I Vampire
by Julien regg

PREFACE

You know that when the sun sets, the city doesn't sleep. You know that there is night life in every city in the world. You know that there is violence in every night just as there is in every day, but do you know the truth that waits just beyond the darkness? By now you've either read all of the legends told by story tellers from Stoker to Rice, or you've at least seen movies that tell a sordid story about fiends that roam the night, feeding on children and raping women. Well, let me be the first to set the record straight.

Some of what you've read and seen is based very loosely on truth. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the movie and television series that followed, was based on one simple truth. That truth is that there really are vampire slayers out there, walking among you just as much as we, vampires, do. They even have their watchers who guide them through their quest to rid the world of evil, though their kind rarely bother us anymore. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles are woven with a few tiny threads of truth as well. For instance, the stake in the heart - that won't kill us. Nope, I'm sorry to say that if you come across a member of my folken, and you pin your hopes on a sharpened piece of wood, you'll die instead of the vampire. It is impossible to kill what is already dead. I'm not talking about a vampire. I'm talking about his heart. A vampire's heart only beats during a kill, when it was fused with the blood of the victim. It also quickens during any sort of sexual act or anything that causes adrenaline to flow.

Our bodies work almost exactly the way a human body does. We can cry, our bodies process the "food" that we ingest just as a human's does. We even expel the part of that "food" that our body can't use. It comes out in sweat, tears and sexual fluid. Our brains send out chemical signals, just like a human brain. It may be slightly different, but it's the same thing. Every organ in our body functions almost exactly like any other human organ. I say almost, because everything about us is slightly different.

We can see our reflections in a mirror, because there is nothing really supernatural about our existence. We survive and thrive on the blood of humans. No, unlike Anne Rice's vampires, we can not survive by ingesting the blood of animals, and you'll find no blood banks owned by folken covens as the movie Blade portrays. We must drink the blood of a living human, and once the heart stops, we must stop drinking, for to drink the blood of the dead will surely kill us.

The sun will kill the youngest and weakest of us, but over time, even the deadly rays of that particular star only become a nuisance. You won't find any of us walking around in daylight, wearing a special sun screen as they did in Blade, either. That, my friends, is purely Hollywood. As in Angel, we do have the protection of special glass in our cars and houses that somehow let no sunlight enter. From the outside of the house or car, the glass looks normal, and we can see out from the other side, but it is nonetheless different.

Crosses don't burn our skin, and we can even walk inside a church without bursting into flames. These are merely fables, and I don't care where they came from. The truth is, we were created by God, too. Probably not the way that man was created, but it was God that made us what we are. I guess I should say that it was God that made the very first of us. Not much is known about how vampires really came to be. So much has been lost over time.

Now, let me tell you some things about us that you don't already know. For instance, there are no female vampires. This is because, for some reason unknown to us, vampire blood is fatal to females. None of them ever survive, so our folken are all male. It is also very risky for a vampire to mate with a woman, because the virus that makes us what we are can also be found in abundance in semen. The female always becomes pregnant, but she rarely ever survives birth. The sired offspring is nothing more than some kind of super drone, but I'll get to drones in a little bit.

Next, you'll be very interested to know that there is a very strict age limit on humans who can be Turned. Only males at the age of sixteen can be turned. I'm not really sure why that is, but it is forbidden to make a vampire younger than sixteen or older. The penalty for this is death for both the vampire and the fledgling. The other thing about Turning is that you have to groom your potential fledgling before Turning him. That's easy to figure out, because they will look exactly same as they did when they were Turned for eternity.

I should probably explain the drones now. You may have heard of them before. Perhaps you know them as familiars. A drone is usually a male that, for one reason or another, is not suitable to be Turned. Perhaps he is too old. He can't be younger than sixteen unless he is a bred drone, so that isn't the reason. Once they become drones, they can't be Turned, no matter how much blood is fed to them.

Drones live for about one hundred years, and they have many of the benefits of being a vampire. They're extremely fast, extraordinarily strong and very charismatic, but the sun doesn't hurt them, and they don't sleep as heavily as a vampire. They are, in one way, very much a vampire. They need blood to survive, too, but that blood must come from the vampire who bonded him, or it could come from any of the vampire's fledglings.

Bred drones are the offspring of drones. We think it is the vampire blood already in the drone that causes all of his offspring to be male. There are no females sired by drones. The mortal female who mates with a drone suffers no danger from the tiny amount of the virus that lives inside of the drone, so he is free to mate with just about any female. He has a strong sense about breeding, though, so he won't mate with anyone who has less than healthy qualities. Some kind of sixth sense is bestowed upon a drone when he is bonded, and that helps him weed out the undesirable when he decides to mate.

I guess its time to tell you all about our folken covens. The coven is made up of one "elder" vampire and no more than four of his fledglings. Each of the vampires may bond no more than three drones, so without wives of the drones, there are usually no more than twenty members of a "family" in any coven. With fifteen drones, the vampires are well protected when the sun is high in the sky and they are at their most vulnerable state.

Oh yes. Make no mistake about this. Drones are nearly as powerful as their vampire Masters, and it would take more than bullets to kill a drone. You have to use pretty much the exact same methods to kill a drone as you do to kill a vampire. Those would be decapitation and fire. Unlike a vampire, snapping the neck of a drone will end his life if it severs the blood flow to the brain. Vampires heal within the space of one day, so that alone would not kill even the weakest of our masses.

You've probably been wondering why I switch between using the words folken and vampire. Well, I'll explain that here. Drones are part of each vampire "family", so when I say folken, I'm referring to a coven. Every vampire in the world can taste the blood of the drone's Master if he were to drink even one drop, so there's usually no danger of a drone being bled dry by a vampire from another coven. Likewise, the same can be said for the blood of each and every vampire. There are only four bloodlines that make up the entire vampire population. The four original vampires, known to the vampire world as Fathers Of The Blood, are Count Duku of Romania, Gian Giovanni of Italy, Rafael of Greece and Doran of France.

Now there should be a nagging question in your mind about the slayers. If there is, have no fear, I'll touch on that subject now. Some time in the late 1800's vampires began to outnumber humans two to one. Slayers were trained and set upon the vampires to thin out our numbers in fear of our taking over the entire world. This thought is both horrifying to vampires and ridiculous. For one thing, if we peopled the world with vampires, how would we survive? We'd have no blood left to live on. We could survive on the blood of each other for a while, but the virus that lives inside of us must be continually transfused with human blood to keep us alive. A vampire can live without the blood of humans for almost one calendar month before feeling the effects.

Around that time, another threat rose against vampires all over the world. As I keep telling you, a virus is ultimately responsible for making us what we are, and there is another virus much like the one we carry, only mutated slightly, that other men that walk the earth carry. These are what you would call werewolves. They are known to us as the Forsaken.

The Forsaken have gifts of their very own that are in some ways very much like ours, and in other ways completely different. Unlike us, they do not require human blood to survive. In fact, they find the taste to be completely unbearable. They live off of the blood of animals. Most of the Forsaken are farmers for that very reason. Also unlike us, there are women among them. They are not truly Forsaken, because they do not possess the ability to morph into animals. Their offspring can include females, and their males are always Forsaken.

The threat from them happened when one coven of vampires slaughtered an entire family of Forsaken and bonded two of their men and Turned one of their sons. The Turning of this Forsaken didn't go well, and the fledgling went mad shortly after waking from the death sleep. When news of the events got back to the Forsaken High Council, a war was waged against all vampires.

More Forsaken were bonded, but none were ever Turned after the madness that had befallen the only attempt at a hybrid of our two species. However, several vampires were changed by Forsaken, and they found that the madness didn't effect the vampires. Instead, like the effect of vampire blood to females, Forsaken saliva killed vampires. Because of this discovery, new weapons were forged by Forsaken. Saliva soaked darts were used to fight vampires, and the effect was staggering. If it hadn't been for the discovery of their greatest weakness, the war would have gone on forever.

Forsaken, unlike vampires, are allergic to roses. Not the petals of the flower, but the pollen itself. Vampires began to make weapons carrying rose pollen, and the tables were turned. The effect on the Forsaken was not as instantaneous as that of the Forsaken saliva on vampires. It was, however, incurable, so their infected members died slow and haggard deaths.

It was Father Doran, and I'm very proud to tell you that I am a direct descendant of his bloodline, for my sire is a direct blood relative of Father Doran, that came to a truce with Bashire of the Forsaken and ended that war. I don't know the legends of that meeting, but I do know that a vampire high council was formed, and after that, each coven was required to register with the oldest living descendant of the bloodline that spawned it.

This story has very little to do with the history of vampires, and even less to do with the history of the Forsaken, but I wanted you to know a little about our heritage. What follows is my own story, and I dare you to read it. My name is Eric Maxwell, and I am the Sire Vampire of Coven House Maxwell - Doran. I was born in 1969, and Turned in 1985 on my sixteenth birthday. My story is not a pleasant one, and it is filled with murder, deceit and betrayal. You will read about sexual escapades, and a lot of them will likely make you sick, depending on your sexual taste. Read further if you dare.

Chapter One

First of all, I knew that my family was different from other families. My older brother, barely a year older than me, no longer lived in our house and hadn't for almost a year. My father thinks that I don't know what is going on, but I think I do. For one thing, I know that he has sex with Master Doran. I think my father believes that he covers that fact very well, but even my mother knows about it. Why she does nothing about it, I'll never know.

I also know that Franklin was having sex with Master Doran before he moved into the main house on the compound. That's right. Franklin was fifteen years old and having sex with a man that I have been told is several years older than even my father yet looks like he turned sixteen just days ago. Disgusted? Wait, it gets better. I asked my mother once why we never moved off of the compound. I was born in the house we live in, and so was my younger brother, Daniel.

My mother told me that Master Doran took very good care of our family, and we would probably live on the compound for the rest of our lives. It was clear that this explanation was all I was going to get from her, and she expected me to just accept it. It really was silly to question why we were living on the compound. We had everything that any of us could ever want for. My brothers and I had expensive clothes, a nice house to live in, and there was always plenty of food to eat.

What there was none of were visitors. That is, my brothers and I were never allowed to invite friends from school to spend any amount of time on the compound. That meant that we had no really close friends, because we weren't allowed to spend any significant amount of time off the compound, either. We went to school every day, but we always came right back to the compound after classes. It was strange how my parents were never really concerned with our grades, though. I mean, if any of us failed a class, my father didn't get irate about it. My mother didn't demand that we study hard, either. In fact, all she cared about was that we advanced to the next grade level each year.

My brother Franklin had quit school the day he turned sixteen. This was a fact that no one in the family discussed. It was understood that he would quit school and move into the main house the day he turned sixteen, and with my own sixteenth birthday approaching, I was told that I, too, would be quitting school and moving into the main house. What I wondered was if that also meant that I would be having sex with Master Doran like my brother was. I imagined that the two of them were having sex every night.

What was strange was that I never saw Master Doran or Franklin until the sun went down completely. When I asked about that, my mother always told me that it wasn't my business, and that Franklin was now working for Master Doran, and I shouldn't question that. My father just told me to mind my own affairs.

It was two days before my sixteenth birthday that I finally got a tour of the main house. My brother, Franklin, came to get me as soon as it got dark outside. He was dressed in a red and black silk shirt with long sleeves and black silk pants. His dark hair wasn't even a fraction of an inch longer than it had been the day he'd turned sixteen. He'd had it cut that day, and it was still in that same style and looked fresh cut after almost a year.

He flashed me a warm smile and led me up to the main house, regaling me with details that he couldn't wait to show me. He talked very fast, and he moved like I'd never seen before. His movements were almost liquid, like a cat's. There was also a strange light to his eyes. I don't mean that they glowed, but they were different now. The brown iris of his eye was outlined in a golden color that made them appear to glow almost.

My brother was a very good looking boy. He was about five feet, seven inches tall with dark, almost coal black hair and very dark brown eyes. His skin had always had a natural tanned pallor to it, and now it was almost golden. His smile could melt hearts, and he could have had any girl he wanted when he was still in school. That was why I didn't understand why he would want to have sex with Master Doran all of the time. I didn't know much about homosexuality at the time, so it was all kind of strange to me. I didn't think it was dirty or wrong, though. We had never discussed it in the family, and none of us ever listened to what other people had to say about much of anything outside of teachers.

The main house was massive to me. The ground floor had a huge hall that Franklin called a foyer, and he said that all of the parties that Master Doran held were always in this room. I'd never remembered there ever being any parties, but I didn't think Franklin would lie to me. There was a very large room to one side of the foyer, and Franklin called it the great room. He said that was where everyone in the house spent most of their time. A large dining room was directly across the foyer from the great room, and Franklin said that it was only used on special occasions.

There were two bathrooms on the ground floor, and I was amazed at the size of the bathtubs in both of them. There were also showers in both as well, but they were just stalls. The kitchen was spacious and had all very modern appliances with long counters and cabinets almost completely around the entire room on the walls. The large stove looked like it was from a restaurant, and the refrigerator was humongous.

The second floor was like a loft. The entire section above the foyer was open with a railing that lined the semi-circle upstairs hall. There were bedrooms everywhere, and Franklin told me that each bedroom had a sitting room as well. Only five of the bedrooms had private bathrooms, and there were two other bathrooms on the second floor.

There was a third floor, but Franklin said he wasn't allowed to show me that floor. That made me wonder exactly what was on the third floor, but I didn't press the issue. I did ask about Master Doran, and Franklin told me that he wasn't in residence. It was a lie, and he did nothing to conceal it. I didn't know why he would lie about it, but I didn't say anything about that, either.

He showed me his room, and I was amazed by the size of his bed. It was a king sized four post bed with a thick hunter green velvet canopy and sheer burgundy curtains all the way around. There were four painted portraits on the walls of his room of boys I didn't know. They looked no older than Franklin, but somehow, I sensed that they were much older.

A set of French double doors opened onto a private balcony, and even that amazed me. Even more amazing was the hot tub that sat just to the left of the doors on the balcony itself. He asked if I'd like to get in the tub, and I was tempted, but I wanted to see more of the house. I wondered what my room in the house would be like.

I didn't have long to wait, Franklin showed me that my room was right next to his, and like his, I also had a balcony, sitting room and private bathroom. The room was identical to Franklin's right down to the burgundy curtains on the bed and French doors. There was no hot tub on my balcony, though. Franklin explained that he'd asked for one on his, and that was why he had one and I didn't.

When he took me back to our little cottage style house, he explained that he was hungry. When I asked why he didn't just stay for something to eat, he smiled at me and shook his head. He said that Master Doran would be over the following evening to talk with me for a while, and I knew that it had something to do with my birthday, because my mother and father had been giving me lectures about the party that Master Doran would be throwing for me since the beginning of the month.

"Did you have a nice visit with your brother?" asked my father when Franklin left.

"He showed me the main house," I replied. "Why was I never allowed to go up there before now?"

"Master Doran has his reasons," he said. "Did you see your new room?"

"That's another thing I wanted to ask about," I said. "What if I don't want to quit school and move in with Master Doran?"

"We've been over this before, Eric," said my father. "You know the answer to that question."

"But what if I refuse?" I asked, daring him slightly. I knew that I couldn't refuse. That difference between my family and others had much to do with Master Doran. I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew enough to know I couldn't refuse anything that Master Doran wanted.

"Eric," sighed my father. "You know you can not refuse to do this. You've known about this since your were ten years old. This is the way the family works, and there's nothing that you can do about it. Daniel will quit school and move in with Master Doran when he turns sixteen as well. That is the way it is."

"And having sex with Master Doran like you and Franklin?" I asked, putting it all on the table. I'd never commented on this issue before, and here I was blatantly throwing the knowledge in my father's face.

"You know about that?" he asked. He wasn't angry or shocked. He wasn't even embarrassed.

"I knew you were having sex with Master Doran," I said. "I only suspected that Franklin was."

"You don't approve?" he asked.

"My approval doesn't mean anything," I said confused as to why he'd asked. "I just wanted to know if it was expected of me."

"Only Master Doran can answer that question for you, Eric," said my father. "I don't know if he will want to have sex with you or not."

"What exactly would I have to do with him if he does?" I asked.

"Whatever he tells you to do," he replied simply. "Master Doran is the head of our family, Eric. We do anything he asks."

His tone was final, and I knew that as far as he was concerned, the conversation was over. Not once through the whole thing did he lose his temper with me. He didn't yell at me or glare at me. He'd sighed with impatience, but it was never anger. He'd confirmed for me that Franklin and Master Doran were lovers, though. I wondered just what Master Doran wanted another lover for. Could the man be that sexually active?

The entire next day, I was nervous. On one level, I couldn't believe that my father was going to allow Master Doran to take me to his house and have sex with me. This was something that I knew, in a way, would happen for a very long time. Yes, I knew that my father had been having sex with Master Doran, because I'd seen them once when I was thirteen. Master Doran had fucked my father's ass in our own living room. It had been ruff and hard, and my father had begged for more. I didn't understand the appeal. I'd found and used my father's dildo on myself shortly after seeing the sex show in the living room, and it was excruciatingly painful for me. I couldn't see that I would actually enjoy sex with Master Doran. I wondered if he would even ask me for permission before he mounted me.

On another level, I was excited. My own dick was hard throughout the day, and I didn't understand why. Yes, I was very excited about actually having sex for the first time, but I was scared of it as well. As I stated earlier, my only attempt at inserting anything into my ass had been very painful, so why was I excited about the prospect of having sex with Master Doran when I knew it was going to hurt?

My mother cooked a meal for my father and Daniel, but when I asked what we were having, she told me that I wouldn't be eating with them tonight. Master Doran had said that he would feed me supper. I had no idea when he would be there, so I was a little put out by having to watch them eat while I was hungry. Thankfully, I didn't have to watch them eat. By the time the sun was fully down, Master Doran was standing in our living room, smiling at me.

His long jet black hair was pulled back in a pony tail, and his long black leather trench coat was covered in rain drops. His amber eyes held mirth as he smiled at me, and I felt a shiver run through my entire body. Suddenly all of the fear I'd felt about him was gone. In its place was a spectacular wonder, and I marveled that I'd ever been fearful of him to begin with.

"Eric," he said, taking my hand in his. His skin was slightly chilly, and it felt like satin. "Are you ready to walk with me to the main house?"

"Yes," I replied as I stared into his eyes.

He told my father that I would be home some time after dawn, and then he led me out of the house, across the spacious grounds and into the main house. There was no one around that night. I'd seen servants working on various things in the house the day before, but they all seemed to be either in their rooms or congregated elsewhere in the house.

He led me across the foyer to the staircase, and we walked up the stairs side by side. He glanced at me and gave me a warm smile as we walked, and I knew exactly what was about to happen. The sex I'd both feared and fantasized about was in my near future now. When we got into his room, he turned to me and took me in his arms.

"Do you know the truth yet, Eric?" he asked me as he put his face to my neck. I could hear as well as feel him sniffing my neck all over.

"The truth?" I asked, wondering what in the world he was doing.

"About me," he said. "About your brother, and Daren."

"What about you?" I asked as I felt his tongue lapping at my neck.

"About what we really are," he moaned into my neck.

"What do you mean?" I asked as a little of the fear I had felt earlier returned and made my knees quake.

"You'll soon understand," he said as he pulled me toward the bed and gently pushed me down on the soft mattress.

He unbuttoned my shirt and trailed wet kisses from my neck to my belt line, moaning softly as he did. My dick swelled in my pants, and his hand squeezed it through the worn fabric of my jeans. It excited me, and I began to push my crotch against his hand as he stroked me through my clothes. The whole thing was sending electric sensations through my entire body.

When his tongue found my nipples, I thought my balls would explode. I'd never felt anything like it in my entire life. It was like the head of my dick was somehow connected to my nipple as his tongue swirled around and over it. I barely registered the fact that his fingers were unbuckling my belt as he attacked the other nipple, sending more and more waves of pleasure through me.

I lifted my hips as he effortlessly pulled both my jeans and my boxers down over my legs to my ankles. There they stayed as his hand wrapped around my throbbing virgin dick for the very first time. I thought that nothing could feel as good as his hand on my dick, but my brain wasn't ready for the sensation of his tongue that had miraculously gone from my nipple to the crown of my dick. He swirled his tongue around the head much like he had my nipples, but the sensation was all together different.

Without warning, his mouth engulfed my dick all the way to my pubic bone, and I thought I would pass out from the sheer pleasure of it. He started to hum as my dick sank into his throat, and my balls tightened in my scrotum, churning my hot cum. I thought he'd back off, but he just started a gentle suction, and I swear I could feel him sucking the cum right out of my balls. It slowly flowed up through the shaft of my dick and into his mouth, and he moaned and pulled back until just the head of my dick was in his mouth.

When my orgasm subsided, he rolled me over to my stomach, and his hands pried the cheeks of my ass apart for what I thought was going to be my first fuck. Instead, he put his face in the cleft of my ass and the tongue that had first teased my nipples and then the head of my dick started to lap around my ass hole, driving me completely to the brink of my sanity.

He spent a small eternity licking around my sensitive hole, sending white hot waves of molten pleasure through me from my ass to the strands of my hair and the tips of my toes. Then, he let out a guttural moan as his tongue slid inside my ass, making me cry out from the pleasure of it. He turned his head from side to side slightly, diving his tongue deeper into my ass. Then he started to pull it back and slide it home again over and over, making my toes absolutely curl from the excitement.

My entire body was hot all over from the pleasure he was giving me, and I could feel my spent dick rising again beneath me. I wanted so badly to dig underneath myself and wrap my hand around it. I wanted to jack myself off while he ate my ass. The dual pleasure would have been the ultimate high for me, but he pulled my hands back each time I tried to put my plan in motion.

His tongue continued to fuck me, and I started to whimper, pushing my ass back against his face. I was moaning and pleading for him to let me at my dick, but he had other plans. First, he just continued his assault on my ass. His tongue seemed to snake deep inside me, but I knew that wasn't possible. It was some kind of trick my brain was playing on me from the sensory overload I was experiencing.

I felt him moving behind me, and when I thought he was getting ready to fuck me for real, he turned me over again. Miraculously, his clothes were still on, and he devoured my dick again, bobbing his head rapidly up and down on it. Each time, his tongue dragged across the underside of my dick, and I thought I would cum again already. Fortunately, that was just a sensation and not the real thing.

With his mouth on my dick, two of his fingers replaces his tongue in my ass. As he sucked me, he pushed those fingers in and out of my wet ass, going deeper with each inward thrust. The sensation wasn't pleasant at first, but then his fingers did something magical inside of me. After that, every time they went in, it was like my balls vibrated, and my dick got harder in Master Doran's mouth.

Then, all at once, his mouth came off my dick and his fingers came out of my ass. I was crestfallen from the ceasefire on my pleasure, but then he went back to running his tongue over my nipples again. Although the sensation was very pleasant, it was nothing compared to the blowjob and finger fuck. I was a bit disappointed until he at least let his tongue slide down my body, but he bypassed my dick and went straight to my balls.

He lathered both of my orbs with his tongue before taking first one and then the other into his mouth. This was a completely different kind of sensation for me. It was great, but still nothing like his other manipulations. This was something that I could definitely get used to, though, and I moaned my appreciation.

Then, my heart about leapt out of my chest as I opened my eyes and saw Franklin in the doorway. He was smiling at me with a knowing glint in his eyes. I calmed down as the glint in his eyes went from knowing to hungry. He slowly advanced into the room and put his hand on the back of Master Doran's head, letting him know he was there.

"Little one," said Master Doran after releasing my balls from his mouth.

"I want to play, too," said Franklin, turning that hungry look at me again.

"I know just how to include you," replied Master Doran.

With that, he had me stand up and take my shoes, socks and my pants off completely. Then he told me to stand there and spread my legs a little. He got behind me, and once again that tongue of his was in my ass, and half of the Heaven I felt before was back again. Then, my older brother was on his knees before me, and before I could say a word, my dick was lodged in his throat.

The very idea that Franklin was sucking my dick was almost enough to make me blast off like a rocket. I don't know how I didn't cum right then, but I hung on for quite a while. My knees repeatedly went weak as Franklin worked his magic on my dick while Master Doran completely ate out my ass. My balls were in a constant state of pre orgasmic bliss while the two of them worked me over, and when my balls tightened up, Franklin backed off my dick and went to work on my balls much like Master Doran had done a little while earlier.

After he'd spent what I thought to be a little too long on my balls and neglected my aching member, I groaned in frustration, making him laugh against my balls, and Master Doran laughed into my ass. This caused an altogether different sensation. It was almost as pleasurable as everything else they were doing to me. However, Franklin let me off the hook and went back to deep throating my dick like a mad man. This time when my balls tightened, I grabbed the sides of his head and started to piston my dick in and out of his throat. Master Doran stayed perfectly still and let me impale myself on his tongue at the same time.

When my orgasm hit me, it rocked me completely. My knees buckled, and Master Doran had to hold me in place as I filled Franklin's gullet with my boiling seed. He swallowed with my dick still trapped in his throat, and the sensation threatened to drive me insane. I wailed in pleasure from the feeling, and I barely registered the fact that Master Doran's tongue had never left my ass.

Suddenly, I was more tired than I'd ever been before in my life. Franklin, displaying more strength than I'd ever known him to possess, lifted my naked body into his arms and smiled down at me with the most radiant smile filled with love on his face. In that moment, it was like his soul spoke to me, and I heard him saying, "You'll be with us soon, little brother."

"Take him to his room, and put him in bed," said Master Doran. "Come straight back, Franklin. We have yet to feed and the night is no longer young."

That was all I heard and the very last thing I remember.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, the sun was just starting to filter in through the cracks in the heavy curtains on the French doors. I stretched and yawned, still tired from the previous night's workout. A smile crept over my face as I remembered what had happened, and I couldn't wait for a repeat performance.

I wanted to get out of bed to go and find Master Doran or Franklin to instigate a repeat, but at that moment, an older man came into the room with my clothes. He told me that he was drawing me a bath and that I should be in the bathroom in a few minutes to bathe. He said that the cook had prepared a breakfast for me to eat before I returned to my family's home for the day.

When I got into the bathroom, I was surprised to see the man standing beside the large tub. He was completely nude, and I was slightly embarrassed at seeing him in that state. He wasn't in the mood for shyness, however. He grabbed my robe and took it off, telling me to hurry and get into the tub. Master Doran wanted a word with me before I went down to breakfast.

The water was very hot, but he gave me no time to adjust before he shoved me down into the tub. I was about to protest when he got into the tub behind me, but he immediately started to wash my back and shoulders with a sponge filled with fragrant soap. He washed my hair and face next, and I really didn't like it. I wanted so badly to tell him I could clean myself, but he just moved on to my front, hugging me to him. I felt his erection against my back as he did so.

When he got to my dick, I was surprised to find that it was sore from the previous night. He wasn't the least bit gentle about washing it, either, and I really wanted to turn around and rake my fingernails over his dick to show him how uncomfortable mine was, but I endured until it was over. It had been the fasted bath I'd ever taken, and he was just as ruff with me as he dried my body.

Thankfully, he let me dress myself, and he even left the bathroom while I did so. He never put on a stitch of clothing, and I was amazed when he walked out of my room naked. I didn't dwell on that, though. I got dressed quickly and walked back to Master Doran's room. He was standing in the doorway, waiting for me.

"Good morning, heavy sleeper," he said in that sexy voice of his as he took me in his arms, kissing my neck.

"Good morning," I replied when he released me from his embrace.

"Have breakfast and see as much of the day as you can, young one," he told me. "Tonight, you will be mine."

The last words he said as we parted stayed with me throughout the day. I ate a huge breakfast alone in the dining room. I never once saw the cook, but another older guy served me my meal. He was taller than the one who had given me my bath, and his eyes were kinder. I'd guess him to be in his late forties. He had graying dark hair and emerald eyes.

When I was finished with my meal, he walked me to the front door of the mansion and bid me farewell. I was a bit disappointed that neither Franklin or Master Doran had come down to eat with me, and I wondered why they were both dressed for bed when I saw them. I'd seen Franklin talking to the naked man who had bathed me as I passed his room. He was closing his bedroom door as I passed.

It was my sixteenth birthday, and I had to ride to school with my father, so I could turn in all of my books, clean out my locker and inform the office that I wouldn't be returning. I wasn't as upset about it as I had been before. Last night's sexual escapades had changed my outlook on living in the mansion with Master Doran and Franklin. If quitting school meant that I could have more nights like the previous one, then I wasn't that upset about leaving the school behind.

It was nearly lunch time when we left the school. The dean of students made a fuss about losing another of the Maxwell boys, and my father had to sit in his office, talking privately with him for nearly an hour. I used that time to return all of my books and finish cleaning out my locker. My father was just coming out of the dean's office when I came back to the outer main office.

When we got back home, we sat down to a quiet lunch where my mother pumped me for details about my first night in the main house. I noticed that while Dad and I were gone, she'd packed almost all of my stuff for me. I was a little annoyed about that, but I let it go. This was probably going to be my last lunch with my family.

"Did you and Franklin have fun last night?" asked my mother, making me wonder just how much about Franklin she knew.

"We did," I said, glancing at my father as I said it just in time to see him wink at me.

"Are you excited about moving to the main house now?" she asked.

"A little," I replied.

I really wondered just how much she knew about Master Doran and Franklin's relationship. I kept glancing at my father, but his face wasn't revealing anything. I wished that there was a way for me to talk to him without my mother hearing us. Without that, I didn't know what to say to her when she asked me questions about what I did last night.

"Did they tell you the truth?" she asked.

"The truth?" I replied. "What do you mean?"

"Margaret," said my father with a warning tone.

"I can't tell you, Eric," she said, glancing sideways at my father. "I just wondered if they told you anything."

"No, they didn't," I replied, remembering Master Doran's words about the truth.

"I'm sure that Doran will tell Eric all he needs to know after the party tonight, Margaret," said my father.

She dropped it after that, but she insisted that I help her with the dishes, telling me that I wasn't the prince of the manor yet. She insisted that I spend almost every minute with her after that, too. I really wanted to talk to my father alone for just a few minutes, but I couldn't find the time. I hoped that when Danny came home from school, she would let up on me a little. I couldn't believe I didn't discuss this with my father while we were in the car on our way to or from the school.

My hope that I could get away from my mother for a few minutes when Danny came home was granted, but then I had to spend time with Danny. The two of us played catch in the cool autumn afternoon while he told me all about everyone talking about me quitting school. Then he asked me all sorts of questions about Master Doran and the main house.

"I suppose you had sex with him, right?" he asked, shocking me to the core.

"What?" I gasped.

"Oh, come on," he said. "I'm not stupid, Eric. I saw the same thing you saw in the living room that night."

"You saw Dad and Master Doran?" I asked.

"Well, yeah," he said. "You weren't exactly quiet about getting out of bed that night, and I was only across the room from you. When you didn't come back for a while, I came to find you, and I saw."

"And you're ok with it?" I asked, throwing the baseball back to him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked. "It was our father. He can do whatever he wants, right?"

"No, I mean about two guys having sex," I explained.

"That doesn't bother me," he said. "I don't really care about that. Besides, it was kind of hot."

"Hot?" I asked. "You're only thirteen years old! What do you know about hot?"

"I'm thirteen, not stupid, Eric," he said.

That was when the man who helped me bathe that morning came walking across the grounds toward us. He was dressed in a black and red dinner jacket and black slacks. His steel grey hair was slicked back, and he looked at least ten years younger than he had that morning. Still, the sight of him made me cringe.

"Master Eric," he said as he came closer. "It's time for you to come to the main house for grooming."

"Grooming?" I asked. "If it's going to be anything like this morning, then I'd rather groom myself."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible," he said as my mother and father came outside. "You can't possibly cut your own hair."

"Hello, Sedrick," said my father with a smile. He shook the older man, Sedrick's, hand.

"Brother Harold," replied Sedrick with a small smile that still didn't make me feel any warmer toward him. "I've come to collect young Master Eric."

"Eric," said my father. "Why don't you go along with Sedrick, and we'll see you at dinner."

"Six o'clock," reminded Sedrick.

"We'll be there," replied my mother.

I followed Sedrick back across the grounds to the main house, and the whole time I was praying that he wasn't going to get in the tub with me again. I was really starting to not like the guy. I was going to say something to Master Doran about it when I had the chance. Since I was going to be living in the house with him, I thought I'd have plenty of chances to tell him that I didn't like bathing with Sedrick.

Once inside the house, I saw that the dining room was really decked out. Sedrick didn't give me a chance to really look, though. He ushered me up the stairs and into my room again. He told me to strip and come to the bathroom. That's when I knew that he would be taking the bath with me again. I really didn't want to do it.

When I got into the bathroom, I was surprised to find a younger man standing next to Sedrick. This man couldn't have been older than thirty. He had blond hair that was cut in the exact same way as every other male servant I'd seen in the house. It was cut short, almost buzzed, on the sides and in the back. The top was long enough to cover his forehead, but like Sedrick, his was slicked back.

There was also a chair in the room, and a table had been placed next to the chair. There were scissors, combs and brushes on the table. I imagined that this was all for my haircut. I didn't think I needed a haircut, but I didn't want to make anyone angry. I sat in the chair when Sedrick motioned for me to.

"This is Hans," said Sedrick, indicating the younger man. "He'll be cutting your hair and attending to shaving."

"Shaving?" I asked.

"Just be still," commanded Sedrick as Hans draped a black cotton cape around my shoulders.

The haircut was meticulous and it lasted for what seemed hours to me, but I'm sure it wasn't nearly that long. They didn't allow me to see the end result, though. The cape was removed, shaving cream was applied to my face and neck, and Hans began to shave me. I was about to protest and tell him that I'd never had to shave before. My facial hair had yet to start growing. In the end, I just sat there and let him work.

When he raised my left arm, I wanted to protest even more. I wasn't happy about the prospect of him shaving my pits, and I could just imagine the fun when the hair started to grow again. It didn't take long enough for me to protest before my left pit was hair free, and he was on to the right one before I even had a chance to put my left arm down.

I was really confused when they told me to stand up and spread my legs, and I almost freaked when Hans began trimming my pubic hair. When he went for the razor again, I backed away from him. I wasn't about to let them shave anything near my dick. What if they cut me? That would be a very bad spot to have a cut.

Sedrick stepped behind me and wrapped an arm around my chest and arms. He used one foot to spread my legs again, and Hans went to work on my balls. He was gentle and careful, but I was scared as Hell. What if he cut my scrotum? What would I do then? I just prayed that he knew what he was doing, and I was surprised when he stood back up and announced that it was over.

That wasn't the end of it, however. Sedrick turned me around and pulled my shoulders forward as Hans spread my legs wider apart. At first I thought he was going to mimic Master Doran's treatment to my anus, but then I felt the razor, and I stiffened. He was shaving my ass crack! I couldn't think of any good reason why he would do that, but he was done before I could get too panicked.

Back in the chair, my ass and balls already itched like crazy, but Sedrick wouldn't let me touch them. He just gave me an evil smile when he saw my discomfort, and my dislike for him turned to pure hatred. I wanted to hit him when he grabbed my head in his hands and held firm. For a brief moment, I thought about struggling, but I knew that I could give Master Doran a full accounting of what had transpired in this bathroom.

All of this was running through my mind, and I was distracted from what Hans was getting up to. That's why when he poked the earring into my left ear, I wasn't prepared for it. It stung like crazy, but I didn't say anything. When he moved to the right ear, I thought about struggling again, but Sedrick's grip on my head was really tight. It was over before I could make a decision, and then Hans was wiping the small amount of blood off my ears.

I was allowed to stand in front of the full length mirror to gaze at myself while they began filling the tub with hot water. Through the reflection I saw Hans adding some kind of powder to the water, but I was too interested in the way my pubic region looked. My pubic hair had been curly and kind of like a bush before he trimmed it. Now it was very short, and he'd shaved it into a triangle shape just above my dick. My balls were completely hairless, and I had to admit that it made my dick look a lot bigger than it was.

I really didn't want to get in that tub with Sedrick, and I knew that was what was going to happen when I saw Hans cleaning up the hair on the floor and gathering his tools into a bag. He bowed to us slightly as Sedrick began removing his clothes and left the room. Sedrick motioned for me to get into the tub.

"I can bathe myself," I said not moving a muscle.

"Shut up, and get in," he barked, and I flinched.

"Tell me," I said, "why is it that you are such a bastard to me?"

"You're not anything special, yet, boy," he said. "Now get in the tub."

I complied, but I was definitely going to have a talk with Master Doran after the party tonight. If Sedrick was going to be the one who bathed me every day, then I didn't want to live in the main house. This was ridiculous. I wasn't about to put up with this kind of treatment every day from now on.

I got in the tub, and all of my protests instantly evaporated. It must have been the powder that Hans had added to the water. When I sat down, everything that itched stopped itching. My skin felt soothed and invigorated. I thought that I could stay in that tub forever until Sedrick slipped in behind me.

He wasted no time making me uncomfortable again. He used the same sponge he'd used that morning, but this time he was even more rough about the bathing. He manhandled my dick and balls to the point of out right pain, and I seriously wanted to slit his throat for it. I won a slight battle when I got out of the tub after the bathing. I took the towel out of his outstretched hands and dried myself.

I walked back into the bedroom and dressed in the black satin trousers that were on the bed. The shirt was satin as well, but the color was ruby red. Dressed, I went to the vanity to style my short hair. It was much easier to do now, because there was only one style that my hair would go in that looked good. It didn't escape my attention that it was the exact same style that Master Doran, Franklin and Daren sported.

Thankfully Sedrick left my rooms to go and dress elsewhere. He was back moments later, though. He escorted me down to the dining room where Master Doran was sitting at the head of the table. My parents and younger brother were on one side of the table, and Franklin and Daren were on the other. A chair sat empty, and I knew that was where I was expected to sit.

"Happy birthday, Eric," said Master Doran as I took my seat next to Franklin.

"Thank you, Master Doran," I replied, looking around the table at all of the food that was on display.

"You've no need to call me Master Doran anymore, Eric," he said, flashing me a brilliant smile. "After tonight, you will be my equal."

"Your equal?" I asked puzzled. I didn't see how that was possible.

My family lived on Doran's estate, yes, but we were nothing better than grounds servants. My father was in charge of landscaping, and my mother did laundry. I wasn't completely daft. I knew my station would one day be that of my father's, or I'd have some other menial task to complete each day. I did wonder just what Franklin's station in the house was, though.

"What exactly do you think it is that Daren and Franklin do on the estate?" he asked. "For that matter, what do you believe that your father's purpose is here on the estate?"

"I don't really know what Daren and Franklin do on the estate," I admitted. "My father is head landscaper. He's told me this himself."

"But that's what your father chose to do, Eric," he replied. "I do not employ your father. He is part of my family as you and Franklin are. Your mother and Daniel are also part of my family just like Daren is."

"What about Sedrick and Hans?" I asked.

"Sedrick is part of my family, and by extension, so is Hans," he said. "You will know the way the family works soon, Eric. For now, let us dine. Enjoy your birthday supper."

After that we all started eating, but I noticed that Doran, Franklin and Daren only ate very small portions of everything. There couldn't have been more than a spoon full of each dish on their plates, and I wondered how they could only eat so little. My mother and father didn't comment on it, and conversation continued. They talked about different aspects of the estate and touched on my father's discussion with the dean at school.

When the cake was put on the table by Hans, I noticed that Sedrick filled my glass with wine. I looked to Doran, and he nodded, so I took a small sip of my first glass of wine. It was then that I noticed that my mother and father were the only others at the table to have wine in their glasses, but theirs was white, and mine was red. I wondered about that, but I didn't ask. A piece of cake was put in front of me then.

The cake was red velvet with white frosting, and it tasted great. My mother, father and Daniel all had cake, but Doran, Franklin and Daren did not. I was going to comment about that, but Doran started talking to Sedrick about something, so I remained silent while I ate my cake. Sedrick left the room, and Hans quickly followed him.

"Harold and Margaret, it was a pleasure having you tonight," said Doran. "Harold, if you will accompany me to the great room for a few seconds, I believe we have something to discuss."

I watched as my father got up from his seat and, without a word, followed Doran out of the dining room. I wanted to ask about it, but Franklin gave me a warning glance, so I kept my mouth shut. I went back to eating my cake and sipping my wine. The two of them were gone for quite a while, and my wine glass and cake plate were both empty by the time they returned.

My head was swimming. I supposed it was from the wine. I'd never drunk alcohol of any kind before, so I didn't know what the effect was like. My mother was telling me how proud of me she was, but her voice sounded far off. She and Daniel were getting up to leave, and I tried to stand to say goodbye to them, but my knees were weak.

"What's wrong with Eric?" I could hear Daniel asking my mother, but they still sounded far off.

"He's a little drunk, Danny," she said. "Master Doran will take care of him. Don't worry."

"Are we leaving him here?" he asked.

"Of course," she said. "You know that he's going to be living here in the main house now."

"And I'll never see him," he said. "Just like Franklin."

"Come now, Danny," she said, putting her arm across his shoulders. "You'll see both of your brothers again soon."

I wanted to tell him that I would be at the house to play catch with him after he got out of school, but my tongue felt thick. My arms felt heavy, and I thought I might fall out of my chair. I was so thankful when Doran came back into the room and helped me to my feet. He smiled at me with a look of tenderness on his face.

"The wine is working on you now, Eric," he said. "I gave it to you to help you relax. The lethargy will pass in a few moments."

"I feel so tired," I said, and I was amazed to find myself in his arms.

He was carrying me up to my room, and I was very upset that I was being put to bed so early. It was barely ten o'clock, and I wanted to talk with Fredrick. I wanted to tell Doran all about Sedrick and that I didn't like bathing with him. It seemed that I would have to wait until morning to talk to him about all of that.

"Don't fret, Eric," he said when we got to my room. "Everything will be wonderful soon."

"I don't want to go to bed yet," I complained like a child.

"But we're going to bed for a union tonight, Eric," he said. "A union that will bring us closer together forever."

"What do you mean?" I asked, and I noticed that the fog was lifting slightly from my alcoholic hazed mind.

"Eric, I'm going to bite your neck," he said. "I'm going to drink from your blood, and then I'm going to feed you my own."

"What?" I asked sure I'd heard him incorrectly.

"I'm a vampire, Eric," he said, smiling at me.

"Vampires aren't real," I protested weakly as he started to remove my clothes.

"After tonight, you'll never grow old," he said, ignoring my statement. "You'll never get sick, and you'll never die."

"This is absurd," I breathed as he laid me on my bed.

My face slid across the satin comforter on the bed, and he was naked and by my side in a flash. Evidently he'd grown tired of my insistence that vampires weren't real. He seemed to be indifferent to my words. He brought his face to my neck, and I could feel him sniffing me again. He turned me over onto my back, and I could feel his hard dick against my ass.

His face was back to my neck again, and his hands were all over me. I could feel him breathing against my neck, and his insistent erection was moving into the cleft of my ass. I was suddenly filled with a wonderful feeling as he applied his full weight on top of me. I wanted him inside of me. Only this time, I wanted his dick instead of his tongue. I wanted all of him.

"Please," I moaned to voice my desire.

His answer was to lap at my neck with his hot tongue, sending shivers of pleasure through my body. There was a little sting as his teeth sank into my neck, puncturing an artery and letting my blood flow into his mouth. The sting was replaced with a warm and erotic feeling as he sucked the blood from my neck faster and faster, and I was amazed to find that my dick was hardening beneath me.

As he drank from me, I became more and more excited. He started rocking his hips, driving his erection up and down the cleft of my ass, and I could hear a growling sound that I thought was coming from him. I was surprised to find that it was coming from me as I pushed my ass back against his erection, trying to get at it with my ass hole.

I was amazed when my balls started pumping my cum out of my dick and onto the comforter beneath me, and I thought my consciousness was fading. My head began to swim, and all of my senses seemed to be failing me. Then the moment I'd been waiting for was upon me. His dick found my hole, and with one thrust, it was inside me.

There was no pain from the invasion. In fact, I felt more pleasure in that moment than I'd ever felt in my young life. I felt completed in a way that I'd never thought possible. He continued to drink slowly from my neck as he thrust his erection in and out of my ass, hitting that magic spot inside of me that his fingers had found the day before. My dick hardened again, and as my consciousness truly threatened to escape me, my balls churned another load up through my dick and onto the comforter.

Then, on the brink of unconsciousness, I felt his dick expand inside me. He disengaged from my neck and let go of a long low moan from deep inside of himself. I was being filled with his semen as he continued to pummel my ass with his dick. I rode the waves of pleasure for as long as I could, but consciousness was teetering away from me rapidly.

He pulled his dick out of me, leaving me feeling completely empty. He rolled me over and gazed into my eyes, telling me to hold on to my consciousness for as long as I could. He said that things had only just begun, but he knew I was dangerously low on blood. If he left me like this, I would die.

"Do you want to die tonight, Eric?" he asked me.

"No," I tried to yell, but it came out in a cracked whisper.

"Drink from me," he said, putting his index finger to his own neck and slicing into his skin with his fingernail, "and live forever."

Then, he impaled himself on my erection, sending white hot pleasure through my brain. He pulled me into a sitting position that put my face against his bleeding throat, and I opened my mouth and clamped onto his neck with my lips. His blood was warm and filled me with a burning sensation all over my body. The blood was like the nectar of the Gods, and I drank full gulps of it, letting it burn into my body with its spicy perfection.

I began to feel a slight burning sensation that started in my toes and slowly worked its way up through my feet and legs. The feeling of his ass sliding up and down on my dick distracted me from the burning. Then, out of nowhere came these flashes in my mind. I saw men. All kinds of men were tilting their heads in this vision, and Doran was drinking from their necks. I saw so many things that I can't name them all here, but suffice it to say that by the time I finished feeding from him, I knew more than I'd ever known about anything in my entire life.

I knew about what it was that we were now. Vampires. As ridiculous as it sounds, that's what he was, and that's what I was on my way to becoming. I knew about the death that I would suffer as soon as his blood began coursing through my veins, and I knew about drones and fledglings. So much knowledge was passed between us as I drank his blood that I almost didn't realize that I was blasting sperm into his ass.

Then my entire body was on fire as he lifted off of my dick and laid me back against the bed. A scream was lodged in the back of my throat, but I couldn't voice it into the world. My body was in agony, and I knew I was dying. He'd said that if I drank from him I would live forever. On some level, I knew that his words were true, but as the human life left my body, I thought of what it would be like to be in Heaven.

Chapter Two

I don't even know how to explain the things I saw while I slept. I do know that it was like no other slumber I had ever been under in the past, and it would quite possibly be like no other in the future. The images and colors that I saw in that sleep cannot be called a vampiric dream, because in the sleep I was not yet a vampire. The change would only be completed after I had drawn first blood. Until then, I would exist in a state between human and vampire and be more vulnerable than a newborn baby. When my eyes finally opened again, I was assaulted by a pain like I had never known. It wasn't the pain of human death, because the human in me was already gone. This was something far different than anything I'd ever experienced. It was like the walls of my stomach were folding in on each other, and my stomach began to convulse. I cried out from the pain, and I could hear the difference in my voice.

Luckily, the others could hear that difference, too. Daren and Franklin were in the room with me in a flash, and I was shocked to see another man with them. What further shocked me was that I could smell his blood inside his veins. Even over the pain, I could hear his heart beating, pumping that precious blood through his human veins.

He was at least thirty years old with mousey brown hair and dull brown eyes. His features were soft and slightly uneven. I wondered why in the world they would have him in their company, but the beating of his heart began to pulse in time with the throbbing pain in my stomach. I began to salivate thinking of what it would taste like to drain him dry.

"He's naked!" cried the man. "God, the smell!"

That's when the smell hit my nose. My newly heightened senses amplified it, turning it into the most horrible smell in existence. I turned to look around in the bed, and I saw that I was virtually surrounded by blood and other fluids. What smelled the most awful was the human excrement mixed into the smears on the bed. I understood that while I slept the sleep of the dead my body had rid itself of everything human, and that included the contents of my stomach, intestines and bladder.

"He's sick," said Franklin, "but you have exactly what he needs to get better, Larz."

"I do?" asked the man I now understood was Larz, turning to face my brother. "What might that be?"

"Eric," said my brother not taking his eyes off of Larz for a second. "Take him."

Larz was given no time to even think about the meaning of my brother's command, for I was on him in less than a second. He struggled briefly as my newly grown fangs sank into his neck. Like a natural, I'd pierced his jugular, and his rich blood flowed over my tongue and down my throat, calming the cramping of my stomach as it bathed its walls.

Through his blood, I knew everything there was to know about him. He was a recently paroled convict with a criminal record that could make a Mafia family proud. The crime he'd been serving time for recently was murder, and I could feel how much it had excited him to watch the life leave the body of his own wife as he tore at her body with the claw of a hammer.

Then I noticed that my own heartbeat was now matching his, and it was getting slower as his slowly died. As I swallowed each mouthful of his evil blood, our hearts began to beat slower and slower. I knew that he would be dead soon, and I also knew that to continue drinking from him after his heart stopped would be the death of me. It was harder to remove my fangs from the flesh of his neck than anything I'd ever had to do, but death was not something that I wished for. Something in my mind flashed, and I knew that as I removed my fangs I had to bite my tongue to release a bit of my own blood over his wounds to heal them completely. I did that a second before letting his lifeless corpse sink from my arms to the floor of my room.

"Perfect," said Doran from the doorway with a very satisfied look on his face. "You're awake a little ahead of schedule, but I see that your brother wasted no time in teaching you what you needed to know about your first kill."

"I didn't have a chance to teach him anything," said Franklin, and it was then that I saw the stunned expression on his face as well as Daren's.

"It was like he was a natural," commented Daren as he stared at me. "He knew exactly what to do, and we didn't even have to pull him back as Larz's heart stopped."

"What are you saying?" demanded Doran as he stared at me.

"Exactly what you think I'm saying," replied Franklin, dragging his gaze away from me and looking back at our maker. "He just knew."

Doran was silent for a few moments as he watched me with awe on his face. I wondered what was happening, but I didn't have time to figure it out. Something in my mind flashed again, and before I could even register what I was doing, I turned back to the dead man on the floor. I raised my open right hand and slowly twisted it in a small circle as I closed my fist. As I did so, flames burst from Larz's mouth and eyes. Then the fire was all over him, burning him until his body was nothing but dust on the floor.

"What the Hell?" cried Franklin as he all but jumped away from the dusty shape of a body on my bedroom floor. "What did you do to him?"

"I..." I stammered. In my mind, I knew exactly what I had done. I even knew how I had done it. I knew that I could do it again to anyone or anything that I wanted at any time. "I got rid of the body."

"His eyes!" cried Daren as he stared at my face with a look of horror.

"Oh my God!" gasped Franklin moving even further away from me.

"What?" I asked, trying to remain calm as I turned to look at Doran.

He was standing in the exact spot he'd been standing in when I first laid eyes on him. His jaw was slack, and there was a look of astonishment on his face as he gaped at me. I was really starting to worry as he continued to look at me that way. It was as if he were seeing something he couldn't believe. I knew in my vampire heart that what I'd done was completely normal, yet they were all looking at me like I was some kind of freak.

"Eric, tell me," said Doran. "How did you know to do what you did?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "One minute I was looking at Franklin, and then I thought about getting rid of the body, and I just did it."

"And how did you know to seal his wound with your blood?" he asked.

"I know everything about vampires," I said. "I learned it when I drank from you."

"What are you saying?" he asked. "What did you see when you drank my blood?"

"I saw everything," I replied. "I know that Sedrick, Hans and my father are drones. I know that on my younger brother's sixteenth birthday, he will be your fourth and final fledgling. I know that Sedrick and my father are your drones, and Hans is Daren's drone. You have three drones, Daren has one, and Fredrick has yet to find one. We are each allowed three drones, and we should choose one who is already married, so that he can sire our fledglings. I also know that this man can never be a vampire, but his sons, the bred drones, can be turned.

"I know that I will never die unless I will it," I continued. "I know about slayers and our ties to the government. I know about the Forsaken and the war we fought against them over one of their kind being turned..."

"Stop," he said, putting a hand up to silence me. "It's clear to me that you got quite a bit of knowledge from drinking my blood, but the fire that you unleashed upon the body, where did you learn of that?"

"I'm not sure," I replied. "I didn't know anything about it until moments before I did it."

"Enough," he said quickly. "Sedrick, bathe him and show him what to wear. Daren, Franklin, come with me. There is much we must discuss, and I have to send word to Tallan before sunrise."

"They're afraid of me," I said, looking at Daren and Franklin as they moved to leave the room.

"Yes," he said. "I'm sure they are. They don't know half of what you know, and what you did to the body is a gift that has been lost to vampires for a century."

"A century?" I gasped.

"Yes," he replied. "Now we will discuss this before dawn. I have much to talk with Franklin and Daren about, and as I said, I have to get word to Tallan. After you've bathed and dressed, come downstairs and meet us in the great room."

I watched them leave the room, but I could still hear the thoughts of Daren and Franklin. They were confused, but mostly they were scared. What Doran had said was true. They didn't know half of what I knew, and they were still puzzling over what a Forsaken was, and they had no idea what to think about Slayers much less our ties to the government.

"Come, Master Eric," said Sedrick from the open door to my bathroom.

"I warn you, Sedrick," I said as I followed him into the bathroom. "I won't take kindly to being manhandled again."

"Yes, Master Eric," he said, and I could hear in his thoughts that he was terrified that I would burn him to a cinder. I had to admit to myself that the thought had crossed my mind when Doran had told him to bathe me.

This bath was different than the others, though. Sedrick treated me as if I were the most delicate thing on the planet as he washed my back and scrubbed my hair. No words were exchanged between us, either. It was strange, because I could hear his heart beating, and I could smell his blood, but the scent of it told me it was forbidden blood. I knew that no vampire was allowed to feed from another's drone, but I hadn't expected to be able to smell the very fact that it was forbidden.

Sitting there in the tub with Sedrick washing me, I could smell many humans in the house. There were so many of them that I thought it was impossible that I hadn't seen them before. That was when my senses told me that the smell was mostly coming from the floor above me. In a mind flash, I knew that there were at least a hundred people living on the third floor.

Every one of them were either from the criminal aspect of humanity or the offspring of a criminal. I knew that they were food, and that Doran called them livestock. They lived under guard from another drone I didn't know about. His name was Jase, and he was almost ninety years old. I knew that he was Doran's very first drone and a gift from Tallan, the vampire who'd sired Doran.

A tidal wave of knowledge swept through my head, leaving me dizzy as I stepped out of the tub and into the monstrous towel that Sedrick held in his outstretched arms. I wondered if this was the way it would always be for me. It seemed that all I had to do was think of something for a few moments, and I knew all there was to know about it. Were all vampires like this?

The clothing that Sedrick pulled from my closet was different from anything I'd ever worn before. Black corduroy pants with gold buttons were the first thing that he pulled out. Following those was a white turtleneck that looked as thin as a t-shirt. That was to be topped by a black and white sweater. I dressed quickly and went down to find my family.

"Eric," said Doran as I came into the great room. He was seated on an old fashioned couch with Daren and Franklin on either side of him. "Come on in and have a seat."

"Thank you," I said as I sat in the chair across from them.

"Your father is calling Tallan, and he should be among us before sunrise tomorrow night," he said. "I'm sure you have many questions, so I'll let Tallan answer them if I cannot."

"I have questions," I agreed. "Though I don't have many."

"Well, let me tell you why I think it is that you could see so much from my blood," he said, but I cut him off.

"I'm a seer," I said simply, and until the word left my lips, I had no idea what it meant.

"I think so," he replied. "Do you know what that means?"

"It means that I have the gift of sight," I said. "When I feed, I can see everything there is to know about the source of the blood. I saw everything about Larz when I fed from him, and I know that until tonight, he lived on the third floor under Jase's guard."

"How much did you learn from my blood?" he asked.

"I learned a great deal," I replied. "I learned even more in my death sleep."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I thought I was dreaming, but I know now that it is impossible for a vampire to dream unless he is a seer," I said. "I saw many things in those dreams. Forsaken, slayers and even Lord Doran, whom you're named for, walked through my dreams."

"You do know a great deal," he said.

"I know that the government allows us to hunt freely as long as we only feed from the truly cruel of society," I said. "Yet you breed your food. Why?"

"You don't know the answer to that question?" he asked.

"I asked it," I replied sharply gaining a reproachful look.

"I have never hunted since I started this coven," he said. "I despise the hunt. I find it boring."

"But it is in a vampire's nature to hunt his prey," I replied. "We are not the Forsaken."

"How much do you know about the Forsaken?" he asked.

"I know that they are really what the world calls werewolves," I said. "They live in packs like the wolf, and they're almost all farmers with cattle."

"Is that all?" he asked.

"I know that their saliva is poison to us, and one drop could kill the strongest of us in a matter of weeks," I said. "It is forbidden to turn a Forsaken, because they go insane during the change."

"If you are really a seer, which I suspect you truly are, then you could be in a great deal of danger once word gets out," he said. "As for the fire gift, I don't even know what to think about that."

"Tallan knows?" I asked.

"Tallan knows more about it than I do," he replied. "He'll also know what to say about your seer ability."

"I can't read your thoughts," I said. "Are you deliberately trying to block me?"

"It is impossible for a fledgling to read the emotions of his sire," he explained. "You say you can't read my thoughts. What do you mean?"

"I can read Franklin's thoughts," I said. "Daren's, too. Even Sedrick is like watching a movie in my head. He was afraid the entire time he bathed me that I would burn him to a crisp."

"You can actually read the thoughts of others?" gasped Franklin.

"You are currently thinking that this is the scariest thing you've ever even heard about in your life," I told him, and he shuddered.

"Perhaps it isn't such a good idea that you let others know that you know what they're thinking, Eric," said Doran.

"Is this how I'm going to be regarded by all of the vampires in the world?" I asked. "Am I a freak?"

"Eric, I didn't mean . . ." Daren faltered.

"But that's what you think of me," I insisted. "You want me to leave House Doran, and you never want to see me again."

"That isn't going to happen," declared Doran. "I am Master of this coven, and I will decide who stays and who goes. Eric is in his first night as a fledgling, and he cannot be expected to live on his own. Daren, you have nothing to fear from him. He won't harm you."

"But he could," said Daren no longer hiding his fear of me.

"But I won't," I said firmly.

"I'm hungry," lied Daren, glaring at me. He stood and faced Doran. "I'm going out."

"As you wish," said Doran. "But I expect you back here early."

"Yes, Master Doran," he said before leaving the room.

The three of us were silent after Daren left the house. For the first time since I'd awakened, I didn't even try to hear Franklin's thoughts. I was too busy with thoughts of my own. I didn't like the way that Daren and Franklin thought of me. Daren I barely knew, but I wanted to at least be his friend. We were going to be spending quite a long time in each other's company, and I didn't want that time to be stressful for either of us.

Franklin's feelings toward me hurt the most, because he was my brother. I'd been excited by the prospect of spending time with him again. I'd seen very little of him in the year that he'd been a vampire. I still felt cheated by that, and I wanted to make up for lost time. Franklin was afraid of me. He was afraid that I would get angry at him some night and burn him without thinking. I had to find a way to make him understand that it would never happen.

There was a way to show him that I could never harm him. As with the human blood scent leading me to know that there were humans living on the third floor, thinking about making him understand that I couldn't hurt him made me understand that I could show him the truth with my blood. If he drank from me, he would know the truth. My blood would tell him. I knew that he didn't have to be a seer to receive messages in my blood. I was a seer, and I could send him messages through it.

"Franklin," I said. "There is a way for you to see for yourself that I am no threat to you, or anyone else that lives under this roof."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Drink from me," I replied. "You'll see it in my blood."

"Franklin isn't a seer, Eric," cautioned Doran. "You can't possibly have the strength to feed him yet, either."

"I not only have the strength for it," I replied. "I also have the ability to show him things through my blood. I may need to feed again after this, but I can show you, too."

"We should wait for Tallan," said Doran. "He can explain a few things to Franklin and Daren. If they are not convinced that you won't kill them after that, then you have my permission to go forward with your plan if Franklin and Daren are willing. I have no need to drink from you to know that you won't kill me. I can see it in your eyes."

"Upstairs," I said, reminded about Daren crying out about my eyes. "What happened to my eyes?"

"After you used the fire gift, your eyes blazed like they had an inner fire," replied Franklin. "It was horrifying."

"Tell me," said Doran. "How did you feel after you burned Larz's corpse?"

"No different than I felt before I burned it," I replied. "I was full from the feeding, and I felt stronger than I did before I fed. I don't know exactly how I knew to burn him, but the idea came to me quickly, and I acted on it before I could even think."

"You should have seen him upstairs, Doran," said Franklin. "It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. The way he moved..."

"What do you mean?" prodded Doran.

"He moved so fast that even I couldn't see him," he went on. "I told him to take Larz, and the next second, he had him in his arms, and his fangs were in Larz's neck. It was like he just teleported from the bed to Larz."

"Teleportation is not possible," said Doran.

"I didn't teleport," I said. "I stood and walked over to Larz, but when I saw the fear in his eyes, I just moved faster."

"I should like a demonstration of this movement," said Doran, and so I got up from the chair and filled the empty seat beside him as fast as I could.

"How was that?" I asked as he jumped from the shock of finding me next to him.

"Extraordinary!" he gasped. "I wonder what other gifts you possess."

"I don't know," I replied. "I don't think I have any more to discover."

"You could be quite wrong in that thought," he advised me. "When Tallan gets here, we'll investigate further."

"Will he let me read from the book of vampire prophecies?" I asked.

"What is he talking about?" asked Franklin looking from me to Doran and back again.

"Something that neither of you were even supposed to know about until the night before your emancipations," replied Doran. "I'm not sure if Tallan will allow that, Eric."

"I know some of what it says already," I said.

"From drinking my blood?" he asked.

"Yes," I admitted. "I got only the passages that you remember vividly."

"So you know that it is foretold that a vampire possessing all of the lost vampire gifts will be born to darkness and lead us into the light?" he asked.

"That's not exactly how it is worded," I replied.

"But you know about it?" he asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"I suspect that Tallan will want you to drink from him as well," he said. "Then you'll know even more about the book of prophecies. I don't see why he wouldn't allow you to read it if you already know parts of it."

"You expect Tallan before sunrise tomorrow night?" I asked.

"If not sooner," he replied. "Tallan has a few gifts of his own."

"What did you tell my father when you asked him to call Tallan?" I asked.

"Just that you'd awakened early from your death sleep, and I wanted his council," said Doran. "You've nothing to worry about. Your father only knows that you've awakened."

"How long was I asleep?" I asked.

"Three nights," he replied. "Usually, a fledgling wakes on the eighth night."

"So I was five nights ahead of schedule?" I asked amazed and a little worried about what it could mean.

"Not really," he said slowly. "Not every fledgling wakes on the eighth night. Some take seven, some even less. You are just the only vampire I've every heard of to wake in three."

"I'm hungry," I said as I felt my stomach begin to rumble again.

"That's quite normal," he said. "Newly awakened fledglings usually feed three times the night they awaken."

"What if I choose not to kill when I feed?" I asked. "Then what?"

"You have a lingering respect for human life?" he asked.

"Nothing like that," I replied honestly. "To me, they are merely food, but if I find one that I like, I may want to simply keep him for a while."

"As your change continues, you'll know when to stop leaving the victim alive," he said.

"I already know when to stop before the victim is too far gone," I replied. "My heartbeat matches that of the victim. At least it did with Larz."

"That's odd," he said, looking at Franklin. "You said you didn't have to tell him to stop before Larz's heart stopped?"

"He just let him fall to the floor as I was about to warn him," replied Franklin.

"A vampire's heart should start to beat sluggishly at first and get faster as the victim's heart slows," he said. "You're saying that yours beat in rhythm with Larz's as you fed from him?"

"An exact match," I replied. "When his got so slow that I could barely hear my own, I stopped feeding."

"Why did you stop?" he asked.

"Because I knew that if I was still feeding from him when his heart stopped, mine would, too," I replied. "I know that our heartbeats have nothing to do with our lives, but this was different. I knew that if my heart stopped with his, I would die."

"Sedrick, inform Jase that we need another from the pen," he said, and until that moment, I wasn't even aware that Sedrick was in the room.

I wondered about that. I'd been able to tell that Larz was human as soon as he entered the room. Shouldn't I have noticed Sedrick? The answer came to me as soon as the question was completely formed in my mind. Sedrick was a drone. That meant that his scent was almost exactly like that of a vampire. In fact, his scent nearly matched Doran's, and I'd been too wrapped up in thinking about why I knew I would die if my heart stopped at the same time that Larz's did to even notice the change in scents.

Sedrick returned with a woman. Her hair was as red as fire, and her eyes were the color of emeralds. She was nude, and I wondered why. Larz had been clothed when he was brought to me, but this woman was nude. Was there a reason for it? My hunger took precedence over that question, though. As soon as I smelled the scent of her blood running through her veins, all questions were pointless. All I knew was the hunger.

As soon as my fangs were in her neck, I knew why she was naked. She was a child molester who targeted very young females. I saw every unspeakable act that she had committed as well as the same acts being forced upon her in her own childhood. Her blood had a sour taste, and I found it completely unsavory. Coupled with the scent of her femininity, it was almost too much for me, and I had to fight the urge to gag. This only made me drink faster from her to get it over with, but I still noticed that our hearts were partners in that terrible rhythm, and as with Larz I stopped just before her heart stopped.

Her body didn't even make it to the floor before I incinerated it. However, unlike Larz, this woman's body didn't just burn to ash, it disintegrated into nothing. There was a low hissing sound as it happened, and a very unpleasant odor filled the room. It was the equivalent to the taste of her blood.

"She tasted foul," I said as I looked up at the shocked faces of Franklin and Doran. "Unfit for consumption."

"What did you do?" cried Franklin.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Upstairs, you burned Larz to ashes," said Doran. "This time, this woman was simply gone."

"I didn't like her," I said as if that explained everything. "She tasted dirty."

"But you disintegrated her!" exclaimed Franklin with wide eyes.

"I said I didn't like her," I snapped. "She tasted bad."

"How did you do it, Eric?" said Doran.

"The same way I burned Larz," I said impatiently. "I just let the fire get hotter with her."

"Because you didn't like her?" he asked.

"Because she tasted bad," I corrected him. "I didn't like her, because of what she was."

"A woman?" asked Franklin.

"A child molester," I spat.

"What about Larz?" asked Doran. "He, too, had been accused of molesting a child."

"He was innocent of that charge," I replied. "Larz was an embezzler and a murderer. Nothing more."

"Perhaps that's why Melissa tasted bad," offered Franklin.

"Perhaps," agreed Doran.

"I don't know why she tasted the way she did, but I do know that she reeked of sexuality, and I detested it," I said, shivering from the memory of it.

"When you're hungry again, let me know," said Doran. "I want to try something."

"What do you have in mind?" I asked, worrying that he'd hand me another child molester. I'd read the thoughts of the next one before I fed, and if that was what it turned out to be, I'd burn the vile creature before I could even assault my pallet with its taste.

"Just an experiment to find out if all women taste that way to you," he said.

"It'll be dawn soon," said Franklin.

"So it shall," replied Doran. "And Daren is not home."

"I'm already tired," said Franklin, and I could see his eyes drooping. "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"As you wish," replied Doran. "I'll see you at sunset."

"Sleep well, Franklin," I said.

"Are you tired as well?" asked Doran.

I thought about it for a second. I could sleep, but I wasn't exhausted. I was still tasting Melissa, and that would probably keep me awake all day long. I wondered about the sleep, though. Would it be filled with dreams again? Would I see more of the vampire world in my dreams that day?

"Not entirely," I replied finally. "I'm more disgusted than tired."

"Disgusted?" he asked as Daren walked silently into the room.

"I can still taste her," I hissed.

"I'm going to bed, Doran," said Daren.

"I shall speak to you at sunset, Daren," replied Doran.

"Yes, Sire," he said as he left the room.

I caught his thoughts as he left the room, and they made me angry. He couldn't wait for me to sleep, because he thought that I would be as powerless as he is when he sleeps. I thought about saying something about it, but I remembered Doran's words about keeping the thoughts of others private and kept quiet.

"Come here, Eric," said Doran as he opened his arms. "Drink and be rid of her taste."

I went to him immediately and sank my fangs quickly. I must have moved too fast, because I felt his body stiffen under my embrace. He relaxed as I started to slowly drink from his vein, and the vile taste of Melissa was replaced with the taste of my maker.

Feedback