The next night I awoke, very hungry and still extremely upset. Maybe I can kill myself… I sat and contemplated the validity of this notion for a few seconds, then decided against it. This body won't let itself be burned by the sun, and anything I do heals itself quickly. I may as well make do with this for now. I decided to take a walk in town. I couldn't stand being stuck in that cellar for one more minute. So out I went, still troubled by the thought of what I did to my brother, and plagued with questions. I came across a tavern called the Bell Tavern on Stone St. I made my way inside the bar full of strangers. Nobody seemed to notice me, except for one man. He was dressed in fine clothing, black tights and a dark green velvet tunic. His black hair was parted down the center, long and curly, and he had astonishing gray eyes. He just stared at me as I walked past, I could sense there was something strange about him. "Strange? Not at all." the voice echoed in my head. What was that? I looked around but nobody was talking to me, they were all involved in their own conversations. I became frightened of this magic voice and quickly headed out the back door and started to run. "Wait young one!" a voice with a brogue called from behind. I turned around to see him, the same man from the tavern. "You look confused and frightened. What's your name?" he said.
"My name? It's Gareth sir."
"Gareth, come with me. I know what you are, I can help you."
"I am a demon, an abomination. How can you help me?"
"You are not a demon my dear boy. Come, I will explain all to you. My name is Gerard." He told me as he held out his hand. I grasped it and shook it. He turned and started walking and I followed closely. We eventually came upon a small brick house and Gerard opened the door. "Enter." He said. I did, and sat on a wooden chair at a round table in the large room I had entered. The room was very bare and simple, a few paintings hung from the walls, there was a large fireplace built into the wall across from where I sat. Gerard sat down across from me and looked at me. "So tell me, who embraced you?"
"Embraced? What are you talking about?"
"You mean to tell me you have no clue what has happened to you?"
"No, not really."
"Who would have done such a thing?" he sighed. "I'll explain it all to you now. You are a vampire, kindred as we like to call ourselves. We are the undead, who walk during the night."
"Feed? You mean blood? We have to drink blood?"
"Yes, unfortunately that is our only way of survival. But you do not have to kill. You can take what you need, and cover up the inflicted wounds with your saliva. You also can control humans thoughts so that they do not remember what happened."
"How did I become this creature?"
"Ah. You were drained to the point of death, and then given blood from the vampire who created you."
"Where did this all start? Where did we come from?"
"Where did humans come from? No one really knows. Most believe we are descendants of Caine, Cainites as they call us."
"So I'm not a demon?"
"We vampires do not believe in such things. I have neither seen nor heard of a demon, Devil, or God. I only know that we live forever, that we never age, and the only things that can kill us are fire and sunlight. But depending on your age and your sire's age, you become more resilient to these things."
"So I'll never die?"
"Not of old age, no. I'm not sure how strong your sire's blood is since you don't even know who it is. But you'll find out soon enough."
"Well, I had stepped into a beam of sunlight after I was transformed into this…embraced as you say. It burned something awful, but didn't really hurt me."
Gerard looked shocked for a second. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Your sire must be over 500 years old! No thin-blooded young one could withstand that."
"Why did they pick me?"
"I'm not quite sure…your looks maybe? Kindred are very picky about their childe's appearance. Forgive me, but you are strikingly handsome."
I laughed. "It's ok, I've just never been called handsome before."
"Ah, one more thing; we must sleep hidden during the daylight hours. Your preference, coffin, cellar, wherever."
"How did you know about that?" I asked. "The cellar?"
"I can read your thoughts, you don't yet know how to mask them."
"You will teach me then?"
"All in good time my friend. First, we must feed." Gerard said as he got up and walked toward the door. I followed.
Chapter 3 >>>