Chapter 9

Chapter 9

For the next two days, Ciaran did a lot of talking and I did a lot of listening. During the day, when the evil day star was out, he would sleep on an old cot he’d found for himself in the cellar of the house, and I would crash out in the bed. I felt badly about that, I tried to offer to help him find something more comfortable, but he promised me that he would be fine. I was also more then just a little worried about sleeping alone while he was stuck underground. He assured me that if anything happened he would be there to help me, day or not.

During our nights together, he would get the fire going and he would talk. I would listen, occasionally interjecting to ask a question or beg him to clarify. He was starting to figure out how to teach, and I was starting to figure out how to learn. He tended the wound that the young-looking vampire had inflicted upon me, his hands infinitely gentle as they peeled the bandages off and reapplied them. All told, he was more gentle then I could have asked, and definitely kinder then I had expected.

The more he talked, the more I realized that this world I was being introduced to was far more then I had expected. My thoughts had been right on the money – not only were we surrounded by vampires, but other denizens of the night as well. The lycanthropes and the Mages. He spoke briefly of both of these groups, but we tended to focus on his particular breed of monster. My desire to know exactly what he was and how he functioned pretty much overrode any desire I might have had to hear all about the other creatures.

As with any good lesson, we started from the beginning – first touching on the changing of a vampire – before moving onto other, more interesting topics.

“As I told you, Lexy, the change weakens both the old Vampire and the newly created one. For several nights following the change, they are forced to stay close to their home, lest their enemies take the opportunity to attack them. Fresh blood is required shortly after the process has ended. Many of our kind have died, unable to hunt properly and starving shortly after their rebirth.”

He paused in his story, and I could tell it was not an entirely happy topic for him. “Starving to death is not a pleasant fate, no matter what species you are. Just as starving as a human is a slow and horrific process, so it is for my kind. It is one of the greatest fears of many of us. For someone who is freshly changed, if they don’t get the blood they need, they will quickly lose their minds. Within 2 days, they would be ripping their own throats out in an effort to quench that never ending thirst.”

He must have seen the look on my face and the shudder I tried to suppress. He smiled lightly to me, “It is an unfortunate fate, but it happens more then I care to think. Once you have fed for the first time, the thirst subsides slightly, though it is something that you are never truly rid of. Every night, upon first waking, your thoughts turn to filling yourself with fresh blood. As a young vampire, it is oftentimes an all-consuming thing. The older we grow, the easier this becomes in time. A new vampire must drink regularly, every other night at the very least. Oftentimes more then that. It is why we are so careful about creating new vampires. Or at least, we should be…create too many of us and soon you have an epidemic.”

“The older we become, the less often we have to feed. I can go for a week without needing it, though I prefer to not go that long. If I am overexerting myself, I must drink more often, just as a human who exercises strenuously would.”

He must have seen the look of fear in my eyes. I didn’t really think that he would hurt me, but it was a pretty understandable reaction. He laughed softly, “Do not fret, Little Bird. I’ve brought supplies with me. I wouldn’t feed from you.”

I blinked at that, not entirely sure what he meant by supplies. If I found out he had a chained woman in the cellar with him, I would be awfully upset, “Supplies, Ciaran?”

He looked at me and nodded, lifting a brow, “Yes. We are able to drink blood that has been stored, from blood banks for example. It is not nearly as pleasant as fresh blood, and it is not as filling, but it is something I can deal with.”

Well, that was even more disgusting, if at all possible. “Oh…”

He watched me, smiling, “I have no desire to leave you here alone to hunt. It is not safe for you, and I do not want to rouse suspicion. Small towns are much more difficult to feed in.”

“Thank you for that. I’m much more comfortable with you staying right here…in arms reach, whenever possible.”

He chuckled softly and nodded, “You are quite welcome. It is good that I brought extra with me, but I was afraid that something like the other night would occur.”

“So, what happens if you don’t eat? I know you said that it’s like starving, but what happens.”

He hesitated for a moment, looking away, frowning slightly. The look on his face struck me – he was afraid of ever meeting such a fate. “If I didn’t eat, after a time, madness would begin to overtake me. It affects each of us differently. I have seen vampires starve who become more monstrous then they are naturally, attacking the first creature with warm blood that they come across. Or they might face the same fate as young ones who do not eat in a timely manner, and rip their own throats out in an attempt to stop the hunger. In time, you reach death.”

He sighed a little, glancing out the window, his brow furrowed, “Normally this is not an issue. Finding a meal can be difficult, but in our modern day and age, it is much easier then you might expect. Far easier then it was when I was younger. There is so much anonymity in cities anymore that we can live nearly undetected. For me, for example, to reach the point of insanity or death requires that I go for several weeks without any blood at all. Animals suffice in a pinch, but just as with the stored blood it is less filling. Not as nutritious, I suppose, and far less palatable. But there comes a point where you will eat anything. It is like, eating a hamburger after existing your entire life on filet mignon.”

I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the comparison, shaking my head, “Gee, I love that I’m compared to a cow…”

He laughed and smiled to me, “Well, Alexandra, you were the one who mentioned that we used humans like cattle. I thought it would be comforting for you if I stuck to an analogy that you were used to.”

“Why thank you, Ciaran. That is so very kind of you.”

“More then happy to oblige, dear Lexy. Anytime.”

I looked at him and lifted a brow and just laughed, shaking my head. His sense of humor was generally fairly dry, and it was nice to share a little joke between the two of us. It made me feel warm and comfortable and safe with him.

He smiled softly, continuing, “I think you have the general idea of how we feed, so I won’t go into that.” He leaned forward, his fingertips lightly touching the side of my neck, glancing at the bandage that covered the wound that was beginning to heal, much more quickly then I’d expected it would.

“Normally, we heal the wounds that we create. It is not a difficult thing to do, the saliva of the vampire who bit you will usually heal it rapidly. Unfortunately with you, your attacker was not concerned with creating a clean wound. When we attack to kill, it is all a very different story. We rip and ravage like beasts, rather then precisely slicing and dicing, so to speak. We were lucky, and he was not terribly bright. He missed your jugular, and just ripped you up a bit.”

His fingers lingered on me for a moment and I looked up at him, knowing that he could hear the way my heart was racing in my ears. He stood gracefully, moving to peer out the window. I knew he was checking, always watching out for me, “The blood that we ingest is the crux of our existence. Without it, we are nothing. We live in a delicate balance. We rely on humans for our continued existence. Without them, then we won’t last very long. It means that we must be cautious of what we do and how we do it. Every vampire is taught this at a young age. Rather, they should be taught this before anything else. In reality, unfortunately, that does not always happen.”

“If they are not taught this, they have the potential to attack humans needlessly, for the pleasure of the hunt rather then for the need to eat. If a young vampire murders without care, they will be killed more often then not. We police our own to the best of our ability, none of wishes to lose our food source. We also can’t afford to risk being discovered. As you’ve seen, sometimes it doesn’t take much…”

I looked at him and lifted a brow, considering interrupting for a moment. He continued and I let it pass, filing that tidbit away in the back of my mind.

“With any vampire you meet Alexandra, you will discover that their greatest fear in their existence is a final death. We are immortal, but we are not invincible. When you’ve lived for hundreds of years, the idea of losing that all in a moment is a terrifying thought. We…are damned creatures. Some scholars believe we were created by deals made with Satan himself. Others feel we are some sort of natural evolution. Either way, many of us are very concerned with what will happen after death. If there is anyone there waiting to take us straight to hell. Or worse, if it is nothing.”

He smiled a little and shrugged, “The ghosts would indicate that there is a possibility for more after death, but who really knows.” Once glance at me and he smirked, “Yes, there are ghosts too. Nasty buggers, and totally useless. The lack of knowledge of what will happen to us after we die drives the fear that causes many of us to continue our existences. After hundreds of years, life is dull. But it is better then the unknown. It's this same fear that keeps many of us at bay, and it is one of the greatest protections of the humans. You will rarely find a vampire who is content with dying. And if you do...I would suggest running as far as you can, because he will take as many people with him as possible.”

“We have amazing abilities, but even so – if I am facing 10 humans, even if they just have pitchforks and torches, the chances are quite good that I would not survive the encounter. It is the same with the were-creatures and the Magi. If the humans knew that any of our kind existed, it would not be long before we were hunted to extermination. All of us, across all races. Of course, it will take something extraordinary for the humans to realize that we are here. They see us, but they always seem to write us off as something else. It is a rare human indeed that sees us for what we truly are and actually pursues it.” He glanced to me for a moment and gave a faint smile. I could have sworn he had a look of pride on his face, almost like he had crafted me himself.

I looked at him curiously, considering what he'd just told me, “How many vampires are there out there, Ciaran? What kind of numbers are we talking about here?”

He considered that for a moment, his brows furrowed in a thoughtful look, “That is hard to tell, Lexy. Many of us are very solitary creatures, preferring to keep mainly to ourselves. There are always times that we run into other vampires in the city, and we always know who else resides in our area. In addition, everyone is always looking out for rogues who are not behaving the way they should. But we have no yearly convention where we all get together and discuss what we did over the past year. I hear that Vampire conventions are all the rage these days, but we don't participate in that.” He smirked, chuckling to himself, and I could tell he was envisioning a bunch of dusty old vampires hanging out together at the Ritz-Carlton. Or at least that's what I was envisioning.

He smirked and looked at me, “Besides, if one can barely stand their own presence as a monster, how in the world could he stand the presence of hundreds of others? No, major gatherings like that would be disastrous. Though at times the vampires in a city will gather, just so that they can stay abreast of the going-ons of the city. However, if I had to levy a guess as to numbers...I would have to say in the low thousands. Less then five thousand, for certain.”

I could only gape at him. That was not the answer I had been expecting at all – I was thinking more like 500. “Thousands? Are you kidding me? Jesus! How the hell do they all stay so quiet? How is it that no one has sold you all out to the Weekly World News yet?”

He laughed softly at that, shaking his head, “We have kept our presence out of the Weekly World News. Barely. As I said, Alexandra, we police our own. Many of the deaths that we cause are either covered up by the local government or by one of the supernatural groups. We have many connections to the mundane world, there are vampires among us who can pull strings at all levels of government. And if you were the Chief of Police, would you really want to put out a statement claiming that the death of a local school teacher was being blamed on a vampire? Some kind of mythological creature? At best, you'd be removed from office and at worse you would find yourself in a comfortable padded room for the rest of your life. It has been tried before, by humans who have discovered us, and their attempts always fail.”

“Wait...why would the other groups help you cover it up, if it was one of you that killed someone? Why wouldn't they hang you guys out to dry, or are they really that buddy-buddy with you?”

“They've no desire to see the humans harmed more by the knowledge of our existence leaking into the mundane world. Think about it for a moment. If humans discover that the creatures of their darkest nightmares truly do exist, what would happen?”

He paused for a moment, waiting for me to respond. He knew that I didn't have much to tell him, but he was encouraging me to speak up, “Well, I don't know...I guess there would be rioting.”

“Worse. Marshall Law. Anarchy. The US Government would declare war on these creatures, and the citizens of the United States would be placed under Marshall Law for their own protection. The Witch Hunts would begin again in earnest. Every baby goth would thinks it is cute to dress all in black and never step out into the sun would find themselves drug out into the street by their friends and family and staked through the heart. Of course their family members would be horrified, but they would comfort themselves, saying they had done it for the good of all.”

He leaned closer to me, his voice intense, “Every man with hairy palms or a uni-brow would be tied down and shot in the head with a silver bullet by his neighbor. Every little hippie girl who goes out on May first to dance the Beltane fires would find herself tied to a stake and burned alive. And all of those killing their friends and family members would sleep better at night, thinking they had helped rid the world of deplorable creatures. If humans knew, unequivocally, that we existed...your world and your society would tear itself apart. Some of me kind would die surely, especially the young among us, but the majority of the deaths would be innocents.

“None of the groups want to see such a thing happen. We don't like doing it, but we are more then willing to ask for assistance from the other groups when there is a situation that we can not handle on our own. And when something happens with them, we likewise are willing to assist where we may. When we find the one that broke the unwritten rules of our kind then they are punished accordingly...”

“Wouldn't it all be a little easier if you had written laws, Ciaran? Like some kind of handbook that you could give to all the new woogiespeople, so they don't fuck up? Or maybe like a vampire specific book – Vamps for Dummies?”

He laughed softly and shook his head, “Perhaps. But that is not how these things work. It never has been, and it likely never will be. We are an ancient race and very set in our ways, exacting change in the society takes decades. Plus, can you imagine someone not a supernatural creature finding those documents? It is just an invitation to chaos, and something to be avoided at all costs.”

“Right, yeah. I can see how that could be no bueno. So, do you know many of the mages or were-creatures? How different are they from you guys?”

“Well, I know a few. There are several that I have worked with on occasion. And there is a handful that I see fairly regularly.”

“Oh, like coffee buddies, huh?”

He smirked, “Not quite.”

“So what kind of situations would require you all to work together?”

“Several years ago, there was an Elder vampire in Chicago who completely lost his mind. No one is exactly sure what happened to him, but he just snapped one day. He started prowling the city, murdering young women and children. Mostly in parks, always at night obviously.”

“Wait, I remember that...”

“Yes. That was something we couldn't cover completely. He was an incredibly powerful vampire. I nearly died trying to take him down on my own. I was just lucky that there were others interested in removing him as well. We were able to stop him before too many humans were killed or our existence was revealed. We called in several mages for that situation.”

I started thinking about it and I frowned deeply, shaking my head, “No, I remember that they caught the killer. He even admitted to it all, showed the cops where his latest victim was. He was killed last year in prison, I think:

“Yes. The confessed killer was under the thrall of the vampire. He believed that he had committed all of the murders, and thus confessed to them.” He hesitated for a moment, continuing slowly. I could tell that he didn't really want to tell me, but there wasn't really any way around it at this point, “His death was orchestrated by my kind.”

“Wait a minute. You put an innocent guy in prison for something that one of your people did? And then you killed him?” I was incredulous, bordering on livid.

He put up his hands and shook his head, “No. No, let me explain. A thrall is a human who has been fed the blood of a vampire. It isn't enough to turn them, but over time they become bound to the vampire who has fed them. The more blood you've drank, the more willing to you are to do whatever the vampire asks of you. You are willing to die for them, or to kill for them. You aren't as strong as the vampire, but you have plenty of perks, and you are...more...then a normal human.”

He frowned deeply, his brow furrowed, “I was Teaghanne's thrall, before she was killed. That man who went to prison had worked for the vampire for many years. When his master had gone crazy, he went along with the insanity. He assisted in killing those women and children. Several of them were brought to the vampire, in exchange for more of his Masters blood. It is unpleasant, but he was not innocent in any of it.”

That didn't really ease my fears at all, but at least I knew that it wasn't an innocent person they'd killed. Of course, the guy was only evil because he'd gotten involved with a vampire, so it was hard to tell. “I see...”

“Had we not had him killed, the man would have found another vampire to leech on to, and he would have continued his existence. Perhaps he would have found one less insane. It does not change the fact that he had sinned, and he did deserve what happened to him.”

I narrowed my eyes, looking at Ciaran, “Yeah, but if he was a thrall, he did all of that because he was like, infected with blood. He wouldn't have done that otherwise, right? I mean, he kind of gave up his free-will.”

He shrugged up a shoulder and sighed, “Perhaps. It was not a risk that we were willing or able to take.”

“Uh-huh. So, how were you able to kill this Elder guy? If he's been around so long, how were you all able to take them down? How do you kill a vampire?”

“We're immortal but we aren't invincible. Some of us are nearly so, but we all have weaknesses. There are several things that can kill us. A wooden stake to the heart will kill us nigh immediately. Sunlight, obviously, will kill us after mere moments. Fire harms us more then it would a normal human. Decapitation, of course, will kill us. As will sheer amounts of damage. Jumping out of a 30 story building will cause us to splatter. Holy Water will not kill us, nor will it harm us. We aren't repelled by Holy Water, and we aren't scared of holy symbols. Some of us are religious in our own rights, but many of us have no use for religion.

“When we die, if we are a certain age, we revert to ash. Young vampires will just appear to be a dead body, blood and all. If I were to die, for example, I would leave nothing more then a little pile of dust on your carpet. Though I do hope that does not happen for quite some time.”

Well that was a sobering and slightly terrifying thought. I wasn't entirely sure what I would do if that were to happen. For starters, I wouldn't have anyone to act as my guide into the fun and exciting world of vampires. For another thing, I was finding myself growing attached to Ciaran. I definitely did not want to see him dead. I smiled a bit, picking at the quilt, “Yeah. I hope not too.”

He smiled lightly to me then, turning away from his vantage point at the window. “Thank you, Lexy. I'm glad that you do not wish me dead.”

I frowned a little and looked up at him, my fingers on the bandage for a moment. I couldn't deny that I'd had moments where I wished him harm, but he had come through for me when I needed someone. He might be some kind of evil creature of the night, but he had still been my hero. “You saved my life. Do you really think that I could wish you dead? If you hadn't been here, I'd be dead or worse...”

“Or worse, like me.” He smiled sardonically, “It doesn't change the fact. It doesn't change who I am.”

“A monster. Yeah. I know. You've told me, and I've seen it. I'm not saying you are some kind of angel or deserve a Nobel or anything...but you aren't the worst person out there, either. Hell, you aren't the worst person I've ever met. Even in the last 6 months.” I gave him a smile and shrugged up a shoulder, “You've done good things in your existence.”

He chuckled, shaking his head, “Not many. But I am working on it.”

“Are your kind inherently evil, Ciaran?”

He considered that for a moment and shrugged, “I don't know. Good and evil are such obscure concepts sometimes, Lexy. All things in the world exist in balance. You have evil in the world and you have good. Some vampires are pure evil, just as some humans are. Some humans have killed far more then some vampires. You can't really think of it in such black and white terms.”

“It goes for people too, doesn't it? Can't have someone who is purely evil without someone who is all good.”

He looked at me for a long moment and then nodded, “Yes. I believe so.”

I just grinned at him, “Yeah. So do I.”

“Hmm, so you think there is hope for me yet?” His green eyes glittered as he smiled to me, a bemused look on his face

“Well, you saved my life. As sad as it might be, you kept them from ripping me apart...even though it would have saved you a lot of time and trouble. So yeah, I think that's a good step right there.”

He smiled, an odd look on his face as he watched me, “Well, I suppose we shall see, Alexandra.”

“Yeah. I guess we will...”