Children of Dionysus

by JN Moon

  Children of Dionysus

  Always Dark Angel Series

  Book One

  Edition 2: 2017

  Copyright © 2014 JN Moon

  GrippingReadsLtd Production Ltd

  Edited by Deadra Krieger

  Cover art by Andrei Bat

  What’s with the title?

  I was visiting the Eden Project in Cornwall, check it out. They have a sculpture there called Dionysus. It took my breath away, it is both beautiful and horrifying. And I thought, that was like the heart of a vampire. Beautiful & horrifying. And so, the title was born...

  Licence Notes.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

  Publisher’s Note.

  This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are either fictitious or the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank my friends who have stuck by me and supported me during the highs and lows of writing this. And the family I live with who have barely seen me for months as I disappear into the writing cave when I’m not out in the world for the day job.

  Make Contact

  Book 2 Release Jan 18. Sign up to keep informed, receive goodies, or join my ARC team or all of the above!

  Always Dark Angel Subscribe

  I don’t spam and I never share your details

  Join my Moon Council of the Supernatural Facebook group where I show cover reveals, chat about animals, the paranormal-like what’s your favourite paranormal tv show and mythical creatures and generally hang out.

  Contents

  Children of Dionysus

  What’s with the title?

  Acknowledgements

  Make Contact

  The Vampire

  Conception

  First Kill

  Requiem for Nathaniel

  Day Walker

  Deadly Liaisons

  Enchanted

  Endless Night

  Dissolute Torture

  Head of the Elite

  Chains

  Mutation

  The Making of Gods

  Summon the Goddess

  Blood of the Gods

  Running

  Infernum

  Redeemed

  When Gods Meet

  Soldiers of Darkness

  Shadows

  The Turning

  Soldiers of Darkness II

  Tyrants & Rules

  Old Friends

  Lovers Before

  My Enemy, My Friend

  Insurrection

  Smoke and Mirrors

  Deity

  God or Immortal

  Lovers

  How Can You Help?

  Dark Nephilim: Book 2 Always Dark Angel

  The Crypt.

  Marcus.

  About

  The Vampire

  By JN Moon

  On one such night

  So full of dread

  Our fate came forth

  And raised his head

  Terror struck

  We couldn't flee

  With his arms around us, he whispered

  “Come with me.”

  We entered in a room and saw

  Bones and flesh upon the floor

  And stone for walls

  And then did he

  Sit upon what seemed his throne

  It was set in stone and carved with wood

  To us he gazed, then laughed so deep

  And then to us, he did speak

  “Drink my wine, and tell me why

  Such ancient knowledge you mortals seek?”

  So, there we sat by fire, warm

  Sipped the wine and pondered our thoughts

  That here we were with this such being

  Explaining to him our thoughts and feelings.

  After this talk, he gave us more wine

  And then whilst smiling, gave an unearthly sigh

  “I will tell you all about me”

  Then with an alluring smile, he said softly to me

  “And I will tell you of how I feel,

  Have I compassion, love?

  After all this, decide for yourselves, will you join me forever?

  Or meet my maker in Hell?

  But consider this wisely because there's no going back,

  But if you are strong,

  You'll never worry about that.”

  So silently we listened, we thought, we understood

  And then before dawn,

  We decided, we should.

  Conception

  Anthony

  What would you do if you woke up a vampire? I was just like you, the guy next door living a normal life. Until one night when my world went to Hell.

  I am a predator living on human blood and I have killed both innocent and evil humans.

  I've been a vampire for only one year now.

  You may think this sounds exciting. Was I changed by some shadowy captivating figure from the night?

  It wasn't like that. It wasn't like that at all.

  It was night, cold and sheeting down rain as I walked home. The yellow glow of the streetlights reflected in puddles and the wind howled.

  My soaked clothes stuck to me and the wind blew my hair relentlessly into my face like an onslaught. I hate strong wind with rain and I couldn't wait to get home. To have a hot shower, dry clothes, and something to eat.

  At first, I ignored the group of vagrants at the far end of my street. They were causing the usual amount of trouble such folks do. The few people around ignored them as best they could.

  After some time, I don't remember how long, I noticed I was the only person walking on my street. That's when they approached.

  Their faces distorted, dark with filth and lines so deep they mimicked masked fiends. God, they stank like decaying bodies. I don't remember all the details, but I do remember it was violent, bloody, and swift. Predators taking down their prey in the blink of an eye. They were so wild, vicious, and horrifying. As they sank their razor-sharp teeth into my skin and started drinking, paralysis overcame me. I tried, but I couldn’t move. I know now that their venom holds a chemical that prevents coagulation, but terrifyingly it literally paralyses their prey. Me.

  I couldn’t move or scream and I watched in full horror. Felt the torture. And there was nothing I could do. Fear is too less a word. Blood everywhere and the pain, agonising, causing me to sway in and out of consciousness, and the most petrifying sensation of having my blood sucked out of me.

  One on my neck, one on my wrist, one on my femoral artery. They pawed at me like rabid animals, fighting over my blood. Guttural noises came from these deranged demons. I grew weaker and weaker with every second and found myself completely and utterly powerless to stop it. All I could do was watch. My veins felt taut as they strained to drain my blood.

  My stomach rolled with nausea and I plunged into panic. They were merciless and I was dying. They drained me and then forced me to drink their blood. Their vile, thick, putrid blood, but my will to survive kicked in and I fed and fed and fed. As I did this I heard their laughing and they began pawing at me again. Sounds of approval, of mocking but never of speech. I think these wretches had no language of their own. Ghoulish figures of death.

  Then everything went blank.

  When I came around, agony raged through me. My own blood covered me and I crumpled up in horror. Huge waves of nausea overcame me and I was sick and dizzy. The world spun around me. Eventually, I managed to
struggle to my flat, through the door, and collapsed. There I stayed for days.

  When I awoke, I managed to get to bed and I lay there, freezing cold then boiling hot. Fever swept over me in a great surge of waves. Days had passed and a number of calls went to the answering machine. My mobile buzzed with messages, calls, and then went dead as it lost its power.

  Nausea persisted and anything I previously ate had long since departed. I couldn't eat and water, only made me sick. If I drank it, I vomited it out violently. I was weak, scared, and isolated in my fear. What was happening to me? I slipped in and out of consciousness, hallucinating, the room spinning and morphing into liquid. Closing my eyes made it worse and helplessness gripped every breath.

  My girlfriend Rachel was the first to know something was wrong. Fortunately for her, we were not living together, but she had a key and visited me after days of unanswered calls.

  She and my close friends buzzed around me as I slipped in and out of reality. I was lucky I guess that they asked my consent before getting a doctor, which I refused in my haze. Visions of my friends admitting me to an institution for my own good, and being locked away in a mental asylum wearing a straitjacket if I told them what had happened, if I told them I had drunk blood. I thought I was going to die, but I clung to the hope if I could just make it through.

  I kept questioning myself as to what had happened. Had it been real? But I was too afraid to tell Rachel or even my closest friends. Only the basics, a group of vagrants had mugged me. Maybe I should go to a hospital. I couldn't tell them I had been drained of blood, right? I definitely couldn't tell them I drank the blood of those who attacked me. As I watched them, my friends, I felt even more remote from them. Knowing that if they knew what had happened, my fate would be sealed and I would be locked away. I loved them, but this distance grew.

  “Tell me what happened. I can't believe this is just from an attack. You must have caught something. Hep B? You need a doctor,” Rachel and my closest friends persisted. I have a vague recollection of them standing around my bed looking scared.

  “Jesus Rachel, we need to do something. He looks like Death.” I heard my best mate Chris gasp.

  “I know, Chris, but he refuses. I don't know what else we can do. Call his parents?”

  To this, I bolted upright. “Get out now. Please leave me alone. Don't contact my family.”

  Immediately after this, dizziness swirled in my head and Rachel helped me lie down. She was a real angel.

  They took turns staying by my bedside. I felt awful for putting this on them, but however much I protested, they would not leave. The chasm between us grew and my gut felt like it had a tourniquet wrapped around it. I had known Chris for years. We met as children at Kung Fu. This distance, my awareness of something happening to me, made my heart ache.

  After a couple more days, my metabolism started to show the signs that it was adjusting. Little did I know back then, it really was a life and death situation. That most victims that get bled and fed don't survive. I didn't know the mortality rate was so high. Back then, I didn't know anything.

  My vision increased. Previously I'd worn contact lenses, and now without them, I could see intricate details around my bedroom. My hearing also amplified. I could hear my girlfriend and my friends whispering about me in the living room.

  Now they were scared for a different reason. Their fear had changed. They no longer feared me dying; they could see I was recovering.

  What they didn't realise was what they were feeling is the same fear prey animals live by. The fear of their death. They sensed some predatory power emanating from me. Their gut instincts told them they were not safe near me, and they were right.

  It was awful to see. I loved these people. They were my family.

  Suddenly, my life flashed before me. Although at this stage, I didn't know what I was, I had the deep suspicion that I would no longer grow old with these people. I sensed a growing strength within my body and dangerous, violent impulses raced through me.

  Fear crept over me; I knew I would have to leave them. I knew I wanted to hurt them. I didn't understand what I was feeling or why. What the fuck was happening to me? In my mind's eye, I had a violent urge to strike out at them and do... Do what? Maybe I was going insane after all.

  My friends started to stay away after that day, but Rachel, Rachel and I were in love and love knows no bounds.

  Fear held me in its grasp—a dark force pulsating through me, a power that wanted to hurt her. I was losing my mind, but I couldn't tell her. I was too ashamed, too afraid. I couldn't accept the way she'd look at me if I told her how I felt.

  So, I tried to rein in these deep physical impulses. It was futile. What made it worse was that she was so understanding. She knew something had changed me and she tried to accommodate me, to help me. But deep down inside I was beyond her help.

  “Anthony, you know I love you. What can I do?”

  “Just go, I need some space,” I snapped. She looked so forlorn. Only a while ago we were happy, laughing, loving, and living.

  “I'll get my stuff,” she sighed.

  As she packed her few things up, I remembered the times we'd shared together, the silliness. When we cooked together we'd make up songs and dance around. What was this dark force within me? Gulping hard to fight back the tears I couldn’t look at her.

  She hesitated before kissing me goodbye. I was sprawled out on my sofa staring at the ceiling. Suddenly, her scent overwhelmed me and I could taste her. I grabbed her head as she bent over me.

  “Sorry, I'm so sorry, don't go. I love you, I love you so much,” I gasped. Our kiss was long and sensual; the first kiss for a long time.

  I pulled her onto me and suffered such a burning desire that I became forceful, desperate, and fierce. She didn't resist and she seemed to welcome this.

  On the one hand, I wanted her, wanted to love her, caress her, and make love to her. On the other, I wanted to bite her. Bite her? I battled with my mind. I must be going insane.

  She grabbed me, too late to go back now. After all, if I was insane, this could be my last time I make love to a woman, my woman who loves me. I reasoned I was strong enough to overcome this darkness. I had, after all, been with Rachel for many years and I would keep her safe, wouldn’t I?

  She climbed off me and unzipped my jeans and as she went down on me, the sensation was nothing I had ever experienced before. It was ten times more intense than I'd ever encountered. Shivers of desire ran through my body, and my breathing slowed. I pulled her up and lay her down, and as I went to return the favour, my attention was drawn instinctively to her femoral artery on her thigh. Pulsing blood. My vampiric eyes honed in on it, the scent of blood drawing me.

  What the Hell, don't think about it! I screamed in my mind. But after a few more minutes I became so drawn to it that I pulled myself up and made love with her.

  There lay my next problem. As she writhed around, moaning, and tilting her head in-between kissing, I came face to face with her jugular vein. Automatic responses targeted veins, the pulsing, the scent.

  This desire to bite her, to drain her was built in me, escalating like a tornado, growing stronger and stronger.

  As we peaked, I yelled with relief and fear.

  She must have thought this was due to all the past events, but it was shock, frustration, and anger because in the next seconds I was sucking on her femoral artery. I knew my teeth were sharp, but in all the craziness I had tried to dismiss this. I'd tried to dismiss a lot actually.

  She screamed as my teeth pierced her flesh, squirming and then became quite still. Her eyes glazed, and I realised then that my bite had sedated her. By biting her, drinking her, I, too, had released a chemical that paralysed her, just as had happened to me.

  Minutes later I stopped—shit it was hard! —and jumped back, blood running out my mouth and down my chin.

  “You have to leave, Rachel, now,” I screamed. “I'm going to hurt you. I can't control it.”

  St
ill, she lay there dazed, peaceful, looking almost dead.

  Upset I grabbed her clothes and shook her. Slowly she started to come around. “Rachel, please get out, this is too much,” I said frantically, helping her get up.

  “Anthony?” her eyes glazed. “You died?” she whispered. Then she dressed without another word or glance and left.

  I threw myself onto my sofa and wept, impulsively licking the blood from my hands and lips which made me feel worse. The compulsion of wanting more blood repulsed me. I repulsed myself. More blood, I needed more. Turbulent cravings consumed my mind, my body. My body raged for it. And shock—shock at what I had just done.

  I turned the lights off, paced up and down, and punched my fist through the wall. Astonishing myself at my strength, I sat down, got up, and allowed my mind to roar in all its fury as my heart pounded and raced with Rachel's blood flowing fast through it. Through me.

  My future loomed before me like a dark ocean, wild and powerful. I was Godforsaken and cut off from my friends and family. I started laughing crazily. I must be insane. Is this what insanity is like?

  Despair and loneliness consumed me.

  After that, I didn't go out for some time and I didn't see anybody.

  My doom emerged in front of me as I saw my future as a madman who believed he needed human blood—his girlfriend's blood. Everything was dark. She was right. I had died inside. I realised that when I drank her blood elation had filled my every bone, every part of my body had felt alive, powerful, not sick, as I would have expected. The sweet taste upon my lips fixated me so instinctively; I licked them at the thought of it. My mind and body, even my soul seemed engrossed on her blood. That was chilling.

  All I knew was that I was faster, craved human blood, and I now looked at people as food.

  A surreal nightmare, and finally the hunger got to me. I decided to go out, the blood driving me until I couldn't bear it any longer.

  So, I did, not knowing what would happen.

  Would I kill? Would I terrorise some human and drink them? I dreaded my future, I dreaded myself. Finally, I let go and embraced my nature, the core that was me. I surrendered to it.