Negotiation

Alex

Alex sat at his dining room table. Across from him was an incredibly attractive woman. She was average height, with black hair and red eyes. She was currently in the middle of eating all of his food.

"So, how about it? You wanna be a vampire?" As she asked him this, she turned the bag of chips she was eating upside down, emptying it into her mouth. Alex's eyebrow twitched as she did so. "I'm Stella by the way."

Alex sighed and looked down at the table, resting his forehead in his palms. Normally he wouldn't even entertain the idea of the supernatural, but he had watched her turn into smoke with his own eyes. Although, looking back, his physical strength was pretty abnormal.

"So, why the change of heart?" He looked back up at her. "First you attack me, then you offer to turn me into a vampire. What's the deal?"

"Becoming a vampire enhances everything about you, and the stronger you are before, the more effective that enhancement will be." She walked over to the microwave, pulling out the instant ramen she'd made. "Since you have a divine blessing, you'll probably be unstoppable."

"I'm not interested. I won't attack people."

"Look, I don't normally attack people like that. Vampires don't actually need to drink blood; it just makes us more powerful." She sat back in her seat. "Plus, there are plenty of ways to get blood without killing people. Personally, I also dislike killing, but I'll do it if I have to." She paused to take a bite. "I have a magical array set up in Moorwick, every full moon, I activate it to drain a single drop of blood from everyone in the city." She made an unpleasant face as she continued. "Earlier, a stronger vampire attacked me, and I lost. To escape, I used up most of my blood. I attacked you so I could gather up enough strength to sneak back in to activate the array."

If vampires are really out there, they're probably attacking people right now. Alex leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. If I became a vampire, I could protect them with ease. He looked back at Stella.

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"You haven't really answered my question, but I think I get the idea. You want me to take back your territory, right?"

"Basically. I don't expect you to do it for free, though. What do you want? I've been building a fortune for four-hundred years, so I can give you basically anything."

"I want enough money to live comfortably."

"Done."

"It's a deal then. Explain more about vampires, though. What are their strengths and weaknesses?"

Stella leaned to the side, her hand on her chin.

"Different vampires have different strengths and weaknesses. You'll mostly inherit my abilities, but the curse mutates as it moves from person to person."

"Curse?"

She nodded. "Technically. A long time ago someone tried to become a lich, but the undead powers mixed with the abnormality of his soul and created the vampiric curse. As a result, vampires are the only undead that aren't forced to obey the will of the god of death."

"The god of death... and you mentioned I have a divine blessing. So, the gods are real?"

"Probably. Although they definitely aren't as overbearing as the church would have you believe." She continued eating. "Anyways, back to vampirism. Despite the wide variety in traits, there are some things that most vampires have in common. All vampires are weak to the sun, to some extent. You'll probably be strong enough that it'll just make you weaker, rather than outright killing you. Every vampire has some level of immortality and regeneration, but the potency varies. There are roughly two types, vampires that instantly die when their weakness is struck, and vampires that eventually run out of regeneration. I'm the second type."

"So, I probably will be too?"

"Yep. There's another universal ability, but that can wait. I'll tell you my own strengths and weaknesses, so you can get an idea of what powers you'll have." She finished her meal and pushed the bowl to the side. "I have a weak point in my heart, so it uses more of my strength to heal it, running out my regeneration faster. I have superspeed, and I can move even faster when I turn into smoke, since I don't have to worry about air resistance and obstacles. Finally, all of my physical abilities, strength, durability, endurance, and my senses are enhanced." You looked at him closely. "When you dodged my sneak attack earlier, how did you know I was coming?"

"Hmm? I just had a bad feeling, I think."

She closed her eyes. "That was probably your sixth sense. It's basically heightened instinct and intuition." She grinned. "That'll get stronger too."

"So, how does this work? What do we do to turn me into a vampire."

"I'll drink some of your blood, and you'll drink some of mine." She stood up from her seat. "Technically, you could drink anyone's blood, but you'll be stronger if it's mine." She walked around the table and stood next to him. "But we'll do that later."

"Huh? Why?"

"Remember what I said earlier? The stronger you are before you transform, the stronger you'll be afterwards." Her grin became more mischievous. "You're going to train first."

"Alright." He stood up as well. "Let's get started."