Tiana sighed and hugged herself tighter as the chill of darkness danced across her pale shoulders. Pulling the coverlet from her bed, she started across the room. Surveying all the things she had collected in the unnaturally long years she’d walked the earth, treasures some had called them, and she felt so alone.
One could not ‘collect’ company in the way that one could collect things. Not even the moon, who had alway been a steadfast partner, chose to show her face this night. “Black as pitch,” Tiana whispered as she looked down from the tower which held her safe from the world.
A single tear wound its way down her cheek. She reached to wipe it away and let her head fall back as she pulled in a heavy breath, only to let out in a scream that would have frightened Hell’s demons.
Her voice shattered, she rent the protective drapery from its holdings and stood in the window; watching as the sun crept over the horizon. A fang glittered in the sunlight as she took her last stolen breath.