~ Out of the Sky, Into Life ~
It was raining hard when Dr. Ragel Andrews finally slipped out the doors of the bustling hospital at the end of his shift. A gifted surgeon, Ragel had been kept a little late to complete the recovery check on one of his patients. Not that he minded, but it meant that he was caught in a downpour of epic proportions. If that wasn't bad enough, he'd left his sunglasses at home, and so had to squint his eyes against the rain. One of the downsides to being a vampire - or at least half of one.
It hadn't been a quiet day at the hospital, so the doctor had a lot to think about as he was trudging his way home. He lived a good twenty miles from the hospital, but given his supernatural stamina, he wasn't perturbed about walking just that distance to get back to the warmth and comfort of his abode. It would be more than taxing to an adult human, but to Ragel, it was a "walk in the park". The rain just made it that much more interesting.
Depsite that rain, Ragel knew it to be a full moon - or as he liked to call it "Fool's Moon". He knew there was a werewolf pack around here that would so very much like to get their claws into him. He wasn't going to let that happen, but it was a scary thought that he might actually run into one of them. Or all of them. He allowed himself a soft chuckle. Even such an encounter would be virtually fun to escape. His life was pretty boring - despite being a surgeon - and he did like the occasional troubling situation once in a while to get things nice and stirred up.
He was about to get more than he bargained for.
It had to have been nearing midnight when Ragel approached his home, soaking wet, and sorely in need of blood, rest, and nice warm bed. It was simply that thought that kept him moving, but there were other concerns that were weighing on his mind. The headlights of the cars on the roadway served to light his way, but they did nothing to lighten his heart.
He'd lost a patient today. A young girl, not more than seventeen. Given, her case was supposed to be incurable... but.. still... He missed her, in something of an odd way. Not as a doctor. More as a friend. As one she'd told all her secrets and fears to. His mind was reeling with the loss still, even after he'd been forced to do his job, and perform her autopsy. Natural causes - disease. Just as he'd thought would happen, eventually.
His mind was so caught up in these thoughts of "Lisa", that he failed to notice the two in front of him, until he was almost on top of them. As soon as he actually heard the talking, though, he ducked behind a tree alongside the roadway, to listen to what they were saying. It wasn't really important. Laughter, cruel in nature. Snarling. ... A baby's crying?
He took a chance, and peeked out from his hiding place to meet a sight that made his blood run cold. Two werewolves, in the massive Crinos form, were TOSSING around a baby. Redhaired and squalling against his treatment, the infant was close to passing out, and Ragel didn't blame him. The wolves weren't being gentle at all. Ragel had seen this behaviour before, and knew that this was how they "played with their food". His heart went out to the tiny infant, and his teeth clenched in anger. That was one baby that wasn't going to be on the damned menu.
Ragel allowed himself to immerse into the vampire half of him. His head tilted back, rain running down his face, and his eyes closed. He felt the sharp pain, like a horse's kick in the mouth, that meant his fangs were descending. His slowed his breathing, and opened his senses, flowing along with his own half-dead heartbeat, and becoming one with the sounds around him.
Let no one tell you that being a vampire isn't pleasurable.
He couldn't lose himself completely, as he did when feeding. He had to be aware, to think and to plan. And to get that baby back. He knew how he was going to do it - he'd dealt with these punks before. And punks they were, teen werewolves that had no idea yet that other beings of the supernatural variety thrived in this area.
He stepped from behind his hiding place, cape swilring in the wind. Theatrical Vampire: Take One. The werewolves stopped and, almost as in slow motion, turned. There was not a sound on that street as their eyes met. Not a sound but the frightened whimpering of the child they'd let drop. Both pups drew back their lips in a snarl, and turned to run.
Ragel was hungry. It wasn't a good idea to run from a hungry vampire. He flew at one of them, as only a vampire could, and clung, swinging around the form, until he sank his fangs into the tender flesh at the throat. The extasy of feeding hit him at once, tenfold because of the power of the blood. He took only what he needed, letting the werewolf scamper off with its fellow after he'd had his fill.
Having chased the beasts off, he exhaled slowly, savoring the feeling of being full of warmth. The rain came down in buckets, and he was soaked through. Not that it mattered. Back to the task at hand.
He bent down to the babe on the ground, and scooped him up. The child was dangerously underweight, but he seemed to be healthy despite that. His heart and lungs were working fine to Ragel's vampire hearing. He checked before letting his human nature take hold again, and withdrawing his fangs. This was an interesting change to say the least...
The rain trickled down Ragel's face, and splashed a bit on the tiny babe. The redheaded child reached up, and attempted to catch the raindrops in a questing fist. Ragel's face broke into a gentle smile. He lifted his head, and looked around, for anyone who might be the mother or father of the child he carried in his arms, but somehow he knew that the little one was his, and his alone.
He accepted the fact much more gracefully than some. He nodded once, lifted his cape to shield the baby from the rain, and proceeded the rest of the way home. Even for the distance - which really wasn't that far, the kid was asleep within Ragel's arms within moments of moving again.
"It's a miracle I was here when I was..."
He told the sleeping bundle.
"Thus "for a miracle" you shall be named."
He opened the door to his home, and stepped inside, shaking off the water without waking the child. He lifted a still-warm finger to caress the tiny cheek, chuckling.
"Welcome home, Lei'ryn."
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