-Hello, adoring fans and fangirls from around the world! *raucous applause*

I know. I probably don't have any fangirls or fanboys. That's perfectly alright. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to the people reading my fanfic. There's only one thing more I can ask of you: post a review. They are arguably the best way for writers (such as myself) to receive feedback about our works. So please, review what you think I've done well with and what I've messed up.

Oh, and before I go, I'll just say right now: if you have a suggestion for me, want me to add a character of your own creation, or think the story should go in a certain direction, just tell me. So without further ado, I present Chapter 3!

Chapter 3 – A New Day

Losfar groaned, slowly rolling onto his back. His head and the rest of his body ached, though it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. Shrugging off the pain, the old man used his arms to support himself into a sitting position. The General leaned over, placing his head into his palm and rubbing his temples. Then, placing the hand on his knee, Losfar slowly and shakily got to his feet. If he possessed any energy before, it was all drained of him. Clutching his mid-riff, the General peered around at the chaos that was their base of operations.

Boxes lay strewn about everywhere on the floor, some covered in a black substance. Another glance revealed the still form of Rivel propped up on some boxes. Losfar was only slightly concerned. Some ways away from his position, he could also see that a portion of the ground appeared charred. Most of the visual was blocked by a stack of boxes, so Losfar began his slow shamble. Half-way there, he halted in his tracks. A shiver ran the length of his spine and back, causing him to look behind over his shoulder warily. The huge lights on the ceiling shown down upon the scene, revealing that nothing had changed.

He sighed in relief, returning his gaze forward and continuing to shamble. At the edge of the blockade, Losfar stopped to lean on the wall, breathing heavily.

"I've had a little too much action for one day," he mumbled, then chuckled weakly. His more youthful self would've been shifting boxes by the fours and taking on hordes of enemies at a time.

Grunting, he moved into view of an even worse scene. The bodies of both Aiden and Lux were strewn not 15 feet from each other, both unmoving. Just to make it worse, the charred ground appeared to have emanated from where Aiden had been standing.

"Vas-nens Aiden, I just got you back!" the old man swore.

He hobbled as quickly as he could over to Aiden's limp form. Without thinking, he placed one huge hand on Aiden's throat to check for a pulse. Ba-Dump. His heart was beating, that much was sure. Turning his gaze onto Lux, Losfar slowly stood up and moved over to her body. Doing the same for her, Losfar found that she had a pulse, but it was weak.

"General! I heard the howl and some noise that sounded like quarrel, so I…" Sypher's voice trailed off as he rounded the corner and gazed upon the scene.

"Yeah, well, it looks like Aiden and Lux took care of the beast," Losfar remarked, again struggling to his feet. A metallic skittering sound sounded from nearby.

"I have instructed my drones to begin cleanup. Shall they also take these two to the infirmary area?"

"Yes, that'd be fine Sypher. Did you check Rivel?"

"His heartrate is unusually accelerated, but otherwise he seems fine. No bruises, cuts, or any sign of other injury. I'm sure he'll come to, soon."

"Good. Anything else to report?"

"Not as of right now, General." Sypher said, standing at attention as the General's gaze fell upon him.

"Great. Now, help me to the infirmary."

. . .

Aiden awoke abruptly several hours later. The sun had already fallen below the horizon, plunging their side of the world into darkness. Many of the lights in the warehouse were also off, and the moon was waning and did not provide much light. An ache followed by a grumble abruptly emanated from Aiden. He was hungry. Not "I feel like I need to eat" or "I should eat now," but more along the lines of "I'm starving." The grumble sounded again. If he needed an objective, it was to find food.

However, Aiden's attempt to sit up was cut off when a sharp pain roared through his head, nauseating him. He immediately let his head plop down onto the soft pillow that he had been unaware of up till that point. His mind wasn't clear enough for him to notice everything surrounding him, but he was aware of a few things. One, something smelled REALLY good, and it was close; two, most obviously, his head was a raging inferno of pain; and three, there were two other people close by. He didn't know how he could tell, but he didn't care. At the moment, though, it would be impossible for him to even consider standing. His body still hadn't recovered from the fight with the shadow monster.

That smell…it was so wonderful that Aiden doubted he'd be able to stay away, even if the pain and weakness persisted. After a few more minutes, Aiden was growing desperate. Something about that smell was tantalizing yet felt almost…dangerous? Untouchable? He wasn't quite sure what he felt, but something was wrong. Aiden licked his lips unconsciously, only to pause at the edge of his left canine.

"What the…?!" he mumbled. His canine had grown into what he could only guess was a fang!

"Ah. Your breathing rate changed, and so did your heart rate, but I wasn't quite sure if you were truly awake," a familiar raspy voice said from somewhere above him.

"The…what?" Aiden asked, surprised. A looming shape that appeared to be someone's head came into view directly above him.

"Name's Rivel. I'm the person who drew that virus out of your body."

"I, uh, suppose I should thank you for that…" he began, but Rivel cut him off with a shake of his head.

"First, I'm not to thank. I wasn't able to detect the other part of that particular strain when I drew it out, so you're still suffering from the side-effects. Next, keep quiet! There's another person recovering in here. Lastly…you're welcome."

"So," Aiden said, whispering, "do you think I'll recover any time soon?"

"Funny thing is: you've already recovered. Just one question."

Aiden was puzzled. If he felt so terrible, how exactly had he recovered?

"Wait, I-."

"Do you have a bad headache and feel very hungry?"

"Uh…yeah, why?"

"Is there anything you can smell that gives the impression of being irresistible?"

"How do you know?"

"Well…I know from experience myself."

"What experience is this, exactly?"

Rivel moved out of his view, sighing softly.

"Do you remember anything about the conversation we started to have before the monster attacked?"

"Not much…just something about my irises and…color?"

"This news is going to be hard to take…listen, Aiden, you…ah…well…"

"Oh crap, this is gonna be bad," Aiden thought.

"You're…you're now a vampire, alright?"

For a second, he was too stunned to answer. Then, it came pouring back to him.

"So I really am one, aren't I?" he asked solemnly.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?"

Aiden sighed loudly.

"So what does this mean for me?"

"Well," Rivel began, "for starters: you'll need to drink some form of blood each day. No more than a pint is necessary and noit doesn't have to be human blood. Let's see…the sunlight won't kill you, most likely, because you aren't technically a real vampire…"

"Technically?"

"Yeah…basically, you're a vampire, just with immunity to the sun. A Daywalker, they're called. Most vampires like that are born or made, but as far as I know there are few. Even so, Daywalkers are afraid of revealing themselves. Holy stuff is supposedly really deadly to them, so making a cross with your arms or fingers could most likely weaken them."

"And how exactly is all of this relevant? I know that I'm a vampire, and I know that I'm this so called Daywalker, but is there anything else?"

Rivel sighed again.

"I was hoping you wouldn't press the subject…alright. As a vampire, you understand that you will get your vampiric strengths from the blood you drink?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, and I know this for a fact, human blood is A. the most appealing to vampires and B. it also makes you the strongest."

If Aiden could've slammed his head into his pillow, now would've been the time.

"That smell I asked you about? Yeah…well, based on what I'm inferring, that smell is her blood."

"W-what?!"

"See why I didn't want to tell you?"

"So what I'm smelling is…Lux?"

"That just sounds weird. You're smelling her blood."

"Yeah, because that's so much more comforting," Aiden whispered sarcastically. Rivel sighed and moved his head back into view.

"Listen…I don't know what else I can tell you. If you think you can get out of the chamber, I'll show you where you can get some blood. It'll keep you full for a little while, at least."

"I…well…uh, fine," he consented.

Aiden took a deep breath before lifting his head. Instead of the nausea he was expecting, Aiden found that his head only hurt slightly more. Moving his left arm upwards, his hand rested on the edge of the tube he was in. Using his arm for leverage, Aiden hoisted himself into a sitting position.

"There you go. Head feeling better?" Rivel asked from nearby.

"Yeah," Aiden said hesitantly.

"Hold on, then. The release for that thing is somewhere here…"

A few beeps followed by a louder one signaled the release of the left side of the pod which, consequentially, had Aiden catching himself with his elbow as the side slid back into its sheath. A gloved hand grabbed his arm, helping him to slide out and onto his feet. Aiden felt a small jolt of pain as something was stuck briefly into his arm.

"Ow! What the-?!"

"Blood sample. I need to study this further and see what the full effects of the virus were. To be honest, up till this point your being a vampire was pure speculation."

"Then why'd you and the other guy immediately jump to that particular conclusion?" Aiden was puzzled.

"Sypher isn't as knowledgeable with the human body as I am, but he's no idiot either. The immediate assumption I had was that you were Albino, but seeing as how you have black hair and a moderate tan, that theory had to be tossed. Otherwise, the reddening of the irises usually points to some form of vampirism. At least, it does as far as I know."

"Alright. So you mentioned something about food…?"

Rivel's laugh sounded more like a smoker's cough.

"You've already gotten this used to being a vampire, huh?"

Aiden could feel his anger returning.

"Hey, I never said that! It's just…I'm getting pretty damn hungry, and if blood is my new food source…"

"No need to take offense, Aiden. We'll get you sorted out and fed soon enough."

Aiden looked at the dark form that was Rivel. His eyes, while having adjusted to the darkness, still had trouble seeing anything more than dark silhouettes of objects.

"So, where to?"

"Follow me, if you will," Rivel said, turning and heading farther into the darkness. Aiden trailed close behind.

As they walked along, Rivel's footsteps echoing somewhat loudly while Aiden glided like a shadow, he noticed the smell kept getting stronger.

"Uh, is it bad that the smell is getting stronger?"

"Not really. We're nearing the sleeping area, so that's probably why…" it was then that Rivel suddenly paused mid-stride, causing Aiden to do likewise.

"You can control yourself, right?" Rivel asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Aiden responded.

"Just answer the question!"

"Yes, I have full control of myself. Satisfied?"

"Far from it," came the mumbled reply.

Aiden simply shook his head, continuing to follow the strange man. They continued on for a short distance before Rivel turned to him.

"Stay here for a sec. I'll grab the blood and be back out shortly. Don't wander off while I'm in here," he said, gesturing to a door that Aiden had previously been unaware off.

"Alright," Aiden said nonchalantly, holding up his hand and flexing his fingers.

Rivel nodded, pulling on the door's sturdy handle and moving inside quickly. Aiden caught a glimpse of a well-lit and sterile room before the door abruptly hissed shut. Immediately, he breathed out deeply, and then inhaled in the same fashion. He almost couldn't get enough of the smell! Lux or not, the smell was euphoric and left him constantly wanting more. He had decided right after Rivel asked him whether or not he could "control himself" that he was going to find out more about the smell. Aiden shook his head, turning around and murmuring in one of many arcane languages. A small flame sprouted in his upturned palm, which he used his own power to strengthen into a moderately sized ball of flame. The lighting was adequate, he decided, and began back the way he and Rivel had walked.

Besides the stacks of crates that towered on either side of him, Aiden found little for the first few yards. There were a few unused storage bins, large ones, that found their way under the crates, but he doubted that they had been converted into sleeping quarters. However, about half way back to where Aiden had woken up, he found some doorways to either side of him. Extinguishing the flame, he went to the one on the left and pressed his ear up against the door, inhaling deeply. The scent had only grown stronger as he'd backtracked. The smell got neither stronger nor weaker. He then moved to the other door, repeating the process.

This time, the smell got noticeably stronger. Aiden, breathed out, small jolts running through his body. He was close. Shaking the handle, he found that the door was locked. He swore under his breath.

"What do I have that could pick a lock?" he thought, "think…think! Wait! My pocket…"

Aiden thrust his right hand into the pocket, rummaging around with his mind.

"Wand, nope…vial, nope…dagger, nope…rag? Nope…" he was beginning to get desperate.

"Map, nope…bomb, nope…come on, come on! There has to be something in he- ah ha!" he triumphantly grinned, pulling out a set of lock pick wires.

The wires themselves had been taken from a thief who had sought to plunder the Crownguard's vault. It was the thief's un-luck that Aiden's nightly ventures had drawn him to the treasury. Aiden had apprehended him and searched him before taking him to the guards. Hidden in the thief's hair had been a set of lock pick wires, which Aiden had pocketed without a second thought. Presently, Aiden was glad that his decision had been to keep them. Leaning down, Aiden found what felt to be the lock and carefully inserted the wires. Wiggling them around until he figured they were in place, Aiden began twisting and turning the wires, pressing his ear up against the door.

After a few tries, a faint click alerted Aiden to his success. Quickly stowing the wires back in his pocket, Aiden slowly opened the door. The intoxicating smell blasted him in the face, causing him to smile. His feet moved on their own, gliding him into the room. The room itself was fairly simple: a small window overlooking a queen-sized bed with a wooden night stand to its left. Lying in the bed, blonde hair splayed across the pillow, was Lux. Rivel hadn't been lying when he'd said the source of the smell was Lux. The sweet scent Aiden had been picking up on had been Lux the entire time.

He began to walk slowly toward the bed. However, a battle was being fought inside himself. Aiden was desperately trying to make himself stop, odd as it seemed. His intentions were clear enough to himself, but something kept him from prevailing. Two more steps and he was half-way to the bed. He couldn't stop himself. Three seconds passed. The small amount of light leaking in through the window highlighted Lux's sleeping form. Aiden reached the side of the bed.

"She looks so peaceful," Aiden thought, leaning towards her.

He didn't think, he didn't formulate a plan, he didn't consider what he was going to do. He leaned in close, brushing his lips against her cheek, kissing her. Slowly, he began to trail kisses down her cheek and found his way to her neck. She shivered, wrapping her arms more tightly around herself. Aiden opened his mouth, fangs elongating. Then, he bit into her neck. His eyes shot open as her sweet life-blood poured into his mouth. He began to suck it out, making sure that he didn't get carried away. Lux's entire body shook, and a small moan escaped her mouth.

Aiden swallowed another mouthful of the sweet elixir before pulling away. Licking his lips, he took a deep breath and looked down at Lux. Shallow marks where he had bitten in to her were plainly showing on her exposed neck.

"Can't let anyone see those," he thought to himself, beginning to channel his power.

Palm out, Aiden breathed out before letting his energy flow. The bite mark on Lux's neck began to fade almost at once, and some more color returned to her cheeks. After a few more seconds, the bite mark had all but disappeared. Aiden lowered his palm, sighing contentedly. The gnawing hunger had left, a feeling a satisfaction replacing it. Glancing one last time at Lux, Aiden turned and silently made his way out of the room. Pausing in the door frame, Aiden rolled his shoulders, flexing his fingers. All of the strength he'd been devoid of before had returned to him.

Closing the door quietly behind him, Aiden stepped out into the hall of boxes.

"Kudos to you. I had no idea you'd left until I came back out of my lab," a voice rasped from the darkness. Aiden whipped around. Sitting on top of a nearby stack of boxes was none other than Rivel.

"How'd you know I was heading this way?" Aiden asked, more curious than anything.

"I'm not stupid, regardless of what you may think. It's hard to resist something like that smell, I know."

"You never told me how you knew."

Rivel sighed.

"Neither you nor I is getting any more sleep tonight, so I might as well explain as much as I can. Follow me."