A Taste of Blood
an excerpt

Page 1: Two hundred years since I was bitten. It’s amazing how people talk of the things they would do if only they had more time. But given enough time, even the amazing things that they put off would come to be mundane. I have roamed this earth now for two hundred twenty five years. Twenty five of those years were spent in ignorance of the things that the world really held, the next two hundred… Well that is what I am here to tell you about. I look back now, on the life that I’ve lived. Not because I feel that the tome of my existence is anything to behold but rather as a way to reflect. I am not really certain why I commit my memories now to writing. In fact it is disapproved of greatly by my kind everywhere to make any kind of record of our existence. But, seeing as how I’ve broken every other courtesy and law of Vampire kind, I don’t see what one more sin will lose me. I say that I’ve broken all of their laws, but that is more than likely an exaggeration for the actual number that we have, I could not tell you. I can tell you that I’ve made many, many faux pas in my two hundred years; Most of which came shortly after I was turned. I have killed for fun. I have revealed my true nature to a mortal that I did not intend to kill. I have killed children, though that is not a memory that I am particularly proud of. I have done a whole host of things that the Vampire world as a whole would shake their fingers at. But, they are a forgiving lot. At least, that is, to their own kind. Not to mention, one young as I. I suppose that I am fortunate. I was not cast into the world by an uncaring creator as many are. I, however, cast myself into it. I knew that my life was meant fo more and, so, I was ready to be turned. I did, as most Vampires do, have to find my own way for a while, however. But, I get ahead of myself.

Page 12: The doorknob made a faint grating noise and in came three people, two women and one man. I was immediately captivated. They were dressed all alike. They wore black bike gear, leather jackets and pants. They were extremely pale and had long black hair. His hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail that hung down to his waist. He had his helmet in his hand and he walked in as though he owned the bar. He was intense. There was a light in his eyes that I couldn’t take mine away from. It wasn’t until he moved to a booth to my right, near the dartboards, that I was able to turn my gaze elsewhere. It occurred to me shortly thereafter that he had been staring right back at me. That was why I could not look away, that was why I could not turn. Once he moved to his table, he turned his head away from me and I felt a longing. The women walked in line behind him. They were, both, magnificent. The first was taller. She had black fingernails and black hair that was streaked with red. She had a perfect shape, and ample breasts. The hair fell across her body like fire and her walk held my gaze almost as surely as the man’s eyes. She had a pierced nose and lip. Her nose piercing had a chain connected to it that went between her nose and ear. The chain was perfect silver that nearly glowed despite the low lighting. Simply put, she was magnificent. I remember thinking to myself that I’d never in my life seen such beauty and was likely to never again witness it in person. That was a thought that lasted in my head less than five seconds. As she turned to follow the man, the woman who had been behind her came into view.
I felt the urge to stand from my stool and go to her. A tear form in my eye and my breath caught in my chest. I sat stunned. She walked towards me and I sat motionless. If the eyes of the man who preceded her glowed, these were fire. They were, and I had to look back to be sure, purple. The light that seemed to emanate from them was intoxicating. Her hair was black with purple streaking. It didn’t strike me until later that night when I was able to think of anything but the third woman that the first’s red streaks matched red eyes. She continued walking towards me and I could not move from the spot. She leaned on the bar beside me. The bartender seemed not to be as infatuated as I. Instead he seemed to be somewhat fearful. Her hand rested not inches from mine. It was white as milk and just as smooth. I watched her closely as she leaned over and whispered something into the bartender’s ear. He seemed to whither under her breath, to shrink in comparison to his previous form. He nodded his understanding of whatever it was she’d told or asked him. She leaned back away from him and moved over to join the others at the table in the corner. Wally the bartender went to the back room and the lights in that corner of the room dimmed significantly. The amazing thing was that their eyes were now the only things visible. They were veiled almost completely by the darkness in the corner combined with the darkness of their clothing. But their eyes glowed as they did before. My eyes locked momentarily with the purple set. I turned my head immediately, difficult as it was. I didn’t know what to make of what I was feeling. It was like love and fear and excitement mixed together into one bigger, more meaningful emotion, an emotion that I could not put a name to. I risked a glance back in their direction and saw that she was still looking at me. This time I did not turn away. My mind swam and I could not make sense of what I felt or saw. It wasn’t until the eyes disappeared that the spell or whatever it was, was broken. I closed my eyes and realized that that was what she had done, simply closed her eyes. Was it possible that she felt the same thing from me? I didn’t know. I shook my head, trying to get a hold of my senses. I turned to the bartender.

Page 24: I felt something sharp against my tongue and went to the mirror. Fangs had grown in place of my old K9 teeth. They amazed me. I could hardly contain the excitement that I felt. But then I stopped, wondering. Why was it excitement that I felt? Why wasn’t I afraid, scared by these changes? And then it came to me. It felt right; it felt like I was meant to be this. I was meant to be something more than human for the rest of my life, to die at the end of a pitiful struggle against the world and economy to “make it” in society. I’d just never known that there was another option than my previous life. I turned back to the bed and to Violet. I crawled into the bed with her and pulled her tight against my chest. I held her close through the daylight hours. The smell of her hair was in my nostrils as I laid my head on the pillow behind hers, close to hers. I squeezed tight and she squeezed my arms that she held to her chest.
“I love you, my Tristan.” she said.
“I love you.” I answered.
My mind was full of questions but I knew that they would have to wait until the next night. I closed my eyes and sleep took me. I dreamt of my Violet again that night, but it was a different sort of dream. No longer was she nearly a ghost on the fringes of my mind, toying. Now she was mine, my love.

page 33: We entered the restaurant and received curious looks from the patrons in the waiting area. We had requested a seat that was somewhat removed from the others and were, therefore, waiting for it to be cleared. There we could sit and talk without being overheard. We were sitting in the waiting area and a couple across the way, sitting on a bench on the opposite wall, likewise waiting for a table, had a small child sitting between them. The mother leaned in and whispered something to the child. I could not hear it, but I did hear it in her thoughts as she said it and I laughed. She had told the boy, who had been staring at me since I’d sat down “stranger danger”. I nearly laughed allowed, holding my hand to my lips to keep me from erupting in laughter. He quickly averted his eyes but could not help but glance back. When he did and I was sure that no one else, especially his parents, was looking, I smiled wide at him, exposing my fangs. His jaw dropped and he tugged on him father’s sleeve, whispering about me into his ear. I’d probably just given that child nightmares for years, I could hardly contain myself.
“That wasn’t nice.” said Violet, quietly.

Page 36: A soft “click” got both of our attention and we suddenly knew. We heard the thoughts of people below the hatch in the center of the roof. We had been so caught up with one another that we hadn’t noticed them in the shop below us. The hatch lifted and we didn’t move.
“Stay in the shadow here and they may never see us.” I heard Violet’s soft voice in my mind.
The hatch slammed to the gravel as it rounded on its hinges, a hand appearing in the hatchway. The hand was feminine and soon there was an attractive girl climbing out onto the roof. She seemed younger than I; I guessed that she was probably twenty before entering her mind and confirming it. Her name was Nicole though she was called Nikki. She stood up on the gravel roof, lowering a backpack from her shoulders and dropping it to the rooftop. She was about 5’6” and looked to be in the realm of 150 pounds, most of which appeared to be in her chest. She was wearing a tight, almost see through, white blouse top and a short skirt that was too short to really be considered a skirt. When she leaned over to look down into the shop a red thong was visible.
“Come on, Sean. Nobody ever comes up here and there’s no higher buildings around, no one will ever know.” she said, trying laboriously to make herself sound sexy.
I nearly laughed, but caught myself.
“I don’t know about this.” came an unsure voice from the ladder.
The owner of the voice came out onto the roof despite his protest. He sat back against the ledge on the side of the building.
“What if my girlfriend goes back to the hotel and I’m not there?” he said, stressed.
The man was in his thirties and I didn’t care to double check it. He looked to be six feet tall. He was slender and built like a boxer. That is, his muscles were highly toned, though not bulging. He was attractive on any account. He was also, obviously, a tourist. I could smell it on him. He likely hadn’t been in Sedona more than a day before this girl had gotten to him, the smell of the road still hung about him, that is, once one got passed the intense amount of cologne. I’d have sworn that he’d bathed in it.
“Don’t worry, hunny, she said that she’d be out all evening and you are “sick”. So she’s not going to want to catch it, she’ll probably be out far later than we are. Plus, if she does come back you could just say that you went for some medicine or something. The convenience store is open 24 hours.” she said, then, moving closer to him and running her hand on his thigh. “Don’t you think I’m worth a little risk?”
She went back to her bag and pulled out a big cushioned blanket and laid it out on the rooftop. I didn’t have to look into her mind to see that she’d done this before. She retrieved a bottle of vodka from the bag as well. I wondered how many men she’d brought into this little trap. She emptied the bag and set it on the ledge beside where Sean was sitting. She laid it sideways and the top fell open as the bag slumped down. Sean obviously thought nothing of it, rising to join Nikki on the blanket that she’d laid out. He took up the bottle of Vodka, removed the cap and drank deeply from it. Nikki was happy to see it, though she acted as though she were upset by it.
“Don’t you like me?” she said, pouting and moving closer to Sean.
“I just need something to calm me down, baby.” he said, trying to forget is responsibilities.
“I hope you don’t get too calm.” said Nikki, beginning to pull off her shirt.
She certainly had the body necessary to lure tourists. Her stomach, while not toned, was relatively flat. But, what likely caught the attention of the men that she went after, were her breasts. As she slipped her bra off and moved even closer to Sean, it was obvious that she’d had the desired effect. His eyes went wide and he pulled her to him. She pushed him down onto the blanket laying him down and telling him to get undressed. He did so with lightning speed as she removed her skirt and thong. She straddled him and he nearly passed out from his good fortune. He had obviously bought into the “sweet store clerk” routine. The went at it for the better part of two hours before she laid down against him, sweating, then rolled off to the side. Sean checked his watch and I actually heard his heart skip a beat.
“It’s two thirty in the morning!” he said, scrounging for his clothes in the darkness. “She’s probably been home for a half an hour.” he mumbled under his breath as he retrieved his belongings.
Nikki, on the other hand, remained where she was, lying on the blanket, breathing deeply and looking up at the sky. Sean dressed and looked back to her.
“Will I see you again? I’m in town for another three nights.” he asked.
“You will definitely be seeing me again.” pretending to be out of breath and taken by his sexual prowess. “You go ahead, I just need to lie here and recuperate for a little while longer. You know the way out, just be sure to go out through the alley entrance.”
Sean ducked down through the still opened hatch and disappeared from view. Nikki sat up, listening. For a moment I had thought that she might have heard my breathing, but when the alley door shut and I heard the running footsteps of Sean in the alley, Nikki stood and walked to her bag, not bothering to dress yet. She picked up her bag, reached inside and pulled out a tiny camcorder. She looked into the screen, her face illuminated slightly by it’s glow, and smiled.
“Gotcha!” her thought was strong enough that I’d heard it without listening. “I wonder how much I can get outta ya.” she mused.

Page 55:Before I knew it, I was nearing the Ohio boarder and a thought occurred to me; Shelly. I had the ability to help her and, with any luck, I could stay for a day before my final trek home. I remembered, all too clearly, the way to her house and pulled into the driveway at just after three in the morning, sunrise a comfortable two hours away. The cab of a semi truck was parked at the back of the driveway with Shelly’s car beside it. Semi trucks always looked ridiculous parked in residential areas. The truck cab was red with orange flame decal stickers on the sides and top of the hood. The front grill bore the silhouette of a reclining nude woman.
“Typical.” I said, under my breath, as I shut off my engine.
I walked to the front door and knocked, nothing. I rang the bell and knocked louder. I could hear cursing and yelling coming from inside. Something like “this better be important”. Again, typical. The door swung open and just inside, dressed in black boxers and a white t-shirt, gun clutched in his hand, was Tom. I smiled, knowing that he could not hurt me. He looked up at me and, for a moment, had no idea who I was. Soon, though, recognition spread across his face.
“What the hell are you doing here? You need a reminder, pal?” he exclaimed, raising the weapon and aiming it at my chest.
Just then Shelly appeared in the hallway behind Tom. She was shocked to see me and screamed something to Tom that was lost beneath his yelling for her to shut up.
“Get back to the bedroom, I’ll deal with you later!” he shouted to Shelly, my anger building.
I collected myself for a moment.
“Shelly, go on back to the bedroom, I’ll be there in a moment.” I said.
“Like hell you will!” roared Tom.
Shelly obeyed and disappeared down the hallway to the right. She was out of sight but I could still see her thoughts, she was sitting in the hallway, crying. Tom shoved me, hard, breaking me out of my thoughts. I stumbled back a few steps and he came out after me. He swung is right hand at my face and it appeared to me almost to be in slow motion as I watched it. I brought up my hand and caught it, giving nothing. The shock of the quick stop sprained his wrist and he yelped slightly with pain. My smile broadened, I was going to enjoy this. He brought up his gun hand, leveling it at my chest again.
“Get the hell out of here!” he bellowed.
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll blow a fuckin’ hole through ya.” he said, laughing.
“Alright, go ahead.”
That noticeably shook him. He had obviously never expected to use the gun that he waived around so liberally. I moved closer to him.
“You cannot comprehend the unbelievable finality of death, Tom. At least, that is, until you’ve killed. But if you believe yourself ready for such action, please, be my guest.”
I moved closer to him and pulled his gun to my chest. There was fear in his eyes. I wanted him to shoot me; I wanted to invoke terror in him before his end would come. I needed to egg him on.
“We haven’t got all night, Tom. Shelly’s eagerly awaiting her next beating!”
BOOM! The shot rang in the still night air as a red-hot bullet pierced through my stomach, exiting my back. I staggered backwards and lifted my shirt, the hole exposed and bleeding. Tom looked on, satisfied with himself. I watched his expression instead of the wound. I knew that the wound would shortly be closing itself; I wanted to see his face when it happened. I watch as the satisfaction was wiped from his face; replaced with confusion, curiosity, then, finally, fear. I glanced down at my stomach, the only sign of the bullet hole that had been there a moment before was a small trail of drying blood. I looked up and locked eyes with him. I advanced quicker than he could lift his arm for a second shot and immediately relieved him of his weapon.
“Wha… Wha..” he stammered.
“What am I? Is that what you’re stumbling on?” I mocked him in his terror, lifting him from the ground and pressing him against the wall of the house. His head smacked the wall hard and I allowed him to slide into a crumpled ball against the cinderblock.
“I am nothing, at least to you. To Shelly I am a guardian angel.” I told him.
I reached into my inside pocket, pulling wad of cash and a pen. I pulled out one of the bills and stuffed the rest inside. He looked on with curiosity.
“Do you want to die tonight?” I asked him flatly. Honestly, he had no choice, be he didn’t need to know that yet.
He shook his head, his eyes tearing.
“Good boy, take this pen and write down your bank account number on this bill.”
He did so, his hand shaking.
“How much do you have in there?”
“Um, twenty-six or, um, twenty-seven thousand?” he said, lying.
“Do you have life insurance?”
He nodded.
“And is Shelly your benefactor?”
Another nod, his eyes darting around.
“Time to make an accident.” I thought to myself.
I dragged Tom over to his semi and laid him on the gravel of the driveway, face down. I opened the door to the truck and climbed in. It was a full five minute of searching through the filthy cab before I found what I needed. I took the jack and lug-nut wrench from the cab and climbed down. Tom hadn’t gone anywhere; he lay in the gravel crying softly to himself. I placed the jack under the front, passenger side and cranked the arm. The jack rose, lifting that corner of the truck up and off the ground. I removed the wheel, exposing the rotor, and laid it aside. I went over to the sniffling form of Tom and picked him up. I bit into his neck, drawing only about a pint of blood from him, just enough to stave off the craving for another day. He needed his blood if this were going to pass for an accidental death. I laid his him under the rotor so that it lined up with his neck. He was only partially conscience now. I pressed the quick release on the jack and the truck slammed to the ground, severing Tom’s neck before coming to rest against the ground. I lifted the truck and pulled out the jack. I cranked it back to height that it had been before, took it in two hands and bent it. Then I slid it back under the truck, in precisely the same spot it had been. I looked at the lifeless form of the abusive Tom and grinned inwardly before heading back to the house.
“You are going to call the police in a few minutes. Here is what you are going to tell them.” I said to Shelly.
After killing Tom I had gotten on my motorcycle and sped off. I parked it in the parking lot of the grocery store that was a few miles away and ran back. I knocked on the door. A tentative Shelly opened it and let me in. I told her that he wouldn’t be bothering her again and that she would be ok. I took her outside and showed her what I’d done, explaining everything. She asked about the gunshot that she’d heard. “A miss” I’d told her. I showed her the account number and told her about the insurance money that would be coming her way. She was nearly hysterical when she’d seen him and she clung to me as though I were the last thread of sanity in a world gone upside down. How far from the truth she was. I took her inside to explain how it must happen for her to get the insurance.
“You tell them that he would work on the truck to cool off after you two have had a fight and that was what he was doing. You eventually went out to try to talk to him and found him like that.” I finished.
“I… I can’t, how will they..” she stammered.
“Shhhh, it’s going to be just fine, Shelly. Call the police, I’ll hide here for the day and see you tonight. The police will likely want to come in and look around. Do you have somewhere that I can hide?”
“The attic, I guess.” she said, shaking.
I pulled her to me and hugged her; trying to calm her.
“I’ll be in the attic then, the whole time, I’ll be here. Now, you go call the police and tell them what happened.”
She made the call then showed me to the attic. In the hallway outside her bedroom there was a hatchway in the ceiling, hardly noticeable unless you already knew that it was there. She reached up and pulled a string from the ceiling and a set of stairs unfolded.
“It’s unfinished. Just a bit of carpet in the middle.” she said.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine, now remember what I told you.”
“Had an argument, he went out to work on the truck like always, and that’s where I found him.”
“Good girl, I’ll see you tomorrow night. Don’t even elude to my presence before nightfall tomorrow, they might watch the house for a little while.” I said, knowing full well that they’d take the story at face value. The bruises on Shelly’s face would see to that.

Page 58: I finally shut off my engines outside my house and sat on the bike for a long while. I had no idea what I was going to do, how I was going to tell her, if I was going to tell her the truth. I just didn’t know, but it was going to happen in the next few hours, either way. On my way down the walkway I made up my mind. I put my key in the slot and unlocked the door. I opened it quietly and crossed the threshold. Amy was there, on the couch, asleep. The television was still on and it was apparent that she’d fallen asleep watching something. I turned off the television and a tear fell from my eye. I was surprised by it, even knowing what lay outside this place for me, I could not help but hurt for Amy. I did love her, I still do. But it was not to be, at least, not anymore. I turned to the couch and placed my hand on her shoulder.
“Amy, wake up.” I said, the tears welling behind my eyes.
“You’re home!” she exclaimed immediately, throwing her arms around me, hugging me tight.
“Yes.”
“I’ve missed you, Tristan.” She kissed me on the lips but drew away quickly. “You’re so cold.”
“Yes.” I said, unable to make much more come from my lips. My tears were flowing freely now.
“What’s wrong?”
I stood and backed away from her. I looked into her eyes and knew that she could see the glowing in mine. She stared, captivated, for nearly a minute. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, I just looked at her, sorrow filling my heart.
“What happened, Tristan?” she asked, obviously worried.
“I’ve changed, Amy.” I said, finally finding my voice. “I’m not the same Tristan. I don’t know how to explain it without frightening you.”
“Just tell me.” she said, taking my hand in hers. “I love you, I’m hear for you.”
“I think it may be easier if I show you.”
I went to the kitchen and retrieved a steak knife. I would show her the same way that I showed Connor. I went back into the living room and turned on the lights.
“I’m not human anymore, Amy.” I told her as calmly as I could.
“What do you mean?” she asked dismissively. “What are you doing with that?”
I placed my hand on the ground and thrust the knife into it. Amy screamed and tried to rush to my aid. I held her back with the hand that had held the knife. I lifted the other hand and showed it to her. She watched in terror as the wound closed and my heart broke seeing the expression with which she watched me. It was a combination of terror and disgust.
“I am a Vampire.” I said flatly.
I could feel her mentality breaking apart. She cried hysterically. She paced in the room. She questioned me about it. I relayed the entire story to her, not leaving anything out. Telling her even of Violet and the bond that we shared. She would stand and pace, then sit and wring her hands then stand again. I couldn’t calm her. Finally she came to me.
“Turn me, we can be together forever. It’s ok about Violet, I can forgive you, Tristan. I love you.” she begged. “I am nothing without you, I have nothing without you. I can’t live without you.”
I wept openly for her. I knew that what she said was true, at least in her mind. She would degrade to nothing if I left her. Especially if I left her like this. She pleaded and pleaded for me to turn her. Finally, hours later, I agreed. She came to me and exposed her neck, lying in my arms. I trembled with sorrow, my tears raining down on her face.
“Please.” she said one last time as I looked down at her.
“Ok, I have to remove your blood then feed you some of mine just after your heart stops. We’ll be together.” I said.
I bit into her neck and began to draw the blood from her. I was immediately immersed in her memories. All were of us, every memory. The two of us, young high school sweethearts, walked hand-in-hand through the halls. We were walking together on a beach. In the next we were at our wedding, her eyes locked with mine, a tear at the edge of her eye, happiness shining from her. More memories, all the same, happy, in love, passionate. It was killing me to watch but I felt that it would be an injustice to block them out. Her heartbeat was slowing and still the memories came, like red hot daggers. The guilt, the sadness, I have never felt anything like it since. Such pain.
Finally her heart stopped and I laid her gently back on the couch and stood. I meant to walk away but could not. I collapsed on top of her and wept aloud. I remained there for the next full day, crying when I could or just lying there against the couch, Amy in my arms, numb. Sleep never came to me that day, maybe it was punishment for my crimes and maybe it was just the guilt. I lay there holding her for a long time. She had loved me, more than anything she had loved me. And I had killed her for it. I tried to justify it to myself, thinking that she wouldn’t have made it without me, that she would have suffered throughout the rest of her life if I hadn’t done it. I knew it all to be true, but it did nothing to assuage the pain that ran through me. Night came and still I did not, could not move. I could not say how long I had stayed there. Time seemed to move without my noticing it. Days, nights, weeks, who knew.
It wasn’t until the thirst in me was able to overwhelm the sorrow that I finally stood from that position. The body of Amy lay on the couch, stinking and foul. I did the only thing that I could think to do. I went to the kitchen and turned on the burner, blowing out the flame. I walked out of the house somewhere around two in the morning. I took a deep breath of the night air and tried to clear my thoughts. I turned back and went back to the kitchen to light the adjacent burner. I knew what it would do to me, but somewhere, deep in my psyche, I wanted the pain that would follow. I wanted punished and the pain that would come after lighting the next burner would have to do, however brief it may be.
I turned the dial and a fireball filled the kitchen. I felt the skin of my face, chest, and arms melt immediately. I let out a terrible scream. Only it wasn’t a scream but a sound of pain and anguish and sorrow. I leapt from the kitchen window and put myself out in the damp grass. I turned to see the house begin to burn. I turned to leave and, even as I did so, my skin was quickly returning to normal. I looked back once more.
“Goodbye Amy, I love you.” I said allowed.
I turned my back on it and so turned my back on my mortal life. There was nothing of it left in me anymore and I became something all together different. It was time to begin anew. I started my bike and drove off.