Wish upon a star *For ShyMystica & I*

[BLACK BART]

He stood on top of the flat roofed building and let his eyes and mind wander, the cool fall breeze pushing his raven hued hair off his broad shoulders, his dark eyes flashing under a strong brow as he watched the night pass. He looked to be in his mid thirties, a strong, lithe body that moved easily across the floor, his long fingers groomed, strong and promising pleasure to those ladies who looked long and hard at them.

He sought peace, wished for the past, and found only turmoil in every day of his eternal life. He was Vampire, reborn centuries past, in a time where man was savage in a primitive way, where battles were fought over blooded land, not desks, internet or a financial sector called Wall Street.

He was, in his mind, truly alone, his money gathered over the years doing nothing to ease his internal strife, or erase memories he held onto with both hands. He was once a man, strong, alive, he was now immortal, stronger, but less alive, hiding inside an ancient mansion filled with relics of a past that was slowly killing him.

He would leave in a heart beat, the clothes on his back and a single relic of his past dangling from the golden chain around his next, if only he could forget, move forward.... live once more....

He laughed and turned as the door opened, another, almost as ancient vampire like himself looking at him with a twisted smile and waiting patiently with a message.

"You have another phone call Master Byron, shall I give the Lady the same excuse, or will you....?"

"Tell her I'm busy James, and stop calling me Byron, you know my first name or has time washed your mind clean?"

It was an old exchange, words spoken more of reassuring habit then necessity and James smiled softly as he met his masters eyes.

"It is as nimble as my body Master Talon, and at your disposable should you ever need it again, but the question still remains..."

Talon nodded and then smiled, his features turning boyish as he shrugged, then patted the shoulder of his servant and moved past.

"See what she wants, don't promise a thing, she's persistent and that is admirable, but then so is a fly hovering over my soup, hmm?"

[ShyMystica]

The night chill from the open window fluttered passed the curtains to brush delicately over her fair skin. She sighed softly into the silence of the phone receiver, her mind doubting any worth her new lead may have. She had spent her entire adult life searching, examining, studying, desperately trying to find the truth to her past. Yet as a new doors open, even more closed, and while her heart held on to a dwindling hope, her faith in her own abilities and strength had been lost long ago.

Placing the call on speakerphone, she leant back in her chair, tying her long sandy strands of hair in a bun nestled behind her head. Closing her eyes, her mind began to reminisce of the fond memories she held, and the story that had changed her family forever.

It was near 20 years ago that her grandfather told her of the tale. He had sat upon his ancient rocking chair, taking long drags from his pipe as he bathed in the warmth of the fireplace. She had woken during the night and nimbly made her way down to him, sitting by his side as the remaining images of her dream passed. Picking her up, he placed her child form gingerly on his lap…his voice resonating through her mind as she listened intently…

“Long ago…long before even I was born lived a man with his young wife. They lived in a small town called Massa Marittima, an old mining town of Tuscany. He was a poor man yet well respected who made his living carving jewels and stones. His work was highly sort after by rulers and wealthy families both near and far, most travelling days just to buy his work.

One night while he and his wife slept, a loud thudding came from the front door, shaking him from his deep slumber. Upon answering the door there stood a tall stranger, eyes black as the night itself with skin as pale as ice. The dark stranger, without any introduction, handed the man a small package.

‘Carve me your finest work. I want the beauty of the sun entwined softly with the seduction of the night. I want the heart of those who gaze upon it to cry as they gaze upon the beauty of the purest soul from deep within the jewel. Do this and I will reward you handsomely. But I warn, if the eyes of anyone but yours fall upon this gem the consequences with haunt your family until time itself ceases. I will return on the next full moon.’ With his lingering caution the stranger left.

The man worked night and day, carving and perfecting the blood red gem from within the package the stranger had left. He had embodied the jewel in the finest gold; it was bar far his most beautiful, stunning and extravagant piece he had created. From fear of the strangers warning, the man hid the finished jewel deep within his working trunk.

One early morn his young wife, while cleaning her husband's working station, stumbled upon his trunk. She knew he had been working on a jewel, yet he remained secretive about it. Curiosity got the best of her, and she rummaged through the trunk, finding the jewel. She gazed upon the jewel in awe, a single tear running down her cheek as she marvelled at its beauty. The single tear dripped softly upon the jewel then disappeared. She replaced the jewel back to its original place and continued her chores as per normal.

The stranger returned the very next full moon, the same thudding upon the door waking the man from his slumber. Upon receiving the jewel the stranger seemed highly content, in fact, joyous as he gazed upon it. As quick as the joyous glee in his eyes came, it left, a hint of primal carnage resonating from his icy gaze. ‘Your wife has seen the jewel. Her curiosity will be punished.’ The stranger’s eyes narrowed upon the man as in deep thought. ‘She will not live a day beyond her 30 years of life…nor will her daughters, granddaughters or any woman born into the curse of this family’. With that the stranger passed the man a sack of purest gold and left.

Years had passed and the man and his wife lived a highly prosperous life. The dawn of his wife’s 30th birthday she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. But true to the strangers warning, his wife died in the labour. That is the curse of our family, young one. It is not known how to break the curse, but until then we suffer.”

“Hello?” Ma’dam?” The voice from the speakerphone stunned her from her memory.

“Yes, I’m here. Let me guess, he is busy?”

“Indeed. Perhaps if you indulge me in the purpose of your frequent calls I can persuade the Master to take your call.”

She sighed and stared upon the original jewel plans her grandfather left her in his will. “A jewel made of Painite. A deep blood red gem encased in pure gold made around the early Middle Ages. Your Master Byron was the last recorded owner of the jewel.” The voice went silent as if in stunned deep thought.

“Yes. And what do you wish of it?”

“So he does have it?!”

“I am not at liberty to say.”

“Ok…so if I were to come by tonight would I find this jewel in his possession?”

The man remained silent, confirming her suspicions.

She smiled softly, her heart leaping beats within her chest. “Perfect. I’ll head around now.”

“Wait…the Master is busy.”

“I’m aware…but I don’t need to see your Master…I need to see the jewel.”

A soft laugh echoed through the speakerphone, “Indeed. At least let me know your name so I can tell him of your intentions.”

“Ella Santori.” Within seconds she hung up the phone, gathered the original design and several other papers and ran out the door.

[BLACK BART]

"Let her in James"

Talon spoke without turning his head to acknowledge his servants arrival or question his motives for being there.

"Her name, you are sure..."

"Yes, My Lord, as sure as you are, the question is...."

"Let her in James, perhaps if we grant her request she will leave us alone?"

"Perhaps, Talon, perhaps...not?"

The doors remained open and Talon sighed, the tone of James voice as always speaking volumes where his tongue would not, the link between them a bond only broken by death.

Talon closed his eyes and relaxed, the past it seemed could follow an immortal across time and space, and when he opened them two figures stood with the doors.

"Leave us James, and close the doors, I wish to be undisturbed"

His voice was soft, his eyes studying his unwanted guest as she moved within the ancient, book filled study.

"I will not waste either of our precious time, you want something from me Miss Santori, this meeting is to discuss that want and perhaps offer terms. If an agreement is made that suits us both you may leave here satisfied..."

He spoke softly, and like the killer he was moved swiftly to the point, not caring if he offended his guest or if she remained standing while within the room.

[ShyMystica]

The young woman’s sea-green eyes met Talon’s gaze, a small smile creeping to her lips as she noticed his matter-a-fact approach. Most people, let alone women, would find Talon’s presence overpowering or threatening. Ella was different; in fact, instead of being threatened she found it a challenge. She had come across many men like him during her search, and she wasn’t one to be put off so easily by an arrogant demeanor. Her eyes left his gaze, moving up and down his body, studying him thoroughly. He towered over her petite 5’6 frame, his stance rigid and stiff, his jaw locked into place a sign of annoyance or stress. It was clear to Ella that he wasn’t used to company.

“A jewel…well…an artifact to be more precise. A Painite gem encased in solid, pure gold made around the Middle Ages.” Ella moved swiftly into her bag, pulling out the original jewel designs her ancestor created. Handing Talon the design, she watched him for any sign of recognition. Yet, he remained emotionless…merely glancing upon it before handing it back before taking his place behind his desk. She sighed a breath of exhaustion before continuing.

“Your family was the last registered owners. While I am aware at how rare the jewel itself is, it is not what I am looking for. I need to know how your family came to own it, and any other information on its’ history. It is of the greatest importance.”

[BLACK BART]

Most human were annoying, petty creatures that put on an act for the rest of their kind and eventually fell for it themselves. They were a race of the contrary, the one that act the bravest became the whimpering coward, the one that crowed of the monetary accomplishments in life exposed as the embezzler, the one who claimed "I am not a crook" turning out to be one of the greatest...

This one before him wasn't like that. He could see it her eyes, sense it in the aura about her, though young there was something ancient about her... perhaps giving her the determination not only to face him, but meet his eyes and pull away from that gaze. Both were something he rarely found at this stage in his life, and though he could easily side step her questions as she had not directly asked if the jewel were in his possession, and thereby rid himself of a woman who had surprisingly become...

"Interesting..."

The paper she had handed was ancient, not as old as the jewels itself but old enough to be an original, created before the jewels transformation.

"Have a seat Miss Santori, since James has not listened and is still here he can be of some use and bring us each a drink, it seems we both have a story to tell and limited time to do it."

He waved to a love-seat and waited for her to move, then followed as she took one side of it and settled himself into the other.

"Tell me about yourself Miss Santori, who you are, what you do, and most important the reasons why the history of this jewel is so important..."

[ShyMystica]

Stories…behind every being, every life, every soul in all of creation lays a story in which destiny and fate blossom to become truth. It was a small belief that Ella had always held onto. She spent her whole life searching for every story that reached her. It allowed her to dig passed her own natural curiosity to find a truth that most either ignored or avoided and to harbour a deeper understanding of all things. Despite her young age, she carried the wisdom that most would never reach in a life time. And yet she sat dumbfounded while a strange man asked for her own story. She had never thought her own story would be worthy of such interest, especially one of a man who seemed so busy to even contact.

Ella gazed around the room. Bookcases of books spilled over onto more books. Every inch of the study covered in some ancient knowledge spanning an endless amount of topics; science, history, language, arts, technology…in a vast amount of languages, languages she could barely read. Artifacts adorned his walls and the bookcases…vases, paintings, hand-carved statues. The stories that this room could reveal left her silent in contemplation.

She could feel his watch on her, as if studying her and her silence. She could sense him trying to understand her, evaluating the truth of her words. She was never one to lie; in fact, she wasn’t lying at all, just merely ‘neglecting’ to tell him of her family. She smiled softly and relaxed into the chair. She was an open book, and he could read any chapter of her life that he wished…except that of her curse. That she would take to her grave.
Ella stood to accept her tea from the man’s servant and began to trace around the room as she answered his questions…

“My name is Ella Santori, as you already know. My family descends from Italy, though I have lived here all my life. I’m in the process of completing my study in Historic Arts, which is partly why I have come to you. This jewel in question is documented to be found in the 1950’s. If it is what I believe it is, it will change quite a lot about what we already know.”

Ella turned to face the business man, her eyes streaming strength and determination. “I don’t need to ask whether you own it. You wouldn’t have kept me here if you didn’t. All I ask is for the knowledge you have of it.”

[BLACK BART]

"There are few things anyone can truly claim they own, perhaps a memory of a beautiful woman's face in the sunset, or sound of a fine instrument at the beginning of a sonnet, but physical things...?"

He lifted his hands palm upward and smiled, his eyes studying the woman as he placed the name, her face and the way she moved making him interested in a way other than regarding her as mere food.

"We are but care-takers, storing the items other wish to possess, until the time comes we must pass them on."

His eyes followed her as she moved about the room, his mind still mulling over her words and judging she spoke the truth, but perhaps all of it.He bore her no ill will for doing what he had done as well, and yet the tone of her words were almost desperate.

"How old are you Miss Santori, I mean no slighting by asking, for you possess an aura about you that I've seen only with great age or power?"

He placed his index fingers to his lips and studied her carefully, his decision made as he moved his hands to his shirt, opening several button before delving into it and lift a golden chain from his neck.

"This came to my family from the hand of friend many years before Miss Santori, it's monetary value I will not claim to know, but it's meaning to my family....is priceless, what would you do with such a thing, if it were in your family?"

[ShyMystica]

“How old are you Miss Santori…?”

Ella replied simply and directly, “25”. She watched his fingers tap his lips as he studied her. She hadn’t noticed his lips before…full yet masculine, soft but yielded power, delicate yet hard to read. She allowed her eyes to take in the rest of his face; pale skin yet he glowed with health, his eyes dark and piercing yet a sense of heart ache resonated in his gaze, raven black hair tied neatly, tumbling over his shoulder flowed passed a perfectly chiselled jaw…everything about him a dichotomy. She raised her eyes to meet his gaze with a new interest. He didn’t know but her fate lay within his grasp. Her heart began to beat faster; a small chill ran up her spine at the realisation. She had never thought a single person could have so much control over her situation, let alone a man…this man.

She watched suspiciously as he began to unbutton his shirt. Ella stepped back in shock, her cheeks blushing red at the intimate gesture. It was then she saw it attached to the gold chain around his neck. Images of women flashed before her mind; each different but baring the same family resemblance in their sea-green eyes. Their eyes filled with pain, torture, pleading for death before moving on to the next woman to stop on the eyes of her mother. Ella gasped, clutching at her chest before turning away. Her body shook as her mother’s eyes pleaded in her mind, pain shooting through her body. It absorbed her, her mind screamed in torture unable to hide from her mother’s eyes. In that instant her eyes were gone, the pain resolving to numbness. A sense of shame pounded through her body, the shame the women of her family coming to the surface.

Ella whispered over her shoulder, refusing to turn around to show her weakened state…”Please Mr. Byron, I beg you place that jewel where it was. I don’t need to see it. I need to know its origin, who original owned it. Who owned the jewel before its' transformation?”

[BLACK BART]

”Please Mr. Byron, I beg you place that jewel where it was. I don’t need to see it. I need to know its origin, who original owned it. Who owned the jewel before its' transformation?”

Talon did as the visibly shaken woman before him requested, his eyes studying the back side of her body as she turned away from him, his mind whirling as it linked different pieces of a puzzle created centuries before.

"It is done, Miss Santori"

He spoke softly, moving from his own chair and to the front of his desk, close enough to help the young woman should she require it and far enough away not to be threatening.

"It was to be a gift, from the matriarch of our family to his newly betrothed, a gift unique and flawless, a vessel to contain and protect a love that would never end...."

Talon remembered the day too well, how he had returned with the commissioned gift, thinking to start a new life with the woman he loved and how he'd remember that day with fondness from that day forward. But his plan was flawed, or rather the gift, for on three sides it was perfection, but on the fourth it was stained with human emotion, the tear burned into it's very essence and preventing the bond that was promised...

His guest had asked a direct question and though he was vampire and possessed an immortal life span he did not have the ability to lie.......

"To answer your question Miss Santori......... I have been it's sole owner since the day it was created."

[ShyMystica]

Ella turned to face him, her eyes a mixture of emotions; disbelief, anger, frustration and confusion.

Did he just say what I thought he said?

She glared at him trying to figure what kind of game he was playing.

How dare he?! How dare he?! Who does he think he is?

Her mind began to see red. He was just like any other wealthy, arrogant business man she had come across. Young, intelligent women, it seems, were not worth the time of day, unless it was for sexual conquest or ego heightening.

“I may not be as successful as you, Mr. Byron, but I am not some school girl air-head. My time is precious, so I appreciate that you quit your head games. If you are unable to help me, just say so and I shall leave you be. For your words to be true you'd be centuries old! Do not play me. You have no idea what is at stake.”

Ella watched him as her fury began to grow. He leaned against the front of his desk in silence just watching her, his eyes roaming her body. She twitched and began stiffen as she watched his gaze lower over her breasts and continued down. She gritted her teeth in an attempt to hold her tongue.

It seems she was right. He only saw her for a means of sexual release. All she had given up to get to where she was today, only to be treated so degradingly. All because of a stupid family curse! A curse she would soon be a victim of. She had watched her mother die when she was barely 3 years old. She watched her father grieve her in silent agony, turning to alcohol and emotional and physical abuse to numb his distress. She promised herself that day she escaped his torture not to ever let anyone get that close to her. Her family curse would take her while she was young, and she vowed to never hurt anyone the way her mother had hurt her and her father. As a result she remained uncourted and a virgin. She had denied every sexual urge, every romantic urge, every desire in her mind, body and soul for closeness. She had dived herself into her studies in an attempt to rid her family of such a horrible fate. She gave up her family, her friends, her own needs and desires for what seemed like a wild goose chase. And here she was in the presence of yet another arrogant prick, a man who had the world at his feet, and he was toying with her.

Ella glared deeply in his gaze, her heart letting go the last remaining hope she had. Closing her eyes, she turned to leave, a small stream of tears running down her cheek. She wasn’t sure why she was crying, she never cried. Be it tears of anger, hopelessness, doom and fear, it didn’t matter. She stepped passed the man’s butler, nodding her thanks with an attempt at a smile as she whispered…

“Thank you for your time.”

[BLACK BART]

"Time....."

Talon moved swiftly, knowing her words were not for him, his mind questioning his motives even as he replied.

"Time is not such a luxury as you think, Miss Santori, I have known many who can many lifetimes in the space of 30 years, the trick they told was to live each day if it were....your last?"

He nodded to James, knowing the mood the young woman was in she'd not return, that his "secret" was safe and for now, he was free of the curse of humans and could return to his musings...

Still, he was curious, why such a determined woman would go so far, then be deterred so easy...by the truth?

Another of humanities ironies, he supposed, when they could not find a believable answer for the unexplainable they either made it a miracle, a God, or as she had skirted around calling him.... a liar.

In another time he would have said it had been a memorable evening, or perhaps asked such a beautiful and determined woman back for another visit, but then those years for him were centuries past.

"Good evening Miss Santori."

[ShyMystica]

30 years? What would he know about the life crammed into that short amount of life?

His words hit her core. Gone was her ability to be civil. He looked barely a day older than 35 and he dared to lecture her on the luxury of time. She stopped in the door-frame and raised her eyebrow at the butler. He looked at her with a mischievous grin as if he knew what she were about to do. She turned on her heels and walked straight to his desk, her hands placed firmly in front of her.

“Luxurious time? Living as each day were to be my last? Tell me Mr. Byron how is it one such as your self could know so much about life when you shun yourself away from all that in entails?”

Ella knew she hit his raw nerve when his hands turned into fists, his eyes wide in shock, his jaw clenched tight. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut his luxury of a response short…

“No, you will sit and you will listen.” Ella leaned over his desk, her gaze burned into his as she continued…

“I know more about life and it’s time more than you shall ever know. I know the treasures to be found in life’s intimate relationship, holding close the people you love before the time has slipped between your fingers. I know how it feels to know the end is coming and to be able to do nothing but watch everything you live for dissipate into a mass of pain and sorrow. I know to hold on to the small amount of time each day brings, and to treasure each passing second of happiness, joy and love for it can be gone in the blink of an eye.”

Ella pulled back and searched through her bag, pulling out several papers. She placed them in front of him, pointing as she explained…

“This woman died aged 30 from a heart disease, leaving behind 12 children, an elderly sick father and a distraught husband. This woman died aged 30 while giving birth to her 4th child, leaving her terminally ill husband to raise them on his own. This woman, my own mother died aged 30 from ovarian cancer, leaving me behind with a drunk, abusive father to defend myself at age 3. And the list goes on, back centuries…all from the same family, all women dying aged 30 leaving behind a mass of grief, despair and anguish.”

Talon moved as if to speak again, yet Ella cut him off once more…

“You sit behind your desk, day in and day out, isolated from all of mankind and the joys a life could bring. Yet you dare lecture me in the one thing you have cut yourself off from. Forgive my outburst Mr. Byron, but the fortune that is life and the extravagance of time is one thing I know to cherish, and is one thing you should not cross me on.”

Ella stood back and took a deep breath as she watched the man in front of her work his way through the papers she left on his desk. She knew she shouldn’t have talked to him as forward as she did. She was not proud of the way she acted. She also regretted letting a man such as him know her weakness and the pain her family has been through. But perhaps, by a small chance, his arrogance may be silenced at her truth.

[BLACK BART]

Talon sorted the papers Ella had set in front of him and watched the emotions ripple through her every pore as she spoke, his single attempt to interject cut short until Ella literally ran herself out of breath. She was a beautiful creature he decided, then winced, almost ashamed for being attracted to the human before him, but then there was something about her....

"Every thirty years, yes, I know"

His hands moved quickly and he sorted the papers into each generation, then rose and moved to a wall to bring down a thick volume, returning it to the desk to lay it carefully and open the leather bound volume to the first tabbed chapter.

"The FIRST line in your generation who died, Kristiana Santori, in the year 1502, she died in her husbands arms, telling her she loved him..."

He lifted his eyes to see if his words were having any effect, his fingers finding the second tab and flipping the heavy pages to the next chapter...and the next, and the next...

"Maria Santori, 6 children, a farm girl, loved music and laughing, she died with a smile in eyes...."

"Kathrein Santori, 3 children, she was the first woman to ever learn to read and taught her children as well"

"Georgia Anne Santori, she was wild, carefree but married and had a single baby girl who she adored"

"Sabatha Santori, she married for money and found love as well, her husband built the first hospital in the country in her honor."

On and on the pages flipped, Talon not needing to read them to know the content, his eyes dead and face controlled as she spoke softly and looked at Ella.

"What fills these chapters are the events each woman called most remarkable in their lives, loved ones, children being born, a sunset, bits of personal history filled with love... pleasure... joy....it far out weighs the sorrow, even though most knew of the "curse"...."

His fingers stopped as the pages became blank, his hand moving to the papers Ella had brought with him, lifting them and placing them between two before gently closing the hand written volume.

"You are in my house, and are my guest, I have answered all your questions honestly and at least as completely as you have answered my own. You've made stern accusations to my character, not knowing fully what kind of.... man you deal with, and because of that lack of knowledge I have made allowances. It's true I choose to remain away from mankind, but that does not mean I am naive of your families heritage OR the joys and sorrows they have experienced."

Talon lifted the volume and placed it on a second, smaller reading desk, then moved back to his own chair to recline gracefully into it, his eyes returning to Ella's face as he did.

"Your version is filled with despair and failure, the truth, written in those volumes is FAR different, perhaps, someday... when you can behave properly you can return and compare the two versions, THEN you have the right to judge for yourself."

Talon lifted a glass filled with dark red drink and sipped gently at it, his thoughts of a happier time pulling at him, but the presence of Ella somehow making the memories less needy for his attention.

"Now Miss Santori, would you care for another drink and to sit and talk pleasantly.... or shall I call for James and have him show you the way out?"

[ShyMystica]

Warning bells began to ring in her head. Ella knew due to her passionate outcries that her welcome had long been worn out. Her entire intuition was telling her to tread with caution, that she was delicately toeing the boundaries of her hosts’ hospitality. She could sense he was dangerous and that he wasn’t very far from being pushed to his limits. So she did the one thing she could bring herself to do…she sat.

Ella sat in silence as she contemplated her situation. She was never one to make hasty decisions, always weighing up her options against the facts before making her next move. The facts were simple: Mr. Byron was wealthy, intelligent, arrogant, egotistical and cunning…a lethal combination that drove his aura of control and power. He either held knowledge, or pretended to hold knowledge of her family heritage, all of which was stored in a book. He had no realistic reason for lying to her, or tricking her into any false hope. He didn’t owe her anything, so even the smallest amount of civil behaviour or generosity should be met appreciatively. Yet regardless of all these facts something within her knew there was much more he kept hidden.

Call it a sixth sense, but her gut feelings never failed. She recognised a sense of despair that radiated from his eyes. Behind his commanding stature and his authoritative demeanour was a sense of extreme loneliness and anguish. It was an intense feeling that emitted danger, one that shook her very core. Though afraid, parts of her longed know this hidden side of the man. Perhaps within that side of him laid the truth of her past and the fate of her future.

She finally spoke, her voice humble and calm, “You asked for my story Mr. Byron. It seems you know far more than I first presumed. I came here looking for answers, and you have more than generously supplied them.” Ella sighed, releasing all the built up anger and frustration. Standing, she wrapped her denim jacket over her shoulders, her eyes never leaving his watch.

“I want to know your story, Mr. Byron, and how it seems to be part of mine. But I can see my welcome has been worn. If indeed you do know as much of my story as you claim, then you will know how important it is that I learn as much as I can. But I will not ask again as I have already asked too much. I shall leave it up to you to decide if I am worthy enough of knowing your truth as well as you know mine. I will knock at your door this time tomorrow. If you decide not to let me know, this will be the last you hear of me.”

Without another word, Ella slipped out of the man’s office into the dark night. While she knew it was risky leaving her fate in his hands, she had faith that giving him such power would ultimately allow her access to the information that he held. She had nothing left to lose.

[BLACK BART]

Talon sighed softly, his mind suspecting somehow both Ella and he had gotten exactly what they wanted, and yet he mused over the feeling it had just begun, not ended.

The look on his servants face said the same, the almost invisible quirk of his lips showing the humor James felt deep inside, his eyes emotionless as he moved to the thick curtain to move it aside.

"If we are to find food tonight Sir... we must move, now?"

It was never with James, an order, only at times when most urgent, a suggestion, and yet Talon knew from the hollow feeling inside his own body what must be done.

"Then we shall."

Talon moved to the now open widow to stand shoulder to shoulder with his blood kin, the wind catching at hair and clothing as they lifted into it and moved swiftly, silently towards an area that had become of late, the "hunting grounds".

"There, those two, they've wandered away from the rest"

James voice came to Talon's mind and he nodded, then shifted and turned the graceful flight into an urgent dive, the wind howling at his ears and dark eyes as they dropped to the rivers edge and the couple writhing on its grassy bank.

"It is your turn for the male, I believe?"

Talon smiled as they stood over the pair of love birds, his hands reaching for the female as he knelt swiftly, her lust filled eyes slow to recognize what was about to happen until it was too late. Talon smiled softly and returned her gaze, his eyes boring into her mind to pull back the lust and watch it wash over her, offsetting the pain of his teeth sinking into the tender flesh of her neck.

For long minutes he drank from her, the feel of her half nude body trembling against his own adding to his arousal, his mind focused on the beat of her heart and warning him when it began to beat rapidly, then slowed.

"Rest my pretty one and when you wake remember only the pleasure...."

His fingers brushed over her fluttering eyelids, his words calming both her body and mind and as Talon turned away he found James mimicking his own motions.

"We have but minutes my friend, but let us enjoy them, the air is cool and sweet, almost as fresh as it were in the old country"

Talon spoke softly and licked the last of the womans blood from his lips as he grinned, his eyes flashing with fire and energy from the passion he tasted in her and somehow he thought of another woman named Ella.

"Tonight I would like it if you set a table for two, have Thomas prepare a light dinner that you think Ella might enjoy as well as that last bottle of wine we bought in Paris, if you remember?"

His body remembering the lust and passion, his mind on the stubborn yet beautiful face of Ella, Talon smiled and then laughed as they moved through the red and orange tinged skies.

"Tomorrow our guest will discover what kind of monsters she associates with and perhaps I will be able to let the past.... simply be, the past."

[ShyMystica]

Rain battered against the window, the wind softly howled amongst the trees, lightening blanketed across the open night sky. Ella stood silent gazing at the mass of papers, photos and articles sprawled across her bed amongst two piles of clothing. To her right, a midnight blue satin cocktail dress, to her left a pair of denim jeans with a delicate crimson red halter-neck top. She had spent hours debating the appropriate attire for this evening. While it was far too late for first impressions, appearance could break what little respect her possible host held for her. While the dress served to give her a sense of class and intelligence, stumbling her way through pools of mud and rain in stiletto shoes was not something Ella could bare herself to suffer through. But while she was most comfortable in boots, jeans and her leather jacket, no man would take her seriously, especially one such as Mr. Byron. She pondered at her watch…7:15pm. She had hoped that the storm would have died down before she made her way to the estate by foot, but the hope slowly died as the rain became heavier. Ella sighed, her mind coming to a decision…”Boots it is…he probably won’t even see me anyway.”

Lightening illuminated the skies around Ella as she made her way down the desert streets. Huddled in her leather jacket, her boots clipping against the wet cement, her mind recalled the man she had met only the day before. She had never met someone who resonated such paradoxes in every sense of his being. Though it was his eyes that were his weakness. She could see everything he felt through his dark, cold eyes, though she wasn’t going to let him know she saw such things. While the man infuriated her, terrified her, set every nerve in her body on edge…she couldn’t help but feel compelled by the lonely glimpse from his gaze. A small shiver ran down her spine as she pictured his gaze in her mind.

Ella reached the estate gates, hesitating before moving inside.

Was she ready to hear what he had to say? Or would he just waste her time? Would the knowledge he claimed to hold serve her any purpose in breaking her family curse? Perhaps she put too much faith in the man for finding the truth? How much would things change by knowing what he knew?

Sighing, she knocked on the ancient wooden door. She had nothing to lose, what harm could come from him really?

She whispered to herself, digging deep passed her anxiety for any strength she had left…”Faith, Ella, Faith…it dies with you.”

[BLACK BART]

"Come in, let me take your jacket...."

Talon greeted Ella at the door and held it steady against the winds growing force.

"You dress for the weather, that is... remarkable for most women of your youth."

He stood quietly as the door closed and waited for his guest to slip out of the soaked garment, his eyes studying her as she struggled to slip off the water logged jacket and he moved to help.

"Allow... me?"

He placed a hand on her waist, the other running the length of her arm to gently grip the cuff of her jacket, his smile genuine as he looked into her eyes and slipped the jacket off her arm.

"Now the other....yes?"

His voice soft, it swirled around them, carrying the promise of passion and the pain of lost, precious memories of his past...

"Miss Santori, do you wish me to help undress you further?"

It was an innocent question, or was it? His voice carried a sexual tone he hadn't used for too long, his lip curling in the corner as he watched her.... smelled her.... and listened to her heart pound suddenly fast under her breast.

"Or shall I find you a towel to dry off with, your blouse is soaked as well?"

Soaked and leaving little to his imagination, or perhaps driving that imagination further down a dark path, taking her with him?

"Miss Santori?"

[ShyMystica]

Ella glanced upwards to meet the eyes of her host. She studied him suspiciously as a sense of sincerity radiated from his touch. She had come expecting the worse; either being ignored and left hanging to wither away with her family curse, or attacked with abusive and cold remarks as a result of her previous interrogation. His closeness and earnestness, however, was definitely a side she did not expect to see from the powerful business man. How could a person change so much in one day?

His voice hypnotically wrapped around her, calming her yet causing her every nerve to stand to attention. The touch of his hand against her waist sent tiny shockwaves through her body, her surroundings slowly began to swirl around her. All she could focus on was his eyes, his touch, his voice and the steady pounding of her heart.

"Miss Santori, do you wish me to help undress you further?"

Undress you…undress you…undress you. His voice echoed in her mind, her heartbeat becoming erratic as she contemplated his request. Her body, as though on its’ own will, screamed ‘YES’. The idea of his continued intimate touch awakening a deep lust she had long pushed away. But after years of ignoring her sexual needs, her logical mind was quick to diminish her lustful thoughts.

Mr. Byron is a manipulative and powerful man…any action he produced was bound to be carefully thought out with an objective to gain control over a situation. Even if I wanted to be undressed by… Ella’s thought was cut short at as the realisation of her sexual wants broke through her trance. Her cheeks now flush, she pulled her gaze away from his, stepping back to put some distance between them.

“A towel will suffice until I am dried, thank you.” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper with a huskiness she had never heard from herself before. She sighed softly, cursing to herself under her breath as she watched her host step away from her.

Several moments later she found herself in an intimate room adorned with extravagant tapestries, art and furniture. A small round table set with candles placed among flowers, plates and cutlery, sat neatly next to a blazing fire place. The butler arrived with a set of towels. While relieved, not only for the towels but also for extra company breaking the discomfort of her greeting, she didn’t remember Mr. Byron calling out to his servant, let alone asking for towels.

Her curiosity peaked, yet she remained silent. She had come to hear Mr. Byron’s story…not chastise him like her previous visit. A small smile crept to the butler’s lips as he guided her to a seat at the table. She sat, closing her eyes as she wrapped the towel around her shoulders. The heat from the fire roamed over her body, a small smile and a soft sigh left her lips in gratitude.

[BLACK BART]

"My family has always had a saying "Apologies are best made in front of a warm fire and over a glass of this"

Talon stood close to the fire and warmed the tulip shaped glasses, the red honey of the drink inside slowly swirling inside each as his eyes met his guests.

"And since I am about to offer you my apologies, it would ease my pain if you enjoyed this cognac with me?"

He smiled and offered a glass, waiting for Ella to accept it before he took his seat in the opposite chair and sipped at his own, then drank deeply.

"I am sorry for greeting you with hostility, Miss Santori, to be honest I am not used to entertaining guests and the... arrival of one who has so much in common with my own family caught me off guard. I am a brutal and severe man by nature, Miss Santori, but not when a Lady such as yourself is in my presence, for that behavior, I am truly...sorry."

He waited quietly, watching Ella sniff, then sip her own brandy, her eyes showing he had caught her off guard and perhaps, embarrassed her as well.

"I would like to start over, if you would allow, with a promise of honesty and the utmost proper behavior you deserve from a gentleman, or a man trained to be... that gentleman?"

The last of the liqueur swirled slowly in the bottom of his glass as he rocked it, the fire popped merrily and cast erotic shadows over the profile of Ella's face and body, and like the creature he was Talon waited patiently for the woman to sip and her drink and phrase her answer.

[ShyMystica]

Apologies? Honesty? Gentlemanly behaviour? Ella contemplated the words for several moments, wondering if such words were ever associated with a man such as her host. None the less, she wasn’t exactly a picture of perfect behaviour herself. And he did at least seem to be attempting some social manner and chivalry. After her latest outburst, the least she could do was attempt the same. She sipped at her beverage a second time before deciding that it was too strong for her tastes and placed it on the table.

“No apologies are needed, really. I’d say we are both even considering my behaviour yesterday. However, honesty is a funny thing Mr. Byron. While gentlemanly behaviour and truthfulness both have their place, it is the words that go unsaid that the most truth can be found.”

Ella sat in silence as her gaze turned from her glass to the flames beside her while she waited for her words to be understood by her host. She watched the flames dance seductively, the heat warming her cheeks to a flush. She was often compared to the flames of fire…passionate, insatiable, playful, yet greatly unpredictable and unyielding when fueled. She smiled softly at the thought and returned her thoughts back to her conversation.

“I came to know your story Mr. Byron, and that is all I ask of you…nothing more and nothing less. Just your honest story in its entirety. No brutal or minimal detail abandoned for the excuse of gentlemanly behaviour.”

Ella noticed him shift uncomfortably, his eyes darkening as a flame flickered deep within them. Perhaps she was asking too much of him. Instinctively she sat back unthreateningly, smiling softly as she placed her hands upon the table in an attempt to show some flexibility and earnest.

“In return you shall have my upmost attention. I shall sit and listen, my opinions only shared when asked for. Are we at an agreement?”

[BLACK BART]

"...the words that go unsaid that the most truth can be found.”

Silently he agreed with his lovely guest, his eyes roaming her features and heart beating faster as they did, the knowledge of that what was unspoken was too often... a lie.

“I came to know your story Mr. Byron, and that is all I ask of you…nothing more and nothing less. Just your honest story in its entirety. No brutal or minimal detail abandoned for the excuse of gentlemanly behavior.”

He shifted, wondering if she knew what she asked for, his eyes growing dark as he realized she didn't, but her determination would not be swayed by her lack of knowledge, in fact only made more so...

“In return you shall have my utmost attention. I shall sit and listen, my opinions only shared when asked for. Are we at an agreement?”

"It will be as you wish, Miss Santori, but the truth may cost you more than your attention. I can not promise what occurs beyond the limits of my own domain."

He agreed and warned, his mind searching for a way to tell her the truth and allow her to believe it, the recall of her search for the jewel and her beliefs in it.

"I search for common ground, since we lack the trust one needs in each other I am forced to find something else that will allow us to make this journey together. The jewel you came looking for and that I hold, it must be that link, for in it we both believe certain... things.... are possible, that it controls the fate of the female lineage in your family and that my own is linked to it, perhaps holding answers of why... and how, is that not true?"

He studied his guest and waited for her answer, hoping his words were plain enough that she found the message in them, that in the truth her own conception of the world would be tested as well as her sanity?

"Look around you in this room Miss Santori, at the volumes of hand bound books in particular, choose any at random as we talk, choose several in fact and open them to any page."

He invited softly, knowing that each hand written volume had one glaring fact in common, that regardless of the age of the volume she chose they were all written by the same person.

"Your family and I are linked by fate, if you believe as I do, a deliberate set of circumstance put into motion by powers greater than you and I. I have records of each time we've interlinked, some of what you read last time you visited.... but perhaps not complete enough to gain a full understanding. I will offer you the truth, have given you my word, in fact. But will, no doubt be forced to offer you more than just words..."

His forecast for the events that were to occur was born of experience many times over, the reaction of any mortal when they found the world as they knew it changing around them, and how they struggled to make sense of it all.

"This room is but one of many, this.... house is nothing more than a museum, as James labels it, a mammoth record of books, pictures and trivial possessions collected over the centuries and stored under one roof."

She wanted the full truth, to tell her it would seal her fate, she worried about the day after her 30th birthday but he wondered if she had considered if she'd live to see the next tomorrow?

"They all belong to ME, Miss Santori, and have been collected and put here by ME, not bought from auction or found in another museum, but taken chronologically as they were created to be stored here... do you understand?"

He skirted the truth as close as he dared share it with her, knew too that she wouldn't accept it and he'd be asked, no... ordered to give proof, a proof that seal her fate and perhaps intertwine their time lines once again.

[ShyMystica]

"Look around you in this room Miss Santori, at the volumes of hand bound books in particular, choose any at random as we talk, choose several in fact and open them to any page."

Taking the offer, Ella rose from her chair to ponder amongst the cases of books around the room, her fingers tracing their spines as her host continued to speak. Each book labelled and filed by year in chronological order, she picked three volumes in total; 1765, 1892 and 1999. Dust covered the leather fronts causing Ella to softly cough before making her way back to the table. Placing them in front of her on the table she started to flick through the pages as her host spoke.

The writer of the books was definitely a master of words, she concluded, delicately intertwining visions and emotions into the journal. No last names were ever spoken of, but all were about women…each woman carried certain characteristics with the other; curious, confronting and head strong. Though the tone in which the writer spoke of them varied greatly. The first woman he seemed to speak of in annoyance, the next in curiosity, the last in anger. Ella also noted the handwriting remained constant throughout the books despite the years labelled on the front.

"They all belong to ME, Miss Santori, and have been collected and put here by ME, not bought from auction or found in another museum, but taken chronologically as they were created to be stored here... do you understand?"

Ella’s gaze rose from the pages to meet his darkening eyes. She understood what he was claiming. Mr. Byron collected the works at the time of creation. Scientifically, religiously, physically, his claims held no truth. It was impossible for one man to live to collect works that spanned thousands of years. Yet while all her logic deemed his words false…a part of her knew he was speaking truth, even though he seemed to be avoiding something.

Sitting back she allowed her gaze to deepen, searching for any hint of trickery and deceitfulness. His dark eyes remained locked onto hers, his jaw locked tight, his body rigid and tense. His body language certainly suggested he wasn’t comfortable. Yet Ella wasn’t one to ever back down…she needed to test his claim, force him to talk more directly instead of dancing around the truth.

“How old are you Mr. Byron?”

[BLACK BART]

“How old are you Mr. Byron?”

So she did have eyes...

and saw more than just words, that meaning she had a brain.... He had promised her the truth, and she waited for it, her every move and look telling him she waited for the the cold, hard, absolute truth...

"I was reborn in the year 1312, after the war of the dogs, a minuscule time in history when the Christians were slaughtering my own people for refusing to pay heed to their God"

He replied levelly and watched her face closely, the doubt changing to curiosity, then back again as she listened to her words silently. His estimation of her intelligence increased and he allowed himself a smile, then rose from the desk to the far corner of the room to recover the oldest, but smallest leather bound book in the room.

"I was a poet, and a lover, I knew nothing about the evil within man or the art of killing.... Over time the foolish ways fell away and I became a warrior, someone who the would be Kings hired to kill for them, and I made a good living as my reputation went before me. I have lived through ALL of mankind worst wars, walked the bloody battle fields, each worse than the last, recording my travels and the evil deeds that I have done as well as the history of mankind as I've seen it first hand.

He spoke the words softly and stood beside his guest as he carefully opened the book to an ancient, hand drawn picture.....

"She was the one to whom your jewel was to be given to... the one who brought me over, and betrayed me...It was due to her deception that the jewel now rests on my chest, and the hope of your line rests there with it"

[ShyMystica]

Ella watched as her host carefully opened the book before her. The picture itself was definitely a work of art, though Ella had a feeling that the picture probably didn’t do the real woman any justice. The woman was definitely regal; her long curly locks tied strategically above her head and adorned with lace and jewels, her small frame draped in a delicately woven dress emrboided with the finest silk.

“She certainly doesn’t look the type to betray anyone…” Ella spoke softly to herself.

Ella’s fingers traced the outline of the picture, running softly over the woman’s tightly pinched waist to rest at the bottom of the page as she attempted to put all of Talon’s words into logical sense. Yet something didn’t make sense. None of it did really.

Ella repeated his story out-loud…“This woman betrayed you, and somehow this allowed you to live as long as you have…hmmm.”

Ella turned to face her host, her shoulder brushing against his stomach. She hadn’t realised he stood so close to her. She sat up rigidly, their proximity immediately leaving her uncomfortable as her skin tingled at the memory of his touch at his front door. Closing her eyes she wished the memory to fade. She needed answers…he was procrastinating now, avoiding something…

“Reborn? Turned? Betrayed? What happened? What did she do to you? Were you ok? What has any of this to do with my family? Please be direct Mr. Byron.”

[BLACK BART]

"Direct?"

Talon spoke softly and regarded the woman next to him, his eyes steady but averted as he puzzled not over the word, but the trouble her questions created.

"I am an immortal Miss Santori, a vampire, damned to live forever and cursed by all who fear my kind, the woman before you created me and then betrayed me later for the powers the jewel hold, only she was not pure... and the jewel consumed her before my eyes."

In a few words he shared his past life, shortened centuries of pain into a few sentences that took less than a minute to speak, and stood quietly for a human to pass judgment on him.

"You have nothing to fear from me, I have given you my word, and that word is the most valuable thing any vampire has to give...."

He turned to the book and stroked the face that looked up at him, closed the cover wondering if it were to be the last time it was opened, if he ever found the strength to put her... put it all... behind him.

"Ask your next question Miss Santori, I will no longer "play games" the time to protect your innocence has now passed, it seems"