Lysander: Meaning “liberator"

Lysander Sty, a young man in his mid 20s is having a mid life crisis, everyday it seems like the history of his past keeps on growing a stronger shadow behind him that keeps growing every day like the silhouette from a tall lamp post. For some reason the year just had not been treating him as fair as it should have seemed. For the young man, hard-ache and treachery were normal in his day-to-day life. He lived on his own in a small tiny apartment in the outskirts of his little town, Nightingale. Every morning he would write and journal to himself in his little notebook that he’s had for years. He picked up his favorite pen, and thought as he drank his morning bitter coffee, wishing he had sugar and milk to make his morning sweeter. “Today is going to be a good day Lysander, the time is 8:52am and its a Friday in your favorite month, July. What can go wrong in this summer season?? I don’t know either but lets get this bread…”.

The man is a pizza delivery boy, and he lives in the far side of the country where the hills in his small little town turn from a lively succulent  green, to a dark ominous emerald haze at night. However young, Lysander didn’t care about the far drives he had to take to work, or how sometimes the weather wouldn’t be as kind. In the contrary, his job sometimes was the best part of his days. He romanticized about the way the world worked, breathed in colors of black and white, light greens and darker greens. And he especially cared about everything that was, in-between; like the moments that only lasted a couple of minutes in the day. The hours from 5 to 6pm where the night and day kissed each other slowly, and just violently enough to change the sky from blue to a red, chaotic yellow and even stroke of rose. He enjoyed cruising in his old classic car, delivering pizza’s and driving with all the windows down, listening to Guns N Roses. He would stick his hand out of his window and playfully dance his hand in the warm summer air; for lonely Lysander, it was like playing with, the world, a friend. This was his favorite time of the day, everyday.

A broad awaits: Nyx: Goddess of the night.

One summer night, Lysander was driving to make a delivery very late at night, there was surprisingly a full moon that day. A little odd he noticed, the moon came early, but for young Lysander, he enjoyed it, a little more light to shine the rough road ahead of him. At the location to the address, there was stop, a black mail box and a long dark, empty road just straight leading to the end of a house. This was the first time Lysander had been here, he had an eerie feeling about it. It was quite far from all his regular locations so he proceed in caution. Lysander took a deep breath, put the volume down on his radio and drove down the empty road. When he got to the house it was big and gothic styled. Dark leaves covered the walls with deep veins of the earth and beautiful details of sharp edges in all the windows. He walked up to the home and knocked the door, looked at his notes and said, “Pizza delivery for… Nyx!”. He took a moment and thought to himself wow what a beautiful name? Suddenly, the big door opened in front of him and he was met with a tall, light brown skin broad. Lysander engulfed himself in romance. A big breath of uncontrollable air filled his lungs; he saw a goddess, a woman of noir clothes with fanciful patterns and details in her clothes like no other, shadow make-up that made her colorful eyes the epic-center of attention. And curly hair as black as midnight. He said, “Hello, I’m here to deliver a…” Lysander looked nervously at his notes, “… a meat-eaters pizza, with ranch dressing, and a Dr. Pepper to, Nyx.”

“I’m Nyx, thank you for bringing my pizza.” She smiled calmly back at him, her big green eyes starred back at his. “I’ve never seen you before?” Nyx said, with enthusiasm. She kept smiling at him, took her food, and now looked deeper in his eyes like starring at a tiny magic peep hole in a giant magic wall. Lysander felt a feeling he had never had before. Like a nostalgia or remembrance of something. When she spoke, the words came out slow and punctual, he’d never heard anyone speak like that before. She took one of the napkins he had and wrote something in it. Gave it back, then closed the door. Lysander stayed staring at the door in awe after she closed it, looked at the napkin and smiled bright with his teeth. It said, “Here’s my number, call me maybe! 1-800- your-mom!”.

Lysander laughed in disbelief and jokingly said, “Thanks for your real number haha!” and continued to walk back to his car. For the first time in a long time, he felt a kind of warmth in his mind, something about her. It presented something that he wanted but couldn’t quite have, and a strange nostalgic feeling. Like  running to the end of the tunnel but never so reaching the end. But how? He had only just met her and spoken 2 sentence to her?

A spell was cast: The Full Moon Curse.

On his walk back to his car, he looked one last time in the rear view mirror and starred at the house. It mesmerized him, the whole design and archetype of the home. “So unique…” he thought. Out of no where, as he put his hands to the wheel, an immense shock of perplex energy hit him! His breathing got very fast and then super slow; he was blacking out. He heard songs of eerie humming getting louder, small dim red lights in the sky coming closer to him. He saw people in very dark cloaks getting closer to him from all directions. Like they were floating to him however he was too dizzy; his vision was too hazy to comprehend if it was real or not?! Finally when he woke back up, he was still in his car barely holding the wheel. He freaked out and immediately looked at his watch, he realized he had been blacked out for just a couple minutes. Lysander, was feeling really rather odd and freaked out. With fear now helping him grip the steering wheel with incredible strength, he fled the scene scared, ready to go back home. He turned on his car and left immediately. As he was driving away, he looked at his rear view mirror and saw a small image of light shining from the top floor of the house behind him with a smaller black figure in the middle of it. “What the fuck!” he thought to himself, but kept on driving. As he was cruising back on the road he also noticed that the moon was completely gone now? No where to be seen, and the road ahead of him seemed ominously dark too. All these strange happenings had made Lysander confused, not really knowing what to think he began sweating and his palms became clammy. He kept driving forward with his high beams on and music at low volume the whole way to his job and finally then back home.

While sleeping, Lysander had some very strange dreams. He kept dreaming of him reaching for a small light, running as fast as he could, breathing very hard, but his voice wasn’t his own, it was someone else’s voice. A younger person. He didn’t understand why this was. Then he felt a very heavy weight on his chest. Like something getting heavier on him. It started to get hard to breathe and he didn’t know why. In the dream his footsteps felt heavier too like tall slow motion trees swaying in the night. Every time he felt he was closer to the light it just seemed to be getting farther away from his hands. He felt so close, reaching for the little glowing light at the end of the tunnel. He reached hard one last time, like his life depended on it.

Suddenly, he awoke and his body was facing upwards. He thought to himself, “What a strange dream…” As he tried to get up, he couldn’t move his arms. He tried to move his head but that wouldn’t move either? He couldn’t move any part in his body except his eyes. He was now panicked and began to breath harder. His room was very dark, he felt the cold run up his legs and up his torso. Lysander, was feeling something crawling up his leg but he couldn’t see what it was. It felt like when one begins to feel sensation on their body after it numbs out for a long time. Every single breath of air he took was a step closer to what he felt in the dream, slow-motionless, heaviness on his chest. He wanted to move his hand as bad as he wanted to reach that light. But he couldn’t. He was as still as a breathing rock. Lysander, seriously afraid something was wrong with him, tried to look at what was on his leg. However his head couldn’t move, now he felt something move at the end of his bed. It shook the bed a little, he tried to look as his feet again but his head couldn’t reach. He could only look straight up. Now something shook the bed ferociously hard and his whole body moved like a rag-doll on the bed. Lysander tried to scream! But all that came out was sounds of low-painful grunting. After a couple seconds it stopped. Lysander was as scared as he’d ever been. A tear fell down his cheek. His breathing slowed down to the point where he felt his heart beating. From the corner of his room he heard a low grumble. “Uuuhhhhh…” its moving closer to him by the second. His eyes shot like lightning in all directions trying to look around, but he still couldn’t see a thing. The grumble got closer and was now next to his face. He felt a very cold nasty smell coming closer to the side of his face. It stopped. Nothing happened for a couple seconds. Now his chest started to feel heavy again. He felt something round, like a ball climbing on him, now his breathing became very difficult again. He heard something fall from the corner of his room. Lysander now scared beyond humanly possible not knowing about anything that was going on, gathered all his strength to scream one last time… From the very corner of his eye, he saw a dark human face, with huge black eyes and red pupils; smiling at him one second and then the next, its right above him, floating, opening his whole mouth trying to eat his entire face with blood dripping from his eyes and teeth. The figure locked eyes with, Lysander. Inside the figures mouth, was another face trying to get out, as he looked closer it was his own face filled with terror, being swallowed filled with black and red blood. The most evil face he had ever seen in his life. It spoke his name. Lysander… Lysander, finally was able to let out a scream. “GET OUTTTT!”

Lysander wakes up.

The Gothic Revenge: An Unexpected Turn of Events

Lysander wakes up, still in his car. Rain is now pouring, roaring on top on his car. He wakes up in a cold sweat, hyperventilating, not understanding what had just happened. He looks at his watch, and it says only 10 minutes have passed. He grips the wheel a little tighter and starts tearing up. “What is happening to me?”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! “Hey are you okay in there? Hey can you hear me?” - Nyx knocked on his car window.

Lysander jumps fearfully and looked at Nyx from his driver seat. “Hey… yeah I’m okay…” he stumbles his words in fear, “I’m just… chillin in my car?”

“Are you sure you’re okay? I’ve never had a pizza driver stay in my driveway so long?” Said, Nyx.

“Yeah I’m alright.” Lysander wiped his face and tears off his eyes. Turns on his car, and looks at Nyx, one more time, “I have to go now.” And drives off in the rain.

Never had he ever been in a situation like this before. Lysander was still shaking from his sudden black out. “What happened to me? What in the hell was I dreaming about??? Was it all just a dream?” He looked at the sky from his window and saw the full moon, shining bright. Lysander takes a calm sigh and says, “At least the moon is still with me. What the hell was that about?”. Finally he got back to the pizza shop, of course it was empty because it was super late to get there, and he was the closer. As he was shutting all the lights off and putting his hat away in his locker, he finally turned off the light to the bathroom hallway. He felt a weird presence in closing in on him from the dark corner of the hall. He stood still and looked at the corner, quietly, patiently, waiting for something to happen. His breathing and his heart beat slowed down immensely. He stayed staring at the corner for about a minute, and nothing happened. He finally turned on the light again quickly and saw nothing but an empty space. He could’ve sworn he felt something staring back at him quietly too. Waiting for him to maybe look away to hurt him? Or to do something bad, whatever it was, he knew it wasn’t anything good trying to reach him. He finally hurried up his closing procedures, put on the alarm to the shop and speeded home. At last he was at his little apartment far away from all the mess and chaos of the world. He reached for his backpack and grabbed his little journal, pulled out his favorite pen, a “Precise Varsity Pilot” pen and wrote.

“The time is 12:32pm and its a Friday night, todays pizza run and day was nothing close to the usuality of how things go. I saw the most beautifully gothic house I’ve ever seen. It almost gave me a type of feeling that felt like a sound. Like the architecture of the home was a frequency frozen in time. Almost quietly telling me to stay aware? And then I saw the most spectacular woman I have ever seen in my life walk out from that house? She had huge gorgeous eyes, of the most bizarre green color combination I’d ever seen. When she looked at me I felt like the most important person in her life. Like she needed me. Like she wanted me… but why? Then I had the strangest black out Ive ever experienced in my life? Like what the actual fuck is going on today, to many crazy things happening at once! I had a strange…dream or… vision…”

Lysander was interrupted by a strange noise, a bang from his kitchen, he got up to see what it was. He put on his slippers and walked to investigate what might’ve fallen down. He looked around but found nothing? His kitchen was completely still just like he left it last. He stayed staring at his kitchen however, almost spacing out in it. He heard another bang from his bedroom. “What the fuck!?” He ran to his room, and still saw nothing. “Hmm, this is getting fucking weird.” Finally out of frustration, he yells out, “Whatever the fuck you are stay the fuck away from me! I've had it with your bullshit!”. The yelling got him a little out of breath and riled up. He stood still with his fist clenching hard and small sweats seeping from his forehead. His eyes raged but he was still waiting to see or hear if anything would happen. Nothing. Frustrated and mad at everything that was going on, he turned off all the lights in his apartment, locked all the doors and went to sleep in his bed.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!

His phone was ringing loud, Lysander woke up in a jolt! “What the fuck, what time is it?!” He reached over for his watch, it was 6:15am. The day was Saturday and it’s his day off, and his boss was calling him? What could it be? “Hello? It’s Lysander?”

“Hey kid! I’ve had it with your shit! I know you don’t like this job but what the fuck you didn’t put the alarm on last night and someone broke-in and trashed the place! You’re FIRED! Do you even know how much I’m going to have to pay for all this!?” his boss was furious.

“Wait a minute?” Lysander paused and remembered he did put the alarm on in the shop however,  “I did put on the alarm what are you talking about!? I did it right after I clocked out check the cameras!”

“I did check the cameras and they all shut down! Why is the place all trashed up! And there’s writing on the wall too you asshole! You wrote DOOMED! You’re fired and don’t come back!” emphasized his boss.

“Wait! Wa—”, pleaded Lysander, but the call ended too fast and he couldn’t explain. His mind flushed with a fury of thoughts. He pondered hard if he did or did not put the alarm on but he swore that he did! Now he thought how was he going to pay his car payment? Or rent? Or gas? How was he going to pay his rent and survive!? Lysander was having an absolute crisis and began having a panic attack. His hands became more sweatier than ever, and his breathing became heavy all over again, his hands began to shake. Lysander the once, happy positive outlook kind of man, now was being destroyed, twisted and broken down again. He covered himself up in his sheets tightly, but that wasn’t helping. His mind kept on going to places he did not understand. “Why is this all happening to me? What did I do wrong? Why do I deserve this? This isn’t fair!” Lysander wept and wept. Frustrated and confused he kept tossing and twirling in his bed. His body was rejecting rest, he couldn’t do it, his mind was running to fast. He got up and sped to his shower with his clothes on; turned the water on hot and sat down in his tub. The cold water first engulfed his body in freezing sorrows for a couple seconds, adding only stiffness to his muscles. They shook even more as his lips trembled and is teeth clattered together. His eyes were red, swollen with sadness. He turned his head up so the water can hit his face, and he stayed like that with his mouth open so he could breath. Finally the water temperature started to change and his body began to calm down. The warm water flowed calmly like a fresh water river giving him life again. He felt his heart start to calm down and for a second he felt a little more at peace in his head. Lysander, finally was able to calm down. Rock bottom wasn’t a thing for Lysander, and never did he think he was ever going to get there. But today was a very odd day, and in a world of things that don’t normally exist, this was one of them.

The Gothic Revival: An Unexpected Hero Awaits

Lysander is now finally at peace and has taken everything to depth. After being in the shower for about 10 minutes he got out and began to dry himself off. The clothes he had on  felt like a layer of skin that he needed to take off so desperately. Relieved of all the commotion that happened in the morning, Lysander knew he needed to make a plan to keep going forward, and whatever was trying to bring him down. He knew he had to stay strong and hold his valor dear to his heart. He looked at himself in the mirror; and stayed starring at his eyes for a while. He knew things needed to change. And so it commenced, he changed into his professional attire. Dark slim clothes, smooth starched pants that reached his ankles, and a fitted noir shadow glazed blazer that made him look like another version of himself that no one has ever seen before. He slicked his hair all back and proceed to his front door. He opened it and observed the world for a bit, looking around to see if he’d spot anything weird. He took a deep breath and laid his heavy steps with his polished shoes in the outside world.

The young man had had enough. As he got into his vintage car, he drove into the city on a long a quiet road. He had all his windows down and played the music on the radio as the sun was shining on the eerie little cloudy town of, Downtown Nightingale. In the far distance he spotted something black on the road. He slowed down to observe what it was, and spotted a large crow injured. He stepped out of his car and said, “Damn…” he thought, “How did this happen? You okay little guy, I gotta get you off this road.” The crow screeched out of fear like a desperato, and even tried to bite Lysander a couple of times, but Lysander’s innocence grew on the bird. He felt poignant for the bird, and it finally sensed that he really meant no harm and was just trying to help. Lysander’s hands covered the bird gently and he saw that the bird had a couple of pulled out feathers. Maybe the bird’s wing was injured and it couldn’t fly anymore? He carefully placed the bird on the cool ground of the forest floor, a green bed of decades leaves. He looked at the hopeless winged creature one more time, and hoped it would get better somehow. “Good luck little guy.” The crow looked at the young man in a thankful way and stayed put. Lysander got in his car and drove off. He thought to himself, “What an interesting bird.”

As he got closer to, Downtown Nightingale, he slowed down and looked for places to apply for work around his little town. The reflections of the buildings appeared translucent on the hood of his car. He stopped and walked into a, Boulangerie and asked to work as a baker, but they denied him and said they already had enough people thank you. He went to a post office and asked if they were hiring, but they said no because this time of the year was slow, to come back in the next couple of months. Then he drove to a movie theater and asked for work there. They told him no once again. He repeatedly went place to place to look for anyone hiring for anything but the same answer kept on lingering back to him. No. Slowly his spirit was deteriorating like a bag of marbles falling off the net. He started to feel hopeless, he had run out of resumes now, and it felt like perhaps he had to figure something else out. As he was walking across the street to his car, his phone began to buzz. He reached in for his pocket and read what it said on the screen. He had gotten a text message from an unknown number saying, “DOOMED” immediately Lysander thought, “What? Who sent this?”. He stayed pondering looking at the screen; then from the corner of his eye, he saw a large black pluming figure raced towards him at full speed, Lysander immediately dodged the huge bird and fell on the ground; pissed off at the bird, he screamed at it!

VROOM! VROOM!

Two cars sped fast on the street where he was standing. He could’ve been killed at that very moment! Lysander’s rage turned into a relief, shock filled his veins and goosebumps crawled up his arms, like a block of dry ice creeping on his back. He looked at the crow in disbelief and it stayed staring at him too. Both creature and human instinct connected with their eyes and gave each other a thankful exchange. Lysander recognized the crow, it was the same one from the road a little earlier. But how did it fly all the way over to town; it wasn’t able to fly before? As Lysander got up from the ground, he stayed staring at the big bird in the middle of the road. He suddenly became immensely thankful for the flying creature and proceed to get it out of the road again. He picked it up once more, and said thank you to it once again. “Very interesting, thanks for looking out for me.” It was like the bird knew what he was saying and nodded it’s head twice. “Whoa, can you understand me?” The crow nodded again twice. Now it began to move like it wanted to be let go. Lysander listened, and put the bird down and it flew away. “Hey wait!” Lysander saw the bird fly away in the sky, and was in disbelief that it had saved him. He wiped the sweat off his face and whispered to himself, “I appreciate you crow.” got back into his car and drove off.

After a while, Lysander started getting kind of hungry. The sun was going down now and many shops were closing soon. He pulled over in front of a coffee shop, stepped inside and ordered a coffee with 2 sugars and a splash of milk. But the barista told him that they’d run out of milk and sugar. “Hmm what a coincidence… just like home. Okay I’ll have a lemon bread with that then.” Lysander turned around and looked at the front window, showing a restaurant across the street. It had a dark navy blue exterior, the restaurant had yellow beige outlines, and a monstrous glass front door. It was beautiful he thought, it had a big red sign at the top that said, House of Picanha. He wondered what kind of restaurant it was, it looked very fancy. There were elegant women walking in and out of the place with men by their side, locked in arms, all well dressed to impress. He got his order, and sat down on the benches in front of the restaurant outside. He wondered, “What an interesting looking place..” Suddenly he felt a hand grab his shoulder while he was sitting down.

“Hey stranger, I haven’t seen you in a while -”

The Night Arrived Early: Noir Sunsets

“Hey it’s me remember?” Smiled the gothic femme, “Don’t tell me you forgot who I am?” Said Nyx. Lysander looked up, and and his eyes sparkled once again. He felt all the air in his lungs fill up in adornment. She looked very sharp herself, still dressed in the most beautiful garments and dress he’d ever seen, all dark as night. And her skin glistening with the reflections of the clouds. Her jewelry dangling on her ears and neck that looked prestige, highlighting her features, enhancing her beauty even more; her aura presented a mysterious glow. Never quite knowing who she really was. She grabbed a chair and sat across from him.

“Hello Nyx, of course I remember who you are,” Lysander looked into her eyes giving a friendly exchange. “Im surprised to see you in this side of town?” Lysander still a little intimidated of her presence and about what had happened the last time he saw her; trying to not give himself away from the truth. He calmly said, “How have you been, whatcha been up to?”.

“I’ve been really good, thanks for asking.” Nyx smiled and tilted her head, “And nothing much really just trying to keep myself occupied. Being at home can be so lonely and boring sometimes. As of right now, I’m here to eat at my favorite restaurant.”

“Really? Last time I saw your home, it looked so big and beautiful, you must have a lot of nice things to do in there.” Lysander smiled back “And well, what restaurant might that be?”

“Well, the one across the street of course! And yes it is glamorous but, like I said. It’s very lonely in there, since well… its just me that lives in that place. If only I had someone to share it with?” Nyx looked at Lysander with a certain viola. He absolutely took the hint and his eyes said it with every bit of white they could.

“Wow, so you really don’t live with anyone? Well how did you buy the house? Or was it passed down to you?” Lysander was filled with curiosity.

“Tsk tsk.” Nyx looked down and smiled with particular intriguement, “Too many questions…you never told me your name actually?” She looked up again and swayed her hair behind her ear. The rings on her fingers sparkled beside her face, and she glowed even more with now both of her green eyes visible to the low naked light.

“My name is, Lysander Sty.” Said Lysander.

“Wow, what a beautiful name you have, Lysander Sty. Never heard of a name like that before.” Said, Nyx.

“Really? That’s what I thought of your name, when I first delivered the meat-eaters pizza to your home.” Lysander, smiled with the corner of his mouth, but never too much to give it all away. They both stood there looking at each others faces in silence, Lysander holding his ground steady and Nyx, waiting to see what would happen next.

Finally, Nyx said, “Well… Thank you very much, I love that you love my name…” Her face became flushed with rose colors. “Are you doing anything right now—?”

“Can I tell you something?” Lysander interrupted her, he took a deep breath and finally said the words he’d been holding on.

“What is it?” Asked Nyx, in a curious tone?

Lysander leaned a bit forward and said “Your cheeks remind me of the sunset, like the hours between 5 to 6. When the night and day kiss each other slowly, and just violently enough to change the sky from blue to a yellow and finally to a chaotic stroke of red.” Lysander paused,  “You are gorgeous, Nyx.”.

Nyx smiled with her whole face this time, and for the first time; she seemed a little shy. Her face went down and she looked reluctant to keep it up, “Thank you Lysander, no one has ever told me anything as romantic as that before. I knew you were unique when I first saw you…” She finally raised her head and locked eyes with him.

“Sometimes I think about that first time we met, when I delivered that meat-eaters pizza and wish the number you gave me didn’t call my mom haha.” Lysander felt a sudden easiness with talking to her now. He smiled and sipped his bitter coffee.

“Oh yeah, right haha… well a real lady is never easy to get to.” Nyx stood up from her chair and said, “Talking about the pizza, you never answered my question? What are you doing after this? I’m starving. ”

“Nothing actually, just gonna head home?” Said Lysander, wondering what was coming next?

“Want to come with me?” Asked Nyx.

“Where to?” Responded Lysander.

“Across the street to my favorite restaurant. House of Picanha.” Smiled Nyx, “Plus you already look very spiffy, come with me?” Lysander looked up at Nyx, and pondered the thought as he stared at her smiling pink glossy lips. She stook her hand out patiently, waiting for him to hold it. Lysander, was honestly really hesitant to go, something was telling him maybe not to go. He was out of work and he knew that he shouldn’t be spending so much money at nice fancy restaurants. But he also knew that he may never be able to get another chance like this with Nyx. He thought about his decision carefully and juggled it in his mind. He thought to himself. Its either now or never.  Nyx looked at him now with uncertainty, “So? You want to come or not?”.

The Steak House: A Place For Remedies

“Okay, lets go.” Affirmed, Lysander. He got up and grabbed her hand. He walked confidently next to the noir femme, and observed the restaurant as they walked towards it. He saw the sunset disappear directly above behind the building, and right after he felt a cool gust of wind blow in the air as they crossed the street. Something felt interesting to Lysander but he couldn’t quiet understand what it was. Nyx, studied him quietly and noticed he felt somewhat suddenly uneasy. She looked back at him a couple of times, until he noticed her looking back at him, smiling with her teeth. Lysander smiled back at her and grabbed her hand tighter reassuring her he wanted to do this. However, in the shadows of the night, Lysander faintly noticed in a split second that her teeth, suddenly looked sharp then went back to regular. He couldn’t tell if this was really what he saw, since now it was really dark. But he continued on.

They got to the entrance and Nyx said, “Table for two please.” She smiled and shared her happiness with Lysander by grabbing his whole arm tightly.

“Yes madame, right this way please.” Said the maitre’d. He grabbed two menus and proceeded to the table. On their way there, Lysander entered a huge, dim lit restaurant with beautiful details of luxury in every corner. The ceilings here were taller than anywhere he’s ever been and the smells here were more delicious than any food he’s ever smelled. There were grand chandeliers hanging from every part in the restaurant and the walls were a dark red that complemented the light when reflected back on them. He noticed the people eating here seemed so happy and so well dressed, like they’ve never been happier in their lives. But they weren’t talking much, instead they just ate quietly. The clanks of their forks and sharp knives echoed loudly throughout the restaurant with soft classical music playing in the background; scrapping the bottom of their plates, to cut what he saw, were very bloody pieces of meat.

This was a steak house. He noticed, all the people here were eating their meats really rare? He thought, hmm how strange? So much blood? But what else did he expect. After all, they were at a restaurant. Then they turned a corner and now he saw men holding large skewers of different kinds of meats with large shiny knives; going up to tables and slicing the meat off while the customers grabbed it with little tongs. He’d never seen a concept like this before. As they walked further, he saw a huge extravagant round table with an even bigger chandelier hanging above it. Below it, lied fresh fruits, cooked vegetables, and exotic cheeses and sauces. Lysander’s head was now starting to worry that maybe this place was really going to hurt his wallet, and be too expensive for him. Small little drips of sweat started to form on his forehead.

“Hey, just in case if you’re thinking this place is too expensive, remember I’m treating you out okay. I want to know who, Lysander is.” Said Nyx, softly. Finally, they got to their table in a little quiet corner and sat down together under a large oil painting. It portrayed a nude woman looking up; striking a pose while holding her neck and grabbing her hip, drapes of red velvet fabric barely covering her body.

“Can I ask, what kind of restaurant is this? I’ve never been to a place like this before?” Lysander sounded astonished.

“It’s a churrascaria, Lysander. It’s a different kind of steak house. A Brazilian one, to be specific. This is my favorite place to eat because you can indulge as much as you’d like. This is the best place to go to if you’re really hungry, a remedy for hunger… like me right now haha.” Giggled, Nyx with enthusiasm. “So Lysander, I hope your ego isn’t hurting right now.”

“What no? Why would it?” Lysander sounded surprised.

“Well because I’m the one taking you out on a date. And I’m paying.” Said Nyx.

“Nah, I think more women should take men out on dates, why not?” Lysander said reassuringly. But honestly taken by surprise. “This will be my first time a woman has ever taken me out, so I will definitely not contest to this. This is really nice, thank you.”

“Well, I’m glad your okay with this. I really like you Lysander, and I want to know a little bit more of who you are. If that’s okay?” Asked, Nyx. She picked up her wine glass and began twirling it.

“Well what would you like to know? I’m an open book.” Said Lysander.

Nyx, leaned in on the table across Lysander and asked, “Who was, Lysander as a little kid? Where did you grow up?” .

“I was a laid back kid, I didn’t get to much into trouble growing up. I was more of a quiet kid, I grew up by myself basically. I stuck to, reading books, and I loved to explore the woods. I grew up here in Nightingale.”

“Hmm interesting, what kind of books did you like to read? And did you ever find anything cool in the woods?” Asked Nyx.

“My favorite books, were those big ones that taught you about different kinds of insect or species of animals with large pictures in them. I was always curious about how the world worked even when I was younger. Sometimes I feel like it speaks to me-” Responded, Lysander.

“Hello, welcome to House of Picanha. Welcome back, madame Nyx.” The waiter interrupted their conversation and bowed to Nyx. “It’s good to see you again madame. Shall we do a full dinner tonight? And can I start you off with a couple of beverages?”

“Thank you Mason, and yes two dinners please. I’ll have a bloody martini, shaken please not stirred.” She smiled and faced Lysander. “What would you like my dear?”

Lysander was impressed with Nyx, she walked into the place knowing where everything was at. She knew the waiter by name, and he even bowed to her. She was so nonchalant about taking care of this whole meal they were about to have. And now she was calling him, dear? Something seemed off to Lysander. “I’ll just have a sprite pleases, thank you.”

“Yes sir, I’ll come back with your drinks. In the meantime please, indulge yourself.” Said, Mason.

“Just a sprite huh, very spiffy dear.” Nyx smirked. She knew Lysander was on to something, she had to stay cryptic. So, you were telling me if you ever found anything interesting in the woods?”

“Ah yes, well one time I was hanging with some friends when I was a very little kid. We were walking in the woods looking for bugs, and we found a pair of pink bloody shoes with a ripped up teddy bear next to them. It creeped all of us out, because out of all our time living here none of us had seen anything like that. And honestly, that’s the only interesting thing I’ve ever seen in the woods.” Said Lysander.

The waiter came back with a tray of drinks and very politely placed them on their table. “Bloody martini for the lady, and a sprite for the gentleman. Enjoy your dinner, here are your medallions.” The medallions looked very odd, they were flat skulls that had two different sides to them. On one side, it was a very dark emerald green. On the other it was a bright muted red. Nyx, grabbed both the medallions and flipped them to green.

“Thank you, Mason.” Nyx bowed her head to him and smiled, he turned around and went off. She looked at her drink and grabbed it carefully. The glass clanked as her rings tapped and rubbed across the crystal glass. It had such an amazing sparkle to it, or maybe perhaps it was just the interior lighting of the chandeliers reflecting light on it. There were little designs of skulls inside where the liquid was flowing in; and the drink itself had a very dark red color to it, almost like a thick viscosity. Almost like blood. Nyx smelled her drink first and then took a light sip. “Ahh, what delicious martini’s they make here. I love it.” She placed her drink down and raised her eyes up at Lysander. “What an interesting story my dear, I wonder how those shoes and that teddy bear got there?” Lysander gazed at Nyx, as she kept sipping her bloody martini. It almost intimated him with the way she moved. But he also had plenty of questions for, Nyx he wanted answers to.

Suddenly a large man approached their table with a large sword and skewer in hand. The gentleman had all his hair slicked back, a piercing on his eyebrow, and he was wearing a unique uniform that made him look militant with golden stripes on his chest and a dark red tie. He had a large metal belt with a shiny chassis in the middle, in the shape of a bull. “House special, rare picahna?”

“Oh yes please!” Nyx, broke out in excitement and grabbed her little tongs rapidly. The gentleman grabbed his huge curved knife, and carefully cut three thin slices of meat off the picanha. Thick heavy drops of blood dripped over the table and down the man’s enormous blade. Nyx, grabbed the meat and put it on her plate. “I’m no longer famished.” Her energy was something to explore, it kept on ascending and descending like clockwork. This heavily confused Lysander, he gazed over the meat she had just put on her plate and for some reason it seemed to still be moving somehow. Like a muscle getting tense, or like a cramp. She grabbed her fork and knife and started cutting the meat to smaller pieces. Her mouth was almost visibly salivating while she was doing this.

“Sir any for yourself?” Asked the man.

Lysander, made a silent pause, his stomach was nervous to say yes. But it would be terrifying rude to say no. “Okay, yes please.” He grabbed the meat with his tongs and the blood dripped over Lysander’s plate. After two slices he said no more and a small puddle of blood started to form on his plate. His steak was still nearly alive.

Lysander couldn’t hold back and made a unpleasant face as he starred at his meats. He looked at the man cutting the meat and he just starred at him back with a smile, like he knew that Lysander, had no idea what was going on. The man said to Lysander, “Please eat, it is good.” They exchanged looks and Lysander understood that he had to eat. He felt like this was a sign of a hint or warning?

“Thank you sir.” Said, Lysander.  He looked at Nyx, and she was happily eating her meat. It seemed so odd that she didn’t seem to hesitate on eating red raw steak. It made her look so, animal like; as if she’s some sort of type of beast. “Nyx, I have to ask you something.” He squinted his eyes and focused on hers.

The Steak House: A Curiosity Begin to Conspire

“What is it dear?” Asked Nyx, while chewing quietly.

“Yesterday, when I went to deliver your pizza, I had a very strange experience. And I want to know what you saw.” Said Lysander.

“What do you mean? I noticed your car stayed parked outside and it didn’t move? I thought maybe you were being weird, since you stayed there for a long while. So I went back out and you seemed off. ” Responded Nyx.

“You didn’t see anything else? Like any lights or…” Lysander, stopped himself before what he was about to say, would make him seem like a lunatic. “Just anything out of the ordinary?”

“Well I thought you were out of the ordinary if I must say. I went inside to place my pizza down and I noticed in the window of your car, you weren’t moving. Like your head was looking somewhere in the woods. You stayed like that for a couple seconds, but then your head began to shake back and forth really fast. Like you were saying no to something? Then it started raining really hard and I thought you might leave at that moment. But you didn’t.” Said, Nyx.

“Nyx…” Lysander paused, leaned in and whispered, “Something happened to me back there. Something that has never happened to me before.” He put his utensils down, put his arms around the table and said. “I blacked out for ten minutes, but in that black out… I saw things, like I continued to go to my job and my home and then things started happening!”

The gothic broad stabbed a small piece of steak on her fork and put it in her mouth. She closed her eyes, and weirdly savored the flavor of the rare meat. “Lysander, I don’t know what you are talking about? That all seems rather strange and troubling, but I promise all I saw was you sitting in your car for a long time and moving your head back and forth. I began to worry so I put on my coat, went outside and knocked on your window.”

“I don’t know, Nyx.” Lysander, now viewed the beautiful young broad, as a perhaps more darker, and sinister figure than he’d expected. “The world hasn’t felt the same for me, ever since yesterday… and for some reason, I feel like things are going to get worse.”

“Well, what else happened?” Asked Nyx, as she cut another piece of steak. She looked at him curiously. Trying to read him, wondering what was going on in his head?

“What about you Nyx, I’ve told you plenty about me. What about you, who is Nyx?” Lysander leaned back and picked up his sweaty cup of sprite.

“What do you want to know?” Nyx, smiled with a corner of her lips as she was chewing the food. Nyx, knew that Lysander was on to something but her persona was far too dark for anyone to see through.

“Excuse me, would you like any rare, Fraldinha?” Asked another large man in uniform.

“Yes of course please!” Just like last time, Nyx was just as excited.

“Do you have any medium?” Asked, Lysander as, Nyx was grabbing the meat with her little tongs.

“No not at this moment, but we can make some, special just for you.”  The man glared at Lysander and nodded his head in agreement but also in confusion.

“Please Lysander, don’t you know, the rarer the better!” Nyx, laughed loudly. And so did the large man.

“Nah, not for me. That’s still moo’in, no thanks I’ll wait.” Lysander now looked and felt out of place, like a light in a dark broken room. Both, Nyx and the large man stopped laughing and looked at him with a serious tone. Like maybe he might’ve said a curse word or something.  He sensed that there was heavy tension and then proceeded to ask, “Do you have any chimmichuri sauce?”

“Oh no, we don’t serve that here but we have, spicy sauce and horse radish.” Said the large man calmly.

“How come you don’t serve chimmichuri? Steak goes amazing with that sauce.” Responded Lysander.

“Don’t you know Lysander.” Nyx, paused the conversation. “That sauce kills the flavor of the meats. Here we like to encourage people to enjoy the full flavor of the animal they are eating. Not mask it.” The large man agreed with Nyx and nodded his head; now it felt like two against one. Lysander, now had almost had enough.

“Okay. In that case, can I have some spicy sauce?” Said Lysander in frustration, and a confused tone. This really startled the young man because, for the first time, he caught Nyx saying something that he didn’t expect her to say. She said “we” like she was part of the place, and she spoke for the man as well. Another thing that startled him too was that a steak house, did not serve chimmichuri sauce? Why not? That sauce definitely goes with red meats. Everything at this point was starting to get very strange for young, Lysander and he was starting to regret this experience.

“Is there something wrong my dear?” Asked, Nyx. She paused eating, and then realized exactly what she had just said. “Lysander, are you okay?” Nyx now accepting her mistake, reached her hand out to grab Lysander’s. He flinched out of surprise and pulled his hand back, inside his head he was a waterfall of thoughts that drowned his mind. Lysander, felt he had to leave the situation.

“I need to go to the restroom, I’ll be right back.” Lysander pushed himself back and removed himself from the situation, he got up immediately and walked to the nearest restroom. But now he had another problem, finding it. He walked around the halls and corners of the restaurant; he was wiping his face from the sweat droplets that were starting to form as he stared at everyone, imagining them all to be something he couldn’t wrap his head around. Finally he saw a sign that said, Homens that lead to a long hallway, he quickly paced to the restroom.  As he was approaching the restrooms he noticed at the very end of the hall there was a half open door with a dark red glow behind it. It didn’t say, employees only or exit and, Lysander was really curious to what else was behind that door. He walked a little closer to it and heard other men talking loudly coming towards him from that door. He quickly raced back and stepped into the men’s restroom.

The Steak House: A Terrible Truth.

Lysander, now holding his breath to calm down from almost being caught, leaned his head close to the door to listen in to what the men where saying. “The prospect looks like he has potential, but there’s something familiar to him. I’m not sure what it is but we can ask the boss.”

“Yes, I’ll keep a closer eye on him and report back to Nyx, after all she always knows best.”

Lysander’s heart dropped when he heard the men say Nyx’s name. He knew that she was involved in this place somehow but he wasn’t sure how. Now with this, he solidified that he was correct, but he wanted to find out more. Lysander, put his head closer to the door again and heard heavy footsteps getting closer. The door opened. Lysander quickly stepped out of the way and grabbed some paper towels to look like he had just washed his hands. In stepped the server that was helping them. “Hello young man, how’s your dinner going?” Said the server as he was walking to wash his hands.

“It’s going great thanks for asking! I’m going to go back now!” Said, Lysander and quickly raced out the door. He looked at the beginning of the hallway and saw another man with militant uniform exiting the hallway back to the dinning room. It was one of the gentlemen with the swords and skewers. He turned the other way to see if the door was still open and it was. Lysander was nervous about the decision he was about to make. He knew that he already knew enough and heard to much, however; how much worse can it get if he saw something else? He walked fastly to the glowing door and opened it. There were red led lights on the ceiling edges lighting the way. It led down a stair case to another hallway with two hallways both leading to a basement of some sort. He could hear knives being sharpened and people talking, coming from both hallways. So he decided to take a left and see what else there was. He also kept a mental note that Nyx, was still waiting for him so he had to hurry up. He kept walking until he finally saw a large window. It was all extremely dark on the other side, but he could see dozens of little cribs connected to a bunch of tubes and wires. There were also large white machines that looked like standing closets that had tiny glowing lights, and circular tubes connecting them all together. He was starting to get freaked out by all that he was witnessing. He began to conclude that maybe those where babies in the cribs all intertwined together. What kind of people would do this?!

He had enough of this place. He turned around and this time began to run back as fast as he could not caring about the noise he was making. As he was running he could hear his shoes pushing hard against the floor etching to escape this horrific place that he was in. Finally he saw the red lights at the end of the hallway, leading up the stairs. He was running out of breath but he was too scared to stop running. He finally got all the way up and saw the door handle and made a hard reach for it. The door opened all the way and, Nyx stepped in front of the door now. She was glowing with a dark red silhouette behind her, outlining her entire body and her jewelry was shinning making the entire hallway glow with opal lighting. Almost like is she was a chandelier herself. He was faced up against her now.  He looked up at the top of the stairs and there she was. “Lysander? I was wondering what took you so long to come back?” She smiled at him with a sinister tone.

The Steak House: What This Place Really Is.

“Nyx! What is this place?! Who really are you?” Lysander pleaded, “This place is filled with weird shit in the back!”

“It’s not weird shit. It’s a restaurant my dear, and right now you are not where you are supposed to be.” Responded Nyx.

“But there’s baby cribs in the hallway, and they’re all connected to tubes and wires! This is fucked up whatever you are doing here it has to stop!” Yelled, Lysander.

“Tsk tsk tsk, no no no Lysander. Would you like to see what they actually are? After all, you are my guest of honor.” Said, Nyx.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t understand what was that back there?” Asked, Lysander.

“Let me show you, my dear. Please take my hand.” Nyx looked at Lysander and noticed how scared he was. His eyes screamed for help, his hands were shaking, and his entire presence seemed weak, she knew she had cracked him open, “I said, take my hand now, Lysander!” Spoke Nyx.

“No! I’m not doing shit! What is this place! Please don’t hurt me!” Pleaded, Lysander. He  stood his ground, “What are you people?!”.

“My people have lived here in Nightingale, for centuries, Lysander, we are the chosen people.” Nyx looked at Lysander, and raised her head up high. “We are the people of this land, and we have been caring for this tiny town for centuries. And you— well you are a special one my dear.”

“What the fuck?!” Yelled, Lysander “What are you people! What are you saying! I knew you were different, but I didn’t know you were a freak!”

“Lysander, my dear. When you were young, you had a grave accident. Don’t you remember? You died my dear.” Said, Nyx gracefully. “You died in a car accident and you were just a baby.”

“NO, NO, NO! That’s not true because, I’m alive!” Lysander cried, he looked at his hands and they were all shaken and clammy. He did not understand how she could say such a thing like that. Lysander, always knew that he was a little different, but him dying? How could this be true. His spirit was on a downhill roller coaster and his heart was pounding immensely with fear and confusion in his chest.

“Lysander, I found you in the back seat of your parent’s car, you were upside down hanging from your highchair. Everyone was dead in the car, I heard the crash while we were on a hunt. It was a sad cold night, and it was pouring rain especially hard that night too. I think, that maybe your parent’s lost control of the car, it was fully upside down when we found it.” Nyx, now took a couple steps closer to Lysander. The silhouette from the red light behind Nyx made her shine even brighter, around her body. It was beginning to get difficult for Lysander, to stay focused on her face, all her jewelry made her look like a glowing, red diamond from the distance. But she kept walking closer to him slowly. “Didn’t you ever wonder what happened to your parents? Why you grew up in foster homes? Truthfully, I should’ve just let you stay dead. Maybe that would’ve been easier for you.” Nyx was getting closer, and as she spoke her face seemed softer and her head was tilting in sympathy. “But when I saw you, I saw the most beautiful, little baby boy.” Said Nyx.

“But how could I have died if I’m still alive! You’re stupid, and a liar!” Lysander, screamed as he was taking steps back away from, Nyx. “I need to get out of here! You aren’t real!”

“But I very much am real, Lysander. My kind can live for a long time. And I’m the only reason why you’re alive too my dear. I took you out of the car, and carried you in my arms. All the others told me to leave you alone, but I couldn’t justify leaving you; you didn’t deserve to die at such a young age, and the thought of you being eaten by the animals around made me a sadder woman. So I did something I wasn’t supposed to do…” Nyx, now almost face to face with Lysander, but still above him, reached out her hand to touch his face. “I made you like me.” She whispered. Lysander, was still and stopped backing away from her. Tears ran down his face from fear and misunderstanding.

“What did you do to me…” Lysander’s voice trembled, he closed his eyes, and clenched his teeth.

Nyx, now face to face with him, gently grabs his face with one hand, pulls herself closer, and whispers in his ear. “I brought you back from the dead—”

“What? What did you turn me into?” Lysander’s voice trembled.

“A vampire like me, my dear. I saved you.” Nyx, grabbed Lysander’s hand and caressed it gently. “Open your eyes my dear, let me show you, what you are. Don’t be afraid.” The young man opened his eyes and was fully surrendered to the noir goddess. She had successfully crumbled any kind of identity he had left he had in him. Thoughts of who he was spiraled into an infinite hole of why’s and how’s. He collapsed on his knees and cried. He truly, did grow up without any parent’s his whole life. He never knew where he came from, he was told his parents left him at a station and that was the beginning of his lonely life. From his very existence on earth, to his death, and back to his resurrection, he had always been an unlucky man from the start to the end.

“I was told my parents left me at a fire station, and that they were too young to keep me? That’s why they let me go?” Whimpered, Lysander. “If I’m a vampire, then how come I never crave blood, and how come I can be in the sun and not burn?”. Nyx, picked him back up  and turned Lysander around, they both began walking back to the same hall that Lysander came from.

“Tsk tsk tsk, oh my dear.” Nyx, smiled at Lysander and wiped the tears off his cheek, “You can do all that because I didn’t turn you into a regular vampire. You see, I never bit you. You were so small, I thought a bite would’ve been too much for your little body. And when we do that, we also absorb blood. You would’ve never come back since you had already lost a lot of blood.” Nyx, stopped for a moment, and showed her hand to Lysander, “So instead, I broke one of our sacred rules, everyone told me not to do it, but I had to give you another chance at life. I slit my hand, and let my blood drip in your mouth. At first you didn’t react, you were so still in my arms, even I thought fate had taken you in its hands. But then you suddenly, you began to cry and kick your little feet. I went back to the car and grabbed your blanket.”

“Why did you bring me back to life? I don’t understand? Why did you break your own rules for me?” Asked, Lysander.

“Because not all of us are bad, some of us actually care about the people here. Like I said, we are the chosen people, and we have a responsibility. We’ve been taking care of Nightingale for centuries, and you… you were too young to die so soon.” Answered, Nyx. “I broke our sacred rule because we didn’t keep you, and you didn’t turn the traditional way; you see… you’re a hybrid.”

“So, the other vampires, don’t know that I’m a vampire? And how come you didn’t keep me? Or why did you leave me on my own too?” Asked Lysander again.

“No, not all of them, just a few. And because you were simply much too young. We usually only turn regular humans, into vampires once they’re past the age of 13.” Said, Nyx.

“How come after 13? And who else knows about me?” Asked, Lysander.

“Too many questions my dear, look I want to show you something.” Nyx, holding Lysander’s hand, proceeded to walk the same hallway that he came from, and pointed at the cribs behind the mirror. “Those are the forgotten, the poor babies that were abandoned and left for dead in their life. Our tribe, found them all by the side of the roads in boxes, abused in their homes, and forgotten by their parents. We found these children left for dead, and we’re bringing them back to life. You see, Lysander we are not all bad people here. My team and I rescued these poor kids and are rejuvenating them back to life. It just takes a while for them to come back since they were so abused.” Lysander and Nyx, walked further than Lysander, had been there before. He was shocked by all the poor children that were left for dead. As they were passing window by window, Lysander looked at Nyx, and she genuinely looked like she was feeling remorse for the forgotten kids. “The thing about me my dear, is that I believe in second chances. Especially when it comes to children, they never have a choice, let alone know what choice even is. I find that many human families have more problems than us vampire kind as well. They have to much greed, lust, and treachery. Even with their own families, that’s why I have this place, to bring these kids back to life. The forgotten.”

They stopped walking and Nyx, turned to Lysander. She noticed he was more at ease now, his shoulders were lower and his hands had finally stopped shaking. He turned back to look at how far the rest of the underground hall went, and it looked like it went on forever. All he saw was a little white light at the end of it. He slowly turned back and faced, Nyx “Why are you doing all this? I thought vampires were supposed to be all bad, I’ve never heard of anything like this before. How can I trust you?” Said Lysander.

“I’ve never met anyone like you either, Lysander. I knew you were different since the day I met you. Remember I told you that my dear?” Said Nyx.

“You made me different from the start Nyx. I didn’t have a choice did I? If you knew I’ve been a vampire for so long, then how come you didn’t tell me right away? Why did you take so long to tell me?!” Lysander pleaded. He spoke with an attitude this time, and the fear was now fading away from his mind.

“I was going to tell you today, that’s why I brought you here Lysander, I’ve wanted to tell you the truth for so long, but you weren’t ready, you are not what you think you are. You are something entirely different. Something else.” Said, Nyx.

“I guess you’re right, I wouldn’t know how to explain that to someone either.” Responded, Lysander. “Glad I know now why I’ve been so different all along.”

The Revelation: A KING Being Made

“Let me walk you back to our table my dear. After all, this was supposed to be my treat to you. Forgive me please, I did not plan it to be this way, but I guess life is always unpredictable isn’t it?” Said Nyx.

“Okay, but hold on. I still don’t understand, if I’m a vampire. How come I never crave blood—” said, Lysander.

“Lysander, my dear. If you don’t trust anything that I’ve said, then please come with me. I will show you who you are.” Nyx smiled, but this time she didn’t hide her fangs. They were long and very sharp. She had a very calm aura to her and did not hesitate to even giggle a bit. She walked in front of Lysander, and had a little bounce to her step. Her curly hair flowed gracefully, and highlighted her glow. Inside of Lysander’s mind, he had no idea if she was good or evil. If he should be grateful for this vampire saving him, or have an infinite hatred towards her.  After all, she is the reason for everything he is. Nyx turned around and said, “Where I’m about to take you is a private room, where you will discover your vampire strength. I will guide you through the process. But first, you will need to take the activator.”

“What’s the activator?” Said, Lysander.

“Blood of course, my dear.” Said, Nyx with wit. As they finally got to the exit of the hallway with the red ceiling lights, they entered the restaurant again. Lysander now calm at last, followed, Nyx and looked at all the people eating in the restaurant.

“They’re all vampires aren’t they—” Lysander got cut off mid sentence.

“Shh!” Nyx stopped and turned around aggressively to Lysander, and put her finger to his lips. “It’s rude to say that out loud! Just shut up and follow me!” Lysander was caught by surprise, his eyebrows raised up all the way and his body tensed up.

“Sorry, I didn’t know that, I’ll just… keep walking.” Lysander felt the hairs on his arms and back curl up. Something about her tone had actually shut him up. As they were walking past the tables in the dinning room, he in fact already, had suspicion of what they were. He was more taken by surprise to know just how many of them there here just eating, not killing people. No wonder they all want rare meats. He didn’t know about the social cues or about the attitude that he was supposed to display. He just followed, Nyx with a high strung attitude and moved straight. They passed by their original table, and he saw the large painting of the naked woman on the wall, he looked at it a little more closely, and notice a peculiar characteristic, the woman had her mouth opened and he noticed she had fangs. How old could have this painting be? Who was that woman, it must’ve been significant to Nyx, she wanted to sit down right below it. As they passed by all the vampires, and the men with large swords and skewers, some of them looked back at him and nodded at him. He took this particularly strange, he didn’t know them but he sensed it was only perhaps a good thing. They finally passed by a corner and got to a quiet room, at the end of a small hall in the restaurant. The door was made out red wood and it had a cross right above it made out of crystal as well. It shined brightly just like all the chandeliers in the restaurant. Except, this was the only religious object he’d seen in the entire restaurant. Once they stepped inside the room, it had a large chandelier in the middle of the room, except this one was spinning, giving a different color of light to the room with every second. The light never touching the same spot twice, and the entire room was color red with large drapes hanging from the walls. There were no windows, but just a table in the middle below the chandelier with two beautifully hand crafted chairs. Each one had golden highlights around the edges of the chair, perfectly complementing the color of the room and color of the crystal above it. Everything here screamed Evil Royal, but Lysander, couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Nyx, pointed at one of the chairs and ordered Lysander, to sit down. He grabbed the chair and pulled it back. It was very heavy, he wondered what was about to happen.

“Mason!” Yelled Nyx. Immediately the waiter that was helping them on their original table walked through the door.

“Yes madame, how can I be of service?” Said Mason

“Please bring me a cup of blood. I need it fresh, now.” Requested, Nyx.

“Yes, I’ll bring it immediately madame.” Said Mason.

“Whoa, what’s that for? And from what?” Asked, Lysander.

“My dear, you ask so many questions. It’s for you obviously, I am going to activate your powers right now.” Nyx, rolled her eyes at Lysander, and crossed her arms together.  “You are going to drink it, and then you will feel your powers come to you.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, why do I have to drink it? Isn’t there another way?” Said, Lysander.

“No my dear, this is the only way. Trust me.” Responded Nyx. Soon after, Mason had walked back into the room and gave Nyx, a  up of blood. It came to, Nyx in a crystal wine glass with golden highlights on the rim and at the bottom of the glass. It almost seemed like a type of royal cup that only kings and queens drink from. Lysander, had never seen anything like that before. It was also the first time, he imagined himself as a true vampire. Having to drink the blood of another living creature every day just to survive.To him it really started to get heavy, and once again he started feeling another panic attack coming to him. “Lysander my dear, I know that you already have felt a touch of the powers I have given you. You told me that you can feel the world talking to you. That’s not the world. That’s your heightened sense of hearing, smell, and touch that you posses. These will come in very handy to you in your future. After all, we are not the only apex predators in the world. Other things will try to eat you, kill you, and haunt you. You will need to be prepared for what else will come for you.”

“Wait what? Kill me are you serious? Like what?” Lysander was sitting down on the chair, his voice was becoming shaky again, he felt really hot and small sweats started to form on his forehead and hands. Nyx, was now walking gracefully to him with a smile and slowly handed him the cup of blood. She looked at him closely and grabbed his hand, placed the cup in his hand, and finally said to drink it.

Finally the moment has come, Lysander had to become something he did not understand, something that he feared, he did not understand his life at this moment or why the world had brought him to these instances. He looked at the cup and it felt warm, he smelled it and it actually smelled, delicious. He looked at Nyx, and she nodded at him like it was the right thing to do. She smiled at him from a distance. Lysander raised the cup to his lips and just when he was going to drink it. Someone knocked down the door to the room, and a plunge of smoke covered the entrance.

“What do you think you’re doing my beauty, it’s about time. I finally found you, Lysander! You are DOOMED!” A strange eerie humming sound came from the door and from the dust, came out a large, tall bald man with really dark skin, and glowing red eyes. He stepped inside. He had a long cloak on with a huge chain necklace and he was dressed in all black. He also had a peculiar smell, like something that, Lysander had smelled only once before. “If you drink that boy, I will kill this man and you. Put it down!” He was holding, Mason by the neck and held him up in the air. Mason, was fighting to breath for his life, the waiter that was helping them out just minutes earlier, was now trying to release himself from the hard grip on his neck, his face was blood red and the veins on his face were impeccably visible from any distance. He was struggling to speak, no air was going in or out of him. Behind him, appeared more men with cloaks floating in the air with horrendous faces. All of them visibly ready to kill. “Come with me my boy, this is all a plot for you’re death. She has been lying to you the whole time! You don’t know what you are!” Lysander knew exactly who he was. The man from his dreams, the figure that was swallowing him. Lysander’s heart dropped in fear.

“Lysander quick! Drink it!” Yelled Nyx, she looked at the large man and said, “How dare you come into my institution and destroy my door!” Lysander looked at all three of them, and froze in his body. Then he just focused on the man. An immense shock flowed through him and suddenly the large man looked familiar. He was the man from his dream! “Lysander! Now!” Pleaded Nyx. Lysander took the cup again and looked at it. He saw his reflection on the blood and something was telling him not to do it.

“Please! Help!” Yelled, Mason. Blash! Lysander looked at Mason, and the large man had crushed, Mason’s head. Blood spilled everywhere and it left half of the man’s face with splattered blood. Mason’s lifeless body was hanging from the large mans hand, still up in the air hanging. He looked at Nyx, and she screamed NO in the loudest tone he’d ever heard. The large man looked at her and screamed.

“I am Apollyon, Lord of the Shadows, and leader of the Watchers. Lysander, it is now you’re time to die” Said, Apollyon. He pointed at Lysander and now the men behind Apollyon surrounded Nyx, and Lysander. “Die.” Nyx, without a moment of hesitation, leaned closer to the ground and pushed her leg deep into the earth below her. A sudden flash of light and loud bang killed all the men surrounding them.

“Did you think it was going to be that easy, Apollyon?” Nyx spoke with confidence and valor; but tears ran down her delicate face as she saw Mason’s dead body hanging in, Apollyon’s hand. She assured him that she was not just another vampire. But, in fact far more than any other opponent that he had ever come across. Apollyon, now threw Mason’s lifeless body on the ground. Now all by himself in the room, he took off his coat and made a fist to the ground. He punched it incredibly hard and the whole restaurant started to shake. He made another punch to the ground and now the ceiling of the room was beginning to collapse. Lysander dropped the glass of blood and looked at Nyx.  “Lysander, we need to get out of here now! Take my hand!” Nyx yelled, and small crumbles of the ceiling began to fall on her head and the ground was now splitting, some areas getting deeper and some cracking and splitting in half completely, the entire room was now extremely dusty.

Lysander took her hand and she pulled him to one of the corners of the room. She moved the large red drapes and there was another door. This one seemed plain and simple. An escape route. She opened the door and told him to go first. Behind the door were a plot of stairs leading up. “Hurry up! Go now!” Ordered Nyx; He ran as fast as he could up the stairs, and at the very end of it all the way up, looked liked a small light at the end of a tunnel. This seemed too familiar to Lysander, but he still took his chances and ran up the stairs as fast as he possibly could. The stairs felt like they never ended up and his legs were now starting drag. It felt like weights were pulling him down, he stopped and turned around to look if Nyx ,was behind him and there she was. Running herself as fast as she could holding her beautiful black dress, while now large pieces of the ceiling where falling in front of and behind her. A huge piece of the ceiling was forming a large crack right above her, she stopped and looked up. She saw the large crack and realized that she couldn’t make it all the way up. The whole place was collapsing on itself.

Lysander looked at Nyx, and felt a huge wave of emotion crash him. He thought, should I run and go get her? Or should I save myself, but if I don’t save her, I will be a coward!? “Nyx! I’m coming to get you! Keep pushing I’m almost there!” He began to run back down the stairs.

“NO! Lysander you can’t you must keep going! You must escape this place, you must survive! You are a King, Lysander! Get out of here and go back to my house, you’ll find answers there!” Pleaded, Nyx. Suddenly, large banging sounds happened behind her, it was Apollyon. He was so gigantic that he was pushing and crushing the concrete, in order to get to Nyx. His face, hands, and body were all bloody from punching the concrete, and it collapsing on him. “Run!” Yelled, Nyx. Inside, Lysander’s mind he couldn’t comprehend what she meant by him being a king? He was genuinely starstruck and in disbelief by all that she said, but he took it to heart and kept running up.

“My beauty, where do you think you’re running to this time!” Apollyon, was raging to capture her; even from where Lysander, was standing he could hear his loud grunts fighting to push forward. Now the large piece of the ceiling was cracking incredibly loud, collapsing and a huge piece of concrete fell on Nyx’s face. She looked up at Lysander, and he looked back one last time. She knew she wasn’t going to make it. Without words, she sent her goodbyes to him in a small smile as blood was dripping down her face and cheek. Bang! The entire ceiling collapsed on top of her and Apollyon.

“Nyx!” Lysander, screamed! The whole restaurant was collapsing in itself before his eyes and he saw her body get crushed by all the weight; dust spread everywhere. He turned around and finally saw the exit, there were trees and moonlight at the end of the tunnel. He heard the sounds of the place , crashing, falling, and getting closer to him. He turned around, a huge piece of the ceiling was falling on him. Bang! “AAHH!” Lysander, screamed in pain as a piece of concrete fell on top of him and crushed his arm and hand completely. He felt the immense heaviness of the restaurant on top of him, he no longer could breath in, only out. The weight of all of it had become too much for him. The entire restaurant had now fallen. He saw a tiny glimmer of moonlight bouncing back from a rock near his face. He now felt his body giving up, he couldn’t move any part in his body besides his eyes. His body, was now aching in death, begging for anything to stay alive, his last tiny breaths of air leaving his chest. This was it for the young man, all his life had lead to this moment. A pair of tears ran down his face, the pain was too excruciating to withstand. Now the light at the end of the tunnel was beginning to feel very real. He realized, he saw how he was going to die all along. He dreamed about it, and thought about it all days before. He closed his eyes and released his final breath of air. Suddenly a large gust of wind blew through the small crevices of the rocks, and something told him to force himself to take one last painful breath of air.

“I smell him, I think he’s somewhere here quick!” Lysander, heard people in the distance. It sounded like they were moving the boulders and rocks. Lysander, tried to yell for help, but he couldn’t force a sound out his mouth. In the end, he let out a last and final whisper, “He—”.

— To be Continued….