Trying to keep the fire going was a royal pain in the ass. No matter how much wood I threw on the damn thing, it just kept getting weaker. I could almost watch its light slowly ebbing away from me, and the darkness that followed it…
But I digress.
The point of this little story is to explain my current predicament. And it's a most peculiar predicament indeed.
His uptight vocabulary is rubbing off on me, damn him.
Anyway where was I?
….
"Vill you pleash shtop vith your infernal complaining American!"
I looked at the Nazi, smiled, and flipped the bird to him. He just huffed and leant towards the fire, warming his leather clad hands on the flames.
A quiet yet persistent snoring echoed from across the fire, and I noted with slight annoyance that Nikolai had once again drunk himself into an almost unbreakable slumber. The only time we had managed to rouse him from this state was when I had been hiding behind a tree a few days ago, and Richtofen had been walking by and I spooked him. And boy did he scream like a girl. Ah, the look on the Russian's face when he thought he'd heard something female, priceless.
It was a tempting idea to try and steal some of the sleeping Soviet's precious poison, that delicious looking Vodka. But I wasn't willing to die just for that, not yet at least.
Sat behind the snoring Russian was Takeo, who never looked in one particular direction for too long. Constantly on the lookout, the Japanese soldier was a very useful ally in this harsh jungle environment. He now sat cross-legged, Katana in hand, wiping the sharp blade with his uniform. He occasionally looked at me, nodding in acknowledgement of my presence. Every now and then he would raise the weapon up high, checking its surface for even the smallest of imperfections. I watched as the moon above us shone upon the deadly steel, casting an eerie glow upon it.
I felt the need to stretch my legs, and picking up my beloved M16, I stood up and walked in the direction of the waterfall. The others didn't say a word.
After dodging my way through that dreaded quick sand pit, I sat near a small pool of water near the water fall. The moon was very bright that night, and the sky was oddly clear. It was strange that Samantha would give us the occasional break from the undead hordes. I could never figure out why. Still, it gave me time to reflect on things. For example, I had never really appreciated the sheer beauty of the place that we currently fought for our lives in. It was a nice change from before, nice to be able to breathe fresh air and actually be able to wash. Now that was a relief, I mean there's only so much a man can take. Unless you're a Vodka drinking Russian.
It was then I noticed something odd in the bottom of the pool, something that stood out from the other dull grey stones.
It was sparkling in the moonlight.
I dipped my hand beneath the warm water, shivering as it tickled my over-heated skin, and grasped the strange looking object.
I felt the smile break out on my face as I pulled the bottle from the water.
Cracking the lid, I took a small sniff of its contents before pressing the bottle to my lips and letting the pure poison touch my awaiting tongue.
I felt the burn as I swallowed; a warm sensation that began on the tip of my tongue and ended in the pit of my stomach. I immediately felt the muscles in my body begin to relax for the first time in days. Laughing a little to myself, I took another gulp of Vodka and sat back against a rock, listening to the constant sound of flowing water.
Looking back now, I realise how much of idiot I was. Could I have made myself any more vulnerable? I can hear him laughing quietly behind me as I recall what happened.
My eyelids felt like led weights as I pushed them open. It was still dark, so I couldn't have been asleep too long. Not that I could use the moon as a guide, it never moved from that one spot. I attempted to will my reluctant limbs to get me to stand up, but only managed a sitting position. Rubbing my sore neck, I looked around me to find that nothing had changed, it was still ridiculously humid and the only sound was the flowing water to my side. I knelt by the small pool and dipped my hands in the water, splashing it onto my sweating face. Noting how refreshing it felt, I decided to have a quick wash.
Removing my sticky blood stained shirt, I dropped it into the pool and attempted to work some of the blood out. Leaving it to soak, I worked on rinsing the dried blood and mud off of my arms and chest.
I could have sworn I heard something come from behind me, but it didn't sound like zombies shuffling so put it down to my mind playing tricks on me. That, or Richtofen trying to get his revenge for before.
I really was an idiot.
I felt something slide across my shoulder and immediately turned around, pointing my pistol.
There stood the psycho Nazi, a mysterious look on his face and his arms crossed.
"It would be you wouldn't it? Perv…" I said, lowering my gun.
Within the blink of an eye I was pinned to the ground, arms above my head, with Richtofen staring down at me. He had that twisted grin on his face, that one where he…
"Vhat's zhe matter Dempshey? Too close for comfort?" he asked, grinning at me.
"Fuck you Kraut" I'd had enough of his games, and decided to kick his crazy ass.
The only problem was, I couldn't actually get him off of me. No matter how much I struggled, how much I thrashed around, he still wouldn't budge. And that grin just kept getting wider.
"Been on the Juggernog Doc?" I asked, disguising my slight panic.
He just laughed "Oh zis is a bit more…potent zan zat" he licked his lips.
I watched, my mind blank with fear as his features began to change. They sharpened and shifted, and two razor sharp points lowered from his top jaw to touch his bottom lip.
To be quite honest with you, after seeing hundreds and hundreds of zombies, hellhounds and being teleported, Vampires weren't that difficult to imagine. But still…
I could feel my eyes widen as he laughed quietly, seemingly enjoying my reaction. His eyes trailed down my body, raking across my exposed torso. When they came back up and met mine, they were a deep red instead of his usual dull green.
Now that was unnerving. Even when he does it now it's still weird.
I could feel an irresistible pull drawing me in to this monster, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't shake it. I felt my body relax, submitting to him. He released my wrists and sat up, straddling my hips. Involuntarily, I bucked my hips up to meet his.
He held one finger up and moved it from side to side "Oh dear Dempshey, ve cannot rush zis" he smiled, showing those elongated canines.
I found myself huffing impatiently at his words, wanting him to take me.
My head fell back as he ran a gloved hand down from my chest to the hem of my pants, making swift work of disposing them. By the time I looked back at him, he had disposed of his shirt and hat, and for the first time I saw what he truly looked like.
His skin was sickly pale, and covered with scars old and new. I wasn't too sure of his age, but it didn't show in his physique. Whether or not it was because of his newly discovered nature, I didn't know, but either way I wouldn't tear my eyes away. I couldn't.
"Damn Doc…"
He giggled "You like vhat you see American?"
"But how did you..? What are you…?" he pressed a finger to my lips.
"Would you like to find out?" he asked, a devilish grin on his face.
I'd already nodded before I realised what I had gotten myself into. A small sound rumbled in his chest, and guttural snarl escaped his lips. He tilted his head from side to side, clicking his neck, and leaned down. He lightly pressed his lips to my body, sending tingling sensations flying through my body. He'd made his way up to my face, and waited inches away from me, teasing me. I wanted to reach up and taste him, but my body wouldn't respond. It was like he'd hypnotised me.
Richtofen lowered his head past my face and I felt his lips brush the skin of my neck, and he lightly ran his tongue over my over-heated flesh. My breathing was rapid and my heart hammering away in my chest, but everything froze when I felt sheer agony wrack through me.
"Gah…" all I could sound was a strangled groan, and once I got over the initial shock, I figured out where the pain was coming from.
As he feasted noisily on my blood, I couldn't stop my fear being overcome by need. I wanted him to feed on me, wanted him to abuse me.
I felt him massage my crotch, and my need turned into desperation as I raised my arms and held him to me, gripping his black hair and burying him in my neck.
He pulled hard on my blood, devouring it, releasing moans and grinding against me. Spots burst out in front of eyes and my whole body felt as though I was floating. I could still hear the waterfall in the background, and I could see the moon above us, but all I could feel was him.
The doctor pulled away from me, and I gazed upon him. His lips were stained red with my blood, which clashed heavily with his pale skin. Some of it had dripped down onto his chest, and quickly mopped it up with a gloved fingertip. He left the finger in his mouth a little too long, clearly hinting at something.
All of a sudden I felt my consciousness slipping, there was a darkness slowly creeping in around my eyes. My arms fell to my sides as my breathing slowed, and a small pain began in my chest as my heart slowed.
"Looks like it is time" I heard Richtofen say happily.
I felt something warm on my lip, then on my tongue. My body was racing ahead of my mind and I immediately latched onto the source of the warm liquid. Opening my eyes, I saw that Richtofen had offered me his wrist, and I looked down to find that I was now drinking his blood. My mind wanted to run and figure out what the hell was going on, but my body was in complete control of my actions. I pulled harder on his blood, tasting the delicious crimson fluid on my parched tongue. With each pull, I felt better, and gained more of my strength.
Before I could do anything about it, Richtofen grasped my member and stroked, sending waves of pleasure crashing through me. The dual sensations of that and his blood were driving me mad. He pulled his wrist away and with lightning speed forced me back down on the ground and kissed me, his canines slicing my lips and spilling more of my blood on us.
Just then I felt another strange pain shoot through me, so distracted by the bloody kiss was I that I didn't realise what he was doing to me. It was only his movements that gave him away.
I broke the kiss and raked my nails down his back, feeling blood well up behind my fingers. My back rubbed against the grass as he thrust into me, driving me mad and pushing me ever closer to that glorious edge.
Any second now I was going to jump…
He growled and bit me again on the other side of my neck, and that final act was enough to force me over the precipice and I came, roaring at the sky.
I lay panting as he finished and moved away from me.
He sat back against the stone next to me, having already done his pants up while I still lay naked on the floor. He looked at me and smiled, and I noticed that he was normal again. He tossed my clothes to me and watched, grinning as I slowly dressed myself. Once I was decent, I sat next to him and leant back against him.
"I vill need to keep an eye on you" Richtofen said, a smile on his face.
"Yeah, the next few days are gonna be interesting" I said
We cleaned each other up via the waterfall and got dressed, when I suddenly began to feel very sick.
"What's going on…?" I just about managed before I fell to my knees, and started heaving.
"Don't vorry it is part of ze transformation" Richtofen answered, crouching beside me and rubbing soothing circles on my back.
"There better be something good at the end of this" I hissed at him, glaring daggers.
His eyes flashed red "Oh believe me, you vill never see ze vorld ze same again"
Over the next few days, Edward watched over me as I turned. I won't go into details, believe me you don't want to know. But eventually the adverse effects wore off and it's true, nothing is the same anymore.
It's a whole lot more awesome.
A bit of a change I suppose, but how the others are going to take it…well that's a story for another time.