Days pass and i only grow more tired. Everyone has been acting strange. Our bodies ache. We eat, yet nothing can cure our hunger. We can't sleep at night. We beg and beg Jonah to tell us what is happening, but he refuses to tell us anything. Everyone is looking at us in the halls with these looks of confusion and distress as if something is wrong with us. I can't seem to pinpoint it. I look in the mirror and i see nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing out of place. Yet, something feels different. Something feels off. I just can't put my finger on it.
Jonah calls a meeting in his basement a week after the ceremony and feast. I enter a little early as usual. The basement is as dark and dank as ever. There's candles placed around the room to give a little light to our surroundings. The room fills up with our members. By the time the strikes seven, everyone is here. We all wait patiently for Jonah to start the meeting. Small conversations are going on. I pick up on a few words here and there, but none of it makes much sense.
Finally Jonah enters the basement. He looks so pale and thin. It's kind of hot. He stands in the center of the room, standing over everyone like a God. He glances at each and every face as if taking role.
"I know you're all very curious as to what is going on with us. After the ritual, the changes have started. You may feel off, hungry, sick, restless, exhausted. These are all normal. What we have done has been done before, but not for centuries. I have gifted you all. You should feel honored to experience this. All of the side effects will fade as time goes by. You will grow stronger. Smarter. Better. Give it time. Everything will be worth it."
Everyone sits in confusion. He's avoiding the situation completely. He won't tell us what we've done or what is happening. Just how great it is.
Someone speaks up and says "What exactly did we do? Why aren't you telling us?"
Jonah becomes angry at this.
"Are you questioning me? Me? Do you remember what happened to the last person that stepped out of line with me?" He grabs the kid by the collar of his shirt and lifts him up until his face meets his. He's so angry. His face becomes strange. His eyes seem to darken and then become a reddish color. It's probably just the lighting, but he almost looks.... Evil.
He changes his grip and now his hand is wrapped around the kids throat. Everytime he strengthens his grip the kid's face turns a shade darker. He sputters to breathe. Finally Jonah tosses him to the ground. He laughs meticulously.
"Anyone else want to question me?" He smiles evilly as he glances across the room. No one says anything.
"Good. This meeting is over. We must stick together. We can't let anyone know what we've done. Stay low and connected. Keep an eye on each other. It will all be better soon."
Everyone starts for the door, slowly, yet steadily. Before I can exit, Jonah grabs my arm and slips me a note. He looks me dead in the eyes as if to apologize. He lets me go and i continue to wander out the door.
I don't open the note until I get home. It seems secret and I don't want anyone else to read it. I open it in private and it reads the simplest message; Meet me in the basement at the stroke of midnight. Make sure you are not followed.
Why does Jonah want to meet? Maybe he finally wants to confess his love for me. This makes me so excited and happy. I rip open my closet and choose my most revealing outfit in hopes he'll confess his love and just ravish my body. I plaster on my black eyeliner making sure i look as dark as possible.
I make my way across town to Jonah's house. When I arrive, all the lights are out except for a low glow coming from his basement door, which is cracked open just enough as if to say Come in. I've been expecting you. I almost cream my pants at the thought of this. I lift open the basement door enough to slip inside. My heart beats a million beats a second as I make my way down the steps.
Finally, I see him. Standing before a candlelit altar in his basement. He looks so dark and tall. So handsome. The real Daddy Rawr XD King.
"Jonah." He turns around to see me standing before him. He looks at me in such disgust. It makes me turn into a waterfall. I love how degrading he is.
"What the fuck are you wearing?"
"Do you like it? I wore it for you Daddy."
"You look gross. Your shoes don't even compliment your skirt."
"You're so sweet."
"Anyways. I asked you here because i need to tell someone. Although your fashion sense or lack thereof sucks, you seem to be the only person I can trust. It's time you know."
"Know what, Jonah? I don't think I'm following."
He walks toward the back of the basement and i follow. He leads me to a bookcase. He reaches up and grabs a thick old book. It looks so heavy, but he lifts it as if its nothing. He sets it down on the table.
"I found this a while back. I was working in the stacks at the library. While i was back there I entered the area where you have to have special permission to even look through the books. Sensitive material, pornography, etc. I was curious and started looking through it all. That's when I found this." He opens the book to a bookmarked page, "I didn't know what it was at first. Until I started reading it of course. It's a book of rituals and spells. I snuck it out the back so no one would know what I'd taken. I spent hours and hours thumbing through it. That's when I knew exactly why i was attracted to this book. This page right here. It's a ritual for immortality. Whoever had it before left little notes here and there. It's all a little sloppy, but it's legible. I found the cure for dying. I wanted to live forever and i found exactly how."
"What does all this mean? What did you find? What did we do?"
"Do you really not understand? We're immortal! We're never going to die! Do you understand how great that is? Have you any idea what we've accomplished?"
"Jonah. You're still not telling me all the details. How are we never going to die? What did we actually do?"
He stands and ponders for a moment as if he's debating telling me the whole truth or only half the truth.
"Read this." He points toward a page in the book. " It might help you understand."
I step closer to the table and lean over enough to read the words on the page. Vampyr. The title of the page itself is absolutely haunting. The page is covered in graphic images of people being attacked by these monsters, their blood being drained from their bodies. The ritual described matches what we did exactly. The side effects of this include restlessness, sensitive eyes, aching bones, endless hunger, and every other thing we're all experiencing. Underneath endless hunger, it lists a cure for the hunger; blood. I grab Jonah and shake him.
" What the fuck did you do, Jonah? What did you do??? This isn't right! I'm sorry, but this is so wrong. You didn't even ask. "
"Do not talk to me like that. I am your leader. I shouldn't have to ask. I command and you will obey. Do you understand? This is a gift. You should be thankful. I've given you eternal life. All of you. We will live forever. Together."
"At what price, Jonah? At what price?"
This is when i walk out of the basement before he can answer or stop me. I walk all the way home in complete silence. I can't think. I can't breathe. Nothing. I am nothing.
I am a monster.
