Status: Finished.

Give Me Envy, Give Me Malice, Give Me Your Attention

Chapter One

A glistening silver moonbeam tumbled onto the polished wooden floors of the ostentatious but beautiful room as the heavy, rich red curtains were thrown back. The reasonably tall and rather skinny man, who could easily be mistaken for a younger boy, took a seat on the ledge jutting out from under the window with more grace and elegance than a mortal man could ever imagine. The window was more like a massive pane of glass taking up almost the entire wall of the large room, with two vertical, dark, wooden strips dividing it into three. The man closed his eyes and sighed as he leant his forehead against the window, his cold breath not managing to fog up the glass the way it would have if he actually needed it. When he opened his deep brown eyes, they glowed exceptionally bright as he focused them on a particular area of the city below. His eyes zoomed in, and he felt the corners of his lips pull upwards as he found what he was looking for. Or, more accurately, who he was looking for.

She looked as beautiful as she always did in his eyes. She wore a short black dress and her dark brown hair was out, hanging around the middle of her back. She was standing outside a bar, no doubt waiting for her two best friends. His smile grew wider as he saw her eyes lighten up and a sweet smile cross her lips as her friends joined her. He noticed that her friends were equally attractive, but there was something about her that made it impossible for him to look away.

As the three girls walked into the bar, he adjusted his gaze once again to see her through the walls. He didn’t fail to notice all the male heads that turned when they walked in, and he felt that indescribable feeling of jealousy that made him want to break the necks of every man in that room. And he knew he could, quite easily, but he wouldn’t. Beckett wouldn’t be pleased if he drew unwanted attention to the clan.

He remained there, just watching her, for the next few minutes, feeling the insanely happy euphoria whenever she smiled or flicked her hair out of her face in that particular way. Curiosity getting the better of him, he sent his ears to join his eyes at the bar, concentrating on trying to hear her voice. There was so much talk in that bar, and his head hurt trying to ignore the constant buzzing, but he blocked it all out when he heard her laugh. She was laughing at something that her friend the blonde one had said. The friend seemed serious but excited.

" ...and then he told me that he loved me."

"And what did you say?" asked the other friend, the one with the light brown hair.

"I told him I loved him too. And I really think I do, Bella," the blonde said, still mainly addressing the other friend. "I think I’m in love with him."

"That’s fantastic, Lara!" The one called Bella whispered excitedly.

"You two are so perfect for each other!" she said. It was the first time that he had heard her speak that night.

"Thanks Anna. I really think that it will work between us."

He let their voices get quieter and quieter as he listened to the calm quietness of the room in which he was sitting, but his eyes remained on her, taking in how amazing she looked. His eyes ran over her figure, but his mind wandered to thinking about how anyone could possibly view humans as unimportant. How anyone could think of them as weak. How anyone could miss the incredible beauty that he saw in her.

His mind anxiously returned to her when he realized she was talking to a man. The man was reasonably good looking, and didn’t seem dirty or sleazy at all. He seemed like a nice guy, but for merely approaching her, he had made himself an unknown enemy. The jealousy seemed to tame when she kindly turned down the guys offer of a drink and he walked away. Readjusting his eyes once again, he immediately returned to thinking about how quintessential she seemed. How the lights played in her hair, how her green eyes could get lighter or darker in a human way, how she seemed so alive.

"Hello Ryan."

He jumped at the sudden sound, and allowed his eyes to return to their usual chocolate brown shade as her image faded away. He turned to see his leader cross the room and take a seat in an old, comfortable, brown leather armchair.

"William," Ryan nodded, to acknowledge his presence.

William Beckett, leader of the dandies, rested his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes, his long brown hair hanging at his shoulders and his jaw in the air. He and Ryan had a few similarities in their physical appearance; they both had brown eyes, they were both thin, and they both had pale skin, although all the others did too, now. William was taller than Ryan, though.

"What were you looking at?" William asked, his eyes returning to Ryan.

His tone suggested that he was merely asking as a curious friend, but Ryan could hear the demand underneath it, and he didn’t want to answer. His infatuation with this girl was unexplainable, waking him early every night for a week now just to see her, but he didn’t want any vampires to go anywhere near her.

"A bar," he shrugged, dodging the question as he stood up to leave.

William narrowed his eyes at the back of Ryan’s head as he left, and he walked over to look out the window himself. It took him a few minutes, scanning the entire town, but he eventually found who he was looking for.

"Ah, there you are, my old friend," he murmured to himself.

Ever since their falling out, he had liked to keep a close eye on Andrew Mrotek. He had formerly gone by the name 'The Butcher', until he lost his four closest friends. William was the first to be turned, not all that long ago. He had lost track of exactly how long he had been a vampire. He had tried to separate himself from his friends, in fear of giving in to the bloodlust and drinking from them, but eventually he couldn’t help it. It’s not like it was planned or anything. Michael Guy Chislett had come over to his place demanding why he had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth, and in his starving state, William couldn’t resist any longer. When he had drained Michael of almost all his blood, he came to his senses and stopped. A few hours later, Michael was no longer alive or dead. A similar situation applied to Michael, resulting in Adam, or Sisky, as they called him, joining them. Already, the Beckett clan had begun. The three of them had gone to find their other friends, Butcher and Mike. Instead of feeding off them, they offered them a choice. They could join the dandies, or leave and live a short, lonely life without them. Mike hurriedly agreed to being transformed, but Butcher knew that to an extent, his friends had changed. He had said no, and as he tried to leave, Williams thirst got the better of him. He pounced on his friend, fangs instantly growing longer, getting ready to bite, but he was so busy concentrating on Butchers pulse that he was shocked when Butcher kicked him in the ribs, throwing him backwards. As Butcher ran away into the night, William had called out;

"You’ve made your choice now!"

They hadn’t spoken since. Around twice a week, William would stare out the window and try to find Butcher, just out of curiosity.

This particular night, he found his old friend joining three girls in an average looking bar. He kissed the blonde one in greeting. William smirked, but the smirk turned to a soft smile when his eyes found the blonde girls friend. She was very pretty, her light brown hair hanging just past her shoulders, and her eyes only a slightly lighter shade of green than her dark haired friends. He remained focused on this girl for an hour or so, his interest growing every second, and when he was confident she was asleep, he returned to his desk to begin the work he had originally come to do, the image of this girl - Bella - strong in his mind.