Before diving into this, you should know of a tragic event in 2006.
When I was 18, my life turned dark. I became a vampire, and my existence spiraled into a relentless struggle against my darkest urges. It was the year I interned with my parents in a lab, working on forensic studies of an unknown substance, possibly a new drug or cure. The excitement of contributing to such groundbreaking research filled me with a sense of purpose. My relationship with my parents had always been close, and this internship was something my parents had planned for me to take on for years.
On the day of the human trials, chaos erupted. The facility was under siege. Labs were destroyed, and there were corpses everywhere. Blood splattered the walls, limbs torn apart, and lifeless eyes that stared into the void. The metallic scent of blood hung heavy in the air. The gruesome, morbid smell of death and decaying bodies lingered in the halls. I remember seeing my mom's headless body, her lifeless form sprawled grotesquely among the wreckage.
The sight shattered something deep inside me. My dad told me to take a vial and run. He also warned me not to drink it because it hadn't been tested yet. I ran, and I felt like an animal being chased. When I left the lab, crossed the street, and headed towards an abandoned building nearby, I heard my dad scream my name, trying to see if I was alive and where I was. I knew I couldn't reach him with whatever was attacking the lab, chasing me. A sudden urge in me told me to drink it. I uncorked the vial and drank the liquid.
It tasted like death. Almost instantly, a searing pain erupted in my throat. I could feel my whole body shutting down as the liquid went down my throat. The deeper the liquid reached my throat, the more it drowned my senses and numbed all the fear and remorse I felt. Darkness was all I saw, and I felt my heartbeat slow down, with every beat slowing and slowing. As the beat slowed, I felt like I was slowly falling into an abyss. When my heart stopped, I realized I was dead.
Suddenly, I felt a metallic liquid taste. Whatever it was, it started coursing through me. I saw images of what at first seemed like glimpses of my life. Only to realize the small flashes were events happening at this moment, short glimpses of my father's face, his eyes wide with fear and desperation. He ran away from me.
The last scene I saw and heard was screams and a sentence, "You are not my son before I finally came to my senses. I saw my father's lifeless body in my arms. His neck was mangled, torn open by my teeth. His head was barely attached to his body. Blood was everywhere—soaking his clothes, staining my hands, dripping from my mouth. The warm, sticky fluid clung to my skin, a grotesque reminder of whatever happened. I held my dad, who was once filled with life.
I looked at his eyes, which were now wide and glassy, staring into nothingness. I could feel the last remnants of his life force coursing through me, a sickeningly sweet satisfaction that made my emotions spiral wildly. The horror of what I had done washed over me in a tidal wave of guilt and disgust. I had sucked the life out of my father, draining him dry, and somewhere deep inside, I knew that I had enjoyed that act. The realization hit me like a mirror breaking, shattering any illusions I had left of my humanity. The taste of his blood lingered on my tongue, and for some odd reason, it tasted amazing. But the tears mixed with the blood on my face made me wonder if I was stuck in some fucked-up Tim Burton fairy tale.
I realized I was no longer the person I had been. I was a predator, an abomination of whatever nature made me into, and there was no escaping the darkness that now lingered in my soul if I still had a soul. The thing chasing me appeared. Honestly, he seemed to be an older man with a buzz cut. He took me into a shed and told me about vampires, their weaknesses, and their hunger for blood. And how I was one messed-up vampire. It made me hate myself, wondering and struggling to accept that I had no humanity or if my sense of humanity was just a sick aftertaste of my past life. My conclusion was that there was only one straightforward way out of becoming America's next serial killer.
As the first light of dawn crept through the windows, I waited for the vampire that took me inside the shed to get distracted. Once he did, I seized the opportunity and ran outside, determined to end my cursed existence. As I stepped into the sunlight, I imagined the sun hitting me like a thousand knives. My skin would catch fire, and I would become ashes. I fell to my knees and took a deep breath. This was it, my end. Wherever I went, it would be better than being a vampire.
But as the sun continued to rise, I realized with a sinking heart that it wasn't working. My body just remained the same, refusing to give in to the sweet release of death. The vampire found me standing there, staring at the sun and cursing it for not taking me. He dragged me back into the shadows, his rune-protected skin unaffected by the deadly rays. "Why the fuck didn't I just turn into a pile of ashes?" I asked, my voice a broken whisper. He looked down at me, his eyes cold and unfeeling. I didn't even want to know the answer to why anymore. His eyes looked at me as if I were a monster far worse than him, and he tried to end me no matter what.
At that moment, I sighed and said, "Get it over with." he pulled a stake and was about to impale me, only to be stopped by a vampire with short, dark purple hair styled with an edgy, messy look and piercing bluish eyes that seemed to see through you. She drove her fist through his back with a sickening crunch, breaking through his spine, and with a savage twist, ripped his heart out, blood spraying in an arc as she held the still-beating organ in her hand, the wooden knuckle duster jutting from her blood-soaked fingers.
"Come with me if you want to live again," she said heroically, a mixture of Arnold Schwarzenegger and her true deepest feelings, including a promise that she would teach me how to live again. This vampire was called Victoria Rossi. She became my sister and brought me into her covenant. I call her Vic. The Rossi covenant was small, consisting of two sisters, Victoria and Selene. Selene Rossi, the matriarch of our family, is the eldest vampire, having turned during the French Revolution. She has blonde hair, high cheekbones, sweet but icy blue eyes, and pale skin. Selene is caring and responsible, often ensuring Vic's and my safety and well-being even when we drive her past her limits.
Both of them took good care of me and helped me get out of my grief, and as time passed, they became my new family.