WELCOME

[auroria ceylinn baslayan]

The cobblestone street looked just as it did every day, the gray stone shapes dirty and dry. The sky above Auroria was dark, not a cloud in sight. A few twinkling stars could be seen lining the sky, and the crescent moon was barely visible behind a tall building. Midnight, the classic time of night where the immortal could roam the streets freely. She was one of them, though no other beings could be seen nor heard. She supposed they were lurking in the many small alleys around the city, where most spent their evenings, lurking for food. This vampire was quite different. With her dark cape draped over her head as always, she walked quietly and swiftly, enjoying her alone time. Sure, she was almost always alone, but being able to walk down the road without being pointed at or worried about the sun above her head was a relief.

Though Auroria did sometimes walk the streets during the day, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, though she got odd stares and was definitely avoided. It was usually during the very cloudy days, where she would feel comfortable enough to take off her hood and walk as a mortal. It seemed like such a long time ago that she had been turned, when it had only been about three years. Auroria remembered it like it was yesterday. Her step-father deserved what he got, she knew that, but the memory of killing him and hurting her mother so badly, even on accident, gave her a huge sense of guilt that never fully disappeared. She would love to see her mother again. But more importantly, she was desperate to find Derek. Would he accept her for who she had become?

Her thoughts went to one conversation the two had had at school several years back. Derek's mother had been killed by werewolf, which was the reason he had come to the boarding school in the first place- to rid of his grieving father. Auroria believed him, though she'd always been a bit of a skeptic. That is, of course, when the vampire attacked her and made her what she is today. Derek probably wouldn't love her anymore...And to this day, she hates herself. She despises that she has to kill the animals she once loved so much, just so that she could survive without harming humans. Because killing humans seemed...too much. A wake-up call, perhaps, of her being now. She was immortal, calling herself vegetarian. But hey, it was better than murdering another person.

Auroria had had her share of run-ins with the blood-thirsty vampires, but they pretty much ignored each other. Which was what she did with most people, mortals and immortals- avoidance, ignorance...She didn't want to have that feeling in her stomach and throat when she was near someone else, especially mortals, their blood flowing freely through their veins. If it made her go crazy, she still wouldn't kill a human. Her step-father had been a complete accident. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the saying goes. And she couldn't help herself. Plus, the world was probably better off without him. Too bad she didn't get her step-brother instead. She probably wouldn't feel as bad about that one...

So off she went, just like every other night, despite the constant strange weather changes. However the one time Auroria decides to stay in her small one-room cottage near the forest is during the full moon, though even then she can sometimes get bored and come out for a stroll. But the werewolves have always creeped her out a bit, she she avoids them more than the other vampires and mortals. Though nowadays Auroria is trying to open up a bit more, mainly to others she senses are vampires like herself. She's kind of desperate for company, though she knows who she wants. And she has yet to find him yet.

[derek christopher blake]

Derek was walking around, a hand fastly tightened to one of the knifes in a sheath attached to his arm, fitting nicely under his black jacket, but he wasn't doing so randomly. No, he barely did anything useless anymore, except a walk here and there. He didn't have the time to waste on thinking, because thinking lead to his past, which brought him back to the more unpleasant memories of death and grieving. He didn't need it, so he kept himself occupied with killing. He was currently following a vampire he'd been tracking for a few days now, though that was strange, for he rarely came in for the kill so quickly. There was plotting on maps to do, observing there habits, etc, to think about, and that took, at the very least, weeks to compile together. But this one was almost predictable. It was unusual for him, and he wanted to think that he was just getting better on this whole thing, but couldn't be it. He'd only been doing this for a couple years, even if his teacher had said he was a natural.

Maybe it was because London was just so familiar to him that he didn't have to map it out as he had the other place-he'd lived here for fifteen years, anyway. No matter how little he visited in town, walking around, he still took the time when he was younger to know where everything was. Just another attempt to occupy his time when he was a kid, and bored. Right now, he was supposed to be looking for...her killer, for the one that had ruined his chances at having any life but that of a slayer. Auroria. She'd been the one to, for lack of a better word, calm him, make him a better person. He found that her influence was still there, because he acted kinder toward other people, usually, or he just ignored them. In any case, it's better than going around and practically torturing people for his own amusement. Dammit, he was thinking again.

He blinked, and was suddenly back to the present, sensing something just up ahead. He noticed that he had stopped when he'd been drowning in his past, but he didn't remember it, and that was bad. He forced his feet to move forward, toward what he thought to be the vampire he'd been hunting these past fews days. He thought it would be coming toward him, because Derek had gone around, so he could meet it face-to-face, instead of just sneaking up on it and getting it from behind. Seemed cowardly, and this was more interesting. Make no mistake, he was still going to surprise it, he just didn't want to kill it right off the bat and make it too easy for himself.

And, just like that, he was suddenly back to when the werewolf had so easily taken his mother away from him, how easily-probably, he wasn't absolutely sure-the creature had taken Auroria from him. But, as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. He had better control over himself than this. What was wrong with him? He pushed it to the back of his mind and concentrated on just moving forward, not thinking about anything except killing thing that was now around the corner.

Derek lunged from around the wall, making as little noise as possible, but still being loud on account of he was only human. He grabbed the first thing he could come in contact with, which was the thing's neck, and slammed it against the nearest wall. He faintly wondered why it wasn't fighting back immediately, but thought better of it-don't complain with the upper head. He whispered "Got you," in one of his most deadly voices, making more hate than usual seem into the tone, because of the resent memories he'd been thinking of. He realized he couldn't see it's face, it being dark on the quiet street, and the hood over...her head. He guessed a she by her size, and the delicate state women usually looked to be in. He towered over her, though that didn't make him feel any more confident whether he was six four or five eight. The vampire had more strength than him, so it didn't matter, and he didn't care, anyway. All his thinking took places in a matter of seconds, and then he pulled out the two foot sword from the sheath running down his back, getting it as close to the thing's throat without cutting his own hand. "Don't move." He wanted to make sure it wasn't going to attack or scream before he killed it.

[auroria ceylinn baslayan]

The hand that reached out and grabbed her throat was a shock. Silly Auroria hadn't been paying attention to anything except her own thoughts, not even noticing the smell of the one trying to kill her. He should've known he was no match for her, with her new strength and agility, she could kill him easily if she had to. Though she didn't want to, not at all. Especially when she heard his voice and actually used her nose. It was him. The man she'd been searching for for the past three years. What had become of him? Her eyesight picked out his face from behind the cloak, though she knew he couldn't see her. He must be some sort of vampire killer. She was sure if he had noticed it was her he wouldn't have done such a thing. He still looked the same, though the look of sleep deprivation and determination was evident in his eyes.

But before she knew what was happening, the sword was to her throat, and Auroria stood there, still as ice. Her eyes were on the sword, tears welling up in them. He was right in front of her, after all these years of searching. Where had he been? Did he know what had happened to her? She stayed out of the city for the first year for the most part, but after a long time living in her little cottage, she ventured into the city. He probably thought she had fled the country, or...died. The tears were falling freely now, and she knew she couldn't stop them. It had been a long time since Auroria had gotten so upset, which was probably the reason for the endless stream pouring down her cheeks silently.

"It's been a while."

Her voice was low, strained, and you wouldn't have been able to tell she was crying from her tone. Words could not describe her feelings, except maybe shock and relief and sadness and happiness all at the same moment, if it was possible. More than anything she wanted to reach out and touch him, hug him, talk to him like old times. No one could understand how in love she was with him, and to have that all taken away from her killed her inside. But that emptiness that had filled her heart so terribly was gone now, replaced with a sense of accomplishment and excitement. She had finally found him. The search was over.

[derek christopher blake]

A look of confusion crossed his face, because he knew holding a vampire was only supposed to work for a few seconds-they had an upper hand in speed, strength, agility, and should protect themselves when attacked, especially a surprise. Vampires seemed touchy when were caught off guard, having to smell or hear their prey, not the other way around. So, there shouldn't have been a reason for her not to either beat on him or yank him off her. There should have been a fight, dammit. Just when Derek figured he had their natural mapped out, he had to run into one he couldn't understand immediately. Maybe it was a vegetarian vampire, one of the 'good' ones. He looked at her shadowed face, and could feeling no sympathy, or gratefulness, if this really was a vegetarian, because it just wasn't possible for a creature not to kill innocence at one point or another. She may have been feeding off animals now, but what about when she was first changed? They had no self control, practically mindless in those first days, weeks, months, depending on how strong their hunger was, or weak they were to deny that craving.

He'd picked that piece of information from both his teacher, and a couple experiences of his own as well. Oliver taught him, through both their hates, that they simply couldn't be trusted, because somewhere along the line, they'd kill someone weaker than them, a human, an animal. All creatures, vampire and werewolf alike, needed some type of sustenance-Derek just couldn't keep himself from thinking about his mother and Auroria, yet two more innocences taken because of these things. They took and destroyed lives, always. Emotion wasn't supposed to get in the way, for it could cloud your head, create mistakes for yourself that would not have happened otherwise. But he hadn't perfected the technique yet, though he was slowly getting used to it. Revenge wasn't always the best thing if you couldn't being back what you'd lost, and he had started to realize that piece by piece, with every kill. He knew he'd be empty, completely, eventually, because he was already close.

Derek had just pulled together his features together when he noticed she was...crying, because of the light reflecting off of her tears from his sword, or lantern somewhere. It forced his face back into confusion, thinking of why that could be. Death wasn't a problem with himself, he wasn't scared of it, for he didn't think about it all too often. What was so frightening about it, he couldn't answer. Maybe it wasn't death. She was so new that she didn't know her own strength, being ignorant to the fact that she could just tear him away from herself, no matter how big he seemed? Probable, but that wasn't such good for him. It meant she was new enough not to have control over herself, though that would mean she would already try to feed on him, not calculating how strong he was, being so blinded by the hunger. If this was going to be an emotional vampire, broken down, he might be in trouble, because her temper might flare. It would be an absolute nightmare to kill a weeping thing, and it would be an act of pity on his part. He didn't want to feel any type of sympathy for it, because that might lead to other things, like sparing her. He didn't want to do that.

"Why are you..." He was cut off when she suddenly spoke to him, completely memorized by the sound of her lovely voice, familiar voice. It was something she would have said if she was still in the world of the living, still with him. But she just...couldn't be, could she? Vampires hunt to kill, not to spare. Derek froze when he heard that voice, still having her throat tightly in his grasp. He hadn't grabbed at it more, he just didn't let up, he was so shocked, way beyond being coherent.

He slowly reached toward her face with the hand that was now gripping the sword so vigorously that his arm was shaking slightly, wanting to pull her hood back. He had to know if it was Auroria, if she had truly survived her attack, somehow. He couldn't let himself hope too much, or he would end up killing her in rage instead of his semi-emptiness, or go insane. Neither option was one he wanted to go through, so he held his breath to remind himself to feel as little as possible. The second her hood was pulled away enough for him to glimpse who was standing in front of him, the sword slipped out of his hand, crashing to the floor too loudly in the roaring silence that seemed to engulf him. His vision swam, making him blink his eyes furiously, trying to make her face more clear, because he didn't want her to disappear-she couldn't or he would lose it. Truly lose his mind. His face fell to one of sorrow, relief, happiness, confusion, all these emotions swimming across his expression. He let go of her throat, just about ready to cry himself.

In a choked voice, he managed "Love, you're.." but couldn't finish his sentence, not being able to comprehend if she was real or not. He'd taken her very presence for granted, everything about her, because now he looked upon her as if he'd gone too long with out his love, his life, and suddenly had it back. He touched her face gently, rubbing her cheek with his thumb, just to tell himself that she really was here, alive, safe. After three years.

[auroria ceylinn baslayan]

As soon as the hood came up, Auroria snapped back in time, his face in full view now. All the moments they had shared. Why, their meeting was a moment of torture for Auroria, Derek using his skill well. He had been sneaking around, pretending to be her wretched step-brother. But after she had realized the truth, she pushed him into the freezing ocean, following close by. Of course it didn't end well, Auroria almost getting hypothermic. And who was there to save her? Derek, getting her back to dry land and injuring himself in the process, then leaving her there after making sure she was still alive. From there, they just seemed to run into each other. It was annoying, really, though after a few run-ins where Derek had to rescue Auroria from Patrick, one could say they became friends.

One memorable occasion included cliff-climbing and a fall on Auroria's part, right ontop of him. Derek fell again, broke his leg, and Auroria had to get help. The process was long and dreary, the two landing in a deserted cave well below the cliff top. The high point of that day was the kiss, which Derek had only planted on her because he figured they would die. They didn't, obviously, but the kiss didn't go to waste. After meeting a few more times, jealousy began arising from Derek like smog as a friend flirted with Rory, and of course, she flirted back, perhaps not meaning to. Derek had obtained a glass rose, planning on giving it to Auroria, though seeing her with someone else caused pain for him, pain unknown to him. He smashed it infront of her. And then began their love relationship. Auroria realized she loved him, he loved her, it was perfect, despite the drama. This time, a group of younger fangirls, if you will, crushed on Derek and followed the couple around like wildfire. Their main goal in life was to get with him, and SHE was always in the way. Yes, one could say the two had a rough time trying to stay together...

The rose he gave her was put back together in the end, and Auroria still has it to this day, laying gracefully on her bedside table. Snapping back to reality was hard for her to do this time, and as she gazed up at her lover, all she wanted to do was to be with him forever. And now that he was found, she'd never let him go. Ever. She cringed a bit as his hand gently caressed her cheek, and a new warmth came over her, a smile forming on her pale lips. Her hand closed over his on her cheek, and she closed her eyes, letting the warmth from his hand engulf her. She nodded to his unfinished question, the tears continuing to fall.

Auroria opened her eyes then, took his hand from her cheek and held it, before walking forward and wrapping her arms around his waist. She breathed in his scent, careful not to lose control of her thirst. Thank the Lord she had fed just hours previous. She held onto him tightly, letting her warm tears stain his clothing. Nothing could have been better at that moment, nothing at all. It was her dream come true. Oh, how she wished she were mortal again. It would be so much easier for the both of them, especially if he really was a slayer of vampires. It totally figured. But at the time, Auroria just enjoyed reliving her memories, attached to his chest for the first time in three years.

[derek christopher blake]

He couldn't keep his eyes off her face, from her eyes, her cheek, everything about her seemed remarkable. No one else could ever look as she did, be as striking to him as she was in those moments of reunion. He'd thought that over the years he'd forgotten how she was, how she looked, but he was dead wrong, because he could now see all the small features about that bend to her shoulders, her hair exaggerating the curve of her face and big, round eyes. Everything stood out in fine detail, just as he had remembered, as if he'd only seen her hours before. But there were differences, he could tell-her tanned skin was now paler, though he could still imagine her normal tone, just because it fit better with her. His mind was only working on 'she's not dead', so his mind didn't click together why that could be. All he could say was that he noticed, but it didn't register as strange to him, for he would not be able to think of the why for a bit to come, while she was so suddenly in his life gain.

Derek's entire body warmed as she touched his hand, moved against his skin. It was a lost sensation. Sight was one thing, it was a much less complicated sense to hold onto for an extended period of time, while touch and scent faded. He'd missed just her, but unfortunately, she was different from before. Smell in mere humans was a weak thing compared to the other creatures of vampires and werewolves, so they could usually tell the difference between each other. But Derek could tell. As she moved in to rap herself around him, he could tell that she wasn't entirely the same as when they'd last been together. The shock of knowing she was alive melted around the edges, letting him see that she just might not be human anymore.

He awkwardly, slowly, brought his arms around to hold her in return, breathing in deeply and rubbing the back of her head over, and over. Despite her being...different, he couldn't simply ignore the fact that Auroria was Auroria, that she couldn't be like the rest. They said love was blind, that you couldn't see someone, truly see them, because you loved them, but he realized that it helped him. If she'd been any vampire, even if he had looked into her past, seen she hadn't done anything on purpose, and that she was a good person, he would have been blinded by his hate. He would have killed her anyway, just because of what she was. Seeing Auroria like this, a vampire, he couldn't help but feel a cringe of regret for at least some of his kills, though it wasn't enough to actually say it out loud. He just wouldn't be able to admit it to himself, or he would fall apart. One exception didn't make the others angels, or innocent. His points of view were being fucked with, and it had only been a few minutes since he'd known she was still alive.

Smart thing to do was to forget what she was for the moment, and remember who she was. So he did.

Derek hugged her for real, hunching over to make up for the height difference that never seemed to get in their way of being closer to each other. He heard someone saying "I didn't hurt you, I didn't hurt you," and it was him, though he didn't really know who he was trying to convince. He moved her hair out of the way, feeling over the spots were his fingers had been choking her, poking and prodding to make sure he hadn't caused too much damage. He forgot, again, that she was less breakable now, so he couldn't help but to think of her as human, that she could actually bruise because of a human. "Did I, love...?" He let the sentence trail off, not wanting to know how close he'd been to hurting her, to being ready to hurt her. If she had been hungry, she might have attacked and, if he even won, which was only probable, he wouldn't have realized who it was. It might have been too late. He pushed that to the back of his mind, remembering what Oliver had told him. If you think about what could have been, you would begin to second guess yourself and then where would you be? Dead, most likely.

Her face had been away from him so long, he just wanted to look at her all night, all day. He pulled away a little to do just that, holding her face between his hands, feeling the semi-coldness of her. It unnerved him to feel her skin be less than normal, but not enough to pull away from her, not in the least. As he looked at her, he said "I want to look at your face, Auroria." There was a smile in his voice, and he let it spread to his face, though he admitted to himself that he was out of practice, so it probably seemed at least a little forced.

[auroria ceylinn baslayan]

"I didn't hurt you, I didn't hurt you..." Derek chanted, his words mumbled and fast. If he had hurt her Auroria couldn't recall, however, on the account of that numb feeling that had quickly overwhelmed her immediately after the slayers identity had been revealed. All her thoughts contained now were memories of times before this, the times she loved most, where they were so close that nothing could tear them apart. The moments where even those evil little fangirls weren't around to break them up violently, or even that bastard Patrick. They were the sweetest moments she could conjure up, and although they were rare, they were precious and moments she would not soon forget. Auroria's cheek was beginning to dry, though the more she thought about how long it had been since they'd been together, she realized how much she missed him and the tears fell once more.

"No," she responded in a whisper, completely unaware of the fact that she was hugging someone in a deserted sidewalk at midnight. It didn't matter, the setting. Nor did it matter that any of the other vampires who laid eyes on the two would have their throats easily. Especially if Derek was a well known slayer...Auroria would be willing to put up a fight, definitely. No doubt. If anything, she'd feel much stronger now that her life goal was completed. Then there was the question, what would her new life goal be? Perhaps something to do with persuading Derek to give up his new career. Wouldn't he be delighted to do such a thing, especially after finding out she was a vampire?

He pulled away then, and her wet eyes were forced up to his own. "I want to see your face, Auroria," he said, and she smiled, unwrapping her arms and gluing her gaze to his face. He really hadn't changed much, and all she really cared about was that they were together again. They could be in the middle of a burning house and it wouldn't matter in the least. So for the moment she just looked up at him, memorizing every inch and detail of his face. His eyes, that same gray color she had grown to love. It all brought back those memories that she wished would've continued if only she hadn't been turned. Life would surely be different. Maybe they would've discussed marriage...the thought was a trigger of happiness. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Although that life would never end, and his would. The happiness faded once more.

"I've been looking for you." Auroria said, her smile returning. In fact, she had never stopped searching. Everywhere she went, her mind was on him, finding him again. The constant thought gave her confidence and the push she neeed to keep herself alive when the guilt of being a murderer threatened to turn into suicide. She knew in her heart that he was still alive out there somewhere, but she'd always wondered what he believed had happened to her. Did Derek think she had run away from him? Or maybe he believed that she had died. But how could he think that? Perhaps Patrick had gotten ahold of him and told him some stupid lie...It was possible. Damn that Patrick. He was the one good thing that came out of all of this- she never had to see him again. She hoped deep down that he would die a painful death and be sent straight to Hell.

And yeah, it would happen. Watch.

[derek christopher blake]

All that happiness was being damped by worry, that somehow he had hurt her-even if it wasn't possible for a human to do that to a vampire, he was still thinking of her as a human, not what she really was-and if he had, he couldn't just pretend it didn't happen. His carelessness had led to him choking her, the fact that he had been so fixed on killing the 'thing' that he didn't take the time to see who it was. However, he had thought she was dead...and he didn't have anyone else that was his friend, not really, other than Oliver. And he wasn't a vampire, so how could he have thought that this would be Auroria he was about to kill? He was trying to talk himself into thinking that he hadn't done anything wrong, and it wasn't working. He'd be laying awake for weeks, months thinking about it if she really was hurt, even though that was doubtful. He just couldn't seem to think 'She's a vampire' just right that moment. The shock was probably still there, clinging. His face turned back into a smile, though, when he heard that beautiful voice say "No" and he was suddenly less worried. Most people, he wouldn't have taken their word for it, but Auroria had no reason to lie on whether she was hurt or not, so he trusted her saying so.

When she looked at him with those familiar eyes, he stroked her face, wiping at the tears that were falling faster now. What could she be thinking of that would make her cry? He almost didn't get why someone would cry because they were happy, but right then, he could relate to her. He'd never felt so...lost, and he hadn't even known these three years had taken that much out of him that he would want to shed tears with it all back in his life. He was slightly confused, but he didn't let it show of his face. That semi-tight smile was still spread across his face and it felt new, but good, because he hadn't done it in so long and meant it.

He was still a little happy drunk when she told him she'd been looking for him, and guilt, regret crept in. It was irrational to think that it was all his fault, or even hers, but he felt it was his inability to protect her that started this whole catastrophe of their separation. If he'd just been there, waited for her or walked her from somewhere, something, so that she wouldn't have been alone when she was attacked. It was a thought in the back of his head that was overcome by the logic that both of them could have died...or been turned into vampires. Just one of them dead, maybe, but what happened to them didn't seem to really matter to him, as long as they were together. It sounds a bit corny, though true. "I thought...Well, Auroria, love, I thought you'd died that night and..." He let it trail off, becoming suddenly uncomfortable. One of his hands dropped from her face and stroked the smaller knife he kept at his waist, a nervous habit. "And I haven't been looking for you, but the vampire that took your life. I found you, something, of course, that is more significant, important." His hand stilled at his waist, just hanging at his side now; the other hand fell lower to spoon against her neck, curving itself there out of practice, getting more comfortable.

Interacting with a vampire with love, or even liking, was greatly frown upon in the slayer community, and one or the both of them could be killed for it, but Derek couldn't put them over her. They could protect each other, share knowledge about two different worlds of hunt and be hunted, and be content. It would work. A little adjusting, maybe, but it would work. "Love, do you know if we could head inside somewhere? Perhaps one of our places." He glanced around them, as if there was someone watching near by. And maybe there was.

{holy crap, I'm sorry. I've been forgetful and ehh, sorry again -huggle-}