The Darker Path-Part One Hi kids. Zack here, author of "A Model Romance". Since I haven't been able to write for the last few weeks, I'm just busting with the desire to write more, and one story can't contain it. For all those reading "model romance", I want you to know that I have no intention of ending that story any time soon. Actually this story stems from the same beginning as "model". If you've read that one, some of this will probably sound familiar. I see this as kind of an alternate story line, based on the same beginning (hence the title). For that reason I'll only refer briefly to the background for this story. If anyone is really interested I suggest going back and reading the prologue for "Model Romance." I will warn you that this story isn't going to happy, upbeat or funny. This story is the product of me being depressed, miserable, and alone. My life has been really shitty lately and that is reflected in this story. Also, I'd like to say that I've never tried to write a story like this before, so e-mail me and let me know if it sucks. Blending a horror story with romance is not a new idea, but I think I've got an interesting take on it.
Disclaimer
This story is not meant to imply anything about the sexual preferences of any of the celebrity characters that appear in it. It is a work of fiction and should be viewed as such. If you shouldn't read this then don't.
Part One- The Awakening
It was raining so hard that the yellow lines on the dark road were little more than a blur. My wipers were going full blast but they didn't seem to do any good; there was just too much rain. To either side the landscape rushed by, the dim silhouettes of tress and bushes hardly distinguishable from the night. There were no streetlights on this road. No other cars either. The only illumination was from my headlights, and those did little to pierce the gloom. It was as if the beams were consumed by the darkness only a few feet in front of my car. I knew I was driving too fast and that I should slow down before I wrecked the car, but I didn't really care. I wanted to drive fast, and the rain wasn't going to stop me. The rain. It wasn't enough that everything had gone wrong in my life the past couple of months, or that I was having one of the worst days in a period of bad days, but it had to be raining too. I hate rain. It is inconvenient and messy. But a little rain wasn't going to stop me from driving. Driving is a form of therapy as far as I'm concerned. And therapy was just what I needed. Ever since April I had been depressed, and it was reflected in everything I did. It was finally summer, but that didn't make things any better. Sure I had finished my freshman year of college, but my grades had suffered horribly under the despair I felt. Despair, that was a good word for it. That was what had been nagging me for three months now. Ever since I realized that I hated my life back in April.
I couldn't say exactly when it started. I just stopped caring about school, I didn't like where my life was going, and I didn't know what to do about it. That was of course on top of the realization I was gay. Oh I remember that day too well! It was that damned Justin Timberlake. I was watching MTV minding my own business and then there he was. I'd seen him in NSYNC videos before, but I never paid any attention. But that day something was different. When I saw him something inside me cried out. I have never been one to believe in love at first sight. As a matter of fact I've never been in love and I've certainly never obsessed over someone I've never met. To say I was disturbed by this new twist in my life was a massive understatement. I grew even more depressed and more dissatisfied with my life. To combat this I decided to change the way I did everything. I bought new clothes in bright colors and bleached my hair. I changed my tastes in music from the depressing alternative and long dead rock and roll to more upbeat pop. (I can't claim that that choice had nothing to do with Justin.) For a while I even entertained the laughable idea of going to New York to become a model. But though outwardly I appeared brighter and more full of life, inside I was even more unhappy.
I tried to pretend like things were fine, and I think I fooled almost everyone at first. My parents were a little suspicious but for the most part I put on a pretty convincing act. I managed to alienate most of my close friends though because I couldn't keep up the act. I just grew more and more distant from them until I hardly talked to any of them anymore. Oh I still went out and tried to have a good time, but I was mostly hanging out with random people. That was fine because random people don't ask many questions and they can't tell the difference between someone who is having fun and someone who is just pretending.
My attention was drawn back to the present by a large bump in the road. It was still raining. If anything it was raining harder. I sighed. That would be the icing on the cake if I wrecked my car. After everything else that would be just perfect. What was it about today though? It had been raining and I'd had a long day at work, but things weren't any worse than was usual for me. Something was not right though. There was a sense of wrongness about the night. It was almost as if...
Once again I was pulled from my inner thoughts. This time it was a deer in the middle of the road. I slammed on the brakes, recognizing immediately that that would not be enough to avoid the animal. I was still traveling well over the speed limit when I jerked the wheel and threw the car into a skid. I swerved around the deer, missing it by little more than a foot. I tried to regain control of the car but it was too late. My poor little Acura, normally so poised and balanced spun like a top on the slick, dark road. At the last moment I realized that I was spinning right off the into the trees. I had time for a brief prayer and a vague feeling of regret before the car came to a jolting halt. My head smacked into the steering wheel and the darkness closed in around me.
* * * * *
Consciousness came back to me slowly, like drops of water that fill a bowl over time. I blinked my eyes and saw only the blackness of the sky. For a moment I thought I had gone blind, but then the shades of night separated themselves into distinguishable hues of gray. I was lying on my back in a field, the wet grass tickling the back of my neck and soaking through my clothes. It was no longer raining but the clouds still hung low and threatening overhead. I replayed the events leading up to the crash in my head over and over. I could not remember getting out of the car. Painfully I sat up. I saw the road about twenty yards away and off to the side was my car. It had smashed into a large oak tree almost head on. The front end was crumpled up and the tires were bent at unnatural angles. I felt a wave of regret and sorrow rushing through me, but it quickly hardened into anger.
"Just perfect," I mumbled to myself. "As if things weren't bad enough before, now there's this." I felt rage overwhelming me. Rage directed at myself and at the world. "What the hell did I do wrong," I screamed at the night. And the night answered.
"Nothing. The fault is not yours. It is simply fate. Nothing can escape fate."
My rage was so great the I only felt the barest tingle of fear at the unexpected voice. I whirled around and came face to face with a man. It may not have been the night itself talking to me, but surely here was its living embodiment. The man was tall, at least 6'5", which made him half a foot taller than me. There was no sense of bulkiness or clumsiness that I sometimes felt around very tall people. The man was of average build and when he came forward he moved with a grace that made his size seem proper. His skin was pale and was marked by no blemish. His hair was as black as pitch and would have fallen to his shoulders if it had not been tied back. His eyes were nearly as dark as his hair and seemed to absorb what little light there was rather than reflect it. There was something familiar about his face. He was dressed in a black suit of a very fine cut and wore a long black overcoat. Though it had been raining all day and there was no sign of any house or other car the man did not have a drop of water on him. Even the tall wet grass seemed not to touch him. If I didn't know better I would have thought the blades almost bent out of his way.
"Who are you," I asked shakily. Now that I'd had a moment to collect my thoughts the fear was seeping into me, pushing the rage out.
"Do you not know?"
"I...I don't know you."
"Are you sure."
"Yes. No, I mean, you do look familiar, but..."
"You do know me. You simply do not remember me. And I know you. I understand you."
"I don't know you. And no one understands me."
"So you think. But I can prove you wrong if you would care to listen."
"I don't really have time..."
"On the contrary," he interrupted, "you have more time than you think. Now be silent and listen. You were born nineteen years ago in the mountains West of here. Your parents named you Zachary Eric Peterman."
I listened with growing awe and horror as he unfolded the events of my life before me. He knew ever detail, even the things that I have never told anyone. He knew everything. It was impossible.
"And lately you have been feeling intensely dissatisfied with your life and the world. You feel removed from your family and friends. The heat has been particularly bothersome for you this year, though it has been no hotter than usual. Tonight you were out driving because you are fed up with life. You have felt a sense of foreboding and expectancy. As if something were poised to happen. Well now it has. Your life as you have known it the past nineteen years is over."
As he finished the sentence I jumped up and prepared to run. There was no way he could know so much. And what did he mean my life was over? I had to get away, but something kept me from running.
"There is no point in running," he said, as if reading my mind. "I can find you wherever you go. You can not hide from fate. Perhaps you would like to know why I know you so well? The answer is simple. I have been watching you, waiting for you to be ready. And now at last you are."
"Ready for what?"
"For the truth. About who you are, and why you are the way you are."
"And what is the truth?"
"You are my son and because of that you are unique in this world."
"Your son!" I shouted incredulously. "That's crazy. I've lived with my mother and father all my life. They are my parents, and if you think I'm going to believe some psycho in a field over them then you're even crazier than I thought!"
"Oh they never knew. And you are half right. You have been living with your mother. But nineteen years ago I came to her and you were conceived."
"Now I know you're crazy! My mother loves my father and she wouldn't..."
"Do you really think she knew? I can make myself appear as I wish. I can alter the way others perceive me."
And before my eyes his features blurred. His became shorter and with gray hair. When his face reformed I was staring at my father.
"Th...that's not possible. How did you..."
Just as quickly he was back to his original self.
"You see appearances can be deceiving. That is an ancient saying, and it was I who inspired it. Me and others like me."
"What are you," I said in a voice no louder than a whisper.
He smiled and I saw gleaming white teeth. Perfect teeth. Except for one thing. The canines were too long. And sharp, they were very very sharp. I took a shaky step back and then another before I tripped and fell.
"You can't be," I whispered. "There's no such thing as a...a...vampire."
"Vampire," he said with disgust. The word sounded like a curse. "Vampire is a term for a common creature who fears sunlight and is repelled by crosses and garlic. It is a creation of Hollywood and writers who borrow from ancient legends because they can't create their own stories. I am far older than those fools. I am older than the word itself. I have traveled all over the world and every culture has a name for me. In Russia I am called Uppyr, in India I am Kali, in China I am Chiang-Shih, in Africa they call me Obayifo. In the West I go by many names, but above all others is that which was given to me in the beginning: Nosferatu."
"This can't be happening. Whatever you want to call yourself, you can't be real. I hit my head on the car and I must be hallucinating." The words sounded empty even to my own ears. He can change shapes, he's got fangs, and he knows everything about me.
"You require further proof of who I am? You will find it inside yourself. You have the chance to rise above your menial life. You know you are unhappy, even at the best of times. You always wish for something better. Well here it is if you want it. I offer you a life of wealth and power. Even if you care not for those things, although I know you do, I offer you more. I offer you life beyond the span of mortal years. For nearly three thousand years I have walked among humans. Often alone, sometimes in the company of others. I was watching when Caesar was betrayed. When the plague swept through Europe I smelled the stench of death in the streets. When Timbuktu was lost, when the last dynasty fell, when Hitler invaded Poland and when Kennedy was shot, I was there. I was there too when Arthur ruled with a just hand, when Michaelangelo sculpted the David and when Ghandi freed India. Through it all I have watched, and I will continue to watch and wait in the shadows. For a time at least."
"But what if I don't want to be a vamp...Nosferatu?"
"Nothing. You can go try to dig your cell phone out of your car and explain your little accident to your... parents. The you can go on living your mundane little life until you find peace or die from want of something better."
"And if I do decide to be Nosferatu?"
He smiled. "Then you can not imagine the life that awaits you."
"Right. Well maybe you could tell me a little more about that life before I sign up?"
"Very well. I knew you would not be easy to convince. You are after all half human. First I must explain what you are, or rather what you can become. You see you are the offspring of a human and Nosferatu, what you might call a...vampire lord. Such a think has never been. There have been minglings of the lesser bloods before. Incubus and succubus sometimes mate with humans. Their offspring are mostly human, but tend to posses a few traits of the Kin."
"The Kin?"
"The Kin is our term for what we are. Those creatures which humans broadly refer to as vampires. The highest of the Kin are the Nosferatu, the High Blood. There are very few of us left now, but that will change. Now as I was saying, you are unique. At the moment you are almost completely human. You posses a few traits of the Nosferatu, such as a dislike of bright light and heat, a need for space, and a sense of aloofness from others. If you decide to take the path set in front of you, you will develop more characteristics of the High Blood. Your features will change, making you more attractive for the most part; your senses will improve, as will your speed, strength, and agility. That sense of aloofness will develop into complete confidence. You will be able to influence people to do what you wish. Humans will be automatically attracted to you, and you will be able to seduce nearly anyone you wish. You have nothing to fear from garlic or crosses. Only the weakest of the Kin have ever been vulnerable to that nonsense. You will also extend your life span greatly. How much you change depends on you. It depends on how often you feed."
"Feed? You mean drink...blood."
"Yes. Since you are half human you will have the advantage of choosing how often you feed. I must drink the blood of mortals to sustain me. For you, he smiled, it will be like vampire fuel. The more blood you drink, the more like the Nosferatu you will become. In time, if you feed often enough you will almost totally lose your human traits. But you will always hold on to several advantages."
"Like what?"
"I think I mentioned earlier that you don't like bright light. Well I despise it. Especially sunlight. Oh it wont kill me, but it makes me weak. I lose the best part of my natural abilities in the sunlight. It will not be so for you. You will never enjoy bright light, and your eyes may get more sensitive with time, but it will not cause you nearly as much trouble as it does for me. Some of the Kin can not go out into the sunlight at all. The second advantage I have already mentioned. You do not have to drink mortal blood to survive. You have no idea how lucky you are. There have been times in history when even Nosferatu have been forced to drink the blood of animals, simply to survive. Other advantages you will discover for yourself. I think that is enough for now.
"What do I have to do if I chose...this?"
"Simply come with me. You will feed with me tonight and that will be enough. The you can go out into the world and do as you wish. You will never have to work or do anything you don't want to. The wealth I have amassed over three thousand years will be at your disposal. You could travel the world, you would have friends wherever you go. The Kin will recognize you and welcome you on sight. And you will be drawn to them. You will be able to sense any member of the Kin from a distance."
"I don't know what to say. I need time to think about this. I...you said I can do whatever I want? Go wherever I want? And I don't have to drink anymore blood than I want to?"
"That is correct."
"But there must be a catch."
A look of irritation or perhaps anger crossed his face. "You are still so human. You are my son, and I am offering you the world. What more do you want?"
"I just don't know. It sounds so wonderful, but I...it's wrong."
This time anger definitely marred his face. "What is wrong with it? It is simply different. Are humans so perfect? They destroy their environment and murder each other for no reason. If there is a flaw here it is in humanity."
"Well that's true, but couldn't I get in trouble? What if I get caught?"
"Then I will be there to help you. Or others will. You can banish your fears of a stake being driven through your heart if that is what worries you. You would be suprised by how much humans overlook what they do not want to believe."
"But..."
"Enough. I could stand here all night and debate with you. The choice is yours. Go back to your wretched miserable human existence, or come with me and live the life you've always dreamed. I've told you you can have everything you want. Money, power, houses, cars, women, men, whatever you want!" He smiled again and looked at me. "Perhaps you would like to be backstage at the NSYNC concert in a few weeks? I think you would find your talents useful there. Did I not say you could have anyone you want?"
Justin. How many times had I dreamed of him? And now I could have him. Not only that but I could forget all my troubles. It wouldn't matter if I screwed up in college. Or that I wrecked my car. I could have everything I wanted. Maybe I could find happiness. But at what price? My humanity? Was that such a bad thing to be rid of? And if I could be with Justin... "You...you make a very convincing argument. After tonight, whatever happens I can do what I want right? I can go back to my life if I want."
"Of course. You don't need to sever your ties with your old life. After tonight, you are free to do as you please. Now, will you come with me and see what awaits you?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. I will arrange to have your car removed. You can buy a new one as soon as you wish. Now come with me."
Without another word he turned and began walking back towards the road. Waiting there was a black Mercedes S-500. The windows were tinted so darkly that they were almost opaque. The car itself seemed to blend into the night. I followed the man inside, when something occurred to me.
"You know I just realized, I still don't know your name."
"Is father not good enough? Very well. I have had many names over the year, but those who know me call me Regan."
The car glided smoothly away from the field. I hadn't even noticed the driver until after we were moving. He was clad in all black, with pale skin, like Regan's. He nodded when Regan told him to head for the city but he never said a word.
"Where are we going anyway."
"First we will stop by my apartment so that you can change your clothes. Then we will go out," he paused and a look of amusement came across his face, "and get something to eat."
Something to eat. This is real. He is going to kill someone and drink their blood and I'm going to do it too. I swallowed trying to ignore thoughts of imprisonment not to mention murder.
"How long will this take," I asked glancing at my watch. "I mean it's already getting pretty late and..." I looked at my watch again. It couldn't have been any earlier than 9:30 when I wrecked my car. And I must have been talking with Regan for over an hour. But according to my watch it was only 9:45. I checked to make sure it wasn't broken, but the second hand still moved with a steady tick tick. Regan simply smiled and reclined in the seat. Silence engulfed the car as it slid through the night.
* * * * *
Regan's apartment was in the best part of town in one of the most expensive buildings in the city. It was large and extremely well furnished. I was only a little shocked when Regan handed me a suit to put on. It fit perfectly, right down to the length of the pants. It was a black suit, high cut and very well made. Under it I wore a red silk shirt. I wondered at how Regan knew what size clothes I wore, but after everything else it seemed a minor thing.
We left his apartment and walked to a restaurant around the corner. It was one of the best Italian restaurants in the city and no one got in without reservations. But we did. They staff seemed to know Regan, though they called him Mr. Slake. Both during the short walk and in the restaurant people stared at us. Or rather at Regan. If they saw me looking they pretended they were doing something else, but I could feel their eyes on us. During dinner Regan leaned over to me.
"Have you noticed those two women behind you? They've be looking at us since we sat down. I think they will do for this evening."
I tried to glance over my shoulder as casually as possible. I saw the girls he was talking about. They were beautiful.
"Them? But they're so...I mean do we have to..."
"What's wrong? Would you prefer a man," he said mockingly.
"No. It's not that. I just sort of thought that we'd...well I don't know they're so pretty. I would want to hurt them."
"Hurt them? Oh don't worry boy pain is the last thing they will feel. You don't seem to understand. There is no need to kill anyone. You simply chose a different victim each time. In the morning they remember nothing, and the scars heal so quickly that they are seldom even noticed."
"We don't have to kill them," I said with a sigh of relief. "Well that makes things a lot easier."
Regan laughed. He settled the bill and walked over to the table the two women were at. He said something to them and they laughed. He gestured to me and they looked over and smiled. Half an hour later the blonde haired one was sucking my dick on Regan's couch.
She was good, there was no denying that. I hadn't had much experience in the blow job department but I recognized talent when I saw it. What am I supposed to do? I had asked Regan on the way back. Just relax and follow your instincts was his reply. With that thought in mind I came in her mouth. She moved back up my naked body and tried to kiss me. I turned my head aside and kissed her neck. Her neck. I could feel the blood pulsing in her veins. My mouth watered at the thought of it. Slowly I moved to kiss her again, but this time I sank my teeth into her neck. As my teeth pushed into her skin she gave a small grunt and then I felt the warmth of her blood in my mouth. It was like the nectar of the gods. I drank deeply of her and the whole time she was moaning in pleasure and grinding herself into me. Finally I released her and she sank back onto the couch with a sigh. She seemed to be sleeping. I could feel her blood within me. I could feel the power it gave me. I looked back at the woman in disgust. I don't even know her name and I don't care. I walked into the guest bedroom and looked in the mirror. Blood stained the skin around my mouth. My lips were redder than usual and my eyes were bright. I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes with a contented sigh. Sleep was long in coming, but I felt better than I had in a long time.
* * * * *
So that's part one. I know it's dark but that's the mood I'm in. I don't know if they're are any vampires experts among those of you reading this, but if there are, I'd like to apologize. I don't know jack about vampires and most of this stuff is probably wrong, but hey, it's my story! I'd like to thank the web site Pathway To Darkness because what little information is accurate came from them. I'm very interested to know what people think of this story, so please drop me an e-mail at zack02cool@hotmail.com.