Fan Fiction ❯ The vampire's Tale ❯ The vampire's Tale ( Chapter 1 )

The Vampire's Tale

My name is Madeline, I am a vampire, this may sound unbelievable, and I don't honestly expect you to believe me. I can only tell you how it is for me. Who I am, and where I've been. It will be hard to except it at first; that there are creatures such as me that roam the streets, right under your nose and you don't even realize. But don't be angry, I am only a child you know. I was "turned" at an early age. I was only 10 years of age, but I was not turned 10 this year, or last year, or a century before. As of today, I am a 200-year-old vampire, and today is my birthday. The gift I am receiving is your attention so that I may tell you the story of my life. I know you want to hear it; you cannot deny it. I have caught your attention, but don't be embarrassed; I have many interesting things to tell you, so listen to my tale closely, and understand the life of a vampire.

To start my story, I must take you back 200 years, to the cold January of 1802; I lived with my father, 4 brothers and 8 sisters in a little cottage in a village just 20 miles from Paris, France. You can imagine the lack of space we had. We were not wealthy, quite the contrary; we had almost no money. My mother had died from the plague 1 year ago, and my father was always in grief. Most of the time he would stay out until 2:00 in the morning, and when he came home, he was drunk on ale from the tavern just up the road. As for my brothers and sisters, they were all older than I; but not as smart, for they could not read nor write. Only I was taut these things. My mother favored me, she taught me the alphabet when I was 6, and how to read when I was 7; I was a very quick learner.

But back to my story, I had a bright future ahead of me, and it was my mother's dream for me to be a writer in Paris, or poet, or even a playwright for the famous theatres where the actors were dressed in brilliant clothes with jewels and gold laced about their dresses or cloaks, I wanted to see the performers so bad it ached. My brothers were all strong men, hunters and horseback riders, we did have one black mare, the only animal we could afford, and even then the stable cost usually took all of our pocket change. My brothers were like a pack of wolves when they hunted, one would sight for wild animals, one would listen for the flapping of wings, and one would examine the tracks of deer, and so on. A job for each; and when these men went hunting in their pack, they never came back home empty handed.

As for my sisters, they were all sewers and cooks, despite their lack of knowledge; they sold tainted dresses in the streets, or served pots and pots of home made stew to the lords of the plantations just east of our village. We managed to get by with the money we often possessed. As for my father; my alcoholic father who would wake me at the crack of dawn to buy him more wine from the tavern, or fetch him his breakfast and mail. Everyday was always the same in our household; it always has been since mother died. I often longed to go to Paris, that unknown city so close, and yet so very far away for a child of merely 10 years of age. Often at night, if there were no clouds in the sky, and the stars shown bright enough, I could barely see the lights of Paris, the towers and opera houses, and sometimes even the theatres. It was a beauty I'd never known since my mother's death.

But the real day of importance in my story was the day that I met a man just outside the tavern at 4:00 in the morning, while I was fetched off to buy more white wine. He was extremely tall, his long black cape almost touched the ground, and I could see the tip of a fine silver sword, latched to a buckle around his waist. His black velvet shirt lurked just above his knees, and his black leather breeches held tightly to his legs. His black buckskin boots tapped against the stone sidewalk as he exited the door of the tavern, this was no ordinary man, I thought. Because of his height, and the dimness of the lamps, I could not get a good glimpse of his face, but I did however, see the length of his long auburn colored hair that slightly stroked my face as he passed me quickly, his hair blew in the wind, and his cape sailed, he almost looked angelic, if it weren't for his black mysteriousness.

When he passed me, I was sure he hadn't seen me, but when I turned to see where he was going, I saw a faint flicker of his eyes glaring at me as he walked away in the candle light; I was certain that they looked violet, and perhaps with a tint of green streaks, but I reassured myself that I was merely tired from being unnaturally roused, although I was quite used to it. I continued on with my business, wishing it were dawn so that I may have seen where the stranger had gone.

I told my oldest sister Gabriella, about the mysterious man that I saw, and she told me about a dream that she had that night; "A frightening dream at that." She said "You were walking down a dark ally alone, and it was just passed sundown. You were being followed, a man, much like the one you described was following you, watching your every move. When you turned around to see who it was, the man picked you up in his cold, dead white hands, and sunk his long teeth into your neck. He was a vampire, a vampire Madeline!" She shouted.

This dream terrified me; I began to have second thoughts about who I saw in that alleyway. You may be saying why should you have been frightened by a dream your sister had? It was only a dream. To be honest, my sister is known for her physic abilities. She can foresee things in her dreams, it was sometimes as small as what a man she saw in the street was wearing, to how many animals my brothers brought back from the hunt, and very few times she foresaw death. I was not about to take any chances. I had a bad feeling about if and when this would occur, I often did take a walk through the allies at night just after sundown to gaze upon the stars and the lights of Paris; and though I was a little jumpy, I was not about to stop taking my walks.

It was at least three days later before I convinced myself that tonight, of all nights, is the perfect time to look at the stars, and though I had to creep out of the house at 6:30 pm at night, Gabriella guarding the door; I still managed to climb out of my window and take my walk towards the woods to examine the lights and stars.

T'was then that I realized I was holding my breath walking down the dark ally. "Mon Dieu! Do I really believe such nonsense?! Get a hold of yourself Madeline!" I asked myself, in complete disbelief of anything my sister had said.

I was so distracted of my thinking that I did not realize the footsteps I herd behind me. Though I started to walk a little faster, I could still hear them right behind. They were peculiar footsteps that had a sense of rhythm to them; and an inhuman nature. Had I not heard my sister's dream, I would have never thought twice, but now that I was warned, I turned quickly to see who was behind me making such rhythms with their feet, and when the swift stranger leapt towards me, I felt the wind pass me, and the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. Within seconds, I was engulfed in the cold, dead white hands my sister had told me about.

Now that I could see the light from the candle shine in his face, I could see all of his facial features, and I went dead still and silent when I saw his skull-white face, his violet eyes and long auburn hair pulled away from his face, but what startled me the most was the long, white bat-like fangs that showed just under his pale, cold lips. I began to quiver at this demon-like man whom I was warned to be a vampire. Only when I heard his voice did I realize how incredibly strong he was, and as I glanced down to see his arms tight around my waist, I was astounded to see that I was at least 6 feet off the ground! "Please…" I whispered, gazing into those beautiful, yet evil violet eyes of his.

He smiled at me, and holding me with one arm, began to stroke my face with his free hand, his fingernails were long and sharp, and his hands felt like ice, but the most frightening thing was his gentleness with each touch. "So soft… so innocent… so young. Such a pity this is. I was expecting to have someone of great strength for my companion, and it is forbidden to make one so young. ..."

He said, never taking his eyes off me.

"Yet I sense such power in you. You would be perfect, what a waste it would be just to kill you…" He smirked at me, his face very affectionate and tender, yet his pale snake-like skin made me shiver just as much.

He cocked his head to one side as if to consider something, then in one foul swoop of his arms, he sank his fangs into my neck. I cannot describe what I felt as he began to suck the very life force from me. You would think that it would be painful, sting, or I, a child of so young, would cry terribly. But to be honest with you, it was delightful! As I felt I was floating amidst the very clouds in the sky, a warm sensation flowing through me, and the only sound I heard were to large drums, one faster than the other, but only slightly. I prayed for it to slow down, so that I may hear the rhythm of the two beating so delicately together. And when I felt my body grow limp, I realized that the drums were no instruments, they were the vampire's heartbeat and mine! Beating in complete rhythm with each other, and oh, how I loved it so. I didn't want it to stop, I felt such rapture, and nearly wept when I was pulled away from him.

In that sudden moment, my senses and the scenery around me came back to me, my eyes began to focus, and I felt my life slipping away, I felt so tired. "Now my dear, tell me what holds you to life, what you have to live for." The vampire whispered in my ear, I could smell and see the blood on his fangs, my blood.

"…I want… to se Paris." I managed to whisper out, "and to see…the stars every night." I could feel his breath on my neck, and I also realized that his skin was beginning to turn from white to a sort of pink-color, and his hands were much warmer than before.

He smiled sweetly to me, and kissed my cheek with his now red-toned lips, they were very warm and soft. "Then you shall have that my child, my sweet, sweet Madeline; but tell me, if I give you this one gift, will you promise to stay with me forever?"

"..Yes"

"Good girl" he said, and raised his right arm up to his mouth, I saw him slash at his vein in his wrist with his left fang, and turned over his wrist so that the blood dripped onto my lips. I could feel the warm drops on my tongue, and could taste the sweetness of the blood, sweeter than sugar and candy. Before I knew what I was doing, I had a hold of his wrist and was sucking furiously at the wound; I couldn't get enough of his sweet blood.

It felt like eternity before I finally let go, my whole body throbbed, and it seemed that the vampire was in pain as well. We both crashed to the ground from his weakness, and could no longer float in the air. He held me tightly in his arms, laughing it seemed, and reassuring me that only my body was dying, and as soon as it was over, I would be immortal, and I would be able to go to Paris.

He carried me out of that dark alleyway, I was still in shock, and felt sick to my stomach. What frightened me though was seeing my skin turn to such a white tone, that it looked like I had powdered my whole body recklessly. I began to feel a throbbing pain in my upper jaw, and within seconds, I felt two sharp needle-like fangs draw blood from my lower lip. I started shouting frantically; the process of "turning" traumatized me.

The vampire covered his hand over my mouth, and I noticed that the wound on his wrist was completely gone, and his hands no longer felt cold, "Shhh chérie, the pain will cease soon enough; and when it does, you will be immortal." He reassured me, as he lifted me with him amount his solid black mare, still stroking his white hands through my shoulder-length curls of gold-colored hair.

Once I had the strength to open my eyes and move, we were already at our destination, and I didn't know the way back home. He hopped off of his black stallion, and carried me in his arms into a large tower; the only building for miles. I already missed home.

The building was an incredible and enormous tower that stands straight up, as if reaching for the Heavens and I would have believed this were a holy place, but with my new vampire senses, I could smell death; this tower was reaching for Heaven, yet still trapped in Hell. I was now able to walk, and as I looked around the courtyard, I was terrified, I didn't even know this man's name, and already I was his. He seemed to understand my thoughts, and he held me close to his body. "My name is Nicholas. And this is the only home I have, so bare with it. I promise you will become accustomed to the smell and look of everything soon enough."

I was astounded by how much my senses have increased, I could see the veins of the leaves from 20 feet away, the ripples of the water in a puddle on the other side of the tower, I could smell the horrifying stench of decaying flesh from inside the tower, it made my eyes water and made me nauseous. I could also hear the flapping wings of bats from the tip of the tower, and the foot taps of the rats that infest the dungeon bellow the earth. I was astounded of my new senses, but I wondered if this was the price of my death at such an early age.

We descended many flights of stairs, as he showed me rat-infested rooms, disguised with furniture at least 100-200 years old. He showed me the balcony he had in back, where I had a beautiful view of Paris, and then he showed me the cellar. "Listen to me my daughter, you will not be able to sleep in a normal bed in a normal room; you must sleep in a coffin from now on." I was confused with what he was trying to explain to me. "You cannot go out into the sunlight anymore. Lest you burn to a cinder; you sleep during the day, and feed at night."

"Feed?" I asked "On blood? On human blood?!" I shouted now, hearing my echo pass all the way to the top of the tower.

Nicholas gave me a cold look, and then sighed nodding his head. "Yes." He said, "We must feed on human blood, and only at night, for when the wrath of the Sun God touches your skin, you will turn to ash." He looked down to his boots, as if trying not to make contact with my eyes; I could tell he felt sad. How alone he must have been, so desperate to seek company from a 10 year old girl, yet still I hated him for condemning me to this state of being, and at the same time, I felt an unnatural love for him; my new father; my maker of this new life.

I was ashamed of the love I felt for him, I should by all means hate him. He stole me from my family in the dead of night, he condemns me to eternity to stay with him, and he would not even wait for me to age older, so that I would not feel ashamed loving a man twice the age of myself. I couldn't stand feeling this sort of love for him, "I hate you." I finally said, I was surprised at the coldness of my voice, the inhuman tone.

"I know Madeline, but you will in time understand why I have given you the Dark Gift; until then, I accept your judgment." He looked so innocent, so beautiful, and yet so evil, what a marvelous man.

"A dark angel fallen from God's grace." I said to him, as my eyes filled with tears, the tears stained my cheek, for they were bloody tears! "I love you, yet I hate you. My father; my brother in arms. Tell me, why did you do this to me!?"

Nicholas knelt on one knee and embraced me in a crushing hug, one that would surely shatter the spine of a mortal. "Madeline, my beloved, you I chose because of your inner beauty, your innocence. I need someone like you to purify my soul, to help me." His grip got tighter, "please Madeline, stay with me, and teach me how to gain God's grace?"

When I saw the bloody tears in his eyes, I know that I would love him forever, and that the hatred I have for him will completely fade away. Oh, God how I wished I were the proper age to feel such emotions, I desperately hugged him back.

Nicholas showed me to his coffin, a rectangular-shaped box lined with violet satin and a small pillow at the top. I quivered at this casket, I didn't want anything to do with it, and that was when I realized that there was only one. "Where's mine?" I asked, after examining the size, I realized this was made for an adult.

"You will sleep with me until we buy you one, now come. It is almost dawn." He held out his arms as if to embrace me once again.

I reluctantly accepted, and allowed my self to lay in the sarcophagus on top on his chest, and only when he shut the lid did I realize how exhausted I was, and I found that to be odd, for it was after 4:00 am and I was used to being up this late. Before I could give it another thought, I fell paralyzed in a dream-like state and was sound asleep.

I was shocked when I realized that I had dreamed that night, or I should say day. But I wasn't so shocked when I new it was a nightmare, I often had nightmares when I slept, I guess being undead wouldn't change it either. My dreams were often the same though. The moonlit night, my house engulfed in flames, with my father, my brothers and sisters trapped inside. Only this time, the dream changed a little, I saw a little more of it, now this time I saw myself in the dream, I was of course, horrified by what had happened. I also heard laughter coming from behind me, two other vampires were holding me back from entering the house, but they were no friends. They wore pitch-black clothing, one a woman with a black-laced dress, and the man with a black leather shirt and black leather pants, a black coat over his shoulders. They were both laughing, and stroking my hair, and then I saw someone else, Nicholas. He was crying, the bloody tears streaming down his face like water. He kept shouting something, and he was trying to reach for me, but he too had four vampires holding him back, but I could almost feel his fingertips on my face as he tried his hardest to reach for me, the flames burning at his back from the house, the villagers fleeing from the streets. Then I woke up.

Nicholas was already awake, and I was alone I in the coffin. I just laid there for a minute, looking around the shape and design of it, feeling the satin lining, and smelling the fragrance of lavender that filled the tower, totally eliminating the smell of rotting flesh and swamp that wasn't far away. I sighed for a moment, then figured it would be best to get up, after all, Nicholas may think I was dead. Ha, what a joke. I reached up for the lid of the coffin, when I touched it I knew the thing must weigh at least 200 pounds, and I was reluctant to even try to push it, but when I gave it a slight little push, with my child arms, the lid moved slightly. It was extremely heavy! I gave it another push, putting more effort, and believing I really could move it, and before long, it was open enough to where I could slither out.

I noticed it was dark when I looked out the window. The moon was full tonight, and bright. The stars were the only light in the room, and it filled me with a luminous glow. Looking down at my white hands I was amazed when I noticed that I almost looked like I was glowing, like I was transparent, and the moon was shinning through. I could have starred at my hands for hours, but then something shook my body, made me shiver and feel dry. I was thirsty, very thirsty.

"You need blood." A voice said from the shadows of the room, hidden in the corner, all I could see were the eyes, but the voice I recognized.

"I don't want it. I don't want to kill anyone." I answered, standing from the cold floor I sat on in front of the coffin and approaching the man in the shadows, "Why do I have to drink blood? Can't I eat regular food?" I asked.

He let out a silent laugh and shook his head, "No ma chère. We no longer eat human food. We eat only blood, and when you refuse to drink it, you will shrivel up like a corpse and you will be incredibly weak." He stood from the corner and came into the moonlight towards me, smiling that devilish, yet sweet smile of his. "Come chérie, the night is young. Let us find some blood and quench our thirst."

Nicholas put one arm around me and led me to the door, I reluctantly allowed him to lead me. I could see that in his other arm was a bouquet of violet flowers; they were giving off the sweet smell. He must have noticed that the tower was unbearable, and ravaged my senses. How sweet of him, he was a nice devil wasn't he? He led me all the way up the spiral stairs, I could hear and smell the rats that climbed to the side, their fowl stench, and their little foot steps that scurried past us, but what I could sense the most was their blood, I could smell it as well as taste it in my mouth without it even leaving their bodies. I was attracted to them like a magnet, Nicholas had to grip his hold on me from keeping me from kneeling down and picking them up. I was getting thirstier, and I wanted their blood, even though they were rats. Eventually he lead me to his black stallion, it was a beautiful horse, and also tamed, it waited all day for us under the same tree, feeding off the grass that was around it, and drinking from the puddles of water from the rain that fell earlier in the morning.

When we mounted the horse, Nicholas told me that we were going into Paris, and we would have some fun. I knew what he meant, but I just wanted to go into Paris, the fact that we would be hunting didn't even cross my mind. As we got closer, I could see the bright lights clearer now, and oh how they were beautiful! The theatres were as beautiful as I had imagined them, the houses were as huge as I could have imagined them, and I new we were very close, I could smell the blood, human blood.

As we entered the streets, he halted his horse and jumped off. He walked it to a stable boy and handed him several gold coins. I jumped off as he motioned me to. The ground was hard beneath my feet, the smell of humans filled my nostrils, and the lights dazzled my eyes. Everywhere I looked there was a mortal man or woman, laughing, walking, or drinking. It was like a giant festival. Nicholas laughed when he saw me mesmerized by the scenery. He put one arm around me again and said, "Come chérie, let's explore the city."

I suppose I had nodded to him, because he laughed again and led me through the streets, "Hide your skin, and bow your head. You must not let them know what you are; it will frighten them, and cause a commotion. In other words, act normal."

I obeyed what Nicholas was telling me, but I couldn't help but keep my head up, I looked at the face of every mortal that passed me, and every shop and tavern we passed, I even looked at every peasant that performed on the side of the street, playing the violin for silver to buy food with, or performing tricks for money to spend at the nearest tavern. I loved Paris the moment I saw it. That was when I realized the thirst again. Nicholas stopped for some reason, and I looked up at him to see what he was looking at. He looked down at me and smiled, he pointed her finger at a man talking to a woman, an ugly man he was, he had a neglected face, and then I noticed it, he had a knife in his back pocket, he was leading the drunken woman to a dark alley, he would surely kill her.

I looked back up at Nicholas with wide eyes, and he nodded. "Come." He said, and took my hand as we followed the man and the drunken woman.

Just as we entered the alley, the woman screamed, it seems that the man had pulled the knife on her and had cut her chest, blood was pouring over her breasts, and her dress was falling off. He covered her mouth and then looked up. That was when he noticed us. How unusual we must have seemed; a young man and his daughter together in a dark alley watching a man trying to kill a woman. It must have been, because then he let go of the woman and charged at Nicholas. I backed out of the way, scared. Nicholas only smiled, and in a blinding move he was behind the man. I had seen what he did, he simply turned out of the man's way, his cape flared behind him in the wind, and he was standing right behind the man. But I also saw how quick it was. Too quick for the mortal man to have even seen him turn for a second. Wow, I though, how incredible! In another flow swoop, Nicholas had the man in his arms, and sank his two fangs into the man's neck, the blood poured over his clothes like wine from a bottle. This dazzled me. It was so easy! Just turn and bite; like putting the food to your mouth, only the food was a human being.

I soon became aware of the woman, I turned to see that she was speechless; she was watching Nicholas feed on the man, and she was frightened. I turned again to him to see what I should do. He simply nodded to me, reading my thought, I'm sure. I turned and ran after the woman; she had got up and was running through the alley to the streets. I caught her within seconds. It seemed I had flew through the air like a bird, because she came plummeting to the ground, my teeth in her neck before she had a chance to scream. My speed was amazing, and it seemed Nicholas was amazed by it too, for when I looked up from my meal, he was smiling. Again I tasted the sweet elixir from before. The hot blood that filled my mouth and in each gulp, made my white skin turn tan, my eyes turn purple almost, and my cold face and arms feel warm. I didn't want it to stop, but I knew she was dying, I felt her heart slow and slow and slow, and her body had already gone limp. Nicholas grabbed my arm and pulled me back lightly. He smiled sweetly, "That's enough Madeline; you can't continue to drink once the heart stops, lest the death drag you down with it."

I looked up at him confusedly, and then back down at the now dead woman. I was fascinated by how much my body had changed, my hair seemed more shiny and soft, my skin was full of color and warmth, my eyes had so much life to them. I felt like I could do anything! In fact, I jumped up and started dancing! Dancing right there in the alley, two dead corpse beside me, and my vampire father in front of me, smiling. I twirled and twirled, and twirled. I kept twirling until I looked like a top to mortals; but there weren't any mortals near, so I twirled some more. And when I stopped, I realized that my dress wasn't flying in the wind like in the ballrooms, it was ragged and dull. I looked back up to Nicholas who was still smiling. "I see," He said "You want new garments. Very well, we will find someone to make you beautiful dresses, fitting and proper enough for a Paris beauty." He held out his hand for me to come with him.