PRESENT DAY

Day 12, Season 400 (Luminian Calendar Date)

(Approximately 200 years after the end of the 2089 Julian Calendar)

The depth of his eternal solitude was anguishing, sinking his soul to oceanic depths, a tomb within himself.  The monotony of immortality was vexing him—one long never-ending darkness.  Desmond injected Vampire Blood (VB for short) into his atrophic veins.  Even the undead needed nourishment.  It was not easy to come by, but he had a connection in the lowlands of the outlaw region.  It was illegal for vampires to offer their blood to their kind because of its mind-altering properties and the danger it posed to the vampire supplying it. For vampires cast out of the Affiliation or hungry mavericks, a blood donation could be made in exchange for another charitable donation on the part of the recipient.  Desmond had no sensation without VB, not even for the kill.

He wasn’t considered an outsider, though he felt like one.  There was no reasonable explanation for a thirst-less vampire, not to Desmond anyway.

He remembered little from his humanhood except the feeling of sunlight caressing his skin, longing to lusciously bask in its vital glory again.

Luminian Vampires lived in a transparent, blue biosphere semi-submerged into the earth, nestled atop the Semien Mountains.  The outer layers of the oblong sphere had intense ultraviolet protection, so they could roam about the complex freely day or night and still have a view of the outside world.  Above ground consisted of a quadra-level complex where all business and some social matters took place including the Vampire Affiliation Council Chambers, the merchant marketplace, and the commons.  The lowest level and innermost sanctum was reserved for vampire’s private quarters.

By day, Luminia gave no indication of spontaneity or vivaciousness.  Everyone was eerily subdued, going about their business in total or near silence.  The combined patter of footsteps was louder than the entire rumble of voices in the marketplace or the commons.  Vampires rarely had any occasion to talk to humans because they had no personal connection and it was understood what the role of each was.  It was also extremely rare for vampires to publicly break the mechanism of the day in spaces shared with humans.  Besides, vampires could communicate telepathically with one another.  Added to that was the fact that humans were not allowed to socialize with one another during the business day.  Any deviation from that code was strictly penalized.

Desmond was hanging around the commons when she grabbed his attention from the corner of his eye.  Vivid’s presence reminded him of sunshine.  This was the second time he’d seen her and wasn’t sure how to approach her. It felt awkward being nervous in the midst of a human.

He tracked her fluid movements across the room.  Long, ruby hair swayed back and forth along her body.  Every time light refracted off it, what looked like flames to Desmond’s vision danced.  A simple grey frock exposed only hints of golden-tan, satin skin.  Walking with purpose, her evergreen, diamond-shaped eyes were fixed on the task at hand.  Raspberry lips seemed to speak to him even still.  She was slender and subtly curved, almost gaunt in appearance.  Enchanted, her image was forever burned into his memory.

She didn’t take notice until he was standing in her way as she was about to enter the tubular elevator in the center of the complex.  His presence was all over the room though.  Unnerved that he continued to survey her undauntedly, she thrust him a long, peculiar stare.  Scanning the length of his statuesque, lean-muscular frame, she could appreciate aesthetics of the angular yet smoothed edges in his elongated face, his neatly coiffed short, black hair, and his icy blue eyes.

“Your energy is very forceful.  You should consider containing yourself and not casting it onto others,” Vivid stated matter-of-factly.

Desmond replied, gaining confidence as he was put on the defense.  “I’ve become accustomed to my intensity.  It’s taken years.  It radiates off me like the sun’s reflection off a mirror.  I can be warm and compelling or burn their skin and blind them,”

He enjoyed the challenge.  It activated the critical thought he fostered through philosophical studies before he was turned and continued with in sciences.  “It’s a strange paradox that vampires are cast into the shadows yet are the very essence of light rays.  We covet and nourish beauty the same as the sun does.”

Vivid found his first choice of words for her to be arrogant and pretentious, but it did what Desmond hoped.  It roused her curiosity.

She raised her brow skeptically, proceeding with “How is it you think you nourish beauty when you plunder its very essence for your own selfish pleasure?”

“You’re assuming I take the fatal drink.”

“Even if you don’t, many of your kind do.  You cannot defend them all.”

He grimaced, bested, but perhaps he could salvage the introduction.  “Life’s beauty is never lost, merely transferred as energy is from one entity to another.  It’s simply biological forces at work except we are at the top of the evolutionary chain.  Our race compliments beauty, and I cannot refrain from complimenting your beauty.”

He knew, the final words leaving his tongue that science had failed him.

She scoffed.  “I couldn’t tell, were you praising me or yourself?  Vampires are so egocentric, turning adoration back onto themselves.”

He grinned.  “When in doubt, be disarming.” he thought.  “I’m Desmond, of the—”.

Vivid interrupted. “I know.  Your reputation precedes you.”

Desmond paused for a moment, flattered by the remark, then continued “And you are?”

“I am Vivid.”

“Vivid. There couldn’t be a more perfect name for you.”

She blushed.

“I must go.  I have work to attend to.  I cannot get behind,” she said uneasily, noticing vampires leering at them.  She maneuvered around him, not going where she’d intended.

“Vivid!” he shouted.  “Can I see you again?”

She turned back to him.  “Even if I said no, would that stop you?”

Desmond smiled and thought to himself, “Undoubtedly no.”  He continued to keep her in sight as she receded into the distance when his view was blocked by an intruding presence.  He contemptuously uttered “Simon”.

“I see you’re slumming it with a human.  Playing with your dinner, are we?” said Simon.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?  Oh wait, you don’t.  You’re just a trophy member of society.  Well, I have work to attend to, important work.  That’s something you wouldn’t know anything about though.”  He grinned at Simon with insolence as he left.  Desmond loved having the last word with Simon.

Simon took a quick visual inventory of the crowd to seek out Vivid.  “She may prove to be exciting prey,” he thought aloud, skulking around the commons area before sauntering off.