? Chapter One - Death and Rebirth It is dead of night in the west end of London and a man wearing a long trench coat and a dark blue suit, is running from someone who is following him. He's tall, dark haired and is called Lucan. Running down a deserted street, Lucan emptied his hand gun as he went. Loading a fresh clip into the bottom of the weapon, he turns down an alley and stops waiting for sounds of pursuit. Breathing raggedly from the chase, Lucan waited for a few minutes, before peering around the edge of the wall in the direction he had come. After a few seconds of staring down the deserted street, his breathing slows. Lucan then walks off into the darkness. After a paranoid journey home on the underground railway, Lucan calapsed onto his bed. 'So predictable,' whispered a voice in the darkness of the living room. 'But you'll have to do.' Crying out, Lucan yanked his pistol from his holster, and pointed it toward the darkness. Gathering his confidence, Lucan cleared his throat. 'Who are you?' Lucan shouted, glad that his voice didn't waver. As Lucan stared, a form seemed to drip from the shadows. The form was dressed completely in black, apart from a blood red shirt beneath his jacket. 'My name is Kane,' smiled the man. 'And I am here to recruit you for my cause.' Stepping forward, the man's lips pulled up into a smile. As Lucan looked closer, his entire world shattered. Lucan didn't have the best life, but it was a simple one. He would get up as the sun fell, and would go to work at the pub 'The Hidden Treasure' to guard any shipments coming in from the government. He didn't know what was inside the crates, and he didn't care, which is why they hired him. But as Lucan looked at those two elongated teeth, the border between myth and reality was destroyed forever. Suddenly, everything started to blur, and Lucan blacked out. Stirring from sleep, Lucan groaned and sat up. As he sat there with his head in his hands, the previous night started to come back to him. He remembered the man jumping on him, and biting down into his shoulder. Tearing off his shirt, Lucan tried to find the wound. 'You won't find it,' said a voice by the window. 'You are a vampire now, so your healing abilities are heightened.' Spinning around, Lucan found the man idly waving his hand in and out of the sunlight. As he watched, Kane's hand started to smoulder, before being withdrawn from the light and healing into perfect condition. 'Yeah, that's right,' Kane grinned, reading Lucan's expression. 'We don't sparkle.' As Lucan watched Kane's hand burn and curl like wood, he realised that it wasn't fear making him watch. Reaching forward, Lucan moved his own hand into the light. As the sun warmed his hand, Lucan felt an inexplicable sense of disappointment. 'Why aren't I burning,' Lucan asked. 'Aren't I a vampire?' Chuckling to himself, Kane stood. 'You haven't taken your first drink yet,' he said as he walked into the living room. 'The transition is not complete.' As Lucan processed this information, he was surprised to find that he wanted it. He was no longer human, so why should he care about bleeding them dry. Following Kane, Lucan took a black leather coat from his closet. As he turned to look at Kane, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His face had changed; any spots or freckles had gone. His features were perfect, enhanced by the vampires curse. But one feature captivated his attention. Lucan's eyes were alive with colour, reds, blues, and greens were swirling around his iris. As he watched, his reflection started to fade away. Reaching forward, Lucan touched the glass. But as his fingers brushed the mirror, cracks bloomed from where he touched it. 'You will have to get used to your new strength,' comforted Kane.' After you drink tonight, I'll introduce you to our benefactor, Odessa.' Glancing at Kane, Lucan started to feel his new found strength sap away. 'I thought you were my benefactor,' Lucan smirked. 'Why do I feel weaker all of a sudden?' Kane licked his lips and turned his head to one side. 'You thirst,' he replied blankly. 'Can you hear that?' 'Hear what?' Lucan sighed. 'I can't hear anything.' As if summoned, there was a knock at the door. 'You have visitors,' Kane whispered. 'Let's have some breakfast.' Disappearing into the shadows, Kane gestured toward the door. As Lucan herd the door knock again, he took a deep breath. Suddenly his senses exploded with information, he could smell Kane attached to the ceiling, and the two police officers standing outside the door. Grinning, Lucan walked forward and opened the lock to the entrance. 'Good evening officers,' Lucan smiled. 'Would you like to come in?' Before the policemen could say anything, he turned and walked into the flat. 'Mr. Tanner?' asked one of the men. Turning to look at the police, Lucan took another deep breath. His senses told him that Kane had moved across the ceiling, and was now ready to close the door behind the officers. 'That's me,' grinned Lucan. 'What have you come to say?' 'We are here to arrest you for the illegal possession of a firearm,' the other officer informed Lucan. 'We are also here to arrest you for the shooting of that weapon, in a public area last night.' As the officer started to rattle of Lucan's rights, they withdrew their own pistols, and pointed them at Lucan. Startled, Lucan raised his hands. 'Now wait a minute,' Lucan stuttered. 'How do you know it was me?' The door suddenly slammed shut, and Kane dropped from the ceiling between the door and the officers. 'You are an immortal,' Growled Kane. 'Stop playing with your food.' Startled, the men spun around and unloaded their weapons into Kane's chest. Growling, Kane bared his teeth. Realising his stupidity, Lucan snapped out of his mortal fear, and swung his fist at the nearest officer. Killing the man instantly, he turned on the other man. Crying out, the remaining man tried to barge Kane out of the way. But the man died as Kane punched him in the chest. Taking another deep breath, Lucan could smell the irresistible stench of blood coming from the fresh corpses. 'Dig in,' Kane smirked as he dug the bullets out of his flesh. 'But when killing prey do it faster, getting shot may not kill me, but it does hurt.' As Kane threw the last bullet onto the floor, Lucan descended onto the corpses. Later, Lucan realised that those two minutes of feeding in ecstasy, was the death of his humanity. After they had finished drinking, it was a matter of waiting until night. Before long, Kane was talking about his life. He spoke about his life before his change as man called 'Benigno', apparently he was an early renaissance painter. 'I used to wonder around Italy, painting portraits for anyone who could afford them,' Kane recounted. 'That was when Odessa found me.' He went on to describe his first portrait for the woman, and his mortal lust for her body. He told Lucan about the long conversations they would have, and their long passionate embraces. Halting mid sentence, Kane looked into Lucan's eyes. 'We had lived five happy years, before the Revolution started,' Kane whispered. 'We had heard about a riot or two around Paris, but we never thought it would come as far as Bourgogne.' He went on to describe how the revolution spilled into Odessa's mansion, and how he was seriously wounded. He had thought that all was lost, and that Odessa would be murdered before his eyes. But Odessa had slaughtered them all. There must have been around forty people in the mob, and she flew among them like death. Afterward she had returned to him, surrounded by corpses. But he was not afraid. He remembered her kissing him, before she turned him into an immortal. 'We then fled to England,' murmured Kane, expressionlessly. 'She had some family here, and we lived in happiness.' Waking from his recollections, Kane stood. 'Until a week ago,' he smirked. 'A coven of new-born vampires approached us.' Glancing at the window, Lucan realised it was now dark. 'They wanted us to join them,' Kane continued. 'They wished us to even lead them.' Standing, Lucan cocked his head. 'I'm guessing you said no,' he asked. 'But why refuse them?' Opening the window, Kane climbed onto the sill. As he looked back, Lucan saw determination in his eyes. 'They wish to rule England,' he replied. 'They wanted to turn the prime minister.' Frowning, Lucan thought that over. 'But that wouldn't be the end would it?' Lucan asked. 'They would eventually direct their gaze over the globe.' As Kane prepared to jump, he looked back. 'I was right in choosing you,' he smiled. 'They would eventually rule the earth, and the number of humans would dwindle.' 'We have to look after our food source Lucan,' Looking away, Kane sighed, 'even if that means killing our own kind.' As Kane dropped from the window, Lucan looked out over the drop below. Watching his friend hit the street, a smile pulled at his lips. Taking a few steps back, Lucan went head first out into the open air. As he fell, he could feel the wind pull at his jacket, and plaster his shirt to his chest. Shivering with pleasure, Lucan executed three spins, before landing on his feet. 'Beautiful,' laughed Kane. 'I'm afraid that in my old age, I've lost the enthusiasm for such frivolities.' Grinning, Lucan stood up and looked him in the eye. 'Excuses old man,' he beamed. 'I'm just better at it than you!' 'Ha,' Kane laughed. 'If only your rebirth excluded your ego. But enough of this chatter, let us go, you have yet to meet your queen.'
