Rhiley Nightbane's Story

Lilith looked calmly at their linked fingers, a sense of longing lashing through her. She rarely was able to feel her own true emotions, and the fact that she was longing for this little bit of contact frustrated and confused her. "Have you ever felt... Drawn... To someone?" she asks, trying to distract herself from the feeling coursing through her at the moment. She went back to looking around the room, and unknowingly started running her thumb over Casper's fingers.

Rhiley groaned softly, his eyes closing as Alice messed around with trying to make him smile. It had worked, a smiled was now upon his lips, his sadness forgotten. "I am sad... Because my... Ariel was killed by hunters... And what I have just done to you... She would do to me in an attempt to get me to stop biting my lip..." he explains, his eyes still representing his sadness, but not as much. "Ariel actually resembled you, personality wise.. She was always so shy..." he murmured, trailing off in the end.

Alice giggled, her eyes changing to their silvery-blue color, then back to red. "Hehe... There's that smile!" she said happily, smiling until he heard about the girl named "Ariel". She couldn't help but frown, her eyebrows furrowed, a silver-looking tear rolling down her pale cheek. "Oh... I'm sorry... You reminded me of... Of... Aiden..." she practically whimpered, looking down and playing with her fingers. She knew he'd ask so she went on, "I loved him... He loved me... But, as soon as he found out about my heart... He had told the others in our little clan... And they were... So determined to kill me right then and there... Since then, I've escaped here and I've never made much contact with any others... They can barely tell if I'm human or vampire..." The silver tears went down her cheeks mercilessly as if her eyes were waterfalls. but, she continued to ramble on and on and on until Rhiley spoke of Ariel and her similarity of personality. "I-I'm sorry I'm shy.. I don't normally talk to people..." she mumbled, her voice growing into a whisper and her eyes focused on Rhiley's figure, trying not to stare directly onto his eyes. But, Alice failed at that. Her blood-red eyes focused on his as the tears ran down her rosy cheeks and dropped to the floor, making a small pool of the silver-colored tears as she continued crying more and more, remembering her ex-lover. "I'm sorry Rhiley..." Alice whimpered, her eyes locked into his.

Rhiley pulled Alice to the couch and sat with her. He sat her in his lap and held her close, his own bloody tears falling down his face. "Alice, don't EVER be sorry that you're shy... Shyness proves just how pure you really are.." he whispers as he places a comforting kiss atop the girl's head as he feels her relax slightly against his chest. "As for your lover and clan... What they did is wrong... Feel..." he says as he places her hand against his own beating heart. "A heartbeat is nothing to be ashamed of... It is something that is rare, yes, but something to be cherished..." he says, his tears falling continually. His body shook slightly as a shudder ran through it. "My lover... Ariel... She was just as you, Lilith and I am... She had a heart beat... And just as you... We all ran... But... Our clan... Had only one other member... He... He..." his voice started to crack as the tears fell faster, his sadness washing over them both, almost to a suffocating level. "I... I'm so sorry Alice.." he whimpered and buried his face in her neck breaking into full blown sobs.

Alice's face flushed and she buried her face into Rhiley's chest, his sweet scent giving her enough comfort for her to relax. She heard his words clearly and it hurt her to hear his voice sound so fragile, as if it may break any second now. She looked directly into his eyes as she felt the soft beating of his heart against her palm, the speed slowly increasing. "I-I don't care for him anymore... But it still hurts..." she mumbled, her hand pressing lightly against his chest as he buried his head into her neck, causing her cheeks to flush more. "Don't... Don't apologize..." she mumbled, her fingers gently twirling Rhiley's hair between them in an attempt to calm him. "You don't have to... If you don't... You don't have to tell me..." she whispered in his ear. Alice slowly lifted his face from her neck and cupped it between her small hands, smiling warmly. "I'm sure... Ariel... I'm sure she loved you to death..." she whispered, pressing her forehead to his, slowly wiping away at his crimson tears, trying her hardest to keep him from crying. "So please don't cry..." she whispered, her eyes staring directly into his, their faces barely inches apart. "Please Rhiley... Please?" Alice smiled, her fingers beginning to twirl his hair around them once more.

Rhiley breathed softly, his heart beating erratically from trying to keep his emotions in check. It wasn't as easy as you would think really. He listened carefully to Alice's words. "I know what that's like... To not love someone anymore, but the pain of their actions still remain... The hurt will always be there... But the pain will ease over time... Trust me... I know..." he whispers and moves his collar showing her a deep scar from where the hunters had forced Ariel to cut him with the silver blade. It had hurt, but not as much as the pain that lanced through him when they killed her. He tried to keep his eyes locked with hers, but it was impossible. Her twirling his hair was putting him into a completely relaxed state. "Mmm.. That feels heavenly Alice... Ariel... She never touched my hair... NEVER... She never did explain why..." he said softly as his eyebrows scrunched together. He was remembering something she had said, and his eyes suddenly widened. "Alice... Tell me... Did you know anyone by the name of Ariel Light... I remember... Her speaking of an Alice from her childhood... And the description she gave matches yours..." he said calmly though his internal emotions were spiraling, his heart beating even faster than before.

Alice closed her eyes and let each word sink into her skin carefully. Each word a low melody to her ears. she reached and ever-so-gently touched the scar on his collar, dragging her fingers softly across it. "Ariel Light..." she mumbled, flashbacks beginning. She saw herself with a girl, beautiful and strong, hand in hand as teens before they were torn apart and in different, far away towns. "Don't leave..." was the last sentence she remembered telling the girl, which she unconsciously had said aloud. They had been best friends before Ariel had gotten sick and moved to a town with a great doctor to keep her alive. But, Alice hadn't known that Ariel was "turned" as they would say. She suddenly locked her fingers into Rhiley's hair, her eyes opening once more. "I do know her... She had been torn away from me very few days before I was turned... Or was it a year? Time is the only thing I can't remember... But I do know her.. She was stunning... Beautiful and strong..." Alice began to speak, stopping to stare into Rhiley's eyes to see that he couldn't stare back. Her fingers still locked into his hair and the other slid to his cheek, pulling his face down to hers, his forehead against hers. "You seem about ready to cry... I must say that I'll never stop what you need... So..." Alice smiled, her voice calm as she pointed to her shoulder and continued, "Here's my shoulder to cry on! Even guys need a good cry sometimes..." Alice held Rhiley's head to her shoulder gently, stroking it softly.

Rhiley gasped softly as Alice touched the scar on his neck. He had never allowed another to touch him before Alice, not even Ariel. With Ariel though, it was from fear of being hurt, because she had hurt him many times before. He looked at the woman before him as she spoke, each word calm, just because it was her silky voice speaking it. He jumped when she locked her fingers into his hair, not expecting the sudden pain that came with the lock-age. "Yes, she said she was sick when she was younger, and that she had to leave you to get better... Her sickness was she was turned, and she feared turning you as well..." he said as his eyes closed in remembrance. A graceful smile passed his lips as she made him look at her again. "I don't cry anymore... I may seem like I need to, but I vent by talking, so I don't need to cry. I hate the way the blood stains my face, so I try not to cry if I can help it.." he says and kisses her cheek. "Thank you for listening though.." he says with a smile.

Alice lightly slipped her fingers away from his hair, her cheeks turning a rosy color as she feels his lips press against it. "I will always listen to you.." she spoke in a hushed tone, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as she grew suddenly anxious. "I-I'm sorry if that hurt.." her face fell to look at the ground while her hand took his, her voice soft and fading "I'm sorry.." She couldn't help but let a tear fall down her cheek as she remembered her friend, the separation, the fact she had left in order to not hurt her. Alice hand the tendency to cry often, although she hid it well. She knew Rhiley would be able to see right through her little lie. It was rare she cried around people and rarely was it a person she had just met. In fact, she hadn't spoken to many people much in her life. It was very surprising to the girl that she had hit it off so well with Rhiley, opening up to him more than she had opened up to her parents, and Ariel. She continued to bite her lower lip nervously as the tears began to stain her cheeks, pooling at the back of her hands as they dripped off her jaw, staining the pale white skin at her hands. The memory was killing her and she had hope Rhiley would not notice. Her breathing felt different, staggering in short breaths as she awaited his reaction to her emotions.