-Arael-
In full awareness of the consequences of my action, I'd done the unthinkable. But what did it matter? I
was a traitor now, so what did I have to lose. Oh that's right...
My life.
I'd drained someone of their very last drop of blood, drinking beyond the point of the heart stopping
and now I was dead.
Wasn't I?
Let me take inventory. It is dark. I cannot move. There is no sensory stimulation. Yes, I'm certain I am
dead. This sucks. I come to a grand realization, find the person I'm meant to be with, then die the next
night. I can't say there is no good, though. I could have died without that. Then what would I have to
comfort me until my eyes opened on the other side?
Death felt weird. My heart was no longer beating and it was like I was floating. My body didn't exist to
me. I was just a consciousness in the darkness. Slipping away was easy enough though. Truth be told,
the only hard part was hearing him cry.
I'd never thought Bacchus would become so attached to me so quickly. I actually felt a touch of his
agony before I went under. It was horrible. I felt the hole that my death had ripped in his chest. In fact,
I could still feel it.
Wait a minute...
I could still feel. That meant I still had a body. I ran through my memories for everything I'd been told
about death.
~When we die, it will be like being knocked unconscious. The time will come and we will wake on the
other side and it will be as if we've only just closed our eyes a moment ago.~
That was my Sire's response to me when I'd asked him about it, his response based on the memory of
his own mortal death. If that were the case, then I wasn't doing it right. I could feel and I was aware
that it was very dark. I was most definitely not unconscious and this could not be the 'other side'
I could feel my mind stirring. I was excited or panicking, uncertain of which just yet. I was certain that if
I were really dead, then I would not be so aware. With that realization, I saw something in the dark. I
couldn't tell up from down right now, so if I was lying down it was above me, if I was standing it was in
front of me. There was something floating there in the dark with what were unmistakably my
luminescent blue eyes.
I wanted to reach out to touch whatever it was, but I could not move my body yet. On the knowledge
that I was still just a floating consciousness, I willed myself forward. The thing moved away. I continued
to move forward, but it kept moving away. As I willed my mind to chase it, I felt something building
behind/underneath me, once more depending on whether I was standing or lying. It was almost like
water. As I willed myself onward, I stayed afloat. I didn't dare test whether or not it would support my
mind or let me sink if I stopped.
I felt like I was climbing out of a well. The thing was certainly above me now. There was a fluttering
around my mind. I suddenly felt a wave of joy go over my consciousness. On the assumption that I was
climbing, my mind gave me mental arms and legs to do it with. I couldn't see what I was climbing to
aside from the thing with my eyes, but I could feel it. I could sense that if I continued to follow my
eyes, my sight would be at the top of this well.
Faster. I moved faster. I couldn't stand it. I had to get to the top. There was no way that I was dead, at
least not permanently. I could sense my sight, my touch, taste smell and hearing. They would be mine
again. All I had to do was get out of this damned hole I'd been cast into! Suddenly the eyes that were
fleeing me merged into a spiral of blue-white light and stopped fleeing. I reached out for it as the
pressure building behind me pushed me toward it.
The next instant, I was pushing the lid of a casket open. I made it. I was alive again! The rule about
stopping before the heart was crap! I could see! I could feel! Yikes, I could feel, and it was
uncomfortably hot. I sat up and looked around. In front of the casket was a blazing inferno. For a
moment I thought I'd done all that climbing just to climb into hell. There was a pillar of pale blue light
coming down into the flames. Moonlight. Now I had a vague idea of where I was. I knew that in
general, I was underground. It couldn't be a grave, because graves don't have fires. Upon further
examination, I noticed that the pillar of light was square. It was coming through something. There was
a shaft leading out of here.
Before I even realized I was moving, I'd leaped over the flames and clawed into it. I despaired over the
thought of physical climbing for only a second before - like before - I found myself at the top of the
shaft before I was done thinking about getting there. What I saw stung me.
I was standing in a burned patch of earth. Immediately I realized where I was. This was where
Bacchus's cabin was. His beautiful home had been burned down. I gasped.
"That can't mean that... oh God... they couldn't have killed him, could they?"I sniffed the air for his
scent, but then smacked my forehead. Bacchus smelled of trees and I was surrounded by them. If I
was going to find out what I desperately need to know I'd have to -.
And once more, before I could finish the thought, I was moving. My body seemed to know what I
wanted as I processed the thoughts. What was going on? I looked around and realized that I was not
seeing with my immortal eyes. Everything was bathed in moonlight, but it was still dark. I closed my
eyes for a moment as I sailed through the trees, then reopened them. When they ignited I came to a
screeching halt on one of the branches.
These were not my eyes. Everything was visible now, but instead of the blue light I saw everything in,
everything was tinted red. I blinked a few times, but it didn't change anything. It began to hit me. I
placed a paw over my heart, then in different spots over my chest. I had no heartbeat. It was all
connecting now. I was in a dark place with no senses. I'd climbed out. I'd busted out of a casket. I could
move faster than I could think and now everything I saw was bathed in red. If I were alive, I would
have fainted. I'd truly joined the ranks of the undead now.
I was a Strigoii.
I felt myself shaking at the revelation. Now was not the time to break down. I'd freak out later, but
now I had to find Bacchus. I sniffed the still air, but there was nothing. How could his scent already be
gone? There was no way that could have happened in such a short time.
How long was I dead?
This was heavy. I needed help. Something struck me then. As if the thought of need opened up
another area of my mind - my new mind - and showed me the things I needed. I clutched my throat
as one of my needs hit me. My throat felt like sandpaper and fire. Bacchus had told me that only blood
would satisfy a Strigoii.
I had to kill someone. I could feel it. The only way I could get enough to soothe this burn was to drain
someone to the point of death, but I couldn't. I didn't have that in me. In over five hundred years, I'd
always used blood banks, or only drank what I needed to be strong from mortals, but this new thirst
was demanding a life.
Wait... What if I didn't exactly kill someone? I sat on the branch I'd stopped on and pondered this. I
could put off actually killing someone. Instead, what if I could Sire someone? Who would I turn into a
vampire? I didn't have many people in my life. Only two that I could trust and one was already...
I shook my head. It was a ridiculous notion! There was no way I was going to turn Maxwell into a
vampire! I didn't even know how to do it! Then, like before when I thought of needs, my mind shifted
through the library of subconscious knowledge. I did know, and it was plausible.
I needed enough blood to take a life, but I was still bound by the rule of stopping before the heart did.
Theoretically, I could drain enough of Max's blood to ward off my thirst, then let him drink from me to
turn him.
Why was I thinking of this as if I were really going to eat Maxwell?! I couldn't do that to him. But what
other option was there? I could either endure this horrible burning now until I found Bacchus, or I
could turn Maxwell. Actually, it was not all that impossible a thought.
At least twice before, I've told Maxwell that I would love to have him at my side forever because of
how much I could trust him. Maxwell was more than just my driver. There were times he made sure I
wasn't found out and that I didn't get incinerated in the sun. He even though of, designed, and built
the coffin into the seat of the limo. I couldn't let him die - not that he was dying - so I eased my
conscience by telling myself that I couldn't let him age too far before turning him.
Choice made, I bolted off into the city.
***
It didn't take me long to find him, but it was rather odd to find the gryphon at his apartment at night. I
hadn't knocked yet, but I could hear him inside. He was watching television. I took a moment to gather
myself and run through how I'd go about getting him to agree. I'd made my choice, but I still wanted
him to consent to it. Even if he didn't, however, I know he would forgive me at some point. I didn't
think he'd let something at small as killing him come between us. I knocked three times.
"Who the hell?" I heard him ask as he got off what I assumed was a couch to answer the door. The
instant he opened it, I slipped in and around him. When the gryphon didn't see anyone, he yawned
and closed the door, then walked into the kitchen, not noticing me sitting on the couch, channel
surfing.
"You know, this late night TV crap numbs your mind." I called to him. I heard him drop a glass. "I hope
that wasn't expensive." He was looking to the couch where he'd heard me, but I was standing behind
him now. "I hope you don't mind me bothering you at your home." It was a strange sight. When we
were out and about, he was always sharply dressed. Now he was barely dressed, wearing only a pair
of white, pin-striped boxers.
He jumped forward, startled. Before he could land in the glass, I'd slipped off my seat on the counter
and caught him around the waist. I moved him over the broken glass and put him down safely away
from it.
"It's fine, just glad you didn't get here about five minutes ago." He said, yawning and scratching his
stomach. Maxwell was in very good shape, which gave me more reason for choosing him. If he didn't
take such good care of his body in life, he'd be no use to me finding Bacchus in death. "But could you
do me two favors?"
"Sure."
"Wear a bell or something, 'cuz you're too damned quiet, and next time you save me from glass, don't
press your cold self to me. Got my nipples all pokey and shit."
I laughed at him and shook my head. "Sorry about that. Couldn't help it, you're warm and I've had a
very cold... When was the last time you saw me?"
He glanced at a calendar held to his refrigerator by a magnet. "Three nights ago."
I pinned the shock in my chest. I'd been dead for three nights, but it only felt like a few minutes. The
time it took me to climb back into life. "Yea, I've had a very cold three nights."
"Yea, I'll need you to call me when you disappear like that." He said, walking over to a light switch.
I was opening my mouth to comeback with a crack about how I was old enough to be his 'let's just say
very great grandfather' when I suddenly found myself screaming and shielding my eyes. I heard him
gasp just before turning the light off. How did Bacchus tolerate the sensitivity to light that came with
being undead?
"Shayne, what happened to you?!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Let me get you a mirror."
I beat him to the bathroom and when he arrived, he found me with my paws over my mouth. I'd come
to accept my now blood red eyes, even the fact that they screamed the color in darkness, but this was
too much.
Perhaps I was overreacting, but I couldn't help but feel a cold stab in my heart when I saw that my
once flawless, silver fur had been changed. I was still a beautiful silver fox capable of modeling, but
now there were obsidian markings just beneath my eyes, on the backs of my paws and around my wrists and
there was a streak of white in my raven hair. For a moment, I questioned why I hadn't seen them on
Bacchus's body, but his fur was already jet black.
"Shayne, what's happened to you?" Maxwell asked, stepping up and placing a hand on my shoulder.
I turned around and disappeared in his eyes, moving quickly to the couch in his living room. He was
there a couple moments later sitting with me. I shook my head, then turned my red tinted gaze on him
once more.
"Maxwell... I broke a major rule for vampires."
"What did you do?" he asked, putting his hand back on my shoulder. "Are you in some kind of
trouble?"
I shook my head again. "Aside from not telling mortals about our kind, we're to stop drinking from
someone before their heart stops. Well, three nights ago, me and..." I wasn't sure if I should say
Bacchus's name just yet. "...a friend were in real trouble and I had to kill a vampire. The only thing I
could think to do to make sure he died was to completely drain him." I looked into his eyes again.
"Maxwell... I died three nights ago.
The gryphon cocked his head to the side. "Wait. You're a vampire. Aren't you already dead?"
Shaking my head seemed on the rise tonight. "There are two kinds of... vampires." I felt a familiar chill.
I got it once before the night I told Maxwell I was a vampire. "I can't do this." I beat down everything
that bothered me right now and took the gryphon's hand into my paw. "Maxwell, just now, without
realizing it, I was going to bind you to something that I want you to choose first."
"What are you talking about?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me. Max didn't snatch away from me,
but I wasn't sure if it was because he wasn't feeling the fear I thought he would or because he knew I
could overpower him with ease.
"Since I told you what I was years ago, you've always been in danger." I explained, not looking at him.
"But since you've been quiet about it, you've been relatively safe." Now I looked at him. I saw my very
trusting mortal friend and confidant. "I can't do this. Just now, I was going to tell you another secret,
which would have marked you for death."
"Why would you do that?" he asked. There was a hint of betrayal in his eyes, like he was deciding
whether or not he wanted to be my friend anymore.
I shook my head. "There is something I need you to consent to. I'm sorry. I had planned on scaring you
into it, but you're my friend, so I couldn't do it."
Maxwell didn't speak for a while. I could almost hear the wheels turning in his mind. The silence was
maddening. He squeezed my paw. "What do you need from me?"
Sharply, I turned my gaze from my paws to his face. "You're not angry with me?"
He smirked. "I'm pissed, but I know you wouldn't have gotten so close to killing me if you didn't have a
reason. So, why? Why were you going to 'mark me for death'?"
I took a few deep breaths before I answered him. "Because I need you to become what I once was."
Maxwell's pupils narrowed. Suddenly, he was trembling. He backed away from me. "W-what?!" he
almost screamed, clutching his chest.
"Listen, I know it's a big decision, but I have reasons. And I'm sorry, but I must ask that you make the
choice soon."
"Why?! Do you realize what you're asking of me?" Maxwell stood up, still shaking. "You're asking me
to give up on mortality. You're asking me to die..."
I shook my head again. "You'll just black out for a few hours. Maxwell, I need you to do this for me.
First, because I need help finding my friend. He disappeared after I died and I need another vampire
to find him, one that I can trust." I took a deep breath before I gave him my second reason. Surely I
could just leave it at that, but honesty seemed best right now. "And secondly... because I need blood."
He gasped. "Can't you just go out and eat someone?! Who's gonna outrun you?!"
"Out of all the years you've been working for me, have you ever seen me kill someone?" I asked him.
"I use blood banks and on the rare occasion I drink from someone, I don't take enough to kill them and
I always call paramedics."
"Can't you do that now?"
I shook my head and sighed. "I need enough fresh blood to kill. But since I don't want to kill anyone,
the only thing I can do is turn someone. You're the only one I'd turn." I moved closer to him and
grabbed his wrist. "I know it's a lot to ask, but please think about it. I'm going to go out and try to
sleep. Maybe it'll take my mind off this damned burning." I said, running a paw over my throat.
Maxwell blinked and I was by the window. "I'll be back tomorrow night. I'm sorry for making you
decide so soon." I opened the window and jumped out, disappearing into the night.
