History of Tribulations

Perplexia

Romance embellisher
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Jul 25, 2007
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Sitting across from the old silver haired lawyer she listened as he went down the list of things she would inherit. Her grandmother had a large fortune that she'd been stashing away over the years. Her instructions were simple. Every Friday take a minimum of twenty dollars from the account and go to the casino Mulo. No other casino except this one, and never less then twenty dollars.

Raven brushed her long black hair from her face. Her green eyes stared up at the lawyer as if he was insane. "seriously?" she questioned in disbelief. Her grandmother had always been avidly against gambling.

The lawyer nodded and continued with the will "in addition you must stay a minimum of three hours never arriving before eight pm. You will bring two receipts from the casino, one showing when you checked in and one showing when you checked out. Also cashing out will count as a receipt if you get lucky."

"This is insane" she advised finally her voice coming firmly out of her small pink lips. "what if I refuse?" "if you refuse" he advised "or fail to adhere to the guidelines then you forfit your entire inheritance including the manor." The manor had been in her family since they moved to Nevada hundreds of years ago. Despite their fortune in owning a great deal of land and construction companies. She had never heard of them stepping foot in a casino.

So why now? "ok" she advised hoping that her grandmother was of sound mind when she wrote this, and that there was some purpose she would eventually discover. Picking up her purse she shook his hand taking the thick envelope with her. This would be the first time she was in the manor in a few years. It was where she grew up, where her father had grown up his father and so on. Now she was the last. No aunts or uncles that she knew of, no siblings or cousins.

Starting her blue Jetta she cranked up the air-conditioning and hummed along with the radio as she drove. Pulling up to the large cast iron gate she entered her code. Her grandmother had left everything on the grounds the way she had remembered it upon arriving there at the age of five. Her parents had been killed in a car accident. But her grandparents took her with open arms and raised her as their own.

When she was fifteen her grandfather had passed. It ripped her into a million pieces. Now her grandmother had left to join him.
Pulling up to the front of the house the pebble drive hopped under her tires clinking under it's aluminum frame.
The door opened and the traditionally dressed staff filed through its arcs greeting her back home.

As she walked up the steps she nodded to those she remembered and the newer ones as well. The paper had once referred to her as the princess of the desert It caused her childhood to be less then perfect. Kids can be cruel when jealousy prevails. Keeping her nose buried in a book, she used her brains and got her first college pick of Harvard.
Her next step would have been her MBA in business. But instead she had to postpone it.

Placing the envelope on the desk in the study she made her way up the long winding staircase to her old room. Her fingers traced over the pictures she had lining her walls. They were her memories of her life. Now where was her life to go.

Laying down on her canopy bed she buried her head in her bear that her grandfather had given her. Tears fell from her eyes silently as her emotions came to head. She could leave it all behind. Make her life on her own. All she had to do was fail her grandmothers request. Then she would simply be Raven St. John.
 
From his vantage, Xavier watched the gate. He could have sat at a video screen such as the security officers did, but when she stepped into the building, he wanted to see her in the flesh, with his own eyes.

He'd watched her over the years, just as he had her mother, her grandmother, great-grandmother and on down the line. As the years had fallen away into the past, the branches of her tree had become vast, and following them more and more difficult. However, he had time, and he had means, so he'd hired people to monitor her family and notify him of their comings and goings from this Earth.

One by one, the lights of her line flared, then died. New connections were made, new branches added to the tree. However, these too, succumbed to the inevitability of time and fate's whimsy, until her tree was but a husk with a single leaf still green and flourishing.

The once-great army of monitors he had employed to keep watch on her family dwindled, particularly as technology advanced, making keeping track of several people at one time much easier. When it was obvious she was going to be the last of her line, unless she found a mate and grafted a new story into the dead, withered branches her ancestors had once made so full of life, he released the last monitor and simply kept his own watch.

Xavier had little interest in the actual income the casino accrued. The time he'd had had enabled him to amass wealth enough to keep several men extremely wealthy for multiple generations. No, this endeavor was simply a way to pass the time, and as with so many other things he'd done in his ever-so-unnatural life, the desire would pass, and some other thing would become his way to bypass the crushing boredom immortality afforded.

By all appearances, he was a man in his late twenties, the ledger of years since his death having erased many traces of a time in life before that date spent in the salt air and wind. He had used that apparent youth to his advantage in the past. Many competitors and negotiators misread it as inexperience and attempted to manipulate him as they would any other relative newcomer to whatever game they were playing. They found quickly that he was no fool, and that more times than not, the attempted manipulator turned out to be the manipulated.

Lovers, there had been a few. Well, perhaps few was an understatement. With the satiation of the Hunger often came the hunger for something more carnal. The degree of the one emphasized the degree of the other. Sometimes the aftermath resulted in a violent outcome, sometimes his hypnotic wiles were enough to calm his partner of the moment into willing compliance. As time had gone on, the willingness of those partners was far greater, as the merest touch had the same effect that intense concentration had in his early years.

Above the clangor of bells, the wheedle of electronic sirens and the cacophonous, nearly atonal melodies constantly assaulting the ears, Xavier could hear the heartbeat of the girl, upstairs in his office. She'd been his own for the last few months, willing to sate his hungers for that time. At first, she'd resisted the knowledge of what he was, what he needed, but the brush of a finger against her smooth cheek had calmed her, and now no coercion was necessary. Occasionally, he'd tried men, but over the centuries, that had only happened but seldom, and lasted for only a short time before he became bored. Of women, he'd had young and old, and found no particular preference for one or the other. At present, the woman upstairs appeared that she could be his contemporary, but for the tens of generations between them.

Oh, he knew of others like him. There were more than the general populace was aware, but what they were still was spoken of in terms of legend and fancy, and so their true presence was largely unknown. And when one would actually learn of their true nature, it usually only took a handshake or a touch to blur that discovery enough to make relating it sound like the ravings of a madman.

For the most part, those like Xavier kept to themselves, choosing not to keep the company of their own kind, since too close proximity for too long tended to cause unrest and challenge.

Occasionally the older ones would meet, but those times were brief, with as many years between as possible. The humans wrote stories where there were great societies and much organization among them, but those also suggested that their primary need was the desire to remake the world in their own image. When Xavier read these fictitious accounts, he couldn't help but laugh. Even in nature, the predators' population was far, far smaller than their prey: why wouldn't that extend here, as well?

When Xavier had seen the photos of her at age four, he stopped cold. The abilities afforded by his death and the arrival of his abilities had opened the floodgates of his memory. He remembered everything that had occurred before his death, and everything after, with the only blank the actual events surrounding what turned him into what he had been for around two and a half centuries.

The girl who would have made his heat skip a beat - if indeed it still maintained that slow, steady, life-sustaining tattoo - bore a far more than passing resemblance to a girl he'd met when he was but a young boy. This girl had been his love, and would have become his wife, if his lineage and a subsequent threat to all who knew him had not forced him to flee that life. It was during this exile that fate had thrown its die and transformed him into what he now was.

The girl was of his love's line - the line he'd followed so meticulously over time - and as she grew, she came to resemble her long dead ancestor more and more. Xavier had long since resigned himself to the fact of his love's passing, oh, so many years past, and let his heart's chill freeze her memory, allowing no other to thaw it.

But when he learned of this girl, this... Raven, he abandoned his villa in the Alps and came to the desert, created a life for himself there and made the acquaintance of the girl's then only surviving relative. It was quite simple to manipulate the old woman, including making her add a very cryptic, very unusual caveat into her will, which would force the girl, Raven, into his presence.

He knew Raven's grandmother's Last Will and Testament had been read, he knew she was in the state and had arrived at her grandparents' home to collect her inheritance.

It was a matter of waiting for her to step through the door, and fulfill the strange order in her grandmother's will...
 
The week seemed to linger, one appointment after another. The envelope her grandmother had left included a letter which stated the same as the Lawyer told her, as well as a key.

Going over the letter several times she didn't find any mention to it. Other then cause curiosity, it tend to cause more frustration. She focused much of her spare time going over the books. It was apparent that her grandmother had left this in someone elses hands. That would no longer be the case.

There were several discrepancies that had to be investigated. One by one she made list of them in a journal and kept it with her.
Her grandmother was of the generation where everyone trusted everyone. Raven knew better. She was quite certain in some way or another her grandmother had been taken advantage of. She was simple, but like her grandfather, Raven was not.

Friday arrived and she almost forgot that she was to make and appearance at the casino. She really didn't have time for this nonsense. But because she was legally bound to do so, she dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a long sweater with her heeled dress boots.

Her 5'5 frame needed the lift, how she got the short gene in the family she had no idea. For as long as she knew everyone had been tall. There had been discussion of being nobility of some sort in her lineage. She had learned that on an ancestral research project in high school.

After Katherine St. John had passed one of her sons moved to America. The other she remembered was killed in a war or land dispute or something. It was a very narrow line. No cousins that she was aware of, or other family existed. Although she did half expect her grandmothers passing to bring someone out of the woodwork.

Getting in her Jetta she left for the Casino. She had of course driven by it many times and never bothered to stop. The percentage of risk involved versus return on gambling just didn't seem to be worth it to her. Then of course there was her grandmothers rules against sin and temptation. Though Raven didn't buy any of that hoopla. In fact she stated to anyone, other then her grandmother, that asked God doesn't exist.

There was no more a god in the heavens then there was a Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. If she really wanted to believe in something, Santa would have been her go to. Or Thor, now that was a hunk of god she could do with.

Looking over the parking lot she shook her head and went through the valet line. It was bad enough she had to be here. She was not going to walk a mile in these boots.

The doors were held open for her as she entered. She looked around figuring out what path she wanted to take. Her hand scooped her hair behind her ear as she headed to the slot machines and placed her first dollar in.

After being left with a penny she printed out the ticket. It showed when she started. Finding a Monopoly slot she placed in a twenty and continued to play once winning, she would move to another machine. The statistical probability of hitting a larger amount in a short time was close to none. So every time she won more then five dollars she moved on.

Time went faster then she anticipated. Although she did keep an eye on her watch. Once her three hours were up she rose and made her way through the isles to the checkout machine. As she stood in line her eyes wandered around to people closed playing slots or another game. There was the typical granny with the cigarette hanging out of her mouth wearing the Hawaiian floral moo moo, and the young newly weds hoping to have a honeymoon of class.

Putting her ticket in she collected her winnings and the receipt and stuffed them in her purse. Her eyes glanced around and she saw him, staring down from a balcony, it was if it was directly at her. He was what a god should like she thought to her self. A flashing bulb caused her to turn, some how the press was made aware of where she was. "Out spending the inheritance already St. John" a reporter bolstered over the rest of the clambering. Her eyes glanced back and he was gone. With the help of the security she was escorted out away from the press as they were detained until her car could be retrieved. "Have a good night Princess" one of the valet's shouted. Ignoring what he had said she simply got in her car and headed home.

How she longed for Harvard where no one knew her. Where she could simply disappear in a crowd of people. Her social skills were lacking, she had seen enough over the years to cause a great distrust in people. It was obvious that she was going to need to be more sneaky when heading to the casino though. Someone there could have recognized her, or perhaps she was tailed, or perhaps someone on her grandmothers staff had told on her. Regardless this wasn't going to be easy. Was this some sort of joke of her grandmothers? Forcing her to go out and be mocked and taunted?

After a hot shower she crawled into her bed and stared at the ceiling pondering just that. Then she smiled remember the sight she got of the man in the suit. Closing her eyes she focused on that brief image.
 
The years had taught Xavier a patience he had possessed but little of in the early decades after his death. Even moreso than his teenaged years as a moral, the time directly following his transformation had brought on an intensity of desire that refused to be denied. Whatever urges swept over him required satiation immediately, and he possessed the power to abate them.

With age comes wisdom and control, however, and he found that as long as he kept his Hunger at bay, his other impulses were far easier to maintain. Being a man of means had offered easy control of others. True, he could have persuaded potential meals using his abilities, but it was far more satisfying when they gave themselves willingly, and he quickly found that many were willing to trust a man with money before any others.

It was also astounding to him how few appeared shocked when he revealed what he was and what he desired. In recent years, he wondered if perhaps it was the popular media that had cropped up around his kind that had inured so many to what he asked. Nevertheless, very seldom had it been necessary to mesmerize a potential.

The night had arrived for Raven to appear, if she intended to follow the instructions she should have received at the reading of her grandmother's will. There being no clocks on the casino floor, there was no way to discover there whether she arrived on the time necessitated by the orders, but Xavier knew what time it was.

At precisely 7:57 and twenty-three seconds, she walked through the door, fidgeting as she waited in line to enter the gaming floor.

Xavier's eyesight was quite good - one of the abilities his death had afforded him - and even from his vantage across the length of the building, he saw her clearly. He imagined his long-dead heart giving a hysterical lurch at the resemblance to his beloved Katie. Through all the generations, it could be expected that there would be no recognition whatsoever, but it was her.

Even the scent was remarkably similar. Through the odors of sweat, smoke and alcohol, his heightened senses singled her out and reawakened memories he'd forgotten he had.

Desperately, he longed to confront her, but knew she had had several traumas and mysteries thrown at her in recent days, and so stayed where he was, exercising that patience he had found all that time ago.

She looked extremely uncomfortable and annoyed at having to be in a place where she'd obviously rather not be. Xavier hoped that soon, this charade would no longer be necessary, but at the moment, he needed to know her this way. Body language could speak volumes, and as he followed her through the casino, he read her every movement. He knew he could have made arrangements for whichever game Raven chose to pay off, but after too many occurrences of that, she would surely become suspicious.

So, he simply kept her within sight the whole time she remained in his presence. Far too quickly, her required three hours were up, and the money she'd brought was exhausted. She had made a little, but the balance was still in the house's favor.

As she turned to exit the casino, Xavier once more desired greatly to sweep down and at least introduce himself, but he refrained. She would be back, he knew it.

Then, just as Raven reached the entry gate, she stopped and scanned the room. As if it was intended by fate, her eyes locked on his for a brief moment, and as he had so, so long ago, he fell into those eyes...

And then there was a flash.

And another.

Soon, the entryway was filled with the flash of cameras and Raven was assaulted by a gaggle of reporters. Fury boiled immediately through Xavier's body, and he nearly roared down and eviscerated them all, but that would serve no one good, and would doubtless completely horrify Raven.

Xavier memorized the faces of each reporter and photographer as security efficiently and not quite brutally enough for Xavier's taste ejected them from the building. Never before had the press been brazen enough to enter his casino, much less with cameras. It wouldn't take a lot of effort to identify each reporter and his or her media source and place just enough threat with their superiors to ensure it didn't happen again.

Shoving past security, Raven made it to the front and outside, where Xavier heard one of the valets make an unfriendly comment to her. Immediately, he whipped out a cell phone and had the man fired. He then heard the tires of Raven's car squeal as she got out of there as quickly as she could.

Xavier was seething. He still considered tracking down the reporters and tearing them to shreds, but he'd lived in this town for many years, and so far, no one had the slightest suspicion that the undead was among them, and he preferred not to raise anyone's pique with a sudden series of unusual deaths.

He stormed into his office, where the girl still patiently waited. Anger had fueled his Hunger, and the only way to calm himself would be to satisfy it.

The girl - Anissa was her name - smiled when he entered, though his rage was evident. Her sexual arousal built with each step, she knowing the feeding would nearly bring her to orgasm. She had learned to enjoy the need, the animal urgency of it. His anger would just make it that much rougher, and her body throbbed with the knowledge. Then, afterward, he would more than likely need to fuck, and she had quickly come to enjoy that. There was seldom much intimacy in having sex with Xavier, but she always was greatly satisfied, so much so that she could barely wait until the next time.

When Xavier stood close enough that he could feel her panting breaths against his skin, he grabbed the collar of the top she wore and tore it away in a single effortless motion. Then, as her chest heaved, her eyes wide in erotic anticipation, he fed.

When the Hunger was satisfied and his rage cooled, the arousal took over him. Without taking his eyes off the panting, nearly orgasmic Anissa, he opened his pants and removed his desperate member. He knew she wore nothing beneath the tiny skirt she had on, and lifted her up, placing her expertly onto his erection.

For quite some time, Xavier fucked the young woman, wrenching orgasm after orgasm from her lithe, writhing body until finally, he released, himself.
 
"No Mr. Jackson, no matter what price you offer me, this land is not for sale. I don't care what Tobias told you, he's not the owner, nor is no longer employed by this household. My answer is no, that is final" with that she slammed the phone down.

Her nostrils were flaring and her temper was raging. What was she thinking, when she thought she could manage this on her own. She wasn't going to sell the house, maybe lease it out when she traveled, but never sell. Even if she closed everything down and didn't sell a thing she would be set. Her grandfather had done very well.

Until going over the books, she had thought that he had done it all on his own. If she ever asked any questions about how he got started, he would simply say that their bloodline was blessed.
But now she had a mystery deposit that appeared for a large sum of money. When she called the bank they could not tell her where it came from, just that it was done with cash. When Raven inquired on any other irregularity's the bank manager got back to her explaining that every fifteen years funds were deposited.

Friday was here and she had a hell of a week. She booked a presidential suite at the casino. Normally she liked to go incognito, But she had already made reservations for the full make over at the spa. After a couple of phone calls she had a short designer dress, and shoes she'd seen in a magazine delivered to her suite.

Never did she think she'd have to go the route of getting a body guard, but with all things considered who did she have she could rely on? No family left, and no close friends. She was the perfect victim. Someone could torture her until she simply signed everything over then kill her. Her imagination was a bit on over drive after screaming and being threatened on the phone, to having watched a slew of heist movies. There was always something comforting in watching Jason Statham in the Transporter movies.

She hired some secret service men types. The kind that lived and breathed honor and valor. They were tall and broad, and dressed in their Armani suits. If she liked them, she would keep them. If not she's try another service. The limo driver her grandfather had, was still employed by the house. But his age was that of her grandmothers. She placed him into a position she created which made him technically in charge of the new limo driver. though all his position required was keeping track of his hours. Though when she gave him the raise and the "promotion" she dressed it up with some fancier words. Joe was mighty proud walking around with his head raised high.

There were many improvements that needed to be handled, much security that needed to be updated. Raven decided, she was going to live in the moment. She may have to do it with a staff hired to care about her, but at least she wouldn't be a victim.

She headed to the spa early and checked in. Her guards had an adjoined room..In the spa she had a full waxing massaging hair cut manicure, pedicure hair style and make up. When they were done she didn't recognize herself. Once dressed she had her guards escort her down to the floor. Eyes turned and for a moment it almost seemed that the room stopped.

Taking a deep breath she went to a machine and put her funds and got her entry ticket. She drank a bit, and just let go. For the first time in a long time she felt free. Her guards didn't let anyone approach her other then the waitress who brought her drinks. "Is there a VIP room?" she questioned "Yes miss right this way."
Her guards in tow took her up to a special room. It was empty for the most part. But certainly much more quiet and comfortable. Pulling up a chair to the slot machines she played for a few hours. Just simply enjoying herself and allowing the alcohol to help sooth away her anxieties.
 
Xavier paid close attention, now that Raven had seen him, even if she had no idea who he was or what manner of plan he might have had brewing for her. He personally sent people he had thoroughly research and trusted - therefore, people that she could trust - when she put out notices looking for a security detail and various other positions in her household. There was virtually nothing she did that he wasn't aware of. The laws of the land would call what he was doing criminal, but the centuries had taught him much about the practice of subtlety and "covering one's ass" as the vernacular put it. Even the best mortal investigation would never uncover his interest in the woman or his role in any part of her life.

When Raven made the reservation to spend the night at the casino, he could hardly believe his luck. Surely it couldn't be this easy? Still, he knew he had to tread lightly. His Katherine at first had taken the news of what he had become badly, but a modicum of time had changed her mind - that and her intense love for him - and until her dying day, she and Xavier had carried on a relationship that would have torn her marriage apart and cast her out from the society in which she lived. His prime regret was that there was no way for him to have sired any of her children. Of course, if it hadn't been for her boor of a husband, Raven would not be there now, so many years later.

Since she had reserved a treatment at the casino's spa, and also was staying the night, Raven entered the building from a different door than that of the gaming floor, but Xavier knew the moment she arrived. He'd gotten her scent the previous week, and his senses were attuned for its arrival on the air once more.

There were no press within miles this time. There would be no accosting of his patrons again, and not this one in particular. His staff were charged with apprehending and detaining any unlikely reporter or photographer who managed to penetrate the scaled-up security Xavier had hired for Friday nights for the foreseeable future.

Then, there she was. Xavier was in his usual place, watching the activities on the floor, very little escaping his heightened senses. Sure, he had closed circuit cameras and a staff hired to keep watch over them, but they were simply a formality. It would have raised too many questions if he had not added such employees to his payroll.

Raven's look was entirely changed. Her day at the spa had created a woman who not only looked like Katherine's descendent, but who looked like Katherine, herself.

Xavier felt a pull where his dead heart lay inert within his chest. The woman's likeness to an ancestor so far removed from the era in which she lived was remarkable, but it was a shock to see that so little alteration in fine aspects of her appearance had caused such an uncanny result.

He watched as she proved her entry, then asked if there was a room that was more private, unaware that there was no reasonable way that the dreadful occurrence as she left the last time would be repeated.

Rarely did Xavier leave his vantage. It wasn't that he didn't trust the people he'd hired to make sure everything ran smoothly... It was simply something to do.

His mezzanine extended to take in the VIP room, so he stepped over so that he could more easily observe the goings-on there.

Katherine sat... no, damn it, she wasn't Katherine. She was two hundred years dead. Raven sat at one of the gaudy, noisy machines, appearing much more at ease, especially considering the events of her last visit.

For the first time since he had purchased this casino, Xavier did not carefully watch the happenings around the floor. His attention was focused on the one woman.

He yearned to step up and introduce himself. It would be well within his right, as the owner, to meet such a newly prominent member of the community, but he knew he needed to wait just a bit longer. He could have hypnotized her when their eyes had locked on her last visit, but this woman, he would treat as he had her grandmother-many-times-over. Using his abilities to get her would be a last, desperate resort, yet get her, he would.

So, for yet another time, he merely watched...
 
The alcohol swam through her veins quickly, she went through the stages of buzzed to drunk faster then normal. When the slots became blurry she requested that her guards escort her to her room. As she retrieved her ticket they helped her wobbling self up and she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of that greek god she'd seen the week before.

Her cheeks felt flushed as they guided her to the elevator and put in her key for the top floor. Turning on the fireplace and supply her with some gingerale the guards left her in the chair in front of the fireplace.

For the first time the tears began to fall, she wept for her grandmother, her grandfather, she wept for the overwhelming vulnerability she was burdened with. Distrusting people was something she learned from an early age. They were only truly interested in what she could give them.

In college no one knew her, and although she was able to cut loose a bit, it always came down with wanting to know more about her. There had to be a solution. In the overwhelming scheme of things she could adopt. That way the Saint Johns would live on. She could get pregnant. Though that would be more complicated unless she went to a sperm bank. Maybe that was an option. A childs love was unconditional was it not? Her legacy could continue, and then the next option was to find someone who was just as rich as she. But then that would involve dating, and dating, that was not something she did well.
Her virginity was still intact, and it wasn't by choice. She had attempted the whole sex thing, if for anything just to get it over with, it was a disgrace to college kids everywhere.
His face was in her mind again. She laughed at herself as she did a mock scenario "Hello my name is Raven, can i have your sperm, will you be my baby daddy?"
She laughed so hard ginger ale spewed and she fell from the chair. Picking herself up she wobbled to the bed that awaited her sprawling out over the nice comfortable temperpedic mattress. Raven slept better then she had in a while. She slept in till noon without the phone ringing it was a nice change. No one was clawing for her attention.
She took a hot shower and then a long luxurious scented bath. Lavender and rose petals filled the air.
There was something about silence she found comforting. Sometimes it also could feel haunting and scary. With her guards around she just felt calm. There was nothing she couldn't do, but nothing was exactly what she wanted to do. With a phone call she had another dress being sent over for her evening adventure into the casino. Perhaps this is what her grandmother had concocted for her in this odd stipulation. A get away from the chaos that would drown her granddaughter.

That evening a red dress was hung over her small frame. She played with her hair a little before settling that it should be up. Showing off her elongated neck, and a tiny heart shaped mole. Make up was applied lightly to her features Accentuating them as she went along and applied the make up.
Reserving two tables she went to dinner at five star seafood restaurant and ordered the lobster and a bottle of champagne. It was very odd eating alone in public. People were more taken back by the looming guards who took turns eating, then her. Though a couple gentlemen did attempt to approach the table and were blocked efficiently.

With her tails she took a walk in the casinos prize winning garden. The smells over whelmed her nostrils and she allowed her mind to float among the clouds as she took it all in.
 
When Raven rose, aided by her bodyguards when she wavered from the alcohol she'd been consuming, Xavier felt a wave of jealousy wash over him. His greatest desire at that moment was to simply pick her up off the floor and carry her to her room. However, it was neither the time nor place for such an act, particularly since he had as yet not introduced himself to her.

It proved no difficulty whatsoever to enter her room - it was his building, after all - and while her guards were ever-present, the merest touch was enough to allow him to hide his presence from their dutiful - yet under-developed - minds.

One guard retired to the bedroom within the suite the two men shared, while the other stood watch outside in the hall, to give Raven some degree of privacy.

Xavier stood mere feet away. He had no need to breathe, so there was little chance of her hearing that, and the course of two centuries had taught him the greatest of stealth. No mortal would ever hear him approach, unless he desired them to. While he dearly wished to reach out and caress Raven's hair, he knew that time would come, he merely needed to further exercise the patience he'd exhibited since that first time she'd come into his presence.

Though his heart hadn't beat to course blood through his body for quite a long time, he felt it lurch a bit when she began to weep. He could only guess at the tears' purpose, but it was satisfactory that they were there. He'd only seen his Katherine cry once or twice. It was a sight he dreaded, because he knew there was nothing he could do.

And doubly so, now, with this woman. For, while she resembled Katherine uncannily, he knew she was not her, and subsequently, would not accept him without - at the very least - some manner of introduction.

At the moment, it was sufficient to merely be in her presence, knowing that he could protect her should anything befall her while one guard dozed, and the other stood watch against intruders from outside the room. In fact, he could protect her far better than either man could, of that he knew with utmost certainty.

Xavier stayed with her all night, watching her sleep, wishing he could strip off his clothes and crawl in the bed with her, hold her, feel her warmth against his body. Still, he contented himself with his silent vigil, knowing that soon, he would deem the time right to make that first introduction.

The sun shone behind the blackout curtains for several hours before Raven finally pried herself out of bed.

Fortunately, she was not one who awoke and felt the need to throw open the curtains and let the daylight in, for Xavier was not ready to leave her quite yet. He quite enjoyed watching Raven, even if he ached to do more. He truly liked the shape of her body - so like his Katherine, in all respects - that he with delight followed her from the bed and to the bath, where she performed certain morning necessaries (he was long, long past embarrassment, even if he knew she would be appalled by his presence) then drew herself a bath, scenting the water with hotel-supplied delights.

She seemed quite content in - as far as she knew - her quiet solitude, lounging in the warm water until her fingertips wrinkled, then staying a bit longer. For a moment, Xavier wondered if she'd fallen asleep once again while in the bath. Her eyes were closed, and her breast rose and fell very slowly and calmly.

After more than an hour in the bathtub, Raven finally rose and dried herself. Once again, Xavier wished he could be the one wielding the towel, but it was difficult enough, remaining unseen in the bathroom, especially to one he had not spellbound.

When Raven sat nude on the bed and ordered a new dress for that evening, Xavier knew precisely the dress he wanted for her. Pulling out his phone, he specified the order, then let her have the rest of the day to herself while he slept.

That evening, Xavier watched as she and her guards ate, chuckling at the men's efficiency at keeping others from bothering Raven's evening.

When Raven finished her meal and left to walk in the garden, he took it as his opportunity to introduce himself and begin setting wheels in motion...

With a confidence that had grown over some two-plus centuries, Xavier strode through the gravel walkways, making sure to let his footfalls be heard. No need in rousing suspicion by being totally silent when everyone else's steps crunched loudly.

Choosing to retain his control over her bodyguards, Xavier stepped right up to Raven and bowed, remaining unaccosted by the two burly men, unlike all the other gents who had attempted to get to know the remarkable young woman.

"Good evening, Miss St. John. Please permit me to introduce myself. I am Xavier."
 
As she heard the footsteps, Raven turned her head from the flowers and held out her hands to block her guards from stopping the Greek gods accession. As he bowed she took a deep breath and then he spoke.

"Good evening, Miss St. John. Please permit me to introduce myself. I am Xavier."

For a moment she felt as if she was in a time period movie, which brought a smile across her face. His voice was rich yet distinguished. It was creamy chocolate that simply melted in your mouth.
Her green eyes locked with his blue. She gave a slight clumsy curtsy. A guard whispered in her ear and she nodded. Then looked back to Xavier.

"My guard tells me that you are the owner of this casino, which explains how you know my name. But please call me Raven, I've come here to get away from the formality confines of my life." There was no reason to explain further. If he knew her name, then he knew who she was. Any good owner would know information regarding it's VIP customers. With the amount she had spent this weekend she would definitely be regarded as one.

"I hear a bit of European in your voice, are you from there?" she asked attempting her hand at the thing they call conversation. This was not something she was good at, but she was tired of the solitude. She could not change who she was, nor could she reject her obligations that came with it. A man like this would have women at his beck and call. He wouldn't be interested in her for more than friendship. Or at the least an acknowledged acquaintance. That alone placed her at ease.

"I believe that my ancestors came from England, though i'm not for certain where. Though I was thinking about doing some ancestral research, I believe I own a property there." She shook her head as she had said that almost to herself as a project to occupy her.
She was quite sure with more thought that was the case, the house was empty but still maintained. Her grandfather had told her stories of Lady St. John. How she resembled her, there was a story as well that went with it.
Xaviers presence was distracting her from thinking more on it. But she made a note in her mind when she returned home tomorrow she would start this research.
That thought led to the vast amount of books, which then led to a story her grandfather told her of secret passages. "One day" he had told her "you'll get the key".
She hadn't thought of that in ages. Now she was in possession of a key.

"Is it possible to have a table brought out here for my dinner? I am afraid that my entourage tends to draw unwanted attention. I could take my dinner in my room, however, I truly enjoy the fragrance of the garden over all."
 
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When Raven smiled, she looked exactly like his Katherine. He felt a pull of desire that he had not felt toward a woman in decades. He was sure that if his heart still beat, it would be pounding in his chest right at that moment. Still, after centuries of practice, he was able to hold any outward sign of nervousness at bay.

At his introduction, Xavier watched as Raven's bodyguards noticed his presence and saw the swift flash of alarm on their faces. However, by some means, they seemed to recognize him and quickly recovered their practiced nonchalance. When one leaned in and explained who he was, Xavier heard every word.

Her curtsy was unexpected in this day, a greeting that he had not seen in almost a hundred years, but the slight dip her body made revealed a bit more of the cleavage her dress left on display, a sight that further increased the desire he felt toward this woman.

When she spoke, it put the lie to the possibility that this was actually his Katherine. Her voice was about two tones too high, with a mild rasp to it that Katherine's never had. It wasn't an unpleasant voice, but it put a dichotomy in his mind as to who this woman was. To his eyes, she appeared every inch his Katherine, but to his eyes, she was quite obviously someone else. Still, she was of Katherine's line, and that and her resemblance was enough.

"My guard tells me that you are the owner of this casino, which explains how you know my name. But please call me Raven, I've come here to get away from the formality and confines of my life."

"I hear a bit of European in your voice, are you from there?"


She was like Katherine could be, not letting a person respond to one thought before continuing with the next. That little quirk gave him a slight chuckle.

"I believe that my ancestors came from England, though I'm not certain where. Though I was thinking about doing some ancestral research, I believe I own a property there."

His explanation was both the truth and a fabrication. His origins certainly did come from England, but they were meager. No nobility there. However, circumstances had taken him away from his humble home, and the girl he loved more dearly than anything else in the world. When fate had decided to allow him back to the place he had started, he was changed, irrevocably different from the young man who had left. The girl he had left behind was different, too. Having been able to receive no word regarding his whereabouts or condition, she had moved on with her life, as all must do, and took another for her husband. She did not love him like she had her young man, but he was a fine man, nonetheless, and with means. When he reappeared, with hope that the two long-lost, star-crossed lovers could reunite, a dark, fantastic secret on his lips, the truth of their situation came out. His state could not allow her what she desired most, and it was not money. That one thing made him decide to let her keep her husband, and they began a forbidden relationship that would last the rest of her life.

He had had a different name then. When Katherine, an old woman with several children and grandchildren - but still the most beautiful in the world, to his eyes - finally succumbed to the inevitable ring of normal life's final call, he wanted to die the final death with her. Oh, he had offered her the gift, the curse, that was the thing he called a "life," but she had declined, saying she had done all she wished to do, and had had her true love a part of it for the majority of it. She was content, and his one wish was that he could have been there for her final breath, but their relationship was unknown, and for him to have asked to be present would have raised many questions.

After that, he took a new name. He'd had many names over the years, as convenience and necessity dictated for one with such a long life. Some fifty years after Katherine's passing, he bought her husband's lands after their children, and their children squandered much of the wealth their father had possessed. He also bought the lands around the tiny cottage he had been born in - little more than a foundation and a heap of fallen timber by then - so when he said with uncertainty that he owned land, he was lying: he owned land, and he owned quite a lot of it.

"Is it possible to have a table brought out here for my dinner? I am afraid that my entourage tends to draw unwanted attention. I could take my dinner in my room, however, I truly enjoy the fragrance of the garden over all."

It was not an unusual request. Xavier had had many guests desire to dine among the beauty in the garden. The kitchens were located nearby one of the two entrances to the garden, so serving guests there was fairly uncomplicated.

Xavier responded, "Why, certainly," pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
When the party on the other end answered, he said, "Send a table and two chairs out to the garden, and have Jean-Yves serve. Thank you." He then closed the phone and dropped it back into his pocket.

Mere seconds later, a young man and woman came out, one bearing a small table, the other carrying two chairs. A third young lady came with a table service, then, as quickly as they'd appeared, they were gone.

Xavier waved the bodyguards away, then watched as they warily stepped about twenty feet from their charge and stood uneasily. Xavier then pulled a chair away from the table and indicated for Raven to sit.

Just as she was situated, Jean-Yves, a fine-looking, dark Frenchman, came bearing a bottle of wine and a menu. He poured two glasses and handed Raven the menu, as Xavier sat in the vacant chair.
 
"Thank you" she said softly not use to having her chair pulled out for her. She reviewed the menu and settled on the Filet minion with a creamy mushroom sauce and a caesar salad. For an appetizer she ordered a deep fried crab specialty.

Handing back the menu after ordering she waited until the waiter was gone before speaking again.
Her eyes looked into his and lost her breath for a moment before she looked away with a slight blush hoping he didn't notice.

"I appreciate you allowing me to eat in the garden, and joining me for dinner. I'm sure you're quite busy. But please don't feel obligated to provide me any special attention because of who i am. I'm quite use to being alone and obsolete."

Looking away for a moment she regrouped herself before giving a light smile and thanking the waiter for bringing the appetizer. She was glad he was a skilled conversationalist, the things he'd seen in his short life the traveling he'd done, the things he knew about history. In a simple matter of a meal he had made her laugh and smile more than she had in what she determined to be her entire existence.

Raven found herself with the desire to open up and share things about herself with him, but still held back. He was simply being a polite host. This was his job, she reminded herself somewhere in her subconscious. She liked the way he smiled, the way his mouth moved when he spoke. He seemed to put a great deal of thought behind the words he spoke. Most people did not.

He seemed to study her face when she answered his questions, or responded to an inquiry, and stopped right outside her comfort zone, keeping her at ease and less guarded then the average person would find her.

When dinner wound down he waved the waiter away when he came with the check. This caused a mixture of emotions, yet she remained quiet and thanked him. In return she accepted his request to come to the roof with him, with her bodyguards of course.

The Nevada nights were a bit cool, and her dress provided little warmth. It only took one shiver for him to pick up his phone and five minutes for a blanket to be brought to him in which he carefully and lightly draped around her. They sat out and looked at the stars and he told her stories of the constellations. He built a fire that added warmth it was the perfect night.

The last thing she remembered saying was that she was just going to rest her eyes for a moment. When she awoke she was placed into bed with the only thing missing being her shoes. She stretched and smiled over the previous evenings events. She sent one of the guards down to cash out her ticket, and packed her bag. With her guards in tow she had her limo pulled around and left the casino.

There was much she needed to do, and she felt revitalized after the time she had spent with Xavier. But he was still very much in her thoughts. One of the first things she did was go online and find the perfect floral arrangement. She knew that certain flowers meant certain things, so the composition had to be perfect.

In the end she decided upon a begonia with white and yellow carnations. The card simply said, Thank you for your hospitality, Raven St. John. He would receive it on Monday. It was time for her to get some things in order. He had sparked a curiosity in her regarding her past, which in turn reminded her of the key.

Making her way to the book shelf she searched over the titles hoping one would strike a memory. Then she saw it, it was a black binder with a label that simply stated passages. Pulling it out the overwhelming dust caused her to gasp and sneeze. Placing the old key into the hole she turned it. She could hear mechanisms turning, that reminded her of the inners of an old clock. Then the bookshelf popped. Going to the office door she shut and locked it before pulling it open and entering inside. There was no light switch which caused her to retreat and search for a flashlight. With that in hand she started the tour of the winding stonewalled path. The door at the end was wooden and creaked when she opened it. Again there was no light, but she did find several oil lamps layered in dust.
Eventually she got them lit and was able to see around the room. On the desk there was an envelope with her name on it. She almost dropped it when the echo of a knock startled her. Tucking it into her pants she made her way back to the office and shut the bookcase, replacing the binder and putting away the key. "Yes?" she questioned. "you have a phone call Ma'am, your lawyer is on the line." "Okay i'll get it" she responded taking a seat at the desk.
 
Xavier waited patiently for Raven to peruse the menu, then order. He didn't bother either looking at the menu or ordering. He knew Jean-Yves would simply order two of whatever Raven selected and bring them both to the table. He had no doubt whatsoever that the food would be of the highest quality, he merely knew that it would be virtually tasteless to him.

Though his state allowed him certain heightened senses - sight, sound, smell, touch, among others, the one that had deadened was taste. The senses that had been raised exponentially, to a degree of acuity he had never imagined possible when he was alive, were those that aided in the Hunt, and therefore helped keep him alive - or whatever bastardization of life allowed him to exist as he had for so many years. The only tastes that truly set him aflame were those that sustained him. Human food no longer held much attraction. He merely partook of it when it was necessary to maintain appearances. And as unpleasant as it was going in, it was just as unpleasant coming out, since his body no longer had the wherewithal to process it.

Still, he would wear the illusion of enjoying the meal, as he had so many times over the years, so as not to make his guest uncomfortable, as normally happened if they ate and he merely sat and watched them do so.

Though Raven was doing her best to remain outgoing and cordial, Xavier's heightened senses informed him that she was anything but comfortable. He knew that she was something of a hermit, which had been why he'd coaxed her grandmother into including the clause in her will, forcing Raven to leave the house and join the world, if only for a few hours.

He particularly noted that very rarely did Raven look directly at him as she spoke. Whether there was a sense that he was something other than he appeared, or just her social awkwardness, he wasn't sure. There had been only a couple of instances where their gazes had met, and those were only fleeting. They still told him volumes, but he longed for more.

Therefore, when she passed the menu back to Jean-Yves, then turned back, those verdant eyes briefly locking with his, she held for a few seconds, which allowed him to drink in the paths of her life, the hardships and joys he read in the library contained in that one glance. It wasn't actually necessary to use any of his preternatural abilities with her, and hoped he never would. Her eyes found his and lingered.

Suddenly, however, she realized what she was doing and looked away sheepishly, her shyness giving her a fetching, girlish look. For that moment, it seemed the heavy cloak of her life that she normally wore lifted from her, however briefly. Still, her self-deprecating manner came back to her swiftly, slamming that cloak of care right back over her shoulders. She stared at her fingers as they rested on the table when she said:

"I appreciate you allowing me to eat in the garden, and joining me for dinner. I'm sure you're quite busy. But please don't feel obligated to provide me any special attention because of who I am. I'm quite used to being alone and obsolete."

Xavier desperately wanted to reach over, place a finger beneath her chin and raise those eyes to his again and assure her that she was anything but alone and obsolete. And if she had any idea who she actually was, she might understand, at least a little, why she received special attention from him.

But it wasn't the time to move things more quickly. Not yet. The time would come, and possibly soon, but this wasn't it.

So, when the appetizer arrived, Xavier simply played the cordial host, sampling the food before them and mirroring the relish Raven showed at its flavor. His many years and vast travels afforded him many stories and insights that most mortals never have the opportunity to experience, much less relate.

As the meal went on, and the entrees were presented, Xavier watched as walls fell behind Raven's eyes. He noted that as she became more comfortable with him, her eyes met his more often, she appeared that gravity no longer pulled at her twice as strongly as on everyone else. Though he knew most things about her public life already, there were small, personal aspects of her that he did not, could not know. Over the years, he had become adept at couching personal questions inside seemingly innocuous ones, and he delighted when Raven answered everything he asked with a freedom she quite obviously had not felt when she had stepped out into the garden. They laughed and talked, and when Jean-Yves brought the tablet with the check on it, Xavier waved him away, annoyed that the man had even considered having her pay, especially considering that he was sitting there with her.

That uncomfortable episode behind them, Xavier rose from the table and invited Raven to the roof, for perhaps a drink and a view of the sky difficult to get from ground level in the city. To his delight, he received an unequivocal agreement. Her usual defenses were most definitely down, but such seduction was a skill he'd honed over long years, finding that while the adrenaline of fear added a thrill to the Hunt, it did little to enhance the taste of the Feed. For him, gentle seduction and consent was a far more difficult – even with his gifts of persuasion – and therefore much more rewarding addition to a conquest. Trust is a heady emotion, and he'd take that over fear any day.

Xavier took Raven's hand and led her to a wrought-iron staircase at one end of the garden. There was no need to invite the bodyguards. They knew their job, and their place. Besides, it wouldn't take someone with enhanced senses to hear them lumbering on behind. Xavier could sense their unease at how close he was to her, how he seemed to make them superfluous, or at least how he appeared to find them no threat whatsoever, regardless of their combined size and weight compared to his. He smelled their anger when he placed Raven first on the stair, then insinuated himself between her and them. The day may come when he'd have to prove himself against them, but he hoped if that did occur, that Raven would not be there to witness it. There were some things she just did not need to know.

It had been some time since Xavier had gazed on a woman with a degree of desire. However, the connection Raven had awakened revealed wants and needs he'd suppressed for so long, he thought he'd lost them entirely. Yes, there was the girl who took care of him back in his office, but she was a necessity, a convenience, and the sex was mostly for her, as a thank you for keeping him from having to prowl the streets like a violent vagrant, as so many of his kind were forced to do. Raven represented a whole different opportunity to him: a chance to connect once more with the woman he truly loved, who fate had taken from him.

On the roof, a slight breeze blew, carrying with it the cool of the night – a direct contrast of the day's blistering heat. She tried to stifle it, but Xavier's well-honed ability to read human body language saw the slight shiver Raven gave beneath her skimpy dress. A single call was made and within minutes, a girl brought him a wrap, which he then used to swaddle his guest with.

Raven gave a shy, fetching thank you, and Xavier motioned her to a chaise. Once they were both comfortable, he began telling her stories he'd heard during his travels. His casino was high enough out of the light pollution below that a great percentage more stars were visible from the roof than they were from the ground, and he regaled her with tales of the gods and monsters that appeared in the night skies.

When even the blanket seemed not to be enough, he started a fire in the brazier that stood nearby. The garden and roof were open to all, but only a few ventured away from the ringing and jangling inside to discover what more there was to offer.

Shortly after the fire was lit, Raven mumbled something about resting her eyes for a bit, but assured him she was listening. Xavier watched her as he softly told the story of Daedelus and Icarus, though their constellations were obliterated by what light there was. Long before he finished the story, Raven was asleep, but he continued to the end, then waved the bodyguards over, indicating one of them should carry her.

As one of the men gently lifted her from the chair and cradled her like a young child, Xavier felt a swell of envy. However, as with so much regarding this women, it was not the time yet.

Speaking softly, Xavier instructed the guards to follow him. He led them to the hotel via a route that did not take them through the gaming floor. Then, when they were safely in her room, he indicated she should be placed in the bed. One of the men suggested she shouldn't be sleeping in such an expensive dress. When reminded by his fellow that undressing her would be completely inappropriate, the one who suggested the idea blushed. It had apparently been an innocent comment, not a lascivious one. Therefore, they removed her shoes and drew the sheets over her still-clad form, then retreated from the room.

Xavier watched all this with some amusement, and still more envy. When the men emerged from the bedroom and quietly closed the door, the one who had suggested her disrobing assured Xavier she would be fine.

Reluctantly, Xavier withdrew, knowing it would raise questions should he remain.

A sudden fire burned in him, so he retreated to his office, where the girl – Anissa - patiently waited. She had her own personal room right off Xavier's office, and was free to use any amenities the casino afforded to keep herself in good health. There were, of course, whispered comments about what she was to the owner of the casino, but she didn't care. Xavier took good care of her, and while the sex they had was seldom gentle, she didn't mind. It was always good, and he seemed to be able to go for a long while, as well as multiple times in a session. It was more than any other man she'd experienced before had been capable of. When he'd revealed to her the other part of their arrangement, she took it in stride. She'd read so many of the novels that had been published of late, dealing with romantic liaisons between humans and creatures heretofore believed to be superstition and legend, that when he revealed to her that at least some of those creatures were more than fancy, she merely accepted it with nary an eyebrow raised.

However, the entire time Xavier fucked Anissa, he was remembering Katherine, and placing the woman in red who had been in his presence the last few hours beneath him as he did so...

When Xavier woke Monday evening, he went to his office. Anissa was not present, but that was fine. He had no need of her at the moment. He flicked on the computer monitor and skimmed over a few screens of spreadsheets, but his mind was not on business at that moment. No, it was on the woman he'd spent those few precious hours with not so very long ago. How like Katherine she had smelled, from closer than half a room away, how like her some of the small, unconscious mannerisms.

Looking away from the screen, his eyes caught sight of something different in the room. It had been right at his elbow when he stepped through the doorway, but he hadn't been aware of its presence, so he walked right past.

On the stand that usually held a priceless Chinese vase, there was a spray of flowers. A glance found the vase in a wall recess. Not that it would have been a tragedy had he been robbed - he had other such antiquities in his possession, one fewer would barely be noticed - but he did find it unusual that it had been moved and no message had been left that something had been changed.

Nevertheless, he got up from his desk and stepped up to the flowers. His heightened sense of smell made their aroma that much more intense, his vision picked out the tiny flaws in each petal, marring the beauty of the whole.

The card merely read, "Thank you for your hospitality."

He considered the flowers' meanings: remembrance, deep thought and cheer. Due to the fact that it was an almost Japanese arrangement in its simplicity - there were only three flowers - it was obvious that Raven was attempting to send some kind of message.

The yellow carnation fairly obviously said that she had enjoyed her evening. That was the easy one.

The white carnation: remembrance. What was she remembering? Surely she had no knowledge of her lineage and his part in it - or actual lack of it. He had been in the shadows of her ancestors' lives, at times guiding events along, but nowhere in her family tree would she find him.

Still, there was the library. Katherine's research. He had brought it with him when he came to this country. For a century and a half, it had remained where she had hidden it, away from her own kind. If the wrong humans had discovered the information she had dredged from some of the most obscure places in the world, it would have been simplicity itself to track down and wipe out all of Xavier's kind.

Then there was thought. Remembrance and deep contemplation, two linked notions. Was the thought for him?

So much to contemplate. For all his years, all his learning, such things remained vague and could have multiple cumulative meanings. Still, he felt it necessary to respond to Raven's message.

Dialing the nearest florist, Xavier told the person on the other end, "I need an arrangement of wisteria, lilac and heather." It wouldn't tell her everything - it might muddy things up, for that matter, but it would be a start, without disclosing some very uncomfortable details far, far too soon...
 
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An arrangement for a meeting Tuesday evening had been arranged with her lawyer Mr. Fitzroy. She was having him bring all of the holdings information so she could review it more closely. As she turned left the envelope she had stuck in her waistband pinched at her, reminding her of its existence.

Pulling it out she opened it. The letter was in the handwriting of her grandfather. Further unfolding the letter a picture fell out. The writing that stared up at her from the back of the picture said Duchess Katherine St. John of Portsmouth. Turning it over she stared at slightly older version of herself staring back at her. Of course she knew this wasn’t her. Raven had never been that graceful or posh in her entire existence. She found herself slightly envying the happiness she had in her eyes. Putting the picture down she went to the letter.

Dearest Raven,

I knew you would figure out the song I use to sing to you little bird. I am sorry to have been so cryptic but your grandmother, bless her heart, she simply would not have followed through on telling you the tales of the times past. With your cousin Alfies passing the secrets of our line fall to you. Now I have never seen or met, and perhaps it is simply a tale. You need to know the stories to pass on to your children if you should be so blessed.
The photo I enclosed is one of the only ones in existence left of the family where it began. Katherine St. John was a peasant girl that was made into a duchess. It is said that the Earl claimed her in lieu of taxes, and though she once was full of fire her light with in her had died when her one true love had disappeared.

Raven looked at the picture and the happiness in the eyes of the woman that had been described as destitute.
Rubbing her eyes she put down the pages. “Right now grandfather I have enough trouble dealing with the present, much less trying to work out the cryptic tales of the past.” Placing Katherine’s picture on her desk, she folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. Reaching under the desks center she found the key to hidden drawer. Things just seemed to keep coming back to her. Pulling out the contents of the drawer she thumbed through them. An old deed with a note attached. First and last parcel of land in England. Placing it in her briefcase for her meeting on Tuesday.
After placing her grandfather’s letter inside she closed the drawer and hid the key again. Tomorrow was another day of trying to sort out the mess her grandmother had left her. With that she retired to her steam shower and relaxed remembering what she could of the wonderful relaxing weekend she had.
Monday
Monday proved to be the hell that was anticipated. The phone never seemed to stop ringing. There had to be a better solution then her being driven out of her mind. The first thing was she needed to get organized. Her grandmother came from the school of trust everyone. But as already displayed that was the wrong choice.
Papers, papers, and papers . interns…. That’s it, she would get a few interns to do this for her. It would accomplish placing her corporation as a community giver, it was free labor, and they would have an impressive name for their resumes.
With some research, she began the process. What better way to bring her family’s business out of the small mindedness it had been stagnating in.
Her mind didn’t have the time to reflect on the flowers she had sent Xavier. At the end of the day she had interviews scheduled throughout the rest of the week. This was a good thing. She would get an assistant, and some top business minds to reorganize and launch her brand into a new era. This would free her up to travel, and just escape the lime light, yet still staying in the loop. Sleep found her easy that night. She seemed to finally have found a solution to being overwhelmed.
The next morning she awoke with a start. She needed someone to do the screening and the interviewing. Picking up the phone she dialed the casino and asked to be put through to Xavier. “He hasn’t come in yet” was the secretaries response. “Please let him know that Raven St. John called in reference to a “ “Oh One moment Ms. St. John I will locate him for you.”. “No its not” and then the hold music took over. Raven was horrified that he was going to be chased down. The image of a gazelle being chased by a lion came into her head. His voice however snapped her out of it.
“Im sorry to disturb you, I’m sure you’re quite busy, but I was hoping to get the name of the service you use when interviewing or screening new employees. Your staff is quite remarkable, and I will need that kind of dedication” his response told her he used in-house means. But he would gladly lend her his hiring team for as long as she needed. “I couldn’t possibly” being her reply ended up being “Thank you so much”. It was obvious he wasn’t refused very often in business or anything else. His team arrived within a half hour of the call. She explained to them what she was looking for and they designed an interview that was fitting. The conference room was opened up to them so they could get started.
The afternoon brought a delivery for her. Words came from her lips as she tried to decode his message. steadfast ,first love, and solitude. He’ll remain true and alone to his first love. Her eyes watered and her bottom came up to cover the top as she simply nodded. Don’t be stupid raven, she told herself out loud. He was simply being a nice guy, a good host. People in the next room stopped talking and looked at her as she went through her mini episode of self-loathing and idiocy.

Regaining control she made her way up stairs where she got ready for her meeting with Mr. Fitzroy. They met oddly in a board room with the hotel of the casino.
He brought his legal lackeys with him for what promised to be an intolerable evening with little ms do right. I want a break down of all companies and subsidiary companies. I want a list of realty that is owned both corporately and privately. Reaching in her briefcase she pulled out the deed. I want this property entered back into the holdings. I want to know the status of it.
With all her demands written down and the team asking questions for more direction, the meeting took a few hours. Mr. Fitzroy, on a private matter. He waved his collegues ahead and sat back down in the over stuffed leather chair.
“First let me say I’m not contesting my grandmothers request about visiting the casino. However I am interested in any loop holes. For example I spent two nights here. Shouldn't that count as the Friday required plus one?.
I am wanting to travel to England once we have the info on that property. I need to get away for a bit. Please Tell me my options.
 
Seldom did Xavier get woken when he slept, but on occasion, it was necessary. Nadine, his secretary, knew better than to disturb him for just anything, so he had to remember not to berate her for disturbing him Tuesday morning.

When the sun lamp in the corner came on, triggered by a switch at Nadine's desk, the radiation it let off woke Xavier with a start as efficient as any alarm attached to a clock. The lamp was located safely enough away from his bed not to cause him any harm, though since it was electric, it was far weaker than full sunlight would be, so even had it been turned directly on him, it would have taken several minutes to be in the least harmful.

Turning the lamp off by the switch on his bedside table, Xavier pressed the intercom button beside it.

"Yes?" he said groggily. He'd frightened off two previous secretaries by snarling a response to similar introductions in the past, so he'd learned to remain calm when awakened from a deep sleep.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but Raven St. John is on the line. She's asking for assistance in interviewing employees."

At the sound of Raven's name, he was suddenly fully awake. A glance at the bedside clock told him the sun would be well up, so there were several hours before he would normally arise.

"Send the call up here," he said, finally.

When Raven was on the line, she outlined what she wanted, then waited for Xavier's suggestions.

"Don't worry about it, I'll send my own team out to do the hiring for you," he told her. He already knew the people he'd send. He also knew who he'd send as potential employees.

Raven tried to protest him sending people over, but there was no way Xavier was going to leave this to chance. Raven was the last link in history to Katherine's line, and he felt obliged - and more than a little obsessed - to make sure she was well taken care of.

"It's no problem, really," he told her, friendly but firm. For a woman who seemed alternately content and dissatisfied with her position in the world, she certainly wanted to maintain a distance from the rest of her fellow humans. The need for staff had to be a difficult pill for her to take. "They will be there within the hour."

Xavier hung up the phone after assuring Raven once more that it was no imposition, then promptly picked up his cell and called the team he'd told Raven about, then when they were on their way, he called the three people he intended to fill Raven's positions with.

Once he hung up after speaking with Raven's next employees, the meaning of Raven's floral gift finally landed on him, and with horror, the meaning of his and its likely impact on her pounded into his head.

"Damn," he said to the darkened room. "How the hell am I going to explain this?"

There was nothing to be done about it right at that moment, so he resigned himself to an uphill battle with gaining Raven's trust and settled back to sleep once again. There being nothing to be done for the situation at that particular moment, he didn't dwell on it and once more was in that deep, dreamless sleep he'd known for two centuries.

When he finally awoke, he found out that her meeting with the lawyer was still going on, and that she was demanding to check in on the holdings in England that were in her possession.

Fitzroy told Raven that he would look into her ability to get around the Friday night stipulation, and that since it was for legitimate maintenance of her holdings, it would likely not be a problem.

It had been many years since Xavier had seen the house where he'd been born. Over fifty, if his memory served. He'd kept the little stone and thatch cottage he grew up in well maintained, and had rented the place out to a farmer who kept the land tilled as Xavier's father had when he was a boy - a day when his name was something other than the exotic sounding moniker he'd taken on after he watched two of Raven's ancestors die in an influenza ward a hundred years past.

Certainly Raven would go to England. She would see the place where her line began. She might learn a few things she may have wished she hadn't known, but knowledge is one thing we can never unlearn.

She would also find that she wasn't in her people's homeland alone...
 
When Fitzroy told Raven after a phone call that it wouldn't be a problem due to legitimate business dealings she felt relieved. Seeing Xavier after the flowers he sent would simply be awkward. How silly was she to think that someone like that would be interested in an odd ball like her.

By Thursday all arrangements had been made and she could leave Friday evening. She arranged it so she wouldn't be back until the following Saturday. Her bodyguards in tow, she left for the airport in the limo.

She had brought with her the letter her grandfather had written since she had 8 hours to kill. With a glass of wine she reclined back in her first class seat and pulled it out continuing where it left off.

His name was Alexander Collins, he was a local farm boy that lived across the fields from Katherine's family the O'Connors. It is said that the two of them existed for each other in a way that was epic.

The circumstances for Alexanders disappearance were lost through time, but his sudden appearance ten years later was said to have created some commotion. Now of course the Earl, Katherine's husband was concerned that his wife would leave him and run away with her true love. So he threatened Katherine with the loss of her children, and the loss of both of their lives.
The Earl wasn't completely stupid, he knew that the only way to ensure he didn't loose his wife was to have Alexander near. Having met him, he offered Alexander a position of service to do errands and deal with business holdings on behalf of the Earl.

Katherine and Alexander had a special relationship. It is safe to say they were lovers but it was never proven. Any time the Earl had attempted to catch them in the acts of betrayal they were never doing anything deceiving.

Now here is the part that only our lineage knows Raven, and for this i am hoping you are sitting. Alexander Collins is a vampire. Yes i said vampire, as in dracula, as in a creature of the night. Now there is nothing to fear from this for his love for Katherine and her kin has kept this family protected and quite wealthy. The terms were simply that the secret be shared in the successors as keepers of the secret. The reason is in the event he is in need of something we as mortals and in the debts we have owed him over the years are there to assist him. It has been very rare from what i understand for him to ever collect, if he had it was for something simple. But being the last of our line, and looking so much like her. I would say that he may pay you a visit in your lifetime.

I know this is a lot to take in Raven, and you my little bird should not be burdened with such news. But alas, with lineage comes responsibility.
Perhaps one day you will be graced with children, and they will take the burden from you and let it continue as it was meant to.

Until the day we meet again in heaven, know that you will be looked in upon from time to time. Be well little bird.
Love Grandpa.



Raven reread it a few times before putting it away. "The man was plum off his rocker" she exclaimed shaking her head. Two more glasses of wine ensured her coma induced sleep to the airport in Eastleigh, Southampton. Being early morning in England they took the limo to the hotel. Raven was upset by the letter her grandfather had left her. Not because he talked of vampires, but because she had once considered him the sanest man she knew. To learn that he wholeheartedly believe in such nonsense was disappointing.

Getting a few hours of sleep, she set forth on her adventure renting a car. Here no one knew her, so there was no need for the protection to tag along. If anything it would just draw unwanted attention.

The country in England was beautiful as she took the M275 to Portsmouth. It was a bit troublesome at first learning to drive on the wrong side of the road, but soon enough she managed. Now of course they would say we drive on the wrong side..tomato, tomatoe.

As she drew nearer her destination, the Gps took her down a dirt path. Looking around, there seemed to be nothing but trees and pastures and more trees and pastures. Having gone for about twenty miles it announced in its sexy english accent.. "you have reached your destination." Stopping the now dirt covered car she got out and looked finding covered, but possibly once defined path. She followed it on foot for a couple of miles through the trees. There in a small clearing only visible from the spot she was in was a beautiful cobblestone cottage. That looked as though it had been abandoned or forgotten. As she drew closer her eyes caught an old etching on a tree. Her fingers traced the heart cutout and the letters within. AC + KO 4Ever. She smiled brushing away some of the dirt from her ancestors declaration.

Reaching the cottage she found the key to the padlock under the mat where the property management company had left it for her. It took a little effort to open the old wooden door, but once she did the dust was abundant. Turning her head she coughed a little. A glimer caught her eye, and she headed toward it leaving the door of the cottage open to breath. A cast iron fence surrounded the statue of an angel which looked down upon the headstone of Katherine St. John. Her husband wasn't buried there, just her. Women often outlived men in that time, she probably made the request of her children to be buried here.
The headstone read : Katherine O'Connor St. John Beloved Wife and Mother. Then an inscription in another language ' Verus amor aeternus' A.C. It took her a moment but then she realized it was latin 'Eternal true love' A.C.

"wow" she exclaimed making a not to get some paper and charcoal to do an etching and have it framed. No wonder she looked happy in the photo she had of her. She probably had her children place it on there when she passed, either before or after Alex had. This must have been their cottage. She looked back at the cottage and made her way out of the enclosure and back up to it. It was getting a bit chilly and she had left all her luggage at the hotel.

It would be dark soon, so she would need to spend the night. Making her way inside she found an old lamp to light. The furnishings were very fine and antique. Climbing inside the fireplace she looked for the shoot to open the chimney. Of course this left her covered in soot and ash.

Making her way out side she gathered some branches and logs and hauled them in to make a fire. She opened the windows to help air it out Tomorrow she would go to town and get some supplies. Checking her cell there was no reception, so she would need to call her bodyguards as well so they wouldn't call out a search party. But for tonight, it was just her and the history of Katherine. The fire did well at warming the place up. She took the linens outside and shook them till the color was able to be seen.

She was glad that she had enjoyed camping when she was younger, otherwise a woman of her station may react quite differently to her circumstances. But Raven was caught up in the magic and romance of it.

Taking the light and an old bucket outside she searched for a well, instead she heard a waterfall. With the light she followed the sound until she could make it out. A waterfall which fell into a wading pool, which led to a river.

Without thought she started to take off her clothes until she was completely naked and walked carefully into the icy water. The coldness of the water was revitalizing. She dipped under washing her hands and face and swimming in the moonlight.
 
Xavier monitored the hiring of Raven's new employees with the same interest he had with every person he'd had a hand in including in one of Katherine's descendents lives. With the help he'd provided - as well as the prospects he'd sent, unbeknownst to Raven - the hiring was complete within a few days. This situation was satisfactory to him. He was confident the people would do the job with the utmost efficiency and trustworthiness.

While this was going on, he further watched with great interest her developing plans for a trip to the land of her - and his - ancestors.

As she had arrangements made for her flight, he did the same. His were slightly more complicated, but promised to be somewhat more comfortable than most air travel was for the common person, be they first class or no.

The day of the flight, he climbed into a specially-built casket - the only true stereotypical affectation of his condition he ever utilized, and one he used only in situations like this - and allowed himself to be taken to the airport and shipped as if he were a body being returned to its homeland for burial. Given the regulations for such things, he knew he would be treated extremely carefully, and would with certainty arrive at the proper destination.

Xavier then willed himself to sleep.

When he awoke, it was in the Great Room of the Earl's manor, the home in which Katherine had lived when Xavier - at that time bearing a different name than the one he wore currently - returned from a long journey a far, far different man, if man he could be called.

He cursed the people who had placed him in the Great Room, for while the sun was indeed setting, there was a shaft from a slightly parted window drape that cut right across the lid of his traveling abode. While it would not have been enough to cause serious harm, and his clothing would have shielded him from its affects, it was an annoyance that he would rather not have to contend with, for even a temporary sunlight burn would heal at a speed only a quarter or so the normal rapidity with which he recovered from common injuries.

As it was, the light didn't actually strike him directly, so the danger was small. Still, he liked to avoid potential threats to his being when possible, even if there were generally few things that could permanently damage him,

The manor was spotless, as Xavier had set up retainers to keep the place in relatively good repair, and had it inspected every six months or so. He had those same people check in on the cottage, but previous experience had told him they tended to get to the out-of-the-way place with far less frequency than they did the grand manor, which was far more easily accessed.

A check of the rooms showed that Raven had not been to the manor. She had more than likely taken a room at a hotel. It was not unexpected.

Xavier picked up his mode of travel and carried it to the cellar, where he placed it carefully on a table, then pulled open a door which was fronted by a large wine rack. Behind that was a room.

Katherine had found the room one day before Xavier had returned from his life-altering journey. She had told him that it appeared her husband had no knowledge of the place. With the age of the house, she suspected that the room had been added when Cromwell and his roundheads were running loose on the land, as a safe hiding place from their insanity.

Regardless why it was there, it was large and comfortable, and once the door was closed, there was no indication from the outside that it was even there.

Katherine had made it the place for her Library. Xavier found it humorous and ironic that she put the repository of all her research right under her husband's nose, knowing that if he had any inkling of what she was researching, and what that research yielded, he would have gone on a crusade to wipe out any and all of Xavier's kind, wherever in the world they resided. And Xavier further knew where the Earl would have begun that crusade...

When the sun was well below the horizon, Xavier decided to see the cottage... The cottage that was his home for those years when he still drew breath and where he first fell in love with Katherine.

With his preternatural abilities, Xavier was at the cottage in minutes, even without a motor vehicle. He stopped abruptly when he saw a thin wisp of smoke rising from the chimney, however. There were a couple possibilities to this: either the caretaker had come out, had spent too long and decided to stay the night rather than brave what cow track there was for a road this far into the countryside, or Raven had stopped here first, instead of the manor.

The cottage bore few windows, as many of the small country homes did. Far easier to keep out winter winds if there were as few places for it to enter as possible, especially since generally only the richest folk could afford more than a single pane of glass. Xavier still remembered how proud his father was of those windows. He still remembered how warm and comfortable it could be, even when the rains came down and the cold winds slashed down the hills.

He went around the back, where Katherine's grave still stood, as he'd left it centuries past. If he still had tears to cry, he'd have shed them for her, even so long after her departure. He'd have wept both for her, and for his guilt at not having been able to join her in whatever place she now resided. For although the day of his death killed any views on an almighty, Xavier was convinced that his Katherine had not spent eternity moldering in the earth.

A few feet away were where he'd buried his parents and his little sister. His mother had died of what Xavier was convinced had been pneumonia, though the affliction had not been named at the time. She had gone shortly after his return, an event that caused anguish even in his dead, dessicated heart. His father lasted a few more years. The tinges of grey were beginning in his hair when he had been gored by a cow. Normally docile animals, when one got angry, it was best to stay out of its way. Xavier had killed the beast with his bare hands once the sun went down that day.

Xavier's sister had come to be married, but her husband got an arm caught in a mill stone drive gear and died from loss of blood, leaving her eight months pregnant. She bore the tragedy bravely, with the knowledge that she would have a reminder of him with the child she carried. When the baby came, he was a fine, strong-seeming lad. However, within months, he was gone. There appeared no explanation, he just stopped breathing one day. The birth had left her weak, and she never seemed to regain her prior strength. Once her son was gone, she lost her will to live, and within a week, she was gone to join him.

Reflecting on all this, Xavier chuckled at how modern sensibilities would say his life had been plagued by tragedy. However, it was just the way life was at that time. There were no guarantees, and even the most careful of people could be taken at any time. Some nowadays would say it wasn't fair, but life has never been fair. Life is generally a fight against odds we are all losing. A great deal of luck is also involved, and only the luckiest get through the hardships life places in their way relatively unscathed, but most importantly, alive and able to challenge the next obstacle when it comes.

The wooden markers that had been placed at his parents', sister's and young, young nephew's graves were long gone, the climate having decomposed them oh, so many years ago. Xavier determined that he would place real markers for them on this visit. Stone from the hillside a few miles away would be perfect. It wouldn't take a lot to scribe names in it, and would last over the centuries, just as Katherine's had.

Turning back to the cottage, Xavier sniffed the air. Amid the acrid scent of burning wood, he detected a hint of Raven, as he suspected he would.

It would be necessary to get inside to make sure Raven was okay. However, with what he was capable of now, that shouldn't be extremely difficult.

There was only one door. As with the windows, the fewer places for the cold, damp wind to get in, the better. It also made the house more defensible if necessary.

Stepping up to the door, Xavier used his nose and ears to determine Raven's location inside the house. However, he found her to not be inside. a quick scan bore this out.

Putting nose to the air once again, he followed her scent until it grew stronger. As he approached the river and detected the crash of the fall, and there he found her scent strongest. When he found her clothes along the bank, he knew she wouldn't be far away.

Here was a myth about his kind and their weaknesses. Running water. It was strange how some of these things came to be. It made him muse on something he'd watched on a television program - something he did seldom, but being generally immortal, it was good to keep abreast of the world, including popular culture - and it regarded his kind and some of the legends surrounding them. Appearance in mirrors was one he had never understood. If he had a physical being, it would certainly reflect in a mirror, unless there was some enchantment placed on the glass. He'd encountered one of those once. Quite unsettling. Crosses and other religious icons were deterring only if the bearer had strong, truly unquestioning belief. As the years went on, and humans gods became more and more material, that had become far less of a threat. Garlic just made the user's blood taste bad. Sort of like putting water in fruit juice, or letting the ice melt in a drink. Just thinned it out and ruined the flavor.

No, the primary dangers for his kind were still the primary ones folks knew about: Sunlight, decapitation, a stake to the heart and excessive amounts of flame.

Raven's scent was masked, so she must have been in the water somewhere, and sure enough, that's where Xavier found her, bobbing there, enjoying the cold English stream. When she found a place to stand under the cascade of the fall, Xavier gasped quietly. Not only did Raven's face resemble Katherine's, but the rest of her body did, too.

Xavier knew every curve revealed before him already, yet that familiarity was no less welcome, nor did it cause any less of a reaction.

Though his heart no longer beat behind his breastbone, the sight before him caused such a yearning in his body, it was nearly impossible to ignore. His cock swelled, and he almost stepped out into the open, where Raven would see him, but he managed to stay back, for fear of her reaction to seeing him there, particularly given her current state of dress, and their present location on the globe. It would be strange enough for him to appear in England at the same time she was there, but even moreso for him to be in precisely the spot she was at this point in time.

However, if she was here, it was likely she had read the letter her grandfather had written. Yes, he knew of the letter and what it revealed. He was just unsure of Raven's reaction to it, and what she might think if he appeared now, so far from where she perceived as home.

He was tempted to just step out in the open and see what her reaction would be, but refrained. After considering what he may have done with the flowers he had sent, he thought it best to hold back.

He would give her one evening alone here in the land of their ancestors, the land of his birth, so many years ago. It would be more difficult, tracing her movements here, where his network was less established, but he had little doubt that he could manage. Perhaps he could call upon one of the others of his kind for help. Such help would not come without a price, and it was certain his motives for being so far from his usual realm would be questioned, even considering his origins. Still, he would consider it, should the need arise.

For the moment, he simply sat out of sight in the dark, watching the incredibly alluring body before him, biding his time...
 
His presence at her grave site had drawn her back. Still he mourned her after all these years. The strength of their love had overcome the ethereal laws and rules. She let her presence linger in the air as she floated slowly to him. Her somewhat transparent form glided with a grace that she had held in the world they once shared. Approaching him, it was obvious he was taken back. In all of the centuries past she had not made the journey.

Once in front of him her form solidified slightly, giving him a view of what she was in his memories. The young beauty he'd loved with a fierce passion. "Xander" she whispered lightly as her hand glided lightly over his cheek in attempt to wipe a strand of hair from his face. The hair responded my simply wavering as if the wind had blown it.

Full of the same deep love and passion she had held for him she smiled at him. "It has been a long time since you've visited my grave. Yet your love for me pulled me through. She turned to see her image under the waterfall. "poor girl" she whispered with much empathy. "Her mind is confused between the reality and the world she knows. Though she found you so charming, you fumbled it seems. Laughing softly she punched him in the shoulder, or at least the motion was made. The familiarity between the two of them was a bond closer then most would ever experience.
 
As Xavier admired Raven's nude form beneath the cascading water, highlighted by the silver glow of the moon, his thoughts began to wander, back to a time long before this, and a woman whose form he enjoyed far, far too late.

Raven resembled his Katherine uncannily, but as much as he wished, he knew they were not the same woman. A yearning began in the pit of his lifeless heart, a desire that surpassed the fact that that particular muscle had ceased keeping him alive oh, so many years past. The fact that he no longer lived in any normal manner could do nothing for the love he still held for Katherine, so that organ could not possibly be the true seat of such emotions. The fact that he was here, where they both began, just made those feelings stronger.

Before long, he no longer saw the woman before him. Instead, his gaze had turned inward, remembering the woman whose final rest lay mere feet from where he stood.

Xavier had never understood whether his sharp recollection of Katherine was a blessing or a curse. Still, when he needed more than Anissa could offer, he retreated into his memories, and while they sent an ache through him that his near-immortality only intensified, somewhere in the pain, he found comfort.

So deep was he in his reverie that he barely noticed the apparition until it was mere feet in front of him. Ghosts were nothing new to him. His transition into the land of the dead had opened his eyes to worlds mortals hinted at, but could not fully understand. That lack of understanding therefore made them superstitious and resulted in wildly inaccurate representations of the world beyond the one they knew.

When the vague outline took more definite form, he gasped. If he had tears to shed, it was quite possible they would have fallen at the recognition. This was the first he'd seen of Katherine in nearly two centuries. That she was mere wisps, brought to vague substance by his intense feelings was irrelevant. It was her, without a doubt.

The loving smile he'd known many times before was on her face, and when she spoke the name he'd worn when he had lived, that he had given up long ago, he almost rushed to her and threw his arms around her.

However, this was impossible. While he was capable of making dreadful blunders, even after so long - the flowers he sent to Raven were an example - he knew that while he had brought Katherine to form by his thoughts and desire, he knew she held no physicality, and therefore, they would be unable to feel each other's embrace. Still, he couldn't tell whether it was his imagination, or if the form she took had some tiny bit of the physical, but when she reached out and touched his cheek, he believed he felt the slightest change in the temperature and humidity on his skin. It was the first contact of any kind he'd had with Katherine since her death, and that merest hint of touch from her sent a shudder through Xavier's body.

"It has been a long time since you've visited my grave, Xander. Yet your love for me pulled me through the veil and back, however briefly. "

Her voice melted his long-dead heart. He desperately wished to draw Katherine into his arms, feel her form against his once more. However, he knew it was not to be. Her ethereal presence would have to suffice.

"I never stopped loving you. Katherine. If my death had affected those feelings, I wouldn't have returned, even then."

He had left her when they were, oh, so young. It had been necessary, though undesired. There was a shipwreck, then a woman... a woman who was ever so much more than any woman he'd ever met before. She was not Katherine, but he had all but given up on the possibility of ever seeing her again. That despairing thought ever on his mind, he let this woman into his life. She was mysterious, confident, alluring. He found himself unable to resist her charms.

When he awoke, he was different. He hesitated to even think of what he was. He seldom said the word, choosing instead to think of himself as "cursed." Even amidst any self-confidence his condition afforded, there was in him a self-loathing for what he had become. Time and again, he had considered simply sitting out and watching the sun rise, especially in the early days. He found himself sorely missing the sun, but that formerly life-giving orb now spelled his death. It was one of many highly regretful things his condition had necessitated on him. He had gained much, but had lost so much more.

One of the most regretful things was that he had lost the ability to father children. He could still feel and enjoy the pleasures of the flesh - in fact, such experiences were much more pleasurable than before - but the only way to further his line was to choose a stranger and make them into what he was.

Eventually, he returned to the place he had started. Everyone there had gotten older, but he still looked the age he had been when his heart had last beat, only some ten or so years after he left those he loved. His parents were dead, his sister looked far older than the passed years should have done.

Katherine had moved on, too. She had waited as long as she could bear, then, due to having heard nothing from him for far too many years, she married another. Like him, she had not forgotten the love of her life, whether he lived or died. The marriage she had taken was for little more than the ability to further her own family's line.

When Katherine learned what he had become, she briefly rejected it, but her love for him brought a slow acceptance, until she saw him as the man she had loved before.

Her husband was not a particularly good man, but he was rich, he was powerful, and he was capable of fathering children. For years, Katherine and Alexander carried on an affair beneath her husband, the Earl's, nose.

Eventually, the Earl died, then Katherine. Her children went on to live their lives. Several decades after the Earl and Katherine's deaths, Xander bought the land his family's and hers had worked, as well as the huge manor - nearly a castle - the Earl had lived in. One thing his condition had afforded was the ability to be able to plan far into the future, and when he procured the last piece of the Earl's land, he was finally satisfied - at least on that ground.

He kept records of Katherine's ancestors - likely far better than they kept them themselves - for he felt that, if not for what he was, they could have been his. Regardless, he felt beholden to them, primarily because keeping track of them kept him in contact with her.

The years had gone on. Katherine's heirs came and went. The years dulled the feelings somewhat, but his death had made strong feelings stronger. Therefore, his love for Katherine never dissipated all that much. Seeing her last heir, and having that woman look so intensely like her forebear made the strength of those feelings simply flare brighter. He knew Raven wasn't Katherine reincarnated - the way she acted was proof of that - but there was enough of Katherine in her that it wasn't too long a draw to make that conclusion.

"Poor girl," Katherine's spirit whispered in regard to the beautiful young woman standing beneath the water's cascade. The words yanked Xavier's thoughts back from inside. He turned his attention back to Raven and the moonlight highlighting the wet curves of her body.

"Her mind is confused between reality and the world she knows." Katherine continued. "She found you so charming, but you fumbled, it seems."

Looking back at Katherine, Xavier saw a wry smile on her face. Of all the people he knew, she had been the only person who would tell him exactly what she thought, particularly when he'd made a mistake. Few people could speak so to him, especially after he returned home. They had always shared a bond that no one else knew or understood.

"I know," Xavier said. "I'm sure she has read the letter her grandfather wrote, telling her everything. However, I don't know that she fully understands or wants to believe. She's still merely a mortal, after all, and creatures like you and me are only the stuff of legend and fairy tales for her."

If blood still coursed through his veins, he would have blushed at the latter part of her statement. "And you're right. I made a colossal blunder. Even as long as I've lived, there are times I'm still the blind, obtuse young man I ever was. Her flowers confounded me, and in my own confusion, I sent a message that was vastly incomplete, and horribly misconstrued, because of its incompleteness." He remembered how businesslike and terse Raven was when she called to ask for assistance in hiring new employees. It was so unlike the woman she had been the day before. He wasn't sure where he wished to take Raven. He still possessed the same limitations he had when Katherine was alive, so what could he offer, besides companionship and a lifetime of sins of the physical?

"I'm unsure how to make amends for my mistake," he continued. "Raven is so unlike you. She seems to have known little more than isolation and mistrust most of her life. It appears to have become who she is.

"Also, I'm afraid of her reaction, seeing me here, so far from home, at precisely the same time she happens to be here."
 
"I'm unsure how to make amends for my mistake," he continued. "Raven is so unlike you. She seems to have known little more than isolation and mistrust most of her life. It appears to have become who she is."

"Also, I'm afraid of her reaction, seeing me here, so far from home, at precisely the same time she happens to be here."


Katherine listened as Xander spoke what came from his mind. "When we were young if i took ill, you would bring me wildflowers everyday. If you had been blundered so colossally, which..lets face it you did let your temper and sense get lost on a few occasions. You would take the size of your error and do something of equal size to woo me." She laughed softly remembering. "Do you remember Old Flannerys barn? You had heard Jacob Carpenter kissed me and ye wouldn't let me explain. The next day when you saw his black eye and splinted wrist. From where i beat the crap out of him for daring to kiss Alexander O'Connors girl. Then ye needed to find a way to apologize. With White wash you wrote on his roof in the dead of the night. 'AO hearts KC even when he's an arse" Your pa was proud of ya for standing up and being a man, and had promised Mr. Flannery ye would get a good whipping. But your ma and pa they just laughed every time they tried to talk about it." She smiled and laughed a bit more at the memory.

"My point Xander is no woman could resist the wooing charms of Alexander O'Connor. That is still part of who you are. That is the part of you that is drawn to my line. Destiny is trying to right the wrong that was done to you. I had my natural life with you my love. It was my choice to not make it an eternity. Fate had dealt me a family, which together we loved as if it was ours. For it was as close as it could be. But her Xander" she said motioning with a wisp of her arm.

"She will fight that first moment she saw you. That instant connection that is had. Remember that moment when ye first saw me and knew. Even though ye had known me all my life. There was that one moment that you knew. Part of isolation is living in a world of fairytales. She's caught up in the romance that was of us. She needs her own story. Take her away to a place she can not run. confront her with the truth of all that is. Prove your worth to her with gestures not jewels." She motioned her elbowing of him forgetting her ethereal state.

Turning back to him she whispered "follow me" Wrapping her white wispy fingers through his they slowly walked to her grave. "Never a moment did i doubt our love. Despite our obstacles our love and our life were true." She gave it a moment for her words to seep into his mind. Knowing him to be thick headed. "Once upon a time there was Alexander and Katherine. Many laughs and tears. Many touches and intimacy of a closeness, some people seek a life time to find. Their story, our story is over now. It is time for Xavier to create a story. You will never replace me, and you will never forget me. But you will honor our love by living again. So get off your Arse Alexander, let go of yesterday and look to tomorrow."Smiling she brought her ethereal lips to his.

"Goodbye and thank you for giving me my own story and memories. I will love you till the end of time." Her fingers again traced his cheekbone and a finger went over his. For a moment a brief moment he could feel her as she had once been in his arms. Then she was gone. Katherine had come back to tell him to let go. She had come back to remind him of who he was.

Raven reluctantly got out of the water and dressed The chill in the air caused her to shiver. Gripping the oil lamp she hurried back up toward the cabin. A movement caught her eye. Shining the light she questioned what her eyes held. "Xavier? What are you doing out here?" Her tone was of shock and alarming. But also of a bit of relief, at least it was him and not a robber. But what could he possibly be doing out her? over here?
 
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Xavier listened. He'd learned better than to interrupt Katherine when she was lecturing him. Besides, what she told him was true. He was capable of making a gargantuan fool of himself. More than two-hundred years had done little to change that. Maybe it didn't happen quite as often as it did when Katherine had been alive and his heart had beat hot and hard, but it still did happen.

The episode with Raven and the flowers was most definitely one of those times. When he was unable to decipher the meaning in the gift she had sent him - if there had been meaning in it at all - he should have left well enough alone and thanked her by mail or in person then next time she arrived at the casino.

Katherine was right - she most always was - he needed to devise a way to make amends, if he was to find entrance into Raven's life. Of course, the first question would have to be: did he truly want to be a part of Raven's life? Did his meddling in it so far - and he had to admit to himself, his manipulation of events about and around the woman were definitely that - mean he wanted her like he'd wanted her ancestor, or was it merely her resemblance to the woman he'd loved so very long ago that caused him to react the way he did?

As Katherine released him from any supposed responsibility he felt he owed her, he wanted to feel that a weight had lifted from him. However, with the loss of one weight, another was laid upon him: the burden of fixing whatever relationship may be birthing between Raven and him, and doing what he could to make it grow.

A question that occurred was: would Raven want to have children? It was one of the great regrets between Katherine and him, that somewhere in her lineage, there couldn't have been a drop of his own blood. What would they do if Raven desired to reproduce?

He swept that question aside. There would be plenty of time to contemplate such things, when the question arose naturally.

When the ethereal, but still oh-so-real, Katherine reached out and touched him one final time, he wished he could sweep her into his arms and kiss her long and hard, to illustrate how much he missed her; how much his love still burned for her, though his heart remained dead; how much meaning seeing her again, even in this state, held for him.

He wished he had a tear to shed when his ghostly love dissipated into the air, leaving him with a clean slate on one hand, but a very messy one on the other. Though he knew nothing but her bones lay beneath the stone bearing her name, he kissed his fingers, then laid them against the engraved stone.

"Thank you, my love," he whispered to the stars, knowing that somewhere, she heard him.

So lost was he in his encounter with Katherine, he was unaware of a lantern bobbing in the darkness on its way toward him.

"Xavier? What are you doing out here?" Raven gasped in surprise, wrenching him from what had just happened and what it meant.

Spinning toward her voice, he saw that she had dressed once more, her hair damp and falling in a tangled, sensual mass down one shoulder. The lantern she held had been his father's, fixed so it would work after a century of neglect. Though her body language registered relief that it was he and not a potentially dangerous stranger, the confusion on her face told him that she, indeed, wondered why he was here, so far away from what she considered his home and where he belonged.

"Hello, Raven," Xavier said quietly. He smiled a half-smile, realizing he wasn't exactly sure how to proceed. It had been a very, very long time since he had had to make the acquaintance of a woman whom he intended to woo.

The English night was settling in, and with it the damp and cool. He watched as Raven shivered a little, her wet hair helping chill her.

Holding out a hand, Xavier offered, "Come. Let's go inside where it's warmer."

To his relief, she hesitated only a moment before placing her small, cool hand in his. With a final caress to Katherine's headstone, he led Raven back into the home he had known when he was Alexander.

Inside, he placed a chair near the fire, draped a quilt over it and offered for her to sit. When she readily complied, he wrapped her firmly so that she could get warm.

Taking the kettle from the fire, he found a packet of tea and brewed Raven a cup. When she held it gratefully between her hands, he sat on a stool before her and said:

"I want to apologize. I realize I may have sent a poor message to you after our night on the roof." It astounded him that, after so much time, he was still capable of becoming a blathering idiot when trying to speak to a woman - well, at least a woman he didn't plan to dine on: those he simply mesmerized.

"I'd like the opportunity to make amends, if I may. I'm not sure what that may entail, but I would like to start, if not from the beginning, then from the part where we had dinner in the garden and stargazing on the roof, and skip over everything between that time and our meeting here."
 
"Hello, Raven," Xavier said quietly. He smiled a half-smile. His smile seemingly made her knees go weak for a moment. Even in the dead of night he made her heart beat faster. ‘Silly girl’ she told herself again. Her hand lightly scooped back her hair in shyness.

Like the gentlemen he was he held out his hand and spoke again "Come. Let's go inside where it's warmer."

She hesitated a moment and gave in to what felt like a natural gesture and took his hand. His hand wasn't warm as she expected but perhaps she was simply too cold from her swim.

In any other circumstance she should have been nervous going into a cabin, out in the middle of nowhere, in a foreign country with a man she hardly knew. But the way his presence affected her removed all common sense from play.
Instead she found herself enchanted by his take charge attitude, the way he motioned her to a chair and wrapped her up in a quilt, to making a cup of tea for her. Her eyes danced as she watched him.

With the cup in her hands he scooted a stool before her and sat upon it beginning to speak.
"I want to apologize. I realize I may have sent a poor message to you after our night on the roof."
he continued before she could interrupt.

"I'd like the opportunity to make amends, if I may. I'm not sure what that may entail, but I would like to start, if not from the beginning, then from the part where we had dinner in the garden and stargazing on the roof, and skip over everything between that time and our meeting here."

She blushed at her own stupid presumption being revisited. “Honestly Xaver you have nothing to apologize for. You were the perfect host, I couldn't have asked for better service. I truly appreciate the effort you put forth in making me feel at home in your hotel.” She smiled softly. “If anything I owe you more thanks for your assistance with my business affairs. You went above and beyond the call of acquaintance obligation. Going as far as to send your own team over to assist me. I can never repay you enough.”
Her eyes looked down as she sipped her tea with both hands tightly grasped around her cup. “certainly that can’t be why you came so far? “ she questioned softly. “To offer me an apology when none is required?, how is it you happened to find me? And why did you look so sad at my ancestor’s gravestone? Or were you simply reacting to the poor condition it’s in? I do plan on having something done special for her.” She smiled softly before speaking again.

“There seems to be quite the family secret I've discovered, she had an affair with her first love. This was their cabin. It seems to be all that I have left of my heritage. I am thinking of having this cabin refurbished keeping all the details the same. I thought perhaps a special tomb could be created for her, and I would surround it with some of the relics I found left from their love. It’s really quite romantic and tragic. But an epic tale none the less.”

Raven seemed to go off in her own little world for a moment while she thought of the grand tribute she could make for her. Then she looked back up to Xavier.

“Why are you here?” she questioned again with more confusion.
 
When he finally gave Raven a chance to speak, she did so in terms that indicated a distance from any feelings that may have begun to arise from their brief encounter at the casino.

When she inquired as to how he knew where she'd be, he hesitated. Their acquaintance was little more than platonic, though given his release by his long-dead Katherine's ghost, he felt a longing to try to determine what potential relationship could grow, if any.

However, admission of how he came to be here, of all places in the world, at exactly the same time as she, might be more information than she could handle.

And her question regarding his reaction at Katherine's grave might help explain the flowers he'd sent, but it would also bring to light a lot of things that Raven may not care to acknowledge.

Nevertheless, Raven, for all her isolation, was not a stupid woman. Like so many humans, she was capable of blinding herself to the truth, but if she had made the journey here, to this particular place, it was likely she had found the hidden library in her grandfather's house. Xavier knew of the letter her grandfather had penned, confessing everything. He had, in fact, helped the old man compose that letter, knowing that the confessions contained within would either help or hinder his cause.

The truth, or a carefully fabricated lie? Did he have any stories prepared that would be satisfactory both now, as well as later, when Raven did actually learn the truth?

Xavier's nature told him to lie. It was what he had been for so many years. It have for quite some time assured his survival. He had the ability to manipulate Raven so that the lie would be come her truth, and could do so again, when her feeling of betrayal bubbled to the surface when she found out the real truth, and it flew against the lie she had become convinced was reality.

It would be easy. He had done it so many times over the years, to male and female alike. A single touch, innocent as could be, against bare, warm flesh, and that would be enough. He had touched Raven several times since they had spoken, but his intent had never been to bend her to his will. All it would take would be to change that intent, and it would be over.

But he didn't want her that way. While it had proven advantageous in the past - at times entirely necessary - to survive, this one woman, he wanted to give herself of her own free will.

Finally, he realized he had no stories to tell. Though they barely knew one another, though Xavier had no idea how Raven would react, he hoped she would prove as accepting as most of her other ancestors to whom he had revealed himself.

If his heart still beat, it would have been pounding, as he took a breath and began:

"His name was Alexander Collins. He was a local farm boy that lived across the fields..."
 
"yes it was" she replied a little astonished but even more so intrigued as how he could know of the tale. "how are you aware of such details? Did you grow up around here, was it a tale that people told?"

She had a lot of questions and she was beaming with eagerness to know. It was always easier living vicariously through others then it was through ones own life. Why not allow herself to get wrapped up in the marvels of what was.
 
Xavier smiled, but not necessarily with relief at Raven's question. This reaction told him that she believed not a word of the letter he had dictated to her grandfather. If he had been in the mind to hide the truth from her, it would have been the perfect occasion to fabricate a story.

However, he had decided that she must know the truth. It was her birthright, as much as any of these lands or the holdings she possessed in the U.S. Nevertheless, he felt it necessary for her to piece the truth together with coaxing...

"Yes, I did grow up here. I've lived many places since those days, spoken many languages, known many people.

"And, no, the story was not widely known. In fact, the only person who knew is buried behind the house."
 
Her eyes squinted at him with confusion as he let his words seep in. "You're not trying to tell me that you're AC are you? Because that would make you hundreds of years old, thats almost as silly as my grandfathers claim of vampires existing." She giggled a little as she said it, but the look upon his statuesque features did not seem amused at all.

"Oh you've got to be joking!" she exclaimed with disbelief and annoyance. This wasn't possible, why did this guy that seemed perfect have to turn out to be riding the short bus of common sense.
"Oh come on" she exclaimed again with a little less conviction.

In the whole racing of her mind and outbursts he sat calmly and said nothing.
"You're suppose to tell me you're kidding..." she exclaimed as tears started to come to her eyes.
 
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