Raven - The Becoming

Let me introduce myself, I’m Raven, hair as black as the darkest of nights, skin as pale as freshly fallen snow glistening in the light and lips as red as blood spilling from a freshly opened wound, as cunning as a fox and as fast as the speed of light. This large and desolate 18th century house that you see before you is my home, my Kingdom. For years now I have been wandering these lonely halls, the closest I’ve come to proper human contact is in all those nights that I have gone out and prowled the lonely streets on the look out for something to vanquish my uncontrollable hunger for that red and thick liquor that I have become so addicted to. From the moment the first drops of that luscious nectar touches my lips I’m lost in a wave of guilty pleasure, the problem is, every time I take what I need from life I always want more…you could say that it rules my life.  The forces of nature forbid me to go out during the day, it’s against the will of God that I roam the earth…creatures like me aren’t meant to belong in this world; we threaten the existence of the human race. It’s a lonely world when you are a creation of Hell, its empty when you are an abomination of life itself, my kind spend most of eternity alone, after all, you don’t exist anymore once you’re dead…1

To you I may just be a myth but you better rethink that because I am real. Where did the race of the Vampyrs begin I hear you ask…I shall tell you now. Legend has it that Caine was the first; he is the Father of all Vampyrs. Caine was the first man that was ever born by man, after Caine had slain his brother Abel; he was cast out from humankind and was cursed with eternal life and a terrible and sinful lust for blood. The history books say that Caine wandered alone for many years until he started to created creatures that were like him, his Childer created Childer and then they created Childers, in the end there were 13 Vampyric clans and with each new Vampyr that was born the blood of the Supreme got weaker and lesser.2

I was made by my Sire in the year 1839, I was 18 then…tall, handsome and I came from a fairly well off family which made me a good catch to Merchant’s daughters. Life was good back then, I had everything I ever needed. I liked to socialize and go to parties and other social gatherings; I’ll never forget that fateful day that I set eyes on my Sire after a close family friend’s engagement party. For a while at that part i had been watching a very peculiar woman at the back of the ballroom. Janine Williams was her name, or at least that’s what she said it was.  She looked young, in her late teens/early twenties, her hair was dark brown and tied up in an elaborate hairstyle and she had stunning eyes of a piecing blue colour, they gave me a strange icy feeling run down my back every time she looked over at me. Her dress was white or cream with a beautiful embroidered pattern of flowers and vines traveling up and down the hem. She looked so out of place, even in a place this crowded, she was standing over in the corner of the room, right at the back, she appeared to be watching all the goings on in the room and watching the guests eagerly. After a while I walked over to her.3

“Good evening Miss, could I have the pleasure as to knowing your name?” I asked as I bowed to her and kissed her hand lightly.4

“My name is Janine Williams and who would you be Sir?” Her voice was soft and breezy as if she were whispering.5

“I am Jonathon Parker, eldest son of Patrick and Mei Parker.” Janine smiled slightly even though her eyes were not focused on me but still on the attention of the party guests.6

“So what relation are you to Ben and Clara?” 7

“Oh, I’m just a friend of Clara’s family” she said dismissively.8

“Jon! Jon, over here!” I turned around and saw my friend David Henderson walking over to me from the centre of the ballroom. “Why on earth are you all the way over here on your own?”9

“I’m not alone I’m talking to…” When I looked back to where Janine was standing I was shocked to find that she was no longer there.10

“Sure, come on there are a few girls that are really keen on meeting you…come with me.” I looked back one more time puzzled and then let David drag me off to where the girls were waiting.11

****  12

Later on at about 1AM i was staggering across the House's grounds and making my way slowly home. Every now and again i would bump into a hard object that obstructed my path and i would shout out curses into the night. The sky was clear but cold winter's night and all the stars where shining so brightly that it looked like a black piece of card with silver and gold glitter had been scattered upon it, so beautiful it was. While my mind was travelling to some far away place in my thoughts i stumbled over a root that was sticking out of the damp earth. I fell down in complete and utter surprise.13

'Bastard!' I yelled as started to pull myself up to a standing position again.14

'Now now young Child, there is no need for such language.' An unfamiliar and husky voice came out of nowhere in response to my cry of anger and shock. I looked around curiously and noticed a faint outline of a tall figure silhouetted in the moonlight.15

'Who is that? I ask you to show yourself to me.' 16

'Who I am is none of your concern...not at the present moment anyway. I shall tell that I see what your future holds and you haven't got much longer to live.' I got up from the ground and brushed myself off as the man said this.17

'What?' I asked as I abruptly stopped what I was doing to pay attention to the stranger. 'Are you trying to tell me that I am to die tonight? Are you trying to threaten me?...What is it you want?!'18

'Threaten you? Now why would I what to do that, you are of no value to me. I see the future, i have powers beyond anything that you could ever imagine and I have come to seek you to night to give you the chance to start over again.' 19

I walked over to the shadowed stranger. 20

“Look here Sir, nobody has the power to see into the future and know exactly what is going to happen.” I said while getting rather irate with this mysterious man. 21

“I’m warning you to listen to me Child, I am here to give you another chance at life when this one is over.” The man stayed calm as he spoke to me.22

“Listen! I think you need to go see a shrink, you’re crazy!” I yelled as I walked away, I’ve met plenty of people in this state of mind and they can be very dangerous. I carried on down a cobbled street that started at the very end of the Merchant’s grounds. The street was quiet and calm, not many people were around at this type of night apart from the occasional party-goer or local whore working the streets. The tall buildings cast shadows down onto the streets and back alleys of Nottingham while the moonlight lit up the large roads. 23

I was walking along the lonely river when it happened; the silence was broken suddenly by the frantic shouts and screams coming from behind me. I could hear a petrified horse squealing with fright, it hooves were getting louder as it came up the road. I turned round sluggishly to see what was going on, a horse and carriage was coming straight my way…before I could take in what was going to happen I was knocked off the walk way and I was sliding down into the freezing cold water in the river below. Frantically I tried to swim my way back up to the surface but something had a tight grip on my leg. With every thrashing movement I made the sharp, rugged object dug its way deeper into my leg and causing me more pain and anguish. There was a huge splash and I felt something tugging me, I must have pasted out at the point due to the lack of oxygen that was getting in to my lungs.24

The next thing I remember was gasping for breath, I was lying down on the ground next to the river, I felt so weak. A stranger was kneeling down by me.25

“Do you want to live, say yes and I’ll help you but I cannot do anything without hearing those words.” It was the same voice as I heard earlier.26

“Yes…” I gasped helplessly and faintly so my voice was but a whisper. A sharp pain surged through my neck as I felt something penetrate the skin. I felt a small trail of sticky warm liquid dripped down my neck following the penetration of the sharp piercing object. A small gasping scream escaped from my throat, it was so weak though that nobody would hear me…especially not out here. The stranger let go of me and I fell backwards onto the ground, I watched as the man bit into his own wrist. I told myself that I must be dreaming, ordinary humans don’t feed of the blood of others, they don’t have teeth strong or sharp enough to pierce two tidy holes into their skin. Blood dripped onto my lips and rolled into my awaiting mouth, the smooth metallic nectar drove me crazy and I immediately wanted more. My hands reached up automatically and pulled the foul creature’s wrist nearer and sucked out the flowing blood from the wound. 27

“That’s enough…” The man’s husky voice cried. “Enough!” He pulled back violently and knocked me back.  I sat there stunned and the all of a sudden my whole body went into spasm, sharp pains that felt like a trillion daggers stabbing me all over hit me as I squirmed violently on the ground. 28

“Don’t worry, this happens to all of us, your body is dying off and your Vampyr blood is taking over and filling your veins.” After that I fell back unconscious. 29

When I awoke I found myself in a cold and damp cellar, it was dark but I could still see amazingly well; as if I had night vision. My Sire only came a few times over the next few weeks of my new life, he taught me that I am a Vampyr, we do exist and we all have done. I was told that I now had night vision, enhanced smells and senses and I was now as agile as a gymnast. Ever since that last time I saw my Sire and his servant Janine I have been condemned to a life of loneliness and terrible sin, I have been living here in this house for the past 100 years…can you imagine living that long with only yourself to keep you company?30

Well human you know the truth about my kind, you know that we have been around since the dawning of time and we are indeed a superior race. I have told you my story of how I became this foul and damned creature. Still don’t believe in what I say to you? Well come here Child and I’ll show you what it’s like… 31