Title: Under the Summer Moon

Rating: M

Genre: Drama/Romance

Disclaimer: Tanz Der Vampire and its characters belong to Roman Polanski, Jim Steinman and Michael Kunze. This fanfic is written purely for entertainment and I gain no financial profit by writing this.

Summary: On one summer's night, everything changes. Alfred/Krolock

A/N: Last night, I dreamt of summer. And so I had to write this. I suppose it's futile to even try to deny anymore that I ship this pairing. In any case, enjoy!

On the first year of his unlife, Alfred learns that as the winter of his new home is harsh, so is the summer intense and heated. For one so young as himself, with his new heightened senses, it is overwhelming and stunning.

It is a hot night, and the air is heavy with the scent of flowers and the warmth of day still lingers under the stars. Though the moon is riding high, the air still whispers of sunbeams. He's in the middle of his second youth and everything is exciting and new. The very world about him seems like something unimaginable and he wonders why he never noticed it when he lived. It is distracting, too: sometimes he forgets where he is and where he is going, because he's just too enthralled by the beauty of the nighttime world.

This is what happens to him on that night. He is returning the castle, for the temptation of riding high with the night has lured him out and he hasn't been able to resist the sweet call of the world outside the high stone walls. Usually, he's not allowed to go out, not alone – he says it's because Alfred is too unruly and wild to be left unguarded. Alfred himself doesn't really understand that but he trusts the older vampire; trusts him like he would never have thought he would.

But tonight the call is just too powerful and here he is, wandering under the trees all alone: he feels like the world is new and pristine and he's the first man to venture these woods. The air is warm and it tingles his skin. He sighs in pleasure and without thinking, relieves himself of his coat and his shirt. Alfred feels like there's a song under his very skin and he's in love with the night, with this summer and the feeling of being so strong.

The moon is full tonight and it paints the meadow silver. Alfred, adoring everything he sees, feels it's the most beautiful place he has ever seen. He must show this place to Sarah. A bubbling laughter escapes his lips and he rushes forwards, the tall grass caressing his legs as he runs.

At the sight of him, Alfred stops. He stands there tall and silent, like majestic statue of old that holds something of an ancient and long gone world. Dressed in dark and with his long black hair contrasting with his white skin, he's an eerie sight, but also graceful; he reminds Alfred of a great wild cat that somehow embodies both danger and beauty.

Air hangs heavy, with no traces of wind; if he could, Alfred would surely sweat. Yet for the first time ever since he became a vampire, he feels hot. The summer heat is under his skin and it is making him even wilder than usual. So he doesn't protest when the older vampire's hands descend on his skin. Instead, he leans into the touch and relishes the coolness of the other one's fingers. They're long and bony, he notes, and it is the first time he ever touches him.

The kiss they share tastes of blood, of night, of shadows on the forest pools. Something in Alfred responds to it and despite himself, he answers: he opens himself and allows the older vampire take over. Somehow, he feels he has been waiting for this to happen for a long time, longer than he has known the taller man.

There is no thought of outside world in his mind when he is lowered down on the ground, and when he feels the rich fabric of the older vampire's cloak under his back. He has no fear, no distrust of any kind. It is peculiar, for he wouldn't have expected that – he wouldn't have known himself to be so calm and trustful had he known this would happen. But when he feels the skillful hands of the Master moving on him and the strands of long dark hair slid over his skin, he is at ease and there is no other place in the world he'd rather be.

The vivid blue eyes look down on him, enigmatic and endless; for a moment, all Alfred can think of is how he'd like to unlock all the secrets hidden in those eyes. It's hard to think straight, though, for the heat is building up now and he is moaning and needing and this is wrong on so many levels, but it's also so very right – more right than anything has ever been.

He cries out when he finds his release and he looks up, feeling breathless even though he has no living breath in him anymore. The Master returns his gaze silently and only now Alfred notices how his skin looks silver in this light and it's the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. He is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. And for a short moment, Alfred can see the excruciating, dazzling, wild heat reflected on the older vampire's face... the heat that brought him here in the first place, into these shadows under the summer moon.

But the silver-gilt beams of this moonlit madness are already fading and he moves away, quick and quiet and so very unfathomable, draping himself again in his fine clothes. He never speaks and neither does Alfred, preferring this silence between them... for if words are spoken, the spell would be broken. And this is magic that needs to run its course, no matter how mad and strange.

When he is gone, the air shifts for the first time in weeks, and Alfred can smell the upcoming rain in the faint breath that brushes down from the mountains. Soon, the heat will disappear south and his first summer of forever will turn into fall.

And Alfred returns to the castle, pensive and wistful... The heat is gone from under his skin, but it has burned his unbeating heart already, and the dreams of summer moon and tall grass and dark hair will haunt him for many a year to come; deep down he knows that from this point forward, he will never stop drowning in the deep blue eyes of the Count von Krolock.