The Donor House: John: First Feed
Posted, with others, in return for the posting of a poem by Elizabeth Barrette.
“I don’t want to do this,” John said, his voice little more than a whisper, as he looked at the unconcious girl his creator had dragged into their shared room.
“If you don’t then you’ll die, but it won’t be a quick death. Not feeding will mean that your body will shut down slowly, one part at a time, and you will die in agony.” His creator smiled nastily. “Is that really what you want?”
John looked at the vampire, wishing that he was still at home. “No, but…”
“There are no buts. You have two choices: live or die. Pick one.”
“Why me?”
“I’ve always wondered what an Indian would taste like and you’re just too pretty to leave dead.” The vampire gently stroked a couple of strands of hair off John’s face, which made him shudder. “If you eat your dinner like a good boy I might tell you my name.”
John looked at the girl again, wondering where she had come from. He was hungry but he didn’t want to cause some other family the loss that his own family was dealing with. Biting hard on his lip, almost so hard that he pushed his new fangs through his bottom lip, he pushed the thought of his family to the back of his mind.
“The sooner you eat the better, John. If you get too hungry then you’ll be much more likely to kill the human you’re feeding from. I like to keep myself hidden and I can’t do that if you end up killing someone.”
“What’s it like?”
The vampire stared at John. “Just eat.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Haven’t you… no, of course you haven’t.” Sighing, the vampire leant against the wall. “Folklore says that vampires bite the neck, but personally I wouldn’t suggest it. You’ll probably just end up killing the human and even if you don’t then it’s pretty obvious to anyone what’s happened. Safer places are the inside of the wrist or the elbow, because it’s much easier to disguise.”
Breathing deeply, John lifted the arm of the unconcious girl, trying not to think about what he was doing. He looked down at the girl’s wrist and immediately saw a blue vein… artery… whatever it was… going down her arm. Hunger warred with disgust as he tried to force himself to bite her. Finally he dropped the arm, knowing that he couldn’t do it.
“Come on, John.”
John shook his head, stepping away from the girl. “I can’t.”
“It’s exactly the same as eating a raw steak.”
“The buffalo isn’t alive when you’re eating it.”
“Look, taking a little blood isn’t going to do any damage. It will soon be replaced.”
“What happens if some other vampire takes blood from her?”
“If it happened, which is very unlikely, then there is a slight possibility, depending on when the second bite happens, that she might become addicted to being bitten. Most humans don’t become addicted after just two bites, but some people are more likely to become addicted than others.”
“Humans can become addicted to being bitten?”
“Yes, John, and vampires can become addicted to a specific human’s blood too. That’s even less likely than someone becoming addicted to being bitten though.”
“I…” John shook his head. “Did you choose to become a vampire?”
The vampire raised an eyebrow. “No, and you’re very unlikely to find one that did choose this life because very few vampires will bother to ask a human before they change them. My creator didn’t ask me.”
“So picking someone at random is just a very bad habit that’s been passed through the generations?”
“That’s one way of looking at it.”
“How many children do you have?”
“Seven, and none of the others asked as many questions as you are right now.” The vampire looked at John. “Are you going to eat?”
John shook his head. Rolling his eyes the vampire stepped towards the girl, lifted her arm and bit into her wrist before offering it to John. All he could do was stare at it as it welled up, hunger warring with disgust once more. The smell of the blood was weirdly tempting, which didn’t help with either feeling. He felt even more disgusted with himself for finding the smell of someone’s blood tempting and because it made him hungrier. Eventually, hating himself for doing it, he pressed his lips to the blood that had begun to slowly trickle down her arm.
“Finally,” the vampire muttered, as John took hold of the girl’s arm. “Don’t drink too much, John. About six mouthfuls is enough as long as you make sure that you eat regularly.”
John nodded. He wasn’t sure he could stop at six mouthfuls because the blood didn’t taste of copper as he’d expected. It tasted of apples, which was unexpected and very weird, but it helped. The taste made it seem like he was drinking warm apple juice rather than blood.
“Stop now,” the vampire said, “you’ve had enough.”
It took John longer than he would like but he did manage to let go of the girl’s arm. He could still smell the blood, so he had to step away from her in case he did something stupid. The vampire looked at him and John thought it was possible to see a flicker of sympathy within his eyes.
“You did well. It’s not every vampire who has the will power to stop, especially when it’s the first feed.” The vampire smiled. “I think you’re going to be a good vampire.”
John didn’t smile back. “Are you going to tell me your name?”
“I’ve had a lot of names though the years. Some names I chose because I felt it was time to be someone else and other times I had to change it in order to keep myself safe. Every one of my children has been given a different name for me, so you won’t be able to find any of your siblings by asking if they know me by the name I have given you. You may call me Pádriac.”
Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.