Vampires, the New Endangered Species
Chapter 3 The Story

Marcus took a quick moment to collect his thoughts. He looked over to London, then to the Channel. In so many years this view had changed so much but yet so little at the same time. Time, the thought, how strange one concept can be; to go so slow yet so fast at the exact same time. He took in one more breath, and then decided he was ready to begin. “Alright, the beginning it is then. I guess I will just start it from what I know to be the beginning. My great, great grandfather, Marcus Alexander Fitzgerald came to England during the mid 17th century from Greece. His mum was Grecian and his father was from London, he was a Duke in the royal court. He came here to learn what he could from his father and his connections within the government to become a very profitable businessman. His business was in paper. So by the time the years passed to when my grandfather is running his own businesses; he had part of the original paper factory, but also owned three bookstores, two in England and one in Greece. He and his wife had seven children one being my father, Craig Louis. My father was married to a beautiful English maiden from York when he was in his early twenties. Me mum had eyes of the bluest sapphire, blonde hair the color of gold, and a heart bigger than the sun itself. My father used to joke that her eyes were as sightless as they were beautiful, for she fell in love with him. Then my ma, oh, her name was Annabelle, would laugh her tinkling little laugh. So in the spring of 1797 they had their first baby boy, Alexander Jonathan. Of course he was very spoiled being the first child, and of course another boy, very few girls were born in our family. Then two years later on March third I was born, Craig Marcus Fitzgerald.”

Emily interrupted him, “Your middle name is Marcus? Your real name is Craig?” Emily couldn’t focus suddenly; there was a ringing in her ears that made her close her eyes.

“Em are you okay? What’s wrong?” Marcus sounded concerned as he was holding her hand tighter to him, the look on her face was so odd.

Nodding her head but trying to shake off the feeling she had she answered, “Yeah I’m fine. Sorry, I just got an odd sense of vertigo or something. Never mind, I’m sorry, please go on, you were born, but why do you use your middle name now?” There was more to the way she was feeling, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She couldn’t put her finger on it just yet, but something like deje’vu happened. She wrapped herself around him more to comfort him, just as much as herself; but also so he wouldn’t worry and would continue.

He did continue but he was still curious as to why she asked the way she did about his name. “I changed my name when I was turned. I didn’t seem to be the same person, so I didn’t want the same name. I will get more into that when that part of my tale comes.

“My brother and I being only two years apart were very close. We were the best of friends, always. No matter what happened we always stuck by each other, we had many fistfights and final exams together over the years. We even went to Oxford together, all four years in the same small house right off of campus. You see, we were part of the rich crowd, but we didn’t flaunt it like most families did. We were very modest and conservative, but we never skimped on what we wanted or needed. So after college Alex and I went to London to try our hand at a new kind of bookstore. We wanted to open one that had a tea shop in the front. Then you could drink your tea while you looked for a book to read. By this time it was 1823, or 24, and of course London was really a booming city. We bought a townhouse just a block from the city square where we wanted to set up shop. We were there for several months just trying to make connections, replace a storefront that was adequate, replace merchandise that wasn’t outrageously priced, when things got a little more interesting for me then.

“One day I was at an outside market getting fruit for the morning when a woman accidentally dropped a basket of apples over at the stand next to where I was walking. I stopped to help her pick up the apples and when our eyes met, well it was love at first sight. We started talking and I ended up asking her to dinner that night. She was wonderful, her name was Amelia. She worked part time at the hospital with her father. He was a prominent doctor in the community, but was getting older and ready for retirement. Amelia helped him out as much as she could to ease his load a bit. She and I met every spare moment we could replace, needless-to-say we fell madly in love in no time. After only a year of courting, I asked her father for permission to marry her. Of course he was delighted, by that time Alex and I had our store and it was doing very well, so he knew I wasn’t after her for her families money, we had plenty of our own. I was so very excited to finally ask her, it was everything I had to wait to get the ring first. It took about three days until we were finally alone together in our favorite park and I asked her for her hand in marriage. She was so excited and happy that she couldn’t stop crying. It was sort of funny actually. We decided to get married after her father finally retired the next spring. That would have given us a year to plan, and to wait. Amelia and I were fine with that though, we were already married in our hearts, and our lifestyles. We were actually quite the scandal for that day and age. For a couple to not hide their sinful premarital ways was such a cause for gossip. But since both of us were very well off and important members of society, we were left alone for the most part.

“Everything was going perfectly for me the beginning of summer of 1825; I had Amelia as my fiancée, our shop was making a great profit, I found a place to build a house after the wedding; life was just fabulous for me. In June I went to Italy for a book auction, there were supposed to be some very rare books that Alex was interested in, so I went to see what they had. It was supposed to only be a three day trip; I didn’t even pack a large bag, just something small enough for my toiletries and such. I went to the auction and was surprised at the huge turnout. What I was hoping to do was to take a quick look around, do about an hour of bidding then be on my way. It certainly didn’t work out like I planned. I ended up spending the entire day there and half of the evening. When I finally obtained one of the six books Alex wanted I had had enough and wanted to get back to my hotel and rest.

On my way out there was a very unusual looking man watching me. He ended up following me out of the door and down the street. I turned quickly into an alleyway to see if he would follow, and he did. At once I accosted him to see what he wanted but that backfired very quickly. What I mistook for a feeble old man with very long white hair, turned out to be a very strong and quick opponent. He had my back against the wall and my chin raised by his forearm in a matter of seconds. This man spoke in a calm and smooth voice, one that did match his upper class clothes, ‘You should never try to attack someone that just wants a word with you young man,’ he said very quickly.

Marcus then recounted the sequence of events to Emily: I replied in astonishment, “Well why were you following me then like you were going to mug me? You could have stopped me before I walked out the door if you just wanted a simple word.” I was furious for being outmaneuvered so quickly, and very disturbed by how he looked and acted.

He released me and straightened out my lapels, then stated, “I never said it was a simple word, but it is an important one at that. Please walk with me and I will tell you what I would like from you.”

“What do you want from me? I have no idea who you are, nor you me,” I was starting to walk away from him out of the alley.

“Oh contraire Mr. Fitzgerald, I know very much about you. You see I have been reading up on you and your brother. Seems you are very knowledgeable about books and the history of them, and those are the types of services that I need. I felt myself extremely lucky that I found you here today; I was pondering whether or not to come to your marvelous book store myself. Now if you would please do me the kindness of joining me for a nightcap; my villa is just down the street.”

“Why should I? I am very tired after this ridiculously long day, and by the very ungentlemanly way you just behaved I really have no interest to neither help you nor hear what you might have to say. And I certainly do not want to go to your villa with you. Now if you will please excuse me I will take my absence from you and be on my way.” As I turned to leave him, he gently grabbed my arm to stop me, it did just that. It wasn’t that his hold on me was rough, it was gentle, but it had an air of such force behind it that I didn’t want to resist.

“Mr. Fitzgerald, please. I am terribly sorry for approaching you this way; you are correct it was very inappropriate. But I must relay the importance of my request from you. You see, I have this very, very old book that is very, very important. There is only one like it in existence and I am very afraid that it might not be safe any longer. There are people that would love to destroy this book and I need to do everything in my power to make sure that never happens.” The look in his eyes was one of desperation and pleading, this man seemed like he would break down if I refused.

I thought about his request, and was quite intrigued about this book that so desperately needed saving. “Alright, I will come to your villa, but for one hour only. I must be on my way first thing in the morning and I am too tired to stay out much longer than necessary.”

He made a slight bow and said, “Thank you ever so much Mr. Fitzgerald,” he then put his hand forward for me to shake, ’my name is Sebastian Vicenzi, it is an honor to meet your acquaintance.”

I took his hand and shook it briefly, it was very cool and stiff, it felt like he had a thick leather glove on, but there was no glove there when I looked to make sure. He removed his hand quickly and started down the street. “Right this way Mr. Fitzgerald, I promise you I will not take up much of your time this evening.”

As we walked I made sure to stay about half a step behind him. The walk only took about one or two minutes; shortly he was walking under a grand archway that led to an enormous iron gate that he just pushed open and walked through. I followed him down the pathway to a door that held the most magnificent carvings I had ever seen. The door itself must have been at least fifteen feet in height and eight feet in width. There were carvings of scenes depicting women working in fields, tending to children and doing everyday chores. There were flowers and fruit carved to make the border of the door and small intricate carvings of animals and plants.

Sebastian opened the door and entered the villa before I had time to inspect the masterpiece any further. “Please come in Mr. Fitzgerald,” Sebastian led the way into the foyer of the villa, it had a high two-story ceiling and a grand spiral staircase that led up to the top floors. We took an immediate right into his study and he walked in and stood to the side, holding the door to let me walk in. It was a marvelous, yet eerie, room. There were massive shelves on every wall and three sets of them going horizontally making isles, like a library. Every shelf was a hodge-podge of books, bottles, jars and what appeared to be bones. I walked towards a set of chairs by the fireplace; there was already a tray of warm tea and biscuits on the side table. “Please sit down Mr. Fitzgerald and have a cup of tea, I will get the book in question.” He then disappeared through a small side door hidden in the shelves.

I made myself as comfortable as I could in the soft, red, leather chair. The tea tasted perfect, exactly how I liked it, I thought it was my favorite brand too. As I waited I looked into the fire, it was very warm but still comfortable and there was a huge mantel that had a picture resting upon it. I stood up, still with my tea in hand, to get a closer look at it. It was a portrait of a man, a young man with long black hair and a bright red cloak. By his dress he looked as though it were from the mid sixteenth century, just as I started to get in even closer to look at the name plate Sebastian walked up behind me, “Here is the book that I wanted you to look at.” He placed the book on the table where the tea tray used to be. I went back to my seat and set down my cup next to the book.

“Now before you open it, let me explain its contents; it is a little complicated you see. The book began in 1330 BC in the Lower Kingdom of Egypt. It began and has continued to this day, as a historical journal sort of speak. Now Mr. Fitzgerald…”

I had to interrupt him, “Please call me Craig, it feels like you are speaking to my father.”

Nodding his head he continued, “Yes, of course, Craig. Now I picked you for certain reasons. You see, you seem like a man that not only knows his history of books, but is also one that is open to different ways of thinking. The idea of your shop is very clever, I think you really started a trend. But as to the topic of my book, well…” He stopped and turned to look at the painting above the fire; it seemed like it just dawned on him that I was looking at it when he walked into the room minutes before, “That portrait, it is of me. I was forty years old when it was done in 1486.” He turned back around to look at me.

I laughed out loud at his ridiculous comment, “Well of course that is preposterous. You cannot expect me to believe that you are almost 340 years old,” I scoffed at his remark, I knew that he was up to something, and I really was not in the mood to have my time wasted.

Just as I was about to stand up to leave he continued, “I was leaving my laboratory in Rome when the previous owner of this book found me out. He told me the history of it, and then gave me the book. The same thing is going to happen to you this evening. You see my dear Mr., sorry, Craig; you see, this is the history of my species, the history vampires.”

At that I laughed out loud and stood up, “Well thank you for the tea and the joke Mr. Vich… eh, Sebastian, but I really must be going now.”

“You still need to look at the book Craig, please. Look at it and tell me what you think of it before you go, then you may head for the door as you wish,” he moved towards the book and opened the front cover of it.

Of course I had to look at it, it was immediately alluring. But his statement about being a vampire was ludicrous, but I was now suddenly a little worried. I thought that if I looked at the book then maybe I could replace out what he was really up to, there was no way that this was the same man as in the portrait. I turned my head to look at the painting; they did look to have the exact same face though, just the hair was different. Asking him, “’If you say that is you, how do you explain your grey hair, doesn’t a vampire get frozen in that state when he is bitten?”

Sebastian got a great grin across his face that went into his eyes, “Well you see that is a phenomenon that I have been studying intently. After I was bitten I went into a slight catatonic state for four days, when I woke up, my hair had lost all of its pigment; come see, it isn’t actually grey, it is more of a white, for a lack of color.”

He held out a lock of his long hair towards me, I cautiously leaned forward to actually look at it; it was white, almost opaque. I looked up into his face and he was just smiling down at me, very serene.

Standing back upright quickly and proclaiming, “Excuse me, but I really must be going now.” I turned to go towards the door, of course I was feeling very odd by this point, I was no longer in the slightest bit at ease here near this bizarre man. I got one step towards the door when Sebastian was suddenly standing in front of me saying, “The book Craig, please?” He moved his arm towards the book.

Stammering, “I really don’t know now, I need to be on my way.”

“Craig, please do not be frightened by me; I really am sorry if I concerned you with my story, I think sometimes I get a little carried away. So please, just take a quick look then you can go.”

I felt in a quagmire, should I really be in fear for my life, should I really be taking him seriously? I thought the book would answer all of my questions if I just took the minute to look, “Alright, I will glance at it.” I stepped back towards the table; the book was sitting there waiting to be touched, to tell its journal through time.

The binding was plain, brown leather that didn’t even hold the title on the spine nor the front cover; when I saw the first printed pages I was instantly mesmerized by what was there. The first page looked to be papyrus, ancient paper, with hieroglyphs painted on it. I was afraid to touch it, I was afraid that it might break apart at my slightest contact. I very gently touched the tip of the page with the end of my finger to turn the page.

“It actually is not as fragile as it looks,” Sebastian told me, “it has been preserved over the years so it is almost as it was the day it was printed upon. I do not know your knowledge on ancient scripts and languages, but you may turn to where the marker is, I think you will be able to read for yourself from that point.”

I carefully moved the pages and as I did so I looked at the way the book was made. I could tell that it was rebound recently, the leather and type of paper that created the cover and end sheets was newer and very expensive. The pages looked as though they were all from different books at one time then put together under one binding. The papers were different, the handwriting, pictures, all of it was one big evolution over the centuries. I was so enthralled with what I was looking at; I ended up sliding down into the chair and placed the book very gently upon my lap. I was hunched over the book like it was new found gold, and to me it was. Not just the history of what the book was made of, but it was also how the book was made that took my breath away. The papyrus in the beginning of the book was so well preserved, then how the second section of the book was once in a scroll that was very delicately cut up to make them back into pages was so remarkable. I had never been able to touch papyrus due to the fact that it is so old therefore it has always been protected by glass. I could tell that there were about seven or ten different ‘owners’ of the book. With every new owner there was a new type of paper, or text. There was no division between the centuries as far as I could tell, just that the new record keepers’ had their own particular style.

After I carefully went through the book to look at its making, I then wanted to actually read it, I had to see if my life was really in danger or if I was just in a lunatics home. I went to where the red, satin bookmarker was and carefully flipped the pages; they felt sturdy but I was still so careful to not rip the paper. I started to read where Sebastian had wanted me to start; it was the first entry of a man named Sir William F. Montgomery in 992 AD. He wrote of the man that had given him this book and how he was turned into a vampire and of his life thus far. I read for about five minutes then realized that in fact, my life was in danger, and this was an autobiography in my lap, not a historical fiction! I tried to keep my alarm from my face so I could play the charade up a little longer to keep my life; I had to figure out how to get out of this house and away from this man. I toyed with the idea of either looking up at Sebastian, or to keep looking like I was reading; I ended up looking up and into Sebastian’s waiting eyes. He had a broad smile across his face like he was sharing a part of history with a knowledgeable peer, not like someone’s life he was about to take. I smiled back and looked back down quickly hoping to fool him for a second so I could decide how I was going to get out of there.

I looked at and flipped pages as slowly as I could muster, I knew he was looking at me and waiting for me to say something about the masterpiece I was holding. I didn’t know what to say for fear that would be his opening to continue his mission but I didn’t know how long I could sit there in silence. Finally I looked up again and saw the same face that I beheld moments before, “This is an amazing piece of work you have here, and the book seems to be quite old.”

“Most of the pages themselves are but I just had the entire collection rebound in the leather. I’m afraid the first few covers didn’t hold up as well as the pages. How do you like the papyrus, and the scrolls that were refurbished to be back into sheet form?” He seemed like a painter just showing off his first oil painting, so excited in what I thought and had to say about it. He seemed as though he wanted to impress me and have me enthralled with what I was holding.

In fact I was enthralled with the book itself, but the contents and what I thought was going to happen next kept me afraid, thoughtful and speechless. “It is amazing for a fact, I have never seen a book quite like this before.”

We looked at each other for a moment, I was afraid of what was going to happen next, and I had no idea what could have been going through his mind at that instant. Sebastian answered with a smile, “Yes indeed it is a spectacular specimen. It has been my pride and joy for so many years, which is why I had to replace someone that will continue to preserve it and keep it pristine. Now Craig, I know that you are thinking that either I am a mad man, or indeed your life will end tonight, am I correct?”

“Yes, on both accounts.”

“Reasonably so. So let me tell you and inquire from you what you would like to happen next.”

Answering simply, “I would like to leave your home now so I can get back to my family, in a normal condition.” I was so nervous, but inquisitive as to why he was dragging this out longer than need be. “Why are you doing this to me? Why didn’t you just swoop in and kill me right off the bat? Why go on with this charade and toy with me?”

“You see, changing a human is not something that we particularly care to do, it is against our nature now. Let me ask this of you then, would you like to hear the reasoning now, or would you rather listen to it in a few days after you recover? Because Craig, you will be turned tonight, there is nothing that you can do about it. I spent many years trying to figure out what to do and now that I have found the answer I am not going back on it. I want to make this as easy for you as possible if I can.”

I was flabbergasted, and becoming angry now. I felt like I was being played with like a mouse by a cat, “I am not going to sit here and listen to this any longer, good night Sebastian.” I stood up to leave and headed towards to door.

After about three steps I could hear him behind me, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, dear Craig, I tried to make it easier on you, so sorry.”

I was suddenly frozen to the spot, my hand stretched out towards the door handle, “Excuse me?” I slowly started to turn around and the next thing that I realized was Sebastian was immediately behind me.

“I told you what was about to happen, you chose the way it was to be done,” He then reached out towards me. I jumped backwards and found that I was closer to the door than I originally thought. I tried to duck out of the way and move but he was so fast!

“You cannot get away from me, you cannot run fast enough either Craig, why make this hard on yourself. I thought I was being gracious by telling you beforehand what I needed of you.”

“Gracious? You bastard!” As I jumped out of the way for the third time I reached for an umbrella that was in a rack by the door. I swung it as hard as I could and hit him in the temple with the tip. When it struck his skull with a quiet thud he started to laugh out loud.

“You silly, silly man, do you really think that you can fight me off? Please, stop resisting and make it easy, when you are calm the venom isn’t as painful as it courses through your body.” With that last remark his grin turned into a grimace and a snarl then erupted from his throat. He reached out and grabbed me by the lapels, “Enough is enough now Craig! This will hurt like hell for a few hours, then you will sleep. When you wake up I will tell you how you are to help me, and you are going to help me.”

I was trying with all my might to break his grip on me but to no avail, his strength was far superior to anything I could have imagined. As he spoke I kept seeing my Amelia in my mind, my brother and parents as well, this cannot be happening to me I thought. I kept struggling as he spoke his final words to me, but then he moved in with lightning speed and accuracy to my jugular vein. The next moment I was withering in pain on the floor with him above me holding me down while he changed my blood into venom.

Sebastian was very correct in what I should be prepared for; the pain in my body was utter torture. My blood felt like it was boiling, my heart was on fire as if about to explode, every muscle, bone, joint and organ was screaming in pain inside of me. And I was helpless; totally and completely helpless. After the initial bite I endured, Sebastian carried me down a flight of stairs to a bedroom. He laid me upon the bed and told me to relax and rest, then he left the room. I have no idea how long I lain there in pain, it seemed like days at the time. I couldn’t sleep and yet I couldn’t move either.

Finally after a long period of time I finally fell asleep. My dreams were horrific nightmares. I dreamt that Sebastian went after my entire family and killed them all in front of me. I dreamt that he used Amelia’s blood to write the next chapter in his horrid book. The book! How I dreamt of that book! It was like I dreamed of every verse, sentence, chapter and page from front to back while I slept. I knew the first pages were of a Pharaoh who was turned by a sorcerer, he thought, and started the book simply as a journal of what he felt and experienced. There is no mention of another of his kind. Then as the years passed I knew all of their names, dates and how they lived. They were the most vivid dreams I have ever had, before or since.

When I finally awoke Sebastian was there in the room sitting in a chair reading. I felt like I had been run over by a team of horses! I tried to speak but no words came out, I tried to get up but my arms felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. And my thirst, oh how I was thirsty! It felt like I walked through the desert then drank a glass of sand, it was the worst pain in my throat I had ever experienced. Sebastian eventually looked up from his reading and looked my way, “Good morning, did you sleep well?” A raspy groan was all I could muster out of my mouth, I just shook my head and tried to point to my throat.

“Are you thirsty Craig? I should think so, you have been asleep for two days now. Come and get up, I will now teach you the ways of your people.” He stood and came towards the bed and lifted my back up and put my legs to the floor. “Now, I know you feel very weak, but you can move, trust me. You are stronger than any man you have ever known, and your senses are all very attuned and alert. These next few days will be awkward and strange compared to what you are used to, but don’t worry, it will all come to you and be normal in no time at all.”

I did as he instructed and I stood up, I was amazed that I could stand, when I was lying down I felt as though I would never be able to move again. I got to my feet assuredly and looked around the room with my new eyes. Everything looked so sharp and crisp, it was amazing how the colors were all so vivid. I could see into every nook and cranny, every speck of dust in the room, every crack in the wood floor. I then attuned my ears to the sounds around me; Sebastian’s breathing was calm and quiet, the candle made a noise as it flickered, I could hear a dog barking from far away and there seemed to be a woman laughing somewhere nearby. The scents that my nose caught were new as well. I could smell the wood floors and the polish used on it, Sebastian had very sweet smelling cologne on, and there was another smell that I couldn’t put my finger on, but it was very strong and musty. I turned and looked at Sebastian as he was patiently standing there waiting for me to finish my first evaluations, “This is amazing, is everything this lucid?”

“Yes it is. Come now upstairs so we can quench that thirst of yours.” He went to the door and opened it for me and waved me forward to take the lead. I ascended the stairs quicker than I had planned, I was at the top looking down before I realized that I had even taken more than two steps. Sebastian chuckled, “You also move much quicker than before as well, there are all sorts of changes that you will have to get used to.” He was beside me and now took the lead to take me through the house. “You will be staying here for some time to get acclimated, I don’t want you to go outside at all until you have learned all that you need to, you are very dangerous to the populace now and we don’t want to create a panic. Come to the kitchen, I already have what you need there.” His tone and demeanor were completely different now from before. Two days ago he was a snarling creature, yet now he seemed like a patient caregiver.

I chuckled, “Are you going to make me a human omelet or something?” At least I didn’t lose some of my humor, but the thought of killing another person was not appealing to me at all, I didn’t know how I was going to deal with this part of it.

“Ha, ha,” he laughed appropriately then said, “no; no humans at all Craig. For some time now we have stopped feeding on other people, it is difficult to live and eat in the same town. I was taught by my creator to feed on the blood of large animals, as he learned from his creator, and as you will learn from me. I’m sure you will replace this very reassuring, if you are at all like I was, the thought is disgusting and disturbing to take another life. Even though we crave blood that doesn’t mean that we have to crave murder. Does that make any sense?”

After sigh of relief I replied, “Yes thank goodness. So then do you have an elk hidden in a cupboard?”

“You are very witty for just waking up, very interesting indeed, I will thoroughly enjoy having you here to learn from and observe. I do have some blood here, from a bear I trapped this morning. I had a feeling that you were going to wake today so I wanted to have something here for your thirst right away.”

We entered the grandest kitchen I had ever seen. It was all new with marble countertops, oak cabinets, an icebox and wood stove. I could only assume that it was for show since he didn’t actually have to cook anything. Sebastian went to the icebox and took out a large, glass container. Instantly I could smell the blood, my thirst suddenly intensified, I jumped out towards Sebastian and grabbed the container from his hands. I couldn’t get the lid off fast enough. I drained the jar in a matter of seconds, “Is there any more?” I gasped, my thirst seemed worse now than it was before.

“Yes, there is plenty, help yourself,” Sebastian moved to the side so I could get to the icebox myself. I re-opened the door and found six more jars full of blood, I grabbed the first one and drained it quicker than the first. I then proceeded to the next jar, and the next. After five jars I felt that I was finally satisfied. I turned to look at Sebastian who was sitting at a small table in the corner watching me. I then realized that my senses were even sharper than before, so I tuned in to the sounds around me now as well the scents and what I could see in the kitchen. Sebastian smiled, “Do you feel better now?”

“Yes, much better thank you. Now what?” I wasn’t too sure what could come next. I thought of my family suddenly and wanted to let them know that I was at least alive. But I knew he would never allow me to have contact with them any longer, I would have to replace a way to get a letter to my brother at least, but what would I say? I went over to the table and sat down heavily.

As if he could read my thoughts he proclaimed, “I know you want to contact your family, especially your Amelia, but you cannot. How would you explain your last few days, the condition you are in, and what your future holds? This will actually be the hardest part of your new life Craig. You will not be able to have a relationship with anymore humans, you can either be solitary, like me; or you can join a coven of vampires for companionship. Now that you are up and around, I would like to tell you of my story, and why I brought you into this life, I’m sure you have been wanting a reason for some time now.”

“Yes I have been wondering. Now that you have forced me into this life that I didn’t, and don’t want, and now that I am equal to you, who says that I will not kill you and escape?” I was trying to play a mind game with him to see what his intentions were, I felt I had no other way to battle this man.

“You can try to kill me, but you are not quite equal to me yet. You are still a newborn and I am many, many years old, you will not be as strong as me for a while yet, sorry. As for escaping, you may leave any time you wish, I am not your captor. But I would like to warn you if you do choose to leave; you are on your own, you will not know of our ways, you will not know what to expect, and if you are found out you will be killed.

As a calmness came over me I thought about what he had said and my sudden burst of bravado dissipated just as quickly as it appeared. Maybe now knowing that the danger was done and my family was safe I felt a little better. I just nodded my head and looked down at my incredibly pale hands on the table top.

He continued, “So that is your choice. I chose to help you and to teach you as much I can so you can live a life that is as close to normal as possible. Come now, let us go into the library and I will start to make some sense out of all of this.” He rose and didn’t wait for me so I followed him through his home, now mine for an unknown time span, and took in everything with my new senses.