Midnight After Midnight - Nanowrimo 2022

Chapter 3 - The First Encounter

The night after his parents saw Adelaide for the first time, Lionel went to the spot where she always danced. He went out half an hour before midnight to hunt before going to her, attacking the first person he came across and sucking them dry, leaving their pale body, which had a huge, gaping, heavily bleeding hole in the neck as if it were a leaf that had fallen from a tree. 

Sometime later, he noticed that there was blood everywhere across his face, so he used the handkerchief hidden in the right pocket of his black overcoat, over which was a red cloak, to clean himself. Shrugging, he kept walking, the watch on his left hand with Roman numbers and tiny crystals all over it telling him that it was one-quarter before midnight.

With determination, he continued his stride, not stopping until he had reached his destination. When he did it, at last, he checked his watch again, at which point it was five before midnight. The reason he checked it was that she wasn't there, which surprised him a little. After all, she tended to show up way before him. Still, he didn't up hope, as she was probably just late. Successfully convincing himself of that, he stood right behind the nearest pine tree, observing his surroundings carefully for the next several minutes.

His impatience irritated him like an itch that was begging him to scratch it while he checked his watch more times than he could count, punching the tree in front of him in frustration when he saw that it was half an hour past midnight and she still wasn't there. He concluded that it must have been due to the to her unspecified noises which she heard last night, at which he let out a deep sigh. 

Anger sizzling in his heart, he kept walking, covering his watch with his long sleeve, forgetting about the concept of time while he went in a random direction, not knowing what else he could do with himself as if he were somehow hoping to find her that way. Fortunately for him, that plan went successfully, for he saw her dancing in another forest the way she always did, and he was enchanted by her once more.

She danced for half an hour before she went back home, which was understandable because it was a Friday night. Trying to seem natural, he slowly emerged from the woods, walking in her general direction, his shoes gently pressing the leaves, causing her to turn around with wide eyes. He smiled widely and waved at her before he could think of anything else, a gesture which she returned.

"Well, hello, my dear," he said smoothly before she could say anything. "A fine night, isn't it? I was just walking back home from my daily walk in the woods, you know, and then I saw you. I truly didn't expect it. So, anyway, what's your name?"

"My name's Adelaide Winchester," she answered, fiddling with her fingers. "And who are you? I've never seen you before in my life, which is peculiar because this is a small town, and I assumed you'd know me due to the fire from last year."

He frowned. "Oh, so you're the Winchester daughter? I've heard some rumours, but since I'm new to the community, I don't know anything concrete about you. I'm sorry for your loss, and I'm sorry for repeating a sentence you must have heard a thousand times already. My name's Lionel Vega, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

She formed a forced smile. "It's nice to meet you as well. I assume that you have as many questions for me as I have for you, but I'll go first. For starters, what's a gentleman dressed as elegantly as you doing here this late at night, and where'd you get that cloak from? It's really stylish, but such a commodity is seldom affordable in this area. It's not like it's the main thing about you that confuses me, but it made me very curious for some reason."

He chuckled. "Thank you for the compliment. I come from a family that has been wealthy for generations upon generations, and we just happen to live near this place. I know it's unusual, but I have relatives all around the world, in more places than I could count on my hand. That's how I was able to afford more than enough cloth for this cloak, which I sewed myself, as I have a love for crafts, which I have had ever since I was a little child. Every so often, I come up with a new idea, and I think it's really great to spend a lot of my time engaging in creative pursuits. What do you like to do in your free time?"