The year was 1892 and rain poured down on my hood, the cold wind needled my face, but I hardly felt it. I was never really cold or hot, I hadn’t felt such things in centuries. I stood atop the moonlit roof of an old café, it wasn’t busy at the moment because of the hour. It was the dead of night, only owls and those of ill intent were out right now. In other words, people like me. The only light came from the streetlamps, not even the moon was out, which meant it was a perfect time for hunting. The sounds of wind and rain hid my footsteps while the darkness concealed my body. Although I don’t enjoy this type of work, that doesn’t mean I’m not good at it. It took only a few minutes of leaping quietly from rooftops and crawling my way through the narrow alleys to find my prey. He was a big man, over six feet and two hundred pounds minimum, and he smelled of booze and opium. He was too busy kicking the crap out of some poor sap who had committed the terrible sin of not moving when they passed each other.
The big man’s name was Steven August, and he was the leader of one of the local drug rings in town. He brought in the merchandise, then sold it to distributers at huge markups. He was personally responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of lives being ruined, but tonight… he will be the victim. I wait until he has finished beating the man before making my move. Once he walked away, I decided to land beside his latest victim and make sure he is still alive; he was, but barely. His blood seeped from every hole in his head and was quickly washed away by the rain. I caught a scent and my mouth watered, but I didn’t want him… I wanted the man who did this to him. Mr. August turned into an alley way that he had stored some of his preferred substances for personal use. I left the bleeding man and dashed hastily to Steven. Drugs ruin the flavor, and I didn’t want him to spoil my meal.
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When I arrived, he was on his knees attempting to fish out a cardboard box from under a dumpster. I smiled to myself, I knew it would be over quickly, but I didn’t mind. My body was as light as a feather, and as strong as a large beast of the forest, so he didn’t stand a chance when I rushed up to him and gave him a swift kick to the solar plexus. He fell into the dirt gasping for breath and, with the blaring speed only a being like myself could muster, I bit into his neck with my fangs and injected some venom. He didn’t move after that and wouldn’t be able to for some time. I picked up his motionless, but still quite conscious, body and jumped to the rooftops in a single bound. I had done this before, so I knew I had around an hour before his paralysis wore off and he could scream for help. Even though he was evil, even though he had brought suffering to countless families, even though he was a killer…. I still didn’t think it right for him to see what was to happen next. Raising my fist and suddenly bringing it down onto his temple, I knocked him out. I then proceeded to enjoy my dinner.
Extending my fangs again and plunging into his arteries, I sucked him dry of that crimson nectar only a man like me would want. Five minutes passed before I was done, but he had been dead for one of them at least; I know because his heart stopped pumping and I had to suck harder to finish. The sound of footsteps rung out from below, startling me for a moment. I looked over the edge of the roof and saw that it was someone coming to collect that man that had been laying in the street. They called out for help, but I wasn’t going to stick around to see if any arrived. Collecting Mr. Arthur’s body, I leapt along the rooftops until I arrived at the morgue. Unceremoniously, I dropped him from the roof into the street to be discovered the next day, or whenever someone in this hopeless city happened to find him. After that chore, I resumed my hunting. My name is Vladimir Dracula, and I am a vampire.