First Blood

I sped through the rapidly changing streets as the wind tore at my hair, following close to Alexander. A sense of freedom rose up in me, verging on euphoria, as I lost myself in the simplicity of running. Others senses unheeded, sights and smells drifted by. My previous anxieties slipped away with the blurring facades. I found myself becoming too enamoured with the benefits of being a vampire and far less concerned with the downsides. 


“Pay attention to the smells…”, his words floated on the wind to me, clear as glass. “Search out the one that attracts you most, the one that draws you to it…” 


I started to focus properly on the scents assailing me and once I had, they became pungent. It was like I’d turned the dial to full whack. I tried to mentally sift through them, one by one. The bitter tang of the tarmac, repulsive, cloying sewers, the sickly sweetness of mouldering rubbish, various aromas of cooking food and the fresh, earthy smell of the few trees in the area combined to become nauseating and oppressive. But one strong smell laced among the others drew me. Coppery, syrupy, and rich. 


I centred on that lone smell, tried to determine where it was coming from… As the heavenly scent sucked me with it, I veered sharply to the right, turning down an unknown street in my pursuit. Buildings became houses, ornate architecture guarded by tall oaks. Somehow I knew Alexander had turned with me, following behind. The aroma was delicious and getting stronger with each turn I took. The burning in my throat intensified unbearably as I closed in on my target. I stepped up my pace, desperate to end the torment. A wave of desire swept me up as I finally saw what I had been pursuing. 


I found myself staring at a man who was walking down the empty pavement. I stopped dead in shock. Two fangs descended into my mouth, unbidden and I realised with a start that a low rumbling had begun in my throat. I wanted to eat him! Well, not actually eat him…but, well, bite him and drink that beautiful smelling blood. I now knew that’s what I had been following: the thick, compelling scent of blood. I could hear the sound of his heartbeat, irregular from walking so briskly. The blood rushed through his veins, becoming a roaring in my ears. It called to me, a song to my new black soul.


No longer caring about the repulsive act I felt compelled to commit, I closed the distance between myself and my prey in an instant, wrapping my arms around his neck in a cruel embrace. Before he even had a chance to scream, I bit hard into his neck, feeling the skin give and break. Warm, delicious liquid spilled into my mouth and rushed down my throat. I moaned in ecstasy. This was my ambrosia. I drank and drank, allowing the blood to sate my being, caring for nothing else around me. My eyelids fluttered as I experienced a strange high overtake me. Becoming dizzy, I retracted my teeth and stepped away in a daze. The man who had so enticed me with his seductive blood fell limply to the cold tarmac in a heap. 


“What are you doing?” Alexander hissed. “Finish him! You must complete your change!”


Shocked and still a bit woozy from drinking so much blood, I felt out of place, unsteady. I could still hear the stranger’s heartbeat, very slow and erratic. He was close to death, but to outright kill him? It still seemed wrong to me, even though I understood I was different now. But then I remembered the second part of what he said…complete my change. 


“Kill him!”, he roared.


Fearing the loss of my new life, one where I actually had a chance…a future maybe, I made a decision. I could hesitate no longer. I said a silent apology to the poor guy, then I sunk my fangs back into his neck and drew every last drop of blood and life from him. Discarding the corpse without another care, I felt power scorch through my veins, changing me. I grinned wickedly as I relished in the last vestiges of blood induced high. Feeling invincible, I turned slowly to face my mentor with scarlet lips.


“More…I want more!” 


I took off running, paying no attention to my surroundings, only the smells. Immediately I picked up another trail just as delicious, but stronger. I didn’t care that I’d become a killer. I cared only for more of the hot blood coursing through my veins. My feet barely made any sound as I tracked my new prey diligently. 


Alexander followed close behind, eager for a kill just as much as me. I realised, for the first time, that I could sense him and some loose snatches of his thoughts. He had watched his new fledgling revel in the first drink and the awesome sight of it made him desperately thirsty.


Coming to a sudden stop before a set of carved stone steps, I isolated the new scent. It emanated from the red-brick townhouse before me. Lights glowed from the many sash windows framed with scroll-like masonry, illuminating the shadowy forms beyond. Focusing intently on the building I let my mind drift inside, inquiring. I sensed more than one presence and I smelled it too. Maybe they were having a party of some sort, I could hear music that sounded unreasonably loud with my amplified hearing. There did seem to be a lot of people in there… I turned to face Alexander, questions written in my eyes.


“We can take them if you want them. Do you want them Tex?” Seeing me nod, he continued. “Well what are you waiting for then? Lets eat.”

Revelations

My eyes flew open as consciousness slammed into me with indescribable force. Immediately I was aware of a painful burning in my throat and a wave of desire swept through me . My eyes slowly took in my surroundings, vines clung to the white marble of the walls and ceiling and a flickering yellow glow emanated from the far corner, barely illuminating the small room. Everything seemed too vivid, I could see every crack and blemish on the roof above.


Sitting up and swivelling round in one fluid movement, confusion settled in. I openly stared at the person before me. Eyes of swirling silver and lightest blue, waves of dark blond hair and skin that appeared akin to burnished bronze. What was left of his clothing hung from his muscular frame in filthy tatters, unrecognisable for what they once were. He sat rigidly on the floor, positioned before the small fire that was the source of the light. The stranger held my gaze steadily, as if waiting for something. All at once questions poured from my lips.


“Who are you? Where am I? What the hell happened?” 


“I am Alexander and this is my tomb.” He had a soft lilting voice that seemed to instantly calm me. “Are you sure you do not remember what happened?”, he continued. 


As if his words had lifted a hidden veil, my memories rushed in, filling me with horror. I had died and someone, quite probably the man sitting in front of me, had murdered my companions. My only friends. Chase and Meagan. Grief engulfed me and I felt hot, stinging tears slide down my face.


“You must control yourself! Your emotions are extremely heightened in your new state”, Alexander commanded.


“W-what do you mean? My new state?” I was becoming increasingly hysterical. I dragged the dirty sleeves of my thin sweatshirt across my weeping eyes, rubbing them dry. My hands dropped limply lap and I stared, dumbstruck, at the material. Two large scarlet smears marred the flared cuffs…blood. My mouth stretched wide and I began to shriek like a wild thing.


“I thought you were not so foolish as those others…that was why I chose you”, he said vehemently. “Now stop that abominable noise! Its only a little blood. You will always cry bloody tears.”


Oh God! I thought, letting the information sink in. The idea of blood dripping down my face was repulsive. I could never let anyone see me cry again. It was a humiliation I couldn’t bear. But then I focused on what he’d said and a new thought formed.


“Chose me? For what?”, I asked, uncertain if I truly wanted to know the answer.


Sighing, Alexander poked at the withering fire and began to explain. “I chose you for a companion. I have lived for centuries, ever wandering, and I am lonely. I have slept for the last 500 years inside the coffin you now sit upon. I am a vampire and now…”, he paused, “so are you. That burning in your throat and the fierce desire coupled with it is the thirst. The thirst for blood.”


Panic threatened to consume me, my breath came in short gasps as I tried to process what Alexander was telling me. Vampires were the stuff of myths and legends, I couldn’t possibly be one…could I? But Alexander cared nothing for my internal struggle, he had continued speaking regardless.


“Everything is amplified for you now…your vision, your movements, your hearing, taste, touch, smell. You will have certain gifts too, I am sure, but I do not know if they will be the same as mine.”


“Gifts?”, I butted in when he paused for breath, “What gifts?”


A flicker of amusement passed across his sculpted features. “ I have many gifts and perhaps many more I’ve yet to discover. I can appear at will in any place, I can fade from sight and I can draw people to me.”


I can whisper in your mind and control your thoughts and actions too. I can root through your brain as if it were a picture book, to find any information I desire. The words rippled through my brain, unspoken. It shocked me, but I immediately began to notice the implications of this revelation. He could control me! He seemed all powerful in that instant. What if he made me kill people? But the thought no longer seemed to repulse me so much. What was happening to me? I could almost feel the evil spreading through my body as the vampire state pushed itself to the forefront. Then a new thought popped into my head…


“Will I be telepathic too?”, I asked in a small voice. I looked down at my hands while I waited for the answer, noticing my knuckles had gone white where I had gripped the coffin so tightly. 


“Why don’t we find out? Try it…” I exhaled a breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding and focused on my next question. 


Does this mean I’m immortal now? I concentrated hard on the words, pushing them out of my head with all the mental strength I could summon. I watched the planes of his face closely, waiting for a reaction. 


“Yes you’re immortal now, but there is really no need to shout”, he grimaced, rubbing at his temples in a mock gesture of pain. “You are going to be a strong one. There was a lot of force behind that thought”. 


A grin spread across my face. Perhaps he wouldn’t be able to control me after all. The realisation that I was a vampire became less frightening and I was curious about the other gifts I might possess.


Alexander raised himself to full height, he towered above me. In the blink of an eye he was standing next to me, making me jump right out of my skin. 


“Come, my dear. It is time for your first feed, to cement the transformation”, he whispered to me as he grabbed my hand. He pulled me with him, until I matched his own lightening speed. We left the tomb in a blur of movement to quick for mortal eyes to see.

First Encounter

So, last night I was just me, Tex. Known as Theresa Ryder to the authorities and my useless parents. Now? Not so much. It shouldn’t have happened, not like that. As a street kid I should have been better prepared. Three years as a runaway has made me tough, resourceful. 


I shouldn’t have died last night. Without even a fight…


We’d been to this underground club on King Street. Darkness. Full of people like me, runaways and other unsavoury characters. I’d been drinking all evening, a disgusting cocktail of cider and cheap white wine. One of the girls I shared the squat with, Chase Martin, decided she’d had enough of the awful music and had the stupid idea of going to a graveyard. 


“Come on guys! It’ll be fun!” Chase giggled, flicking her mahogany mane, as our entourage trekked the few streets to the cemetery. 


“Sure”, Meagan replied icily. 


Meagan Cross was the other girl I shared the squat with. She would have been a pretty girl, if she actually bothered. Dirty blond, shoulder length hair hung down in matted strands, her uniform of baggy jeans and t-shirt sporting several holes. 


It wasn’t so bad, at first. We made a fire and passed round the cider, until we didn’t care about the cold. The trees were dark silhouettes against the deeper black of the sky; there wasn’t a star in sight.  I settled back on a raised stone tomb, with headphones in to block out Chase’s incessant giggling and sparked a joint. 


The three guys she’d picked up at the club were clearly enjoying her attention and she sure relished their wandering hands. But that’s Chase, reckless to a fault. We had no idea who they were; I doubt she even bothered to get names. 


Meagan was doing her usual thing of staring into space, I’d long since given up trying to talk to her. I don’t know why Chase dragged her along, but the one time I asked all I got was:


“You know how hard it is for girls like us. You need all the friends you can get and if we don’t look out for her, who will?”


So I put up with her. I guess she had issues. Every time we had enough money to get some cider or go to Darkness, she just got trashed. Sitting there with vacant grey eyes, sucking cider through a straw until she passed out.


When I glanced round, I realised Chase had disappeared. Sliding off my perch, I started off in the direction I had last seen her, weaving between headstones. But, before I had gone more than ten steps, I heard a loud moaning. I quickly backtracked the way I came, Chase was up to her old tricks again and I sure didn’t want to stumble open that ghastly sight, again.


When I got back to our temporary camp, I flounced down next to Meagan. 


“She’s at it again, you know”, I said, “with three guys this time!” No reaction. 


I prodded absently at the fire as I drained the last of my cider. I launched the empty bottle into the flames and dug around in my bag for the bottle of vodka I had stashed earlier. I took a huge swallow, relishing the burn as it slid down my throat and hit my starved belly. 


“Think I’ll join you, seems we got a while before she’s done”, I groused.


“Yeah, best way Tex”, she replied to my astonishment, “There isn’t anything worth staying sober for”. Her voice was hollow, like she had nothing left in her to give. Instantly I felt sorry for the poor girl.


Clinking our glasses, we guzzled our drinks in an attempt to get smashed quicker. I didn’t bother to talk, it was clear Meagan had reached her quota for the day. Shoving my headphones back into my ears, I pulled my tobacco from my back pocket and began to roll.


Lost in the music thumping in my ears, I hadn’t noticed that Meagan had slumped to the floor, unconscious. Shrugging my shoulders, I sparked up and downed the last of the vodka. I laid back on cold ground and closed my deep blue eyes, letting myself drift into a void of nothingness.


I had no sense of time passing while I floated in my haze of drink and drugs. I didn’t hear footsteps approaching before strong arms roughly grabbed me from the floor and pulled me into a bear hug. I figured it was just one of the un-named lads, trying it on. But in my state, I didn’t care. I leaned back against a flat, hard chest and inhaled his strange aroma of moist earth. His arms squeezed tighter, halting any movement and I felt a cold breath on my neck.


Like an explosion inside my mind, I felt the sharp stab of pain blossom out from my neck and flow down my veins. I realised he was drinking my blood, but the thought didn’t seem to affect my addled brain. It felt strange but kind of good.


His teeth left my throat and I heard a small tearing sound. As hard lips clamped down on my neck, he thrust his arm across my mouth. A warm, coppery liquid spilled onto my tongue and down my throat before I could contemplate what was happening. 


“Drink, drink”, he commanded with a voice like the whisper on wind. I gulped down the strange liquid, until I was breathless and faint. He continued to drain my blood and with every second I grew weaker. I slumped against his chest, unable to hold myself up anymore. 


My eyes flitted open as he removed his arm and stroked my long, ebony hair. My brain didn’t understand what my eyes were seeing and then the full horror assailed me. Five bodies strewn like discarded toys around the dying fire, pale and ghostly from blood loss. Opening my mouth, a piercing scream erupted and stole my last breath. Then everything went dark and I knew I was dead.