The First Vampire

We were waiting for the last of them to arrive, the vampire nobles. Most of the lower vampires hadn’t even been invited here today, but they would hear the tales of what happened here today. Everyone wanted to know if the legends were true, if vampires could truly walk in the sun. Some of them had spent their entire lives searching for more power and others, like Alucard, had done so in futility.

No one here trusted me, a one-day-old vampire, telling them legends of infinite power. They were scarred, the alleged oldest one among them had fallen, and I was the last one to hear his tale. We had been waiting for this moment, the arrival of the now oldest vampire and new King, Lars.

“Lars! Excellent to see you, maybe you can scare these Romanian dogs into submission,” said a man, who I had been told was the Vampire Chancellor, a sort of liaison in this time of uncertainty.

“Damascenes, mustn’t let them push you around. These Romanians all think they’re Dracula.” Unlike the others he paid me a great deal of attention, albeit subtly, and the number of bodyguards that he traveled with was amazing for someone who claiming to be the strongest vampire alive. “No formalities. Convenient that you survived that attack that killed him.”

“He was already dying when he found me, in his weakened state not even my blood would save him. He gave me his own for memories and my transformation, but I have to save the details –”

“Just odd that we did not receive word of the story until after he died,” Lars said.

“From what he has told me, Alucard never planned on sharing this information with us. And perhaps had already attained it himself.” Damascenes explained, “I can’t say that I’m really surprised by it.”

Lars whispered, “Then how did they manage to kill him?” Perhaps they weren’t used to being around vampires all the time because the whispers were rather loud, or perhaps they were too arrogant and didn’t care.

Everyone began to move into the seated section. I had chosen this place, a deserted warehouse in the Midwest United States. It didn’t matter though, they would have traveled anywhere for Alucard’s funeral and for the chance to claim his throne, and tales of power were a bonus. As everyone moved to take their seats, Damascenes moved with me up to the podium, pointing out the vampires that he’d already introduced me too.

Lars was accompanied by his wife Maria, the 5’ 10” Queen of Africa, who by comparison was small in stature. I was told that she was a Vegetarian and relatively young as well, a combination of weakness and yet she controlled Africa. Lars genuinely loved her though, even more then he loved the power that she gave him.

Then there was Sebastian, the French king of Europe and Raul, the Mexican king of the Americas.

Damascenes shushed the crowd and started, “Esteemed family, we have been brought here by our departed, beloved Alucard. His ward here, whose name…what’s your name?”

“I’ve never had one.”
“A vampire name?”

“A name.”

“Well I won’t keep him from you any longer.”

Appearing nervous, I approach the podium, where they gave me attention befitting not that of an equal but of a superior, and time would tell. I began, “When Alucard came to me he was dying. He said that three men had jumped him as he was passionately feeding on a baby; the taste of such young blood was the best last meal he could have had. He gave me no details of the men as he quickly turned me and imparted the details of the story. As I’ve experience, it would be faster to share this to all of you through blood…one of the few ins and outs of being a vampire that I have first hand experience of…but it is important for everyone to learn at the same time,” I could tell that some of them were growing impatient, they didn’t want to hear about me but they had no choice. At this point, if one of them tried to feed on me, it was likely that the entire room would attack him.

“You’ve all heard stories about day walkers, vampires who fly, whose power appears to mimic gods…and of those who seek to destroy you, us. Alucard told me that the first vampire, is also who we call ‘The Light Bringer’.” The range of reactions was dynamic; it appeared as if some had never even heard that name before. “And today, I offer stories into the background of who The Light Bringer really is…his origin, his trials, and where he may be today. I don’t know why we call him The Light Bringer, perhaps it is because he has killed so many of us or perhaps it is because he received his powers directly from the Prince of the Morningstar…Lucifer.”

Before the war in Heaven had even begun, Lucifer was cast out; his refusal to bow to man had caused this exile. Yusef was a farmer and took pride in his work, an appreciation for how things work and the natural order were things he understood. Life, death, the perpetual circle seemed so beautiful to him. Lucifer fell from Heaven to Earth; the first Demon was also an Angel, and being so close yet so far from God’s love caused Lucifer physical pain. Unable to move, he remained trapped in Yusef’s fields, his body exuding famine and destroying the crops. The townspeople felt the effects instantaneously, malice filled their hearts, they became warlike, and were drawn to him. The townspeople came to Yusef and tried to attack him, to burn his crops, and to kill him, but Yusef was selfless and offered himself up to God and to Lucifer and asked for a way to save his people. God did not respond, while Lucifer said ‘Bite me’. With little hesitation Yusef bite down into Lucifer’s neck and no sooner had he done so, then a hole had opened from Hell and swallowed the Devil, saving the world. In that same instant, Yusef was blown backwards with burns all over his body; burns that began to heal right away. Yusef absorbed the Angelic nature that had been in Lucifer and trapped him in this world, and by splitting Lucifer’s opposing halves he had also saved the Earth.

“There are no words to describe what Yusef had become…the Bible calls the children of Angels and humans the Nephilim, but where those are few he is but one. Yusef became the Light Bringer, the first vampire, but while vampires are Demons he is an Angel. The villagers that he had lived with rejected him, and his young love Rebecca married another. Embracing his still half human side, he made it his goal to protect humanity not from themselves but from supernatural and other worldly threats.”

My audience seemed entranced; they knew that the Devil and demons existed, so Angels could too. “How we came about is unknown to me because Alucard said that Yusef never bite anyone or caused them to turn even though he really is the first, so I apologize for being slightly deceptive. Even though he may have been the first leech, he was not the first vampire…but that doesn’t mean we should forget about him.” Searching through the room none of them were yet alarmed and I didn’t have many details left to tell them.

Today things are very different for vampires. Blood banks make things easier, and a much larger and denser population makes things seductively complicated. The Dark Ages were great times for vampires; the population was much lower and a lot stupider. Nobody seemed to notice when somebody else went missing, and nobody talked to each other…but he ended that. He brought light to the Dark Ages; a pillar of balance and order, he stopped Dracula and ended his empire. And following that, he sought to tip the balance in man’s favor, and so Yusef became Joseph and worked with Leonardo da Vinci. Together they made medical and cultural discoveries that would bring mankind forward and make up for the vampire inspired Dark Ages. And through this he and Leonardo worked together…killing vampires…most notably Machiavelli, but who amongst you knew that Leonardo was a vampire? One who still lives and works to better mankind to this very day…

“Indeed many of man’s best inventor’s have been, before their discoveries or converted afterwards into, vampires. There is nothing that they do, that we cannot control…but some, like Leonardo who like to reminisce and support their human lineage are ruining it for the rest of us.” I had to finish my story before most of them caught up. My tone becoming increasingly stern and preachy, “And I will not regale you of the adventures of Leonardo and Joseph, but I will tell you that they did not kill many vampires. Joseph was actually quite compassionate and only ever acted defensively, just as he did when he saved the world by allowing the Devil passage into Hell. He was a great man, err…being, who was alive up until three days ago. Three days ago, in the dead of night, there was a rap against his door…”

It was a normal night, nothing out of the ordinary except for a late night visitor. Joseph had just finished making love to his wife Rebecca, who was the first woman he had loved in a very long time, when they heard a knock at the door. They hurried downstairs and found a broken and battered man at the door. They aided him through the doorway –

At that exact moment, I felt Lars’ sword clash against my neck. Instantly it broke and the pieces flew past me. One piece bounced off of my neck and impaled a younger vampire in his seat. I paused a moment and responded sternly, “I will finish my story.”

Upon being taken inside and granted permission, the vampire Alucard no longer acted weak. He quickly through Joseph against the wall, knocking him unconscious, and began to feast on his wife. He took his time bleeding her dry and then turned on Joseph to do the same. It was over before it had even really begun and Alucard fled into the night. Joseph and Rebecca lay dead on the floor and their less then a day old baby dead, but ready to born.

Lars had finally heard enough and was ready to make his second move, his sword already in pieces he rushed me and grabbed my face. The vampires cheered him on and began to scream but stopped when almost instantaneously he burst into flames when coming into contact with my skin. A lull fell over the crowd once again, I hadn’t known what to expect but rather enjoyed this showing of my powers.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that Angels pass on their powers to their children, and lose their own in the process. My parents conceived me 3 nights ago, I was born 3 days ago, and 2 days ago I killed Alucard. He wasn’t jumped by anyone, I challenged him and it wasn’t even close. And yes I did enjoy myself and did it rather slowly; being honest, I don’t know what I’m going to do with the rest of you yet. Vampires, the lowest of Demons…basically dogs. You sneak around in the darkness waiting for the kind, stupid humans to offer themselves to you, practically babying you. I can’t kill you all, I mean I can, but out of fairness I won’t. My father’s rebirth was a necessity for humanity’s salvation, whereas I’m more of a justice guy. I’ll only kill whoever of you can’t adapt to our new rules. Effective immediately, all of you are now vegetarian vampires. You won’t be feeding on humans, deer, dogs, or even rodents. You won’t be feeding on human blood from banks either. You’re gonna starve yourselves for a few weeks, I haven’t decided how long yet, and then some ‘divine intervention’ is gonna to lead to a synthesizable blood substitute. This way there won’t always be a blood shortage for people and you guys won’t have to feed on anyone. I do not anticipate any objections, but before I open the floor to questions I plan on feeding on a few of the older ones here…you know, just to shake up the hierarchy.”

Prologue

This was never what Sam wanted. Isolated, alone, and waiting Sam knew what had to be done. Everyone waits for the future to arrive, but when it does it’s never enough and there’s always more to be desired. People dream about days with hover cars, world peace, and no poverty. Stuff like that doesn’t magically happen, not overnight at least. Improved farming techniques and future technologies make resources infinite while famine, hunger, and money become things of the past. A country was always defined by its quality of life and the size of its army, but now that’s meaningless. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king and, in a world with everything, man wants for nothing.

Outside of the apartment, it’s quiet. The streets are empty. The world doesn’t exist anymore. Established Institutions? Religion? Religion is the cause and the solution. Evolution has proven that religion is pointless. Man has achieved all that is to be desired, so what more can be promised to man? God? Men are gods. The future? The future is eternal.

Sam knew what had to be done, but that meant nothing. Knowing and believing, knowing and doing, knowing and not doing are all the same. Not that it really matters, had anyone known then we still would have been powerless to stop it. Armageddon. Perhaps the worst part is that what happened, happened slowly. Slowly and inevitably, the world changed. Slowly and inevitably, people gave in. And all it took was 9 months.

Samantha Salvator grew up like any child of the 1980s. Her days filled with cartoons and toys, Big Wheels and Little People, great music, and futuristic movies. Her father, an insurance adjustor, was obsessed with anything new. Gadgets, laser discs, compact discs, camcorders, computers, and the Internet were all shiny new toys to play with. These play toys that would usher in a new era for mankind surrounded Samantha like a fort. Samantha’s mother was a homemaker; she had no ambition, no goals love was her only value. Some might have said that she was the perfect woman. Growing up in a suburban area was easy, filled with play dates and baseball games. Forced interactions through social gatherings that reinforced the social contract that Locke and Rousseau had so carefully laid out.

Man is inherently good, hardly. Man is inherently evil and only does good because society dictates it. Well…What if Society didn’t dictate it? What if there was no Society, only survivors? What if man were to release his inner beast? Ragnarok had finally come and no one had thought to stop it; in fact, most people welcomed the technological revolution with open arms, rejoicing in their loss of self and acceptance of sloth. Man would be judged and found wanting.

This was never what Sam wanted. As she sat there looking out the window, it was raining. She looked into each raindrop, reflecting the light from the neon signs. The advertisements were everywhere but they meant nothing now; the lights are always on in a city that never sleeps. Rain used to be refreshing¾cleansing, if only another flood had come, but it had to be fire this time. The streets are empty. As Sam motionlessly stares out the window she recalls it all horrifically. The day she had meet Peter and how on that day the only thing she could think about was how perfect her life was going to be. Peter was beautiful and made her feel complete; young and in love was all that the two of them could ask for. What a dream come true it was for two people traveling to the big city for the first time, meeting, and falling in love. But everything feels like a dream until it becomes a nightmare.

Peter was 20, Sam was 18, and they were happy. Their parents said they were too young and that they would just be another divorce statistic but they were married nonetheless. Their love had already given them so much and was going to give them all that they would ever need. Pregnancy seemed futile as if by Divine Mandate. Remembering back to that day, sitting in the doctor’s office on that cold table her feet having just come out of the stirrups, Sam was more nervous then she had ever been in her entire life. This was academic more then anything else because Peter had already gone to see his urologist. His sperm count was near perfect, but they had no motility, so at least if she was fine then they could still try artificial insemination, in vitro…something. Watching the clock hands move didn’t help at all what were really minutes felt like days to her. The anticipation was antagonizing and then all of a sudden she had her answer. No, no she would never be able to have children. She not only had a T-shaped uterus but her eggs were useless. In an instant, what once was an endless love became pure hatred.

And then she was pregnant, she had everything she ever wanted, and all it took was a word. Neither of them was scientifically able to have children; now it seemed inevitable and that’s why Peter left. No one except for Sam knew the truth. No one except for Sam had made the bargain. No one except for Sam would be left after all was said and done. All would be made to pay. Samantha Salvator was the one woman who could have stopped it. Technology, detachment, it all helped…it wasn’t like the old days where they performed Exorcisms and people actually believed in voodoo and hocus-pocus. Some would say that Gods are vain and need man to worship them, that the source of their power is their vanity. If that had been the case, then everything would have been fine, only the problem is that if no one believes in something it doesn’t make it not false…it just makes it more dangerous. This was never what Samantha had wanted, but the pact she made had been honored.

Maybe if Sam was stronger this could have been avoided. If man were more resolved this could have been prevented. If God’s Grace was infinite it wouldn’t have mattered. But Samantha had chosen this for man and all it took was one “Yes.”