The vampires lair

The dirty rainwater dripped down the side of the crumbling castle wall and gave off a pungent smell of damp. I stepped with much care very slowly descending the spiral staircase. The descent was tedious but I could not risk slipping because the fall would cause tremendous pain and almost certain death. Relief swept over me as I reached the cellar floor, I was safe for now!

I held the candle above my head to try to make out my surroundings but its tiny flicker could not compete with its vastness. I had a reason to be down here and no harm would come to me if I stuck to what I had to do. It wasn’t wise to venture these cellars alone after all the tales of murders and evil spirits but I did not believe in that nonsense so believed no harm would befall me. Stories have been told of numerous ghosts and blood sucking creatures haunting these deserted cellars but all figments of silly boy’s imagination nothing that could harm me or cause me any real pain.

The fluttering of wings. It was only a bat, its black slim line body hidden within the darkness. Thoughts of spirits, vampires and all things evil ran through my head, I would drive myself insane thinking like this! All the monsters from every horror story and of every kind were creeping up on me, their putrid hands reaching for me making my skin crawl. I calmed myself, I had far to go, I could not carry on this way.

The monsters seemed to vanish as if driven away by my presence. I advanced more confident with each stride, I had nothing to fear! I was here to collect a chest left here many centuries ago by my great great grandmother. The chest was said to hold great jewels and riches but people had been too scared to retrieve it after my great great grandmothers death which happened right here in these desolate cellars.

She had been a great woman and admired by many but also hated for her strong opinions and above all people were jealous of her beauty. It had been a night very like this one she had ventured into these cellars alone when she was brutally murdered. No one ever knew exactly how she had been killed some stories say it to be the work of a vampire others say it was an act of jealousy.

I had had many a nightmare about what lurked in these cellars. It was a maze of many dark twisting tunnels, anything could be hidden within its depths. But I had put my fears aside and wished to disprove the legends and retrieve the chest. I reached a fork within the tunnel and turned to the left, I was following specific instructions written down within the diary of my great great grandmother.

The hours trudged by, the cellar was still as damp and dark as ever and the candle was slowly melting into a pile of wax. I felt as if something was watching me, it made shivers run down my spine. Suddenly a strange sensation held my body; it was like no other I had experienced except from on those nights I would dream about vampires lurking in these cellars waiting for me. It was the sensation of immortal terror. I could not pretend anymore I was no longer alone.

“At last you come” a velvet note carried from within the darkness. The voice struck chill in me, it spoke with such softness such like that of silk, the voice was unnerving but at the same time enchanting. I could not turn to run I was frozen to the spot fear had immobilised me.

A torch was lighted and the monster stepped out from within the darkness revealing himself. His appearance was hypnotic, his skin deathly pale and his cheekbones were highly defined which caused his features to have an almost feministic air to them. He held beauty neither man nor women could possibly possess .His soft black hair framed his face contrasting beautifully with his pale skin. He wore a black cape which blew softly behind him despite that the fact that there was no breeze in the dark cellars. All his clothing was dark colour including the leather gloves he wore covering his bony hands.

It was not just his appearance which held me captivated it was his eyes! They were somewhat lifeless the only colour they held was a pale shade of green. when I looked into those vampiric eyes I saw nothing like glass balls holding no meaning, they were cold and heartless like the vampire himself! Yet when I looked deep into those eyes I seemed to be hypnotised by a sense of loneliness and longing, his eyes blocked out the world as if he was unable to bare its cruelness.

The vampire stepped forward once again and gestured for me to take a seat. I fumbled through the darkness until I found something that resembled a chair, its surface was damp but never the less I seated myself upon it all the while never releasing my gaze from the vampire. I possessed no power over my body, in my heart I was screaming, screaming with uncontrollable terror to run, to get away from this horrid place but my body would not allow me to.

Was the vampire keeping me under a spell pinning me to this spot or was it my own doing, my own curiosity keeping me here? Maybe it was my terror that held me but whatever the reason I felt compelled to stay. My thoughts turned back to my childhood back to all those nights I would dream of vampires lurking in these very cellars waiting for me. So my fears had not been irrational as so many people had told me, vampires really did exist!

“I won’t harm you as long as you do as I wish” the vampire explained softly mimicking human sympathy.

“Like you did my great great grandmother” I screamed, it all made sense now he had killed her. I had to know the truth, I deserved to know! And I was beyond sense now, I was in hysterics.

The vampire observed me with intrigue. He showed no anger or surprise as if he had expected me to scream that. The vampire then calmly without breaking my gaze seated himself upon a chair like object he drew from within the darkness.

The screeching of a bat drew my attention away from the vampire, the screech echoing around the room bouncing off the many damp walls, it came from one of the many archways leading off from the large octagonal room in which I sat, where the archways lead I did not know but I presumed they lead to more dark twisting tunnels. The bat circled past the damp brick walls before it flew to the ceiling, the dim light did not allow me to see the true height of the ceiling but I could tell it was great.

Green moss covered the brick walls, feeding on the moisture which dripped down from whatever lay above. The room was of large volume but contained very little and the only light was from a few flickering torches, no sunlight could reach its unholy depths. There was little sound, only the dripping of rainwater and the scrambling of the bats broke the haunting silence. I could feel my heart beating hard within my chest circulating sweet blood into my veins.

The vampire advanced upon me, I was in awe of him as he held me tight and whispered upon my ear “do you think of me as evil?” I was surprised at his voice, there was a hint of sadness and self pity within it which I did not expect from this cold heartless monster.

My opinion on him suddenly changed. he was not the heartless monster I thought he was ,he suffered and loved like any other human, he felt the same as you and I, he was lonely I realised, stuck down here in these dark damp cellars for what might have been centuries. All fear of him vanished. I knew now what he wanted of me he did not need ask.

I spoke with such softness, such seductively these words I state here, a way in which I had never spoken before “I do not think of you as evil, I think of you like me with mortal fears and desires. I think of you as a lonely creature who just wants someone to love you. Make me into one such as yourself, so strong and powerful, then you may live out your immortal life with me”

I wanted so badly to be like him, to possess the powers he did, to be able to control anyone. I did not care for him, all I desired from him was his power and his immortality.

The vampire stepped away from me, surprised at what I had just suggested. Any normal mortal would die rather than become like him like so many people had including my great great grandmother who had died so as to not become a monster like him. I felt as if I was betraying her for wanting this. I was greedy, evil, a monster! I craved the power which only he could give me.

“Very well” the vampire spoke very little but in his words were power. “I will transform you as long as you promise to abide by me and never adventure into sunlight or do true evil.

“I promise” I whispered softly upon his ear slightly confused by his words. I was desperate for him to transform me, I knew I would not keep this promise but he did not see through my lie.

The vampire knelt down beside me and gently tilted my head to the side revealing my neck. the vampire hesitated as if unsure of if this was what he really wanted but then banished his doubts and bit deeply down into the my fragile neck. The pain was unbearable as his jagged white teeth pierced my skin and began to drain the blood from my pulsing veins.

A veil of blackness fell over me as I slipped in and out of consciousness no longer feeling any pain or thoughts. My body grew weaker with every second and my skin began to pale. The vampire suddenly withdrew causing the pain to come crashing back to me, he rested my head upon his own neck and urged me to bite into his stone like skin.

I did as he wished me to and began to drink his stale vampiric blood. His blood was cold in my mouth and filled me with pain as it began to circulate around my body and attack my human cells. I pulled away as the pain became too much and fell writhing on the floor whilst the vampiric cells killed my human ones transforming me into an immortal being. All energy had been drained from my weak body so I blacked out after a few more minutes.

I awoke three days later only just recovered from the transformation. My surroundings had not changed but to me they felt alien. The walls seemed to loom above me, my hearing was more acute than any animals and my sight allowed me to pick up even the slightest detail, my sense of smell had also improved greatly making the smell of the damp overwhelming. My attention was then drawn to a dark corner in which the vampire sat patiently waiting for me.

I went to him, his appearance no longer held me captivated, I was immune to his spell. I could have run from him then but I feared for my life as I did not know my true abilities or restraints. I felt a sudden burning hunger for blood, warm thick sweet blood.

“Come now, its time to feed” the vampire called to me gesturing for me to follow him down one of the many dark echoing tunnels. For the first time the vampire held conversation, he explained to me then about life as a vampire; we had many weaknesses and many strengths, he then explained to me then about my great great grandmothers chest, it didn’t really exist it was just a lure to make people enter these cellars in search of it, I felt betrayed but detached my feelings as I felt they no longer mattered. The more he talked the more I realised there was more to him than his empty eyes told. He never revealed his past, it was too painful for him to go into but he told me many things of times past, of their fashions and hobbies never referring to personal experiences just generalising everything.

Years past and I felt now felt as if I belonged to this life yet I could never get off my mind the fact that I didn’t truly love him as he wished I would and the longer I spent with him the more I noticed his strange distant behaviour. At first I thought it was just a vampires way to be distant, he did show love to me at first and looked after me but then it was if he couldn’t bare to look at me, as if I reminded him of someone else who had caused him great grief. Years passed with him, I tried to show him love but he responded less and less with each day. I knew now that he was dying, decaying inside from all the grief he had suffered in his long lonely life. You may think that vampires never die, they never die as long as they want to live and I could see that he no longer took joy in usual pleasures, he was dead inside and his body was deteriorating with him.

Three years I lived like this knowing that soon he would leave me. He fled from me during the day when he knew I would not venture after him trying to save him from himself, his skin was instantly incinerated as he stepped into the sunlight, a horrible death for a vampire and a coward’s one but I don’t think that mattered to him, all that mattered was for the pain to stop. I understood why he did it I just wished that he had not done it, because of his actions I have to live a warped lonely life, with only the wretched bats for company, stuck down here in these deserted cellars always waiting. Waiting for the next victims to arrive.