As I sit on the bed, I look at the clothes. The shirt, an expensive black Armani button-up shirt, features their logo embroidered across the chest. The pants are similar in that aspect, but they appear to be too big. Looking around the room, I notice a belt looped through the pants. "This is fucking ridiculous. I should've just ignored the woman and ate my cereal." Then it dawned on me.
"Damn it, the milk probably went bad, and who's going to feed my goldfish?" I quickly push the thought to the back of my head, head out the door, and head down the stairs while I look around and notice different things about the interior of the house.
There's a chandelier hanging in the center of the house; glass shards hang from it. I can't help but think that's a bad idea. At the bottom of the stairs, I see that the windows have a dark tint on them. I assume that's so nobody can see inside the house. It looks like they really care about their privacy.
Exiting the house, I see Alistair standing by their car; he's smoking a cigarette. It's a Camel brand, and it's relatively cheap. It surprises me that he smokes.
"I thought you lost track of time for a moment." But you need to hurry up; we don't have a lot of time." Alistair says this as he throws his cigarette on the ground and stomps it out.
"What's the rush? I thought I had 24 hours to feed." While walking towards them, I say this. I notice that Jenny is sitting in the driver seat; she lowers the window and leans out. "You do, but there's a lot that we need to explain about your new life."
I stop the car and notice that it's a Korean-made car. I think it's called a sonata.
"We're going to our other home outside of town; there, we can talk more about your life." Jenny explains as she puts it in gear and drives off.
As we drive down a back road, I notice that the trees are vibrant green and blow with the breeze. Before, I never would have really thought about how truly beautiful they were. After an hour, we finally make it to their other house.
The trees planted next to the gate rustle against the car as we drive through it. I look out the window and notice that they're cherry blossoms. You don't see these here in America; typically, they're in Japan or in different parts of Asia. They're really refreshing to see. I've never seen them in person, and it's been one of my dreams to actually see one.
"Welcome to your new home." Jenny says this as she parks the car in front of the house. The front of the house exudes a vibrant and extremely beautiful crimson red, while gargoyles rest atop the house. It looks like they're there to watch over the house. As we entered the house, it became evident to me that this was their primary residence. This is their main house; it has to be, and it outshines the other house in every way.
White and black marble slabs make up the floor, giving the impression that I could glide across them. The ceiling is a lot bigger than I would have assumed it was. Another chandelier hangs from it, but there are small figures atop it. The furniture looks like it was extremely expensive; it's clear that they chose everything luxurious to include in the house.
Alistair leads the way to the second floor, stops in front of a door, opens it, and motions for me to enter it. "This will be your room while you stay here; if you want to explore the house, then it's yours to explore." After giving me the key to the room, he leaves and heads back down to where Jenny is.
The room is spacious and luxurious, with a king-size bed, a flat-screen TV, and an en-suite bathroom. The walls are covered in light blue paint.
"This place is really nice. What did you guys have to do to be able to afford it?" I ask as I walk down the first floor and into the kitchen, where Alistair and Jenny are.
"We've been around for a while; well, at least I have. When you're alive for so long, you learn different things and different ways to earn money." Alistair explains, laughing.
Jenny nudges him playfully. "Don't mind him, Kamen." He likes to brag about his age; it's a pride thing with vampires; the older you are, the stronger you are technically."
Smiling, I look at them both. "So what is on the agenda for tonight?"
"We want to teach you about hunting," Alistair says. "It's important for you to start feeding on humans as soon as possible in order to increase your strength and abilities." Like I said before, it's not the only option, but it is the quickest and easiest way."
"This means that I'll have to kill someone; I don't know if I'll be able to do it. I've never wanted to hurt anyone before." I think out loud. Jenny looks at me with a sorrowful face; it's clear that she doesn't like the idea of me having to do this.
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We make our way outside and head into the forest behind the house. Alistair explains that people like to camp out here, thinking that it will be safe and secure. I get it; it's quite beautiful and peaceful out here.
Eventually, we come across a group of campers sitting around a campfire. Alistair glances over at me. "This is important, Kamen." You'll do what Jenny did for you. But in this case, you aren't changing them; you're simply snuffing out and ending their lives. I know it will be difficult for you, given that you were human not even 12 hours ago. But I have faith in you."
The thought keeps running through my head. "I don't know if I can do this; this is a life I'm about to end!" How will I be able to live with myself? What if I did it and liked it? What then?" I think to myself, and I
Jenny seems to notice my hesitation and places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, Kamen; it's just the way of our kind." And remember, we only take what we need to survive."
I take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand. These campers are my food source, and I need to feed them in order to become stronger and fully transition into a vampire.
I approach the group, and they look up at me in surprise. "Can we help you with something?" One of them asks, It's a middle-aged man with gray hair and wrinkles, and he seems really kind.
My body is telling me to lunge at them and kill them, but my heart is telling me not to. Unfortunately, my heart loses, so I lunge forward, slash out towards the old man, and connect to his arm.
I feel the thirst for blood take over as I go into a berserk-like rage and pounce on one of the campers, holding them down by their throat. "Please don't hurt me; I have kids!" The woman says she's crying. I feel their fear, and it's so intoxicating.
I breathe it in, look down into her eyes, bite into her neck, and start drinking her blood. It feels like I haven't eaten in forever; her blood is so delicious. Jenny notices that I'm enjoying myself too much and yells at me, pleading not to kill her.
"But she tastes so good; why would I stop?" I say this as I dig my hand through her chest, rip her heart out, and drink from it.
"Kamen, please stop. She's dead; don't mutilate her body anymore."
I sigh, put her heart down on the ground, and get up. Then, for some reason, I look back down at the woman's body, and the realization kicks in, and soon I realize what I've done. The guilt floods my system, and I fall to my knees.
"What have I done? I killed her, ripping her heart out. How could I do this? Is this really the monster I've become? I didn't want to do it. I'm a monster. I'm a monster. I'm a monster."
Jenny and Alistair look down at me with sullen faces. "Kamen, it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself for this. It's a vampire's nature to do this. The reason you feel so much guilt is because once you fully become a vampire, your emotions increase twice. Just calm down and think rationally," Jenny said as Alistair looked over to our right and heard running.
It's a young girl; she looks to be in her early 20s, wearing a grey sweatshirt and blue jeans. She stops 20 feet from us and gasps in horror. "Oh my god, Mom, Dad! What happened?! Did you do this, people? Please don't kill me; I don't want to die."
"If you do not want to die, then I suggest you leave and never return. Forget about your parents." I say it in a cold tone.
Alistair appears next to the woman and slits her throat. "I'm sorry, it doesn't work like that, Kamen; her trauma is too great; if we were to attempt to erase this memory, it would not work. "We will have to kill any survivors or anyone who comes across us at this moment in time."
When she lets go of her body, it hits the ground. I can still see life in her now-dying eyes, seeing her parents dead in front of her and now dying in a similar fashion. It's unfortunate, but Alistair is correct.
"I feel so terrible killing that family; I don't know what came over me. One second I was fine, and then suddenly this urge took over, and it felt like I was so thirsty—like I hadn't drank in days. I don't know if I can stomach this anymore; the guilt feels like it's killing me." I say on my knees, crying into my hands, that all that comes out are tears of blood.
"This is our life, Kamen; sometimes, when we feed, this happens." There is nothing we can do about it. If the girl were to get away, she would've told everyone about us." Alistair says this as he throws the woman's body into the campfire along with her parents.
"I hope this has shown you why you need to learn control over your hunger. "We've lived hundreds of years; some of us have thousands; all of us have had to do this to survive." Alistair continues saying this while grabbing everything the campers had and throwing them into the fire with them.
"We need to leave, Kamen. It's safe to be here right now; we may have taken their things, but if someone were to come here, it will be obvious that something happened." Jenny says she is heading back to the car.
A sudden pain rips through my body, leaving me feeling torn apart. I feel my muscles tearing and changing, and my blood is boiling. Everything hurts. The pain is unbearable. "What is happening?" I said it in between pangs of pain.
"This is what happens when a human fully changes into a vampire; your body is re-configuring itself to that of a vampire." Alistair speaks, smiling.
"Oh god, I'm dying! Please clear my browser history, and I swear I didn't look up midget porn!" I yell in pain.
"You are not dead." You'll feel like you haven't eaten in years, but it's just the transition phase. Once you make it past this phase, you'll begin to feel better." Jenny replies, holding my hand and kissing me on the forehead. "I will never delete that history."
As the pain worsens and tears fall down my face at a faster pace, I start to laugh uncontrollably. Soon, I see stars all around me, my surroundings start spinning, and I feel nauseous, and then I black out on the ground.
Jenny looks down and sighs. "I know it hurts you to see him like this, Jenny. "You know it will get better; I'll get him up and bring him back to the car." Alistair says this as he carries my unconscious body back to the car.
I suddenly wake up back in the house, in my room. "What in the fuck?" I look around and see Jenny sitting in another chair next to the bed. "Was that a dream? Did last night really happen? Did I really kill those people?" I ask, remembering their screams and the guilt I felt.
"You blacked out last night once you fully became a vampire." Jenny says this while putting the plate of food on my bed.
"Wait, so last night wasn't a dream?" I look around, realizing that I'm not actually in my room at my house; I'm in their house in the room they had given me.
"No, it wasn't." And if you'd like, I can quickly show you last night's video tape." Jenny says it with a smirk on her face. "Just kidding." She laughs and kisses me on the forehead. It takes me a few moments to fully register. But something feels odd to me. Why is Jenny so nonchalant about this?
"So what happened to her? The girl... and her family? Did you bury them?" Looking down at the plate of food, I ask. Suddenly losing my appetite, I push the plate away from me.
"We burned their bodies; no one will notice that they're missing for a few days, even then. No one will find any trace of them; it will be like they disappeared." Alistair says he walks into the room with a red shirt on and his hair slicked back, not even showing a second of sleep on his face. "Kamen, a true vampire never sleeps; it's too dangerous to let your enemies catch you unconscious."
I sigh, still having trouble realizing that last night all of this actually happened. "Can we talk about this more outside?" I ask, looking out the window at the sunlight, "I should be absolutely terrified, but for some reason I feel...good."
If necessary, you will subconsciously suppress some emotions to maintain your sanity until you accept your actions and forgive yourself. Trust me. Eventually, you won't feel bad for killing and feeding." Alistair says this while looking down at the ground.