By The Light Of The Moon

Authors\' Notes: (A message from DDarknight—Yet another collaboration between my girlfriend, Innocent Moonlight, and myself, and done in the same style as ‘The Myth Of Love’. Just a wee bit of a note, the character’s name ‘Kesley’ is not a misspelling of ‘Kelsey’, and is in fact a name I created for a character of mine some years back. Well…I’m thinking that’s about it. Hope you enjoy By The Light of the Moon as much as you have The Myth of Love, and always come back for more.)
Warnings: on individual Chapters, Standard warnings: Vampslash, Lemon, anal, oral, rim, graphic sex, Shonen-Ai, BDSM, H/C, Humil, N/C, Tort, VS,
Disclaimer: Original work, copyrighted to DDarknight and Innocent moonlight, no unauthorized reproduction of characters or situations will be tolerated.

He stalked out on the balcony to discover his young charge exactly where he thought the boy would be, a dark scowl marring the priest’s aging features. “You intend to go out?” Michael demanded harshly, his tone as cold and brittle as his piercing gaze. “On a night like this?”

“A night like this?” Kesley countered softly, orbs of the purest silver shifting to look upon the luminescent moon above, “Is there any other kind?”

It was a dangerous game he played, he knew, Kesley well aware of the subtle whine and faintly husky quality in Michael’s voice. A sign that his self-appointed guardian had other ideas, other intentions for the night ahead, activities he wanted no part of. He hated when the old priest came to him, finding no pleasure in the man’s company at times like that, not that he ever did in truth. Besides, this was the only time he was set free, his time, otherwise Kesley held prisoner in a cell beneath the church. He would not submit to Michael’s desires, no matter the punishment he faced when he returned at dawn.

“You’ve lessons to learn, boy! Obviously! Your flippant attitude is proof of this!” Michael snarled as he made a grab for him, intent on dragging the boy from the balcony wall. Deep down inside he knew he was wrong, that his accusations where nothing more than excuses to get what he wanted, but he refused to acknowledge that, to admit any of it. “By time I am done…you will know the sins of man!! The evils men do!!”

Deftly dancing out of Michael’s reach, his footing on the narrow railing sure, Kesley met Michael’s glare with a sad smile. “You’ve already taught me that. All too well,” he whispered quietly, his body seeming to fall back in slow motion.

“Don’t!!!!!” Michael hissed.

But, his cry came too late, Kesley already toppling backward, the only sound that of his leather duster rustling in the wind as he dropped out of sight headfirst. Flipping around to land safely on his feet with grace he was born to, he hit the earth running, his long legs pumping hard, setting a ground eating pace. Behind him he could hear Michael calling, promising he would suffer greatly for his disobedience, for his defiance, screaming the lord’s name in vain. Threats he ignored, wrapping his arms around his body just as he leapt upward, spinning elegantly through the air to land on the other side of the massive ten-foot stonewall with ease.

Safely out of Michael’s reach for the moment, he headed across the church graveyard, slowly drifting between the headstones. A gentle breeze tugged playfully at his dark hair, tossing the silken strands across his eyes, drawing a fleeting smile to his sensual lips as he walked on aimlessly. He never had a set destination, Kesley forever seeking nothing more than a few hours peace. Most times he never even went near his mother’s people, preferring to stay to himself, knowing he’d no more fit in the world of humans than he would his father’s.

Topping a steep hill, forcefully shoving the dark thoughts from his mind, Kesley stepped into the luminescent rays of the moon, gazing up at her with eyes forged of her deepest, most pure lakes. “They say it was by the light of the moon I was born. Will it be by the light of the moon that my life is taken?”

***

The night was perfect for hunting, had Nye felt the need. As it was he just felt...empty. He walked through the streets without truly seeing anything, no purpose in mind beyond escaping the nothingness that seemed to surround him of late. Three thousand years old and now he was lonely, the irony not lost on him. Shaking his head, he continued on, the pale moonlight glinting off his rich, black hair, Nye somehow finding his way into a graveyard. Fitting, he thought to himself, wandering aimlessly until something caught his attention, the vampire sensing a presence nearby. His curiosity captured, he moved toward the being he’d felt, his eyes widening slightly just as he came up over the hill. The young man he found there was stunning, the softly spoken question just as lonely as Nye himself. Stepping into sight, he offered the boy a friendly smile, having no desire to scare the beautiful creature away. “Not this night, at least,” he countered softly.

Becoming aware of the stranger too late, Kesley cursed his distraction, damning himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. A mistake he amended with a flurry of movement, disappearing into the dark shadows of the night. However, he didn’t go very far, inquisitiveness winning out in the end. Kesley was aware that the man was one of his father’s kind, a vampire, the first he’d ever come across, or rather…the first to ever come across him. Curiosity as much his curse as his blessing, he drifted quietly from the shadows, keeping an ancient oak tree between them. His silver eyes glittering with interest, he studied the man from behind the safety of the twisted, gnarled branches, asking softly, “Who are you?”

Arching an elegant eyebrow at the boy’s swiftness, he focused on the young man’s voice, chuckling softly, “My name is Nye.\" Moving toward the boy cautiously, Nye looked him over, making no effort to hide his blatant perusal. \"I must say it has certainly been a while since I saw one of your kind. And, you\'re so young.... barely out of the cradle. What is your name, my pet?\"

“Pet… Your pet…” Kesley rolled the words around in his mind, his gaze dropping, hiding stealthily whatever emotions flitted through the molten depths. What he sheltered was a flash of fury; a deep pang of agony, both inspired by those two words, those two simple, little words. ‘My’ implied ownership, that he was little more than a piece of property. The vampire no more owned him than Michael did, or ever would. As for ‘pet’, that word cut deeper, insinuating he was nothing more than a plaything. A toy to be taunted with, used, and cast away. He wasn’t, not any more for this man than he was for Michael…or ever would be. “Your pet…” he murmured again, his fingernails growing, lengthening until they were long, black, wickedly sharp claws designed to gut a man in a single swipe. Hooked talons that grazed Nye’s chest without warning, shredding the man’s shirt, but leaving no more than a faint trail of blood across his pale skin. Kesley spun the instant he struck, darting around the oak, keeping the majestic tree in between them, his eyes flashing in warning. “I am no man’s pet. Mortal…or immortal.”

Hissing in pain he hadn’t expect, he cursed himself the fool for letting his defenses down around someone like this pup. But, nor would he let the insignificant wound stop him, Nye ditching his shirt as he followed the boy. He did have to wonder, though, what had happened in the young man’s life for that term of affection to mean something so awful to him. \"I meant nothing by the term. But perhaps, precious, if you want me to not call you something, you should tell me your name,\" he said with a hint of amusement.

Orbs of silver following every move Nye made, Kesley backed away cautiously, striving to keep some distance between them. A wasted effort he knew, for he could sense the vampire’s impressive age, aware the man could clear the few feet separating them in the space of a second. “If I thought that giving you my name would end this…” he faltered, in step and word, confusion furrowing his elegant brow, Kesley certain no one had ever called him ‘precious’ a day in his life. “…Kesley…”

Nodding his head, he closed the distance between them, looking deep into Kesley\'s eyes, the silver orbs stunning. Slowly brushing his fingers across Kesley\'s jaw, he forced the boy back against the tree. \"I suppose if another vampire came across you they would feel it necessary to kill you for being a threat. And, we can\'t have that. So, Kesley, what sorrow drove you into the night alone where some unsuspecting vampire can bite that lovely neck of yours,\" he whispered softly, pinning the boy against the oak.

An icy chill danced down his spine, Kesley staring up at the vampire standing a hair’s breath from him, his breath quickening in the man’s presence. Was that to be his fate? To feel Nye’s fangs sink deep into his neck, to know the pained pleasure of his blood being drained from his body, his life’s essence? He didn’t think so, not if he read the spark of hunger in the vampire’s eyes right. No, Nye wanted something from him, but not his blood, not his life, the ancient one seeing no threat in him. “The very same one that drove me out last night, and the night before that, and the night before that,” he murmured in response, Kesley making no move to either escape…or submit. “And every night since I was a child.”

\"There is so much sorrow in you, precious. Tell me how one so young can be so sad. I know the life of your kind is not a happy one, but there is more to your sadness.\" Looking into Kesley\'s silver orbs, Nye smiled warmly. \"I have been around many years, if there is one thing I am good at it would be listening.\"

Someone to talk to, to lean on, to guide him, to truly teach him what he was, the crushing weight of the world lifting off of his shoulders…until Michael found out. Briefly, for the time the thought took to run full circle in his mind, hope flared brightly in those molten depths, gone in the blink of an eye. In the next instant Kesley ducked and spun out from between Nye and the tree, walking away from the vampire swiftly. On one hand he was grateful to the man for the offer, and on the other…he was furious that something he could never truly savor was dangled before him. “Either kill me,” he snapped softly, “or go away.”

Growling ominously, Nye grabbed Kesley by the wrist, jerking the boy back against his body, \"Now, although you\'re young, I don\'t think you\'re stupid. So why you would challenge me in a way that either means you have a death wish or are just extraordinarily naive.\" Letting his fangs show, he continued in a dark, sultry whisper, \"Nonetheless, if it is death you seek I will oblige.\"

Slowly Kesley met his captor’s gaze, something stirring in the silvery depths of his eyes, his smile almost seductive as he slid his hand up Nye’s muscular chest. “One of us is anyway,” he purred deceptively. Suddenly there was a loud snap as something released, a spring uncoiling, metal sliding against metal, a dagger slipping neatly into Kesley’s waiting hand, the tip of the blade nicking Nye’s chin. “I’m told the vampire whose rib this once belonged to was almost four thousand years old. You can imagine he did not willingly part from this fragment of himself. Five hundred years they spent carving the blade, and another two hundred to form the hilt into a cross. They say the archangel Gabrielle himself blessed this dagger, and the Lord’s Prayer was engraved in the purest silver known into the hilt. The dagger is aptly named Vampire’s Bane.” With every word he spoke he dragged the lethal blade down Nye’s neck, his gaze following the dagger’s path. “Tell me, Nye, do you think yourself powerful enough to survive Bane’s bite?”