The First Night

Witnessing the type of sadism I had witnessed causes a man to panic and lose composure, his only instinct to flee. It was from the frying pan and into the fire as my muggers were attacked by blood hungry beings that tore them limb-from-limb, drinking their blood as it spilled from their severed limbs. I seized my opportunity to escape and ran into the forest. In my haste, I ran into pine branches, blinded by the darkness beneath the canopy over the forest where the moonlight didn’t shine. My path was uneven and my footing unsure, but time there was not for caution. I ran into the spider’s web most literally and flailed about to remove it without slowing my pace. I slipped on the leaves turning to mulch on the forest floor and stumbled over a fallen decayed branch. I tumbled head-over-heals downhill, out of the forest into a meadow. The moon was full and shined brightly over the sea of wildflowers before me. Shimmering in its light was a stream cascading over rock formations and creating shallow pools. There, in one of the pools, was woman bathing. She had her back to me, but in the light of the moon I could see the delicateness of her ivory skin and round shoulders.

“Why did you run, Philip” she asked me, without turning around.

Her question raised my own questions. First, who was she that she knew me? Secondly, if she was present at the massacre of my attackers, how did she get here so fast that a bath was possible? And three, most obviously, how did she know I was there?

“I feared for my life, my-lady. I’ve never seen such savagery enjoyed so sensually.”

She turned to face me. Her hair was dark, pulled back by the weight of the water, exposing her porcelain doll face with rosy cheeks and pouty lips to the full light of the moon. Her eyes were a shade of hazel so bright they were like pools of melted gold in the moonlight under a thick brow with long lashes. Her neck was long, her nape was smooth, and her breast were supple. My breath shortened and my pulse quickened as she spoke. “Forgive my friends. They were only protecting you on my behalf.”

“Who am I that you should protect with such savagery?”

“I have been watching you for a long time now, Philip, since the day you stood up for the old beggar in the alleyway and shared in his beating. It showed me that you are a brave man of principle, yet kind and meek in spirit, slow to judge, and quick to serve. Such man I long for in my life. I was going to wait until you were older to proposition you, but after tonight’s events, I feel the time has come.”

“Who are you? What proposition do you speak of?”

“My name is Bria Moreau. Come, join me. The water is quite warm, I assure you. I promise you, I will not bite,” she said with a playful smile that warmed my heart.

Timidly, I removed my clothing. She made room for me as I entered and had a seat. Bria smiled, pleased by my company, and continued to tell me about herself. “I know I do not look it, but I am a woman of many years, three-hundred and thirty-two to be exact.”

“Surely you are joking,” I laughed. “Nobody lives to see those years and you look to be in your early twenties. How am I supposed to believe such a claim?”

“How is it that I knew you ran, Philip? How is it that I was there to see you run and was yet here before you, bathing?”

“I did wonder that, my-lady, and was hoping you might explain. The only explanation I can fathom is that of the supernatural.”

“Indeed. My friends and I, we are what you would call vampire.”

Every muscle in my body seized with fright at the hearing of that word. I wanted to run, screaming into the night, but I was terror stricken and could not move.

“I assure you, my dear Philip, if I meant you harm, harm would have befallen you long ago. I have a proposition, and a declaration, for you. As I have said, I have long watched you, and long have I been alone. Long have I yearned for the company of a man, and although my suitors have been many, none has touched my heart as you do. I have fallen in love with you, Philip. I want to offer you eternal life so that we may live together as husband and wife.”

My tension dissolves with her words and I am more than flattered, but yet, confused. “Bria, you are fairer than any woman I have ever encountered. Any man would be honored to have such an exquisite beauty on their arm, but why me? I am but a lowly cobbler.”

“It is for the traits I mentioned earlier. You are handsome and will be fair in your judgements concerning who shall live and who shall die. You are capable of discerning when death is mercy and will never deal its blow unjustly. Become one with me and lowly you shall never be again. I am wealthy beyond imagination. Make love to me under the moonlight and let me bestow upon you my gift.”

 “What if I refuse?”

“You will be free to continue your life as you always have. I will search for another. But what do you cling to, Philip? You have no family left since the death of your sister. You have few true friends, only regulars you share conversation with at the tavern. Cobblery has provided you with little in life. Come, Philip, have me and begin a new life filled with riches and pleasures you have only dreamed of. We will travel to places you have never seen. Life will be a grand adventure together, a far cry from drowning your sorrows in the tavern’s well,” Bria said, swimming to me and kissing my lips.

“Indeed, you have been watching me and know me well. Not knowing you makes me apprehensive, however, despite the comforting nature of your beauty.”

“I could tell you things about me until the sun comes up, but what better way to know me than to experience me for yourself,” Bria said, pressing against me tightly and kissing me tenderly on the neck. “Say yes, Philip, and watch the night as it becomes as bright as day,” she whispered in my ear.

We began to kiss passionately, our hands exploring one another’s body’s discovering new worlds of pleasure. She took me and my world was split asunder. I could hear the splashing in the water, but I could see nothing but glimpses of her as her hips rocked against me. She bit her wrist, and her blood trickled onto my lips, sweet like honey. I licked it up in ecstasy. Then she pressed her bleeding wrist against my mouth, and I drank. Not only did it taste like honey, but it was of the same consistency. I pulled away as I climaxed, pushing deep inside her. She tightened around me. Her hips thrashed like a horse trying to throw its rider. Then all was calm, her head resting on my chest, and I was looking at the world through new eyes.

Colors were so much more vivid in my new state, easier to see in the dark. It truly was like day. Sounds were crisper and clearer, not muffled together, but easily distinguishable. I could smell the moisture in the air, the grass on the ground, the dirt, the flowers, the animals hiding in the woods watching us. I felt stronger. My muscles didn’t ache, and my joints were not sore. The air in my lungs felt purer, and the water was rejuvenating my skin.

“It’s wonderful, isn’t it,” I heard Bria say as she lifted her head to kiss my chest. “Let’s feed you before the hunger sets in.”

One of the most exhilarating things about being a vampire is the speed at which you can travel. Effortlessly we raced up the hill, through the woods, as agile as flies, dodging trees, fallen branches, rocks, and even a deer. I couldn’t help smiling, and I could tell by her laughter Bria enjoyed our escapade. We slowed to a walk at the edge of town. She threw her arms around me, and I laughed. “Wasn’t that fantastic? Have you ever felt such a rush, moving so fast? We can outrun horses you know,” she says with a light giggle.

“That I did I did not know, but, yes, wow, what an experience that was!”

She wrapped her arm around mine and rested her head on my shoulder as we walked. I kissed the top of her head, feeling a bond with her I never felt with another person. I felt I could trust her with anything, through everything. She was like an extension of myself, all the good things about me wrapped in a pretty little package.

“Okay, Philip, I must tell you that I am not like other vampires that seek an easy meal. I hate injustice. I detest murder and rape. I use these gifts that we possess to avenge those who are victims and serve justice where the law fails to. There is a man who beats and rapes his servants, even the men. I have been stalking him for some time now, learning his habits. Soon, he will leave the tavern and take a shortcut through an alley on his way home. We will trap him there and there you shall feed. The best places to feed are the neck, the wrists, and the inner thighs. I’ll let you make the kill. Go for the throat. I will join you and take his wrist.”

We visited the tavern and had a pint each so she could point the man out. It was Douglas Laurent, a prominent landowner of chivalrous behavior in public, but Bria assured me had a more devious and malicious side. She said she would teach me to identify and investigate such people. When Douglas left the tavern, we finished our pints and followed him at a distance. When he went down the alleyway, Bria sped around the way to cut him off.

“Out of my way riffraff,” he said to her, seeing only a shadowy figure at the end of the alley. “I wish to pass, and you want no trouble from me, I assure you!”

Bria began moving towards Douglas, which gave him pause. He slowly backed up and then turned to run but ran straight into my arms. I sank my teeth into his neck, tearing his flesh and letting his blood flow freely. I began to suck vigorously, warm, metallic blood coating the back of my throat and delighting my taste buds. He struggled but was like a mere child in my arms. Bria approached, leaned over him to kiss my forehead, and then took his wrist, biting into it. He grew weaker and weaker in my arms, his legs giving out beneath him. We drank as he dangled in my arms until he was a pale, gray, lifeless bag of flesh.

“Quickly, let’s take him to the woods and tear him to pieces as the wild animals would so no one becomes suspicious,” Bria suggests.

With a dead man over my shoulder, we sneaked through the alleyways back to the edge of town. There I tore his throat oat out while Bria ate away at his leg. I tore flesh from his face and scratched out his eyes. Bria opened his midsection and dragged forth his bowels. When we were done, we returned to the stream and bathed ourselves, letting the stream run red. We danced in each other’s amongst the wildflowers under the pale moonlight as she sang to me songs of the day’s past. We danced until the first glow of day illuminated the night sky and strolled back to her place hand-in-hand.