Blood Red Tears (OPEN)

Charlie walked towards the same spot that she had been going to for the past two hundred years, it was the exact same only month after month, day after day, the rocks became more worn, the angels faces became less defined but his face never left her mind.

The exquisite pain that ripped through her chest everytime that she thought of him. The way that he always went with her, the clarity, never a moments peace from him...

That stayed the same, year after year, after year, after year, for the rest of her long life, it would never leave her and sometimes it would get too much to bear, too much to think on.

Kneeling down at the bottom of the oldest intact grave still there, Charlie, in the darkness that had not only enveloped her at night, but also had seeped into her very self, began to let her blood tears fall from her face, onto the ground below.

"I love you Marcus, I'm...I'm so sorry." she sobbed.

Jonathan knew that he wanted to visit his parents one more time before he had to go to Germany for a few months. He had made a promise to himself that he would visit them once a month with fresh flowers. Charming the flowers just was not the same to him.

As he was heading out of the graveyard he thought he heard someone crying his instints took over and thought he better go check it out and make sure that every thing was ok.

As he made his way over to where the crying was he noticed this young lady kneeling and crying over a grave that looked very old. That was the great thing about witches and wizards they lived a long time.

Walking up to the young lady he pulled a tissue and handed it too her.

"Here you go ma'am, this will help dry up those tears." He handed it too her over her shoulder.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

Charlie heard someone approaching but couldn't bring herself to care, she almost wished that it was a slayer come to kill her, she had been careless with her feeds lately so it wouldn't surprise her.

As the man drew closer Charlie was glad that she was able to stop crying, she took a deep breath and looked at the man who had just approached her.

"Thank you."

Her voice was rough from crying but she took the tissue and wiped at her eyes, turning it a deep red colour as she mopped up the blood that still lay on her face.

"No, I am afraid not sir. It's a funny thing, death, isn't it?" she said quietly, her eyes flickering red.

Jonathan thought there was something a little different about this girl, but he didn't care. He was always nice to any lady that was upset.

Kneeling down next to her he wondered what she meant by her comment.

"Well I suppose death could be funny depending on the reason for the death." Jon was trying to think of an instance that he thought death was funny.

"I know when it is someone you hate, it might be interesting to see them die."

Jonathan was looking her over trying to get a read on her.

"Well this stone is very old, I imagine by your reaction that it is someone who is very close to you."

He noticed the tissue he had given her was red, but he was ready to ask just yet.

"My name is Jonathan, Jonathan Browning." He holds his hand out to shake.

Charlie knew that the man couldn't be thinking about what she was, she was thinking about how she had almost eternal life and it was all worthless now she was without him, completely worthless, yet she herself was still afraid of death.

"I don't think that's quite what I meant when I said death was funny. Everyone has somebody who will miss them when they're gone, no death is amusing."

She could feel him looming her over and didn't care, she traced the name on the stone lovingly and kept quiet for a moment.

"Yes, it is old, and yet the wounds are still fresh. What death brings you here?"

Seeing that Jonathan had held out his hand to her, Charlie took it and touched his skin with her cold flesh, looking into his eyes before dropping his touch.

"Charlie Disneur."

Jonathan looked down at her hand as she shook it. He noticed that it was very cold. He was not that cold outside so that was interesting.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Charlie." Jon smiled at the lady

"Yes, we all miss everyone when they are gone. I come here to visit my parents and their friends."

War takes many people we love no matter when or how that was is fought.

"So who brings you out here this evening?"

Charlie nodded slightly when he said that he was here because of his parents and his friends, that was a lot of people, she turned her gaze back to the worn stone and cleared some of the plants from the bottom.

How his family would be turning in their graves if they knew she was here at all.

"I am sure that your visit would mean a lot to them, how frequent do you come here?"

When he asked her why she was here, to Charlie it was obvious but she realised that to him, it was a mystery, at least for now.

"I am here to visit my love. He died many years ago but the pain is still constant, do you have a girlfriend?" she asked absentmindedly.

Jonathan could not explain the pull that seemed to come from this woman he felt that he just wanted to stay there and talk to her. He decided to just sit on the ground right there to talk to her.

"I promised my family I would come here once a month. I like them to have fresh flowers. Just a little worried while I am away that they will get neglected."

Jon was looking her over and wondering what her story was. He didn't think she was a witch, but there was something about her he just wasn't sure.

He was listening to Charlie speak about her lost love, he had yet to feel that emotion but he could imagine what it felt like.

"I have never have lost anyone other than my family so I cannot even know how you feel, I can imagine the pain inside though."

It really threw Jon off when she asked him if he had a girlfriend.

"Currently I am not seeing anyone, I do have a best friend who is female, but we are just friends."

Charlie raised an eyebrow as the man sat down on the floor next to her, it was strange that much was inevitable, but also, there was something about the action that seemed more than a little odd.

Deciding not to comment on it Charlie merely looked at him.

"While you're away? Where are you going? Anywhere interesting, I haven't been out of Britain in years."

Years being about 100, she tried to forget Marcus by taking a trip to Italy, and it worked for a little bit and then she found that it wore off. Nothing seemed to work.

"The pain inside is beyond all imagination, you think you prepare for it but you don't, forgive me, it's been a while since I've talked to another person."

Charlie just nodded her head at this information; "Hmmm I see."

Jonathan noticed that she looked at him funny as he sat down on the ground.

"What" He said with a smile.."I didn't feel like standing anymore, I happen to be enjoying the conversation."

Jonathan found this woman more interesting the more she talked, she seemed to be very interested in him.

"I am a teacher and I have to head over to Germany to teach there. I teach astronomy at a private school there."

When she was talking about her feelings of death it got him thinking "I don't believe anyone is ever prepared for death, we just know one day we will."

Looking her over he was getting more curious about her.

"So what is it that you do?"

Charlie let her lips twitch up into a small smile that swiftly vanished and she was wondering wether cutting herself off from reality and humanity was such a good idea after all, she was beginning to think not.

"I'm glad that you're finding this conversation suitably stimulating."

Nodding her head Charlie waved her hand dismissively of the fact that he was a German, humans were humans and she didn't really care.

"What is your specialism? And...I understand that there is some sort of war between your two countries, why are you here, if so? Surely that would be a major risk of you."

Charlie shook her head: "I talk not of death but of loss. Nobody is adequately prepared for it."

Grinning a little Charlie shrugged her shoulders: "Nothing, I have enough money to not work, and so I don't any more."

Suddenly Jonathan got the impression that she thought he was German.

"Actually I am English, and this is my home I live just a few blocks that way." As he pointed down the street towards his home.

"I just wanted a teaching job, and they had one. I have friends in Germany."

Charlie talking about loss got him thinking about how much he had lost when his parents had taken away his memories.

"I understand loss very well, it is almost like you have a big whole inside of you that nothing seems to be able to fill. I felt that way for a long time and could never figure it out, Until I discovered my parents had lied to me." Jon looked off towards his parents grave as he thought about it. He loved his parents very much but that didn't mean he still wasn't mad at them for what they did to him.

"It must be nice not to have to work, somedays I would like to do that." Jon thought about it and he really had enough money left after his parents passed and all of his savings he didn't need to work for a long time if ever. "I just get bored and like to have things to do."

"So what kinds of things do you do to keep from being bored then?"

Charlie raised her eyebrow again and shrugged her shoulders, she didn't think that being German or being British was that big a deal because it was just like being different skin colours, although the blood did taste different.

"I don't much care if you're British or German, it doesn't matter any to me. Age has taught me that it's much better to stay out of war."

This man. Jonathan. Seemed to have some elements that she herself possessed, then again, many people would, although to her the idea of loss was much different.

"I suppose the feeling is different for each person, as no two people are the same."

That was a big problem that Charlie often found, that she was bored, although normally she just enveloped herself in the world of books and poetry, that wiled away the hours.

"What do I do? I write, read and often go for walks at night, nights my favourite time."

Jonathan found it interesting that she enjoyed the night time because he enjoyed the night time too.

"I also enjoy the night time. It gives me the perfect time to reflect on the day and not to mention look at the stars"

He thought about the other things she enjoyed.

"I also enjoy a good book along with the company of a nice lady"

Jon wondered if Charlie was every going to ask him any questions.

When Jonathan mentioned the stars Charlie wondered if he had a passion for them himself, after all it was not a very common thing to encounter a human who likes the night time.

"Do you hold particular interest in the stars? I myself have never found meaning in them, to me they are just pretty lights in the sky."

Raising an eyebrow Charlie smirked slightly and looked at Jonathan with a skeptical face. After all, the way he said that made him seem like a sort of...player?

"And do you often make a habit of conversing with pretty ladies?" she asked, in a teasing tone.

Jonathan got the feeling she thought he was using a line on her.

"Actually I am a teacher of Astronomy, so I am always up late. As for the stars I like to know the stories behind them and how they got their name."

Jonathan was beginning to wonder more and more about this lady. How many woman enjoy having a conversation in the middle of a graveyard.

"I like to have conversations with whoever is interesting to speak too."

Looking around the graveyard for any sort of activity. "And from the looks of things your the only one here that seems to be talking back to you." Jonathan said with a smirk.

Charlie gave a small shadow of a smile and nodded her head, people could indeed study the meanings behind the stars but she had never in all her years been interested in stars.

"Tell me, what is your favourite star? What are their stories? I would like to know a little about them since you're so interested in them."

Chuckling weakly, Charlie nodded her head and thought about all of the people she had talked to over the years, and, she could count them all on her two fingers.

"And am I suitably interesting? I should hope so..."

With a shrug of her shoulders, Charlie knew slightly differently, she was what most people would call an aristocrat vampire, she had lived so long she automatically commanded the respect of the dead, and of death.

"There are none talking back that you can hear, myself, it's a different story."

Jonathan had to think about the different stars and constellation to try and figure out which one was his favorite. He was always the one asking the questions about people's favorite stars.

"My favorite Zodiac is the Scorpio, which is right there" Jonathan points into the southern sky at the moment. "It is the one that looks like a scorpion."

Thinking about the two stories that go with this constellation he put it best this way.

"Depending on which myth you want to go with, either Scorpio killed Orion, or Artemis accidentally shot Orion in the head thinking she was shooting Scorpio. Either way, Orion died."

Jonathan had to smile a little it always seemed the love always goes wrong.

"In all actuality it is a love story gone wrong, one man thinking he was the best at everything including woman, and a woman became the death of him."

"My dear Charlie I believe I find you more than suitably interesting. You are like a puzzle that I am looking for that missing piece so it can be solved. But then I get the feeling from you that piece will never be found."

When she finally got around to talking about listening to the dead, he could not completely understand.

"You mean the dead speak to you, like a seer?"

Charlie listened to Jonathan and looked up into the sky as Jonathan pointed to the stars above her,it took her a while and a lot of squinting but eventually she saw the vague shape of the scorpion that she was supposed to bs spotting.

"The Scorpio is one of the popular star signs no? I don't know which I am, I can't rightly remember."

Of course, after hundreds of years Charlie had forgotten the exact date of her birthday, but there were two dates that she would never ever be able to forget.

"Ah I see. A very valuable lesson, don't be bigoted and definately shows the fact that love, does not always turn out the way that it should."

Charlie couldn't stop a small smile appearing on her lips, and she thought back to how many people had said that to her, once again, the number was low, so she was pleased at the compliment.

"Thank you Jonathan, I'll take that as a compliment, but, where is the joy in a puzzle once it has been solved?"

Shaking her head, Charlie smiled softly: "Not as such."

Jonathan smiled as she talked "If you tell me your birthday is and I would be glad to tell you your sign."

Jonathan was glad that she took his comment as a compliment because that is how it he meant it. She was an amazing creature and he wanted to get to know more of her.

"You have an excellent point, puzzle are no fun when they are done, but they are beautiful to look at."

Looking at his watch then back at her. "It seems to be getting late, am I keeping you from something?"

Charlie smiled slightly and chuckled, it was a sad thing when you couldn't even remember your own birthday, but she didn't really want to tell him that, it would seem a little bit odd, so she thought of a random month and decided to tell him that:

"14th March."

That too was a good point, but, she prefered to remain a mystery, she wasn't very good at letting people in, she never was and especially after the deaths of her two beloved's she definately preffered the warm shell of her cacoon.

"That's very true...although to reveal everything about yourself in one go leaves no mystery or incentive for a next meeting."

Looking up at the sky she shook her head: "No, I'm almost nocturnal anyway, there is no event that you are keeping me from, why? Are you yourself getting tired?"

Thinking about what she said her birthday was March 14 that would make her a Pisces.

"Well with your birthday being where it is you are a Pisces, this basically tells me that you are a Mysterious and alluring individuals, most Pisces are extremely talented, but even though they are gifted in many ways, they still manage to spend most of their lives battling "confusing" conditions"

Jonathan had to laugh at what he said, he almost sounded like a book.

"The mysterious and alluring parts seem to fit your puzzle pieces just well" He found that part about her very interesting.

He was thinking about it and he was getting a little tired. He was going to have to floo over to Germany sometime tomorrow.

"But if I leave when will I get the chance to see you again, I am truly enjoying our chat."

Charlie thought that even though she didn't really know what star sign she was, it was something that had described her rather well if she thought about it herself, if all that stuff was true maybe she was in fact a pices, but she couldn't be sure.

"Well that sounds like it's a little like me at least," at the laugh, Charlie smiled slightly and added "You must really know your stuff, you said that without hesistation."

Smirking slightly, thinking that that could have been construed as a line by someone else but her, Charlie just took it as a compliment and moved on, not dwelling on it much; "What got you first interested in the stars Jonathan?"

When he asked if he would ever see her again if she left now, Charlie's smile dimmed slightly: "No, I am afraid that I don't do second meetings. Not normally, anyway"

Jonathan smiled when she said that he seemed to know his stuff.

"Well when I decided to become a teacher I found that it was easier to know all of the little details so when a question is asked I could answer without looking it up." Jonathan didn't really mind the details every about the stars was interesting.

"I really do not know what got me interesting in the stars, it has always been a fascination of mine since I was a kid, and it just evolved."

Jonathan leaned back on his hands and tilted his head back and looked up at the stars.

"I guess I have always wondered what was out there, if it was more peaceful than here. Were there places that had no war, I believe it would be nice to live without war." Jonathan sighed a little as he thought about that.

"I have seen way too much war, and I would love to change that."

When she made the comment about never having second meetings he almost felt a little depressed about that. It always seemed that when he found a woman he found interesting she was always gone before he got to know her.

"Well maybe I can change your mind about that." Jonathan looked over at her and smiled then went back to looking at the stars. Maybe that wish on a shooting star would come true this time.

Charlie smiled lightly, normally she thought that people these days weren't really all that good at teaching, that they didn't care, but she was glad that she had met someone that was different to what she had always thought, she was happy to be proved wrong.

"That's a very good idea, it's what makes a good teacher, to show that you care about the students and what they can learn from you, there should be more Professors such as you I believe."

Nodding at the unexplainable reason for his interest in stars, Charlie thought that it was a bit like her fascination with tea, she didn't really know why she liked it so much, she just did, and she often found it calming to her in times of hunger.

"Where there are people there will always be war, it is inevitable, it is one of the sad facts of life that cannot be denied. People do not get along."

Picking up on the fact that he was a little bit depressed at the fact that they wouldn't be meeting again, Charlie decided that perhaps it was time to stop living in the darkness and make a friend besides Raziel.

"Becoming my friend, or anything else, comes with a warning label, I'll tell you this, you shouldn't get involved with me, but, I can't help but want to talk with you."