Crimson : Bloody Life
Dusk. til Dawn.. .. .

Chapter III

"...alone," whispered Alex shakily. His eyes slowly, ever so slowly fluttered half-open. The feeling was returning, his sight becoming less blurred. "Huh..? Wuzzah...oh," he muttered incoherently, "a dream." He could vaguely make out that he was lying on his stomach, his one leg bent, and whatever he was laying on, it was cold. He ran his hand over his arm. He felt bare skin. "Wh-what's goin...on...? Feel so...weird..."
He opened his eyes fully. He was laying in unfamiliar territory...naked. *Where am I? A...church? A really run down church?* he thought as he looked around, recognizing a cross on a wall, familiar church sections, and a musty incense smell. He looked around again, and shot to a sitting up position as he fully realized he was in a strange place, wearing nothing at all, surrounded by...dead pigeons. A whole flock of dead, ripped apart pigeons. The only light came from a hole in the ceiling and the occasional beam of light from dirty stained-glass windows.
"Ughh, son of a bitch," groaned Alex. "Is this some crazy dream?" he asked himself, wiping dirt and blood off his body. He glanced around for something to cover himself with, but found nothing worth touching.
"Alas, it has been all too real, young Alex," said a deep, ominous voice from the dark. It was familiar, like out of a dream. Alex jumped back out of the beam of light, into shadows. He looked around, but could only faintly see some light reflecting off what might have been a belt buckle.
"Wh-what do you mean?" he warily said. His hands reflexively went to cover himself, despite the cover of darkness. He heard a raspy breath being drawn, and the flutter of cloth.
"I refer to the horrific events in Central Park -- all you recall did actually occur...as did much worse that unconsciousness spared you seeing," replied the mysterious voice. "Now," said the voice, as it threw a live pigeon with two broken wings and a snapped leg into the light, "eat."
"What!? Wh-who ARE you...!?" said Alex, staring with horror at the suffering bird. He heard a sound like a flare being lit, and a small fire sparked. Alex thought it came from a lighter, but when the light shifted, he saw it was in fact a finger that was lit. A finger attached to a massive hand, on a long arm, on a huge robed creature.
"Your protector, Alex -- such was my pre-destined duty. Now get up and eat -- you may be intact, but you have changed greatly," it said, through sharp teeth set in an ape-like face. "But that TOO was pre-destined. You may call me Ekimus -- and know that our fates are inextricably linked from this moment forward. This is now your un-life," it said. The single flame on it's finger tip engulfed it's entire hand, giving Alex full view of it's seven feet and some-odd-inches tall robed body. Clawed hands were set at the end of long, muscled arms. Deep red eyes glowed in the darkness, and a long mane of hair sat behind an otherwise bald grey head. This was nothing human.
"Oh...my...God," whispered Alex to himself, shocked, stunned.
"Yesss," it hissed, bemused, "else you'd be a shredded corpse like your three companions."
"NO!!!" Alex screamed as he ran into the dark. He stumbled over wood and debris, trying franticly to find his way in the pitch black. The events of that fateful night were done re-instating themselves in his memory. He remembered. "My friends -- they were slaughtered by monsters like you!! Get away from me!!"
"Alex...stop this foolishness. There is much you must learn," said Ekimus, exasperated.
"I'm not gonna let you kill me, too!!" Alex screamed from the shadows, as he pushed piles of boards and construction material out of his way. He stumbled and fell to the ground, tripping on a bucket of stagnant water. It splashed up over him, and flowed along the dusty dirty ground. Alex coughed and sputtered, and tried to get up, but slipped in the mess he'd made.
"You still do not comprehend, do you?" sighed the creature as it lit candles with it's hand. Alex coughed again, and felt that he would be sick soon. "You can not be killed as you know it. You no longer really live. Now, stop your clamoring and LISTEN!!" growled Ekimus, still keeping a cool tone of voice. Alex stopped trying to get up, but kept himself ready to run at any moment. Ekimus continued, "the attack left you completely devastated, there was no way for you to survive your injuries. You 'live' now, yes, but not in any way you understood before, Alex. You are now, and forever...a VAMPIRE."
A stupefied look came over Alex's face. He stumbled over his words, "wha--? N-no, no way...no! I am n-not...there's no such th--" He shook his head, "NO!" With this, he felt a sharp edge against the inside of his lips. He brought his hand up to feel what was in his mouth. He felt a prick, and looked to see a single drop of dark blood on his finger. He had stuck his finger on a fang. "...teeth? No...! No...I'm NOT A VAMPIRE!!" He screamed at the robed figure, "I WON'T BELIEVE ANY OF THIS!!! I'm not dead, I'm not a vampire!!!
"Alex, stay here," commanded the strange being. Alex pushed a broken free-standing wall of a confessional out of the way. He stumbled over the debris, and looked back.
"NO!! Get the fuck away from me you...freak!!!" screamed Alex. His mind burned at the situation around him. He could not comprehend that he had lost his friends, could not comprehend that he was in the presence of a monster, and definitely, under no circumstances, comprehend that he was a 'vampire'. He spotted the big wooden doors, his way to the outside world, away from this whole thing. Two rotting wooden tables were piled in front of it, and he forcefully pushed them out of the way.
"No, boy! Do not go, you can not survive out there!" called Ekimus, slowly gliding over the dusty church floor. Alex ignored him and scratched for a door handle. The handles had been pulled out, so Alex dug his fingers into a crease, and pulled with all his might to open the doors.
"Leave me alone!!! I'm--" said Alex as the the doors swung open. Sunlight bathed over his bare body and the first thing that came to mind was, *burning? ...I'm BURNING!!!* He heard a hissing noise, but that was in the back of his mind at this point. What was commanding his full attention was the fact that smoke was pouring off his skin and his whole body felt like it was being dipped in molten lava. Fire filled his mind, and he was so shocked with pain that he could not even muster a scream. Alex fell back, crawling along the ground, seeking some refuge in the shadows that he couldn't reach. "M-make...it...s-stop...please..." begged Alex to the creature he had hated so not even a minute ago. The doors suddenly swung shut, closed by some unseen force. Alex curled into a ball, all strength drained. *Makes no sense...hurt so bad...from sunlight?* His body ached, a burning feeling settling in his bones, burns from light and embarassment and shock.
"However bizarre, please accept that from now on. This is your new reality, Alex. Now rest, it will be night soon enough," said Ekimus, picking up on Alex's thoughts. He picked the boy up in his arms, and carried him to the back of the church. "Now rest. It will be night soon enough."