Something Sweet, Something Sinister; The War Begins (A Vampire Novel)

Chapter 11

We retreated from the mirror slowly. The awkward silence had officially kicked in.

I coughed to clear my throat and try to relieve some tension. Then I quickly grabbed the book that Pierce had given me and opened it. 

The novel included information about the very first known vampire, who was Pierce's great, great, grandfather. 

That vampire's name was Lorenzo, and he had been the twin brother of a human named Giovanni. 

Giovanni was the first known hunter, spanning hundreds of generations of humans. It was noted that he pursued his brother because he thought that a curse was what made him have the "unnatural tendancy" to crave and drink blood. Giovanni hoped to find a cure and spent many years trying to go after Lorenzo, but he ended up passing of old age before he could do anything while his brother stayed young and in his prime.

Lorenzo developed the speical ability to turn humans into vampires because of the purity of his blood. He used this to create more who were like him, but they were never quite as powerful as he was. The only vampires who ever became close to him in regards to power were his own offspring.

Giovanni had also had children, who grew up with the notion to avenge their father. They misunderstood their father's love for his brother and assumed he had spent his whole life trying to kill him. Because of this, the hunters recruited more people and trained them on what they learned over the years and their numbers grew.

Many of the vampires who were newly created by Lorenzo had no idea how to control their impulses and went after unsuspecting humans instead of animals. This caused the hunters to respond with violence, vowing to eradicate every last one of the vampires.

That was what started the war. 

While I was reading, Pierce was hastily scribbling words down and burning through the huge stack of papers on his desk. Apparently, the pile had been comprised of work that he had been putting off doing.

Neither of us wanted to bring up what happened, so we kept our heads locked down until each of us finished what we started doing.

Pierce was the one who changed the subject first.

"If you'll excuse me for a few minutes, I need to change out of my daily attire."

He opened a door on the other side of the room that had been too dark for me to see before. Inside was a large wardrobe filled with an impressive collection of clothes, much more than the casual shorts and t-shirts I had found of his earlier. Beyond the wardrobe was another door, which led to a private bathroom. Realizing we had our own bathroom made me feel instantly more comfortable in this unfamiliar place. I wouldn't have to leave the safety of his room to go when I had to.

As Pierce started to undress right there in the hallway, my face turned hot and I let out a small squeak, hastily turning away and closing my eyes.

"Oh, sorry," he said with a chuckle. "I'm not used to sharing my room yet."

"It's fine," I stammered, trying to sound nonchalant. "You don't have to change your routine because of me."

Pierce raised an eyebrow at my feeble attempt at reassurance. "Well then, you might want to open your eyes."

I opened one eye cautiously to see him grinning mischievously, fully aware of my discomfort.

His shirt was still off in a crumpled pile on the floor and the buckle of his pants was undone. His side was bruised slightly, and I wondered what had happened to him and if there was a reason it wasn't already healed.

"I thought you said this didn't bother you?" he teased.

Pierce had a smirk plastered across his entire face, and didn't seem embarassed at all. In fact, he was watching me like this was the most fun he had ever had in his entire life.