Tears of Blood
by -{BM}-

Chapter 1: Changes

2nd May 2004

They all walk past me while I sit here starving, acting as if I don't exist. To them I'm a problem that is not theirs to think about. I'm just a blemish in their perfect world that they choose to ignore. You could say that I was dealt a bad hand in life... Actually take `bad' out and replace it with `horrible' or `completely fucked up' and then you may have an idea of what I've had to live through during my thirteen years of miserable existence. I looked up to see a rich business type guy walking past me,

"Any change sir?" I asked as I held out my cap.

He sniffed as if I was some sort of bad smell and kept on walking. Come on buddy! I know I don't smell that bad, I took a bath in one of the ponds in the park early this morning and yes I did use soap and change into clean clothes, even if I did have to steal them!

I used to be a happy care-free kid, like the ones that you see on the commercials but then fate intervened and HE came along. My mom divorced my dad around a year ago and the next night after the divorce she decided to bring home another man she met at the local bar where she worked to fill the empty void in her life. His name was Barry and I was never sure what job he had or even if he had a job at all. He only ever seemed to get money from mom and would disappear for the day while she worked. From the first time I met him I knew he was bad news; however my mom didn't have the same impression and seemed to think that he was the right guy for her for some reason. Even though I didn't like him I still was polite but I kept my distance from him, there was something about the way he acted that freaked me out. And then it happened, one day I was sitting in my room playing a video game and he came in and sat next to me. My body involuntarily moved a few inches away from him as I played but he moved closer again. I paused the game and asked him what he wanted and he grabbed my crotch and started rubbing it as he looked at me with a weird gleam in his eyes. Thankfully at that moment my mother arrived home from work and I jumped up and ran past him and into my mother's arms. When I told her what happened he denied it she got very angry and took his side and started raving about how she never wanted me and I was the reason why she could never find a good man and now that she'd finally found one I was trying to stop her from being happy. Her breath smelt like crap and I knew that she'd been drinking heavily again. She hit me a few times for trying to cause trouble and sent me to bed. That night I decided to pack up and leave so she could be with her `perfect man' and so he couldn't touch me again. I scrounged together what money I could find around the house and took a bus into the inner suburbs where I knew they could never find me and I haven't looked back since. During my first few months of living on the street I mastered the basics of survival; pick pocketing, shop lifting, begging and avoiding dangerous people such as gangs and sickos out to rape kids. I also found different spots in parks that were suitable for me to sleep in and made sure that I didn't stay in the one spot for too long so I didn't draw attention to myself.

The few that know me on the street call me `TT', which is short for Tom Tanner. I'm around 110 pounds of flesh distributed along a slim five foot frame. I have dark brown hair that hangs down in front of my eyes and my eyes are a piercing green. My nickname was given to me by my best friend Kevin, who before he was taken from me, was my only light in a dark and lonely existence. I remember the first time we met; it's actually quite a funny story. It happened in a convenience store on the corner of one of the streets near one of the parks where I sleep. I walked along one of the aisles in the shop, looking for the perfect item to steal that was light and would give me food for a few days. As I looked up to make sure the coast was clear between me and the door I noticed another guy in there around my age who also was walking around, from my experience in shoplifting I could tell that he was about to steal something as well. I have no idea about what attracted me to him but suddenly I found myself checking out his butt! This was a first for me and I decided to forget about it for the moment and ponder about my sexuality later. I grabbed the item off the shelf and sprinted towards the door, I was shocked when I collided with another figure that was running equally fast and we both fell onto the pavement outside the shop. When I looked at the other person I was stunned to see that it was the boy I was checking out a few seconds earlier. I was about to say something when an angry yell from the shopkeeper broke me from my thoughts. I jumped up and helped the other kid up as well who grinned and thanked me quickly and began to run the other way. I turned to run in my own direction but then heard someone cry in pain behind me, I looked around to see a police officer who had heard the shopkeeper and had run to the scene holding the boy by the arm and hitting him with a clenched fist. I acted without thinking and ran up to the police officer and kneed him in the nuts, he released the kid and I grabbed the kid's hand and ran towards park spot number six which wasn't the closest spot from where we were but was probably the best spot to hide in if we were chased.

After that incident Kevin and I introduced ourselves and became best friends instantly. We pick pocketed together and shop lifted together, I showed him all of my spots and how to put on a pouting face so that you receive more money when you beg. It turns out he had some bad problems at home as well and had to leave just like I did. I suspected that his problems were worse though because I remember how he woke up during the night a few times crying his eyes out, I would just hold him until he went back to sleep again. No, it wasn't like that, we weren't a couple. After the convenience store incident I worked out that I was gay and I told Kevin. He told me that he wasn't gay but he didn't care that I was.

I'll never forget the day when he was taken from me. We were walking down a nearly deserted street and passed one of those underground clubs. Rumors on the street were that it was a club where killing was a regular occurrence and many illegal activities were conducted. Anyway we were walking past this club and we were approached by a guy in a suit who was waving a gun around. From the way he walked and talked to himself I could tell that he was on some pretty harsh stuff, his movements and the blank expression on his face indicated that he didn't have any idea where he was. When we saw that he had a gun we both turned and ran the other way, not wanting to take any chances. Our quick movement must have enraged the guy for some reason and he began to run after us while yelling unrecognizable words, suddenly I heard a loud clapping sound that I knew was a gunshot and in the corner of my eye I saw Kevin fall. My heart was screaming `stay' but the survival part of my mind kept on insisting that I run so I continued to run as the guy kept shooting at me. I ran into an alley, not realizing that it led to a dead end and cursed my poor judgment when I realized I was trapped. I cowered in a corner as the man approached me with his gun raised. As he squeezed the trigger I closed my eyes and hoped that this was all a bad dream. Click! I opened my eyes to see the man still standing in front of me looking at his pistol with an annoyed look on his face.

"Fuckin gun, fuck!" He yelled as he threw it away and began to kick me while I lay on the ground. His assault lasted for around a minute and I was barely awake when he was finished,

"Why?" I sobbed, with tears and blood all over my face. "Why did you do this?"

"Because," he answered with a sneer. "I hate you fuckin street rats. You are all worthless and deserve to die and rot in hell."

I didn't even bother to try and comprehend his fucked up logic as he walked out of the alley and left me on the ground badly hurt. All I knew was that my best and only friend in the whole world was just killed by a sadistic psycho crackhead for no reason. After a few minutes of crying my eyes out I got up and hobbled back out into the street over to where Kevin's body lay, I broke down and cried as I saw his angelic face tainted with blood. I buried him in the park that night and haven't stopped crying since. Most people that see me don't know I'm crying because I cried for a week straight after that incident and my body no longer produces tears when I cry, it only produces wrangled sobs and a hurt inside that will never be healed.

I decided that the pickings were not coming today and got up and began to walk to park spot 1. On the way I counted my miserable earnings for today, $3.10, hmmm... Looks like I might have to do a bit of shoplifting later on tonight. The problem was that most of the late night shopkeepers in this area already know my face from incidents in the past. As I walked down the street looking at my money I noticed figures moving in the darkness on either side of me. My street kid instincts kicked in and I broke into a sprint as soon as noticed them. As I ran I heard the fast footsteps of my pursuers behind me as they ran after me. I managed to look around and saw that they were no longer behind me. I stopped running and turned to try and see where they had gone. After a few moments I decided to get back to the spot as quickly as I could.

"Hello there," a voice whispered behind me. I jumped and turned around to see four tall figures standing in front of me. They were all wearing jackets with hoods so there was no way I could see their faces but I was shocked to see that their eyes were glowing a fiery red as they looked at me.

I immediately turned and ran again; not knowing what the hell was going on when they suddenly appeared in front of me again.

"Hello there," one of them whispered again.

"Who are you people?" I asked, trying not to let the fear in me leak out into my voice.

Without a word they surrounded me and when I tried to run away though a gap between two of them I felt a blow to the back of the head and the last thing I remembered before I hit the ground was the warm sensation of my own blood trickling down my face.

When I awoke I was in a dark alley and my head was spinning and I discovered that my hands were tied behind my back. As I looked around I sobbed to myself when I realized in horror that it was the same alley where the crackhead had chased me into, all of the memories of the worst day of my life came flooding back into my head nearly driving me insane. As I sobbed my pursuers who were all standing around me began to laugh,

"It seems he is awake," one of them said as he laughed.

"Yep, I guess it's time to begin," another said as he knelt down next to me and grabbed my chin.

"W-w-what are you gonna do?" I stammered.

"Well, to be honest we're gonna kill you," one of them answered as the others laughed.

"Good old Jed, always the honest one," one of them said as he began to walk towards the entrance of the alley.

"Hey Gary," the guy who was kneeling in front of me yelled, "Are you sure you don't want a quick taste before you go lookout... Gary?" After a few more moments no response the guy closest to me cursed and ordered another guy to go and see what Gary was doing as he began lick my face. "I'm really going to enjoy this," he whispered in my ear as he lapped up all of the blood on my face and I cringed, wishing that God would just kill me now and stop making me suffer like this.

Suddenly a scream was heard from the darkness and the remaining two guys stood up and began to slowly walk towards the entrance of the alley. Suddenly a large piece of metal flew at them from the darkness, hitting one of them right between the eyes. I screamed as I saw the man who was hit suddenly turn into dust right in front of my eyes. The remaining guy backed away from the darkness slowly,

"W-who the fuck are you?" He asked with terror in his eyes.

I squinted my eyes and made out a small figure emerging from the darkness. As his face came into the dim light of the end of the alley I was immediately entranced with how cute he was. He was around my age, build and height, had messy blond hair that looked like it could never be tamed by a brush and was wearing a black jacket and cream colored cargo pants, which made him look even cuter from where I was laying. However, the most appealing feature were his mystical blue eyes that made me feel like he could read my mind. He smiled at me for a moment and I felt like all of my dreams had come true at that very moment before he turned his attention back on my remaining attacker.

"I'm the only hope for this unfortunate kid here," he answered as he glanced in my direction. I tried to get up so I could get a better look at my cute rescuer but my sore legs and tied up hands made the task impossible.

Suddenly the man picked me up and held me in front of him as a shield. "If you kill me, then you kill the kid," he said as he held me there. I looked into the kid's eyes and could tell that he was doing some quick thinking.

The kid reached into his jacket and pulled out a small pistol. "Tom," he said as he looked at me with sorrow in his eyes. "I'm going to shoot you in the lung so the bullet can pass through you and kill the vampire holding you."

Vampire? What the hell was this kid on? And how the hell did he know my name?

"W-what did you say?" The guy behind me stuttered.

"But I'll give you a choice." The kid continued. "Once I shoot you I can either save you by turning you into one of us and you can come home with me, or you can say no and I'll bury your body in the park, right next to where you buried Kevin."

What the fuck!? Okay... I was now officially confused. How did he know about Kevin, and where he was buried? And how can he be so calm about death? He only looks around my age!

"Your decision?" He asked as he aimed his pistol at us. The guy behind me was now shaking in fear,

The idea of ending all of the misery now and being buried next to my best friend in the whole world was appealing for some reason. But as I looked at this almost perfect boy standing in front of me I knew that I wanted to experience a lot more from life before I had to go.

"I know what you are. You're a hunter aren't you? You fucking filthy blood traitor," the man spat as he still held me. "You kill your own kind; you're no better than I am!"

"I'll come with you," I croaked. And for the first time I saw the boy's facial expression change as he smiled at me.

"I'm glad you made that decision Tom. You are far too beautiful a person both inside and out to die this young. This will hurt, but afterwards I promise you that you will be glad that you made this choice," he said and suddenly he pulled the trigger and a large crack sounded as I felt a bullet rip through my flesh. I fell to the ground as I felt the man behind me slowly turn to dust and release me. As I lay there I found it harder to breathe and I could feel my own blood leaking out of my chest, forming a pool of blood around me. I looked up and saw my rescuer standing over me,

"Okay, now just close your eyes," he instructed as he knelt down next to me.

I did as he said and the next thing I felt was his teeth biting into my neck, making sort of squelching sound. I felt myself drifting into darkness, hoping that my life would finally change for the better...

I awoke in a warm bed and was disorientated for a few moments as I sat up and looked around me. I was in a fairly large room and was sitting in a king sized bed that was facing a large window that indicated it was night by the black star filled sky that could be seen through it. There was a large oak door to my left and another smaller door to my right. I got up and began to walk around the room and received a big shock as I rubbed my chest and remembered what had happened in the alley, there was no bullet hole there! I quickly pulled my shirt over my head and looked at my chest in wonder. There was no sign at all of the bullet that had ripped through my lungs and as I felt my neck I realized that the bite mark from my rescuer was gone. There was no blood on me at all, and it seemed that someone had dressed me in a new set of clothes while I was sleeping.

"Well, it seems that the sleeper has awakened,"

I looked towards the entrance of the room to see a large man standing in the large doorway observing me with a smile in his face. He was wearing a red suit with a red and black striped tie which made him seem very out of place as he stood there surrounded by two large brown oak doors and walls covered with green wallpaper.

"Ummm... hi," I said. Not sure of what the hell was going on. I quickly put my shirt back on, not sure of what to make of this strange man.

"Hi Tom," he replied as he started walking towards me. "I know that you have a multitude of questions but I assure you all of your answers will come soon."

"Ok," I said as I stood there looking at this strange guy that was standing in front of me.

After a few moments of awkward silence I decided to ask him something, "Why am I not dead? I was shot in the chest and yet here I am, fully healed."

The man sighed to himself, "You are dead Tom, you were killed in that alley. But you weren't killed by that bullet."

"What was I killed by then?" I asked, wondering what the hell he was talking about.

"John killed you," he replied. "He killed you but the bullet would have killed you a few minutes later at the most anyway."

"So why am I still standing here if I'm already dead?" I asked, thinking that this guy must be a total quack.

"Because when he bit you he killed you. But being killed was only part of the transformation, the transformation into a vampire," he replied.

"Vampire?" I said as I looked at him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

He sighed again, "You were attacked by a group of vampires whom we were tracking for some time. They were planning to feed on you and leave you dead in that alley but John found you and had to shoot you to kill one of them. That's why he turned you.

"You're crazy. I'm not a vampire," I said as I began to back away from him.

"You are a vampire Tom, and you always will be one from now on, there is no way to change that. However I advise you to stay with us so we can help you through..."

"I'm not a vampire!" I yelled as I pushed him out of the way and ran towards the door. I was shocked to find myself standing in a hallway. Wow! That was fast, what the hell is going on here? I turned to my left and ran down the hallway, determined to find a way out of this creepy place.

As Tom ran out of the room the man in the red suit sighed to himself for the third time. He pulled a mobile phone out of his pocket and began to dial a number...

Finally! I was out of that weird house. I was sprinting down the street at what seemed an incredible pace. I knew that my running speed couldn't have anything to do with what the guy had told me just before. They must of injected some drug that made everything seem quicker that it really is.

I stopped after a few more streets and was surprised to find that I wasn't out of breath. As I walked down the street, words that my rescuer had said in the alley suddenly came back to me,

"Once I shoot you I can either save you by turning you into one of us,"

I stopped and sat down on the side of the pavement. Could the guy in the red suit be right? Maybe I was a vampire; the bullet hole in my chest was certainly gone. How could I explain that?

"Hello Tom,"

I looked up and saw the boy who had saved me standing in front of me with a sad expression on his face. For some reason the sight of him brought back all of the memories of the alley and I broke down in tears as he walked over and sat down next to me on the pavement.

"Vampire denial," he said as he rubbed my back. "I'm so sorry Tom."

"For what?" I asked between sobs.

"For turning you into what I am," he replied.

I took my hands out of my eyes and saw that they were covered with blood. I began to panic and think that I was bleeding somewhere,

"Don't worry," he said as he looked at me. "That's vampire tears, we cry blood." I wiped all of the blood off my face and licked my hand. Yep, he was right, it was blood. "My names John," he said as he stretched his hand out.

I took his hand after making sure all of the blood was gone from mine and shook it, "I'm Tom, but I guess you already know that. From what you told me in the alley I take it that we can read minds."

He smiled, "Well I can. And you will once you go through the proper training."

"And you turned me?" I asked as I looked at my arms, they seemed... different for some reason, they seemed to feel lighter.

Suddenly his smile disappeared and he eyes began to leak tears of blood, "I'm so sorry Tom. I shouldn't have turned you, but I've noticed you around these parts before. I've scanned your mind, I know about everything, Kevin, your parents and I just wanted to save you from all of that hurt."

Suddenly the sight of this beautiful boy spilling his heart in front of me made me realize that he was my savior. He has given me another chance at life and I owe him a large debt.

"John, there's no need to feel bad, it was my decision. You gave me a choice, remember?" I said and he looked at me in shock as he dried his tears. "I was sick and tired of always being at the bottom of the ladder. I was sick and tired of surviving by begging and stealing, but most of all I was sick and tired of crying myself to sleep every night, thinking that nobody will ever love me or will never notice me when I'm gone. You changed all that, you gave me hope."

When I finished he was looking at me with a hopeful expression on his face, "So you're not mad at me for turning you?"

"Of course not," I replied. "You know in the alley when you emerged from the darkness I thought you were some sort of angel."

He giggled, "Wow, that's flattering but I think vampires are nearly the exact opposite of angels."

Suddenly the sound of his teenage raspy voice and his cute giggling caused my attraction towards him to suddenly flare out of control and the little voice inside me that told me not to act with my heart just in case he wasn't gay was silenced. I jumped on top of him, kissing his sweet cherry lips and cute face frantically. I was sure that he would probably throw me off and call me a `fag' but I let out a groan of pleasure when I realized that he was kissing me back. Our tongues danced together in a dance of joy to personify the feelings of joy that were passing between us.

"I love you Tom," he whispered in my ear between kisses on my neck. "Ever since I first saw you on the street a few months ago I knew that you were special." I began to rub his crotch with my left hand as my right found its way up his shirt and began to explore his smooth hairless chest.

"I love you too John," I replied as he nibbled my ear. "Thank you for saving me."

"Yuck, what the fuck are those two doing?"

We both quickly stopped what we were doing and stood up to look at the three guys that must have been watching us for a while now.

"Man, that's just sick. Dirty fuckin poo pushers, get a fuckin room would you?"

I snarled at their insults and was about to pounce at them. Hell, they didn't know I was a vampire, I bet I could really kick the shit out of them!

"We're sorry," John said as he grabbed my arm, stopping me just before I pounced. "Let's go Tom," and with that he dragged me away from the three guys who were now laughing and yelling out more insults at us. Once we were far away from them my anger was replaced with embarrassment. That was the first time I'd ever acted on any feelings I'd had for another boy and I was immediately ridiculed. This world was not fair! I bet that if I was with a girl we wouldn't have been disturbed.

John had let go of my arm at this point and from the direction we were heading in I guessed that we were heading back to the house where I had woke up.

"Why did you stop me?" I asked. "I wasn't going to kill them; I was just going to teach them a lesson."

He turned to me with a serious expression on his face, "Look Tom, you must never ever use your powers on humans. That includes your superior strength and speed. We vampires must always remain a secret."

"Okay, sorry," I said slowly, feeling bad about nearly exposing our kind. I could understand why John was so serious though, if humans hate a person so much because of their sexuality, one could only imagine what they would do to you if they knew that you weren't even human!

"Don't worry about it," he replied, his smile returning to his face. "You didn't know, normally Sergereo tells you all of the rules straight after your transformation but with you he didn't get a chance."

"Sergereo?" I asked in confusion.

"The man who talked to you after you woke up. He called me and told me that you had run away so I came to find you."

I blushed in embarrassment, remembering how I had run out on the man who was trying to explain everything to me.

"Will he be mad?" I asked John as we approached the street where my new home was located.

"Nah," John replied with a smile that nearly made me melt on the spot. He was so cute! "In fact I did exactly the same thing after I was transformed."

I was about to ask him about his transformation when we were met by Sergereo at the gate of the house.

"You found him, thank you John. Now let us all go inside, we have much to discuss," he said as he turned and began to walk up the path to the front door. We both followed him, as I walked behind John I was silently thanking whoever had answered my prayers in the freezing cold late at night pleading for love and comfort.