Kane's Desire

Kane walked through the darkened path seeking what he wanted and
needed the most. His whole life had been in darkness from the time he's
lost his mother in a fire. It was the same fire that had scarred the
flesh on his face. It was the same fire that had consumed his soul and
made him only a shell of a man.

His black eyes, behind the mask he wore to hide his scars, pooled with
tears as he walked alone in the woods. He grew weary of being alone, of
leading his sad, solitary existence. He wanted to feel alive again. He
wanted to experience pleasure and happiness again. Only one woman could
quench his desires. Only one woman had been put on the earth to heal
his wounds.

He reached her small but cozy home that was situated at the end of the
cul-de-sac. He knocked on the door and called out her name.

"Angelica."

"Kane?" The female voice reverbrated through the open screen door and
reached his ears.

The woman who had appeared in the foyer did not seem surprised to see a
seven foot tall, immensely muscled masked man at her door. She smiled
at him and it was her smile that warmed the icy interior of Kane's
soul.

She allowed him into her home and Kane was gratified to see that she
had dressed to please him, as if she'd been expecting him. She wore a
long, black body hugging dress with off the shoulder sleeves. Her raven
colored hair was piled high on her head. Her black eyes were framed by
incredibly, long, thick lashes. Although she wore black stiletto heels
on her feet, the top of her head still only reached to Kane's broad
chest. Her skin was like alabaster, smooth and flawless. She was the
most beautiful and exotic woman he had ever laid his eyes on. But like
himself, Angelica was an outcast. Her misery was much different from
his own. Only recently, she had become a female vampire, a member of
the undead.

"Kane, I thought you might come. But you must leave. I was going to
feed soon. I cannot bear for you to witness it. I cannot take this urge
inside of me any longer." She suddenly began to cry and Kane took her
into his powerful arms.

"Do not cry." He whispered to her. "I will give you the sustenance you
need." He rolled up his sleeve and offered his wrist to her.

"No! No! I won't!" She pulled away from him. "I would rather starve
then drink of your blood!"

"Make me a vampire so that we may become one. If I am to become a
vampire, I will stay young forever with you. My scars will heal. I will
not be a monster anymore."

"You are not a monster. I am. I am a vampire."

"But you are not a full vampire yet. You only recently received the
mark of the vampire. You can still change. You can still have feelings
and weep real tears. If you drink the blood of someone who truly loves
you, then either you will become fully human again or that person will
become the undead with you. And you must know that I truly love you.
You must know that. I am willing to go through this if it means that we
can be together."

She looked up into his eyes. "I won't risk it. I cannot take the chance
of turning you into my kind. I could not live with myself if that were
to happen. It is because I love you too. Oh, I should just have you put
a stake through my heart and be done with it."

He grabbed her and shook her. "Do not talk that way! I know that you
love me, Angelica. You have been the only one to see past my scars to
the man inside. We must consummate our love. Drink of my blood. One of
us will change tonight. Isn't our love worth it?" he held his wrist out
to her again. "My blood awaits. See how it runs through my veins, hot
and salty, throbbing through my entire body?"

Angelica fought the urge to bite his wrist as her fangs grew before his
eyes.

"That's right." He coaxed. "Taste of my blood. Drink of its
nourishment. You know you want it. I love you. I don't care what
happens. Change me, as long as we're together."

"No! No!" She turned and ran from him.

Kane caught her and grabbed her arm. "Take my blood, Angelica.
Now!"

Overcome with hunger, she grabbed his wrist and bit down on his tender
flesh. She drank greedily of his blood, savoring every precious drop.
She filled herself up with the metallic taste of his lifeblood. When
she drank of her fill, she cried out in horror and shame of what she
had done. Kane caught her in his arms as she fell over in a faint. He
took her to the couch and gently laid her down.

He sat next to her, waiting for one of them to change. Suddenly, the
open wound on his wrist began to close up. He felt the flesh on his
face begin to change under his mask. He went to the mirror that hung on
the wall in the foyer and ripped off his mask. He cried out as his
flesh was scarred no more. His fingers gently touched his now smooth,
perfect skin. He could not believe what he was seeing.

He went back to Angelica and watched in fascination as her fangs slowly
disappeared. The blood from his wound that had been on her mouth now
melted away. He looked at her neck to where the mark of the vampire had
been and that was gone as well. Her once pale face now grew pink and
alive with color.

"Angelica!" He gently shook her, trying to wake her. "We are both
changed!"

She opened her dark eyes. "Kane. What happened?" She reached up to
touch his handsome face. "Your scars. They're gone."

He reached down to kiss her lips. "We have both changed! Your fangs are
gone! The mark of the vampire has disappeared as well."

She sat up and then went to the mirror. She examined herself closely.
"I have changed! I am human again!" She threw her arms around him. "We
are both...normal again."

"We must celebrate this occassion, my darling. What would you like to
do?"

She grinned at him. "I want to eat real food again. I want to eat bread
with acres and acres of garlic on it."

"Garlic? Then you must surely be cured."

"But before I do that, I think we should consummate our love. Don't you
agree?"

"I think that is a very good idea." He put his arms around her and
pulled her close to him. "And I think I should kiss you madly and
passionately before you get anywhere near that garlic." He smiled at
her and then picked her up in his arms. He carried her upstairs to the
bedroom and laid her down on the bed.

Kane knew then that they had both finally found peace in the love that
they had for one another.