Shadows moved about in his soul, a low rumbling, a dark feeling. It felt like some mix of anger, hatred, pessimism and anguish settling deep within his being, taking root. These shadows had their claws, too, reaching out and grabbing for whatever they could to secure themselves down with.
And as much as it hurt him, Nikolai liked the pain, the inner torture. Yes, much as the shadows threatened to tear him apart, the more one side of him fell in love with the insanity of it all. The overwhelming capability of the shadows inside --the anger and hatred -- kept his face heated and stony-looking, his features an impassable mask of pale flesh, marked by piercings and perceptibly human traits.
Overhead the sky was fading to black, the half-moon relaxing in the sky, surrounded by stars he never saw in the innards of the city grime. Nikolai lost himself to the glowing disk and kept his eyes posted there, walking along through the tall grasses swaying in some kind of wind, like monsters weaving across an open plain.
A rustle of flesh against fabric, blood pounding in the veins, a shout from the Lighthouse base, a flicker of movement. The vampire stood still, his blood finding new rage. Nikolai stood watching as the mortal moved about, the movements feminine and strange, inhuman, yet alluring at the same time. And though the shadows persisted after him to reach out and kill, to react with such violence, Nikolai could feel himself staring at her through the darkness
The vampire debated his next move, whether or not to announce himself by killing this young woman outright or wait to see whether she could feel his cold gaze on her form.