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Alyssa was still getting used to the idea of flying, so Gabriel went up with her first while Cornelius followed behind them as backup. She had taken to the air rather easily this time and was holding Gabriel’s hand as they both coasted into the sky together. The Dark Prince let her know that the city on the east coast they were flying to wasn’t that far away so he was confident she could make the trip without much difficulty, but if she needed help he could carry her the rest of the way if necessary. They were sailing through the air rather well, and the skies were clear which made the trip a little less stressful for her first long distance flight. When the reached about the halfway point, Gabriel felt it was time to take of the training wheels.
“Time to try this on your own,” Gabriel suggested, “I’ll be right her with you and Cornelius is right behind us so if there are any troubles, one of us will handle it. Okay?”
“Alright,” Alyssa agreed, as this was the best time to try with both brothers there to catch her if she had any problems. Seconds later, she released Gabriel’s hand and continued to flex as she was trained to fly on her own. She wobbled a bit for a moment but was able to keep her balance while maintaining her height.
“Not bad,” Gabriel called out, “You’re making pretty good speeds too.”
“I can’t believe this!” Alyssa called out excitedly, “I’m actually flying!”
“Yes you are,” Gabriel said, as he was proud of how well she was handling her first solo flight. “Keep concentrating… you’re doing so well!”
He was right as Alyssa was taking to the task of flying rather well, but after flying for some distance Gabriel flew back over and took her hand back, much to her surprise.
“Relax,” Gabriel reassured her, “You shouldn’t exert yourself, and I’m going to guide you in for your first landing as well.”
“Fair enough,” Alyssa replied, as she really didn’t want to push her luck. Yet there was a part of her that has a feeling Gabriel was looking for an excuse to hold onto her hand, but she never said anything to him about it.
Cornelius flew up to consult them as he had ideas of his own.
“There is small town ahead,” he informed them, “We should stop there to rest and give her a chance to recharge.”
“Is the town friendly to us?” Gabriel asked him.
“It is,” his brother replied, “I’ve stopped there many times. Their blood happens to be better quality than what is served in New Lycan as well.”
“No wonder you like visiting them,” Gabriel said, aware of how finicky his brother could be when it came to the quality of the blood he consumed.
“Follow me in,” Cornelius said as he zipped ahead of them both.
They both followed the Dark Prince and landed behind him on a roof of a building that was a few stories high, which masked their arrival from the locals. Cornelius walked over to a door that was on the roof that led downstairs, but all he did was press a button which set off a buzzer. Moments later, someone opened the door and greeted them.
“Your highness,” the man said, giving a half bow. “A pleasure to see you again.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Cornelius said, “But we are only passing through, so I will not need to book any lodgings. My colleagues and I require blood, so bring up three of your finest bags.”
“At once, sire,” The man said before closing the door and going back down from whence he came from.
“Are you sure this is the right place to do this?” Gabriel asked.
“To do what?” Alyssa asked.
“She needs to do it,” Cornelius contested.
“Why didn’t we do this before we left?” Gabriel asked, clearly angered. “We could have done this back at the tower, in an area we could control.”
“That wouldn’t have worked out,” Cornelius countered, “Especially around the wolves. It would haven’t have been ideal.”
“How do you know that?” Gabriel asked.
“I just do,” Cornelius replied, “And the quality of blood will make a profound difference with what has to happen next.”
“Are you sure this has to happen now?” Gabriel asked again.
“I’m sure,” his brother answered, “I can tell by how she was flying, and I can also feel her hunger. I believe it will be necessary to make sure we make it to the coast without issue.”
Gabriel wanted to respond but just went silent instead. Cornelius responded to that lack of words as the surrender it was and proceeded to approach Alyssa. The Dark Prince stood before her with arms folded as he began to address his newest created companion.
“What are you two talking about?” Alyssa demanded.
“I got us to stop here because this is a pivotal moment of your transformation,” Cornelius started, “This bag that is about to be delivered will be your first taste of fresh blood and unlike the drivel you’ve sampled so far, this will take you beyond the point of no return. I am not going to force you to take this step even though I could compel you to do it as your master.”
“What happens if I refuse?” Alyssa asked, as she was curious.
“Your transformation could be cancelled,” Cornelius answered, “And you could revert back to your human form.”
“I can go back to being human?” Alyssa said, as she was tempted to say no.
“It’s not that simple,” Gabriel said, finally speaking up. “You would revert back to exact state you were in before the transformation was started.”
“What’s so bad about that?” Alyssa inquired.
“You were near death,” Gabriel reminded her, “Your heart had stopped.”
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“Yes,” Cornelius concurred, “We fear that if go back to being human, there is a chance you may not recover from your injuries. We started this process to prevent your death, not out of some selfish desire to have you join our ranks and be one of us.”
“Are you suggesting I’m not good enough to be a vampire?” Alyssa asked.
“I said no such thing,” Cornelius said, aware of how twisted his words were, “I am merely suggesting that the consent we usually pursue before even trying this was never acquired due to the extreme urgency of the situation. I am sorry we never got the chance to ask you first, but this is the best we can do to get your permission.”
“What you’re saying,” Alyssa said, “Is that unless I complete this process, there is a chance going back to being human might cause my death?”
“I’m afraid so,” Gabriel confirmed.
The man Cornelius was speaking with returned to the roof, and he was carrying three blood bags with him. The old man watching the building seemed a little bit happy go lucky with the bags as he waddled on over and handed them all to the Dark Prince.
“Here you go, my lord.” The old man said, as he handed them over.
“Thank you,” Cornelius said, “Now if you’ll excuse us.”
“Of course,” The man said, taking a bow before quickly vacating the roof.
Once he was gone, Cornelius turned to gave Alyssa and offered her a bag. She hesitated at first but then slowly walked over and took the bag from him. She looked up at him with a face that appeared to be conflicted as she honestly was unsure of herself.
“Despite the pressure I was under,” Cornelius said to her, “I do not take adding someone new to my fold lightly. I made this decision based on what I knew about you and decided for myself regardless of outside influences that you would serve me well and make a very worthy member of our restricted community.”
“Oh, okay,” Alyssa said, as she was unsure how to respond, but tried anyway. “I thank you for saying that. The last thing I want is for you to feel is obligated to put up with me.”
“Quite the opposite, my dear,” Cornelius countered, “I have a feeling that it will be you who has to put up with me over the next few centuries.”
“Centuries?” Alyssa repeated, as it quickly dawned on her. If she chose to remain a vampire, baring any incidents she was going to live for a very, very long time. While the idea of outliving everyone she knows, including her sister, was troubling to her… the idea of being around to protect future nieces and nephews for generations to come was also a perk she hadn’t considered either. She made a motion to drink, but Cornelius stopped her hand.
“This is your last chance,” Cornelius informed her, “Once you drink that, there is no going back. There is no going back one this part of the transformation commences.”
“And try to pace yourself,” Gabriel insisted, “Take your time.”
Alyssa looked back up at the Dark Prince and nodded. With that, she opened up the blood back took her first full swig of fresh blood. She filled up her cheeks with the thick substance, which took a few swallows to get it all down. After taking a few more chugs of the blood, she paused to take a break.
“I am honored by your choice,” Cornelius said, as he opened his own bag and held it up for a moment to toast her. “Here is to a long life and prosperity to the newest member of our family.”
“Here, here,” Gabriel said, as they all took a drink of their bags.
“How is your first taste?” Cornelius asked her.
“It’s disgusting,” Alyssa honestly answered, “How do you two put up with it?”
“It’s an acquired taste.” Cornelius confessed.
“We’ve both had many centuries to get used to it,” Gabriel added, “You’ll get used to it over time.”
“Fair enough,” Alyssa said, as she took another big swig of her bag.
After taking another gulp something happened to her as the body started to feel like it was on fire. Alyssa dropped her bag and started to shake as her veins started to throb and she was feeling light-headed. Cornelius was the closest so he reached out and caught the young woman before she could hit the ground. Gabriel took his brother’s blood bag and watched as Cornelius held onto Alyssa and actually restrained her until the shakes she was experienced came to a stop. While she was shaking, they also noticed that her eyes were glowing red, but that glow slowly faded out as the episode she was suffering from eventually passed on and she returned to normal.
“Oh fuck!” she cried out, gasping for air as if she had been under water for way too long. “What the hell was that?”
“It’s something all vampires occasionally have to endure,” Cornelius said, as he released her from his mighty grip. “I had a feeling this might happen, which is why I chose to get away from New Lycan before giving you your first fresh feeding. What you feel is something that we refer to as the Bloodlust.”
“Why did it happen to me just now?” Alyssa asked.
“Cause you were drinking fresh blood,” Gabriel answered, “Sometimes when we take in too much too fast, we can lose control and that’s when things get ugly. This is why we do not drink blood straight from human veins, as they tend to cause a bloodlust more than seventy percent of the time. There’s a reason why we are only sipping our blood, and that’s because we pace ourselves, so we don’t instigate an episode.”
“You could have warned me?” Alyssa said, a tad upset.
“He did warn you,” Cornelius reminded her, “But I felt it was best to have us around for your first episode, so that you could experience it rather than have it explained poorly by us.”
“Now that you’ve had a minor episode,” Gabriel continued, “You will be more cautious moving forward.”
“That was a mild episode?” Alyssa said, “It can be worse than this?”
“Much worse,” Cornelius admitted, “I believe the record for the longest bloodlust was a few days, as the vampire in question just kept attacking and drinking people right from their veins. That caused the bloodlust to compound and get worse with each victim. That was quite a dark day. It took over twenty other vampires to stop him.”
“Wow,” Alyssa said, as she could hardly believe it. “I can see why you preferred to show me rather than tell. I do not want to experience that ever again.”
“This is a method that works,” Cornelius added, “To prevent harm to others.”
“I understand,” Alyssa said, as she picked her bag back up. Only a little bit had spilled out and this time she took a very small causal sip rather than the gulps she was taking earlier. The lesson had definitely made its mark, and she was determined to never have that happen again.
While they were all sipping from their bags, a whooshing sound could be heard as three more vampires flew over to their roof and landed. Fowler was amongst them, along with two of his guards, and he didn’t appear to look impressed.
“What are you doing up here?” Fowler angrily asked.
“We’re taking a short break,” Cornelius said, gesturing to his bag. “We were getting quite far ahead of you, so I thought we’d take a blood break and give you guys a chance to catch up.”
Upon saying that, Cornelius held out his hand and offered his bag which was still half full to Fowler. He stood there for a few moments, and then eventually took the bag and took a few small sips. He then handed the bag to the guards and let them sip from it as well.
“Thank you,” Fowler said, “That was quite refreshing. The quality is impressive.”
“That’s why I take the time to land here,” Cornelius admitted, “Their supply is quite possibly the freshest in the country and is quite expensive.”
“That’s why I don’t come here,” Gabriel said, as the only reason he was drinking any at all was because his super wealthy brother was covering the tab.
“That pricey, eh?” Fowler said, as he wasn’t surprised. The Dark Prince was known for being picky about the blood he consumed. He wouldn’t be surprised if the prince himself or some other high ranking member of the council actually owned and profited from this establishment.
“How far are we from the coast?” Alyssa asked.
“We’re almost halfway,” Cornelius answered.
“Your speed is quite impressive.” Gabriel added.
“It is,” Fowler concurred, “She’s quite quick for someone who is new to all this.”
“Thank you,” Alyssa said, while still sipping her bag.
“Would you expect nothing less from my progeny?” Cornelius asked him.
“I suppose not,” Fowler answered, unwilling to provoke the big vampire.
“We should get back in the air,” one of the guards inquired. “The sun will be rising sooner than we want it to.”
“We have time,” Fowler said, “Let them finish drinking and then we can all get back to the skies.”
It took less than ten minutes for them to finish up, and Alyssa even shared the rest of hers with the guards as she was filled up quicker than the men. All of them launched back into the air and resumed their flight to the coast. Alyssa could see now why Gabriel wanted her blood so much, as having her own bag made her feel so rejuvenated and pretty pumped up. It felt like she had awaken from a full night’s rest, but Gabriel reminded her that she can’t drink like that all day as even a high volume of blood slowly consumed can also provoke another bloodlust. This was why Gabriel didn’t harass her that often for her blood and only drank hers when he absolutely had to. She even found flying back into the sky easier to do and control after getting her refill. It would take them less than an hour for them all to make it to the coast, finishing up only the first leg of their journey back to Europe and the vampire homeland.