The Minotaur

6: A Date with the Devil

The sun had risen fully by the time Michael got to the restaurant Clarice texted him to meet.

It had always been a thing of surprise to the supernatural world, and especially the vampire community that Michael was immune to sunlight. Another perk of clocking one thousand.

To a vampire, sunlight was the forbidden. In fact, they feared it more than silver or any other weapon the vampire slayers wielded against them. Daylight was poison to them and they were only able to keep their tolerance for dawn from their memories as humans.

And for a long time too, Michael had shared that same fate with the rest of the undead children of the night; not that he really cared to return to the sunlight as much as the others to be honest. He was a night dweller and he loved it that way.

To him, creatures worthy of their names at the top of food chain- which the vampires belonged to even if the mortals didn't know or acknowledge it- were all night dwellers. Lions, tigers, leopards, even the monsters of myths and legends; they all had their abilities- strengths, the ancient vampire termed them- to the darkness.

"Daylight was for the weak," he always said, "the night belonged to the strong."

However, the strike of Michael's millennium of existence proved a change in story for him as he suddenly discovered that the torturous blaze of hellfire that was the sunlight no longer affected him. The contact that was death for him for so many years had now been reduced to nothing more than a slightly annoying tingling sensation on his body which was beginning to fade away itself as time passed; and all because he had lived to the right age.

Unfortunately, the immunity didn't extend to his eyes. They were still sensitive to daylight so much so that any attempt to brave it would render him completely blind, but Michael was prepared for that with the custom-made black sunshades which he now wore alongside his usual outfit of black jacket and matching vintage suit.

The shades had been designed so thickly dark that any mortal who wore them would be unable to see anything at all through the lenses, but for the ancient vampire and his condition, they were just perfect.

Michael looked up as he crossed the street to the figure sitting outside at a round table for two under a canopy, Clarice.

The mortal woman had changed from her dress down attire of the previous night to a more business one: she had on a blue pantsuit with brown chic shoes. Just like the night before, the ancient vampire smelled rose-fragrant perfume on her; and the aura of trouble too lurking just underneath.

Clarice had a bowl of chips in front of her which she lazily nibbled on as she seemed to check and recheck something on her phone.

"Mr. Holger!" she said with genuine surprise when she looked up to see him approach, which was strange because she had been the one who invited him to the restaurant. "I thought you had decided not to come after an hour of waiting for you."

Michael didn't believe for a second that that was the case. Clarice was clearly the kind of woman who would have upped and left had she really thought that there was no chance at all he would show up.

He smiled apologetically anyway. "Forgive me Miss White, that was never my intention. I just happened to run into some unprepared business that took the time away from me."

In truth, the ancient vampire could have arrived a lot earlier had he wanted to, he had only chose not to.

Thing is, from the moment Michael had received Clarice's invitation, he had found it to be very strange. Amusing at first, but strange as time went.

The woman didn't like him, not even an inch. He was the man who had stolen her town's heritage- at least, that was her version of it- and who refused to give it back. There was no way in hell that she would have invited him out to breakfast purely out of the goodness of her heart. Clarice White was up to something and whatever it was it wasn't expected to be for his good.