Disclaimer: Same rules apply
Merton woke up in steps once again. First he felt the cold steal against his back. Second was the stench of rotting human flesh. The sound of footsteps far away, chatter from down the hall, and stale gabber about the latest news all sounded so close to him. He opened his dark eyes and rolled his head over to look at his surroundings.
It was pitch black in the small box, yet Merton could see perfectly in his enclosed surroundings. At first it reminded him of the time he had been buried alive, but this coffin was metal. Suddenly he realized he must be in a freezer of the hospital morgue; it was the only thing that could explain the ice crystals forming in his black hair. Not aware enough to be bothered by this fact. Merton kicked at the small door by his feet. He sent the door flying off its hinges, shimmied out of the small prison and dropped to the floor.
The place was pitch black, yet once again Merton saw as well as if it had been a bright sunny day. Heading towards an exit, he heard a small flicking sound with each step. Looking for the source of the sound, Merton spied a piece of paper attached to his toe. Bending down he ripped the string off of his big toe and read the piece of paper.
Name: Dingle, Merton J.
Birth: July 17th 1983
Death: November 2nd, 2001
Merton's eyebrows raised as the reality of the situation occurred to him.
"I'm dead," the words felt natural on his lips, yet somehow incorrect. Putting his hand to his neck, Merton felt for his pulse and found nothing. He quickly discovered that if he didn't think about it he didn't breathe, more importantly he didn't seem to need to. Merton wasn't sure whether to be excited or panicked about his current state. Part of him felt powerful and the other felt scared and confused. Either way they were both hungry. Grabbing a sheet off a corpse, Merton covered his naked body wrapping the sheet around himself like a toga.
The Goth pushed against the sterile silver doors until they broke forward under his power. He noticed that the chain on the door had been broken. Wondering idly if had done it, Merton move towards the voices he had heard earlier. He walked down the long corridor until he came to a plexiglass booth. Tapping on the glass, he pulled the two men away from their idiotic conversation on football. He wonder for a second where Tommy was as the two men came rushing out of the booth.
"What are you doing down here?" the first to arrive asked. He had raised his gun pointing it at Merton. Merton didn't seem to notice. He no longer feared getting shot. He was currently more concerned with the two men's heartbeats that seemed to echo in the tiny hall. He remembered Tommy once more; then went back to the two men.
"I was locked in the rooms with all those bodies," Merton replied trying to buy some time. He wasn't sure what is next move would be but he doubted the two men would like it much. Merton bounced from foot to foot as the man with the white hair contemplated what he just said.
"What we were you doing in there? Nothing but bodies, don't you know where you are boy?"
"Nope, I just woke up from my nap with this on my foot," Merton handed over the toe tag. The man looked over the tag while the other looked over Merton. Even Merton himself would admit he must look like a maniac. Not being able to stand still, he started to hum trying to drown out the beats. If he claimed he had just been dead ten-seconds ago, next stop would be the loony bin. The beats became louder as the second man was sent into the office to call a doctor, whether it was a psychologist or a medical doctor was anyone's guess.
Merton started to black out as the man got closer. Something more animal, more deadly was rising to the surface as the other man put his hand his shoulder. Merton could have stopped it but saw no reason too. The man continued talking as Merton leaned forward and with speed and instinct he hadn't had before, bit into the old man's neck. A rush of blood spilled across Merton's lips, into his mouth. The pale boy couldn't remember ever tasting anything so sweet, so delectable as what he was drinking from this old man. The heartbeat he heard before seemed to make his come to life again and work in rhythm. As the old man's beat faded, the blood became sour and the nectar that was once in the old man's neck came to an end. Dropping the body like a juice box, Merton trained his eyes on the other man. The man had a look of pure horror on his face.
Merton touched his hand to his face and ran his tongue over his teeth. Fangs now hung down next to his two canines and his face was bumpy all over. Merton wondered what he looked like but gave up trying to catch his reflection. During Merton's musings, the younger security guard locked the reinforced steel door and started dialing 911.
The guard shook while Merton listened to the beginning of his call. Deciding that it needed to end, he kicked the door to the other side of the room. Smiling, he watched the man cowering in fear. This kill was quicker and stronger; Merton was beginning to understand his new nature. The confusion that was present with the first kill had melted away. He hung up the phone, and began to undress the younger man. They were about the same size and soon enough the original owner would be nude in a silver box, of course he wouldn't be getting backup. Pulling on the full uniform and taking the guns, Merton headed for the elevators at the end of the hall. Wiping the blood from his mouth, Merton began to wonder where he was going to go now. He wondered where Tommy was. Maybe he should find him.
Merton headed into the cold night air, unaffected by its chill, walking with a purpose. A self-conscience hand made a way up to his face to find it smooth and soft. He looked human again.
The Goth was long gone from the scene when the police arrived. He wasn't very worried about them catching him. All they would find would be the fingerprints of a dead man and a body missing. Even if they did catch up he doubted they would be able to stop him. Walking towards his goal, Merton began to consider the details of the situation. Did he have a soul? Were all the legends about crosses and stakes true? Did he have any other powers than the strength? Was he stronger than Tommy now?
Merton bit his lip trying to think of the answers to all these questions. He momentary thought he must be like Corey Feldman, but immediately doubted it. From what he had felt of his transformation, his face had only become lumpy like on Buffy not bat like. He decided that he would have to test out the crosses and holy water for himself. Hopefully he wouldn't have to find out whether or not the
stake thing worked out anytime soon. There were many things to consider and many things that wouldn't be worth finding out. Sighing Merton continued down the empty street suddenly feeling a ping in his chest. It had felt nothing like the hunger but it as well demanded attention. He felt as though someone was watching him, but there was no heartbeat to go with it. The Goth suddenly felt the intense need to fight or flee. Logic was against both of them considering there was no enemy to fight or flee from.
That's when Merton heard footsteps behind him. He turned on his heel to find another man about four feet away. He was like nothing the youth could remember seeing. The man was about 6'2'', spiky white-blond hair, and strong physic, with a supernatural air about him. He was almost entirely in black except for the blood red shirt half-visible through his black leather coat. Merton unabashedly scanned the other with his eyes; embarrassment seemed to be thing of the living. The youth suddenly became aware of something else he'd been craving, probably the reason he had been so damn bent on finding Tommy.
As if he was reading his mind, the other smiled and nodded starting to step closer to the day-old vampire. The tall man stepped right up next to Merton. If he had still been human his first impulse would have been to move away, but his new nature felt no discomfort with this closeness. Merton knew the man's crystal blue eyes were raking his face, his form, just as Merton had done a few seconds ago. It would have seemed to an outsider some bizarre ritual, but neither party questioned what they were doing. The man put his hands on Merton's chin, lifting his face to stare into his eyes. Staring into their depths, Merton became enchanted by the light blue orbs. They were almost a beautiful as Tommy's...almost.
"You're coming with me," the blonde said forcefully. The man moved his thumb over Merton's pale check and onto his soft lips. Without breaking the gaze, Merton let the thumb dip into his mouth. He sucked gently, feeling an unnatural flush on his face and his chest start to raise and fall on its own accord. The blonde man smiled in response, he hadn't thought it would be this easy.
The young vampire suddenly became aware of how close he was to this man as the other moved to kiss him. It was slow and steady with a dominating force coming from the stranger. Merton relaxed and allowed the blond to control the situation. Merton melted into the other man until something or someone flicked in the back of his mind, Tommy, god damn, Dawkins. Thoughts of his previous target broke the spell the man had put on him. Merton cocked his head away from the other and looked him in the eyes. Before the other could fell the charge in his gaze, Merton picked him up like a rag doll and threw him into a nearby building.
Merton stood and watched the other fall to the ground unmoving after making a large dent in the brick building. He turned on his heel and started to walk back to Tommy's house. The vampire had made it all of two steps when his head snapped back hard. A hand was almost pulling out his black hair, and there was a rigid breath on the back of his neck. The man's other arm snaked around the Goth's thin waist pulling them close again.
"Let me go," Merton felt a growl come out with his words. He tried to sound forceful, but with the pressure on his ribs it came out breathy. The other picked up on it and pressed harder. A loud crack rang through the night, and he knew his ribs were broken. Oddly enough, he was only aware of the broken rib poking into his unused lungs. Merton no longer felt pain, but this was a mute point. Remembering a gym self defense course, the black-haired youth elbowed his attacker in the stomach and stomped on his toe. True, this wasn't a great fighting tactic but for Merton it was the best in his past memory. The other felt no pain either, but the force of Merton's blow to his stomach was enough to push him back. He thought of running but doubted he would get too far; instead he turned to face his opponent again hoping that somehow he could fight off the other.
The second vampire had recovered quickly, already on his feet as if nothing had happened. His eyes were ablaze while the rest of him appeared nonchalant. It was pretty obvious this guy wasn't accustomed to not getting what he wanted, and when he wanted it. Merton prepared himself for a blow out of habit but the other made no move.
"Do you honestly think all this will help you, childe? If you fight me and win, where will you go?" the man pointed behind Merton. The sky was turning a pale pink behind the black haired man. It was later than he had though. "The sunrise is upon us."
"Why do you call me a child? I'm not a child."
"You are my childe. I made you. You belong to me."
"I don't belong to anyone."
"I thought you'd feel that way," the other sized up Merton again. The blonde knew that he couldn't leave without the other. The youth had absorbed all of Li's powers, there was no question. The elder knew there would be no chance of controlling of the other. The blonde needed to change tactics. "You should consider this offer differently. You need me. I know what you are, can you claim as much? You have great power let me teach you."
Merton visibly hesitated. There weren't many options to be had. His knowledge was large yet much of it was questionable, really anything was possible. Merton still wanted to find Tommy but his vampire eyes were already aware of the disappearing night. Still he was fairly sure he couldn't trust the other. He wanted something, well something more than he had shown interest in before. This was all useless considerations really; there were only two options to go with: be safe from the rising ball of fire or take his chances of having a very short immortality. Making his decision, even though he didn't like it, Merton shook all his other thoughts away.
"Alright, I'll follow you, but only for the day."
"I wouldn't expect more," the other smiled. He had no intentions of seeing the other leave him permanently until the end of his afterlife, but the young one didn't need to know that just yet. "This way," the blond man grabbed Merton arm and lead him to the nearest man hole. Ripping it open like a bottle cap, he motioned for Merton to go down. The youth jumped and the other followed replacing the cover as he fell into the sewers just as a new day dawned in Pleasantville.
