Homonus Nocturna - Prologue

The sun was setting on what had been a glorious day. Perfect weather, you might say. A few clouds had dotted the sky, while the sun cast its warmth over the inhabitants of the planet that circled it. Yet, there was also a light breeze to accompany it, bringing a cooling effect to the heat. The weather would indeed have been perfect, but for Melody, it was just another daydream, as she hadn't been able to enjoy such a day in nearly eighty years.

For you see, Melody was a Vampire.

After her transformation, Melody was robbed of her chances to enjoy the daytime, instead being forced to only venture out when the sun had retreated, making her a true walker of the night. But yet, she missed the sun so dearly, and would often find herself dreaming of what it would be like to have that part of her life returned to her. But as Melody knew, once you become a vampire, there is no going back, and like many others of her kind, she had been turned against her will, forced to become something she previously had known very little about, apart from the things she had seen in the movies.

* * *

Once the sun had finally hidden itself away until the next morning, Melody ventured out, taking in a deep breath of the fresh night air as she climbed to the roof of the abandoned apartment complex she currently called home. She stood there for several minutes, allowing the still present breeze to blow through her fur, giving her a sense of warmth, as if she could feel the suns heat still inside it. She opened her eyes to take in the view of the city below her, plotting her route to her destination, a quaint little Italian restaurant a few blocks away, where she was meeting a young man there for a date.

However, Melody did not see it as such. She saw it as a way to get to know her target. This man was not some mere stranger she had taken a liking to when she asked him out, he was something much, much more, but he himself did not know of it.

Around four years ago, a prophecy had been made, stating that there would be a great war between two paranormal factions, to which most had interpreted as the Vampires, and the Lycans.

The Lycans were ordinary furs who, after being bitten, developed a superior strength and sense of smell, as well as the ability to increase the physical size at will, after a frightening transformation. On drawback of these abilities was that on nights of the full moon, they were unable to stop themselves from changing, forced into their ungodly forms.

The prophecy had come as quite a shock to both sides, as the Vampires and Lycans had always co-existed peacefully, and still do today. So why would they suddenly turn on each other?

But whichever way you looked at it, Melodys date was the key. He was the one prophesied to bring an end to the conflict, hopefully, before it even began.

Melodys mission was to locate the man from the Prophecy, which she had completed easily enough, and then convince him to join the ranks of the Vampires; giving them the advantage should a war come knocking.

She had searched far and wide for him, seemingly giving up hope, yet one night, while attempting to unwind after another unsuccessful search, she found him, or rather... he found her.

15 hours ago...

Melody was tired after the long search, and slightly agitated that she still had no results.

"I need a drink", she thought to herself.

She wandered into the bar closest to her apartment building, and sat herself down, losing herself in her thoughts. She sat for an hour or so, when he wandered over, a little drunk, and sat himself down into the seat next to hers.

"Mind if a guy like me buys a cute vixen a drink?" He said rather politely, yet also a little slurred.

Melody wasn't used to having guys hit on her, but she welcomed the change, and he seemed like a nice guy.

"Of course not, and thank you". She said trying to smile, but still unable to, as the thoughts of her failure to locate her target still plagued her mind.

When the drinks arrived, the young man took his, and began to sip it slowly at first, then gulping it down. Melody took this opportunity while he was occupied with his drink to examine him with her eyes, so that she could get a good look at him.

Her drinking companion was a brown wolf, with a darker shade of brown head fur. He was dressed rather casually, in a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt; he clearly had the look of someone who had been dragged out by his friends for a night on the town. Also, judging from the alcohol he was and had obviously already consumed, he wasn't the most confident of people either, needing the mind numbing liquid to give him the courage to come over and talk to Melody in the first place.

While she examined him, something clicked in her mind, the description of the man from the prophecy, the one who would save them from the war. The description was of a brown wolf, around 20 or 21 years of age, yet would initially lack the courage to accept his fate. This wolf seemed to fit the bill perfectly, but there was one more thing, one unique feature, that would prove he was the one she had been looking for.

Not wanting to be impolite, she took a sip of the drink he had bought for her, while awaiting the chance to see if he had the mark of the saviour.

The wolf finished his beer, setting the empty bottle down on the bar, and opened his eyes to get a good look at the fox he was so attracted to. She had a radiant glow about her, and something else he couldn't quite place. Her long black hair had been neatly tied up into a ponytail, which came to an end at the small of her back. She had obviously come here to get away from something, and looked like she could use the company, and maybe, if he was lucky, a shoulder to lean on. He had to make a move, or risk losing her to the next guy who would attempt to hit on her.

"Your really beautiful, you know that right?" He asked.

The sudden compliment surprised Melody, unused to such kind words, even if they were influenced by alcohol. She looked into his eyes to thank him, and she saw it.

The wolf had mismatched eyes; the right was a light shade of blue, the left a dark emerald green. It was him. He was the one prophesied four years ago. The one that would save them from the brink of war.

Melody knew she could waste no time, yet she also wanted a chance to get to know the wolf better, without the aid of alcohol, as he seemed like a nice genuine guy, albeit unaware of his true purpose. "Perhaps asking him out for a meal would let me get to know him, and bring me closer to completing my mission" Melody thought to herself.

"Thank you" She said to the wolf, smiling for real this time. "You seem like a really nice guy, and I don't suppose you'd like to join me for dinner tomorrow night?"

The wolf just sat there, stunned. It was all moving so fast, too fast even for his alcohol addled brain to handle. He was only expecting to get her number, not suddenly get an invite to dinner. But yet, this girl seemed so intriguing, there was something very curious about her, and he wanted to find out more.

"Uhh, yeah! That sounds great!" He said, "How about we go to the Italian place just off Market Street? At about 8pm?" He was surprised his words came out so clearly.

This was all going so well for Melody, he knew she must be doing something right. She glanced down at her watch, which read 5.02 am. The sun would be rising in about 35 minutes, meaning she had to get back to the safety of her blacked out apartment.

She hurriedly grabbed a pen from her pocket, and scribbled her name and number down onto the nearest napkin.

"I'm really sorry, I lost track of time, and I've gotta run, like now, I'll see you tomorrow, promise!"

And with that, she jumped from her seat and practically sprinted out the door, leaving the wolf at the bar.

"I'm Eli by the way!" He shouted after her, unsure if she heard him.

Luckily, she did hear him, thanks to her vampire senses, and quickly committed his name to memory. She didn't want to forget the name of her target, and more importantly, her date.

Eli looked down at the napkin left behind by the vixen, reading her name aloud to himself.

"Melody, pretty name for a pretty girl".

Back to the present...

While remembering their first meeting, Melody had ran across the rooftops of the city, making a much faster journey than if she had walked or taken a cab. She had quickly arrived at her destination, and peered over the edge of the building down to the restaurant, and sure enough, there was Eli, more dressed up than yesterday, in a black dress shirt and grey slacks.

She didn't feel right making him wait any longer, and moved over to the adjacent edge of the building, over a dark alley, where she could jump down unseen. She expertly flipped over the edge, doing a small somersault in midair, with her dress billowing around her, before quietly landing on the ground, her Vampire abilities giving her a greater resistance to falling from heights.

She quickly regained her posture, and strode out of the darkness of the alley, and crossed the road to meet Eli, all the while looking into those vibrant eyes, with a mixture of joy, and sadness, for she knew that very soon, his life would be changed, forever.

Homonus Nocturna will continue with Chapter 1 - The First Date