Bloodthirst

The cool cloak of night had descended swiftly upon Rio, bringing with it a slew of changes from the expected to the unnerving. It was during this time that the deadly assassins of the jungle emerged, stealthy animals who moved through the undergrowth like shadows and devoured the unsuspecting and foolish.

The golden crescent moon poured from her graceful curve a dim light, but it was not enough to beat back the blackness that oozed across the land.

Suffering and death waited behind every bush and in every treetop, it seemed, natural-born killers with vicious claws and gleaming teeth darting in all directions in the search for their next meal. Even those who were at the pinnacle of the food chain were vulnerable to being targeted by their own kind, and the situation grew drastically worse for the lower species.

But outside of every established hierarchy there exists a class of nonconformists, and this chain of power was no different.

This cruel domain housed a group of beings who showed no fear for each other, let alone the insignificant earthly victims they consumed. One glance at their cruel faces and piercing eyes and one could tell they were far from normal, and it was with that very realization in their minds did many regular animals perish.

Most hunted alone, though a few had formed pairs and worked to provide for each other, as well as mutually bonding when said couple embarked on a new and challenging prowl. Single or in teams, each and every one of these cryptic creatures craved the excitement of tracking down a food item, as well as the challenge that followed when they confronted their chosen prey.

But also ingrained into their very nature besides their propensity for violence was a strange thirst, a sinister craving for something other than flesh and bone. These sly terrors harbored a lust for blood, the warm fluid present in earth's fauna that served as the elixir of life.

They were well-modified to extract the blood of whatever unfortunate thing they managed to trap, using a razor-sharp tongue concealed inside their beaks that could easily slice through through feathers, fur, and skin. That slimy organ also aided them in drinking, coated with toxin-laden saliva to keep blood from clotting.

Through the horrid processes that created them, they were given highly refined senses, the ability to digest the liquid nutrition they obtained, and a crippling weakness to the sun's penetrating rays. That being said, the jungle was a cheerful and lively place to explore in the daylight hours, when they were tucked away into the shaded hollows of aged trees or huddling in whatever abandoned human buildings they could find.

But when dawn morphed into dusk and subsequently faded into evening, they left their shelters en masse, and not a single non-human soul was safe. By their innate instincts, they could discern down to the second when the limb of the sun sank below the unreachable horizon. Their internal alarms went off and woke the sleeping executioners, informing them that their period of rest and avoidance was finished.

At precisely the same time they all reacted to the stimulus, and to witness their arousal was most likely that last sight one would behold. Their bodies twitched, their tongues flicked out hungrily, and their burning scarlet eyes snapped open.


But before we join the sadistic avian monsters and observe the selective slaughter they so enjoy, it would suit this piece well to discuss their origins. And for that, we must slither eighteen years into the past, focusing our attention upon the two greedy birds who became the ancestors of all vampires.

But let it be known that the macabre fable is not entirely fact or fiction, as it has been told and retold by many generations of vampire family lines. Through countless beaks it has passed, some crucial details excluded and others inserted for the sake of improving its eeriness and mystery.

But let us drabble no more over these modifications, for the chronicle as a whole is forever shrouded in compelling, misty intrigue.

Legend has it that the oddly-named Raven and Victoria, a romantically-bonded pair of macaws – what species they actually were has been swallowed by the sands of time – lived happily in the beginning, bringing forth many children whom they loved dearly and raised splendidly.

But as the days and months went by, the couple became increasingly entranced by the star-sprayed dome of the night. They began to question the natural rhythm of life, confused as to why they were forced to sleep and miss out on the unrivaled design of the heavens.

The daytime was bright, overbearing, and laden with activity.

In contrast, the nighttime was peaceful, beautiful, and composed of rarely-seen spectacles.

Their innocent curiosity was soon twisted into hate and corrupt desire, as their endeavor to reverse their biologically-regulated sleep cycles proved fruitless. They sought some way to forever connect themselves with the night, to become creatures that thrived in it instead of ignoring it.

None of their fellow macaws could even make sense of the complete futility of their mission, and never offered any help to Raven and Victoria.

They were labeled as lunatics and shunned by avian society, only their offspring siding with them. But with their ultimate goal in jeopardy and the outlook of their future as bleak as ever, the birds did eventually spiral into madness.

And it was in that state of unfulfilled hope and insatiable need that they uncovered the grim solution.

Complying with the hellish voice inside his skull, Raven collected a number of violet orchids and stashed them on an altar built from piled stones. He offered his very blood as a tribute, slicing his chest open and dousing the orchids as he chanted in a convoluted language he himself created.

He then set the orchids ablaze and endlessly breathed in the thick, choking vapors. Nearly drained of blood and intoxicated into a stupor by the mesmerizing fumes, he collapsed upon the ashes as his life force began to desert him.

And then, the very cosmos he had become obsessed with intervened with its evil, complex magic. It pumped life back into him, changing him into something greater than he or Victoria ever imagined. Then and there, in the wake of the ritual, the plethora of traits that characterized him as a full-fledged vampire were gifted to him.

The moon was now his guiding light, it being his destiny to live out the rest of his existence under its mercurial glow, precisely the outcome he wanted. In return, the sun was now his enemy, and would lead to his undoing should he ever be caught under its fiery gaze.

Aside from that one stipulation, he was fully immortal and the supreme ruler of the jungle. Victoria was at a loss for words, her mate's once-impossible transformation having taken place right before her eyes. As they were inseparable, she refused to remain a simple macaw with a limited lifespan, seeing no other way out except to become a vampire as well.

She asked him for his favor, and he obliged her in a split second.

She cried out in a mix of stinging agony and endless pleasure as he bit down on her smooth neck, lapping up her elixir and injecting the venom responsible for mutating her. His appetite was voracious, and he sucked out every last drop of her irresistible blood in his feeding frenzy.

She died in his wings, but the venom carried out its duty and brought her back from the dead.

With the venom coursing through her chilled body, amplifying her abilities and ensuring a life without end, she swore her loyalty and love to Raven forevermore, and he did the same. Their intense crimson eyes and shimmering, jet-black plumage marked them as vampires, though Victoria's carried a visible royal purple tint to distinguish her as a female.

They ravaged the rainforest in unison from that point on, changing whatever birds they encountered and forming the basis for the vampire family tree. In that sense, they created scores of children, which in turn led to grandchildren, and on and on the cycle continued.

Their bloodthirsty empire became established in Rio, but such a plague could not be contained.

Raven's jumbled slurs were cleaned up and formalized, hundreds upon hundreds of words being thought up and agreed upon, and the vampire language has been taught and spoken ever since.

Eager to spread to other corners of the globe and achieve their own dominion, covens of macaws departed Rio and colonized the globe. The vampires became a breed of their own and changed the core meaning of life in their brave new world.

No matter where one lived, a confirmation that vampire birds were utterly real was but one look away.

What a frightening sight it was to shoot a casual glance out of a bedroom window at a nearby tree and spy two crimson orbs staring back, which would then blink and vanish without a trace.

They had taken the animal world by storm, and no action on the part of the humans could ever cleanse them from the world.

Drowning in the monumental pride of their achievement, Raven and Victoria drifted into obscurity. Ten years after their reincarnation, they were never heard from or seen again, the story of their birth and their deeds keeping their memory alive in the still hearts and tainted minds of demonized macaws everywhere.

They themselves became legends, always praised and never forgotten, their planet-wide influence a source of motivation and empowerment for their legions of descendants. The vampire society also weaved many a fantasy about them, some swearing high and low that they had seen Raven and Victoria in passing, while others claimed to have been visited by the godlike couple in their dreams.

Whether the lore was true or not was irrelevant, as the element of mystery in the parables – be they old or new – was never exhausting or dull. And on top of that, when covens converged in social gatherings, one random macaw was always dying to spill his guts about a purported brush with his ancient masters.

The youngsters were the fond of the tall tales, as were the adults – for different, more knowledgeable reasons, of course – the myths being a wellspring of harmless speculation and fun for all.


Let us conclude this insightful lesson and speed back to the present with but a few more parting thoughts.

Who would have ever known that vampires, black-hearted creatures who openly wrought death and terror upon the animal world could come to love their history, their makers… and each other?

Perhaps that is a question the infinitely wise Raven and Victoria were fit to answer if they were ever found and asked that same query.

But alas, they are as ethereal as the fog that rolls in from the silent sea.

And so it goes that, for the sake of this text, we must tuck that question away for a later time and immerse ourselves in the lives of one ordinary – possibly extraordinary – vampire couple.


"Oh man oh man, I shouldn't have stayed out this late…" grunted a frightened Scarlet Macaw as he wandered on through the inky blackness.

"Why didn't I visit Mom and Dad earlier? I should've known we would have talked on and on and… whoa!"

He squawked in pain as he tripped over an exposed root he couldn't even see and smacked his face on the ground.

"Ouch! Gah! I bet I fractured my beak."

He picked himself up and dusted his chest clean, a bit relieved that he was not bleeding. He continued trudging on, checking in every direction for the predators he assumed were out there… predators that ate up lost stragglers like him.

"Mom, Dad, I wish you were here to help. I don't know where I'm at or how to get home. Ahhh! "

He jumped and spun around at the sound of a twig snapping nearby, his heart racing underneath his tricolor feathers.

"Who's there? He-hello? Come out… or I'll… I'll…"

"Or you'll what?" a ghostly, feminine voice whispered menacingly, the noise filtering in from all directions.

An equally ethereal male voice added, "We've been following you, unlucky stranger. Or shall I say… hunting you."

The female whispered menacingly, "You belong to us now. There is no escape."

"Wherever… and whatever… you are… you better stay away… from me!" the Scarlet Macaw fired back, on the verge of hyperventilating and succumbing to his fear.

The invisible male quipped, "Aren't you the brave one? Well, we shall see how long your resolve lasts before you realize you are finished."

"Shall we begin, Ash?"

"We shall. You make the first move, my fallen angel."

From a spot on his right issued the unsettling rustle of leaves and breaking of sticks, only to stop suddenly. The macaw turned his head towards the source, and was instantly paralyzed with spine-tingling dread.

Not three feet away from him, hovering inside a bush, was a pair of crimson orbs that could only be interpreted as eyes.

"Your terror chokes the air like a fog, stranger. I find it very thrilling to be the cause of such a reaction in you…" intoned the female creature the eyes belonged to.

"Terror is a part of what you will be subject to as we suck your mortal life away. Terror, and oh-so-much pain."

"Oh no... are you both… vampires?" he squeaked out, his pupils widening.

"Yes."

The macaw was grabbed from behind and restrained by an iron grip, the wings wrapping around his chest as immovable as a statue. No matter how violently he squirmed or how hard he pulled, they would not release him or budge.

"No! Let me go! Someone help! HELP! HE-"

The male vampire silenced the screaming macaw by smothering his beak with a jet-black wing, shaking his head in a condescending manner.

"You must not yell so loud, pathetic bird. Would you enjoy being the cause of other birds' deaths? We will have to execute any you happen to attract, as we do not take kindly to having our whereabouts revealed."

The female, dressed in sultry mauve plumage, melted from the bush and came to a stop directly in front of the doomed Scarlet Macaw.

"Less prey for us to track if that happens, and our meals only fuel us for so long…" she proclaimed coldly.

"I am going to lower my wing now, as we have some questions to ask. If you so much as raise your voice one time, I will shove my tongue into your beak, slice your throat into ribbons, and suck you dry from the inside out. Understood?"

The trembling bird weakly nodded his head, and Ash removed his right wing, tucking it neatly against his side.

"What is your name, poor, pitiful bird?"

"D-Drake…"

"Ah, thank you for telling us. Though I may be cruel, I tend to follow the unwritten laws of our society. And one decrees that we should always reveal our identities to those we plan to feast on."

The eye-meltingly sinister female coughed once and spoke.

"My name is Ravenna."

"And if you haven't already figured it out, my name is Ash."

"Ash and I have been mates for twenty years, truth be told. How could I not be attracted to a male as devious and heartless as him?"

"Vampires… have… mates? But… how? I thought… you could not reproduce... the natural way… as we do…"

Ravenna snorted and grew enraged in the course of one tiny second.

"There exists no comparison between your species and ours! We are many levels above mere mortals such as yourself! Insolent fool! How dare you insult our magnificent kind!"

Drake was rendered speechless by her instant outburst, his ears left ringing.

"Ravenna, dear, calm yourself. You must speak quietly in respect of the venerable night," Ash warned harshly, conviction evident in his tone.

She huffed twice and murmured through a clenched beak, "Forgive me, Ash. But you know I have a short temper and am irritated easily, especially by slander borne from the mouths of lowly pests such as him."

"Apology accepted. Now, are you going to carry on? Apparently, our guest here does not understand the mechanics of how we became mates."

"Ah, yes, of course," she said solemnly.

She inhaled a deep breath and began circling Ash and Drake, taking slow, deliberate footsteps as she did so.

"You see, pest, two vampires who develop a preliminary affection towards each other may eventually choose to see if a permanent union between them is viable. And to test that, they must each drink from the other. If the result is positive and they match well, the cryptic magic of this realm acts upon them and links them indefinitely by ways that are beyond our comprehension. It is best described as unadulterated love and the willingness of both to protect their partners from danger of any sort."

"And… what if… they do not match well?"

Ravenna, having completed three full revolutions, halted back where she started and looked Drake dead in the face.

"If the ritual fails, their minds are conditionally wiped clean. What I mean by that is they forget every single reason why they ever liked each other, and they part ways as if they had never known each other. That is how, with influence from our ancestors Victoria and Raven, that only couples who mesh reliably in terms of personality and abilities are created."

She blinked and paused for him to soak up the information, and then resumed speaking.

"So durable is the connection that if one partner dies, so does the other in a few days' time. That outcome is remarkably rare, however, as we are all instinctively wired to seek shelter before dawn. And even though we are capable of killing each other if pushed, that crime has never been committed in the entire history of our clan. It is an affront so vile that it is highly taboo. Raven and Victoria instilled in us the propensity to hate every creature to varying degrees, but also to live in harmony with our brethren. It is a stark contradiction, but one that has gained a permanent place among us and shapes our actions."

"Too bad you have learned more about us than many of our past victims, and yet your life will soon come to a grisly end…" Ash said with a sigh, faking regret.

Ravenna cocked her head and scooted closer to the living beverage vessel known as Drake.

"Now that you mention it, my culture lesson has drastically increased my thirst. I say we should wait no longer to indulge ourselves in the wickedly delicious juice coursing through his veins."

"Agreed, Ravenna. I am quite parched as well. Would you mind if I drank first?"

"Go ahead, Ash. But do save some for me."

"Naturally, my dear."

Ash let out a guttural snarl of anticipation and slid his whip-like, eight-inch tongue all the way out. Tenderly, he licked Drake's neck and upper back in a sickening manner, searching for the best spot to make his incision.

The Scarlet Macaw began trembling and breathing much too rapidly, initiating another round of furious struggles.

"Please… just let me go… I don't… want to die…"

Ravenna replied, "No chance, pest. Besides, wouldn't you rather leave your mortal life behind and become one of us? Your death will only be temporary, as the change is quite rapid."

"But I… I… don't want to be… a monster. I am fine… the way… I am!"

Ash, having found the perfect entry point, stilled his tongue and let it hover over the area.

"You will come to embrace your remodeled existence, I assure you. Now, please try to refrain from wriggling, as you will only induce unnecessary pain."

Ash's tongue flicked downwards and sliced clean through the skin where Drake's neck met his back.

The latter screeched in agony, but Ravenna thrust her wing over his beak to muffle him.

Without hesitation, Ash inserted his tongue into the wound and closed his beak over it, secreting anticoagulant and venom in tandem as he greedily began sucking away. Ash's throat contracted and relaxed as volumes of rich blood surged down his throat in waves, the hot, acidic liquid igniting his senses and quelling his thirst.

Drake went limp in his unbreakable hold, as his lowered blood volume failed to provide adequate oxygen to his brain and cells. Dull moans of despair seeped from his beak, barely audible to either vampire.

After ingesting twelve beakfuls of blood, Ash stepped back and let Drake drop to the ground like a stone.

"Good… so good… Ravenna… you must help yourself…" Ash wheezed out, practically intoxicated.

Ravenna growled and effortlessly heaved Drake off the ground, slitting open the side of his neck and commencing her meal. Drake's eyes rolled back in his head as he lost consciousness, Ravenna vacuuming out the dwindling supplies of blood present within.

When his veins ran dry and his heart stopped beating, she withdrew her head and let the still-warm corpse slump onto its stomach. She ran her long tongue all over her face, licking off the bloodstains. She then coiled it up inside her beak with a wet slurping sound, feeling bloated and drunk from all the nectar sloshing around inside her belly.

"Simply… spectacular..." she whispered, staggering a bit before turning to face her mate.

"Are you… full… Ash? Or would… you like… to go… after a second… bird?"

"No thank you… dear. I have had… enough to last… me… for a day… at the least. You?"

"I wish… to hunt… one last time. Care… to join me?"

"I shall… as soon as… my dizziness… has worn off."

"Fair enough."

Crouching down onto her belly as if she was exhausted, Ravenna focused her gaze on the unmoving Drake. She noticed his legs twitch, indicating that the transformation had recently begun.

"I know… you can hear me… so listen close. Do not expose… yourself to sunlight… whatsoever… and do not… ignore your thirst. If you... allow your hunger… to take control… you will attack… indiscriminately. And if you… maim one of your own kind… your punishment… will be death. Heed my advice… and a successful… cunning… vampire… you shall be."

"You should thank us… for our gift… one day. Feel free… to meet with us… at any time… in the future… and discuss your adventures."

The inebriated couple observed the moon as it crept ever-higher, away from the horizon. It had moved a total of five degrees by the time Ravenna and Ash were sober, and it was then that they stalked off into the jungle.

They left Drake's convulsing form behind, every single feather falling off to make room for the ebony ones that would be his new coat. When his final tail feather emerged from its base and elongated to its full length, his seizure ended.

A massive cloud drifted in front of the moon, and he was rendered invisible as a wide shadow swept over the jungle. The shadow soon continued on its way, and Drake sprung into view.

Out of his parted beak slithered a saliva-soaked rope of pure flesh, waving around as if it was alive. It then snapped back to where it belonged, flinging globules of spit through the air. The eyelids of its twisted owner flew open, Drake's once-emerald irises now a husky crimson.

He was a vampire, he was wild, and he was very famished…


A distressed female Scarlet Macaw in a certain hollow said to her mate, "Do you think our son made it to his hollow? What if… what if one of them tracked him down?"

The male snuggled closer to her in the nest and swaddled her with his wing.

"I'm sure he did, my darling. He's an intelligent macaw, he is. No need to worry."

"Oh, but Seth, I can't help but worry. I am a mother; it is my job to fret about the well-being of my only child."

He pecked her on the cheek.

"Cast away your discomfort and sleep, Breanne. We can check on him the moment we wake tomorrow."

"I suppose you're right. But-"

The whooshing of beating wings resounded from beyond their home, Breanne clicking her beak shut.

"Something's coming. It may very well be Drake," Seth whispered.

A few tense moments later, a bird straight from a sorcerer's bestiary touched down inside the hollow and blocked the exit.

"Hello, Mother. Hello, Father. Remember me?" he spat malevolently.

"Drake! What happened… to you? Your… your feathers! Your eyes!"

"Oh heavens no… it can't… be true. Seth… our son… is a… vampire!"

"Indeed I am, Mother. And can you guess who I am going to gorge myself on first?"

His extensive tongue darted out into the open air and flailed around madly.

"My parents!"

He lunged directly for them.

A duo of shrill screams echoed throughout the night as carnage was wreaked in the hollow.

Vampires within earshot recognized the high-pitched din and grinned, imagining in their minds the morbidly-gratifying scene. Some vampire, somewhere, was feeding on a pair of helpless souls, and two more of their diabolical kind were minutes away from being born...


"So much raw energy festering in our systems and we have nothing to spend it on, my dear Ravenna. Do you have any suggestions as to how we can occupy ourselves?"

"Not at the moment, Ash. But I shall try to think of some," she countered, kicking the flaccid carcass of a female Military Macaw she had recently drained out of the hollow.

She craned her head around and watched as Ash preened himself, his onyx quills reflecting the moonbeams like a mirror. Indirectly sensing what she was doing, he paused in his work and affected a flat expression.

"Must you inspect me so intently, Ravenna? You know how nervous I get."

"My apologies. But I cannot keep my eyes off such a suave male as yourself, dear."

He cracked a smile at the compliment and went back to preening his lower back feathers.

As she examined him, she felt a faint urge routinely tug at her mentality. It concerned a desire that was as ingrained into her being as the incentive to drink. It could lead to a chain of events that were no less rewarding than a dose of fresh blood, if she dissolved her inhibitions.

The very act her subconscious was persuading her to perform with Ash was one she had not performed for many moons. She harbored a vague memory of when she and Ash consummated their relationship, but the lucid sensations she felt so long ago were withered and bland.

She had nothing to lose and everything to gain if she relived that memory, and she knew exactly how to sway Ash into complying with her offer. Clearing her throat, she sauntered over to him and tapped his skull with her wing.

"Ash, may I have your attention?"

He jerked his head around and held her gaze.

"What is it, my lovely mate?"

"There is one way we may busy ourselves tonight. I am very much adamant about putting it into action. Would you consider it?"

"It depends on what it is. Enlighten me as to what you have in mind."

"I wish for you to kiss me and bite me and taste me passionately, to partake in a frivolous session of foreplay, if you will. And in return, I shall drive you mad with ecstasy…"

She flicked out her tongue and looped it around his neck like a collar, soaking it with drool and sending a shudder down his spine.

She disengaged it as he mumbled, "Ravenna, you have tempted me in the extreme, and I cannot refuse. I want to touch you and squeeze you and pleasure you… may I have your permission to stimulate you in any way I see fit?"

"You may, handsome Ash. But may I have the honor to initiate this sexual escapade of ours?"

"By all means, lust-worthy Ravenna."

He seized her with his wings and compressed their chests together.

"I'm waiting…" he declared furtively.

She liberated her tongue and waxed it all over his neck, smearing his feathers with congealed drool. Numerous jolts of electricity zapped his brain in response to the glorious fondling, and he moved his right foot in reverse to brace himself.

"Ravenna… more… I want more. You must… cut me… all over…"

"As you wish, my dear. I will not hold back, so be warned…"

She grazed the lower area of his throat and split his skin, and he jerked as he gripped her tighter. He did not bleed, as he was not exactly alive in the normal sense and had no heartbeat. She lacerated the back and sides of his neck as well, leaving four secretive cuts beneath his coat.

"It hurts… it hurts… so good. Do not stop… please…" he grunted, staggering back until he ran into the wall of the hollow with Ravenna still caged by his wings.

He collapsed into a sitting position, and she proceeded to lay on him and attack his chest. A short nick here, a long one there, and a pinching bite somewhere else. He hissed and squawked as the painfully erotic feelings ganged up on his brain, every fiery sting followed by a lingering ache that left him dying for more.

By the time she was done, she had broken his skin over two dozen times and stained each one with globs of saliva. He gazed passionately at her, his vivid eyes overrun with delirium and obsession.

"Shall we switch, Ash, so that you may repay the debt I have accumulated?"

"Not… yet… my fallen angel. Fulfill… my last request… and then… we shall…"

"And what would that be?"

"Bury… your tongue… inside me. And I… do not mean… insert it… into… my beak…"

Her eyes widened in realization, and then narrowed to slits of shameless sexual acceptance.

"You truly want me to exhilarate you so intimately?"

"Yes… I swear I do… on the holiness… of the night…"

She dipped her head in acknowledgement, her oral snake wriggling out and resting above his motionless heart. She then raked it down towards his tail leisurely until the texture morphed from fuzzy to smooth.

She retreated one step away to allow her easier access and relieve the strain on her neck. His private opening was immediately under her tongue, it serving no other purpose besides being a conduit to the inside of his body.

It was but the unguarded gate that she would exploit, stuffing him with her gustatory organ and driving him rabid with carnal bliss. She lowered her head until her beak met his feathers, easing the tip into him.

He moaned luxuriously as she penetrated him, advancing all eight inches of it as far up the path as it could go. Groans and snorts gushed forth from his beak as draconic pleasure wracked him from head to tail, his muscles quaking uncontrollably.

After a slight pause, she wriggled her tongue for two clipped seconds. His back arched and he tensed up like a spring, a wheeze fleeing his beak as he dropped back down.

"In the name… of Raven… and Victoria… that felt… so… mind-blowing. Do it… again…"

She complied, prompting another intense reaction from him.

"Ravenna… you're… killing me. I feel as if… I want… to explode…"

Being as she was denied the ability to speak, she merely held his delirious gaze and prolonged the oral sex.

After two more quivers of her tongue, Ash rendered her head immobile by pressing his wing down upon it.

After yet another three, she could feel his muscles contracting so vigorously she thought they might rupture.

After a final three, Ash suffered an ungodly orgasm, an unchaining of sexual tension so sudden that he literally lost consciousness when it was over.

No stranger to these consequences, Ravenna extricated her oral organ and reclined on top of his exhausted form. He recuperated in death-like silence for twenty minutes, not uttering one word or opening his eyes.

But when his refractory period was cut off, he reabsorbed his consciousness and shuddered beneath her.

Their eyes locked with magical resilience, and he whispered, "Ravenna, you treated me to a variety of pleasure fit for a god… fit for Raven himself. Never have I felt so close to you, so appreciative of you. I… I love you, and I always shall, until the end of time…"

"Oh Ash… I love you too. We have the magic of this realm to thank for bonding us to each other. There is no one more suited to be my mate than you... and I doubt that our ancestors disagree…"

He lifted a wing up and stroked her luminous lavender cheek.

"Affirm your affection for me with a kiss, my dear Ravenna…"

"As you wish, my admirable Ash…"

They locked their beaks together and fused their separate tongues into one, supplementing the afterglow with a dash of lazy gratification.


Let us end the tale of our vampire couple here, lest the length of it go beyond what is proper for a short story.

Yet another reason we shall leave Ash and Ravenna behind as they swim in a lake of adoration is equally self-explanatory: There is little significance of any kind left for I, the author, to add, and little for you, my diligent readers, to read and comprehend.

They are two beings who loved each other and were meant to thrive as a pair until the end of Earth itself.

Were they cruel and unfeeling when it came to dispatching their victims? Yes, but a vampire who wasn't was as rare as a diamond in the dirt.

Were they eccentric in their mannerisms and willing to show affection, despite their insidious natures? Yes, but evil cannot exist without good to balance it out, living creatures such as them included.

So there you have it, faithful readers of the species Homo sapiens, a synopsis of the events taking place in a plane where fantasy and magic abound. This may be pure fiction, but the characters, settings, and societies can be as real and believable as you will them to be.

But, truth be told, in some alternate universe we may never possess the technology to enter, vampires may indeed be actual entities with minds, bodies, and souls however dark, lurking in gloomy rain-forests under a thin crescent moon.


Different, huh? Are you creeped out? Let me know!

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