Promptings from Valhalla - 15. Love Thy Neighbor?

The prompt: With a new outlook on life, a 400-year-old vampire becomes obsessed with a neighbor.

Love Thy Neighbor?

The lighter blond strands streaking the otherwise sandy-blond hair of the man in the house next door practically glowed in the light of the reading lamp perched above the bed. The refraction of light through the window glass produced an effect that almost resembled a halo. Alexander chuckled lowly at the irony. His ice-blue eyes maintained a blinkless gaze on the man reading in the large bed. Every movement of the man’s lips as he read the text mesmerized him. His neighbor’s lips were cherry-red from when he bit them during what Alexander assumed were particularly suspenseful passages.

The man set the book down next to him and raised his arms above his head, grimacing as he stretched. The movement lifted his white night shirt, revealing a trim physique with the right amount of hair for Alexander’s taste.

Alexander licked his lips and shifted in his chair, producing a creak of protest from the old piece of furniture. For the first time he could remember, his feeling of lust wasn’t for blood, but for his beautiful new neighbor. After 400 years, Alexander had finally reached a point in his unlife where he wanted more than the weekly feedings which sustained his existence. While the high when a live human’s blood coursed through his veins was hard to resist, he wanted more from life, especially since he was essentially immortal.

Alexander turned away from the window and gripped the arm of the chair tightly, shattering it. He stood and kicked the rest of the offending wooden seat into splinters, then clenched his hands into fists in an attempt to quell his rage. The image of Cassius, his maker, running into the bright sunlight that meant certain death, was seared into his mind. Cassius had offered no explanation or apology. He simply acted. Alexander was still dealing with the fall-out, even fifty years later. In the past, he would have flown out of the house and found some hapless human to expend his anger on. Now….

He retrieved another chair and resumed his watch at the window. His neighbor was now sound asleep with the light off. Alexander’s preternatural eyes didn’t need any extra light to see the sleeping man clearly, however. He was even more beautiful while slumbering.

When dawn approached, Alexander had no choice but to close the curtains and enter his own sleep for the day. Before he closed his eyes, he made a resolution. He was going to introduce himself to his new neighbor come nightfall.

This was a perfect prompt for the season...   What do you think will happen when Alexander introduces himself to his neighbor?