Gabriel was taken aback by this woman, this Josephine, bursting in and crying to him. They had been introduced only briefly before Gabriel had retired for the night, and yet she did have a certain familiarity to him. Was he about to do something he would regret? Was this Fate's warning, a message from the ether?
Or was there more to it? As he gazed into her eyes, there was more in this woman's heart than he first realised. A loneliness...an age as old as time...the knowledge of years, the emptiness of death... Gabriel's eyes widened and he took a step back as realisation hit him. She's a vampire too! Mister Rosiel had deceived him. He left the knife on the bar, not taking his eyes from the small woman in front of him. The realisation that she was like himself seemed to make so much more of her apparent; the power that seemed to exude from her like flame from a wick, the sheer weight of the centuries she'd lived almost crushing down upon everything she looked at, everything she touched. The ageless beauty of a face caught somewhere in time, a body that would never wither.
Gabriel slowly advanced upon Josephine. "I see...you're like me, aren't you? You're a vampire too." He stood almost face-to-face with her, almost wincing in the glow of the bubbling turmoil which spilled over from within her, scorching all it touched. Blinking in empathy, he asked softly, "You're in pain, aren't you? I can feel it...you're at war with yourself..." The aura of the small woman in front of him seemed to flare up around him, trapping him in a wall of psychic struggle. Fighting the temptation to break free with his own force, Gabriel allowed Josephine to envelop him. "You're very powerful..." he whispered, stepping closer to her and reaching out a hand very gingerly to touch her. Gabriel's fingers brushed Josephine's, and all at once he felt as if an icepick had been driven between his eyes. Letting out a short yell, he froze and trembled as something seemed to shoot through his brain, creating an entire life as it went.
Flashes of a past unknown ran screaming past Gabriel's eyes like one remembers a drunken night; the woman whose hand he held was present in all of them. Lying on a bed reciting poetry, walking through enchanted forests and watching the full moon call the wolves out to howl from the tops of trees; catching fireflies at dusk and setting them free as the sun disappeared, running through endless halls in a never-ending game of tag.
Gabriel fell to his knees, withdrawing his hand and clutching it to his head as the visions continued. She was still there, still with him. What horrible false images was she creating? Why would this woman...this vampire taunt and torture him so? The worst was yet to come; visions of battle, of a woman he loved screaming in grief, of his death...of the most horrendous enemy one could imagine, exacting the worst revenge on the world. "ENOUGH!" Gabriel screamed, his eyes welling with tears, his body shaking. Still, the images flashed on, and Gabriel struggled to his feet, stooped over with the effort of keeping his mind from imploding.
In a blaze of light the images stopped, and a word filled his mind. Like a bell rung in his head, louder than the voice of God in his ear, terrible and painful as it was beautiful and final; everything was explained, everything apparent. The images made sense. They were not false; they were memories, long-forgotten occurences. Shuffling to straighten up, the word drifted out of Gabriel's head, melting away as smoke dissipates into nothingness. As the world became so much more bright, the infinite dreams of his memory falling into place in his head, he seized the word before it left his mind altogether and forced it from between his lips:
"...Faye."
Or was there more to it? As he gazed into her eyes, there was more in this woman's heart than he first realised. A loneliness...an age as old as time...the knowledge of years, the emptiness of death... Gabriel's eyes widened and he took a step back as realisation hit him. She's a vampire too! Mister Rosiel had deceived him. He left the knife on the bar, not taking his eyes from the small woman in front of him. The realisation that she was like himself seemed to make so much more of her apparent; the power that seemed to exude from her like flame from a wick, the sheer weight of the centuries she'd lived almost crushing down upon everything she looked at, everything she touched. The ageless beauty of a face caught somewhere in time, a body that would never wither.
Gabriel slowly advanced upon Josephine. "I see...you're like me, aren't you? You're a vampire too." He stood almost face-to-face with her, almost wincing in the glow of the bubbling turmoil which spilled over from within her, scorching all it touched. Blinking in empathy, he asked softly, "You're in pain, aren't you? I can feel it...you're at war with yourself..." The aura of the small woman in front of him seemed to flare up around him, trapping him in a wall of psychic struggle. Fighting the temptation to break free with his own force, Gabriel allowed Josephine to envelop him. "You're very powerful..." he whispered, stepping closer to her and reaching out a hand very gingerly to touch her. Gabriel's fingers brushed Josephine's, and all at once he felt as if an icepick had been driven between his eyes. Letting out a short yell, he froze and trembled as something seemed to shoot through his brain, creating an entire life as it went.
Flashes of a past unknown ran screaming past Gabriel's eyes like one remembers a drunken night; the woman whose hand he held was present in all of them. Lying on a bed reciting poetry, walking through enchanted forests and watching the full moon call the wolves out to howl from the tops of trees; catching fireflies at dusk and setting them free as the sun disappeared, running through endless halls in a never-ending game of tag.
Gabriel fell to his knees, withdrawing his hand and clutching it to his head as the visions continued. She was still there, still with him. What horrible false images was she creating? Why would this woman...this vampire taunt and torture him so? The worst was yet to come; visions of battle, of a woman he loved screaming in grief, of his death...of the most horrendous enemy one could imagine, exacting the worst revenge on the world. "ENOUGH!" Gabriel screamed, his eyes welling with tears, his body shaking. Still, the images flashed on, and Gabriel struggled to his feet, stooped over with the effort of keeping his mind from imploding.
In a blaze of light the images stopped, and a word filled his mind. Like a bell rung in his head, louder than the voice of God in his ear, terrible and painful as it was beautiful and final; everything was explained, everything apparent. The images made sense. They were not false; they were memories, long-forgotten occurences. Shuffling to straighten up, the word drifted out of Gabriel's head, melting away as smoke dissipates into nothingness. As the world became so much more bright, the infinite dreams of his memory falling into place in his head, he seized the word before it left his mind altogether and forced it from between his lips:
"...Faye."
posted by Gabriel Valessar at 7:02 PM
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