Alec didn't really have a lot of time to take in the extravagance of the house, but they walked through an open area with a white marble floor and sweeping stairways on the right and left that led up to a second story. They walked straight on down a hallway with a red carpet runner and pictures of various people on the walls. Spaced every so many feet were tables against the walls that held flowers, and vases and other odd accouterments that you might expect to see in a well-furnished mansion.
Marc led Alec to a T intersection with large hallways that went left and right, but didn’t go down either, instead Marc walked straight to a set of double doors with men standing at attention on either side. They nodded once to him and he opened both doors and ushered Alec inside.
What Alec saw when he entered made his heart start to thud erratically in his chest and he stopped dead in his tracks. He was in a large sitting room with hardwood floors, polished and shining. To his left was a wall that was nothing but books, and a desk in front of it. To his right was a fireplace that was unlit but looked like it was used often. What had caused him to panic was this room was set up almost exactly like the room in which he had been strapped to an altar and forced to drink blood by Clarissa Wight. There were cosmetic differences, but the placement of the couches and chairs and the other furniture in the room was almost an exact duplicate, except the altar was missing, of course.
Marc saw that Alec had stopped and was staring wide eyed at his surroundings and motioned for him to come to him. Alec started forward slowly, his feet dragging and his mind screaming for him to run.
Towards the back of the room, Alec noticed a man sitting on one of the couches talking to a woman in a black evening dress. When Marc and Alec approached them, their conversation stopped and the man said, "Could you please excuse us?"
The woman made a reply and walked across to the doors to exit. When the doors shut quietly the man narrowed his eyes.
"What is he doing here?"
Marc stepped forward. "We were attacked."
The man's eyes snapped to Marc's face. "By whom?"
Even as scared as Alec was at the moment, he couldn't help but admire the man in front of him. He was older with steel gray hair cut short and piercing blue eyes that Alec swore could see straight through him. His face bellied his obvious age, showing no wrinkles or lines. He was handsome in a regal sort of way. He wore an expensive, tailored gray suit and tie and sat on the white leather couch with his back straight and broad shoulders back. His voice when he talked was rich and deep and strangely made Alec wonder what the man's singing voice was like. If Alec hadn't been scared shitless he would have laughed at such an absurd thought.
Marc quickly ran through the events; showing up at Alec's, talking for awhile and then going for a walk in the park for some air. "Once we were there I thought we were being followed but wasn't sure. Then Alec explained to me all the recent changes he's been going through and…Silas, he's exhibiting abilities."
Silas's eyes flicked back to Alec and examined him. He stood up, walked over to a table and grabbed a decanter of brown liquid and three glasses and then sat.
"Please sit," he said and poured drinks for all of them.
Alec sat on the smaller leather sofa to Silas’s right while Marc remained standing. Silas handed them each a drink and saluted. "I have a feeling we are going to need this."
Silas quickly downed his drink and then sat holding his empty cup. Alec took a sip and realized that he was drinking some sort of expensive scotch. He felt the liquid burn its way down his throat to settle warmly in his stomach. He took another sip savoring the taste.
Silas poured himself another and set the decanter on the table between himself and Alec.
"So what sort of changes and what…abilities?"
Marc looked at Alec who sat there, afraid to speak. After a moment Marc said, "It's okay, you can trust Silas. Tell him everything you told me."
So in a small quiet voice Alec explained the changes he'd seen in his body and how he'd been round and dumpy before. He also told him about his falling forty feet, and landing on his feet with no injuries. Silas listened intently, never saying anything or interrupting. When he was finished, Silas looked thoughtful.
"So, when you were walking, they overheard this story and decided to attack?"
Marc nodded. "I assume so."
Silas thought for a moment. "Marcus, did you recognize the men?"
Marcus?
"I’ve seen them before but I'm not certain who they work for. Could be some of Laramie’s men, but that’s a guess."
"Hmmmm. So you were attacked by three men at once and then?"
"Two came at me and one at Alec. I only saw a little of what Alec did, I'm not sure exactly what happened since I was a bit distracted, but suddenly the guy attacking Alec went flying off into the dark. That's when the second man broke away and went after Alec. After a few minutes, he followed the first and I finally took my man down."
Silas looked shocked. "You fought two of them and knocked them out while Marcus fought one?"
Alec was trembling but he took a deep breath and then started detailing what had happened. He explained how time seemed to slow down and how he was able to get in a punch and then a side kick that had thrown both men to the ground a ways away. Silas looked thoughtful. "Impossible." he said so quietly Alec wasn't sure he'd even heard him speak. Silas just looked perplexed and kept shaking his head slowly.
Alec cleared his throat and finally got up the nerve to speak. "Uh, can one of you please explain what is going on here? I've been through some weird, crazy shit here lately and I would like some answers." His face blazed with embarrassment but he wanted to know what was going on.
Silas finally looked at him and there was compassion in his eyes. He sighed and turned towards Alec.
"Alec, I was hoping that this wouldn't be necessary, and that Doctor Schubert had been wrong."
"Doctor Schubert? My specialist from the hospital, Doctor Schubert?" Alec asked confused.
"Yes," Silas answered. "But he doesn't work for the hospital. He works for me."
Now Alec was really confused. What the hell was going on here?
"Alec, what I'm about to tell you is going to be difficult for you to hear and more so for you to believe. But we can prove to you all that we say is true. Okay?" At Alec's nod he continued. "Now, I want you to listen to me and don't panic or freak out," he said the last part as if those words were alien on his tongue. "Let me explain and then we will answer your questions, if we can."
Alec nodded once, a cold hard ball of dread forming in the pit of his stomach.
Silas sighed. "Marcus and I are not exactly what we seem. To put it bluntly, we are vampires." Silas watched Alec to see how he accepted the information.
"I'm sorry…you're what?" Alec couldn't have been any more stunned if they had said they were from the moon. He had expected to hear they were serial killers who had formed a special club, or cannibals who liked to invite their food in to play with before supper. But vampires?
"Vampires," he said very clearly. "Yes. I know this isn't what you were expecting to hear. But it's the truth."
Alec shook his head. Anger overcame his normal quiet, shy demeanor. "This is too much." He stood up from the couch and set his glass down half empty on the table beside him. "After the hell I've been through…after the pain and fear I've experienced, you come up with this shit? What the hell is wrong with you people? Why are you doing this to me?" He turned and stormed off towards the door. He was getting the hell out of this insane place, going home and locking the doors tight and never coming out again. The world had gone bat-shit crazy.
Between one blink and the next suddenly both Silas and Marc were standing in front of the double doors that led out. Alec stopped dead in his tracks and swung his head around to the couches. No Silas or Marc. They really had reached the doors before he had and they had just suddenly…appeared. He was losing his damn mind.
"I'm sorry Alec," Marc said. "It's the truth."
Alec shook his head mutely. This had to be a trick of some sort. He blinked his eyes again and suddenly both men were gone. A hand gently tapped his back causing him to jump around. Silas and Marc both were standing there. How the hell were they doing this? Was he losing it? What the hell is going on? his mind screamed.
"Alec, please come back and sit down. There's more we need to tell you. And it won't be easy to hear. Please," Marc said motioning to the couches. Alec found himself walking forward and dropping into the seat where he'd sat before. He wasn't sure what was going on anymore. Silas walked over to a box on the wall, pressed a button and spoke. Then he came back around the couch and sat down as before.
"Alec, we are vampires. We are real. But we aren't the monsters that most think we are," Silas said in that rich voice of his. Alec couldn't help but listen.
"Are you okay? Here.” Silas filled his glass with scotch and handed it to him. "Drink it all. It will help." Alec complied and felt the liquid again burn its way down his throat and settle warmly. It helped some. The sensation was real, something he could hold on to and grasp like a lifeline.
"What happened to you was an unfortunate accident, Alec," Silas said looking at him.
"What do you mean?" Alec asked quietly.
“This is the other part that will be hard for you to accept, but Clarissa was one of us."
Alec felt like someone had punched him in the gut.
He blinked several times, trying to make sense of what he was hearing. Clarissa Wight, the woman who had abducted him and tortured him had been a vampire. A small part of Alec's mind said 'It kind of makes sense with all the bloodletting and drinking doesn't it?' He shrugged it away and sat with his mouth open, unsure what to ask first.
"Alec, what we are sharing with you tonight is not common knowledge to humans and some vampires." Silas looked at Alec to make sure he understood.
"Clarissa was… special."
"That's putting it mildly," Marcus said.
"Many centuries ago Clarissa's mother was forcefully turned against her will. Things were done much differently back then. Her mother had always been very protective of Clarissa and had always considered her… special. After she was turned, she realized that there was no one to watch over Clarissa, or take care of her. Seeing how being made into a vampire had visibly reduced the signs and effects of aging, her mother came up with a plan. She spoke with the vampire that turned her and had Clarissa turned as well, hoping it might somehow heal her daughter of her mental issues and make her better. It didn't. It took what was inside of Clarissa and amplified it." Silas sighed and put his hands together in his lap. "Eventually Clarissa ended up resenting her mother and fought with her, which ended in Veronica’s accidental death. Due to her special circumstances, Clarissa was kept where she could be watched. The council decided it was the best way to deal with the situation.”
"Council?" Alec asked confused.
"Yes Alec, we have a vampire council that rules over us. We control our numbers, who can sire, and we mete out punishment when needed. Overall it's what keeps our kind in check with humans."
"So, what happened?" Alec asked quietly.
"She escaped. We looked for her and couldn't find her. She had approached the council asking permission to sire, or create other vampires, in order to form a Lineage of her own. She was told no. She did not like that answer so she orchestrated an escape and disappeared. When young homeless men started disappearing we knew what she was trying to do and a Kill Order was handed down. When we found her, it was the night you were undergoing the Change."
"Wait…so men were sent to kill her for creating illegal vampires?"
"Yes, well there was more to it than just that. She was out of control and defying our orders.”
"When they arrived and saw that I was still alive, why didn't they help me?" Alec was a little pissed off at this point and his question came out as accusatory.
"You were too far into the Change for them to save you Alec. Technically when Clarissa was killed, you should have died. If you weren’t fully Turned and her strain died as she did, it should have killed you instantly. There is nothing that could have been done to save you. We honestly don't know how you survived," he took a moment to let this sink in. "When we heard that there was a survivor I sent Doctor Schubert in as a specialist to examine you. Once he tested your blood he found some abnormalities that should have been impossible." Silas shrugged. "So I had you investigated and found out you were going to college and I enrolled Marcus in one of your night classes and had him get close to you and watch for anything strange."
Alec narrowed his eyes at Marcus. Of course. Marcus hadn't really wanted to be Alec's friend. He had been ordered to be. Alec knew it had been too good to be true. No one wanted to really be his friend. This was just another way that the Universe spit in his face.
The double doors at the far side of the room opened and Doctor Schubert walked in. He was wearing some sort of white lab coat. He crossed the room and stood with his hands behind his back. "Alec, good to see you again. I take it you are here with some questions."
Silas nodded. "We were just explaining to Alec what happened the night he was abducted."
Schubert made an 'Ahhhhh' kind of look and said, "How may I be of service?"
Silas thought for a moment and then seemed to make up his mind. "I want you to explain to Alec the basics of how vampires are made and what the process of the Change is like. He needs to understand how unusual his situation is."
Alec had this insane moment where he thought Schubert was going to say 'When a mommy vampire and a daddy vampire love each other a lot…' He really was losing it.
Schubert nodded and collected his thoughts. "To create a vampire, one must first drain the human to where they are almost dead. Then, the vampire feeds the human their blood. It takes quite a bit of it. It's the tricky part of the process and most vampires don't know how much to drain or how much to feed their victim. Once the human has ingested the vampire's blood, they go through what we call the Change." He started pacing back and forth slowly as he talked.
"The vampire blood goes into the human's system and starts changing them on the inside. Some organs are moved, while others are created or destroyed. The organs that aren't needed are dissolved and forced out of the body."
"The black fluid," Alec said remembering.
"Yes," Schubert answered. "The blood forces the body to create the reservoir, which takes the place of the heart and stomach and is what forces blood through a vampire’s body once it's ingested. Once the reservoir is created and starts working, the heart is dissolved and expelled. That's why we are called the undead because we have no heartbeat. You, however, still have a heart. The blood also causes the muscles and bones in the body to become stronger and this gives us exceptional strength, agility and speed. It also allows us to heal at an accelerated rate as well. That's why you felt like you were being ripped apart inside. Technically, you were. It's a lot more complicated than that, but you get the basic idea." He looked at Alec to make sure he was following.
Alec was staring at the floor absorbing all this new information. To create a vampire you had to drink vampire blood. That wasn't really surprising. He wasn't aware that the organs inside a person changed and altered though. He thought you died and then arose as a vampire.
"Once the Change subsides, the newly made vampire needs to feed. Once they ingest blood, the changes that have taken place are locked into the new order, and the body begins healing any injuries or defects that are left over."
At this point in the conversation Silas took over again. "Clarissa being who she was didn't quite grasp the complexities of creation so she just started draining men and then feeding them her blood. She killed several of the men that way. From what we gathered, the first couple of men she either bled too much and killed them outright or didn't drain them enough and the vampire blood and
human blood didn't mix well and their bodies couldn't take the shock. After that, she figured out how to get the Change to start, but she didn't feed them human blood to lock the process into place and their bodies burned out."
"Wait, don't vampires have fangs and actually drink the blood directly from their victims?" Alec asked confused.
Silas nodded.
"Then why did she use a dagger on me and collect my blood in a cup? And what was up with the Latin mumbo jumbo?"
Silas sighed. "We can only assume that Clarissa thought there was some sort of ritual or spell involved. She thought she needed some sort of magic to create a vampire."
Alec shook his head. "Then how did I survive?"
Silas shrugged. "That we don't know. We also aren't sure how much you've changed or why you can walk in the daylight. There are some things you should know about vampires. Not all of what you've heard is true. Sunlight does burn us and can destroy us, and silver weakens and hurts us. We are much stronger, faster and more agile than humans, but we are not dead, or undead. We have a sort of strain of virus for lack of a better word that gives us abilities and changes us. Holy symbols, crosses, Bibles and holy water do not hurt us. Silver, however, does. We do have fangs and drink blood to prolong our lives, and we are immortal for the most part, and hard to kill."
Alec was trying to digest all this information. He felt like he was living in some sort of nightmare world where all the rules were different.
"Why did she want to sire her own vampires anyway?" Alec asked confused.
"Well," Silas began carefully, "when you sire vampires, you gain certain…strengths and abilities. She wanted to be stronger."
Alec thought that Silas was glossing over quite a bit of information but didn't really care at this point.
"Alec, the older a vampire gets, the stronger and faster they get. Siring vampires adds to that," Schubert explained.
All three vampires looked at Alec to see if he was following. "So, what do we do now?" Alec asked.
Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles Page 5