Bound Souls

Turned

Later that night...

I wake up and groan softly as I slowly open my eyes. I tense up as I notice another presence in my chambers. I slowly sit up in my bed and cautiously look around my room. I glance toward the curtains in front of my window and notice a pair of feet beneath them. I ask firmly, "Whoever is there behind my curtains, come out now. Or face the consequences."

A soft chuckle is all that I hear emit from behind the curtain as fingers begin to curl around the edge of them. My eyes widen in fright as a figure begins to reveal itself from its hiding place. A gentleman appears from behind the curtain. He smirks toward me as he straightens his shoulders in confidence. He bows curtly as he says softly, "Marcus, it is quite the pleasure to make your acquaintance."

I ask, shock lacing in my voice, "How do you know my name? And who are you?" A sly smile graces his lips as he responds, "Anyone of importance knows your name, dear boy. My name is of no matter, for it is meaningless to know it." Before I could ask anything more, the stranger pounces upon me. I try to fight against him but find that he has immense strength, and I am rendered helpless as both of my hands are restricted by one of his own. Fear flows strongly through me as I see fangs protrude from his lips, and his eyes turn to a deep shade of red.

In a flash, I feel his fangs puncture through my flesh and become frozen as the stranger begins draining me of my blood. I become weak as I feel my heartbeat slow and my eyes fight to stay open. The stranger releases his fangs from my neck as my thick red blood drips from his lips and down his chin. He remarks in a whisper, "You are marked in destiny, my friend," he raises his wrist and slices it open with one of his sharp, claw-like fingernails, "I hear by bless you with the gift of eternity." He puts his wrist to my lips, and a look of confusion crosses my features as I feel his blood drip onto my lips and tongue.

I begrudgingly hold his wrist to my lips as I drink his blood, the warm, metallic liquid flowing down my throat. After a moment, he pulls his wrist away, and I begin to feel the most excruciating pain that I had ever felt in my life. I begin to groan and spasm as the stranger says softly, "Don't fight against the change. For it is only your body that dies." Now that he mentioned it, the pain that I am feeling is oddly familiar to what feels like death. I let out a weak sigh as the pain subsided, and an immense hunger fills all of my senses.

I sit up and gently cup my hand around my throat, and I groan painfully as my hunger increases, "What have you done to me?" The stranger smiles slyly, replying, "You are now a vampire, a being doomed to walk the earth forever. We are solitary creatures, sworn to keep our identity secret from the living world. We face other dangers as well, but you will encounter those things in time, and if you ever do, follow your instincts." I tightly close my eyes as I feel an excruciating pain in my mouth. The stranger looks to me as my fangs begin to protrude from my lips, and he sighs, "I suppose I should show you how to hunt." I scoffed, "Perhaps we should have discussed this before you pounced on me and turned me into a vampire."

He states nonchalantly, "We could have, but I was too hungry to carry on with such a conversation." At his comment, I raise my eyebrow and ask with fury rising through my veins, "Why me?" The stranger runs his fingers through his hair before responding calmly, "The easiest way that I can explain it is that every vampire has a different pallette. For example, I have a taste for noble blood, and you were within the limit of my hunting grounds." I ponder on this for a moment, but before I could come up with a response, the smell of blood fills my nose. I close my eyes and try to keep my breathing steady as I try to hold back the ferocious hunger that writhes within me.

The stranger's weight shifts from the bed as he comes to stand at his full height once more. He walks over to the window and opens the curtains before stating, "Come, my friend. Let us go out to hunt. We don't want you killing anyone within the walls of your home just yet." I get up from my bed and quickly pull on a pair of pants before standing next to him at the window. I look out and see the forest just beyond the walls of our garden. I hear him ask in disgust, "You're seriously thinking of having your first kill be a pathetic animal?" I retort back in a snarl, "I have no desire to kill a human. It's an animal or nothing." He pinches the bridge of his nose as he sighs in defeat, "Fine, but you will find that killing animals is not as satisfying as killing humans." I quietly open the window to my chambers as I reply, "I suppose I shall have to see for myself."

I look down from my chamber window and become bewildered as I question how this stranger was able to get into my chambers. To climb the wall up to my window itself is no small task or easy feat to accomplish. He answered my internal question, "I was able to scale up the stone walls with my claws. Any normal person would find it difficult to do such a task, but we vampires have it easier in that aspect." I look to him and ask, "So how in the hell are we going to get down?" He laughed in a low tone before he replied, "Follow my lead."

A confused smile grows on my face as he leaps out of my bedroom window, and I chuckle in amazement as he lands safely on the ground. The stranger looks up to me and mouths, "Come on. Trust your instincts." I exhale before leaping out of the window, and I listen to my instincts before closing my eyes. I feel the grass beneath my feet as I land safely and open my eyes. I look to the stranger as I sense his presence beside me before he states with a small smile, "You are quite the fast learner. I'll admit that I am thoroughly impressed."

I nod curtly as I reply, "Thank you." He gestures out to the forest and begins walking towards it, and I follow him without hesitation. Once we enter the treeline of the forest, I say to the stranger, "You know it would make things easier for me if I knew what to call you." He chuckles, "Alright, Marcus. I shall tell you my name, but only on one condition." I respond, "What's your condition?"

He replies in a serious tone, "I meant what I said when I told you that vampires are solitary creatures. So if I tell you my name, you must swear to never come looking for me. If I feel a need to come find you, I will." I ponder the facts that he has stated to me earlier, and the fact that vampires are sworn to secrecy on their identities makes sense, but why must we? "We are constantly hunted, Marcus. At some point, you may encounter the ones that are sworn to the Catholic church to hunt us down. That's why hiding our identities is so important." I respond, "Then I swear that after tonight is over, I won't come looking for you and continue to not only help keep my identity a secret, but yours as well." The stranger stopped in his tracks before turning to me with a proud smile and replies, "Then, my friend, you may call me Lucius."

I smile in return as we continue deeper into the forest and begin my first hunt.