| Elliot got a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach, as she peered out into her dark backyard. It was completely silent. She wanted to tip-toe through the grass bare foot. Her mother would have a fit. The moon shone and the stars sparkled, and the whole night seemed to call softly to her as she gazed out the screen of her back porch. The feeling in her stomach was one that said to her: imment danger. She ignored it. The freshly mown lawn smelled good, and cushioned her feet beautifully. Elliot smiled in the pale light and wiggled her toes. The night was so lovely. A little breeze whistled by her ear, and Elliot began to sway. She lept and waved her arms, in a strange little dance, which began to wash away the feeling that she was unsafe. Elliot began to waltz around the yard. She held out her arms and imagined a handsome young man occupied the space. She giggled and whirled, and had forgetten her previous insecurities when a hand slipped into the one she held out, and an arm put a gentle pressure on the small of her back. Elliot looked up in surprise to a fair face with luminescent grey eyes, and a light smile thinly radiating pleasure and amsuement. She was swept up into an elaborate, beautiful dance, which her feet could barely follow, and her heart almost kept pace. It was not the dancing which made her heart pound. At last, the dance stopped, and they stood, him still holding her fast. Elliot plucked up her courage, and spoke. "Are you a fairy, sir?" The fair man threw back his head and laughed, a his dark hair glinting in the moonlight. His mouth was wide open, and Elliot got a veiw which made her gasp. "My what sharp teeth you have!" she exclaimed almost involentarily. "All the better to eat you with, my dear." replied the man. Elliot's eyes grew wide and she began to stuggle, mutely, but the man held her tight. He laughed a again, a sound like a rain spalting on a windy during a storm. "You are so cliche, little one. I am sorry, I simply couldn't help myself. Settle down, there's a good girl." Elliot found herself no longer stuggling, his voice was warm as hot milk on a sleepless night. "What are you?" she asked again, this time in a whisper. "I am of the night. I am the dream which lies sheathed in shadows at the foot of your bed. I am the villian, the poision, and the beauty. I am behind the moon, and in the dark, the echo of each footstep when you think your are alone in an empty hallway. I am the unpleasnt surprise. I love you." "Love?" Elliot chocked. "I need you, dearheart. I must live without the day, in a sunless world. I need your light to keep me company. My darkness needs a comforting fliker of warmth. Your gentlness would wash away all the woes of the darkness, of the solitary night. Say only that you might love. Say only that, and I will lay the world at your feet. It is in my power. So are you." Elliot opened her mouth, her heart welling at the intoxicating words. "I will not marry you." she mummered. She wasn't quite sure where the word came from, but they sounded right. "Marry? My child, this is not the love of which I speak. You must understand, that my affections have reasons." "I will not wed the night." she continued, the words feeling familar. "I just said-" Elliot broke him off. "The dark is not for me, and I am not for the dark. I am for the day, and the sunrise." She reconized it as the words her mother had taught her since childhood. The words were ones her mother never explained, just as she never explained her fear of night. "What do you say?" asked the vampire (for that was what he was) suddenly growing stren, as he gave her a little shake. He leaned by her kneck, then drew back suddenly, as if repuled. "You blood has curdled within your veins! I happily swallow dead blood, before I defiled my mouth with you!" With that, he swept out of the back yard, leeping nimbly along the fence, as if he was a large dark cat. The screen door opened, and Elliot ran toward the slim silhoutte of her mother. Elliot's mom held her tight. They stood together, in the doorway, the sounds of night echoing innocently about them with crickets' chirp, and far away music. Her mother broke the silence first. "You see why I told you about the Darkman? Do you see why I told you not to go out at night, alone?" the mother asked gently as she tenderly kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Yes, mama." whispered Elliot, burying her face in her mother's sholder. "Sorry." The young girl's sholders slumped, as if wieghed suddenly with a great burden. "And I promise never to do it again." Her mother nodded wisely and sent Elliot back into the house, and gazed a while out over the back pourch into the gaze of a great dark figure that was hunched over the back fence. There was a live tension in the silent darkness, and it grew until it was almost audible with the sighing of the wind. "Please." came a whisper as smooth and sweet as a lover's kiss. "I am not for the dark, and the dark is not for me." replied the woman, with a weary expression. "She is my daughter." |
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