Young Blood

The rain pours down on my limp, almost lifeless body.

I can't move my legs, my arms, or my entire body, except for my lips that ached where one of their punches landed. I just lay there, frozen in place, stones pricking my back, helplessly wishing for someone to save me before I become food for the ones that occupy the streets at night. But I can feel that my time is almost up. Death may be sitting next to me, awaiting for my eyes to close and my soul to leave my vessel.

It has been a while since those gang members left me here to rot. They didn't steal anything from me because I left the comfort of my own room empty-handed, thinking that it was safe to check the pharmacy for medicine for my younger brother's asthma. It didn't go well, obviously.

This may be for the best. If I die, at least my parents had one less spoon to feed. They'll only have Mike who's the son they always wanted to have. My passing will probably be just an inconvenience to them.

I turn my head to the side and check my surroundings. Endless rows of oak trees tower over me, as if they're looking down at me for doing such a horrible job at living. Don't worry, trees. Sooner or later, I'll become a fertilizer and you'll all benefit from my decomposing corpse. I won't be such a waste of a human being anymore.

The sound of footsteps stepping on gravel catches my attention. Fuck. This early? The sun hasn't even set yet. I guess they're not wasting time anymore.

As the footsteps slow down, I close my eyes and control my breathing. The hair on my skin stands when the person, or whatever it is, stops dead in their tracks.

“He's in bad shape,” the stranger says, his voice deep and brooding.

I feel his hands grabbing mine. “Still alive,” he adds, before wrapping his arms around my torso and lifting me up from the ground. “Sir? Sir?”

This time, I open my eyes. Pale blue eyes greet me and I take a deep breath. “Are you...”—I clear my throat—“one of those things?”

“Vampire? Bloodsucker? Nightcrawler?”

I nod.

“Yes.”

I crease my forehead. “Then why don't you drink all my precious blood now? Isn't that what you're here for?”

He heaves a sigh. “I don't drink human blood. I can't bring myself to. Which is why I hunt animals in the woods. That's how I stumbled upon your body.”

Huh. So does him not drinking human blood mean he's one of the good guys?

“You have bruises all over you and any one of my kind would've jumped and devoured you without hesitations.”

That much is true. I've heard stories about them not having any sort of self-restraint when they sense blood. Probably the reason why they go out at night so no one can see them feast like beasts.

“What are you planning to do to me, then?” I ask.

“Take you to a doctor before night comes, obviously,” he replies. “You need treatment for your injuries ASAP.”

“No, no. Please. Don't. I don't want to get treated in a hospital. My parents would kill me. And I mean it.” I try to raise my arm a bit and he helps me.

He inspects the round, purplish patches dappled all over my skin. “Some of these aren't fresh.” He puts them down and worry colours his expression. “I'm so sorry.”

“Never thought I'd hear a vampire apologise.”

He averts his gaze. “If you don't want to be taken to the hospital, then what do you want to do?”

I honestly don't know but what I do know is that I'm never going back to my parents' house and endure them for using me as a punching bag, figuratively and literally speaking. I've had enough of them making me feel like I'm not worth a shit. Ever since they found out my attraction towards men, they treated me worse than they ever did before.

“You're just as disgusting as those creatures, Chris. You're a demon just like them,” my father said as he locked me inside my room for three days straight without food and water. That happened last week.

An idea comes to mind.

“I hope you don't freak out,” I croak. “But I want to do something crazy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can you turn me into a vampire?”

His jaw drops and eyes widen. “Are you insane? Do you know how stupid that is?”

“Is it stupid to wish about being loved and cared? For many years, humans have failed to do those two things just because I'm different. Half of this town wants me out of here, including my family, if I can even call them family.” I chuckle bitterly. “No, I don't have a family. Not even friends. I have no one but myself.”

“So you think that being a vampire is the solution?”

“That. Or leaving me to die here. It's your choice.”

“Why are you giving me such a huge responsibility? Do you realise how much pressure I'm in right now?”

“I'm not going to force you to do either one of those things. Honestly, both options are good to me.”

Our eyes lock with each other for a few seconds. I don't know what he's thinking, but I'm sure he's debating with himself. Suddenly, he lifts my legs up with one arm and my back with the other, making me sling my hand around his shoulders.

“I'm going to bring you somewhere safe, then we'll talk.”

We arrive in front of his bedroom door from outside their house, which is built several kilometres away from where he found me. He pushes a key inside the keyhole and unlocks the door with a resounding click.

His bedroom looks simple. There's only a single bed with a sheer canopy draped around it, a bookshelf, a nightstand, and a closet.

When he places my body on the bed, a painting of what seems to be crows eating a butterfly big enough to feed twenty of them. The butterfly's colours are vibrant, a stark contrast to the dark shades of black and brown that covered the rest of the canvas.

“I'm going to get some first-aid,” he says, before grabbing some clothes from his closet and going inside the bathroom.

I should be terrified that I'm inside a vampire's house, right? What if his parents, grandparents, and other members of his extended family find my here, a human, lying on the bed? I'm certain they don't share the same blood preference as him.

I have a lot of questions about the vampire lifestyle, but my main question is how are they so wealthy? When they emerged three years ago and the nightly attacks began, they already had grandiose houses built in town. Where do they get their money from?

My musings are halted when he comes out of the bathroom with a box in his hands. He's wearing a white tank top and a black pajama pants.

“I'm sorry about your bed. I'm wet and all. I will change the sheets once I'm recovered,” I offer.

“You don't have to. Even if you're back in shape, I will not let you exhaust yourself for a while.” He opens the box and takes out a tube of ointment. “I'll put these all over your bruises.”

“What's your name?” I ask. “Mine's Chris.”

“I'm Drae.”

He rubs the ointment on each individual bruise, which I have across my arms, face, and legs. I take this opportunity to appreciate his visuals. I've read books on vampires and I always raise a brow at their descriptions. They always have to look like they just got ripped out from a page of Vogue or Men's Health. Apparently, it's not that different from actual vampires.

Drae is all man. A jaw that seems like it can cut when you touch it, a high nose bridge, thick eyebrows, full lips. His chest looks like it'll rip his tank top off. The muscles on his biceps rise with every move of his arm as he applies the transparent ointment on my bruises. But his eyes. His blue eyes and long lashes soften his masculine features a bit.

“Stop staring at me,” he says.

I look away, heat creeping up my cheeks. “I'm not.”

“I can feel your eyes boring holes through me.”

“Is that a vampire perk? You have a hyperactive sixth sense?”

He scowls at me then continues treating my bruises. I wince when he presses hard on one. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay.”

“I'm sure you have a lot of questions right now. Feel free to ask away.”

“Great. Uh… where are your parents?”

“They're out having an assembly with other vampire sects. I don't really know what goes on in their meetings so don't ask. They usually keep those discussions from me.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm not like other vampires. Just like what I told you earlier, I don't drink human blood.”

I manage to sit up, grimacing as I do so. “Your preference for blood is a big deal?”

“Yes. I didn't know it was a problem until they pointed out to me that only weak vampires drink animal blood.”

“But you don't look weak. I mean, you have bulging muscles.”

“Thanks for the observation.” He grins, a dimple showing. Oh God. The vampire has a dimple. “They don't mean physically weak. They mean weak, as in, coward. They think vampires like me don't have the willpower and strength to fight in wars alongside them.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, it does. But what can I do? I can't convince them that I can join their battles against other sects. The least I can do is be an obedient son.”

“Why won't you drink human blood?”

“I don't like the idea of killing humans for blood.”

“So you kill animals instead. How is that any different?”

He screws back the lid of the ointment. “To you humans, eating animals is acceptable but consuming humans is a taboo. It's the other way around for us vampires. Drinking animal blood is not a taboo per se, but like what I said, it's considered a sign of weakness.”

I observe him as he puts the stuff back inside the box. We're similar in a way. He's not accepted by the vampire community because of his preference for animal blood. I'm not accepted by this town because I prefer men than women.

“Your bruises should heal in a few weeks. But for now, you have to rest and gain back your health.”

“Will your parents not find it weird that I'm here? Weird is an understatement, but you get what I'm saying.”

“They won't mind. They rarely check on me, anyway. If they do go check on me, I'll hide you somewhere.”

“And how are you going to pull that off? I thought you vampires have enhanced senses, which means that they could smell me no matter where you hide me in this room.”

He bites his lower lip. Nobody should look that sexy when biting their lower lip, but here Drae is. “You're right.”

“Then the more reason you should turn me into a vampire now. What's the worst that could happen, anyway?”

“There are no apparent consequences of turning a human into a vampire. It's just that… if I turn you, you will be functioning under my command. It's a vampire bond thing. I'll be your master, to put it simply.”

“And what's the problem with that?”

“You really don't give a shit, do you?”

“Glad you noticed.”

There he goes again with his dimpled smile. “And what do I get in return?”

“How about this? You can drink my blood before turning me into a vampire.”

“No.” He gives me a grimace. “I would definitely kill you if I do that.”

“Then you can revive me by pouring your blood in my mouth. That's how you vampires turn humans, right? Or is that just a fiction thing?”

“Why are you so insistent?”

“And why are you so evasive?”

He lets out a deep breath and moves his face closer to me. In a hushed voice, he says, “If I do this, there's no turning back.”

“I'm not going to run away.”

I watch as he straightens his back and reveals his fangs. Now I feel like running away. Seeing a vampire firsthand is terrifying, so I close my eyes to calm my nerves.

“You're scared.”

“No, I'm not.”

“You are.”

“Just fucking bite me!”

The next thing happens so fast. My neck is scorching as Drae's fangs dig deep into my skin, sucking the blood out of my veins. The pain slowly ceases and I hear myself moaning in pleasure.

He releases his fangs and stares at me, his once light blue eyes now a shade deeper. His hands find my neck and he presses our foreheads together. I can feel his breath against my lips. They're only an inch away from mine and I'm tempted to catch it. 

“Whatever it is you're thinking of doing, just do it,” he says.

I comply and press my lips against his. It feels like my heart is going to burst out of my chest. He combs his fingers through my hair, stopping it at the back of my head to deepen the kiss. I put my shivering hands on his cheeks and I let myself drown underneath his touches.

He breaks our contact and I see him on top of me. He takes a bite on his arm and thrusts it close to my mouth. “Drink,” he instructs.

Like a child, I grab his arm and suck on the blood from the wound he made. I don't know if my mind is playing tricks on me or I'm just highly intoxicated after that kiss, but Drae's blood tastes sweet.

This is all new to me. What we're doing feels so erotic that my entire body is heating up.

When I'm done drinking his blood, he leans down. “You're hot.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“No,” he says, cackling. “You're hot. Looks like you have a fever.”

“Oh.”

“Go to sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up.”

He turns to leave, but I grab the hem of his shirt. “Wait.”

“Yes?”

“What does that mean? The kiss? I'm kinda hoping it's not just a part of the process.”

He rakes his fingers along my hair again. I like it when he does that. “No, it's not part of the process. I actually want to kiss you.”

“Great.”

“Great? Just great?”

I beam up at him. “Perfect.”

He plants a kiss on my forehead. “Go to sleep,” he says, before stepping outside of his room and leaving me alone to rest up.

I think about the unforeseeable future now that I've completed the process of becoming a vampire. What's in store for me? Am I going to be a bloodthirsty killer just like most of them? Or will I be like Drae? These questions float in my mind before drowsiness overwhelms me and I succumb to sleep.

***

I wake up in a jolt, shooting my eyes open. There's a butterfly on the ceiling and I can see the intricate blue and orange patterns on its wings. My stomach rumbles. I curl my hands around it as realisation dawns on me.

Drae comes into view and kisses my forehead. “Good morning, young blood.”