneficiary in return for your attention and time. you smile into your shoulder, hand on your chest in thanks, and decline politely, not wishing to take advantage of this seemingly kind gentleman. when he insists with a longing look in his eyes, you agree with a small voice.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who places a chaste kiss on your cheek, close to your lips, to bid you good night. you gasp lightly and pull back wth wide eyes, looking around for any witnesses to the scene. he laughs a little and strokes your chin with his thumb. he clearly doesn’t care about scandal, and you chastise him for the boldness. he promises to behave and bites his lower lip. your eyes follow there, and he slips his teeth behind his lips again. he’s not sure if you spotted his longer canines, but judging by the rush of blood in your neck, he wonders in the affirmative.

ꫂ❁vampire lord!michael who blows you a sound kiss as you wave him good night from your window, your hair down and in your chemise. he keeps his eyes trained on the windowsill, lashes fluttering whenever your curtains move a little. he would stay there all night to protect you if he could, and the idea is not all that alien to him as he considers it.

꧁⎝ 𓆩༺✧༻𓆪 ⎠꧂

Yet here I am again, crawling towards another glittering spectacle of mortal vanity. Another awards ceremony drenched in diamonds, champagne and flashing camera’s so bright they mimic little bursts of daylight.

"How do I always end up back here?” The thought came bitterly. 

I am pulled from my thoughts as the door to the limousine opens before I even reach for it. Voices erupt from beyond the barricades. My name is travelling in waves throughout the crowd, some screaming, some crying, and some aren’t speaking at all. Simply frozen in the presence of something they can’t quite comprehend.  

I offer them the familiar smile. One that was soft and carefully practised, perfected over lifetimes. Beneath the polished black fabric of my suit, the jewelled glove and the immaculate posture, there was something far older than fame standing under the shimmering golden lights of the theatre's awning.  

Something hungry. 

Photographers shouted relentlessly as I ascended the crimson-carpeted steps toward the entrance. Each one is desperate for the perfect shot. To humans, the cameras capture what they believe to be perfection. Elegance. Mystery. An Icon untouched by time. None of them noticed how cold I truly was. 

As my foot falls on the final step, the scent hits me like a freight train. Thousands of heartbeats, blood pulsing beneath silk gowns and overpriced tuxedos. The air was dancing with it. It curled into my senses like smoke from a snuffed-out candle. Thick and cloying. My throat tightened instinctively. 

Dangerous. 

Very dangerous. 

I steel myself for what is undoubtedly to be a long evening of restraint and allow my feet to follow the sounds of chatter. As I enter the crowded venue, a young actress bumbles past me, giggling nervously as she adjusts the emerald necklace resting against her pulse. I could hear the rapid flutter beneath her skin with horrifying clarity. 

My fangs ached behind my gums, begging to be unleashed. For a fraction of a second, my composure cracks. My eyes darken, the hunger awoken inside me like an ancient beast stretching under cathedral ruins. 

Then came the applause. Thunderous and adoring, the mask snapped back in place. Lowering my gaze, I smooth my gloved hand over my jacket. I have survived wars, plagues, burning kingdoms, and revolutions. Yet sometimes the biggest struggle is standing in a room full of living people and pretending I am still one of them. 

Light shimmered across the walls draped in ruby velvet curtains and crystal chandeliers, bathing every surface in warmth. Famous faces filled the room, like paintings come to life. All laughing too loudly, smiling too brightly, drowning themselves in attention to avoid whatever emptiness awaited them when the show was over. 

Actors. Politicians. Fellow Musicians. Even Royalty is here tonight. Their heartbeats are uneven symphonies that hit my ears, making them ring. Most of them watch me as I enter, straightening subtly in their seats, eager for acknowledgement as I make my way through the cliques of people chatting and towards my own seat for the evening.  

I barely look at them. I know this feeling all too well, am all too familiar with the ache of wanting something more but never being able to attain it.  

It’s just as I am heaving out a heavy sigh that my attention is pulled by a movement of light. A woman sits two tables away. She sits amongst a glittering cluster of people I assume to be business moguls and up and coming actors, they practically sparkle beneath the soft light of the chandelier, yet she looks utterly detached from them. 

She rests one hand delicately beneath her chin, long slender fingers cupping her cheek as the man next to her rambles enthusiastically about the state of the stock market and how he’s going to be lining his pockets very soon. Her expression never changes. Not impressed. Not dazzled. Simply...bored. 

The sight was enough to stop me in my tracks. Not because she was the most beautiful woman in the room, though she may very well be. It was the boredom that intrigued me. Her complete indifference, while every other soul in this room strained towards the spotlight like a flower desperate for sunlight. She looked like she would rather be anywhere else on earth.  

“How strange”, I ponder to myself, lingering a moment too long, my gaze fixed across the room while applause still crashed somewhere behind me.  

The woman glanced up suddenly, large doe eyes met mine as though I had called her by name. Most humans avoid eye contact with me or look away quickly. Some primal hardware is ingrained to sense the beast simmering beneath the glamour.  

She didn’t. 

If anything, she looked mildly curious. Like I had interrupted her thoughts rather than shaken her soul. A slow, subtle smile touched my lips before I was conscious of it.  

Somewhere deep beneath centuries of solitude, beneath a monster fighting to take control. I feel something inside me stir, that familiar melancholy ache in my chest. 

I couldn’t bring myself to look away.

Still watching me, she lifted a glass of champagne from the table and tilted it slightly in my direction. Not starstruck. Not nervous. If anything, she seemed amused.

As though she knew something the rest of the room did not.