Chapter 1: Awakening

Zayne is a fairly normal person in what he thinks is a fairly normal world. He goes to a party and sees a new side of the world.

Chapter 1: Awakening

Growing up in Reading, Pennsylvania everyone has two choices. Rise above the environment and become somebody successful. The other choice was to be an outcast like everybody else. I always tried my hardest to be somebody important to the world.

For the first 18 years of my life, I threw myself into my schoolwork and barely cared about my social life. My social life was dead as far as I was concerned. What was the point of making friends? All they do is take up valuable time.

My life changed drastically during my 18^th year. I was thrown out of school because of some stupid scandal the few friends I had were involved with. Guilt by association kicked in and I had nothing. I still stayed studious in hopes of finding another way. In the end, my attempts were all in vain. My life was in free-fall and I didn’t have a parachute.

I started hanging out in streets during my nights. I learned how to live on the streets. My academic knowledge was slowly mixing with knowledge of survival. I could have become anything just one year beforehand. Now, I was stuck either having a minimum wage job or selling drugs.

My home life suffered at that point. My parents started fighting frequently and I became a disappointment instead of something to be proud of. How could I continue living like this? It was impossible. I mean, who can survive without basic credentials?

I started hanging out with people more often. Distracting myself from the problems at hand. I had no future. I only had my past and my present. We started hanging out in alleys to avoid society. Then, a day of my life came. A day that I will never forget. A day that changed me forever. The day I lost my humanity.

It was the middle of October. I was alone walking the streets of my ‘beloved’ city. Reading, Pennsylvania is a cesspool for many different types. People who use welfare fraud as a source of income. People who will kill others over a pair of shoes. There were also people like me. Outcasts who never harmed the world, but considered to be below the standards of society for one reason or another. These streets were my home and my safety.

In the dark and quiet alleys, nobody would bother me. They were also, where my friends found solace. Another group I had become involved with also preferred these alleys. Wild nights filled with debauchery were common among them. I thought they were some strange form of nocturnal monster in the guise of humans. In a way, I was right all along.

Late in the evening, they had approached me with an offer of a fun time. I thought accepting their offer would be the death of me somehow. Still, I hated being an outcast and loved the idea of an opportunity to be one with others in the world. I graciously accepted the invitation to join them for the night.

The night started like a normal party. The air smelled of drugs and alcohol. I hated the idea of drugs and alcohol, so I stood around awkwardly as everyone else partook of their dangerous habits. It was weird, but standing to the sidelines felt like home to me. I guess I was a wallflower.

After an hour or two, a woman approached me. She was clearly wasted and had nearly no sense left in her brain. She whispered one sentence into my right ear. “You have pretty eyes.” I immediately blushed. At age 18, I was very new to the idea of romance. I cared more for my academic pursuits than some mindless pursuit of love or a one-night stand.

With a cracked voice I responded, “T-thank you, but they’re not nearly as pretty as your eyes.”

She muttered something under her breath, but in hindsight, I am almost sure she had said, “You also have a pretty neck.”

She was gorgeous under the light of the moon. Her black hair had an ethereal shine to it. Her pale skin almost seemed to glow. It seemed as though I was falling under her spell, but magic is not real so that is non-sense.

She leaned in close and her breath was ice cold against my neck. It was strange to me. How could someone filled with alcohol have such cold breath? I thought her breath would practically burn my skin. Her teeth grazed against me and I quivered. Her saliva was like ice water dripping down my neck.

I let out a strange sound. I was flustered and did not know what to do. Suddenly, a sense of pain overwhelmed my neck. I did not know what was happening. I screamed. There was a warm liquid dripping down my neck now. Oh wait it was blood. A sense of urgency filled my body. It had become a fight or flight situation to me.

I resisted every urge to push her away. There was something hypnotizing about the way the blood left my body. All I knew was that I was I and she was she and my blood was going inside her. My heart raced and my vision blurred. As I faded into unconsciousness, I could hear everything around me. Nobody cared if I was okay.

I awoke several hours later. Morning was not yet there, but it seemed close. For the most part, the party had winded down. She was standing above where I laid. It all had seemed like a distant memory. I placed my hand on my neck. A bandage covered what had been two puncture wounds.

“Good morning sleepyhead,” she had said to me, like a familiar friend that had patiently waited for me to wake up. I felt uncomfortable with the idea of her waiting on me for any reason.

“W-why,” I asked. I tried to say more, but the words just would not come out.

She giggled. “Why would anybody bite anybody,” she asked rhetorically. I did not understand at the time. Now I do. Those things we all fear do exist.

“Well,” I said exaggeratedly, “Maybe you’re a vampire!” I laughed at the idea of something so ridiculous. She did not seem amused. “Hey. Don’t worry. I was only joking. I’m sure you had a good reason.”

She pouted and said softly, “You just don’t get it.” I felt awful for some reason. Why did I care about what this crazy girl thinks? She bit me! That should be reason in itself to just get up and leave the situation.

She grabbed me and threw me over her shoulder. “Where are you taking me,” I shouted at her.

As was the usual at this point, she just giggled and responded sarcastically, “Good question. Don’t you want to find out?” I was curious. She was beautiful, so I could probably forgive her for the biting thing.

Some time passed with her carrying me on her shoulder. It was almost sunrise, but we still had an hour or two until then. I had never been out so late before.

We arrived at a broken down ware house that was out of use for years. I thought about how terrible it would be to live in a place like that. I also had hoped that this girl did not live here. Hoping has always been a fool’s way to trick themselves out of seeing the truth.

She spoke and sounded tired, “Well. Here we are. This is home sweet home.” She yawned in a very cute manner. Why did I care? Academia was waiting for me. So why did I care? Romance is for fools and the wise who have already done great things.

She laid down on what appeared to be a futon. She beckoned for me and my legs immediately followed her as if under her control and not mine. She covered up and rustled under the cover. I assumed she was undressing at the time, but I am not sure now. She told me to lay on top of the covers next to her. Again, my legs just followed her command without me thinking whatsoever.

“What’s happening? Why am I doing everything you say without even think…” She placed her hand over my mouth to shut me up. She smiled very weakly. It seemed like she was very tired.

“You already know what’s happening, don’t you,” she asked. “After all, hope is a fool’s tool. It’s not something for the wise.” It seemed like she had read my mind earlier, but the idea of telepathy is extremely imaginative at best. “It’s not as imaginative as you might think,” she said.

“How are you doing this,” I asked in as harsh of a tone as I could.

“Isn’t it obvious to you yet? Oh, right. Academia and blah blah blah doesn’t believe in things that can’t be proven. Fine I’ll spell it out. I am a vampire,” she said with complete confidence. I had no choice but to believe her.
She removed the bandage from my neck and bit into me again. “And yours is the tastiest I’ve ever had.” I winced, but it did not hurt as much this time.

In my mind, I wondered how deadly of a taboo this act was. Being bitten surely meant that you were cursed. I had no place with society anymore. If they had found out, I would be labelled as a psychopath.

“Vampires don’t exist,” people would say. “Only madmen believe in myths.” These thoughts tortured my very soul.

“W-what do we do now,” I asked. Tortured by my mind, I needed guidance on what to do next.

She giggled and laid there with her eyes barely open. “That’s up to you. I know your thoughts. You’re already an outcast. Why not step further from society?” I thought of being there with her in that terrible rundown warehouse for the rest of my life. It would be interesting at least.

“W-what’s the step,” I questioned in a shy tone. Vampires were things that did not exist to me the night before. My whole view on the supernatural swung upside down in the course of a night. Were all the legends true? Do they really die in sunlight? Does garlic weaken them? Would a stake to the heart kill them? I mean that probably is true, but a stake to the heart would kill anything.

She bit deep into her arm and shoved it in my face. “Drink. If you drink then all your worries will fade.” Something inside me took over. It was almost feral. I sunk my teeth into her arm biting nearly as deep as she had. I knew what had happened. It was similar to something I read in a science book. When exposed to a certain type of behavior, cells may try to take on that behavior also.

The muscles in her arm tensed up as I drank more of the thick red liquid that was flowing out of the wound. Blood sucker, vampire, thrall of the undead, I became all of these things in one act that I had no control over. I had become a nocturnal monster in the guise of a human.

The feeling of disgust with myself overwhelmed me. What had I done? I drank somebody’s blood. It’s one thing when it’s your own blood, but this was another being entirely. I didn’t know if she had some disease.

“So what’s your name,” I asked her.

“Zairea,” she replied. Her name was unique. She was probably the only person in the world with her name.

“T-that’s a beautiful name,” I said shyly. I needed to break free of the shell I placed on myself. She bit me. So what? I mean, there’s a beautiful girl laying in the bed next to me. The least I can do is be open to getting to know her.

“I hate the person who gave it to me,” she said sharply. She was clearly awake now. I could feel the heat of the anger within her. The air around her was different from before. The soft and cool breeze from her laid-back personality had turned into a dark rage that brought with it ignition and friction.

I didn’t really have experience with people who hated their parents before. I did the only thing that came to my mind. I wrapped my arms around her and tried to comfort her. “It’ll be alright,” I said. Yeah, how original of me.

She wrapped her arms around me. Her emotions were changing violently. I could feel them for some reason. I assumed it was because of what had just happened. “It won’t be alright. It will never be alright,” she spoke softly with her eyes watering, ready to burst.

I felt a sincere connection with her. “Is this too much to talk about,” I asked lightly. I didn’t want to cause her any pain. What was wrong with me? This wasn’t like me. Why should I care about her past, let alone how she feels about her past?

“Y-yes. Could we talk about something else,” she asked. I pulled my arms away from her and she did the same. What could we talk about? Should I talk about myself? Should I ask her something else?

“My name’s… Zayne,” I mumbled just loud enough that she could hear it. In my heart, I knew something real was forming between us. I wondered where we would go. I wondered what we would be. More importantly though, I wondered what we were.

I started to feel tired as the sun rose. I curled up next to her as the bright light shined across the room. Our own little piece of darkness surrounded the bed. I shut my eyes and started to think about the day as I dozed off. One thought came to my mind. Who are you Zairea?