Dangerous Love

by Stephanie Radcliff

  Sage wanted to ask what she meant by what she said, but didn’t dare. The vampire would tell her in time, she imagined. Pulling her hand back, she turned and looked out over the park toward the city. Silently shaking her head, she said, “I was distracted by a beautiful vampire’s wings.”

  Vayna tsked lightly as she shook her own head. A beautiful vampire’s wings? She hardly doubted that. She gently nudged her human’s shoulder as she said, “Well, a pretty little human like you shouldn’t let a big old vampire like me distract you.”

  Sage burst out laughing. Let her distract her? It wasn’t her fault that her vampire had such beautiful wings! She stuck her tongue out at Vayna before saying, “Oh, yes, because I let you distract me with your wings. And you’re quite beautiful for being an old vampire.”

  Vayna chuckled at the immature action of her human and she shook her head. It was a strange feeling for her. She hadn’t felt this young in quite a long time, if ever. She could hardly remember being this carefree in the millenniums that she was alive. Of course, there were fewer things for her to worry about in this day and age. She could easily remember the vampire scare back in the 1800’s. People went around digging up graves and staking corpses. It was rather hard for her kind back then, let alone her. People were more suspicious of their neighbors than they were now. Especially if said neighbors didn’t age. She could remember more than one torch bearing, pitchfork wielding mob chasing after her back in those days. Nowadays, humans were always looking for ways to become younger, so it wasn’t as noticeable if someone still looked young. And with her owning the whole building where she lived, it wasn’t quite as big of a deal.

  Ah… those were the days. One could have a quick nip of a local prostitute’s blood and cause mass hysteria. She generally tried to avoid causing hysteria back in those days. Usually her victim would still be up and walking around when she finished with them, none the wiser of what happened. That was one of the benefits of being a vampire. The ability to hypnotize one’s victim so they wouldn’t remember what happened to them afterwards. Of course, she didn’t have a problem finding willing donors either. With her unearthly beauty, it was quite easy to lure a willing woman into her arms. She sipped on some of the royalist blood in Europe by just using her charms, including several Pharaohs and princesses. Not that the blood tasted any better. If anything, it sometimes tasted worse than the commoner. But she wouldn’t admit that to any royal.

  The two sat on the branch in silence for almost 2 hours. A light breeze picked up and flowed through the trees, making Vayna’s hair wave in the wind. Her mind was drifting in between memories and thoughts when she felt Sage lean against her. Looking down, she smiled in amusement to see the young human almost asleep. Wrapping her arm around her waist, she murmured, “Do you remember anything?”

  Sage shook her head slightly, the warmth of the breeze and the comfort of her vampire next to her made her want to fall asleep. She truly didn’t remember anything in the time they were sitting up there. Her mind kept thinking about her vampire and what was going to happen in the future, not her past. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to remember her past. What if she forgot because something terrible happened to her, and remembering would only make things worse? She wasn’t sure she was ready to remember her past… A soft sigh escaped her as she said, “The only thing I can think about is how nice this breeze feels and how comfortable I feel with you.”

  Vayna tilted her head and pressed a soft kiss to her human’s forehead. She couldn’t explain why, but she felt happy knowing that Sage felt safe with her. She was still having a hard time trying to figure out why she was helping the human to begin with. Everything else was just confusing. Her deep desire for her, the urge to protect her, and the need to keep her close… she couldn’t explain any of that. It all just seemed so strange to her. She could hear the concert still playing and she murmured softly against the human’s skin, “Would you like to go listen to the concert?”

  “There’s a concert?” Sage asked as she fought against the tiredness she was feeling and lifted her head. Her human ears couldn’t hear the sounds of the concert from so far away, so she didn’t know that one was playing.

  Vayna could easily hear the sounds of the instruments playing and nodded her head. From what she could hear, it sounded like it was a classical music group playing. She couldn’t hear any voices, and she could swear that they were playing a Mozart piece. That man was a brilliant man, in her opinion. A little difficult to be around sometimes, but still brilliant. For someone who couldn’t hear, he certainly knew how to create some of the most complex musical pieces in existence. She looked up and out toward where the sound was coming from and said, “I think it may be the New York Orchestra playing tonight. Would you like to go listen to them?”

  Sage followed her vampire’s gaze and looked out over the trees. She strained to hear the music, but her ears just weren’t sensitive enough. She could, however, see the bright light coming from the middle of the park and she tilted her head curiously, “I don’t remember ever listening to classical music before…”

  “Then let’s go,” Vayna said as she slid off the branch, her wings catching her mere seconds after she let go. She hovered in the air in front of Sage and held out her arms as she continued, “Would you care for a ride down?”

  Sage looked down at the ground far below them and thought about how difficult it would be to climb back down. She held up her hands and winced. There were already several scratches on them from the climb up. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle the climb down. Smiling sheepishly at her vampire, she asked, “Would you mind?”

  “Of course not,” Vayna replied as she hovered close, carefully catching her human as she slipped off the branch. Because of her inhuman strength, she was able to carry Sage without even grunting. Her arm settled around the younger woman’s back as her other arm slid under her knees. With a grin, she flapped her wings hard and soared up into the air. Sage squeaked and laughed as she wrapped her arms tight around Vayna’s neck. The air rushed past them and she looked around in wonder as they soared high up into the air. By the time they came to a stop, both women could see clearly the entire city laid out for them like a bright, sleeping giant.

  Sage gasped softly as she looked out over the city, amazed by how beautiful it was from so high up. To think, if she never met Vayna she never would’ve known how beautiful New York City was from the air. Way off in the distance she could see the Statue of Liberty shinning in the harbor, her torch bright against the night sky behind her. High above them, the moon shone brightly casting a silvery glow on anything the light of the city didn’t touch. Which, unfortunately, wasn’t very much. Nonetheless, it was beautiful to see the moon floating so high up above the city. It took Sage’s breath away and she gazed around at everything with her mouth open.

  Vayna chuckled, amused by the look on her human’s face. It was an amazing sight to be sure, one she never quite got over seeing. But the true beauty before her was the creature in her arms. The wind caused her brown hair to fly behind her head, tangling it playfully with Vayna’s own hair. The sun might not like the young human very much for how she felt, but the wind loved seeing them together. Vayna sighed, gazing down at the young female in her arms.

  Sage heard the sigh and turned her head to look at Vayna. Their faces were mere inches apart and both women simply stared into each other’s eyes. Awed grey met amused blue eyes and Vayna smiled down at the woman she was holding. It was almost as if… as if they could see the world in each other’s eyes. Like all of the hopes and dreams either one of them ever even thought of was found in their eyes. Neither one of them could say what exactly they were feeling at that exact moment. Love? Vayna swore off love a long time ago, and Sage wasn’t sure she knew what liking something was, let alone loving it. And loving another person…?

  The sound of a car honking far down below them startled both of them out of their thoughts and they both burst out laughing. Vayna’s powerful wing
s beat soundlessly at the air to keep them up, and Sage was certain they were moving, even though she couldn’t feel anything. She turned her head and looked over toward the bright light where the concert was located. She could just pick out the mass of people that were there, listening. Smiling up at her vampire, she said, “Shall we go?”

  Vayna nodded her head, feeling for once in her undead life rather content. In all the years she could remember, even those with her previous loves, none of them felt more content to her. Perhaps it was because the world was changing and her preference in partners was no longer frowned upon as much. She could have an open relationship, holding hands with her lover while walking down the street, taking her out to dinner, or vowing to spend the rest of her life together with her if she wanted to. Well, that was if she was going to be open about what she was as well, and she couldn’t do that. Not just because of her own life being at stake. The humans she could deal with. There were ways of protecting herself from overzealous religious fanatics. No… it was her own kind she needed to be wary of. And being open about herself in such ways would only draw attention she didn’t want.

  She flew toward the concert before landing just out of sight of everything. Sage held onto her shoulders carefully as she retracted her wings, the pain evident on her face. It was a little easier than when she was in the tree, seeing as she wasn’t also focused on not falling. Even though she was a vampire, it still would’ve hurt. It was rather dark where they were standing, so the moonlight was able to reach them perfectly. Vayna felt a tingling in her hand and lifted it, watching as the skin on her finger reformed and reshaped itself to look perfectly normal.

  Sage stared at her vampire’s hand, amazed as the skin grew back almost as if it was never damaged to begin with. She gently grabbed Vayna’s hand and started to inspect it, looking the hurt finger over completely before looking up into laughing blue eyes. Vayna fought the urge to laugh at her human as she said, “I told you vampires healed by moonlight.”

  “But I didn’t think it’d be that quick,” Sage said. She looked back down at her vampire’s hand and shook her head. Healing by moonlight… she knew a lot about vampires, but that was not one of the things she heard about. Mumbling under her breath, she said, “I thought it would take a while.”

  “Humans are the only ones who take a while when it comes to healing,” Vayna replied as she gently gripped her human’s hand. She moved to tug Sage out of the enclosure when the young woman stopped her. She turned back around and gave her a curious look as she asked, “What is it?”

  “Well…” Sage began as she looked down at her leg curiously. She was wearing pants that weren’t easily removable, so there was no way she’d be able to check right then and there. It still made her curious, though. Looking back up into Vayna’s eyes, she said, “If the sun burned me… maybe the moon…”

  “Will heal you?” Vayna asked as she turned around fully and gazed down at her human’s leg with a confused frown. She never heard of it happening before, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. The sun burned a human being for simply being upset that it hurt her. The moon was usually kind to vampires. Perhaps that meant she’d be kind to Sage as well. She glanced up at the moon and then toward the concert. A few minutes there wouldn’t hurt, she decided. Looking down at Sage, she said, “Let’s go. We’ll listen to the concert for a few moments and then check out your leg when we get back to my apartment, okay?”

  “Okay,” Sage said with a nod and a smile. The two took off, walking the short way to the concert. Now that they were closer, the young human could easily hear what was happening. She wasn’t sure how, but her vampire managed to find a spot for them to sit and watch the concert without being too crowded.

  Vayna sat down on the ground first, drawing her human into her arms as the leaned back against a tree. It wasn’t quite as big as the one they were sitting in just moments before, but it was big enough to suit their needs. Sage snuggled back into the vampire as they watched the orchestra perform. It was entirely classical music, no vocals, no other music genres, but both women loved it. There was something soothing about the instruments blending together that just made the entire night peaceful. Vayna found herself resting her chin on her human’s shoulders as she held her close, her body for once amazingly warm from their brief flight through the night sky. She was glad for that, since she didn’t want Sage to get too cold.

  Being in her vampire’s arms, Sage didn’t feel a single bit of the cold. She wasn’t sure if that was because of whose arms she was in, or because of where she was sitting. Her lover’s normally chilled skin felt blessedly warm and cozy. She didn’t really care that they were outside where anyone could see and harass them. Even though the world was accepting same-sex relationships more and more nowadays, there were still some that hated the thought of two people of the same gender together. Sage hated those kinds of people and wondered what was seriously wrong with them. Even right at that moment, she could see a few couples give them dirty looks and it started to upset her.

  “Ignore them,” came the soothing voice of her vampire in her ear. Vayna was aware of the disgust some were showing because of them, and amusingly enough, the lust that some of those angry people were feeling. Humans were so hypocritical, she thought. There were thousands of people dying in streets homeless without food, water, or shelter, and yet they threw fits over who loved who. Love was love. Who cared if the ones involved had female genitalia or male?

  She mentally shook her head. It was rare for humans to even find love, let alone complain about it. They were lucky anyway. It was unheard of for a vampire to find their soul mate. Even if a vampire found someone they could love for the rest of eternity, once they revealed what they were… it usually didn’t work out very well. Just like she knew that whatever happened between her and Sage was likely to not work out in the end either. It never did, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy what time they had together anyway. And those jealous, angry people could just shove it where the sun didn’t shine, in her opinion. She softly kissed her human’s shoulder and whispered, “They’re just jealous that I’m getting to hold such a beautiful woman in my arms.”

  Sage giggled and blushed. Beautiful? Hardly. She was as ordinary as they came. Her brown hair was rather lifeless at that moment, and her grey eyes confused. She hardly knew who she was, so how could Vayna consider her beautiful? Now the vampire… she was a different story. Her long black hair was silky and thick, her blue eyes filled with wisdom and understanding. The two were so very different that it amazed Sage that she was even willing to waste time on such a plain human like herself.

  Vayna sighed, tired of the depressed hormones coming off of her human. Really the girl had no self worth. Appropriately, she thought, since the poor girl didn’t know who she was. But it still annoyed her that her human wasn’t considering herself as beautiful. The orchestra began to play a song and the vampire smiled. Urging Sage to stand up, she got to her feet and held out her hand as she bowed and said, “Would milady like to dance?”

  Sage held her hand over her mouth to keep her laughter quiet. She knew the vampire had a sense of humor, but she wasn’t expecting this. Curtsying low, she replied, “The lady would be honored to have this dance.”

  Vayna grinned and pulled the young woman into her arms, standing up straight in a waltz position, her one arm around her partner’s waist, the other gently grasping her hand. Slowly she began to dance, moving them both about in small circles. A few couples smiled and pointed, chattering about how cute they were. A few others left, disgusted by such a display. But what made both women smile were the couples that got up and joined them, dancing to the playing orchestra.

  Vayna stared down into happy gray eyes, a soft smile on her face as they danced. With each step, they steadily grew closer until the vampire’s arms were around her human’s waist and Sage was resting her head on the other’s shoulder. They danced together slowly, just enjoying the moment. Neither woman wanted it to end; bo
th knew they were going to be disappointed when the end came sooner than they wanted it to. But for that moment, they were content to just dance. Forgetting their worries, forgetting their cares, forgetting that they were vampire and human. Right then, it was just them, just that dance. And that was all that mattered to them.

  The song slowly began to close and both of them sighed heavily as they drew away enough to look into each other’s eyes. How they hated the moment being ruined like it was! Sage turned around in her lovers arms and watched the orchestra play. They swayed lightly as they listened to the music, relaxed and happy. It was nice, just being like this. The night was young and both women felt comfortable for the first time in quite a while.

  The concert ended not too much longer after their dance and they slowly began to make their way out of the park. The silence between them was comfortable and their hands were interlocked as they trailed behind a group of gossiping girls.

  “Say, did you hear? Café Scarab is opening back up again,” one of the girls said.

  “Really? Didn’t they just close for renovations?” another one of the group asked, her hair done up with a single paint brush keeping it in place.

  “Yeah, but they got them done early so they’re reopening tomorrow afternoon. They’re apparently having a huge party to celebrate,” the first girl responded as she nodded her head.