I jolted upright, gasping for breath like I'd been drowning in my sleep
My shirt clung to my skin, soaked through with sweat, and the apartment around me, normally dim and lifeless, felt blinding under the pale dawn reflecting through the curtains.
I blinked fast, expecting the velvet walls and candlelight to still be there, but all I saw was the familiar cracked ceiling above me and the pile of unopened bills stacked on my kitchen counter.
Reality hit like a slap across the face.
I was back.
Back in my shithole of an apartment. Back in the real world. And yet, somehow, nothing felt real anymore.
I looked down at my hand.
The ring was still there.
Same dull silver, and classy look.
I reached out to touch it, again, just to check it wasn't going to vanish like the rest of that dream, that memory, that... whatever the hell it was.
It didn't.
Yet again I tried to pull it off but it remained fix on my finger.
I sighed as I gave up, my hands landing back on the bed till I felt something smooth, and crumbly.
I looked down, and my eyes open up in surprise.
"You've gotta be kidding me…
I whispered in utter shock, it was the same paper with the lottery draw numbers that were supposed to play tonight.
"... Wasn't this is my dream... How did it get here?"
I asked, trying hard to deny the reality of my situation.
But no matter how many times I blinked or rubbed my face, the paper remained exactly as is, with the same handwriting and style when I was speaking with Traumerei.
My body still trembled faintly, residual adrenaline from a dream that felt more vivid than any day I had ever lived.
And Traumerei herself…
I wasn't sure what unnerved me more. The fact that I had just been talking to a literal vampire founder with the ability to see the future, or the fact that I am now believing every damn word she said.
What is even more surprising is the fact that if this was here, her explanation about my lineage must also be real
Descendant of Cain.
A Founding Vampire in the making.
Chosen by a cursed ring that grants wishes.
"Holy shit."
I said in pure disbelief and shock.
I scrubbed my face with both hands and let out a long, exhausted groan right after.
"Okay."
I muttered to no one in particular.
"This is fine... Totally fine. Just casually processing the fact that I am, or currently am changing into a vampire now."
I staggered to my feet.
Legs shaky, throat dry, stomach growling.
The smell of stale instant noodles hit me, and I moved by instinct to the sink to splash cold water on my face. The mirror above it was cracked down the middle, it had been that way for months, but it still showed me a reflection I didn't recognize anymore.
Same scruffy wild hair, same tired eyes, and sadly I was still fat as fuck.
However their was one change, my eyes were glowing, the color of cold as they were also nocturnal like snake with a dragon like slit for a pupil.
I also noticed I could see better as well, as thing that were faraway is shown to as if up close.
"Wow, this... This is awesome."
I said as I began to dry off my face with the ragged towel hanging off a pipe, then turned back to the ring.
I stared at it.
Hard, the vampire part I believe however fuck that for now, what I am most interested in at this moment was the money.
"I swear to God, if you screw me over, I will find a way to melt you down and pawn you for spare change."
It pulsed, just once, like the being inside was laughing at me.
"Ok that is creepy as hell."
I said myself.
On the other hand I began to think, currently speaking it was six in the morning. That means I had about twelve hours before the Lunar Draw happens tonight. Just thinking about owning a multi-billion-dollar reward so easily from a lottery event watched by the entire planet filled me with both unease and excitement.
And thanks to Traumerei courtesy of her creepy, seductive dream realm and her not-so-subtle manipulation...I had the winning numbers for every phase of the lunar Numbers.
Eight numbers.
Nine hundred billion dollars in total.
But if what she said was true, it came with a price.
"You will owe me a wish."
"...Ah to hell with it, I need to prepare, I will call in sick today."
From there I walked back to the mattress, carefully folded the paper, and shoved it inside a book on my nightstand.
Then I sat done on my couch I can't buy a ticket because I am short of the necessary amount.
But as I say there the silence buzzed louder than any noise.
And that's when it hit me properly.
"Holy shit I am going to be filthy fucking richhhh."
"Hahahahahah... Ahhh... I have eno words that can express the joy I am feeling right now. But that aside I am also a vampire now, I think, or maybe not yet... Hopefully soon though."
If Traumerei was telling the truth, then my transformation had already begun. As the ring of promise was rewriting me genetic code from the inside out.
And to make things worse I don't know what a Founding Vampire was supposed to feel like on day one, but according to Traumerei, traits would start developing at random. I had no idea what clan I belonged to yet. Maybe none. Maybe I will start to grow wings or fangs or start bleeding mercury.
Hell, maybe I would just drop dead and save everyone the trouble.
"Then and again, how would I know when my transformation was complete."
I had all these questions but no one around to answer them.
"...Sigh really and truly I need to test out my powers but how can you test something out you yourself have no idea what it is or does."