{Prologue}
“Are you sure you don’t want a hand home young lady?” The old man asked the young maiden.
“No, no sir, I’ll be fine. I’ll be back again tomorrow.” The young girl said, offering one last smile to her employers before pushing through the door and walking out onto the street.
The cold, severe air whipped against her pale brown skin as she tightened her tattered jacket around her. She rubbed her hand over her protruding pregnant belly as an act of protection and set off on her journey home. She passed drunks and old homeless men on the street corners and on the stoops of old buildings. She watched the wealthy pass by in their horse-drawn carriages out of the corner of her eyes, wishing that that was her life.
The year was 1734. She young maiden was at the tender age of 17, pregnant with her first child. She came from a poor slave family, her mother a seamstress for the rich, her father a doll maker. Her parents originated from France, but had long since resided in Transylvania. Her pregnancy was an unwanted one, being raped after a night of work by a man old enough to be her father. But the first time she felt her little son or daughter kick, she fell in love. She wanted nothing more than to care and love the child, for he or she would be all that she had.
Back then, if you were born in the gutter, you stayed in the gutter. She learned this lesson well and had grown to except it. So day after day, night after night, she rolled her pregnant body out of bed and headed with her mother to the houses of the wealthy, helping her sew new dresses for the beautiful, rich women. At night, she went to work for the old doll maker that knew her father and would do anything to help the young girl out.
Another gust of wind wiped across her body and her hand threw instantly to her belly again, to calm her moving child. She quickened her pace, she had to get home. She walked through the dirty streets, keeping her head low and avoiding the drunks and pimps that littered the dim light streets. She turned a corner, only a few paces from the dirt road that led to her home and smacked right into a group of young men.
“Look what we have found, a young unattended woman on her way home.” The tall, dark haired one said, giving her a menacing smile.
The girl put her head down, trying to stay calm, “Please sir, I just live-“
“I know who you are,” Another one said, “You’re the town whore; the pregnant one.” He said, running a finger down her lace dress.
She shrunk away from his touch and positioned her arms over her belly. The men surrounded her, calling at her and reaching out to touch her. She slapped their hands away, hot tears starting to wet her eyes, “Leave me alone! I just want to get home.”
“Oh, we’ll let you go home. But not until we get to enjoy what you have underneath this pretty dress.” The third man said, quickly shoving his hand under her dress and lifting if up.
The young girl swung violently at the third man, connecting her palm with his face. He stumbled back, stunned that she had been so brave, “You are going to pay for that you little wench!”
She let out a scream when his hand lifted air into the air but a crack behind them startled the three men. Just then, a wealthy couple rounded the corner and halted when they saw the three men and young girl before them, “Young lady?” The wealthy man called, “Are these men bothering you?”
“We were doing nothing of the kind, just making sure that she got home safely.” The tall, dark haired man said, eying the young girl.
When the wealthy couple did not move, the three men took off in the opposite direction, shooting glares at the young girl. She waited until they were out of site to turn slightly and bow to the rich couple, thanking them politely for helping her. The couple followed her a few steps more, until she turned onto the dirt road and waved at her graciously as her steps quickened.
She could see her mothers’ candles flickering in the windows; she was so close to being under the protection of her beloved parents. She continued to walk down the dirt path, smiling to herself as she drew nearer and nearer to her cottage. When she could practically feel the heat from the little house, a large, rabid animal jumped from behind the bushes, latching its teeth into her delicate skin.
The young girl screamed as she was thrown into the dirt. She fought violently as the animal continued to maul her, sinking its teeth into her as many times as possible. It growled and slobbered all over her, not loosening its grips one bit.
“Father! Father! Help me, help me please!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.
The door of the little cottage flung open as her father bolted from the small house once he heard his daughters screams. Her mother watched in horror as the father ran over to the wild animal that was attacking their daughter and began beating it violently. During the first few attacks from the father, the animal only deepened his teeth into her skin. The father kept beating the animal harshly, screaming and cursing out of shear desperation.
And then, it was all over. Without a second glance, the animal removed itself from the girl and ran off into the night. The father dropped to his knees and grabbed his bleeding, pregnant daughter into his hands while screaming at the mother to boil some water. He jogged back to the little house and busted through the door, heading straight to his daughters room.
The young girl moaned and screamed slightly, clearly delusional from the trauma and loss of blood, “Do you have the water Evelyn?!” The father screamed in desperation while ripping his daughters dress off to asses the wounds.
“Yes father, right here.” The mother said, running into the room with a pot of water.
She set the pot and medications on the floor and kneeled down beside her husband and cried softly as her eyes scanned over her severely hurt daughter. She stroked the young girls’ hair and whispered softly into her ear as her father dropped the liquid medication onto the wounds. The young girl wailed in pain and arched her back off of the bed, fighting her mothers’ attempts to keep her still.
“Keep her still!” The father screamed, “It’s okay baby, we have to clean your wounds.”
The young girl then passed out from the pain, her body going limp on the bed. The father and mother worked helplessly through the night, changing the bandages every few hours for fear that infection would set in. The young girl slept the entire night and well into the next day. When she awoke it was night time again and she was unsure of what had happened.
“Father?” She whispered groggily into the candle-lit room.
Within seconds, her mother, father and a strange man walked into the room. Her parents kneeled on either side of the bed, smiling and rubbing their hands up and down her arms, “This is Doctor DuPont, he’s been looking after you for the last few hours.” Her mother whispered.
“Why? What happened? Wait, is their something wrong with the baby?”
The young girl’s hands again went straight for her belly. When she felt her considerable baby bump, her muscles soften and she relaxed again. She closed her eyes and shifted slightly, causing pain to rip from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.
“Calm now child, you have to stay as still as possible.” The doctor said rushing to the side of the bed and feeling her chest with his cold hand.
“What happened?” The young girl asked again.
“You were attacked last night child, by some crazed animal. By time we got to you, the animal already had you in the dirt.” Her father said, running her hand slowly across her forehead, “But the Doctor says that you are fine and your child will be fine.”
The young girl looked up at the Doctor, “Are you sure my child will be alright?”
He nodded softly, “As long as you keep changing the bandages and you take this every couple of hours, you and your child will be up and moving again.” He said, setting a tiny bottle of liquid on the stand beside the bed, “Make sure you get plenty of rest in these next few days young lady.”
“I will. Thank you for everything.”
“Farewell.”
The parents thanked the Doctor graciously for staying as long as he had to help their only daughter. As the young girl drifted off to sleep again out of pure exhaustion, they had no idea that the rabies disease was ripping through her body. It had already poisoned her blood and was slowly making its way into her unborn child. Her wounds soon heeled and she went back to work, but her child would never be the same.
************
The young girl writhed in pain as sweat dripped from her forehead and drenched the pillow beneath her. Her mother sat perched between her knees, wiping away the blood that seeped from her daughter. They young girl arched her back off of the bed and let out a violent scream as the contractions ripped through her tiny, young body. She pushed as hard as she could, wanting nothing more than to push her child out and end the pain.
The mother stayed calm and tried to relax her daughter but knew all too well the pain of childbirth. The young girl pushed again and gripped the sheets between her fingers so hard that her knuckles turned stark white. When she couldn’t push any longer, her body collapsed back on the bed and she closed her eyes as tears streamed out of the sides of them.
Her mother quickly rushed to her side and wiped her forehead, ridding her temporarily of the sweat. Another contraction ripped through her body and her back arched again. The mother ran back and perched herself between the young girls legs and smiled as the head of the long awaited child finally began to show.
“You are almost there daughter, just keep going.”
The girl gripped into the sheets again and pushed with all of her might, a long, deep scream coming from deep in her chest, erupted out of her mouth. She gritted her teeth and blew out air harshly, making her wet hair shiver from its place in front of her eyes. She locked her legs and pushed again, screaming loudly and cursing the day that the drunk man forcefully shoved himself inside of her.
The mother placed her hands on the head of the child and pulled gently, coaxing the baby out of her daughter, “Just one more good push and the child will be out daughter. Just one more push.”
The daughter grunted loudly and pushed into her bottom harshly, squeezing her eyes tightly, forcing the tears out. The mother gave one last pull and the daughter felt of rush of relieve flood through her body as she felt the child leaving her opening. She collapsed against the bed again, breathing harshly as her mother cleared the child’s throat and eyes. The daughter lay in a state of delusion, staring at the ceiling with her mouth hanging open.
The mother quickly cut the cord that was still connecting the child to its mother and wrapped the baby in a clean sheet. She smiled and turned back to her daughter, tears in her eyes as well and lifted the little boy for his mother to see, “You’re little boy daughter.”
The daughter smiled when her eyes landed on her child for the first time but her body wouldn’t allow her to be happy for to much longer. She grunted in pain and squeezed her eyes shut again as the mother handed the baby to the father out in the other room and then went back to attend to her daughter.
“You need a name for your son daughter.” The mother whispered after getting the girl to relax and calm down.
“Nicolai.” The young girl whispered as she drifted off into a deep slumber.
After removing the sack from her daughter, she threw it into the fire and watched it burn. She then turned back to her now sleeping daughter and pulled the thin sheets up to her neck. She kissed her daughter gently and whisked some of the stray hairs out of her face and smiled as the hot tears soon returned to her eyes.
“Good job daughter, good job.” She whispered.
The seemingly okay baby slept peacefully in his grandfather’s arms. For no one knew at that moment that the child was no longer a child, but a product of the disease that the animal had carried. It took years for the effects to actually materialize but when they did, the family did everything they could to keep him under control.
Years went by and the young girl was now not so young. They had buried her father years previous and her son was growing weirder and weirder as time progressed. The first thing that they noticed about the son was the color of his eyes and skin. Within the first few days of birth, his skin color drained to an even paler shade of brown and his eyes were as haunting as a ghost, with a strange yellow hue to them.
As his teeth grew in, the family noticed that every tooth grew in perfectly except for the two corner teeth. They were longer than the other teeth, and sharper than a sword. Even as a tiny baby, he had a taste for meat and blood. When he was old enough to feed himself, his mother found him often feeding on small rats and birds.
Not knowing what to do, they kept the boy from school and from the other children. They home schooled him and kept him in the house during the daytime, for the boy had a sensitivity to light. The boy’s mother was questioned often about her son and why he was never seen out. She responded that he was sickly and that the sun shine would only worsen his condition. And that’s how it went, for 14 years.
But nothing could keep the mother and grandmother from loving the boy; and he loved them as well. His mother continued to work, even took over the grandmothers business as grandmother got older and older. Then one day, she just didn’t wake up. Sad and angry, the young boy rushed out into the night, pushing his mothers screams out of his head.
He walked and walked for miles, the cold air filling his lungs and making them burn. Why did life have to be so cruel? Why did the only people that loved him have to be taken away? As the 14 year old boy stalked the streets that cold night, a deep hunger soon took over him. It wasn’t a hunger for rats’ blood or bird, not for pig or chicken blood but something... deeper. He continued to walk, while trying to figure out this new longing for something different.
Just as he was about to turn and head home, he spotted a drunken boy, slumped over on the street. Nicolai walked slowly over to the lifeless body, his mouth hanging open slightly as he inched nearer. Once he was over the man, he kneeled down and swept the long hair off of the man’s neck.
Nicolai’s heart began to race as he gazed at the man’s beautiful, long, milky neck. He dragged his tongue slowly over his teeth as the urge to bite the man took over his body. He looked away from the drunken man, scanning the area for any other humans. When he spotted some just a few hundred feet away, he grabbed the shirt of the man and dragged him into the alleyway.
Kneeling back over the man and his neck, Nicolai swallowed deeply as his breath become shorter and quicker. His heart was not pounding in his ears as he opened his mouth wide and started descending his head down to the mans warm flesh. Nicolai stopped mere centimeters away from the neck as his eyes searched wildly into the dark. Was he really about to drink the blood of a human?
The urge was so strong; it almost felt… right. Nicolai dug his teeth into the flesh of the man and he began to suck. The warm, dark red blood oozed from the neck and into Nicolai’s mouth. Nicolai didn’t miss a drop as he continued to drain the man of his blood, his body reacting richly to the new blood. When he was finished eating, he threw his head back and stared into the night sky, his mouth and lips still red with blood.
He smiled wildly as the panic and adrenaline rushed through his body. This is what he was meant to do. This is what he had been feeling for so long, that something that wouldn’t be soothed by rat and chicken. He sucked his teeth until he could no longer taste the heavenly poison and he quickly exited the alleyway and headed back to the little cottage that he called home. He kept the murder of the man to himself as he soothed his mother and helped her bury the body of his grandmother.
Another five years went by and the young, somewhat fragile boy had grown into a man. His beautiful mother was now 36 and still caring for her odd but otherwise lovely son. She had no idea that her son was the cause of the hundreds of mysterious deaths over the years. People speculated that the two puncture wounds on the neck her caused by some sort of animal but Nicolai knew the truth. He wanted to himself and be free but he loved his mother, and her thoughts of him were still very important.
“Where do you go at night, my son?” She asked one evening as Nicolai put on his shirt.
“I just go walking mother.”
She got quiet as she watched him dress and check his teeth in the mirror, “You know I love you Nicolai.”
The boy turned and fell to his knees by his mothers side in the chair, “And I love you mother. I owe you my life.” He laid his delicate lips that had killed so many softly on her hand and he kissed her gently, “I’ll see you in the morning.” He said, getting back to his feet and walking to the front door.
Just as he was about to step out into the night, his mothers soft voice stopped him, “I know it is you Nicolai.”
Nicolai stopped in his tracks and turned slowly back to her, “You know what is me mother?”
“The strange deaths. You’ve been feeding on them for years now. I know you my son. I have also realized that you don’t look a day older than 16. You haven’t grown or aged a bit since then. Don’t you find that odd?”
“Mother, I-“
“No, do not apologize for your dark gift. It was given to you before you were even born.” His mother rose to her feet and walked over to her tall son, “I love you now as I will always love you. Nothing that you do will ever stop me from loving my son.”
She ran her small hand down his silky, pale skin, wiping away the tears that were staining his cheeks. He rubbed his face into her hand as he threw his arms around her body, “I didn’t want you to hate me mother! It’s just- I have a need. I need to feed on them mother. Chickens and rats just don’t satisfy the hunger anymore.”
“Quiet my son. I told you, nothing you can do will ever stop my love for you. I- I want what you have Nicolai.”
Nicolai stepped back from his mother and stared at her, his yellow eyes wide and wet, “What do you mean?”
“I want to protect you always and I can’t do that if I’m dead.”
“I don’t understand mother.”
“You do not age anymore Nicolai. And if you do not age, you will not die and I want that. I want to be with my son throughout eternity.”
“But, I kill them mother. I do not make them into what I am, I- I don’t even know if that’s possible.”
“It is, my son.”
She turned from his and walked over to the bookcase that shelved all of the literature that had they had amassed through the years. She plucked a thin book from its place and walked back over to him and handed it to him.
“This is the story a certain type of bat in Africa,” She began to explain as he flipped through the book, “They feed on each other for sustenance but can revived the dead with a drop of their blood. The Africans, our ancestors, call these creatures Vampire bats”
“But how do you know that if we do this, it will turn you into what I am?”
“I don’t but I have a hunch that it will.”
Nicolai shut the book and handed it back to his mother. He looked up into her warm, dark brown eyes and ran his finger down the side of her face, “I love your eyes mother. Mine are so ugly.”
“Your eyes are beautiful, Nicolai. Don’t you ever forget that. You were given a gift and I would like to share it with you. Please Nicolai, let me love you forever.”
His mother turned her head to the side, exposing her neck. Nicolai closed the gap between the two of them and nuzzled his head into her neck, resting his chin on her shoulder, thinking of what he was about to do. He closed his eyes when he felt her hand run from the base of his neck and through his dark hair, something she had done since he was a boy to calm his nerves.
“Do it Nicolai.” She whispered.
Nicolai opened his mouth and bared his teeth. Without a second thought, he sank his teeth into her flesh, causing a gasp and a small scream to escape her mouth. He forced himself to keep draining her as she screamed and tried to fight against him. He kept drinking her, holding her tight to his body until he felt her go limp. He released his mouth from her teeth and laid her gently on the ground and flipped through the book that she had handed to him.
Just a drop of blood
Nicolai raised his wrist to his mouth and sank his teeth into his own flesh, just long and hard enough to draw blood. He then lowered his wrist over her mouth and let the droplets of blood drip into her mouth. Her eyes shuddered lightly and then opened again as he continued to drip his blood into her mouth. She opened her mouth wider and grabbed his wrist, bringing it closer to her mouth and biting into his flesh.
Nicolai grunted and moaned as his mother sucked his blood, moaning softly as she started her new life. Nicolai struggled to rip his arm away from her as he pushed against her head harshly to get her to stop feeding on him. With one strong push, his mother fell to the ground and started breathing deeply and harshly as a frightened Nicolai backed into the corner of the room.
He watched his mother’s body convulse violently on the floor as he clasped his hands over his head, cursing what he had just done. Then, everything stopped. His mother stopped convulsing, she stopped grunting, and she stopped screaming. Nicolai stood up from his spot on the floor and a single tear fell from his yellow eye and fell to the ground. Then, without warning, his mother jumped to her feet, making Nicolai jump slightly.
Her once dark brown eyes were now a vivid purple, her pale skin became even paler. Her thin hair curled wildly and tightly around her face and two long, sharp teeth protruded from the corners her mouth. She smiled gently at her son and sucked her new teeth.
“I’m hungry; show me how you do it.”
And thus was the birth of the ancient Damien dynasty.
They were the soul creators of the Vampire race.
Author's Chapter Notes:
long time no post, huh? sorry about that, life always gets in the way. here's a little something that I've been working on for a while, I started it probably a year ago, lol. let me know if you like it and if I should continue.
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