email: sailor_beauty15@yahoo.com rating: PG 13 title: BLOOD AND MOONLIGHT part: Introduction INTRODUCTION How should I start my tale? Have you ever had the feeling that you need to say so much, to tell so many stories and encounters, to draw so many characters from your past that you simply find yourself lost in front of the white page? I wished to start this book, this diary if you will, so many times in the past but I never could get it started. Are the memories too painful? Perhaps. Am I too busy? Maybe. I still do not know the truth behind my own nature and I fear that I will never know it. You see, just because you are immortal, that doesn't make you more wise in human nature for there are no books too read, no TV show to watch, no radios to listen to, that can possibly explain humans in all their complexity. Many have problems recalling lives of 50 years, of remembering every life changing moment, of writing about every feeling that filled them, every thought that passed through their minds, every sensation... My life I fear has expanded over six millennia and they have been truly eventful, they have been worth remembering and, the truth is, that to recall everything, to make you understand me and my nature would ask for millions of pages and a life span of hundreds of years and even then I couldn't guaranty that you have truly come to know me. How can I begin to organize my thoughts when they are too hectic and stubborn and refuse to listen to reason? What do I see? Pain, blood, destruction, a man with white hair, a fight, a coven, darkness, life, hope, despair, suffering, love, death... How can I organize them? How can I dare command them to stop and do my bidding when the heart allows them to flow? How does it all begin? *FLASHBACK* "Everything is about to change, Your Highness... Your life will be forever changed and millennia will await you... Red is the color..." *END OF FLASHBACK* A red rose... A simple red rose to change my entire existence, my entire life, my entire being... Why? *FLASHBACK* "Would you marry him if you were in my place? I just met him and don't know anything about him. You can't ask me to marry a perfect stranger and give my life away to someone whom I don't even love!" "We can't afford love! This is the best choice we could find and I think you should be grateful..." "Grateful? Grateful for selling me to the highest bidder?" "... or at least to accept your fate with courage and destiny fit for my sister, Princess Serenity of Menihatos!" "Damn it! I don't want to leave with him and spend the rest of my life by his side..." "That is not your decision to make! You will be married in a month and you shall leave for Atlantis... You will love and respect him and give him an heir for the kingdom!" "No! I will never accept him in my bed! Never!" "You will! Stop arguing with me! What's done is done and it can't be undone!" "I refuse to! I will kill myself!" *END OF FLASHBACK* Is destiny truly written in the starts? Is it unchangeable? *FLASHBACK* He looked at me and smiled - His cold smile that collided with his icy eyes filled with flames of desire. He wanted this. He expected this and I had to give it to him... He slowly came towards me and, with one swift move, took out my white silk robe revealing me. I started to cry, to cry as a child would alone and afraid in the darkness, wanting support and help that would never be given to me. "Please..." I whispered in between the cold tears that streaked my red cheeks. He looked up at me, anger in his eyes and simply hit me with the back of his hand, causing me to fall on the bed. I looked at him, eyes glittering, lips trembling and red mark on my white cheek. His expressions showed no mercy. "Never cry when I touch you or you will die..." he said and grabbed a dagger heading towards me. I whimpered and tried my best to restrain my tears. Yes, he would have killed me. *END OF FLASHBACK* Is love real? Is it true, pure and strong? Can it pass over every obstacle? *FLASHBACK* His sapphire eyes were so beautiful, so full of life, compassion and love... They were everything I could have hopped for, everything I desired, everything I longed for every night in the darkness, sobbing in my pillow. "You are so beautiful..." I turned to him and smiled. It had been so long since anyone had told me those 4 words and I was speechless. Such simple, innocent and respectful words haven't been addressed to me since I left my home, my beloved Menihatos. I followed his jaw line with my finger and felt him shiver under my touch. He was so handsome, strong and innocent to everything around him. He was but a child, a child that has been sheltered from the world around him and that has no desire to know it. He gently grabbed my hand and pulled me against him, kissing me passionately. He looked down in my eyes and whispered: "I love you..." "It is impossible..." "No... Nothing is impossible... Let me free you..." he whispered in my ear and I felt shivers move through me. The possibility of freedom was so tempting... "Yes... I desire it..." *END OF FLASHBACK* Can such a pure feeling trigger so much suffering? *FLASHBACK* I gazed upon the two armies that met in combat. No, there weren't two, there was an army of fighters and an army of scholars. I couldn't help not laugh as I gazed further away. My eyes met a familiar pair of cold blue ones and cold shivers moved throughout me. The man merely grinned and waved casually towards me. Yes, he was winning and he knew that. I looked down, down in the city and I saw true suffering, true destruction. Women were screaming and running, children were crying in the middle of the street, bodies were all around the narrow streets and blood stained the perfect white marble streets. Fires seemed to have appeared from all around. Noises. I turned to see a guard coming towards me. I knew he was judging me, he was blaming me for all of this and maybe it really was my fault. That doesn't matter now. Nothing else matters now. The man stopped in front of me and bowed. "Princess, I fear the army is almost gone and many of the citizens have perished!" he shouted over the screams of pain. I stared blankly at him and tried to find something to say, something appropriate,but nothing came out. *END OF FLASHBACK* Was it love or hatred? Was it destiny or hell? *FLASHBACK* "This is everything and nothing..." a cold voice whispered. I nodded shortly and returned my gaze to the container in front of me. I marveled how the dim light played in every part, in every small mirror that made that glorious crystal. It was so completely beautiful as it shined bright white in the middle of the darkness. It was so refined, so elegant, so perfect that it couldn't have been made by human hands. "Take it and live!" the voice continued. My gaze remained fixated and I extended my hand over the crystal. It started to shimmer in the darkness, light growing in intensity as my hand got closer. I stopped, hand in midair. "Did you love him? Then do it!" the voice continued more determined. Images flashed in my mind and, without giving it a second thought, I extended my hand and grabbed the crystal. "For you, Endymion..." I whispered as the light engulfed me. *END OF FLASHBACK* Innocence turned to crime, water to blood... *FLASHBACK* I saw him, a man that has no name in my memories and that will remain just a gray figure amongst thousands of others. I saw him calmly walking, not paying attention to anyone or anything around him... Foolish man! I softly approached him and began sobbing slightly, covering my face with my hands. I heard him stop and approach me cautiously. What did he see then? Probably a girl with blond hair, innocent blue eyes, wearing a simple white dress. Very tempting... "Are you alright?" he asked getting closer and closer to me until I could hear his heartbeat, pumping blood throughout his body. I hated doing this but I was hungry, too hungry... "I need help..." I whispered as I looked him in the eyes. "I am so cold... So terribly cold..." The man approached me until we were no more than a foot apart. "What can I do?" he asked and I smiled. "This..." I whispered as I grabbed the man and pulled him closer to me, thrusting my fangs through his skin. I found the much desired blood and started drinking, drinking with such hunger and lust that I had probably caused that man a great deal of pain. I felt the warm blood flow down my neck and slowly fill my immortal veins, making the heart pump faster and making my skin warm and my appearance human. I took all that poor soul had to offer and then I let him fall with a thump on the ground. I looked down at him with an expression of compassion, sorrow, hatred and gratitude that only us immortals can have. I left my victim and disappeared into the night. *END OF FLASHBACK* Does friendship last? Do you seek the companion of others after so much loneliness? *FLASHBACK* My eyes rapidly moved from one figure to another. They all looked dreadful in that simple black clothing and pale alabaster skin, but they inspired a great deal of respect and dignity. My gaze finally rested on the throne in the center. A man with short dusty blond hair and ice-cold blue eyes returned my stare. He slowly stood up and straightened his back. He casually brushed a speck of dust from his black gold incrusted suit. He smiled coldly and walked out to me in the same unearthly fashion. His feet didn't seem to touch the ground as he approached me, stopping close to me. "You are Serenity?" he asked as he looked me up and down. "I am... Who might I ask is inquiring?" "Serenity? Foolish name for such a creature..." he continued as he avoided my question. "What do you want?" "Companionship... I am tired of my lonely life... I need others of my kind..." "You have tried to bond with humans, haven't you?" I merely looked up in his eyes before moving my gaze to the floor. *END OF FLASHBACK* Do you find what you look for amongst them? *FLASHBACK* Such sweet sounds. I could feel my heart getting lighter and strange butterflies in my stomach. It really was an ancient sensation that I hadn't felt in millennia. I watched her as she continued to play the violin with such passion that her body was trembling with every key struck, her navy-green hair was flickering as she allowed the music to flow through her. I glared at her with such interest, to see her next move, to feel everything that went through her as the song went on. I saw her eyes glitter red with tears as she struck the thin cords for the last time before ending. "Beautiful..." I whispered as I started to clap lightly. She lifted her head suddenly and seemed surprised. "You play with such passion..." She just smiled towards me as she wiped her red tears away. "Thank you... It is the only true pleasure I have..." I glared at her with a confused smiled and she started to giggle. "So old and you still can't understand... What most of us desire is what we will never get... Mortality... Humanity..." She looked at me once more as she got up and lifted her violin. "This is the only way to escape... As long as I play this, I can still feel human despite it all..." *END OF FLASHBACK* Does your heart freeze after so many millennia? Can you still feel love? *FLASHBACK* I wondered the full streets of Tokyo and admired the people - such full of life, so happy, so complete... My eyes quickly moved from one face to another, none of them catching my gaze for more than a second. I was used to so many blank faces - they filled my memories and haunted my dreams. I moved like a shadow amongst them, trying to hide my pale complexion and to suppress the hunger that had taken over me. I was searching for prey but nothing seemed to stand out. I suddenly got a glimpse of a figure rushing to the crowd and something about it made me turn. Turn and gasp as I saw him better - sapphire eyes, short jet-black hair. He was unmistakable. Our eyes met for a brief moment that seemed an eternity to me; cold shivers move throughout my body. "You... Impossible..." I whispered as he disappeared in the wave of people. *END OF FLASHBACK* Does the darkness engulf love as it did before? *FLASHBACK* "Do not do it..." "No! I am not giving up on this again... I can't..." "Do not be foolish! You know these can not mix..." "You are wrong..." "Don't stand in the way... You can not win!" "Then I will die trying!" And with that, I exited the room and shivered as I heard my footsteps echo on the hard stone floor. I couldn't do it. Not again... But what if... *END OF FLASHBACK* What does happen? What stands ahead? The wheels of destiny were set in motion and bring me closer to my end as I write these pages for you, my reader. Now, this book deserves a beginning and I shall have to please it... So, in the words of one of Charles Dickens' immortal character, I too shall start my life with the beginning of my life...