"I know that a lot of what I'm going to tell you tonight is going to sound impossible, but trust me, anything is possible. To start off, I'm much older than I look. I have lived so long, I have forgotten my true age. I wasn't always this thing I am now. I had my whole life ahead of me. I was going to become a lord once my father passed away. I had land to inherit and responsibilities. A vampire took that all away from me. We didn't even know what vampires were. I don't think the word even existed back then. Anyways, back to the point.
I was out late that night; you could almost say I snuck out, but I really didn't. I just failed to tell anyone where I was off to. I was in the woods, walking along the river, trying to clear my head. I had so many thoughts racing through my head. My father was sick, and his last day was coming too fast. I knew how to run the place, I knew all my responsibilities, but I wasn't sure I was ready to make everything official. I needed to find a bride and be ready to have children as soon as possible, but I was a free spirit – I still am. I didn't want to be tied down. I wandered too far into the woods; I knew my way back, but something was keeping me from going back. Before I knew it, a woman literally pounced upon me, knocking me to the ground. I hadn't heard anyone following me, and she knocked the breath out of me. I had no idea what was going on, my mind still groggy from being suddenly knocked down. She didn't explain anything. I was lying on my back and she was straddled on top of me, and that's when she bit me.
I felt my heart beat slow, felt the life being drained out of me. I was powerless to stop it. It was torture to keep my eyes open, so I let them close. I was dying, and all I could think about was ‘I don't want to die this way'. I knew I was close to taking my last breath, and I had accepted my fate, but then something happened. I felt liquid upon my lips. She had cut her wrist and pressed it to my lips. My mouth wrapped around the wound, drinking greedily. I couldn't stop myself. I don't know what made me do it. I'm still not sure I even did it consciously." His eyes are closed and he pauses to take a deep breath. I can't take my eyes off him, can't stop listening. I want him to go on, but it's his story to tell and he needs to tell it at his own pace.
With his eyes still closed, he continues, "The next thing I knew, I was sitting up on my own, life flowing through out my entire body. She didn't kill me, but she did something to me. I was stronger, I could see better. It was as if we were sitting there in the middle of the day. Everything was so clear. It was then she finally spoke to me. She told me of what she was, what her kind were. There were more just like her. I shook my head in disbelief, yet I was living proof.
‘The reason I made you is because I was weary of being lonely all the time. I needed a companion, craved one. I have been watching you. It was your beauty that first attracted me to you, and as I grew to know more about you, I loved you all the more. I needed you with me. I needed you more than my own existence. You are mine now, and we shall share eternity forever.' Her voice had entranced me. She told me of the power I had, more than just my strength. I had received the power to read minds, even to be able to control minds. There were so many ‘gifts' she gave me, but I needed to learn to use them and to control them.
I was confused but fully enthralled in everything. I would never die, never get sick, never grow old. Even after feeding, I would be able to spend a bit of time in the sunlight, and as the years go by, I'd be able to spend even more time tolerating the light. She was very strict with making sure I kept my word not to tell anyone of what I was, but what hurt me the most was the fact that she made me leave my family. I couldn't even be there as my father drew his last breath. I couldn't even say goodbye," the pain in his voice was very clear. "I didn't love this creature, but I figured I could try. Nothing about this situation felt right, and as soon as she taught me everything I needed to know, I left her. She was growing bored of me anyway," he laughs softly.
I finally let out the breath I've been holding. His past explained a lot about what had been happening between us. It all began to slowly make sense. He tells me of the other powers he acquired as time went by, and it all fit in. The feelings of being hypnotized, of his reading my mind, so much just made sense. Inside, I'm terrified, but at the same time, I'm not.
"Vincent, what is the point of telling me all of this? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you feel you can confide all of this to me, but why are you telling me all of this?"
He opens his eyes, and there appears to be shock in them. Was something said that I didn't get? He looks down at his hands, almost as if he's afraid to look at me.
His voice is very soft as he speaks, "I was hoping…I know it's horrible, but I wouldn't be asking you to give up much. Things are so different these days; you wouldn't have to give up everything you loved and cherished, and we'd be together. I need you. I know I sound like the bitch who did this to me, but I know what I feel for you is real. And I can see it in you when you look at me. You're my other half. I share my soul with yours…."
"Wait," I cut him off. It hits me even harder than his past. "You want me to….You want to turn me into….You want to change me….You want me to become a vampire?!" For some reason the words feel odd coming from my lips.
"Taylor, I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to do. I told you, I want you to be happy. I was just letting you know what I wanted. If you decide that you don't want to have anything to do with any of this, I will let it be. If you decide…" his voice trailed off.
"If I decide what, Vincent?"
