A Darness Returns to Light

"Carver, what does she mean? What happened to you last night?"

the ship's computer asked, privately.

Carver ignored Oscar's questions as he was almost as confused himself.

"A vampire?

Really

? I though that tired old bodymod style had died off and been buried. Been some time since I've seen someone take on that form. The cool skin is an interesting new touch, though." Body styling, however, didn't explain his dreams. Being able to hack an NSN implant, though theoretically difficult at best, did not include being able to access a deactivated one. It also didn't explain her visible excitement when he took her hand in his: the dilated pupils, almost imperceptible gasp, the slight flaring of her nostrils as if she were smelling something.

"Bodymod? Do you mean you can

create

a vampire?" Anyessa replied. She sounded surprised and excited by the idea, her arousal tempered by considering the concept.

"Oh, no. Just the look. Basically the classic pale skin look and retractable tooth implants. No bloodsucking. For food, at least." He smiled as he said the last part. "Those who went for that style definitely did NOT look like you. You are far more attractive than any of those I have met, and they didn't like colors other than black. Green suits you quite well, I must say.

"I am definitely

not

some faked-up wannabe," She said, with a slight sneer. "Of that you can be certain: I am 387 years old."

Carver refrained from responding to that statement. At his age, stats didn't usually impress him.

"Please, lets move to the upper deck, this is just the storage bay and systems area. It will be much more comfortable there."

She smiled again.

"I find the situation a bit disconcerting. Do you feel safe with her here?"

Oscar asked privately.

"You think she actually

is

vampire? I think it should be fine. I still have my fieldsuit implant, which I can activate if needed, and I also have you at my back. Plus I would think she would likely have attacked me by now if she is what she says. Let's just take everything at face value and see what we find. What if that really is Varley 3, and it did somehow end up way out here and have people aboard? Research both vampires and Varley 3 for me, please."

As they walked the short distance to the grav-lifts, she had her own questions.

"Your ship is rather small for deep space exploration. Is there a station or command ship nearby?"

Carver laughed.

"So you have definitely been disconnected from the rest of the human population for a little while. We don't need such things with the new hyperspace drives. Travel takes mere seconds to get just about anywhere, as long as there is an exit/entrance point mapped out. That's what I am doing, actually: finding what is at the other end of various newly mapped nodes. Here we are. Have you used a grav-lift? I would guess not. Just step in and you will be carried up automatically. Would you like me to go first?"

"Sure, I will follow you."

He stepped into the lift and was carried up the short distance to the main deck. He glanced down as he was being lifted, and saw her look up as he rose above her.

"Are you a Scotsman?" She asked from below.

"Eh? No. Why do you ask?"

He watched as she stepped into the grav-lift. She looked up at him as she was carried up.

"You aren't wearing any underwear," she replied, smiling broadly enough to show the tips of her fangs.

"Oscar, don't you say a word!"

"Tough. I am not sure which is more annoying, her flirting with you, you flirting with her, or you not wearing underwear."

"You are just jealous."

"It looks like I am a bit overdressed for our meeting," she continued as she came face-to-face with Carver, her smile mirrored by the glint in her emerald eyes.

"Hardly, I didn't even think to change into something a bit more formal than my working clothes, though usually I don't bother with dressing at all."

"Now that would have been more than acceptable, as I was naked myself until contacting you. We vampires don't have much need for clothing other than for decoration."

"And you are quite well decorated, Anyessa," Carver replied, smiling suggestively.

"Get a room, already,"

Oscar interjected privately.

"I think you will be fun to fuck in person later," Anyessa said, matter-of-factly "If you feel comfortable doing so. I thoroughly enjoyed our time last night."

She stepped out of the lift, placing her face mere centimeters from his.

"I definitely want to know about that," He said, staring down at her breasts, which were confoundingly NOT popping out from under her dress somehow. "but I think first you should tell me about how you happen to be this far away from most of civilization, and with an entire space station to boot. Then you will have to convince me that you honestly ARE a vampire." He brought his gaze slowly up, meeting her eye-to-eye. "Then I think we can fuck."

"Wonderful! I think my entering your mind last night is a good start at proving what I am, don't you think?"

"It might," he replied with a grin. "First, let me give you a quick tour on my ship, then we can sit down and talk more comfortably, and less formally. This won't take long."

Carver turned around, and Anyessa stepped beside him. The main deck was square in it's layout, 15 meters per side. Each side contained two compartments that formed a perimeter around a large communal area containing a collection of sofas, chairs, and tables at the end nearest the lift, and a round table with eight chairs at the other. One compartment diagonally opposite the lift and closest to the table was recessed from the rest, forming an alcove.

"Going counterclockwise from our right, there are three cabins, followed by the galley." He pointed out each as he went from where they were standing. "The next is the medical and fitness room, followed by the command center, my cabin, then finally to our left is the entertainment room. And that is pretty much it. Oscar is comfortable for up to 8 people, but mostly I prefer to travel alone."

"Solitude is a nice thing, sometimes. My little boat is the only place I can truly be alone most of the time."

He motioned her towards a sofa.

"Please take a seat," he offered. As she sat, Carver took a seat in a chair opposite her, a coffee table between them.

"I guess I should begin with a little about me," Anyessa began, "before getting into how Varley 3 ended up out here with a population of vampires on board."

"You mean there are more?"

"Yes, there are 400 of us living there."

"All, ah, vampire?" Carver asked,

"Yes," she answered, "our number had grown to that after a time."

Carver's eyes widened.

"Yes, there were humans among us originally. Let me tell you the story."

"I still have to be convinced that you are what you say you are, regardless."

"Fair enough, I am sure I will prove this to you rather easily after I tell you what happened to us."

"Are you taking notes, Oscar?"

"I was piloting a supply barge, delivering a load of soil to Varley 3, which was nearing completion. I was getting a tour of the farming section from one of the engineers, he was hot and I was hoping for some action before I had to leave. He was very obliging, and I was just pulling his clothes off when the explosions happened.

"Poor Jeffery pulled his pants back on, and we rushed back to the docking bays only to discover that something was terribly wrong. My ship looked fine, but we were no longer in Earth orbit. Actually, there was

nothing

visible outside -- it was pure black. Not any refections or sunlight or stars were visible. Nothing.

"Captain Siglow soon made an announcement for us all to meet in the sports stadium, so we made our way there. There were about 600 people there, far short of the expected 10,000 the station was designed for when complete. Most were construction workers or research scientists. I heard whisperings about loosing contact with Earth and endless random speculations about what happened to us on board. When she came on-screen, the captain basically let us see for ourselves what had occurred, at least what had been observed and recorded. What she showed was small satellite rupture into a large, flat disc of light that was getting brighter as we watched. Suddenly, it exploded, the short blast expanding oddly from only one side of the disk, directly at Earth. We watched in horror as Earth almost instantly was turned into a black and red cinder. Then the video switched to a different view. This one showed the Varley 3 on a collision course with the back end of the exploded satellite, the feed ending just as the station began to contact the disk, entering some sort of hole, not passing through it."

"It was some sort of early warp drive rupture, actually. We don't know to this day if it was accidental or deliberate, but warp technology was still in very early development back then," Carver interjected. "You must have been sucked into the actual warp field."

"Captain Siglow surmised as much. But we had no idea of how far or how long we would stay in it."

"How long did you end up spending there?"

"17 days."

"My god! That must have been a rough ride."

"Actually it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The field was stable, so the ride was actually smooth -- until it ended. The captain and her staff kept people busy after the gathering in the stadium. Work crews returned to the tasks that could be finished, systems were brought online, while parties, dances, and orgies were planned. So basically we danced, drank, and debauched our our way through the weeks.

"When the field finally broke, I was working in the farms, with Jeffery and a few others. Jeffery and I were plowing the soil I had delivered into place, while a crew was overhead finishing the lighting arrays for the planting fields. The tractor we were inside was on autopilot, so he was plowing me, just about ready to explode inside me. Then suddenly it was like an earthquake had hit, the entire station shook violently, the tractor actually was tossed around and we were both thrown from the cab at some point. I could hear the decompression alarms in the background as I lay on the ground. I could see Jeffery nearby trying to stand up. I also watched as the support beam that was above fall and impale me.

"Now, some things were fuzzy after that, but I do remember the weight of the beam suddenly going away, and the work crew standing around me. Two of them were restraining Jeffery for some reason, while another was kneeling over me, whispering into my ear.

'You've lost a lot of blood, such a shame, it all going to waste,' she said. 'I can save you, but nothing will be the same afterwards...'

'Well, what are you waiting for, then,' I replied before she could finish. 'I would like to be able to finish fucking Jeffery without any rude interruptions.'

"The worker, Susan was her name, smiled and turned to look back at the rest of the crew.

'I think we are doing the right thing here.' She said. Turning back to me, I could see her fangs as she went for my neck.

'This may hurt a bit, but I don't think that really matters right now,' she whispered to me as she bit me.

"I did get to finish with Jeffery, but it was about a month before he, ah, warmed up to the idea when I finally convinced him I wasn't going to eat him and that nothing would explode when he whipped his dick out around me."

"How many vampires were aboard the station, then?" Carver asked.

"Around fifty, it turns out. 95 people died when we arrived here, but 30 of us who were badly injured survived by being turned."

"And the rest?"

"Most eventually chose to be turned at some point as it became obvious we were here for the long haul."

"And those who didn't choose?"

"They lived normal lives and died normal deaths."

"So what do you use for a food supply now," Carver asked. "I am assuming you have some sort of alternative like synthetic blood, or livestock?"

"Yes, it is mostly synthetic, there are few animals of any sort remaining as the need for meat went away."

"So how much longer are you going to sit and chat? I have some data for you,"

Oscar interjected.

"It wasn't too hard to do some basic snooping, actually. Her body temperature seems to be, well, room temperature. And I cannot hear any sort of heartbeat like I can with you. I can't gather too much more information without physical contact. But as Occam's Razor suggests, if it sounds like a Martian and farts like a Martian....."

"I get it, I get it."

"Anyessa," Oscar said aloud, "if I may, is there anything we can offer you as a refreshment? Carver isn't being very host-like here. We do have some syn-blood on board, it should be palatable since it is based on the captain's own blood."

"You do? That would be wonderful! Carver is being quite hospitable, though he has gone a bit too long without trying to get into my pants. A pity as I am not wearing any, and neither is he." She said, looking directly into Carver's eyes.

"A pity, yes. The way he's looking at your chest, and the the way you are looking at his neck seem to suggest you both are taking too long. Carver, why don't you go and get that blood and heat it up for our guest. I am guessing 37 degrees would be the best temperature?"

"Yes, that would be very nice, actually."

Only mildly embarrassed, Carver got up, excused himself, went the short distance to the medical room retrieved the syn-blood, and stepped into the adjoining galley to heat the package.

"You do remember I am actually trying to avoid this sort of thing on this mission, don't you?"

he asked Oscar, silently.

"I do, but this is not some virtual avatar, imagined situation, or sharing of sensation you are chasing, this is real flesh and blood we are talking here. Well, maybe that's not 100% accurate, but you get the idea. Physical contact is NOT the addiction you are trying to break here."

He grabbed a couple of glass mugs from the cupboard, poured himself a beer from the tap, then took the now-warmed package of blood and emptied it into the other glass.

"Let's see what happens with this,"

he told Oscar as he returned to the lounge area.

Anyessa stood as he arrived and offered her the mug.

"If you don't mind, I think I would like to get more comfortable." She said, reaching one hand behind her neck to undo a clasp on her necklace, which promptly fell off of her neck, taking the dress with it. She had already removed her earrings, which were now resting on the table. Finally, she removed her jeweled headband, set it down, then tossed her head to loosen up the dense, red curls from their previous confinement. This action had the obvious and desired effect on Carver, who didn't event attempt to hide the fact that he was intensely focused on her now-freed and jiggling breasts.

As she took the mug, he got the chance to study her some more as she sat back down. She was tall, again slightly taller than him, as most women were. She wasn't gangly like most, though. Her body had good proportions with each other. Her breast weren't over-sized, nor small, as was her ass. She was neither thin nor stocky. She was just utterly, and in Carver's modern body-modifying age, exotically average. Adding in the natural color of her hair as well as her freckles made her the most stunningly sexy person he had seen in decades, probably longer.

He sat down, again opposite her, and offered a toast:

"To lovely red-headed vampires, and to the exciting times you and your community will have being able to reconnect with humanity!"

"So you are convinced now of what I am?

"Let's just say I am giving you the benefit of the doubt," he replied with a grin.

"Cheers!" she replied, clinking her mug with his.

As she took a small sip of Carver's syn-blood, her eyes became wide with surprise.

"You say this is

synthetic

blood?" She asked.

"Yes, it is. The process has improved the past few centuries. It is also produced from cloned marrow cells from my own body, so it is much more like real blood than a synthetic, really."

"This tastes way better than anything we have been able to produce, it's has even better flavor than some people I remember tasting. This is amazing!"

She proceeded to drink the rest of the red liquid, tilting her head back to chug it all in one go. As she set the mug down on the table, Carver noticed her pupils were dilated and her head bobbed a little, as if she were a little dizzy.

"That was amazingly delicious," she said. As she leaned back from the table, her eyes closed and her head tilted back again. "It has been so long since I was able to drink something so wonderful, so intoxicating as this. It is just like real blood. Oh, god!"

She was in some sort of state of ecstasy, her head still bobbing slightly, her hand moving over her naked body. One hand began squeezing and kneading her breasts, the other making it's way between her legs. She moaned loudly as Carver sat there, dumbstruck.

Then, in a flash, she was upon him. With amazing strength and speed, she lept over the table and was in his lap, one hand behind his neck as she began to lick his neck, the other searching for and quickly finding his cock. He didn't have much chance to react, but he did. She was jolted off of him and onto the floor next to the chair as he mentally activated his fieldsuit implant, it's shimmering energy enveloping his body to protect him from possible vacuum, solar radiation, and in this case, sexy vampires.

"I am so sorry!" She cried, "So so sorry! I didn't mean to jump on you like that. What is that you are wearing? Oh my god! I didn't think synthetic blood would arouse me like that, I haven't been this wet since the pair of twins in the zero-gravity lab, oh my! Why are you so shiny?"

"That's just my fieldsuit," He replied after deactivating the implant. "It's basically a built-in force-field spacesuit, good for spacewalks, sudden de-pressurization, and fending off hot chicks with fangs."

"But I don't want to harm you at all, I just want to fuck you. I

need

to fuck you!" Her voice had gotten a little lower, and a lot huskier. Her enlarged pupils now glowed red, and her nipples were also swollen and hard.

"But I don't want to get bitten," Carver said, the reality of what she was and it's theoretical possibilities having just bitten him on the ass, almost literally.

"I won't, I promise you," she replied as she stood up next to him. She grabbed his shirt and ripped it open and tore it from him so fast it was hard to see it happen.

"I

really

don't want to be bitten."

"I promise I won't, I promise!" She said, pleadingly. "This is pure, unadulterated sex, I have already had your blood. I have never,

ever

drunk from someone without permission. I am no rapist!"

"You promise?"

"I promise!"

Just as quickly as before, she pulled off his kilt, revealing his erection despite his concerns.

"Really?"

"YES!"

"Well, ok then..."

Before he could even finish his words, she had picked him up and tossed him over the table and onto the sofa. He landed on his ass with his legs splayed apart, the plush cushions dampening his landing with minimal bouncing. She was already in the air, having jumped over the table herself, her wide, smoldering eyes and exposed fangs causing Carver to give a little cry of fear as she landed in front of him in a crouch, her face in his lap mere inches from his erection.

"Hello there," she said, to his cock "Nice to see you again."

She took it fully into her mouth, giving it a couple of strokes before releasing it and lifting her face to meet his gaze, a fearful look still on his face.