It was a warm night, and the streets were busy, filled with people doing late night shopping, going out to clubs, bars, restaurants, meeting friends, dragging along trailing children who should be in bed. But along with those enjoying their well earned (and not so well earned) money, there were those who were out on the streets because they had no where to go. They curled up where they could, in doorways and on benches, bundled up in rags and newspapers.
And it was just as it had been when Sebastian had gone to ground. There were always these contrasts, those on either side of the spectrum. It was heart-wrenching, but that was the way of it and Sebastian knew he couldn’t help all of them, as much as he wanted to.
He’d woken up during the day, but had had to wait until daylight before he could rise, gathering his strength and pushing aside what remaining pain there was in the reason he had hidden himself away and as soon as darkness had fallen he had scrambled out of his hole in the ground, covered in mud and more hungry than he’d ever been before.
But Sebastian had enough mental strength to stop himself from ripping the throat out of the first human he came across. The vampire had made his way home swiftly, relieved to find the house exactly as he’d left it. The décor inside was simple, and it was clean and tidy - before he’d slept Sebastian had hired a woman who had come once a week to pick up his post, sort out anything to do with the house that needed doing, pay bills, fix broken things, update appliances to keep it modern (and leave out manuals where Seb could find them easily) and she had access to one of his bank accounts. Of course, it wasn’t just money spurring her on, Sebastian had planted in her mind that she would have to keep coming and doing her duty, no matter how long it took for him to rise.
Sebastian could have just left it all, but he wanted the house to be nice when he returned and he was pleased to see his key still worked, the electricity came on, there was a TV which looked like it was out of Star Trek complete with a manual on the coffee table, and there was even a plant in the corner which looked like it was flourishing. If she had dipped into his funds for her own purchases on top of the wage he paid her, well, he wouldn’t blame her, she deserved it and he hadn‘t bothered to put in place protections for her not to do so. Lucy had even ensured that there was a bag of fresh blood in the fridge (with a note explaining how the new microwave worked) and Seb drank it quickly, but his thirst was only sated a little. It was only a small bag and pigs blood was not what he was craving.
Sebastian had showered quickly, dressing in simple clothes because he didn’t know what the fashions were and headed out. He still resisted feeding, wanting to enjoy his first proper drink in over twenty years properly and he had initially headed for the mall. After paying attention to those around him, the vampire first of all when to a hairdressers and the long dark curls - still damp from his shower, were lopped off, giving him a more modern look. He’d resisted cutting it for so long, but now he needed a change. This was a new part of his life.
A department store had been the next stop, and Sebastian had paid well to have a personal shopper pick out everything he would need and do it quickly. The credit card Lucy had left out on the coffee table with its instructions worked perfectly. Everything apart from one outfit was to be delivered to his house the next night and Seb was soon out of the mall, dressed in a pair of tightly fitting designer jeans, black boots and a well fitting t-shirt, which had quite a low cut v-neck. The personal shopper had picked out a few items of jewellery, a necklace and a silver bracelet on one wrist and a black leather cuff on the other. His dark hair was spiked in a way which fitted the outfit well (perfected by the shopper before he’d left and earning her a better tip) and it was only a few hours between his rising before he was out on the streets, adapting to how things had changed in twenty five years.
The vampire had stopped briefly in the cathedral, offering up a prayer and thanks for surviving his sleep, but he was now ready to feed.
The young looking ancient stood on the square which had been turned into a pedestrian only area in the past few years, his blue eyes scanning the faces and minds of the people around him.
He didn’t want to have to hide what he was doing from whoever he fed from, so he needed to find someone who knew about vampires - which he knew in this city shouldn’t be too hard - and preferably someone in a pretty good mood. It had been a long sleep and Sebastian wanted to ease into life once again with an enjoyable feed. It was going to be a deep drink, so it had to be someone who hadn’t been fed from for a while. And someone who\'s mind wasn\'t disturbed by drugs... alcohol would be acceptable though.
Other than those specifics, Sebastian wasn\'t fussy. Male, female, old, young, rich, poor. There were just a few details and Sebastian had the patience to wait for exactly what he wanted.
After a while, he found them. Sebastian’s mind touched the perfect candidate and he strolled towards them, reaching out mentally at the same time to give an instruction for them to stop before they left the area, since he hadn’t even seen them yet. He didn\'t want to have to chase them across the city. They would suddenly find they had to stop, perhaps with a desire to look at their watch, hunt for something in their bag or tie their shoelace.
He appeared before the human within seconds, reaching out to lightly touch their shoulder, giving them a warm smile.
“Good evening. I hope I’m not disturbing any plans you have?” he said, his head tilted to one side slightly, a look on concern on his face but his eyes would tell someone looking for it that even if he was disturbing plans, he didn’t care enough to choose someone else. Seb was ravenous and didn\'t want to wait longer than he already had. He may be a Saint, but everyone had a snapping point. He\'d just never found his.
