Chapter 5: Ancient Mentor

 

Vladislaus’ mansion was extravagant, even more so than the mansion that Eva had grown up in. Imposing marble statues greeted them as Vladislaus and Eva entered the building. 

 

Expensive crimson carpet padded her feet, it reminded Eva of all the dinner parties she attended in her parents’ friends' homes when she was alive. She never really enjoyed those parties at the time, but she regretted not cherishing them more.

Eva followed Vladislaus into the sitting room, which had a very high ceiling and was adorned with many wall decorations. Some of the decor was paintings and others were portraits of people who Eva didn’t recognize. 

 

Vladislaus sat down on a loveseat near the fireplace, and motioned for her to sit down with his large and bony hand. “Would you please take a seat?” 

 

Eva sat down next to Vladislaus on the loveseat. She didn’t know what to expect of this ghostly stranger she had met only minutes before. As much as he seemed like a kind mentor, Eva knew that people tended to hid their true intentions under a facade of goodwill.

“What is your name, young one?”

“My name is Evangeline Marie Lovelace. Do you know my family?”

Vladislaus put in his hand to his chin in thought, “The name rings a bell, but I can’t say that I know your family well.”

Eva nodded her head, “That’s alright, there’s many people In this town. They are quite wealthy, but not so much as you.”

Vladislaus chuckled lightly, “Not many people are.”

Eva didn’t know whether to take that as a brag. She appreciated the small talk, as she hasn’t spoken to a another person in what felt like years, but she wasn’t very interested In Vladislaus’ house or his wealth.

“What are we?” She asked after a moment of silence.

Vladislaus got up and walked over to the fire place, he gazed into the flames as he spoke, “We are known as many names. Some have called us the undead, hominus nocturna, bloodsuckers. Today, we are most commonly referred to as vampires.”

Eva fully expected those words to come out of Vladislaus’ mouth, she knew that she was transformed into something inhuman, but she didn’t know what to say. Thoughts raced through Eva’s head at a rapid rate. After all this time, she still didn’t understand.

Vladislaus’ strolled over to Eva, as if he was reading the thoughts that rang through her head, “It’s a fact that vampires exist. We are not just creatures of legends. Many vampires live in this town, unbeknownst to the human beings here.”

He sat down in the seat beside Eva once again. He seemed empathetic towards her, she could see it reflected in his pale face.

All Eva could manage to ask was, “What year is it?”

“It’s the year 2020.”

The world felt alien to Eva, and she knew now why that was. It wasn’t the year she believed it to be, 1869, but actually one hundred and fifty one years later. It was hard for her to conceptualize that she was indeed in the future and that it was likely everyone she had ever know had been dead for many years. She didn’t understand how it ended up like this for her. A soulless, dead bloodsucker dazed on a loveseat talking to some weird looking pale guy, who was also a vampire.

Vladislaus asked her, “What year did you believe it was?”

Eva responded somberly, “I was living in 1869.”

Vladislaus nodded his head sympathetically, “My my, it’s been a very long time for you. And where were you in the meantime?”

Eva was at a lost for words, “I don’t know where I was. I would guess in a coffin, that’s all I remember.”

“A coffin?”

Eva felt like she was about to cry, “I remember...I remember being murdered. I was dead. It felt like nothing. I just laid in darkness, until a black figure pulled me out of it. They fed me blood. I think that’s when I was turned.”

A slight spark of surprise and confusion reflected in Vladislaus’ eyes, “It’s very rare for a dead person to be transformed into one of us. Very few have tried, and even fewer succeed. The vampire who turned you must have been very powerful. It takes a very large amount of vampire energy to pull an individual from death itself.”

Eva was surprised to hear what had happened to her wasn’t as impossible as she believed it was. It was a concept known to Vladislaus. But what was that other thing he mentioned?

“Vampire energy?”

A small smile formed on the side of Vladislaus’s face, “When you drink blood, or do something called dark mediation, you gain vampire energy. Vampire energy is the force that allows us to be alive, thrive and gain new mystic powers. You have very little right now, but as you do the things I mentioned, you will become powerful.”

That sounded like something out of a poorly written novel to Eva. She didn’t want power, she wanted her life back.

“What if I don’t do any of that? What if I don’t drink blood or do dark meditation?”

Vladislaus told her, “You can chose to do that. You will never gain power, and your hunger for blood will not kill you. But it will grow stronger every day. Eventually you will be consumed with blood-lust and lose control.”

Eva shuttered at the thought, remembering her encounter and bloody slaying of the friendly kitten. She recalled what it was like to lose control and she couldn’t bare to think that she could possibly do that to another human being.

Eva felt backed into a corner, “What am I supposed to do then?”

Vladislaus shrugged, “That’s not my decision to make, Evangeline.”

Eva was once again at a crossroad. She had to chose whether to embrace her new life as a vampire, or simply give up once again. Could she even die?

She had a sudden thought, “Would the sun kill me, like the myth states?”

Vladislaus answered her question, “Sunlight burns your skin and drains your vampire energy rapidly. Once you are completely depleted of vampire energy, you die.”

Vampires could die. That fact made Eva comfort. She feared that she would be forced to live endlessly on this wretched planet, stuck with the types of people who murdered her and the type of creature that unwilling turned her.

But regardless of that, she wasn’t willing to lay down and die yet. Despite the despair she felt and the grief she felt for her family and old life, something inside her drove her to keep going. Perhaps she always had that will, or maybe it was her newly discovered vampire energy driving her forwards.

Eva stood up and asked, “Will you teach me the ways?”

Vladislaus grinned lightly, “Of course, Evangeline.”