Love Bite - Prologue. Prologue

1856

I woke disoriented as I took in my surroundings. I appeared to be in a dirty building that had seen better days. As I looked around, I saw several women walking amongst the many hospital beds that were strewn haphazardly around the large room. I guessed I was in a hospital and tried to think about what had happened.

During the Crimean War I recalled being injured but my group had been separated from the rest of our forces and unable to get medical attention right away. By the time we were able to reconnect with them I was feverish and woozy. The medic had said I had an infection and wasn’t going to make it. Because of the fever I was fighting from the infection my memory seemed to be in pieces. The last thing I remembered was my superior officer, Colonel Spencer Montagu, biting me. He said something before he sunk his elongated teeth into my wrist. I simply don’t remember what he said or even if it had all been a dream.

All I could think about was Gwynydd; I hoped she was ok. I didn’t leave in the best of circumstances. She was furious when she found out I had joined the British Army.

Growing up, all we had was each other. While we weren’t actually related, she was the closest thing I had to a sister. We grew up in the Harverfordwest Union Workhouse in West Wales. A Workhouse was a horrible way to grow up because there were times that we didn’t have enough food or blankets to keep us warm. I joined the army because I knew it would probably be the only way I would be able to earn enough money to get both of us out of the workhouse.

“Looks like someone is finally awake,” came a soft voice from my left.

I looked over and saw a woman who looked like she was maybe in her thirties, with a white wimple covering on her head and a lamp in her hand.

“Where am I?”

“You are in Renkioi Hospital.”

“How am I still alive?”

“Your infection wasn’t as bad as they thought. We cleaned the wound and it began to heal.”

“Is Colonel Montagu around?”

“He was just here, but said he would be back shortly. He was also injured, so he had to come off the front lines. He’s still doing whatever he can to help our forces succeed. I’m sorry I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Florence.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Florence. How long have I been unconscious?”

“Three days; it was touch and go there for a while. Once all the shrapnel was removed and the wounds you suffered were cleaned, you started to do better.”

“Thank you for your help.”

“The thanks goes to the doctors. I only assisted with keeping the wounds clean. I’m going to go get you something to eat; you must be hungry by now.”

“I would appreciate it.” She nodded her head and walked away disappearing from sight.

***

After trying to eat what the nurse had brought me I must have dozed off, because I woke to see Colonel Montagu sitting at my bedside.

“How are you feeling, Rhys?”

“I feel much better Sir. Can you tell me why you bit me?”

“You don’t remember?”

“No, Sir. I only remember the medic saying I had a really bad infection and wouldn’t make it. I remember you saying something to me, though I don’t remember what it was, just before you bit my wrist. That’s the last thing I remember before I woke up here earlier.

He looked around, my guess was to see if anyone else was paying attention to our conversation, and when he saw no one was he said, “You’re now a vampire.”

“What do you mean I’m a vampire? Those are only legends.”

“No, we’re not legends. I’ll explain at another time. You’re being released from the army and sent home. I'll be travelling with you and everything’ll be explained then. You have a lot of new brothers and sisters out there now, so you’re no longer alone.”

“I’ve never been alone. I have someone back home who means the world to me.”

“Alright. For now, you’re not to tell anyone about this.”

“No one would believe me even if I did tell them.” He stood and patted my arm before he walked away. After he walked away, I looked at the ceiling and stared at it until I eventually fell back asleep.

***

I was in the hospital for a few days. I woke again as one of the nurses was making her rounds to check on us. I looked around and saw just how many men there were in the unit where I was being housed. I wondered when I would be discharged from hospital, since I had already been discharged from the army. I had not even been enlisted for very long, only a little over a year. The good thing was that Gwynydd would be happy to have me home. The bad thing was I had not earned enough to get us out of the workhouse like I had originally planned.

The nurse from the day before came over with some broth, bread, and water for me to eat.

“You’ll be happy to know they are discharging you today. You need to make sure you keep your wounds clean and if you show any sign of infection to get it looked after immediately.”

“Thank you for the care you have given me, Florence.”

Spencer’s POV

I changed several men who I thought would be a good addition to my growing army of vampires. I chose Private Rhys Banes because he seemed to be an intelligent man who followed orders and would become a good leader in my army. I had to be careful though because I had already changed several of the men I was serving with in Crimea. What I worried about was someone noticing the number of severely injured men who were suddenly healthy. Some of those I changed would not have survived their injuries or infections, but they were men who would be of great use to me when the time came. Over the last two hundred and forty four years, I had changed maybe a few hundred a year, because I didn’t want too many people who were suddenly not aging to be noticed. Thankfully, they weren’t all in the same location and were able to hide in plain sight.

Orga, my wife, had been with me every step of the way. In fact, she was the one that originally changed me. Her hair shone like a ray of sunshine; her eyes sparkled like stars in the sky, and her lips were the shade of the deepest red rose. She was my reason for living and with her help I planned to make the world a better place by ridding it of the disease and poverty strewn cesspools that had become more and more prevalent.

In 1832, I became a member of the Elder Council at the ripe old age of 212. Thankfully, when I look in the mirror I still look like the 32 year old man I was when Orga changed me back in 1620, with auburn hair and silvery blue eyes. I loved being a vampire, because I would forever look young. I still had my slim, athletic build that attracted both men and women to me, but I only had eyes for my lovely wife.

***

Rhys was discharged on November 12th, 1856 from the hospital in Crimea. He and about ten other soldiers I changed were all being sent home after having been discharged from the army because of their injuries. This left me in a bind as I would not be able to go with all of them, since they all lived in different parts of the United Kingdom. I decided that since it would be a few days before there was transport home, I would talk to them about the basics of being a vampire before they left.

Like I had with Rhys I told each of them that they were vampires and they had all taken it fairly well. They obviously had questions that I made clear could not be asked in the camp. It helped that they were used to taking orders from me as their commanding officer.

“Alright men, let’s go for a walk shall we?” I suggested after they had all been discharged from the hospital. We walked for several minutes, until we were far enough away that we would not be overheard by the humans. Thankfully it was dusk out, because I had not had a chance to give them the rings that would protect them during daylight.

“Sir, what’s going to happen when we get home? How are we going to feed? Will we only be able to drink blood?”

“Percy, one question at a time. First off, when you get home it will be just like normal. Don’t make a big fuss about this.” I handed each of them a ring similar to mine. A gold ring with an oval shaped opal in the center. It looked like an ordinary ring, the only difference was the size of the stone. “Secondly, you can eat normal food; drinking blood is important if you get injured, because it will help you to heal. It will also help keep you young. You won’t have to drain your victim to receive these benefits; a little will do the trick. The younger and healthier the person you drink from, the faster and stronger you will become. It’s important to remember that when you are in the throes of passion, you will more than likely have the urge to feed. It can be a very sensual experience.”

“Are we able to turn someone else?” asked Rhys.

“You have the capability to turn someone, but it is forbidden by ancient rights. I am what would be considered your father or head of the family, because I was the one who turned you. You are known as vassals and they generally are not allowed to change anyone. However, because we are trying to grow our species, I will allow you to turn one person, but they are not allowed to turn anyone until given permission. The only time you don’t need to have permission is if you meet your beloved and they are human. You are allowed to turn them when you claim them as yours.”

“How do we turn them?” Jamison asked.

“You bite and drink from them, but then give them some of your blood in return. Make sure that you seal the bite wound with your saliva.”

“What are our limitations?” Percy questioned.

“You are now allergic to silver, but it won’t be fatal. You’ll develop a rash that’ll be more of an annoyance to you then anything. The smell from garlic and onions will aggravate you, but you won’t be affected by it and you won’t be killed by it like the legends say. You will also be overly sensitive to light and strong odors. The light won’t kill you but it will cause some severe burns. These rings are charmed by a witch and will allow you to be out in the sun without getting burned.”

“Are we invincible?” Rhys asked.

“No, we’re not invincible. You can be killed by being beheaded or if the carotid artery or jugular is severed. If you are injured by a weapon made of black pine, you can be easily overtaken and killed by beheading. You must be very careful about who finds out about us, because the humans do hunt us. We are also natural enemies to werewolves and the other supernatural creatures out there.”

Rhys’ POV

I spent the next couple of days with Col. Montagu and the other guys before we left for home. Because we did not want to travel during the day, it took me a several months before I was back at the Harverfordwest Union Workhouse. When I got there I couldn’t find Gwynydd and I was worried about her. On the way home, I’d heard about some of the women from the workhouses being forced into prostitution and hoped she wasn’t one of them.

I spoke to several people we had grown up with and they suggested I go check in with the hospitals because they hadn’t seen her in months. They heard she was one of the ones who had become a prostitute, but they weren’t sure if it was true or not.

I finally found her in the hospital, but I almost did not recognize her. Instead of her shiny golden blonde hair it was filthy, stringy, and greasy. Her shining green eyes were dull, almost lifeless. She was not the same person I had left the year before. I could see bruises which had started to fade; scars on her arms and face from what I could only guess were beatings.

“Gwyn?”

She opened her eyes after hearing my voice and tried to smile, but her lips were so dry and they cracked that she could barely whisper my name. “Rhys?”

“Hi. What happened, sis?”

“Water,” she forced out, barely able to speak.

I went to get her a glass of water and brought it back to her. She started drinking slowly and I could see she was having trouble swallowing. When she finished, I went to get her more, which she drank a little faster.

“Thank you. That's much better. As to what happened, about three months after you left, I got into prostitution. It was the only way I had of making any money; no one would hire me and things had gotten pretty bad at the workhouse. Some of the men who purchased me for an hour began to mark me up for the fun of it. Unfortunately it began to cost me customers because no one wanted someone who was scarred like I’ve been. Then a couple of weeks ago, I started to get a fever and a cough. I figured I was only developing a cold and thought nothing of it. When it didn’t clear up and the fever in fact got worse, I started to get concerned. I developed spots on my chest and would become very agitated about the slightest thing. Steven, my handler, kicked me out and I came to the hospital, but they’ve not been able to give me a treatment, because they’re still trying to figure out what is wrong with me. They believe I have Typhoid fever.”

“If there was a way you could get better and never get sick again, would you take it?”

“Yes, but you cannot promise me that, so why would you ask?”

“What if I could?”

“Then I would say do whatever it is you need to do.” I looked around to make sure no one was watching, but seeing her disease was so contagious there were not many people in the room with her. I was surprised they let me in to see her.

“Give me your arm.” She reached her arm out to me and I took it into my hands. “Close your eyes for just a minute.”

She closed her eyes and I bit down into her wrist and drank some of her blood. “Ow! Why’d you bite me?” I licked the wound closed and bit into my own wrist and held it out to her to drink from. “I’m not drinking your blood.”

“Sis, you need to trust me. You need to in order to complete the transition.” I kept my wrist in front of her face before she finally gave in and drank from me. After a couple of minutes I pulled my wrist away from her and licked the puncture wounds sealed.

“Now, do you want to tell me what that was all about?” she demanded.

“Well, you see I was injured and had developed an infection. One of my superior officers did the same thing for me that I just did for you. He turned me into a vampire; you will go through a transition period where your fever will increase a little before it levels out, but you’ll sleep through it. When you wake later, you’ll be healed and feel stronger, refreshed. Your previous injuries will be healed.”

“I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if you’re right.”

“I guess you will.”

A nurse came over and said, “I’m sorry, sir, but you need to go so she can get some rest.”

“All right; I’ll be back to see you, Gwyn. Feel better soon.” I stood and gave her a kiss on the forehead, before I turned and left the ward for the night.

I was thankful I had found her and she was now safe.