The Cat Burglar - 3. Lessons & Lectures

The kitchen had always been a favorite room of mine. On the weekends when Mom was home, she would cook a big breakfast with everything you can think of, and some things one would probably never consider for breakfast, at least if you’re an egg, bacon, or muffin type. We had changua, an egg, cheese, and milk soup from Colombia, or cornmeal and bean cakes from Nigeria. We all sat around the huge table and talked for hours about people we met, discussed future plans, our life choices, and sometimes even politics. When Dad was home from one of his expeditions, he brought a lot of foreign spices and exotic recipes from wherever one could find volcanic activity. If he and Mom were home at the same time, they would make tons of food, and the house smelled as if chefs from all over the world stopped by to cook for us. Only later did I understand, it had been their way of re-bonding after being separated for weeks, sometimes even months. Life was good.

Then Mom died. Not because a stray bullet found her while she was taking one of her multi-awarded war photographs, no, but because she refused to hand over her fucking cameras to some muggers in a back alley in Colombia. I’m still furious with her.

Dad and she had taken turns taking care of us. While he climbed around craggy volcanic peaks, quantifying gases or whatever he did for his work and research at different gauging stations, Mom stayed home and scoped out her next project. She hunted down humankind’s brutality to be shown off on the front-page all over the world. After her death, Dad accepted a professorship at the local university. When he deemed Nathan and Rylan adults, and I was accepted to the university I wanted, he vanished to some place in Asia close to his favorite volcano. An occasional phone call or birthday email was all we heard from him. My brothers and I had become even closer after the shit had hit the fan. We still cooked together. Well, they cooked, and I enjoyed the food they made. I’m a total nut in the kitchen.

Since Maria and Martin had helped me to organize ice for Konstantin, I knew vampires had kitchens too. Not for themselves naturally, but for the human donors who lived with them.

It was also the clan’s rumor hub, the same as our kitchen at home had been. I learned very interesting facts while I chatted with Maria and Martin or listened to the other humans. For example, donors weren’t donors. Some sold their blood; most of them didn’t even know they gave it to vampires. Then there were the blood slaves. They let themselves be bitten because vampire saliva extended their life span and youth. A very few ingested small portions of vampire blood; those were called thralls. Maria and Martin belonged to the last group; they were in some threesome with one of the clan’s soldiers, Emil.

As I was secretly feeding Konstantin, and he had stopped giving me his blood to recover faster, I had to drink more human blood than the average fledgling. I usually met M², as I called Martin and Maria in my mind, in the kitchen whenever I could. I considered them friends or allies, and I was sure they knew or at least guessed what was causing my increased appetite.

I also learned to always empty my mug right there, so no one would accuse me of smuggling blood to Konstantin. In the beginning, the guards had checked me every time I came from feeding. All they ever found was frozen veggies. I told them I’d suck on it because I still missed real food. They were really disgusted and from then on, they left me mostly alone.

When I lamented about all the food I was missing, Doc told me vampires can drink clear broths if we want a change in our meal plan. There was actually always a pot in the fridge waiting. I discovered very quickly that the fish variety was disgusting, but chicken and crab were delicious. I became a big fan and had yet another reason to hang out in the kitchen and listen to the latest gossip.

“You again.”

I stopped rummaging around in the fridge and looked back over my shoulder. Warren, Simone’s personal blood slave, was narrowing his eyes at me.

“I’m a growing boy.” I dismissed him and got back to finding the pot with venison broth. I’d never tried this particular flavor before and was eager to find out if I liked it as much as crab. Maria giggled about my flippant remark but instantly hid behind her hand when Warren glared at her.

Martin smirked openly while he held his wrist over my usual mug, filling it with his yummy blood. A positive was my favorite. They didn’t like Warren. The rumor was he was Simone’s snitch.

Warren huffed and forced himself between me and the fridge door. “Simone wants me to heat up some of the fish broth for breakfast.”

“Of course.” I wrinkled my nose, grabbed my mug, gulped down Martin’s blood, and left as quickly as I could. Soon the entire room would stink of warm fish.

The next day, one of the soldiers informed Konstantin he wasn’t exempted from providing blood for me. My successful transition was more important for the clan than his recovery.

Doc was sure Warren ratted us out. As vampires have heightened senses, he probably detected Konstantin’s fading scent on me and rightly concluded he stopped feeding me. From then on, we were more careful. I always drank a little of Konstantin’s blood, and rubbed some of it into my skin before he drank from me. Fortunately, I wasn’t a full vampire yet and hadn’t developed a distinct scent of my own. They couldn’t detect our individual scents mixing yet.

After a few weeks, Mother’s mood was deteriorating. Doc assumed she was getting impatient. The main reason she had forced Konstantin to continue to feed me after his punishment, was that she wanted him to beg her for blood on his knees. So why wasn’t she more suspicious? Konstantin was officially starving for weeks. Then Doc told me Konstantin was several centuries old and in addition, his sire had been very powerful. Age and lineage were both factors of how much blood a vampire needed. I would have long succumbed to blood frenzy. Anyway, as he wasn’t supposed to drink any blood, he should have begged for blood weeks ago. The latest rumor was, that he was even older and more powerful than everyone had thought. Mother was not amused.

One day, Konstantin and Doc were explaining the intricacies of vampire hierarchy to me, when Simone barged into the room. “Mother has scheduled Kavan’s initiation ceremony for tonight at nine o’clock.” Then she drew herself up and sneered at my sire. “As you are still a toothless worm, another clan member will overtake your part.” She looked at me. “I—”

Before she could name herself my replacement sire, I quickly said, not really knowing what I was doing, “I choose Doc.”

Doc grabbed Konstantin’s wrist. “I accept.” He immediately shook off Doc’s hand and pushed his chair back. “Never! Kavan is my Childe! No one but me will initiate him.”

Simone snorted. “He was an accident, a convenient blood bag for you. It isn’t as if you hand-picked him carefully to be your chosen Childe. If it had been my decision, your whelp would have been free game for us to play with, and for disobeying my orders you would’ve met the sun instead of just losing your position and teeth.”

Konstantin flashed a cold smile at her. “But it wasn’t your decision.”

Simone glared at him. “Anyway, deal with Mother’s orders or contest them.” With that, she threw her hair back over her shoulder and left the room in a huff.

Konstantin crouched in front of the door, his claws out, amber striations flickering over entirely-obsidian eyes. Even without his fangs, he was terrifying, and I thought no sane person, vampire or not, would ever provoke him like that and live. Simone and Mother had to be too arrogant for their own good, and there would be the day it would bite them in the ass—or whatever killed a vampire.

While we watched him growling and gnashing his remaining teeth in his supposedly impotent rage, I wondered why Mother and now Simone outranked him. To me, he was the most powerful vampire of the Night Clan. His pulled-back lips revealed the gaps where his fangs had been. Only a fool would underestimate him. Then I saw something that looked like tiny white pearls nestled deeply in his gums. Before I could say anything, Doc went over to him and put his hand on his shoulder, squeezing it several times until Konstantin finally calmed down and slumped down in the nearest chair. “She always knew which buttons to hit, the bitch.”

“What-is-an-initiation-ceremony?” I chose my words carefully, looking at the floor instead of my sire. Even I knew to tread lightly here.

Watching his quiet friend for a moment, Doc finally answered, “For some clans, the first time a young vampire drinks from a human is a big event. It’s a way to strengthen the bond between sire and Childe and the entire clan. The sire chooses a human, usually one of the more experienced clan donors, and guides their Childe through the procedure, for example showing them how to use glamour, how to make the bite painless, or painful, depending on the donor’s preferences. Selected clan members watch the initiation as witnesses. Afterwards, the entire clan welcomes the new member with a feast. In Konstantin’s old clan, it was a very important ceremony; it proved the Childe was wanted by their sire and the entire clan.”

“Childe?”

“It’s the word for child in old English.”

Konstantin balled his hands into fists and paced around the room. “They know how important this ceremony is to me. It was me who introduced Mother to it, of course, she had to give it her own special brand.”

I looked at Doc. “Meaning?”

“The after-party always escalates into an orgy with the Night Clan.”

“Wow, Mother must have watched one too many vampire porn.”

For a brief moment, they stared at me, speechless. Doc’s eyes sparkled with mirth. I still didn’t understand what the problem was. “Why can’t you guide me through the ceremony?”

“Because she took my fangs.”

I wanted to ask many more questions, but Doc silenced me by holding up his hand. “The initiation is a two-part ceremony. First, the sire demonstrates how to properly prepare a donor before they open the vein. Then the Childe drinks from the still open wound, thereby ingesting small amounts of their sire’s saliva. It’s an important step, for it strengthens their bond even more. After this, the fledgling can show what they learned with a second donor. As Konstantin has no f—"

“I think he can do it!”

“What? Why?”

“When he growled at the door, I saw the tips of his new fangs—I think.”

“That’s not possible. Growing back fangs is not only extremely painful but also takes months, depending on the quality of the feeding. That is the reason why Mother loves doling out this particular form of punishment, in combination with starving the delinquent. If you hadn’t come up with the idea of using ice to lessen his pain and swelling, Konstantin would have been hurting the entire time.”

“Still, I think I....”

Konstantin poked his tongue into the gap and instantly flinched. “Doc! There is something.” Then he opened his mouth and presented his bleeding tongue with a broad grin. “Kavan is right.”

After examining his mouth, Doc confirmed the pearls I thought I saw were indeed the tips of Konstantin’s new fangs. Apparently, he recovered much faster than usual. Doc instantly speculated it might have something to do with me feeding him. As I was Konstantin’s child, Childe, my blood has to be powerful, even if I wasn’t a full vampire yet. “Usually, it would be vice-versa, the sire would feed his hurt fledgling. If a mature vampire needs extra blood to heal, they’d turn to their clan leader or a legate in case human blood isn’t enough to heal them.” Doc frowned. “I’ve never heard about such a quick recovery from fang removal—" and I saw the wheels turning in his head with whys and hows; he was eager to return to his lab and do some extended research.

Once again, we were gathering in Mother’s audience room, as she liked to call her pornish study. The air was charged with anticipation. Several vampires sat in a half-circle around us. Konstantin had been banned to the furthest corner of the room to watch the ceremony from afar.

“Try gauging her innermost yearnings. Show her that you’re her perfect lover.” Doc rubbed the side of the donor’s neck, tapping it a little with his middle finger. She moaned, leaning into his hand, her face reflecting raw pleasure. I could smell her arousal. He gestured for me to extend my hand, grabbed it, and pressed my fingers against the pulse point. I could feel her rapid heartbeat, the blood rushing under the skin. He pushed my hand away, licked stripes over the spot a few times while she tilted her head more and more to the side, then he struck. After a short moment, he pulled out and waved at me to come over. I pressed my mouth over the fresh bite mark and sucked. I could taste the distinct flavor of his saliva. I repressed a disgusted shudder. This wasn’t my sire.

With an ugly twist of her mouth, Mother gestured for Martin to step forward. From the corner of my eye, I saw Emil’s hand twitch, as if he wanted to hold his lover back, but didn’t dare it. When Martin stood in front of me, I tapped his neck exactly as Doc had shown me until I felt his strong heartbeat. I sensed my inner predator rearing his head, and my fangs elongated without me having to command them. Saliva pooled in my mouth. He wanted this human’s blood. He needed his blood. Without bothering to lick the spot, I bit down and pierced Martin’s vein. His blood tasted delicious, the monster demanded to have it all, to kill and maim our prey. Emil’s barely whispered ‘no’ wafted over. I heard Konstantin’s voice in my mind loud and clear. Don’t let hunger control you. Imagine you’re pulling back its reins sharply, hold on as tight as you can, force it to listen to you, subdue it if you must. You are the master!

I wasn’t a mindless killer. I managed to stop and licked the wound closed, then retreated.

During the entire procedure, Konstantin growled agitatedly. Emil only relaxed the instant I stepped away and released Martin. The clan clapped their hands politely. Some even touched my shoulder favorably, telling me I was a natural. They congratulated me on not killing the human, which apparently happened quite often during initiations. Simone however, glared at me and seeing Mother’s ugly sneer, I suddenly understood. They had hoped I’d kill Martin. They knew about our friendship, our chats in the kitchen, probably through Warren. They had planned to destroy this. Then Emil stood in front of me and hugged me fiercely, when his mouth was close to my ear he mouthed, “Thank you.”

With some clipped commands, Mother ordered more donors to come and the feast à la Night Clan began. Scantily clad servers carried trays with glasses filled with blood-laced wine around as if Mother feared to leave out some cliché motives. Music sounded from hidden loudspeakers. After a while, the atmosphere became extremely sexually charged. Martin, Maria, and Emil were holding hands the entire time, reassuring themselves they were still complete after the shock they must have endured when Mother chose Martin as my donor. I found out that Warren was indeed Simone’s boytoy. I accidentally watched her feeding from him while he fucked her on the window sill. There wasn’t enough brain bleach available in the entire world to purge that image from my memory. As it had been strongly suggested to me, I dutifully danced first with my donors, then with Doc. He sniffed at my throat, then licked the shell of my ear. It felt utterly wrong. Doc was my friend but not my lover. We kissed, and I clung to his broad shoulders, rubbing my body against his. Konstantin had said we had to do this. Just when I wanted nothing else but to run outside screaming, Doc lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder, one of his big paws on my butt. Then we left, not hiding that we were going to his rooms. All the while Konstantin snarled and hissed in helpless rage.

No one knew, the entire initiation had been a big fake event, at least on Doc’s, Konstantin’s, and my part.

A few days ago, after Simone had dropped the initiation-today-bomb, I stood with Doc and Konstantin in the dark garden while it rained. “Listen.”

“To what?” I glared at Konstantin. Why were we standing on the damn lawn in the middle of the night, getting soaked? I might even have had my arms crossed over my chest.

“To everything.” My sire lifted an eyebrow. “First though, put away your useless anger and indignation. They only distract you. You’re a vampire now.”

“Almost,” Doc mumbled from behind me.

“You aren’t cold, that idea is a remnant of your human mind; vampires don’t feel the cold.”

I could swear I was cold and wet. To not anger Konstantin any further, I did what he said. I listened. The rain pelted against the leaves of the trees around us and the roof of the mansion. It was infernally loud. That was what Doc had meant about vampires having enhanced senses. Small animals scurried through the wet grass and undergrowth. A night bird rustled in one of the trees and shook its wet plumage. Far away, I heard a car honking. Something sneaked around behind me. Quickly I turned and spooked whatever it was. It ran away. As if a switch had been flipped, the overwhelming urge to hunt it overcame me. I followed with a speed and agility I never had before, climbing up a tree using my claws, sinking them into the rough bark of the tree. A moment later, Konstantin pried a large wet red cat out of my hands. “You don’t want to kill Maria’s cat.”

“I do not?”

That night, I learned that I now belonged to an aggressive, deadly species. Vampires hunt their prey not solely to feed but for the fun and excitement of the hunt too. If the inner predator isn’t controlled by its human counterpart, they become ruthless monsters. Because I hadn’t learned that yet, I almost killed Maria’s cat and attacked Konstantin because he wanted to steal it from me. I was appalled by myself.

Doc leaned against a tree. “You have still a long way to go if you don’t want to kill the first human you try to feed from. Time is of the essence.”

In the end, we won an additional week to tame my inner monster when fate had been on our side at last. My initiation had to be canceled when Mother was summoned by Lord Caspian, the head vamp of the city.

After I had almost killed Maria’s cat, Doc showed me methods to tame my other side. First, he made sure I wasn’t hungry so my inner predator and I only wanted to hunt and play with our prey. There were mice, rabbits, and even deer to follow. Every time I caught my prey and was about to maim it, he stopped me, making me aware of what I was about to do. I painstakingly learned to get a feeling for that part of me, to control it with my mind, so it would never get the upper hand again.

Next, I found myself somewhere in the countryside walking with Konstantin around a horse pasture. The animals sensed the predators among them and were on high alert. Some tried to escape, which of course instantly triggered my hunting instinct, but I could handle it, if only barely. Then he showed me a special, truly frightening power of a vampire.

Konstantin petted a beautiful Friesian, murmuring soothing words in a low voice and suddenly he bit into the horse’s neck. The animal stood calmly there and let him drink his fill. Another lesson: Vampires could drink any blood and could glamour many different creatures but most preferred humans. In the next week, we practiced my new capabilities so many times I felt I could persuade the Pope to suck my cock. I learned to read feelings, manipulate, seduce, to play with any being’s mind.

They made me try the blood of several different species just in case I ran out of my preferred variety.

Eventually, after I let go of a fox, I admitted, “I like human blood most.” I bowed to Konstantin. “Except for my sire’s of course.”

“That is perfectly normal. Probably as humans are closest to us.” I rolled my eyes. Doc always had an educated explanation ready, like my brother Nathan. I missed my brothers so much it hurt, but Doc had explained to me I couldn’t visit them, even now as I could leave the house. It was against the rules. Some clans just made the families forget their relatives if the new vampire contacted them; the Night Clan sent their soldiers and killed them.

“You forgot Henry; he loved horse blood.” Konstantin grinned. “Maybe he was a horse before his sire turned him. It’s rumored she loved her horses.” It was a lame attempt to lighten my mood, but I appreciated it anyway.

Instead of going back to our respective rooms, Doc and Konstantin brought me to Doc’s private rooms. “Where are we going?” To my surprise, I found Maria and Emil waiting for us. That was a great risk. If the guards found out Konstantin was meeting a donor there would be dire consequences, not just for Konstantin but for Doc and Emil too, who was the leader of the Night Clan’s soldiers under Simone.

The room was lit with dozens of candles. The dark velvet curtains were drawn closed, although it was dark outside. A fire was crackling in the hearth. Maria wore a festive gown with a low scoop neck. I had never seen her wearing something like this.

I looked around. “Hey, what’s all this? A party?”

Konstantin placed his hands on my shoulder. “You’re not entirely wrong.” His voice deepened, growing darker. “After tonight, you will be a full vampire. We take the last step for you to become my bonded Childe. I won’t allow Mother to steal this important step from me.” The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Here was Konstantin, a powerful vampire, reclaiming his right as my sire.

They had prepared everything for a private initiation ceremony. As soon as Konstantin had detected the tips of his fangs, he practiced extending them. He already knew they were as sharp as his former fangs, which meant he could feed. He discussed it with his closest friends Doc and Emil. Because Maria and I had become friends, they asked her if she would agree to be my first donor. Under Emil’s watchful eyes, Konstantin sank his fangs briefly into Maria’s neck. Then I closed my lips over the open bite wound and drank for the first time human blood from the source. As soon as I tasted Konstantin’s saliva our bond snapped into place. I felt his presence in my mind. I could feel his joy and pride. The second part had been more difficult, but with Konstantin’s guidance, I didn’t hurt Maria when I bit her, and I tried to limit the influence on her mind on not feeling pain.

The best thing was, that we outwitted Mother and Simone. They hadn’t been able to rob Konstantin’s right as my sire.