Of Light And Dark - 2. CHAPTER 2: Initiation

Katrina could barely contain the rage building inside herself as she digested the news being given to her. From behind closed eyes, she tried to contain and calm it, at least for now. Snapping her eyelids open, her cold, black stare made the servant before her wither to a grovelling mess on the cold floor.

“And you didn’t think to prevent it before that....that abomination took him?” she spat. Her voice was filled with contempt and pure, unadulterated fury.

“My Mistress, I thought that you would want to know immediately. I.....”

“Shut that snivelling hole. I don’t want to hear your pitiful excuses,” she growled. Katrina eased her lithe frame from where she was seated, flicking her long, dark hair from her face with a swift, graceful movement. Her eyes never left the cowed being in front of her as she menacingly circled him. “Do you at least know if it was successful?” she asked, already deducing the answer before he gave it.

“Ummm...no, my Mistress, I...”

“No?” she repeated icily and continued in the same tone, “You mean to tell me that, not only did you fail to intervene, but you didn’t even have the balls, or the intellect, to wait and find out if it had succeeded?” The volcano that was inside her threatened to erupt and her hand was slowly clawing at a cold, hard object attached to her waist.

Her servant was now trembling in fear, his head bowed. “No, my Misst.....” He didn’t get to finish, his head was swiftly removed from his body by the cold blade that Katrina wielded with deadly speed and accuracy.

“No, and your stupidity and cowardice has cost you dearly,” she muttered to the decapitated corpse still twitching at her feet. Closing her eyes to gather her thoughts, she turned to one of her defenders standing stiffly at the door. “Marco, see that this mess is cleaned up, and send word to Lord Edmunds that I require his presence tomorrow night. We have a situation that requires his unique....talent.”

“Yes, my Lady”

Walking over to the large windows, she looked at the rolling landscape in the distance being bathed in the shadows of night. “So Matthew,” she whispered to herself, “the game begins again.”

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I really had no idea where I was or even if I was still alive. This place was some kind of a coloured, gargantuan abyss. Thoughts and memories of times gone by flashed through my mind at such a rate that I could barely process it all. I saw my birth, birthdays, funerals and weddings I’d attended, my parents, and school friends - everything, including Matt.

The movement and speed at which everything was hitting me was beginning to make me feel nauseous. What’s the best way to describe it? Imagine yourself inside a giant kaleidoscope with a plethora of colours and memories swirling around at, like, 200mph – that is precisely what this felt like. My sanity was beginning to wane as the constant, rapid trip down memory lane became unrelenting; pounding and beating itself against the very fibre of my being.

With my head throbbing and feeling detached, the colours finally started to relent sometime later. They seemed to be forming into something entirely different, but I couldn’t make it out just yet. My vision was hazy at best, probably due to the whipping my eyes took earlier. Gradually, though, as my eyesight cleared, it became evident that I was in some kind of a room, which seemed to be pretty nondescript. Not exactly how I envisioned the afterlife to be - no Pearly Gates, St. Peter or huge green fields. It was just a room with plain walls, floor and ceiling. On the plus side, I’d acquired my body back, which was, at least, something. So here I was, alone, in a square room with no door...great..... just what I needed.

The whole situation was really screwing up my mind. One minute I’m having the hottest sex of my life with the most stunning man alive, who then turns out to be some kind of a bloodsucker. If that doesn’t beat it all, I end up floating in the rainbow house of horrors and now this. I really must complain to the management, the service here sucks ass!

Matt? Shit, I still didn’t know how I was meant to feel about that guy. I knew what he was as soon as I saw those eyes. I hadn’t fathomed out how I knew, I just did. Something just felt so right and familiar, you know? It was as frustrating as hell to have all this crap going on in your head and to have no answers, and answers were what I needed above anything else right now.

“My my, we have an impatient one.”

I looked around and saw nothing. Whoa, who the hell was that? Ok, now I was really losing it, hearing things? I believe that constitutes as a little insane?

“Maybe, it depends on how you look at it,” said the voice again.

I spun around in the direction of the voice and was confronted by......a kid! What the....he was no more than seven years old, give or take a day. He had mousey hair cut in a bowl shape, was quite pale in complexion, and had a slim body. He just looked ordinary and plain, like everything else here.

“Who the fuck are you? And for that matter, how the hell did you know what I was thinking?” He laughed. I felt the anger boil up inside of me, at this.....brat mocking me.

The smile never left his face. “Who I am is insignificant and as to how I know what you’re thinking, that’s very simple; we are inside your head, after all, and you transmit very loudly. You must really learn to control that.”

I could feel my eyes narrow at the impudent shit standing before me, but he continued, “I know you have a lot of questions, some of them I may even answer; depending on the time, of course.” I was about to interrupt when he held up his hand. “In answer to your first question, no you’re not dead, merely in stasis until your body can adjust to the changes it’s going through at present. “

I felt my shoulders slump at the statement. “Changes, what kind of changes?” I asked, already anticipating the answer.

He looked at me for a moment before answering, “Simply put, when you awake you’ll be member of our caste, an Aduro.” He looked at me as if it were blatantly obvious I should have known what that was.

I blinked and stared dumbly at him. Okay, not exactly the answer I was expecting, but it just confused me even more. “Aduro? What the fuck is an Aduro? I don’t understand. I was bitten by a....... vampire. Isn’t there some kind of rule that says I should be, um, well.... a vampire?” I was totally mystified and the irritated look on his face didn’t help any.

He shook his head and sighed, “We abhor that label, but I keep forgetting that mortals know no different. In layman’s terms, yes, that’s more or less what you’ll be and a lot more besides.” My morale sank even further at having the truth confirmed. What the hell had I gotten myself into? “It really isn’t as bad as you think. Look on the bright side, at least you’ll never grow old!” He had a cheeky smirk on his face that I just wanted to wipe off with a good right hook.

It was true, though, but I already knew that in my heart before he confirmed it for me. In truth, I had chosen this and I had let Matt do this to me for reasons I cannot even comprehend. He would have let me walk from that house without a scratch on my body; instinctively, I knew that in my soul. I had surrendered my mortality willingly and accepted my fate on that night. But something this kid had said caught my attention.

“What did you mean, a lot more besides’?” I was really curious as to where this was going; maybe I could at least salvage something.

He sighed, “Okay, I will have to be very succinct here because I don’t believe we have an awful lot of time left, but I will tell you all I can. You are an Aduro, a vampire if you will, but a very special breed. Your birthday must have fallen on the religious days between December 25 and January 6, which is Epiphany, yes?” I nodded, curious as to where this was going.

“Only those who are born on those days can be brothers of our caste. It is considered a very special honour, but one that restricts us in small ways, but enhances us in others. I don’t have time to go into details, but you will learn of our history in due course. I would advise you to forget the old wives tales, which say we are half human monsters who live in caves or any of the other bullshit that is written about us, because nothing could be more further from the truth. In reality, we are a proud caste, with history and traditions going back centuries; some say we have been blessed by God himself because of our ability. The Aduro are totally unique because, unlike others of our kind, sunlight cannot destroy us; in essence, we are light walkers.”

That shocked the shit out of me, but there was more. “That said, however, just because we can walk in the light doesn’t necessary mean we like to. What you have to realise is, that we are, by nature, nocturnal beings; too much exposure to the light will make you very...ah...temperamental, to say the least. So try and keep your exposure to a bare minimum, at least at first.”

“Also,” he continued, “forget about everything else you have ever heard about how we are killed or repelled, because, quite frankly, most of it is just fictitious nonsense. Garlic, holy water, signs of the cross, rebuking us in the name the lord, and a pound of salt are all totally useless and, to be frank, quite insulting! A stake through the heart, while quite painful and best avoided, is not fatal. However, beheading is a sure fire way for you to meet your maker, as is sunlight, which will destroy others who are not of our caste.”

My head was hurting from all the new information I was trying to process, but there was one thing that remained unsaid, and from the raised eyebrow I received, I could tell he had read my thoughts.

“This is the hardest part, but I’m not going to sugar-coat it for you. We need human blood to survive.” I felt my guts churn as my biggest fear was realised. “We are still predators when all is said and done; it is in our nature to hunt to sustain our existence. However, our caste alone has this one Achilles’ heel; we cannot, under any circumstances, drink from an innocent. To do so would be fatal. It’s the small price we must pay for the sunlight.” I was feeling really queasy now, but I knew he wasn’t finished!

“So remember Gary, all you have to do is choose your dinner carefully,” he chirped, which under any other circumstances would have made me laugh. Instead, it annoyed the hell outta me.

“Easy for you to say,“ I replied with anger in my voice, “but I don’t know if I could kill anyone, regardless of their innocence or guilt, that’s.....murder.” This was going to be hard for me and, to be honest, I didn’t know if I could ever do that.

He stared at me with a hard look. “No, it’s survival. It’s best you learn that lesson very quickly. If you starve yourself, the consequences would be catastrophic. Aside from the madness that would ensue, your more feral side would take control and it certainly wouldn’t care about your ethics. The carnage that would follow would be horrifying and, trust me on this, innocents would die if they happened to get in your way.” I felt totally despondent and beaten at the words he spoke. What had I become?

“Why can’t we just drink blood from a donor bag or something? Surely, that wouldn’t involve hurting anyone?” I was grasping at straws, I know, but it seemed like a logical question for me to ask, but from his demeanour, I wasn’t going to like the answer he was about to give me.

He let out a long sigh and shook his head slowly. “You really do have a lot to learn. We could take it from the bags like you said; however, there are two flaws with that. The first is that donated blood is neither living nor fresh and, whilst it would sustain you for maybe five hours tops, if you took too much, it would severely weaken you. Second, the blood could have been donated by an innocent, in which case it would kill you!” He looked at me, gauging my reaction. Another thought popped into my head and I saw him smile. This was getting really fucking annoying now.

“I wondered how long it would take for you to ask about that. You really are quite slow!” I bristled at the insult but he waved me off like some errant child. “We have certain....talents, one of which is the ability to read human minds.”

I think the surprise was evident on my face, because his smile only got bigger. “So as you can see it is relatively easy for us to select our pray. Trust me Gary, when I tell you, there is a very large selection to choose from.”

He made it sound as if I were going to the supermarket and pondering over which brand to pick. Already sensing my thoughts he said, “Because that is exactly what it’s like. Think of it in another way. You have murderers, rapists, paedophiles, drug dealers, so on and so forth. When you think about it logically, we’re doing society a favour. We know for a fact that they are guilty. We just happen to be able to cut out the middle man and pronounce sentence a lot more swiftly than the courts would be able to, and at a fraction of the cost.”

The ease and the manner with which he said all this was astonishing; could I, in reality, be this callous and dismissive when it came to someone’s life? These were living, breathing human beings we are talking about here, not some snack you would pick up at Tesco’s!

I really thought my head was going into meltdown, and I didn’t know if I could take anymore. I slumped to the floor with my knees pressed to my chin, hoping all this was some kind of a nightmare. I had always been brought up to know right from wrong and I don’t think I had ever deliberately hurt anyone. Now I was being told that to preserve my own existence I was going to have to kill people and drain blood from their bodies. Could I do that? I really didn’t know. He crouched down in front of me and, for the first time since he has been here, a look of compassion came over his face.

“I know this isn’t going to be painless for you, it never is the first time. Hell, I remember what it was like for me and it wasn’t pleasant at all. But it does get easier over time, that I promise you. Once you delve into some of those people’s minds, usually it takes no thought at all with the inherent evil that lurks within them.” He seemed to be somewhere else just for a second before his eyes caught mine again. “It’s almost time.”

He stood and I reluctantly followed him up. “I can see great things coming from you Gary; I shall be very interested to learn of your talents. One piece of advice, though; always remember to follow your instincts and, trust me, you’ll never go far wrong.”

I was still in a deep funk at what I’d been told and really didn’t know if I had it in me to do this.

“Okay then,” he said happily and then continued with a huge grin, “I did have a few more details I needed to go over with you; however, I think your mate is more than capable of explaining the finer points.”

“I’ll be sure to.......WHAT?!” My head snapped to attention. “What do you mean ‘MATE’?” I spluttered. My mind was really lurching now from this latest surprise.

“Sorry, no time to explain, the clock is ticking. I have things to see and people to do etcetera, etcetera...” he said with a bit too much mischief. With a wave, grin and a wink, he was gone.

I had no time to even process his final statement before the room quickly seemed to disintegrate. I felt myself being pulled backwards with extreme force, my mind unable to keep up. Total darkness surrounded me as the vortex I was being pulled through gathered velocity. Pain, I felt excruciating pain the like of which I had never experienced before. I screamed, but I heard it only in my own conscious. My torso felt as if it was engulfed in a firestorm from the inside out, searing flames darting through every fibre of my being, licking every nerve ending in their path. In the distance I could see a small light, which filled my vision as it rapidly drew closer. It almost became blinding before it encompassed me within itself, soothing the agony that had threatened to tear my body apart. A warm pulsing glow replaced what had been an inferno only moments ago, relaxing and alleviating my senses with a delicate caress. I could feel the energy inside, healing and flowing through my veins. Sleep was calling me from the comfort of this delicate warmth and I was powerless to resist.

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I felt at ease for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. Strong arms were wrapped protectively around me and a hard body was moulded to my own. As the fog of sleep lifted its veil from my mind, I luxuriated in the embrace, taking comfort in the protection it offered. As I became more lucid, the memories of my ordeal forced themselves to the forefront of my thoughts. My agitation must have shown itself because the arms around me squeezed tighter in a vain attempt to protect me from these reminiscences that wouldn’t desist from gnawing at my mind.

There was also a hunger deep inside that wouldn’t be ignored for much longer. God, what I wouldn’t do for a Double Whopper or a huge steak around just about now. I mentally kicked myself back to the situation at hand, rather than my protesting stomach. What I couldn’t understand, though, was why I was acting so rationally about this; I should have been jumping out of the bed I was obviously in, and high tailing my ass out of there. But no, here I was in bed with the man who had turned me into....what I am now, debating with myself weather I should have a steak or a burger! What the hell was that all about? Have I completely taken leave of all my senses? Why had I accepted my fate so easily? No fucking clue, all I knew for sure, was that right here, with this man, was the most comfortable place on earth.

It was all still kind of fuzzy, but I do remember bits and pieces of what the kid had said to me. There was something......... My eyes flew open when I remembered the last thing the kid had mentioned......MATE! How could this be? I've only known him for, like, a few hours tops. How was he my mate?

Before I could even think any harder about this, I felt a gentle caress on the back on my neck as a pair of silky lips kissed me gently. I could feel his hardness pushing against the cleft of my ass, his strong arms squeezing me tighter while the kisses turned into gentle nips. Any coherent thought was washed away by Matt’s sheer presence and ministrations. No man had ever made me feel this way; it felt as though there was something below the surface just bursting to get out. He became more ardent and thrust himself harder against me, before finally turning me over onto my stomach and entering me with a long smooth movement. Like before, there was no pain, just sheer, unadulterated pleasure the likes of which I had never experienced before.

There was nothing rushed about this; it was not sex, he was making love to me, sending me to places I had never been before. As he slowly thrust inside me, I felt a heat rising through me as my heart rate increased tenfold. I felt a movement inside my chest as something happened that I just couldn’t even begin to explain, but somehow I knew this man was mine. His slow gentle thrusts gradually became more ardent, urgent and harder; he covered my entire frame with his own as he took control, and his powerful movements became quicker and deeper. Before too long, I felt him release his seed into me with a deep animal-like growl, and he held himself letting the heat pour into my depths.

He never moved and I didn’t want him to; his warm lips nibbling my ear, his hard body covering my own. “Did you feel it?” His voice was low, almost a whisper. I could only nod in acknowledgment. “Do you know what that was?” Voice failing me, I could only shake my head no. I felt him smile. “That was our souls finally bonding.”

As soon as he uttered the words, I knew they were true. I had felt it, after all. I’d always scoffed at people when they talked about soul mates, rubbishing it as pure fantasy; that is, until now. Now I had found mine, or rather, he had found me, and it was the most incredible feeling in the world; it didn’t matter who or what we were.

“I have been waiting for you for such a long time, watching you grow up, making sure that no harm ever came upon you.” I could feel tears splash against my neck, and I imagined his sapphires burning brighter than before. “You were always within an arm’s reach, but I had to wait for the right moment to finally contact you, to make you mine.” I could feel the emotion coursing through him and I finally found my voice.

“How did you know it was me?” It came out as a croak, as I realised how dry my throat was.

“We always know where our soul-bonded is, even at great distances. Sometimes, I could even hear your thoughts in my dreams. Mortals could pass theirs in the street and not even know it but, with us, it’s so powerful and strong that, even if we wanted to, we could not ignore it calling, reaching out to us. You have no idea what it’s been like having you so close to me. Watching you date other guys, unable to touch you, to hold you in my arms, knowing that you were mine. But it was never the right time, until now.”

All I could do was get immersed in the aura of the man who had just made love to me and, for the first time in my life, I really knew what love was. I have no idea how it snuck up on me, maybe it was already there waiting for us to find each other. I barely know Matt and yet, I do on so very many levels.

I’m not even sure how long we were lying there, comfortable in each other’s company and nothing needed to be said. I knew we would be having a conversation sometime soon; I had so many questions that needed answers, after all. I had to contact my family to let them know I was ok. Hell, I didn’t even know how long I’d been here! I could feel the hunger rear its ugly head again and knew I would have to eat something before long; I was totally famished. Matt had rolled off me at some point, so I snuggled up even closer to him and kissed the nape of his neck gently.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Can we go and get something to eat?” I felt his body go rigid beside me, and I lifted my head to look at him. He looked surprised and was staring at me as if I had two heads. “What? I only said I was hungry. I haven’t eaten in god knows how long. How long have I been here anyway?”

He just kept looking at me like I’d told him someone had run over his cat or something. “You’ve been here for seven days, but....”

I cut him off right there. “What? Seven fucking days! You’re shitting me, right?” My hunger forgotten, my eyes about popped out of my head. Jesus, my Ma will be going up the wall. Shit, shit, shit! I leaped off the bed, and started frantically looking for my phone, while he just sat there with an indescribable look on his face. “Are you just going to sit there or are you going to help me look for it?” I found my jeans folded neatly on a chair, nope not there.

“Gary.” I looked over to where he was sitting; my cell in his hands. “I’ve been texting your Mother every couple of days or so. There’s no search party out looking for you.” I felt relief wash over me, which was, at least something. “Although, it probably would be best if you rang her at some point, to tell her about your impromptu trip to France.” Oh! I smiled and walked over to where he was perched.

“Okay, but I’ll do that right after we’ve eaten. It’s been seven days and I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse.” There was that look again. “What is it with you? Did you eat already this....” I looked for the clock. “....afternoon?” It looked as though he was thinking about something. “Well?”

His shoulders slumped. “Gary, we don’t eat food!” I think my jaw about hit the floor in shock.

“What? What do you mean we don’t eat food, we’ve got to.....?” Suddenly it hit me, and I thought I’d puke right then and there. I knew I’d have to do it sometime, but I was thinking weeks ahead and not just a couple of hours after I woke up.

Matt got up and started pacing. “I don’t understand, you can’t be feeling the hunger yet, not at least for another couple of days. The transformation must have taken more out of you than normal. SHIT!” He came over and stood in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. “Describe it to me, how does it feel?”

“Ummm, sort of like a dull ache right in the pit of my stomach. Is that good or bad?” From his expression it wasn’t good.

He closed his eyes, and then opened them looking right at me. “Babe, we have to do this today.” I was about to protest when he continued, “not right this minute, but we have to do this tonight, otherwise the hunger will take hold of you and then....” He didn’t need to say anymore; the kid had already told me what would happen if I left it untended too long.

I sat down on the bed with my shoulders slumped, tears starting to form in my eyes. Crap, I couldn’t remember the last time I had cried. Matt, not saying a word, slipped behind me and wrapped his strong arms around my body. His presence and strength was so comforting, I felt myself relax into him, but my thoughts weren’t very far away from our agenda tonight.

How could I kill a living breathing human being, no matter what they had done? A life was a life after all; could I do that just so I could preserve my own existence? Wouldn’t that make me as bad as they were? Instead, I would be the murderer; I would have blood on my hands and on my conscience. Could I live like that? Knowing every single minute of every single day, what I had done to preserve my own worthless hide.

I must have nodded off, because the next thing I remember was Matt stoking my hair, waking me from the slumber I had fallen into. Looking out of the windows, I noticed that the sun had long set, meaning the moment of reckoning was getting ever closer. He had brought me a glass of iced water, which I was ordered to take only little sips off. God I desperately needed that, because my throat was feeling incredibility arid. It didn’t, however, stop the pain and cramps that were eating me inside; I had never felt so hungry in my life, no scratch that, I wasn’t just hungry, I was ravenous.

“How are you feeling babe?” The worry was etched all over his face; his normally handsome features now darkened with a frown.

“Not so good, these cramps are really starting to piss me off.” That almost brought a smile to his face...almost.

“We’ll have to make a move soon; we can’t let this get any worse than it is already. I need you to follow me very carefully, do what I do and everything will turn out ok,” he said with concern etched in his voice.

“How is it going to be ok? I have to.....” I didn’t get to finish, searing pain clamped hold of my insides, squeezing them in a vice-like grip. I curled up in a ball on the bed, willing it to go, but it seemed to only get worse. I could hear Matt in the background telling me to take deep breaths, which was easier said than done. I could feel rage building inside of me, a deep seated, total fury I had never possessed in my life, and it started to feel really good. Embracing it started to ease the pain, but I knew deep down that I had to fight this; I had to suppress the anger and get control before it was too late. Slowly, very slowly the fire inside me subsided to just smouldering ashes; I couldn’t put it out, but for now it was manageable.

The look on Matt’s face said it all. He grabbed my jeans and started to dress me. I helped where I could, but I was feeling so lethargic I think I was more a hindrance than a help. He didn’t even bother to put a t-shirt on me or anything, such was the urgency. He quickly dressed himself, and literally picked me up and carried me downstairs, propping me up against the wall while he grabbed a set of keys. After a quick look outside, he carried me to his car, letting me crawl into the back seat. A moment later I felt it lurch forward as he hit the accelerator and we were underway.

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I had no idea of how long we were driving, or even where we were going. I was being bounced from one side of the car to the other as Matt swung around corners without slowing down. I knew that time was of the essence; There was no way I could control the fury that was threatening to erupt from inside of me if it tried again. It was persistently clawing at the door of my psyche to get out, beating at my resolve and willing it to break; so far, I was resisting, but for how much longer could I keep it caged? That feeling of helplessness was not one I wanted to repeat again; however, as time moved on, it was getting ever closer, and that was terrifying me more than anything.

I felt the car come to a halt, and Matt at my door helping me out. We seemed to be in some kind of a park, maybe out by the forest. I really couldn’t tell, and to be honest I didn’t give a shit, I just wanted the pain to stop. He picked me up once more and we made our way towards the trees that were not thirty feet away. They were really dense, but it was clear that Matt knew where he was going. A small clearing appeared ahead, and walking over to a tree stump, he placed me against it very gently.

“Baby, listen to me,” he whispered, “you’re in no condition to find what you need tonight; you stay right here and wait for me. You got that?” Even in the darkness I could see the concern in his eyes, and I nodded in agreement. “I’ll be as quick as I can, if you feel it building again, concentrate like you did before and hold it in. I won’t be long.” With those words and a kiss on the forehead, he was gone.

It was starting to get very hard to focus; I couldn’t even tell you how long Matt had been gone, though in truth, it was only about five minutes or so. Every time the fury reared its head, I did as Matt asked and willed it down, but it was getting harder to do each time. Sweat was pouring out of me from the sheer exertion it took. A disturbance caught my attention and my head jerked up as I felt a presence coming towards me. I couldn’t hear a damn thing except the sounds of the night, but something, or some things were out there.

It was really odd, but the kid did tell me to trust my instincts, so I did, and all sorts of whistles and bells were going off now. All I knew for certain at that point was that this wasn’t Matt. There was more than one of them, how I knew, I’m not sure, but they were heading straight for me. Fuck, it’s not as though I could move really well, not without making a noise anyway. I stayed totally still, feeling the disturbance in the night air from the intruders; silently praying they would pass me by. They didn’t. I saw five shadows surrounding me, and whatever they were, they certainly weren’t human. Oh shit!

To be continued.....

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