The Blood of the Infected (Book 1): Once Bitten, Twice Die

by Antony Stanton

  Sebastian winced and she instantly regretted saying it. She dug her nails into her hand until it hurt as a penance.

  “We do not always drink human blood. It is quite suitable and nourishing for us to feed from animals and that is often easier for us to come by. Even when we do drink the blood of humans it does not have to lead to their death, unless we specifically want it to. In your society can you not donate blood and function quite well with a temporary shortage? And so it is the same if one of us were to feed from a human.”

  “Why don’t you all just drink animal blood all the time then?”

  “The blood of a human is far more nutritious and animal blood does tend to have a peculiar taste to it which puts many off the concept. It is a personal choice, just as some humans will eat animals and others prefer not to, no?”

  Sebastian was frowning and looked wistful. Again she regretted asking these questions and making that beatific face look so dejected, but she found it all absolutely fascinating.

  “So Flavia drank my colleague Bannister’s blood the other day?”

  He nodded.

  “Does that mean he will become a vampire?” For the first time she suddenly considered the dreadful, potential implications of this meeting.

  He shook his head with another dazzling smile, banishing the melancholic expression. “No, drinking your blood is not enough to turn you into a vampire. For that to occur you must become blood-brother to a vampire. Some of a vampire’s blood must mingle with yours.”

  “How?”

  “It is easily done; when biting a human’s neck it would be very simple to bite one’s own tongue for example, draw forth a little of one’s own blood and then just allow it to mix in the human’s vein.”

  Just like a virus; the vampire blood mixing with a human’s, turning them into a vampire as well. Just like the infected who now roamed the streets turning humans into zombies. She did not say it but she thought it and he saw it in her eyes.

  “Yes, we are not so dissimilar from those who were once normal and are now sick thanks to GVF Laboratories. Like them, we were human once as well, and like us they now bear little resemblance to those whom they originally were. But is that not the same with many human conditions? Mental disorders, for example the dementia that the Mnemoloss was created to cure, take away the essence of the person, leaving only the body; a husk and a reminder but no longer the same person as once was.”

  “I guess so. I hadn’t thought of it like that before.” She was quiet a moment. “So you know about the infected and GVF Labs then?”

  “Of course,” he smiled. “We may be a lot older than you, coming, as we do, from the past, but we live in the present, with televisions and radios and cars and guns. We have to adjust to changes, just as you do.”

  “Oh.” She felt naïve and continued speaking to hide her embarrassment. “So if you are used to our technology does that mean you mix readily with… with human society then? You interact just as normal people do?”

  He shook his head solemnly. “We have always kept to the fringes of your society. I do not think our species were ready to accept each other before. I am not sure they are ready now either.”

  Something he had mentioned just occurred to her. “You said ‘it would be simple’ for you to bite your own tongue and mix it with the blood of a human. Does that mean you have never done that yourself? You have never ‘turned’ someone before?”

  “No. I have not. As I said, seven is quite a lot for one clan and the justification was never there, before.”

  She was not sure exactly what he was implying. Did he mean purely that he had never had justification? Or did he mean that before he had not had justification, whereas now he did? And if so, was he implying that because of the collapse of civilisation he now had justification, or perhaps because he had now found someone that he would like to ‘turn’? She was confusing herself and decided not to push that train of thought, but the flood gates of curiosity had been prised open and she was not sure what to ask next. There were just too many questions.

  “Were you tempted to… to drink my blood? … You know, when you saved us by the petrol station?”

  “Yes, there is always temptation but on this occasion I chose not to. It is not that I never drink human blood. Just that I choose my times more selectively, shall we say, than do my clan members.”

  She nodded thoughtfully and fired the next question at him without pause. “Vampires are supposed to be able to hypnotise people into doing whatever they want, sort of like putting them under a spell. Is that what happened to Bannister? Is that why he let Flavia drink his blood?”

  He paused now, considering. “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you do that to me?” She knew the question was poignant and if he had been a human she felt that he would be blushing now. It was her turn to hold his gaze.

  Again there was the dazzling smile. “You are very direct, aren’t you.” It was not a question, just a statement.

  She returned the smile. “Well..?”

  “Well if someone is going to do something for me then I would prefer them to do it because they actually want to, because of what they genuinely feel in their heart for me, not because I have put them under my ‘spell’, not because they are beholden to me, my slave, and they have no choice.” He was silent for a moment. “I guess I’m just an old romantic, huh?”

  His demeanour was that of someone from another period, another civilisation, and yet every once in a while she caught herself being surprised by how modern he could sound, and each time it made her smile.

  Is that what you want from me? She wanted to ask the question but dared not.

  “I searched for you for a long time. I would not want to force you to do something that was not your desire.” He spoke as though having read her mind. Had the question been that obvious? Or had he indeed been privy to her thoughts?

  Just then she looked out of the window and noticed that the darkness was already withering. Dawn had arrived. She checked her watch and gasped. “Oh my god! The time - I’m late. I should have radioed for a replacement ten minutes ago but if he’s already set an alarm he could be here any moment.” They had been chatting so long and she had been so rapt by him that she had not realised how fast the hours had slipped by. He stood, looming over her, tall and imposing as he gazed down at her.

  “It has been a pleasure, but for one thing.”

  “Oh?” She was momentarily taken aback, disappointed. “What?”

  “You have not told me your name.”

  She laughed, relieved. “Charlotte. And it was a pleasure for me too. Where will you go now?”

  “To the only place I can go. I must go back to my clan. There is nowhere else for me.”

  “Will I see you again?” She was aware that she sounded desperate and tried to keep it from her voice. She did not know why she suddenly felt a wrench in her heart and she was confused.

  “Ah yes, most definitely, I am sure of that.” He was still standing close to her and leaned forwards slightly. She froze as he moved nearer. Her breath caught in her throat, unsure of what to do if he kissed her. Instead he deftly moved a curl of her hair out of her eyes with a long, slender finger then turned and in a single step was at the door. He looked back for the briefest of moments, and then he was gone into the remnants of the night leaving her alone with the turmoil of emotions, the memory of his intensely burning eyes and the ever-circling doubts about the future of them all.

  As Collins spoke into the radio to summon her replacement, Sebastian merged effortlessly with the darkness. He paused before scaling the perimeter wall and had one final, long gaze back at the guardroom. He watched the woman move around the small building, the heat from her body and her scent still lingered vividly in his memory. The proximity to her and the feelings of being in human company once again were all fairly overpowering and it was reluctantly that he dragged himself away when the soldier shortly came to relieve her. The time with her had passed quickly, but he ha
d no idea how fast things were about to change, for him and for the humans.

  When Flavia had returned to their lair she had sat on an open window sill waiting for dawn and the return of Farzin. Her body buzzed and pulsed with energy from her successful night and she felt more alive than she had for an age. She did not have to wait long before the dark figures of Farzin and Alec materialised. Their countenance suggested they had been energetic and their eyes shone with the thrill of death.

  “My love.” As Farzin approached and reached to embrace her he paused. “Ah, what is this? Do I detect the scent of a human? Perhaps the same one as before?”

  She nodded with a sly smile and described the incident, leaving out only one or two minor details.

  Farzin was pleased and could hardly contain his excitement. “That is most wonderful. Let us not speak of this to Darius just yet. The time is not quite right.” He turned now to include Alec in the conversation, putting one arm around the shoulders of each, conspiratorially. “And so the noose draws tighter, finally. We must concoct our plans for we have much work to do. We must make our move with all haste; there is no time to lose. Now my friends, it is our time. The daybreak of a new era beckons us forth.”

  As dawn approached, creating doubts and shadows, Farzin started to plot and scheme. Bannister had unwittingly conveyed more than he realised back into the presumed sanctity of RAF Headley Court. He had ignited the fire that would be beyond any of their powers to extinguish. The soldiers and medics started to awaken with trepidation for their imminent mission to the GVF laboratories, and quite rightly so, as they had absolutely no idea what lay in store for them. But beyond that, beyond the ghastly yet tangible realm of science gone mad, there awaited something far more terrible and incomprehensible, far more in keeping with their previous misguided notions of what amounted to the supernatural. If they thought that the past three weeks had been filled with fears and tragedies, then in reality those horrors were only just about to begin.

  END OF BOOK ONE

  Coming soon…

  “Once Bitten, Twice Live”

  Book two from ‘The Blood of the Infected’ series.

  When death is the best option, survival is no longer enough…

  With a growing realization that their continued existence bestows upon them a debt to humanity, the survivors look to create a cure for the insanity that has brought civilization to its knees. But that only encourages disagreement and infighting, and comes at a heavy price, bringing various shocks and surprises.

  Tensions amongst the vampires are escalating, jeopardizing the very existence of the clan itself. A battle for supremacy seems inevitable and their future is in the balance. How far will Farzin go to achieve his aims - domination of the vampires and humans alike? And how terrible will his vengeance be against any who stand in his path? Their interaction with the humans threatens to increase and not necessarily for the benefit of either group. Meanwhile the wrathful infected grow ever hungrier. When every day is a struggle to stay alive, survival of the fittest is never guaranteed.

  “Once Bitten, Twice Live”

  CHAPTER 1

  As his mother’s teeth fixed firmly upon his arm it was not the pain that he had felt initially but the shock; total, numbing shock and disbelief. For the briefest of moments he had not reacted. He just stared at her as she sank her jagged teeth into his flesh. Those teeth had been responsible for nibbling loose ends of thread while darning his jumpers when he was a child. Those teeth had, all his life, been flashed at him in a loving and ready smile. Those teeth were now tearing his flesh, sinking into his forearm and bringing with them his doom…

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  Please check the website www.oncebittentwice.com for updates and info on books two and three.

  Book three from ‘The Blood of the Infected’ series

  “Twice Bitten, Twice Die”

  When there’s no one left to hear you scream…

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  Thank you for taking time to read “Once Bitten, Twice Die”. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends and posting a short review on Amazon. Word-of-mouth referrals are an author’s best friend and much appreciated. Many thanks. Also, feel free to contact the author through his website with comments or with feedback: www.oncebittentwice.com

  The author cannot guarantee to answer every email, but will make every effort to try to do so… Thank you.

  The Author’s Biography

  Antony J. Stanton was born in South London in 1970. Even as a child he always wanted to flex his creative muscles and publish a novel. He started to write a book, but after watching the film ‘Top Gun,’ he was swayed into a becoming a military pilot. After no more than a glancing blow of a career in the RAF he decided that his long term future lay elsewhere and he became a commercial pilot. The itch of publication never quite got scratched however. Stanton still harboured strong desires to write. During a skiing holiday with three friends, a bet was made amongst them. Each had a task to fulfil within the year - Stanton’s was to write a book. A little late, but five years on and that itch has finally been scratched. Three times; although it still remains a little tickly - there may be more scratching to do yet. A kidnapping in Kazakhstan and a shooting in Accra, amongst other ‘adventures’, added to his dark well of experience, and the results are this novel in the Dystopian Gothic Realism genre.

  And all it took was the impetus of a mildly inebriated challenge to spur him on to fulfil his creative dream. He still lives in South London and is very much looking forward to watching his friend fulfilling his part of the challenge: demonstrating his newly acquired breakdance skills, surely a sight to behold.

  Acknowledgements

  Many thanks to Dark Angel, Lilith Draconia & Lumia Dark of The Crypt, and Tim from the Cheltenham Horror Club, for their encouragement. Also to Ric Mayoh of www.PlaneTalking.com for excellent web design, to my brother Richard for editing assistance, and to all those who helped with cover design – you know who you are… Many thanks.