Under Watch

I leapt and knelt onto the ledge of a ten story building, surveying the chaos below. Now where was-.

'Dusk?' Glancing shortly across, I saw Ravin and Charlotte kneeling next to each other on a slightly shorter building across from mine. Ravin was the curvy one, the one who invaded my thoughts. I knew they could see me nod my head once as I turned my attention back to the hectic Manhatten street.

Luna skipped playfully down the crowded street twirling passed speedy pedestrians; her target acquired. She could feel our eyes on her as she gracefully increased her speed toward the man, spinning and weaving out of the nightfreaks. Her long blonde hair twirled in wisps down her petite body. Her loose blue blouse and loose skirt would certify to anyone that she was a hippie. It's our own inside joke.

Right as she passed both of our buildings, she looked up to me and smiled wide throwing in a bit of fang for my benefit. I let out a hiss to warn her, my eyes flashing. She knows I hate it when she does that. Exposure is the least of her worries as she twirls through an elder couple holding hands. She did not even give a backward glance to the lovers she just threw apart. Oh Luna.

I watched her approach the target, but something kept tearing my eye. The old couple. When Luna broke their hand hold, the older woman stumbled. Her reflexes were not quick enough to protect herself. She just about fell face first onto the concrete sidewalk when the old man, her husband I guess, gripped her upper arms and stopped her fall completely. Anyone watching could see he didn't have the strength to pull her back up. I could see his muscles straining, hear his labored breath. All of the people surrounding them kept walking by, bumping into them a couple times.

I almost lost position to stand and yell at one of the ignorant passerbys to help the poor man. I heard his sigh of defeat with my enhanced hearing and watched as he gently set the old woman onto the ground. She had her hands up to protect herself this time. The old man sat down next to her and held her for a moment. How much intangible agility had it taken to grab her in time? How does it feel to be so weak and slow? Ugh. I hate it when my human intentions kick in when I need them least.

A tiny red light on my eye caused me to snarl visciously. I don't know why they need that damn little laser everywhere. I clasped my hand over my eye to see Charlotte and Ravin looking at me increduously. I realize they had been shouting at me mentally for quite some time. Oh shit.

'Luna!' I called to her mind.

'Yes Boss? I have the target in set destination.' Her voice sounded deep and manly. 'Ummm... when are you coming?' She giggled and her internal voice changed back to being innocent and girly.

'I am sorry Luna. I got caught up. I'm coming' I shot back to her and stood. I turned around and took off at a dead sprint. My paces quickened as I took my last step on the buildings ledge and dove straight down. Face first towards the fast approaching alley. I always loved the adrenaline that courses through my dead body. It forces my heart to beat while it stays dormant the majority of my exsistence. Again my thoughts went back to that old couple. Funny how your head can process so much in such a short amount of time.

I did a flip, letting my long black hair cloud my electric green eyes for a fraction of a second as I touched down to the middle of the black alley kneeling to lessen any impact. Which of course, there was none. I stood with a bounce. Oh how sweet endorphins can change a vamp!

Luna was standing towards the back of the alley with a business man staring in fear pressed against the wall. It was always funny on Luna's nights to pick. A tiny little "girl" making a powerful tycoon quiver with fear. She does love the power hungry meals.

She held her hands to the targets face and I could hear her chanting. My black knee-high boots started to clack against the cold cement. Luna broke her chant when the man slumped unceremoniously to the ground. My long black trenchcoat fluttered backward as I heard the soft landing of Ravin and the not so graceful landing of Charlotte.

"Good job Loon. Nice touch using your power. I am sure Dusk will bite your ass later." Ravin's tongue poured sarcasm as she lifted the man with her fist and observed his face.

Luna looked at me with wide blue eyes. I tilted my mouth to the side in a way of saying that it was inevitable. Her expression became downtrodden so I added, "But excellent taste and great work luring him in. You are doing fine dear." I patted her shoulder.

Charlotte, being Luna's creator, gathered her fledgling into her toned arms and swung Luna's tiny body in circles. They're giggles filled the air.

"Hey! If you are going to be loud, atleast point it towards the sewer." I barked. Now that the mans good as dead, we could use our powers freely.

"I'll do it. They are too busy playing Ring-Around." Ravin said grumpily. Yeah, they needed to feed and soon. Ravin closed her eyes and called softly to the wind, casting her arms up ever so slightly. I watched Char and Luna's hair twist upward as they're giggles and voices traveled up the side of the building and scatter the voices away from the alley.

"Well. Ladies first?" Ravin didn't wait to hear a response as two crystaline fangs elongated from her open jaws and clasped onto the business man's neck. Her eyes, normally dark brown, turned charcoal black as she sucked greedily from the man.

I turned to Luna and beckoned her over. When Luna approached the man, Ravin growled furiously. Her black eyes making her into a bedtime monster. I smiled, my natural instinct telling me to rip her head off for challenging me. Me, the coven leader and Ravin's creator.

"Ravin!" I snapped, sending a silent call to the wind to mask it with the traffic. She cowered slightly at the commanding voice of her creator and sighed deeply. She released the man's neck and walked back to stand beside me. Ravin's eyes turning back to the chocolate color I was used to. "Better?"

She nodded and then turned in disgust as she saw Charlotte and Luna each drinking from a wrist. Ravin always had a problem with sharing. It is a deep rooted problem that reaches back before we met.

'Meet you at the house.' Ravin called to me in my mind. She waved an ebony finger once at the rest of them and slipped into the darkness.

I could feel the dawn coming on as a shiver of weariness coursed through my body. I watched Luna's eyes turn back to baby blue as she yawned wide, fangs retracting slowly. Charlotte stood and held her hand out for Luna to take. I nodded to both of them and they took off being swallowed by the darkness of the alley. I froze when I heard a groan. This puny man is still fighting? A sinister smile curls my lips upward, revealing more of my pearls.

I turn back to see beady eyes looking at me in confusion. His body was whiter than chalk. Ooh, I do love it when they are awake. The endorphins from the adrenaline in his system will be going crazy. It is quite tasty. I call the wind to me to have at the ready when I kneel next to him and smile a lovely fang-filled smile. His face paled even more and his mouth opened into a high pitched screech. The wind took his voice upward and sent it to another alley as I stroked his tear streaked face.

"Tut. Tut. This won't do." I whispered in his ear.

When the wind took all of his speech away and all that was left was a hoarse squeal, I cupped his cheek and said bluntly, "I never did like 9 to 5 jobs." Biting into his adams apple was a sweet haven as he choked on the blood bubbling in his throat. I suckled out what was left for me, which was not very much, and tossed him to the ground. I called to my favorite element: fire. I torched the body before me and asked the wind to sweep the smell and embers away. I have been channeling the Earth for most of my vampiric life, so not much effort went into covering my tracks. All that was left were a couple of scorch marks on the crumbling abandoned building. No one would look twice.

I yawned and stretched by body. I would say thirty minutes til sunrise. Not too bad for a lazy night. Maybe I would walk with the human population home tonight.

------

"Yes sir, I have sight. CL442 is leaving the alley between 760 and 762 on 19th Street."

"Keep eyes. Do not approach. We will set up a crime scene as soon as it's light."

"With pleasure." The dark haired man leaned back onto his heels from atop the tall building admiring the black haired woman grace the sidewalk amongst the early risers trying to get to work. He smirked as he thought of the day his employer would let him attack; she would never see it coming. They never did. His eyes flashed to a feral charcoal color anticipating the hunt. However, for now he would wait. For now, he would watch.

------

The people I passed by are my true friends. Some of them are literally too crazy to pay attention to anyone besides their white rabbit and then the rest just don't give a damn. Times are so much more simpler it seems. A hoarse, ill-drenched cough sounded from a nearby alley causing me to shudder and relive one of my worst tragedies.

"Alyssa. Alyssa, you shall prosper for the better. The doctor is to arrive any moment."

The room is deathly quiet. I clasp my sister's hand and sponge her pale forehead. She is whispering to me. She whispers to me things I can not hear. Withso, I talk over her and promise falsities. Anything to give her enough hope to hold on. My pale blonde hair swung to one side of my face tickles her arm as she shakes and whispers things I should hear.

The last breath I should hear. I have to hear her words.

Graced by the devil, I heard not a word. If I had, I wouldn't still be alive.

"Ugh." I sigh out loud and am tempted to go kill that wrench in the alley that brought back such a horrid memory that I suppress so well on a daily basis. I probably haven't thought about Alyssa in a couple of years. Not since Luna was created. I am very good at suppression. On humans, and on myself. When you live forever, however, there comes a time when even the smallest noise can trigger a powerful memory, almost hallucinogen. They call it the 'vampires' remorse'. Ironic to say in the least.

I finally venture into the industrial district of town where no one is bustling. I see a few street cats and the streetlamps are always dimmer it seems. I turn left onto Cherry Lane (another ironic joke- cherries are juicy and red) and head past well groomed houses with trees lining the sides. The current view from the center of the street are trees marking where concrete will follow, leaves blowing about, and a definite dead-end sign at the far end, about half a mile down. Leave it to us to live at the very last house on the right with the neighbor across and beside us vacant and the streetlamp dead. How horribly cliché.

I yawn again as I open the front door and slam it shut behind me. I am not shocked to see Ravin standing there clicking her talon toes at me.

My sigh makes her nails leave scratches on the ground as she starts, "What the fuck, Dusk? You really don't care about us, do you? Ah! La dee dee! I'm just going to skip the fuck home and not worry about being FOLLOWED! Let alone the GOD DAMN SUNLIGHT!" Her chocolate eyes flash once and I see a hint of fang before she remembers who she is talking to.

I let her breathing calm after she says a few more things about my tardiness and then casually intercede, "Ravin. It is time to draw the curtains. I need not a lesson on punctual happenings as I am sure you are aware of your past and how punctual I was that I just happened to have enough punctualness to save your unpunctual ass. Now help me draw the curtains. I assume Charlotte and Luna are already downstairs?" I let a little bit of hissing slip into my words. She ruffled during my speech, but had a slightly guilty look as she nodded her answer. We flew about the house locking doors, pulling our triple layer blackout curtains shut, and making sure Cressa had food and water before we went downstairs.

Our "keep" as Ravin and I like to call it (considering we are the only two old enough to have seen one) is a spacious basement decked out with black carpets and blue fuzzy walls. All of the rooms have no doors, only curtains, and no windows. There's a stereo room with electronics out the ass, a jacuzzi and sauna in another room, plus a massage table but we never use it. Then there is our rooms. Down a hall off to the left is Charlottes' which is hung up with a bunch of Krav-Maga posters and tacky wall hangings. Her bed is the standard four poster, but it is surrounded by gauzy black see through curtain bunched at the center, atop her bed.

The second room on the right is Luna's. Hers makes me feel like I'm on acid. It has bright colors splashed on the walls. Random parts of the wall feel fuzzy and other parts feel like paint. The carpet is rainbow and so is the comforter on her water bed. She says she likes to "Float with the moon."

I check on them both to see each asleep in their beds.

"Come on Momma Dusk. They're fine and we have a busy day tomorrow." Ravin teased.

"Who sounds like the Momma now?" I bantered back laughing quietly. Ravin goes into her room next to Luna's and I see the glint of the 300 something records on the wall. The strange thing is that Ravin does not even have a record player and she'll never answer when I ask her why she has them.

"Good feast tonight. Sleep well and maybe we'll see about us having our own individual meals tomorrow at Shotsarrati." Ravin's eyebrows shot up.

"You think Loon could handle a meal by herself?" I can see the concern there and it warms my heart to see her taking such a (somewhat) strong liking to Luna.

"Luna can handle more things than we think." I wink and go to my room at the very end of the hall.

I enter my sanctuary and observe my obscenely plain walls. If only I had more time to myself instead of leading this coven...I could have a little slice of normalcy.

Instantly, the old couple springs into my mind and it makes me worry. I have been dwelling on humanoid things lately. First the old couple and then memories from a different life. . .something is going to happen and I won't be thinking of normalcy for quite some time. Maybe we should just stay home tomorrow. Everyday appearances can jeopardize the girl's safety, even though they love them. What is the point of living forever if you're not going to embrace every day?

'Never growing old', whispers through my mind and the old couple become the burden of my nightmares.

Why do they bother me so? Why do I have such a sudden attention to this couple? A couple millennia ago, I would have killed them without remorse. Am I becoming soft? What is it that they have that I want? I have everything!

I sigh into my pillow and drift off to my erratic thoughts.

------

"Target approaching nest. Orders sir?"

"Keep watch. Stay at property 307. It is too close to daylight to retreat to cabin. The property is prepared for your needs."

"Yes sir."

The bulky vampire watched the woman float against the concrete, hardly hearing the smallest of footsteps.

He smiles big, fangs extended. I can not wait, Dusk, until we meet fang to fang. He chuckles under his breath and like a viper, snatches a squirrel next to him going up the tree. He drains the petrified creature and drops it to the ground just as his target closes her front door.

------

I awaken first, per usual, and check my alarm clock to make sure its past sundown.

7:54pm.

I sigh and go to my bathroom and turn my shower onto the hottest it will allow. Dressed in a black tank top and leather black pants, I strip them off one by one critiquing every inch of pale skin. Sometimes I hate the gothic, Underworld look, but it's so accurate to not give enough of a care to dress appropriately. Plus, it's perfect night clothes. Ravin always likes to dress slutty and tight. Charlotte and Luna love skirts and free stuff, but I have just been alive to long to not care if I fit in or if my hair is styled.

I stare into the full body mirror after I've shed my clothes. Nothing has changed. I look exactly as I was four hundred years ago...and then, I look nothing like I was four hundred years ago. My hair was once blonde and had golden waves, much like Lunas', but my best guess is that it died with my soul and all its left me with is long, black straight hair. My body is curved at the hips and my breast are big, things that used to cause me pleasure now just bring back memories of some other time. Like, the last time I had a guy grab my nipple with his teeth made me think of two hundred years ago when the same thing happened. Nothing New Happens! Fuck the remorse shit.

It's always the same fucking situation! Maybe I'm just too old. No person is meant to live this long.

My thoughts drift to darker places and it takes a moment to shake myself out of my reverie. The girls need me. Newness is around the corner, atleast it should be with us moving just last week. This is the very reason that we needed Luna to join the coven. She was the light we lacked. Things will progress smoothly; that's all I ever hope for.

I get into the shower (which is more steam than water), dress in my usual tank, pants, boots, and head upstairs to undress the curtains and let in the moonlight.

Cressa follows my every step meowing about her day yesterday. We found her with the new house here and I've been offput with what to do with her. Cats are nocturnal, but if the inevitable happens then Cressa would be abandoned again. Honestly, she wouldn't be able to find a better home because black cats normally get killed and shunned from the dumbasses we call humans. However, the girls love her.

Cressa's meowing goes up an octave as Charlotte scoops her up into her arms and makes baby noises and scratches her ruff. I laugh when Charlotte freaks Cressa out by purring loudly with her. The cat's eyes shouldn't, but they open wide and she scrambles to get down. Poor thing. Death by petrifaction. . .well atleast it would solve my problem.

I sense Luna dragging up the stairwell. "Luna? We never got to talk about last night." I hear her stop and try to head back downstairs. I smirk when Charlotte senses it too by her horrified expression and see her streak to the staircase and down the few steps.

"Luna! How dare you!?" Char shouts at Luna.

I smile slightly as I hear slow footsteps dragging up the steps, knowing she is in worse trouble now.

Luna comes to stand in front of me with her wavy golden locks, a headband on her forehead, and a multicolored skirt and shirt ensemble. She has her head down slightly out of shame and respect.

Charlotte huffs behind her and is shaking her head. I smile at Char, 'Thank you m'dear. Please leave us.'

Char nods once and goes off to find that poor cat.

I turn to Luna. "Escape artist?"

She winces and laughs awkwardly.

"Come sit down and look at me in the face. There is no disrespect worse than conversation with zero eye contact." I scold lightly.

We move into the living room out of the hall way and I sit on the love seat with its back to the front window as Luna sits on the tri-seat couch with its back to the hallway. The whole living room is a pale yellow, even the flooring. The couches are a light blue. The only color in the room is the little wooden table beside the bigger couch. The lack of belongings prove how lazy we are. Boxes upon boxes stack in one corner of the room, all labeled LivingRoom.

"Luna, you did extremely well last night." She perks up visibly under the positivity. "You were very graceful in luring him into the alley. You ensnared him like a moth to a flame. Let me tell you, my first time leading bait to a set destination was gruesome and I ended up almost getting caught. You did good, but that brings me to my next point. Exposure. Loon, you know the rules inside and out. I'd hate to say them over. I know that these powers seem godsend and you just want to play with them all day, but it's important that you don't do these things. So no more looking up a building and fanging me." She bites her lip and glances away. "No more chanting in front of food. No feeding when they're conscious either, because if we let him go without knowing to erase memory then he will tell and we will die." Her eyes open wide and her mouth forms a little O of horror.