Chapter Three

The morning following that night was grey, and the smell of rain was in the atmosphere, and the wind began to scream outside, shaking the small building, but Peter got up and dressed and disappeared before Lavinia awoke. When she had, she was disappointed and heartbroken to see she woke alone. She lay down on her back, feeling ridiculous for believing he was different, but when he walked back into the tiny room with food, she felt ridiculous again for thinking for a moment that he might be.  She sat up, pulling a blanket up across her chest and smiled at him.

           “Looks like we will be stuck here again for another night.” He sat down beside her.

           “How did you become…a…vampire?” The question caught him off guard, and he wasn’t sure immediately how to answer. “And how did you learn to control yourself?”

           “I was turned by…another very old vampire. As for controlling myself, I have a good friend, Kohl, who had taken the time to help me.” Peter couldn’t tell her the truth of how he was created, that he was one of the first ones created, and he was terrified if she knew the reality of how it happened; she would then look at him differently.

           “Is he a vampire as well?”

           “No… He is something else altogether.”

           “What is he?”

           “They are known as Nephilim. Half-human and half-angel.” His expression, though serious, was still soft. “He is the last of his kind. Very powerful.”

           “Does he suffer from that…hunger?”

           “No, he does not.”

           “Then how was he able to help you?” He found her questions endearing. And the more she asked to understand who and what he was, the more attractive to him she became.

           “See, his kind are extremely powerful. They have problems with their anger, and they must learn to control it; otherwise, they become monsters. Unstoppable and hard to reason with. So, he taught me to control my need for blood using the same ways he learned to control his anger. The heavens call his kind abominations, and he is a …acquired taste.”

           “I see.” She was quiet, leaving Peter awaiting the most obvious question. As he patiently waited for her to ask him, she was working to build the courage to do so. “Can you turn people into vampires?”

           “I can.”

           “Have you ever?”

           “No.”

           “Why not?”

           “I don’t find people of this century or the previous ones to be civil enough to not be a threat to humans. I only ever will if I believe wholesomely that they will not be a danger…or at the very least easy for me to help keep under control. Some may call this a gift, some a curse, but it is, in fact, both. It has its good and bad in it.” Again, he was waiting for the question she wanted to so desperately ask. She looked away from him and took a bite of warm bread after swallowing, she looked back at him.

           “Would you ever turn me? Make me like you?”

           “Yes.” Lavinia had barely finished asking by the time he shot out his answer. No hesitation. He wanted to turn her so he could be with her forever. Lavinia wasn’t expecting a ‘yes’ and especially not so surely and quickly.

           “You would make me like you? To spend all of eternity…” She failed to say the last word of her next inquiry.

           “Together?” He asked, hopeful.

           “Yes.” She said, nodding her head.

           “I would do anything for you to spend eternity with me.” It was barely a full day since they met, and already, they were madly in love and wanted nothing more than to be together forever. Her red lips leaned in to touch his, and he lay her on her back, kissing her as he removed his clothes. “If you decide you want to be changed, know that this will feel much different. More intense.”

           “I do.” She whispered, staring him intently in the eyes, and he nodded in understanding she was completely sure. He bit into his own tongue and kissed her, filling her mouth with his blood.

           “You have to die now.” He spoke, “for it to work. You’ll come back. I promise.” She took a deep breath releasing an exaggerated sigh. She sat up, and he snapped her neck, letting her body fall back onto the soft bed.

           While Lavinia was dead, Peter tracked down a beggar and compelled him to sit in the room for when she awoke. He got beside her and pulled her onto his lap, and her lifeless body lay across him, and he stroked her hair. Hoping she’d come to in a calm state.

           Lavinia shot up fast, taking an unnecessary inhalation of oxygen before looking around in a frenzy. “You will be more sensitive to everything. I brought you someone, to feed on… To finish the transformation.” Her hands frantically slid across her body and holding her neck, trying to establish her own reality of what was happening. She left her hands on her neck and looked to Peter, who stared at her guiltily. “It will pass.”

           “I have to feed?” Her mind was trying to come together, it was all blurry, and actions weren’t coming together as one like they should be. 

           “It does get better…Once you drink, things will be better.” Peter insisted on helping her to stand, leading her toward the man he compelled to sit still and stay silent. He was terrified as she neared him. She was fighting her morals to not hurt another and the need to drain him of every drop of blood. “He raped a twelve-year-old girl, tonight.  That’s how I chose him.” Peter held onto Lavinia to keep her steady, and when she got close enough to hear the beating in the man’s jugular, she lunged at him her mouth open, eyes black and sharp canines. Her teeth effortlessly sank into his body, breaking the skin with little resistance and began to drain him. 

At the large house, built and owned by Kohl nearly five hundred years ago and owning the surrounding three hundred acres of land where he had it newly renovated and updated with enlarged luxury bathrooms and so on. When you're that old, it's easy to have millions and millions of dollars to spend. They all sat in the main room with solid wood furniture, obviously from the Victorian era. 

           “What are we supposed to do?” Nora asked, “we need to confirm this whole werewolf thing and then figure out exactly what we are up against. I want to know why they are here.”

           “There isn’t much we can do at the moment, Nora. We all need to sleep before we tackle this. Especially you, you become useless, the more tired you are. We need you tip-top.” Kohl stated Nora sighed then yawned in the darkness of the still night. 

           “He’s right.” Jen agreed, looking at her close friend. Being the only pure human there, her exhaustion showed on her body and face more than anyone leading almost everyone to be concerned about her sleeping habits more than their own. Sometimes she hated how they seemed to baby her, but then again, she also knew it was out of love.

           “I’m going to bed.” She confirmed as she made her way to the large oak staircase, taking steps slowly, tiredly to the room she’d sleep in from time to time.

*Author's note:This book contains violence, sexual scenes and talks about rape. Reader discretion is warned. I appreciate all of the support my reader's provide for me and my kids.  Please don't forget to give gems and votes and reviews please.  Every little bit helps!