Phoenix Saga Part II

Phoenix Rose

As far as Rinean could tell, the wind wasn’t going to die down any time soon. She was still getting used to the high breezes of Chicago, but other than the pesky wind, she loved it. There was plenty of prey here.

She had adopted the rooftop of an old apartment complex as her perch, where she sat gazing and waiting for the next unsuspecting person to walk toward the dark alley below. She soon had a chance; a blonde teenage girl was apparently taking a shortcut to get home from a long study session at the library across the street. Rinean raised herself to the ledge along the roof, preparing to jump the mere four stories to the ground.

The girl edged nearer and nearer to the shadows… then a blue convertible drove up beside her, full of chattering teenagers. Rinean hissed in anger as the girl accepted a ride from her friends and jumped in, but her anger faded quickly. A shiver crept its way down her spine, but she knew this feeling well. This was the sensation of another vampire entering her territory. The feeling was no stranger to her; in the past seven years of being a vampire, she’d met plenty of others, most of whom were new and didn’t realize they were in another vampire’s area, but there were few whom she knew personally, namely her brother, Orlando, and her “blood father,” Phoenix. She forced the thought of Phoenix from her mind as she realized the wave patterns of this vampire were new to her. She left the invading vampire alone; she wouldn’t attack him unless he attacked her first. She was somewhat of a pacifist in the vampire community, which was usually a danger to most vampires. But she was the strongest vampire of the Phoenix line, a position not to be taken lightly by others.

“Must be a newbie,” she thought aloud, though barely above a whisper. She ignored the ever-nearing feeling to return to her hunting. That was a mistake on her part; only minutes later a sharp clawed hand clenched into her right shoulder, and seconds later a cold, beaten hand grabbed her left wrist fiercely. She closed her eyes in pain; the hand that held her wrist was digging into the scar she had caused to become stronger than Phoenix himself. She regretted not trusting the feelings she had pushed to the pit of her stomach, but she was still getting used to the idea of trusting her brother’s gut instincts.

The vampire that had locked her in place spoke, his voice enriched with a light German accent. “You are to come and visit vith Sir Phoenix.” He then began to push her toward another ledge of the building. She hated not being able to see his face; she couldn’t tell what kind of an opponent she had on her hands unless she could see his eyes, the window to his spirit. Perhaps he had already known the gift of insight she possessed, which could mean he wasn’t a rookie, making him an almost worthy opponent.

Almost. Phoenix more than likely told this guy about this power she had, instructing him to avoid her eyesight at all costs. Good Phoenix. Lead me right to you.

“So, Phoenix is looking for another fight,” Rinean mused, a silent laugh lurking in her voice. “He does not know when to quit.” She followed the stranger to the edge of the building, and in a few seconds, they vanished, on their way to wherever Phoenix was hiding.

* * *

Phoenix sat at the bar that was unnaturally clean and unsticky, gazing at the clear red drink in his wineglass. He swirled the glass around before it met his lips; the wine tickled his tongue as though dozens of tiny, sweet faeries were dancing on it. It quenched his thirst temporarily; he needed blood within the next couple of days or he would face the end of his immortal life.

He tilted the drink again, and as he drank, he met the gaze of a stranger staring at him. The glass was set once more on the wooden bar as Phoenix looked back at the stranger; a look of desire and lust was obvious in the stranger’s expression. Phoenix’s watch was interpreted as an invitation to join him at the bar, and as they stood, Phoenix noticed that the stranger was a male. An attractive male at that. Clearly he had been thinking the same about Phoenix.

Usually Phoenix was a loner, but he made an exception for the one who joined him now. If he played it right, he could seduce this guy and have a meal within a couple of hours. His hunger-driven thoughts were stamped out when the stranger spoke. The British accent that flowed from his mouth was as sweet as the wine Phoenix was drinking. “Hi, I’m Shane,” he said as he tucked a strand of shoulder length blonde hair behind his ear.

“I’m Phoenix,” Phoenix gulped. He hadn’t expected to be sexually attracted to him, but he was. Perhaps it was the luscious accent mixed with the perfect smile. No matter what it was, he couldn’t ignore the racing heart he hid behind his tight black shirt.

Shane looked Phoenix in the eye, his icy blue ones chilling Phoenix’s red ones to the core. Phoenix refused to let Shane see the shiver go up his arm. He pulled his glance away from Shane’s and looked at his arms. They were perfectly sculpted as though he were the statue of Adonis. “Wanna go out some time?” Shane asked, bringing Phoenix back to staring at Shane’s face rather than his tight pants.

“Yes, definitely,” Phoenix said in what he hoped was seductively. If it wasn’t he just looked like an ass.

Phoenix felt like an ass anyway after Shane had left and he realized he had let his meal escape. However, thinking of Shane made his hungry anger pass, replacing it with a strange fluttering in his chest and a tightened stomach.

That feeling was also washed away and was replaced with coldness when his servant, holding Rinean by the wrist, appeared at the doorway of the bar. “Ah, Rinean, so glad you could make it,” he said, though it was bitter, meant to slap Rinean across the cheek.

“Hello, Phoenix,” she said, returning the same bitterness.

Phoenix made a clicking noise at his servant, then said to him, ”Go, Tidus.” Rinean never got the chance to see her captor, he vanished the very second Phoenix had demanded him to.

“What do you want, Phoenix? That thrashing I gave you two years ago wasn’t enough?” Her confidence seemed forced to Phoenix, though he knew that she was boiling with anger.

“That was a thrashing?” Phoenix laughed, which was forced, since he was putting up a false front. There before him stood the one vampire in his line that was stronger than he was. “It seemed to me that you were giving yourself a thrashing.” He shouldn’t be saying this; he didn’t want to start a fight.

“So why did you want me here?” Rinean asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

“This.” He gave no explanation and he vanished. Rinean would have been upset if she hadn’t seen what he dropped before he had disappeared. She ran to the place where he wad been, and there on the floor was a black rose, tainted with a ridge of blood red on each petal. It was what he had hoped would be taken as a truce.

Rinean just laughed at Phoenix’s feeble attempt to getting out of the revenge she would take. “You killed my brother, Phoenix,” She said to the empty barstool. “You will pay.”

* * *

Shane sat on the edge of the couch, sipping at the white wine in his glass. Phoenix could do nothing but stare at him; he ignored the way his own long black hair waved in the wind from the air conditioner to watch the blonde man. Shane had the same feeling; staring at Phoenix was much more fun than watching Interview with the Vampire. He couldn’t let this emotion rule him. He had to act.

He got up from the couch and walked toward Phoenix, the same expression on his face as he had in the bar earlier. Phoenix smiled. Surely he wouldn’t be so bold as to make the first move; in fact, he was scared stiff. He became lost in the ice-blue eyes that neared.

Shane crawled on top of Phoenix, tipping the recliner chair back. Phoenix lay there, staring at the strong muscles under Shane’s tight red wife-beater, but soon his gaze was lifted back to his eyes. “You have beautiful eyes,” Shane said, his British accent making Phoenix shiver with delight.

Phoenix took a breath, but it was cut short as Shane leaned down and kissed him. It caught Phoenix by surprise, but he was soon immersed in it. His hand wandered to Shane’s back, forcing his weight down. Shane chuckled softly under his breath as his fingers entangled themselves in Phoenix’s dark locks. Slowly, they each attempted to single-handedly unbutton each other’s jeans.

A cold voice pierced the air. “You shouldn’t do that in front of an open window. Your neighbors were watching.”

Both of them looked up in shock; there stood Rinean, just inside the locked apartment door. She had a wry grin on her face.

Shane sat up on the end of the chair as Phoenix stood to approach the girl. “Who is she?” he asked, confusion as his expression.

“Rinean,” Phoenix answered plainly, then turned to Rinean. He asked her, “What the Hell are you doing here?”

Rinean smiled and looked at Shane. “What, are you busy?” She whispered to Phoenix, “Nice catch, lover boy.” She looked around the nicely spaced apartment. "Nice place you have here. Can’t believe it took me an entire day to find it.” She glared at Phoenix with a look of death. “Why Phoenix, of all places? It’s what, 115 outside?” She took on a thoughtful pose. “Oh, that’s right. You’re the guy with the ego the size of Russia! Well, of course you’d live in Phoenix!”

Phoenix stared at Rinean, anger apparent on his face. “What ever you want, just take it.”

Rinean looked almost happy, faking an expression of surprise, like a child who just got a gift of another wretched homemade sweater. “Really, Phoenix? You’d let me do that?” Her grin changed into a wicked one. She vanished then, reappearing on the recliner chair just behind Shane. Phoenix turned quickly at the sound of her voice. “I’ll just start here then.”

“No!” Phoenix cried, but it was too late; Rinean had vanished, taking Shane with her. He let out an angry shout and slammed his fist into the nearest wall. Soon, her voice filled his head.

Ah, Phoenix, thank you for the meal. A life for a life. Your debt has been paid. Oh, and Phoenix? Look behind you.

On the floor next to the doorframe lay a single, dead black rose.