Chapter 4

~~Jack~~

Jack screamed himself awake.

“God! Oh goodness!" He panickedly cast a glance around. Couch. A sofa was present. In the background are paintings. Even an enormous window. Julia's residence. He took another glance around. Julias was there, hunched over the kitchen island. Jack had to assume that the look on his face was a strange mix of relief and agony.

Jack fell off the sofa and to his knees as the throbs struck him hard.

Julias, my goodness! He frantically turned to Julias, asking, "What the fuck...what the hell is going on?," but he was simply standing there, waiting and observing. “Julias! Oh, dammit, what the heck. Was it all a dream, oh my god? Did..." Jack reclined back and examined his attire with shaking hands. They were still covered in blood.

His buddy assured him that it wasn't a dream.

“What the fuck Julias!?" Jack lifted his shirt to reveal his tummy. His blood coated his abdomen, but the wounds had already healed. He could see that they were no longer hemorrhaging, even though they ought to be. "What's happening? What the heck is going on, I can't…" Jack pushed himself to stand after crawling forward to his knees.

The time was short. He reached out to grasp one of Julia's stools but instead fell to the ground forcefully. He grabbed at his gut once more. A strange combination of hunger and agony existed. A severe hunger sensation that also bordered on being painful.

“Here." Julias approached him and sat down next to him, holding his tumbler of red.

Jack looked between his buddy and the drink and said, "... you've... never offered me a drink before." Oddly, the deep crimson was alluring. Even though it didn't normally look appetizing, he had to admit that he was tempted to take a sip when it was directly in front of him.

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything. Drink now, please."

Jack extended his hand with a sigh of satisfaction. Now that Julias was so close, he couldn't help but notice the massive blood spots in his suit in addition to his still-bloody hands. however, drink. Drink, Julias commanded, so he did.

To put it mildly, the first taste was odd. Was that a metal? He only needed a brief moment to allow the thickness to coat his taste receptors before it poured over his tongue. What a flavor, damn. Sips quickly turned into gulps, and he finished the full glass. It was blissful. He could feel it warming him from the inside out as it spread out.

Jack had to chuckle at how the drink had made him forget about his predicament and say, "Wow, this is really good." I don't typically consume alcohol. What is its name?The hungry pains are at least somewhat lessened.

"Later," said Julias. Jack smiled briefly before squinting at Julias. Julias had a scowl.

"Okay, so what's happening?" After returning the empty glass to Julias, Jack reached down and once more pulled up his shirt. "I remember... some lady, and then... a knife." Where the dagger had pierced him, he felt his muscles, particularly his abdominal muscles. Although the wounds were mostly closed, he could still feel a few tiny vertical slits that were just big enough for his fingertips to catch against minute indentations.

If there was one way he was going to perish, it would be at the hands of a stunning woman in a shadowy alley.

"Julias, this can't be true." Julias had gotten to his feet and extended Jack his hand. Jack accepted it and climbed up the bench. Julias was already pouring him another goblet of red wine, as if he were psychic.

It's very genuine. "Here," Julias said, handing Jack the tumbler immediately. Jack savored the delectable sin he had just discovered. When the thick liquid began to coat his throat, he almost growled into it.

"Well, then. What happened? Julias, someone attacked me! I was wounded numerous times. I've read enough to be familiar with the symptoms of severe blood loss."

“Yes. You were dying from excessive bleeding. Your time to survive was limited."

"What the heck, then!”

Jack was unable to decide between joy and fear. He ought to have died, but he didn't. He and his best buddy were covered in blood, but he was still alive. The blood on him was still wet, so it was clearly the same night.

Sighing, Julias crossed to a stool across from the bar. When did Julias start to appear so pale? Jack had to do a few double takes before he finally saw it. He had thin, white skin.

"Check your pulse."

“What?”

"Jack, check your pulse."

"I'm not allowed to wash first? We're—I mean, my goodness, look at us."

“Check. Your. Pulse.”

Jack became mute. Julias was giving him a cold, lifeless stare while sporting steely eyes. Dead was putting it mildly. Never had he seen Julias appear so sick.

Jack placed his index and middle fingers to his wrist and sighed angrily.

He placed the same fingers against his upper neck, close to his jaw, and said, "Um, hold on, hold on." He placed his palm over his heart and said, "... hold on, hold on." Where is my heartbeat, Julias? Jack gave his buddy a worried fake smile, but Julias just shook his head.

"I didn't believe you would remember. Because of your low blood count, most Kindred don't recall being embraced. Not with any precision."

“Kindred? Embraced? What the hell are you on about?”

"Jack, how do you feel? What are you feeling inside right now?" Julia's expression was stern and somewhat disturbing. The intensity of it forced Jack to avert his stare.

"I feel... I'm not sure. Simply put, I'm hungry."

"Anything else?”

"Dude, I have no idea what you mean." He needed some time to reflect, "I just... I feel..." Even though it was muted, the sharp pain in his gut and throughout his body persisted. There was an odd mixture of dread, rage, and anxiety, but that was always there, right?

Jack moved backward a step. It wasn't always there, though. He was now having difficulty looking Julias in the eyes, something he had never experienced before. There was a portion of him that tingled with fear of it, of Julias? He too had the urge to take off running. A portion of him yearned to rip into something and eat with all of his might.

He received a cloth to the face.

"Wash up, clean yourself off, and take a good, long look in the mirror."

He hadn't been this thin in a while. As the water in the shower washed the blood from his epidermis, Jack couldn't help but look down at his body. He could see the closed stab wounds, and he was able to suppress a grin at the site of his abs. For the past five years, Julias had been pressuring him to consume healthily and exercise, and it had paid off. He was a lean, tough little guy despite his diminutive stature, and he ran his fingers up his abs to feel them and the numerous stabbing scars that still marked them.

He was no longer just slender, though. He had lost weight. He felt a small pull in his stomach. His complexion was paler and thinner overall. That made sense since he had just lost an absurd quantity of blood, I suppose. Then again, how in the world was he still upright and acting normally? He was able to see the knife wounds like a freshly stabbed corpse that had been embalmed.

And that hunger, it just wouldn't go away. Not just in his stomach, but throughout him, it hurt. It was flowing through his extremities, which he could feel. He could sense something tearing at him from within. He felt resistance from within.

He eventually exited the shower and walked over to the reflection. He used a towel that was close by to wipe away the wetness before allowing the ventilation to turn on to expel the vapors. His visage slowly came into view.

"Oh my goodness", he said, leaning in close and placing a hand against the wall. Why on earth did his visage change? Like the rest of him, his visage was pallid. His irises lacked radiance. Everything appeared to be so quiet. Very deceased.

“ … dead. God, oh God." Jack whirled around and scurried to collect the clothes Julias laid out for him, saying, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." While trying to open the bathroom door, he struggled to put on his boxers and his pants came on one leg at a moment. Julias leaned around the hallway from his stool in the kitchen to take a peek at him after his attempts resulted in a hard landing on his side and arm.

“Dead! Julias, I'm dead. What the heck? I am a corpse. I'm a zombie, by God!" Jack didn't even attempt to stand up as he uttered, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god." He simply reclined there with his hands covering his face and his pants only on one leg.

"Did you figure it out?”

"How did I turn into a zombie? Julias, what the hell are you doing? There are no actual zombies."

"You are not a zombie." 

“What?”

Julias sighed and moved to approach Jack, holding out a palm. The large man helped Jack stand up so he could put on his pants before helping him settle down.

"No, you are not a zombie. However, you are dead.

Jack had to pause and exhale, "I, I..." But it didn't seem like breathing was doing much. With his elbows on the counter, the small man allowed his head to sag and his chin to rest in his palms before moving on to do the same with his eyes. Nothing was happening when I breathed.

"Jack, I shouldn't have done this to you so quickly. You were going to be given the chance to decline as I was going to ease you into it. You were sucked into this, though, and had to choose between turning or dying."

"Turn me? oh god.." Jack nearly stutter-talked. He forced himself to turn his head up and look Julias in the eye. The pale skin and steely eyes. Before, Julias didn't have this appearance, but now he shared Jack's expression of death.

Julias flashed Jack a tiny grin and a long fang, saying, "We're vampires, Jack." Before he hid it in his mouth once more, it was there on his lip where it wasn't usually. He moved a second tumbler of red in Jack's direction.

“Vampires. "Vampires... fucking... vampires," Jack exclaimed, lowering his gaze to the tumbler. They slipped into the swirling mass of its intoxicating appearance, the pool of it. Before, he never gave the items much thought, but now he couldn't stop staring at them. "... Isn't that blood?”

“Yes.”

"You gave blood to me."

“Yes.”

With great exertion, Jack forced his eyes away from the drink and said, "I... how could... Julias, I..." It seemed to be absolutely delectable. You fucking transformed me into a vampire, Julias! And it appears that you are a vampire. Okay, I'm stressing out. Even as he whined and rant, Jack had to pause to sip that delectable, sweet, satisfying glass of red. "I am freaking the fuck out," he said. The blood drink was at least squelching the throb in his gut, though it wasn't going away entirely.

"I'm sorry; I know, I know. For anyone, this is never simple. I simply couldn't let you pass away, buddy."

"I'm gone, though!”

Julias rubbed his suit collar while saying, "Well yes." Jack had to suppress his disgust at the sight of him because he was still coated in blood. His entire blood. "We're vamps. Kindred.”

"Why haven't I ever noticed it on you before? You don't typically appear so...dead."

"Kindred can produce life's flush. For a short time, it gives us a human appearance and behavior.

"So you've always been a vampire, a Kindred? How long? ... How old are you?”

Jack words hit something sensitive. Julias turned around and reached into his fridge to get another bottle, and poured the two of them another glass. Now Julias was the one who was avoiding Jack’s gaze.

“I was turned during the first world war.”

“The first … world war … World War One. Wow.” Jack ran his fingers through the buzz of his hair. “Wow, you’re … wow that’s old.”

“Joys of being Kindred. You don’t age.”

“Wait, is that why you got me exercising and eating well? You were going to turn me?”

“I was preparing you, yes, but I was never going to force you. I was going to explain everything, and that’s what that business proposition was about earlier. Then I was going to explain what being a Kindred meant. Immortality, but a blood lust, the beast inside, the Danse Macabre, the politics and the other Kindred and the—”

“Dude, dude! I … ok I am barely keeping it together. I am…” He put his head in his palms again, and let the weight of the insanity pull it down to his elbows. “I just … I need to think. I need to think. I need to contextualize. I … you said, earlier today, that my family and friends would think I was dead? That I’d … be staying here in South Side?”

“Yeah.”

“ … so my life … it’s all gone?”

“Yeah…”

Jack had to get up. He left his glass behind and started to pace around with his fingers on his buzzed hair. They both went silent. Jack wanted to pant, but breathing didn’t come naturally anymore. All the little fidgets of his body were gone, or at least lessened. He had to make the pacing more frantic, just to make it seem justified.

“So I’m … immortal now?”

“You won’t age, but fire will burn you like dry paper. And … sunlight will do the same.”

“No sunlight?”

“No.” Julias grimaced with the word.

“Oh god … so that’s … that’s why I can’t ever see my family again? My friends?” Jack fell to the couch with his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. He kept looking around, desperate for something to focus his mind on.

“Partially, but also … that pain in your gut. That’s the blood lust, Jack.”

“Blood. I have to drink blood. Fucking god I’m Dracula.”

“Don’t say that around the Prince if you want to keep your head … which losing will also kill you, by the way. But beyond that, you’re not going to die. Bullet to the head won’t even do it.”

“Oh, that’s actually pretty—wait, Prince?”

“Yes, Prince, a … you’ll see. I wanted to turn you because you’re my friend … but also because I need an ally, Jack.” Julias came over to sit down next to Jack, bloody suit and all. The couch was likely ruined, but Jack figured Julias had enough money to ignore it. Or that the situation made it not worthy of note.

“So we’re not just two blood suckers enjoying eternity, are we?” Jack said.

“No. There are others. I figure there’s over three hundred Kindred here in Dolareido. And there’s a structure to it.”

Holy shit. Three hundred other vampires in the city, with their own structure? Were they all like Julias, with mobster painted on their forehead?

“How come I’ve never heard of this … any of this.”

“Rule number one, is to preserve the Masquerade. If you tell people about vampires, the sheriff will leave you out for sunrise. You have to do everything you can to make sure people don’t realize what you are. As my new childe, you’re my responsibility, and I will help you as much as you need.”

“Masquerade. Masquerade, got it. I … think I got it. Rules … so there’s more than one rule.” Jack turned his head from within his palms to catch Julias in the corner of his eye.

“I know that this all got dumped on you without warning, but it’s not all bad.” Julias got up and started to take off his jacket. “You’re immortal.”

“I … I guess.”

“I have to shower, then I’ll show you the clothes I’ve prepared for you.” He winced. “Then we’re going to meet Viktor.”

“Viktor?”

“My sire.”