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[I]This is the beginning of my newest story. I blogged a bit about it a couple of days ago, and decided to put it up. Chapter 1 is still a work in progress, but I posted the start of it to give you a bit more direction on the story. Some of you may recognize Lucien from a previous short story/character profile. These will be his sagas, and I hope that you enjoy them. One novel is basically planned out, and I'm compiling the research for it. I hope to write others about him, but I'll see how the first is before promising more. As always, I hope you enjoy the tale. Please leave any feedback about the characters and your opinions of the story, writing, etc.

Enjoy,
Meg[/I]

Prolog
1678 A.D.


Lucien regarded the lightening sky with an avid curiosity. It had had been years since he had watched the sun rise, and it was a pity that this would be the last time. For years the rising of the sun had only heralded the coming of another day’s work. Today, however, the same light he was watching spill across the sky by varying degrees would put an end to the unnatural existence that had been forced upon him.

* * * * * * * * *

Lucien grew up in the wilds of North America. His home was a small town near Lake Erie within the wilderness of what would eventually become Pennsylvania. The whole community consisted of 43 people, a school, church, general store, and a physician’s office that served as a mortuary, doctor, and dentist. Late one evening while they were celebrating the bountiful harvest of the fall crops, a stranger entered into their midst.

The stranger was a beautiful woman with long copper hair and clear blue eyes. She was dressed in a gown the color of sapphires, and no one imagined that the young woman who appeared on that night would be the harbinger of death. She had come into the town within the dead of night while the celebration was going on all around and introduced herself as Lilith. Lucien offered to go settle her in for the night. His parents owned a farm, and the small house had an extra room that they did not use. They rented it as a way to earn a little extra money, and he didn’t want to take them away from the events of the evening since they were taking such enjoyment out of the festivities.

It had been a long night of rejoicing. The harvest for the year had been massive, and it was more than enough food to feed everyone for the coming winter. The store owner’s wife, Mary, had given birth to a healthy baby boy they named Samuel. Lucien’s own reason for celebration was the announcement of his engagement to Eliza Pembroke. She was the daughter of another local farmer, and at 16 she was ready to start her life with Lucien and make their own family. They were due to be married in four weeks, and Lucien secretly hoped that next year it would be the birth of their own son they would be celebrating.

Lucien led Lilith to his home, and he showed her to the room that she would be using. He turned to see if there was anything else that the mysterious newcomer would require, and that was when she struck. Lilith went straight for his throat, and she tore into the artery there like a rabid dog. The last thing that he remembered was the feeling of her drawing his very life force from the punctures in his neck. Unconsciousness finally claimed him, and when he awoke the following night he was greatly changed.

Lucien’s opened his eyes, and, while his body told him it was nighttime, it seemed as if it were daylight he could see things so clearly. The moon was as bright to him as the midday sun. The smell of death hung heavy in the air, and he followed the stench with his new senses. His eyesight was not the only thing that had changed. His hearing was so acute that he was able to hear the heartbeats of the kittens in the attic, and his sense of smell could detect the faint remnants of his mother’s perfume on the bedspread she had completed sewing a month earlier.

The scent of blood and fear grew stronger as he exited the front of the hotel. While he was repelled by the thought that the smell was coming from the people within his town, his newfound thirst was awakening at the metallic smell of blood. Lucien forced himself to walk through the town to where he and his fellow townspeople had danced and shared their elation the night before. When he reached the edges of the town he began to see the carnage that was the remnants of his world.

At the edges of the town, there was a small stable and awning that they had used to arrange the evenings festivities. Red and blue streamers were still flowing between the rafters, and the table was still gaily set with a brightly colored tablecloth. The ground, however, was decorated with the bodies of his loved ones. Spilled blood made the ground beneath his feet soft as if there had been rain the day before. He stepped over the bloated corpse of the doctor in his search for his parents. Instead he tripped over an outstretched arm and found himself falling to the ground in front of little Samuel’s body. A scream rose in his throat as he recoiled from the sight before him, but then he sensed it. There was a heartbeat amongst all of the wreckage. One lone survivor amongst what seemed like a sea of dead. Lucien began to search feverishly for the heartbeat that was tantalizing his senses. He was not prepared for Lilith to emerge from the stable laughing, and she held before herself the prize which he was seeking.

“I have a gift for you Lucien,” Lilith said with a smile, “It is my way to welcome you to the first night of the rest of eternity. You have likely realized by now that the smell of blood calls to your senses and makes you thirst for that which you know you should not. So, as a present to you as the newest of the immortals I give to you your first meal. Enjoy her, for her blood is like sweet nectar on your tongue.” With a final giggle, a sound too girlish and carefree to be coming from the mouth of a monster, she pierced the vein of her captive and shoved her into Lucien’s arms.

It was a shock to his system to see that the woman Lilith had held captive was his own fiancée, Eliza. He tried to hold her in his arms as she clung to his neck, but his thirst was taking over. The smell of blood teased his senses, and he felt his lips pull back in a snarl baring his fangs. Eliza screamed and began to fight for freedom. Reason deserted Lucien as the hunger took over, and he gripped Eliza’s struggling body more tightly. He bent his head and bit her throat at the place where her neck and shoulder met. A groan escaped him as the first drops of his beloved’s essence hit his mouth. He drank deeply, and as his hunger was satiated the haze began to lift from his mind and sanity came flooding back in.

Lucien crumpled to the ground cradling Eliza’s limp form. His hands trembled as he smoothed her blond curls away from her face searching for some sign that she was still alive. Her once lively tawny eyes were glazed over and frozen in terror. With a sob Lucien buried his face in the cascade of curls and let his sorrow and fury vent.

“She was such a pretty little thing. It is a shame that she had to die,” Lilith remarked with a smirk. “Before I leave you, there are a few things I feel obligated to tell you about your new existence. Firstly, you must drink blood in order to survive. Do not think that you can circumvent this, because the end result will be a murderous rampage that makes my dalliance here look tame. Second, you should try to avoid others of our kind. We are solitary creatures, and many of the old ones will not hesitate to kill you if you are within their presence. Finally, you can be harmed by only sunlight. The myths of stakes, silver, and garlic are a fallacy, but sunlight will cause your death as you are burned by its rays,” Lilith left him crouched on the ground with Eliza still in his arms. As quickly as she appeared she vanished into the mist of the night.
* * * * * * * * *

Lucien shuddered at the memory of the last two days, and he continued his vigil for the morning sun. Lilith had said that the sun would bring about his death. He was determined that it would be now before living another night of this monstrous existence. He only wished that it would come more quickly so that he could be freed from the pain of knowing all that he loved in this world was gone. His own sweet Eliza had been ripped from him by this beast that was festering within.

The sky slowly lightened and the deep blue became tinged with shades of violet and pink. Lucien sucked in a deep breath and waited for the burning he was sure would come. The pink and violet lightened to gold and orange, but still there was no pain. He continued to sit waiting for the end to his existence. The sun rose into the sky, but an end still did not come. In desperation, Lucien grabbed a scythe, sharp from the recent harvest, and slit his own throat. Unconsciousness clawed him down as his blood poured into the dirt surrounding him.

Hours later he was woken by the sounds of birds singing within the trees. He looked around him, and he took a moment to survey his body for damage. There was no trace of singed skin, and the injury he had inflicted upon himself was fully healed. With a cry of rage at the injustice of being forced to live, Lucien began to burn his home and the surrounding town to nothing but ashes. As he stood, watching his childhood home engulfed in flame, he attempted once more to end his life. Lucien walked directly into the burning building and stood within the flames. Still he would not burn, and he tossed his head back screaming his anger to the heavens for not allowing him the blissful nothingness of death.

He made a vow, standing amongst the burning cinders of the place he called home, that he would hunt Lilith to the ends of the earth. He would make her pay for forcing this existence upon him. He swore to make her scream for mercy as he killed her slowly. She had destroyed his entire world. Eyes blazing with an unnatural green light that he could not see, Lucien vowed to make Lilith pay for her crimes, and he also promised to protect the innocent from the monsters which would destroy them. It was a promise that he would keep for all of eternity…