Chapter 6 - Vampires!
Once Daniel was inside, he shut the window behind him, and drew the curtains before looking at his terrified friend. "Theo-" he started.
"Daniel, you, you're covered in...in..." He couldn't finish, his eyes transfixed to Daniel's shirt.
Daniel looked down, "Ah crap." He muttered seeing the blood, "I liked this shirt." He looked up, "Do you think I could borrow a clean one Theo? I hate being covered in this stuff."
Theodore nodded and pointed to his closet, his eyes flickering from the blood spattered shirt to Daniel's face. Daniel realized his casual attitude to what had just happened wasn't helping. "Theo..." he said gently, talking a step towards him. Theodore took an involuntary step back. Daniel sighed and went over to get a shirt, picking the first one that came to hand, a little small, but okay. He rubbed the flecks of blood off his hands with his shirt and threw it into the bin.
He turned back to Theodore who was still standing in the middle of the room. "Theo, I-"
"Are you going to kill me too Dan?"
Daniel stared at him in horror, "God no! No way! Theo, I had to kill it. If I had't it would have killed you." His face softened, "Theo, you're my best mate, I don't want you dead and I wasn't gonna let someone kill you."
"So it was a someone?"
"Not exactly. It used to be but," he paused, "he changed. He wasn't human anymore, nor was he quite what he was changing into."
"What was that?" Theodore demanded the information.
Daniel tilted his head, regarding at him. Then he walked over and sat in the bed. He looked down at his hands. If he told him, there wouldn't really be any way back. Why did he feel he could tell this guy he'd only known a week his deepest secret? "Theo, if I tell you this, you can't tell another human being, ever. It will also change your life, there will be only two paths you can walk along." He frowned, "There is a third I guess, but thats not really a proper option."
"What are they?"
Daniel looked him right in the eye, watching his reaction, "One, you die." Theodore's eyes flickered, "Two, you become like that creature and eventually, like me, a fully sentient being again. Or I guess the third is that you're made to forget that it ever happened, though that often doesn't really work so, as I said it's not really a choice."
The terrified look had gone from Theodore's face. He was no longer in shock. Instead, he seemed to be completely composed, yet Daniel saw telltale signs that he was fighting an internal battle. He raised his chin, "Tell me."
Daniel sighed, he brought he knees up to his chest and rested his chin in them. "I'll tell you what happened to me. How I became what I am." He smiled, "It's not a short story Theo, you'll fall over if you stay standing there the whole time."
Theodore nodded and walked slowly over and sat at the other end of the bed. "Tell me."
Daniel was silent for a minute, staring at the floor. "I was born in 16th century England to a merchant middle class family under the rule of Elizabeth the first. I had one older brother and later, one younger. Shortly before my 18th birthday something happened that changed my life completely, leaving no way whatsoever back to my old life.
"One night, my parents and my two brothers went out, I was ill and so stayed at home, waiting for their return. I fell asleep. But woke to feel even worse than I did before, this wasn't the cold I had earlier, it felt as though my very life was being drained from me. I couldn't move, frozen, paralyzed, fixed in place by pain. Then, all of a sudden it stopped. I felt better than I ever had in my life; strong, powerful. I opened my eyes, the room didn't seem as dark as it had been - it was just after midnight, my family were late - there was someone in the room. I looked at him, he had red, glowing eyes, dirty blond hair that was tied back, and ragged clothing. We stared at each other for a moment, then he jumped out of my open window and left me by myself.
"My creator, some ragged fool living on the streets." He looked at Theodore, who was watching him, transfixed.
"Keep going Dan." He prompted.
Daniel sighed, this was the hard bit, the memory he always suppressed. "Okay. So, he jumped out of the window, leaving me. Not that I cared. I wanted something else. I was thirsty. But not for water or anything like that. It was just then my family arrived back." He looked at Theodore with pain in his eyes, "Why did they have to come back at that moment?" He took a slow breath, "My family arrived back home, I heard them come in, from all the way up in my room, I heard their footsteps outside and them opening the door and walking inside. I waited in my room, listening. Then I heard footsteps on the stairs. I slipped out, not making a sound, and waited in the shadows. My parents went into their bedroom, I followed them in, slipping through the door before it closed. They saw me, they were afraid, I remember thinking that this was good, their heart rate sped up, I could hear that." He looked down at his hands, clenching and unclenching them.
Theodore put his hands over them. "What happened?"
Daniel looked at him, "I killed them. Both of them."
Theodore's eyes widened. He let go of Daniel's hands, "You killed them? Your own parents?"
"Yes." Daniel looked away, "I remember every detail. That memory will haunt me to my dying day Theo. But it gets worse."
Theodore shook his head, "How could anything be worse than that?"
"My brothers." Daniel said simply. "My younger brother didn't even see my red eyes or the blood covering me, he just saw me his older brother, he smiled and reached up to me to say hello." Theodore was staring at him in horror. "My older brother saw me. He spoke and said, "Oh God, Daniel, what have you done, what have you become?" I looked up from the body of my dead brother. When he said my name I came to my senses, just for long enough to see what I had done. "No." I whispered. But the scent of blood around me was too much, I lost it again. And killed him too. Then, with no one left in the house, I left. I wasn't thirsty anymore. But I knew what I had become." He looked at the appalled Theodore. "Do you believe in vampires Theo?"
Theodore's lips moved but he said nothing.
"I've done terrible things in my life Theo. Terrible, terrible things. You saw a glimpse of that creature earlier. That was what I was. That's why it couldn't stay alive."
"But now you don't...you go to school and stuff, you have friends, you don't...you don't..."
"Kill people?"
Theodore stared at him.
"I wish I could say no Theo, I really, really do."
Theodore was sitting there shaking his head his hand over his mouth, tears started slipping down his face, "How can you do that Daniel? How can you?"
"I...Theo, if I don't feed I go crazy, like I was new born again. Anyone could die. All I can do is to find someone who has no family, no friends and no home. Someone who won't be missed. That way I hurt no one."
"Except the people you kill Dan. What about them?"
"I know. But I try, I try not to let them feel any pain. I try to do it as little as possible, I do. Most vampires feed 1-2 times a week, for me, thats once every two moons, once every couple of months. I really, really try Theo."
"Okay. You try Dan, but you still kill people." He wiped his eyes, though they continued to spill tears.
"You know you can't ever tell anyone. Not just for me, but I don't want you getting locked up for being some crazy guy talking about how his best friend is suddenly a vampire. If others know you know they will want to kill you Theo. The fact people know nothing is something we as a species can't loose."
Theodore nodded sadly. "How does your story continue?"
