For the Love of Chocolate

 By Christine Wichman copyright November 2014 Photos taken from Pinterest

Edna St.Vincent was a thousand year old vampire who tried to replace her thirst for blood with chocolate. It was working quite well for the last thirty years or so, though she had noticed some weight gain, she decided it was well worth it, if it saved human lives. 

Belgian chocolates were now her obsession, they came closest to that happy feeling she got after a good neck draining. The instant anticipation as she eyed the lovely box with a bow, and took in the deep heady scent permeating through the cracks.

It was the Tuesday before last she walked into a shop to stock up on her beloved Godiva truffles. 

“Good day Madame, may I be of service,” a young man behind the counter offered assistance. 

Edna could not help but notice the exquisitely bulbous blue vein running down his neckline.

Chocolates, I’m here for chocolate

she reminded herself…then blurted with conviction, “Chocolates!”

“Well you’ve come to the right place, do you prefer dark, milk or perhaps white?”

Fixated on the boys neck, she whispered, “Hmmm white.”

“White then? I’m sorry I didn’t quite hear you Madame.” 

“Sorry,” refocusing her attention Edna scanned the display, “I’ll have those,” she pointed to a fanciful stack of brown circular treats with a red dot fashioned on top, which held a likeness to, dare she say it, blood.

“Ahh, wonderful choice,” the boy went on to describe her luxurious selection, “

From our Flavors of the World Collection, our Sirop de Liege with Speculoos piece was created by Chef Thierry. Two iconic Belgian treats — Sirop de Liege, a pear and apple syrup, and Speculoos, a ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon cookie — are combined inside a dark chocolate shell.”

“Fine dear, just box up three dozen and I’ll be on my way.” Edna was feeling a little shaky, her hands were beginning to tremble, and an unspoken desire was rising up from her belly.

As the boy took his sweet time meticulously arranging the chocolate pieces within the gold box, Edna was fighting off her ancient urges.

Get a hold of yourself, take a deep breath…. just count to 100 slowly….1, 2, 3………29, 30, 31….99, 100….104, 105, 106, 107…oh dear god hurry up boy…hurry…..please.

The boy looked up from his task, “Madame are you alright? You look rather pale.”
That neck, god…help me. “I’m fine, please could you just hurry it up, they don’t need to look perfect, I think I’m experiencing low blood sugar to be honest.”

“Blood sugar, of course.”

“I’m not quite myself at the moment,” Edna could sense she was about to lose control.

“May I offer you a free sample to tide you over,” the boy held up a delicious chocolate covered cherry morsel.

Edna snatched it from his warm hand and bit into it viciously, the red syrup dripping from the corner of her mouth.

The boy stared at her.

“I have to go.” Edna was terrified of losing control, she raced from the shop toward the back alley.

“But Madame, your chocolates!” 

Edna could feel every cell of her vampire DNA pulsing, craving and screaming out to be satiated.

I will have to stalk the boy, follow him home when he leaves the shop. 

Stalking was always Edna’s forte, once her senses latched on to the perfect vein there was no stopping her until she had drained it completely. 

The boy shook his head and began to disassemble the gold box of it’s decadent pieces, carefully returning them to the display. He had an eerie feeling he was being watched. Yet when he looked up to the window he saw nothing. 

Edna waited in the shadows focused on her prey. 

Edna stood across the street from the chocolate shop relying upon her heightened Vampire senses, she had the shop boy on her radar and would know the second he left the building. To pass the time, she sang songs in her head, songs that spanned every era of her lifetime, from “That Old Kentucky Rain” to the Mamas and the papas…

They say candy is sweet, but it just can’t compete with you, baby….was the line she was singing the moment Matthew Le Grand exited the building.

Still in his chocolate shop uniform, with a worn leather jacket strewn across his arm, Matthew made his way to the corner, punched the button on the crosswalk light and reached behind his ear for a cigarette which he promptly lit and began to smoke.

Edna ran her hands through her blue streaked hair, turning her long locks a stunning platinum for disguise, then she strolled a bit closer. 

As an ancient vampire she possessed the gifts of the Grimoire, and could shift her looks effortlessly to take on different personas, with the blonde curls came plumper lips and deeper set eyes.

Hmmm, the scent of this boy has me reeling.

Edna bit her lip in frustration and the point of her fang punctured it just enough to draw her own blood, which she licked away immediately.

She then stalked Matthew to the steps of a white row house.  Only her eyes followed him in, as he ran up the stairs to a street facing window. Lights came on and she watched as his shadow removed the white uniform and replaced it with jeans and a t-shirt. Within the hour an old american car came to collect him at the curb, three rowdy boys, called out, “Let’s go mate. Come on then…”

Matthew ran out the door putting on his leather jacket and hopped into the passenger seat, one boy in the back ruffled his newly slicked faux hawk, as the other threw a crushed lager can from the window.

Edna smiled, ahh nice boy by day, bad boy by night.

A short time later the boys arrived at one of London’s seediest clubs. Matthew stepped from the car and caught eyes with Edna, having never seen this woman before, he was somehow drawn in as if she were more than familiar.

“Come with me,” she boldly took his hand and led him down some stone steps between the club and the chemist. His mates figured he knew the blonde and teased “Get some.” as they took their place in the queue.

Without a word Edna led Matthew down to the underground passage beneath the park, it was dark and reeked of urine but he didn’t care, his heart was racing as he felt the heat and pulse in her hand, he would follow her anywhere.

Suddenly she stopped and very passionately threw him up against the wall of graffiti and tags, a smeared red ankh symbol just next to his neck. Edna stared deeply into his eyes, holding his wrists up against the colorful scrawls of love and abandon.

Matthew was silent, riveted by her stare, her lips, her bared cleavage.

Edna moved her mouth closer to his ear, her warm breath whispering softly, as she hovered around that delicious, vein throbbing neck…she was met with an obstacle. Matthew was wearing a silver crucifix. 

“Please take off that necklace,” she begged.

The boy was now her slave and did as he was told, tossing it to the unholy ground. Edna freed his wrists and let his arms fall around her waist as she leaned in closer, settling her lips upon his soft white neck, the proximity was intoxicating.

Matthew’s eyes suddenly went black, as his own fangs emmerged swiftly puncturing two holes along Edna’s delicate neckline.

“What the hell?” Edna withdrew in anger.

The boy laughed a sinister laugh, then stared daggers through Edna.  Edna watched as he ran his hands through his slick black hair, slowly fading to silver and his face contorting to that of a mature man with distinguished features and grey piercing eyes, eyes she knew too well.

“Le Grand.” she gasped.

“Across miles and centuries…we finally meet again. Ah, Miss St.Vincent how I’ve missed you.”

The End….for now. (May be continued later)