Chapter 20: New Blood

--- Catherine Freeman ---

“Right, I’m… I’m going to need you to run this by me one more time.” She sighed, having already had a long day with everything involving Hendrickson, Miles, and Tess. “How did this happen?”

“Based on what you and Eric have told me, as well as the testimonies of the member of our Kin who live in the hotel it seems that when this box opened it forced everyone in our Bloodline to frenzy.” Alex told them as he paced back and forth in the hotel library. “During that frenzy I somehow passed on the gift of Blood to young Aurelio.”

“Which shouldn’t be possible given how involved the passing of Blood is.” Eric added, from where he sat smoking a cigarette. “Hell, as complicated as it is it’s practically its own ritual.”

“Exactly.” Alex nodded. “While it doesn’t differ my actions after his awakening, it does lead to several curiosities I’ll be studying over the next few days. Namely seeing if any of our kin come forward with a New Blood.”

“That depends on if they know they turned someone or if they ended up killing them in their frenzy.” She felt the need to point out, because while both possibilities were unpleasant the prior would present a lot more problems than the latter.

“I would rather the latter not be true.” Alex grimaced. “But if even a single New Blood appears I’ll have us begin scouring the city for them, hopefully before things can escalate. As long as we say that it was due to whatever caused the sky to crack then we can remove whatever social pressures would normally come from this. The only reason I haven’t already come forward with this is because if this does turn out to be an isolated incident, then that would give a free pass to anyone looking to gift the Blood. Something that both can and will spiral out of control, but if they’re already spiraling we’ll need to try and minimize the damage.”

“Speaking of the crack in the sky.” She cut in before tapping her knuckles on the still chained box. “How likely is it that this box is tied to all of this mess?” By which she meant, (How likely is it that I hospitalized my nephew?)

Alex was quiet for a moment. “Unlikely but still possible given the timing. I’ve already asked William to reach out to some of his contacts throughout the Deviant community, just as I am doing the same. Hopefully we’ll have an answer soon but it might take longer given how it’s been less than forty-eight hours since all of this began after all.”

It wasn’t the answer she wanted but it was the one she’d have to accept.

After a moment, Eric spoke up, “Given the shitstorm brewing outside, what do you want us to do on our end, boss?”

“For now we need to focus on doing a headcount on everyone.” Alex decided. “Make sure all of our people are accounted for. With the phones down things are significantly more difficult, but Heinz has reported about half of our people have returned home for the time being.”

“And the kid?” She asked.

“I’ll help him adjust, but… Given how he didn’t choose this life I want to give him the best foot forward I can.” Alex looked at each of them in turn. “If the two of you could make time to help him, or at least see if he has talent within your own disciplines I would appreciate it.”

“Just tell me when you want me to babysit the little blighter.” Eric nodded.

Part of her wanted to agree just as quickly but (with Miles in the hospital…) “I’ll help when I can, but given the chaos right now I’m pretty sure I’m going to be juggling more than I can manage.”

“I understand, with things as they are, the people will need your other profession.” Alex accepted easily, while completely misunderstanding her as he gave her a smile.

She hadn’t actually been planning that, but (what’s one more ball…)

--- Aurelio Hermenez ---

He was thirsty. His mouth so dry that it seemed to spread to every inch of him, almost as if even his veins were running dry.

The second thing he noticed was how hungry he was as if he hadn’t eaten in days.

The third thing he noticed was how much he felt like shit. “Fuuucck…”

“Good, you're waking up.” A smooth voice told him.

“Who?” He blinked, opening his eyes and wondering who was in his apartment.

Standing over him was an extremely handsome man dressed in a white button up and suspenders with long blonde hair, pale skin, and dark blue eyes that reminded him of the night sky.

“Can I call you daddy?” His dazed mind blurted.

The man seemed a mix of confused and amused. “If you wish, I suppose?”

(Damn, I really wish I remembered last night.) Because if he had a guy like this in his apartment…

It occurred to him he wasn’t in his apartment.

“Uh, where am I?” He cautiously asked, looking around the home that while as fancy as his old one was also significantly more lived in. An actual home compared to a fancy house, and the only reason he wasn’t panicking yet.

“The Old Renfield Hotel.” The blonde told him as if that meant something.

“And, uh, where would that be for someone who isn’t from around here?” He tried.

The blonde blinked before taking on a sad look. “Oh, I’m sorry. This hotel is a historical landmark for Heywood’s Old Town, it’s the city’s first hotel. Um… we’re on the border of what’s considered the city center and the northeast side of things… Or maybe it'd be more helpful to say we’re about a mile off from the highway and that there’s a bus stop -just down the street and across from the corner store- that you can use to get to the rest of the city. I, uh, most of the people I know have been in the city for decades, so I can’t provide much more help there.”

“No, that’s uh, that’s more than enough.” Just knowing that there was a bus stop in walking distance took a decent bit off his shoulders since he could work out how to get home from there.

“I’m glad.” The man smiled, before offering him a cup with a lid and straw on it. “Hopefully this will help with your… hangover.”

“Uh, thanks.” He nodded, accepting the cup and seeing a dark liquid beneath the semi-transparent lid. “Uh, what is it?”

He wasn’t quite stupid enough to just drink anything strange handed to him.

“My preferred blend of coffee, I should warn you it’s a bit cool.” The blonde warned him.

He popped the lid and sniffed it, picking up that it was in fact coffee if a bit off smelling. (Well, if he wanted to hurt me I’d be chained up already so… bottoms up.)

The moment the coffee touched his tongue, he realized his thirst was significantly worse than he thought and that the coffee tasted significantly better than the other man had described even if it did have a faintly metallic taste to it.

Before he knew it his straw began to suck in nothing but air and he finally came up for a breath of his own.

(Oh~ I needed that…)

He glanced down at his empty cup. “I, uh, I don’t suppose there’s any more?”

“There is but it might be best to drink water until you… even out a bit more.” The blonde admitted offering him a water bottle. “Coffee helps but it’s not the best when dehydrated, especially on an otherwise empty stomach.”

“Uh, sorry… first hangover.” He admitted bashfully.

“It’s fine.” The man assured him, before pausing with a concerned look. “I don’t suppose you can tell me what the last thing you remember is?”

“Um…” (A beautiful pale woman ran her fingers through his hair, before leaning down to kiss him.) “N-no… It’s uh, it’s a bit of a blurry blank.” He lied, feeling a bit bashful about being kissed by a woman hotter than either of his exes and fainting from it.

(Mmm, it was flattering at worst.)

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The man grimaced for some reason. “So you don’t remember being attacked?”

“Attacked?” He repeated, before remembering (fangs dug into his throat and he could feel his blood pouring into the beast’s mouth.)

His hand shot to his neck where he found smooth flesh. No injury, not even a bandage holding him together.

“So you do remember some of it…” The man sighed.

“What… what happened?”

“I… something…” The man started and stopped several times before making his way to the window. “I think it’d be better to show you first.”

“Show me what?” He asked, climbing off of the couch he’d been laying on and following the man.

Once he was close enough the man opened the blinds and revealed the night city skyline -if just barely over the nearby buildings- bathed in bright moonlight.

“Uh, it’s a nice view?” He shrugged.

The man gave him an amused half-grin before pointing up.

He looked up and near the top of the window he saw what looked like several glowing cracks in the sky. “The hell is that?!”

(Worrying…)

“I truthfully don’t know.” The man admitted before grimacing once more. “Though I think it’s the reason I attacked you like I did.”

“Attacked me?” He frowned, before his eyes widened as he remembered the blonde man he’d been trying to help. “You, you- You attacked me!”

“I did.” The man nodded, while looking pained. “And I do sincerely apologize for that.”

“You, you bit me! And, and you were drinking my blood!” He realized, slowly backing away from the man as his mind processed everything. “You, you’re a vampire!”

“Not inaccurate, but we’re technically blood mages, not undead or demon spawn.” The man cut in with a so-so gesture. “We use blood to fuel our magic, but we can use any blood really. Though given how it burns a portion of our own, we do need to consume a proportional amount from external sources.”

His face scrunched up a bit. “So you’re… a vampire witch?”

The man thought about it for a moment before nodding. “More accurate, but there’s still a little more nuance to it than that though to explain that I’d have to give you a proper lesson on Arcane magic and Blood magic. Which… priorities.”

“Right, so… Vampire Witch…” He repeated, before inhaling deeply and exhaling just as deeply in an attempt to try and remain calm.

The man sighed once more. “I understand that this is-”

“THE COOLEST THING EVER!” He finished, unable to remain calm. “I knew that the supernatural was real no matter what everyone told me and you are proof! Holy shit, I’m talking with an actual vampire! Twelve year old me would be so jealous right now!”

The man just blinked at him for a moment as he continued to practically vibrate in place. “You… are taking this better than I expected…”

“Well, I mean, the fact that I’m still alive means you’re not a bloodthirsty asshole…” He shrugged before thinking about it for a moment. “Unless you’ve made me like your ghoul familiar or something? Which, you know, enslaving someone without consent is kind of a dick move. I mean I could respect it if you tricked me into it I guess, but… actually I wouldn’t be happy with it either way. Unless I consented to be your supernatural servant. In which case it better be the sexy kind of servant, because if we aren’t Anne Rice-ing this shit I’m going to feel cheated. Actually wait… I’ve got a date so we might have to put a pin in that, or maybe Harper would be into that… If things work out I’ll ask.”

(That sounds like it’d be a fun night.)

Once more the man blinked at him before opening his mouth, only to close it. After doing this twice more the man told him, “Can we… Can we take a step back? I think… I think I’m losing track of this conversation.”

“Sure.” He nodded.

The man inhaled and exhaled before silently nodding to himself and crossing his arms behind his back as he took on a more dignified air. “Alright, so… given your lack of rage for my previous conduct, I’ll start with an introduction. My name is Alexander Pierce, and I was gifted with the Blood roughly forty-five years ago.”

(Interesting…)

“Huh, and you barely look thirty.” He smiled, before slowly realizing Alex was waiting on him to introduce himself. “Oh, and uh, I’m Aurelio Hermenez.”

“It’s a pleasure to properly meet you.” Alex told him, offering his hand.

“Uh, you too.” He agreed, taking the man’s hand.

After a firm shake Alex took a step back and said, “Now I’m sure you’re wondering why I've brought you here.”

(Kinky vampire sex?) Part of him hoped.

(Priorities.) A more sane voice warned.

(And I have them.)

He coughed into his hand. “Because you’re a nice guy who, like you said, didn't mean to attack me and wanted to make things right?”

Alex gave him a gentle if saddened smile. “I appreciate your faith but sadly I’m not that selfless.”

(Sexy servant time. Sexy servant time. Sexy servant time.)

(Or blood magic? He can offer that too.)

(These things are not mutually exclusive.)

(They are not.)

“During my… feral state, I made not one mistake but two, and I intend to take responsibility for both.” Alex explained, looking somewhere between regretful and determined.

“Oh, and you’re hoping with two of us we’ll take your apology better?” He figured, before looking around the room. “I guess I just woke up first?”

“No, both of my mistakes were in regards to you.” Alex assured him.

“Okay… and uh what was the second mistake?” He asked, feeling just a touch of wariness, since as nice as Alex was he wasn’t blind to the fact that the man was a blood drinker.

(Survival instincts might need some work but they’re still there.)

“During my feral state I seem to have unintentionally given you the gift of the Blood.” Alex told him.

“You’re a vampire wizard Aurelio…”

Alex stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. “Normally due to how this binds someone to our bloodline this is something done only after much deliberation and after consulting the rest of our kin. The fact that I granted you the gift of blood without meaning to, will cause some problems for both of us.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle nervously. “Uh, are we talking about little problems or ‘I’ll get executed if I’m discovered’ problems?”

“What? No!” Alex frowned, clearly taken aback. “We’re not monsters. Or our bloodline isn’t at least… No, no. I can turn someone if I wish, I’ve more than enough clout for that. It’s just that handing the Blood out randomly or to someone who does not know what they’re signing on for is greatly frowned upon. You are perfectly safe, and at worst I might have to give my position to my brother, but I’d like to avoid that if we can.”

(Okay, so this is a political problem.) It wasn’t what he liked but it was something he could easily understand after living in his father’s house for so long. (Though it does kind of kill the fun of being a vampire.) “So what exactly does this mean for me?”

“If anyone asks, we had this talk before I gave you the Blood.” Alex told him. “Beyond that you’ll be treated like any other New Blood, if with a little more preference from me and my other children because you’re one of mine.”

(Oh, he views this as a parental bond… That’s… a situation…)

“Right…” He’d just gotten rid of one father, he wasn’t really looking for another, but… “What does it mean to be a New Blood?”

Sensing his apprehension, if for the wrong reason, Alex gave him another gentle smile. “You’d be an initiate of sorts, you’ll be given lessons on our Bloodline’s magic, our history and whatever else you might need to survive your new lifestyle, before… being free to live as you please. This is not some sort of servitude like you feared, this is merely a learning period. All I expect of you is to enjoy the gift of blood, bond with our kin, and preferably not become a ‘bloodthirsty monster’ as you put it.”

“Uh, I think I called it a bloodthirsty asshole.” He pointed out, feeling a bit of his previous excitement returning at the idea of learning ‘Magic’ and ‘Supernatural History’ on top of what sounded like ‘vampire lessons’.

(A desire to learn is never wrong.)

“I prefer not to curse.” Alex admitted. “It’s impolite, but my daughter Catherine tells me I’m just being old.”

“Right, so uh, vampire lessons?” He asked, hoping he could get away from the weird family dynamics and to something actually cool as soon as possible.

“That will sadly have to wait.” Alex sighed. “While you’re mostly stable you’re also still in a transitional phase of sorts, with your thirst high and your power low. Tonight we’ll focus on keeping you fed and away from anyone you’d be tempted to feed on. You’ll be free to leave tomorrow but unfortunately I can’t let you return home right now, but until you finish accepting the Blood into your body you’re a threat to anyone you may know.”

“Can’t have me frenzing on my friends.” He chuckled warily, not liking being stuck here but also not wanting to risk anyone he might come across. (Like Harper…)

It’d eat him alive if, of his few friends in the city, he hurt her.

His stomach began to growl and he couldn’t help but grimace. “Um, I know I’m a vampire now but what’s the stance on food?”

“You’ll still need to eat regular food. Blood is more to maintain the magic keeping you together.” Alex explained, before gesturing to his kitchen. “Feel free to help yourself to whatever I have.”

“And uh, the blood thing?” He knew that was going to be something he needed to do, he just wasn’t sure if it was better to rip that bandage off now or later.

“I mixed a pint into the coffee pot.” Alex confessed, looking sheepish at whatever face Aurelio was making. “I find that drinking it with something else makes it easier to down for the first few months while also keeping you from hurting anyone or ‘frenzying’ as it were. Um, as long as you don’t heat it up it should keep.”

(Well, that’s one way to do it.)

He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about being tricked into drinking blood for the first time.

“Yes, well, um, as I said before you’ll want something in your stomach before you consume any more of that but you’ll probably want to drink the pot before the night is over.” Alex told him, inching towards the exit. “I’ll um, I’ll leave you to process while I deal with the many consequences of tonight’s events. Unless you wish for me to stay?”

“No, I um, I could use a few minutes… by myself.” He admitted, knowing that as much as the idea of being a vampire wizard appealed to every bit of gothic nerd in him, there was more than one thing he needed to consider. And he’d rather whatever conclusion he came to be his own, rather than one Alex had a hand in.

“I understand.” Alex nodded, giving him a half bow before moving for what Aurelio guessed was the exit.

Once he was alone he took a deep breath before making his way for the kitchen, fully aware that if this place was anything like his father’s home there were cameras that could be watching him. And given the possibility of enhanced vampyric hearing he whispered, “You going to keep hiding or are you going to come out?”

(Hmmm, you’re even more perfect than I thought~)