Everything was dark and cold. For an impossible amount of time, Alex drifted in nothingness, alone without even his thoughts for company. Slowly, so very slowly, sensation began to return. He could feel the tips of his fingers and toes, then his arms and legs. The feeling spread inwards, moving up his body, until eventually it reached his head and his eyes flickered open.
It was still dark and cold, but Alex felt soft sheets around his naked body. A gentle swaying motion rocked him back and forth, in what he realised was a bed. He was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling in a small, wooden room.
"Where am I?" he asked out loud, his voice coming out as a dry whisper.
"In one of the elven wagons, the downstairs bedroom," Vanessa's voice drifted out of the shadows.
Alex looked over at the vampire, where she perched uncomfortably in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall. Despite the darkness, he could make out every detail of the expression on her face. Lined with worry, but with a subtle hope shining through.
"Three days' travel south-east of the temple," she continued, "We managed to get away just before the first remnants of the Wildling army reached the pass."
"Three days..." he muttered, rolling over onto his back again and staring blankly into space, "Is everyone okay?"
Vanessa chuckled slightly.
"Anna had a bet with Liz you'd ask that before asking what happened. Everyone is physically fine, aside from Anna's injuries which are recovering well. As for what happened, you might want to try running your tongue over your teeth. Gently."
Blinking in confusion, Alex did as she suggested. His tongue didn't move far before running into an elongated canine tooth. He had fangs.
"I wasn't even sure it would work," Vanessa said softly as he lay there in shock, "But you were dying, and fast. I had to try something."
"You... turned me?"
"I did," she nodded, "It was either that or start digging a grave."
"Thank you, I guess," he said with a small smile.
"How do you feel? Hungry at all?" she asked, watching him cautiously.
Alex took a moment, examining how he felt. He didn't feel much of anything at all.
"Not particularly," he shook his head, "Just cold."
"Strange," she muttered to herself, "I was ravenous when I woke up."
"Maybe it's different because I wasn't exactly human to begin with?" he suggested, sitting up in the bed, "Where are the others?"
"I'll go fetch them," she smiled weakly, drifting towards the door, "Don't go anywhere just yet."
The door opened just a crack as Vanessa slipped out, but the small amount of light was painful to Alex's eyes. He screwed them shut until he heard it close again, then looked down at himself. Aside from being pale and cold, and lacking a pulse, he seemed in remarkably good condition. A perfectly healthy corpse. He ran his tongue over his new fangs again. They were going to take a bit of getting used to. The rocking motion stopped, and he heard many sets of footsteps from the central common room.
"But we agreed you'd go in last," came a loud voice from outside the door. Elizabeth, he recognised. "It's too risky with your blood," she was saying.
"Fuck that, fuck you, and fuck him especially!" was the shouted reply that could only be from Anna.
Before anyone else could say anything in argument, the door suddenly burst open, flooding the room with light. Alex flinched, instinctively hissing at the painful rays, and no sooner had he recovered than Anna strode across the room and punched him square in the jaw, knocking his head to one side.
"You fucking FUCKER!" she screamed, tears already streaming down her face, "You absolute BASTARD! Why would you do something so fucking stupid?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing," he growled, rubbing his jaw. He'd bitten down on his cheek with the unexpected punch, which had hurt a surprising amount. It didn't seem to be bleeding at least, and a probing tongue couldn't even find a wound.
"You could have got in there with me," she said in something in between a snarl and a sob, "There was enough time."
She stomped with her good leg like an angry child, flailing as she wildly gesticulated. Her right arm now had a bandaged stump at the wrist where her hand had been.
"There might not have been. I made a call, chose the certainty of one of us surviving over the risk of neither," he said sternly.
More figures appeared in the doorway. Elizabeth placed a hand on Anna's chest to hold her back, but joined her in glaring angrily at Alex. Behind them, Talia loitered nervously, her eyes red and tired. Meanwhile, Vanessa was watching him like a hawk. A tear dripped off Anna's chin and splashed onto the floor.
"We nearly lost you," Elizabeth accused, her voice shaking, "Can you imagine what it was like, hearing that explosion and knowing you were in it? I've seen pieces of butcher's meat with more life in them than when we found you."
"I'm sorry," he said, averting his gaze, "I had to do everything I could, even at my own expense, and I'd do it again in an instant. For any of you."
"Oh sure," grumbled Vanessa, "Just forget I'm even in the room."
"If you weren't on the list before, you are now," he said, his eyes snapping up again and boring into hers, "You saved me, and I won't forget that."
She met his stare for a moment, then turned her head away, swallowing heavily.
"Can I...?" Talia said, looking at Vanessa as she took a half step towards him.
"...I think he's safe. Maybe."
Despite the uncertainty of the response, Talia took it with enthusiasm, practically leaping onto the bed and throwing her arms around Alex. She squeezed him tightly, nuzzling into his neck. He gently held her in return, feeling a little self conscious about his cold flesh.
"I'm so happy you're still with us," she sniffled, "Don't worry about the other two, they were just scared. We all were."
"It's okay, I deserve a bit of a telling off after that. I'm sorry for scaring you."
He kissed the top of Talia's head, feeling the subtle tingle of the elven matchmaker magic. She gave a happy little gasp, pulling back to give him a dazzling smile despite the shimmer of tears in her eyes.
"We're still a match," she whispered, "I didn't even dare to hope."
She darted forwards, kissing Alex passionately on the lips, and he responded happily. Their tongues danced with each other, the elf teasingly licking his new fangs to show her acceptance. The bed shifted slightly as Elizabeth sat down next to them.
"It wasn't fair," she murmured, laying her head on his shoulder, "You were meant to be invincible. I never thought I'd see you like that."
Talia withdrew, running her fingers through her friend and lover's ginger hair, then guiding her head upwards. Alex quickly got the idea and kissed her too. A shorter one, but no less loving than the kiss with Talia.
The bed sank even more as the heavier form of Anna joined the group. Her face was shining and damp, and without a word she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was wet, and salty. A fresh wave of tears burst forth.
"Don't you fucking dare leave me like that again," she growled.
Alex simply reached out an arm to draw her in, pulling all three women into his embrace. For the first time since he had woken up, he felt warm. From his shoulder, Elizabeth drew in a shuddering breath as tension drained from her body. She looked up and over to the room's other occupant.
"Do you want to get in here, Ness? You've more than earned it."
"You don't have to kiss him if you don't want to," Anna chuckled in between sniffles.
Vanessa took a hesitant step towards the group hug, her eyes wide in shock and confusion.
"That shouldn't be possible," she murmured, seemingly to herself.
"What shouldn't be possible?" Alex asked, his brow furrowing.
Vanessa took another slow step forwards, then another, then extended her hand. Reaching in between Talia and Elizabeth, she gently lay her palm on Alex's bare chest.
"Your heart is beating," she said in awe.
Alex looked down, and sure enough there was a tiny movement of Vanessa's fingers, in time with an unseen rhythm. His skin was flushed with a rosy glow. He no longer looked like a corpse.
"I'm alive," he whispered.
*****
Alex cradled his badly seared hand to his chest, grateful he'd been cautious rather than just stepping out of the wagon into the sunlight.
"Okay, definitely still a vampire then," he grimaced. As if the fangs and red irises didn't give it away.
It had been a terrifying experience, watching his skin burst into flames, leaving a blackened and puckered scorch mark behind. Alex watched curiously as it started to shrink before his eyes, the injury healing at a visible rate. He tried to ignore Daine gripping the handle of his axe and muttering to himself from across the room.
"I suspect what you are is something entirely new, Captain Murray," said Thrak, also examining his burnt hand, "The place you are from does not have vampires, and we can count the number of mech pilots in this world on one hand. To the best of my knowledge, there has never before been a nonhuman with the vampire curse."
"I don't understand," Vanessa muttered in the background. She had been following Alex around since he woke up, observing him like a naturalist. It was a little unnerving.
"You've been saying that a lot," Alex pointed out, flexing his fingers. The injury was almost entirely gone already.
"That's because it doesn't make sense! You're a newborn vampire, but you aren't even slightly feral. You have fangs, but you don't feel the hunger. You're vulnerable to sunlight, but your heart is beating. You're healing like I do when I'm full of Anna's bloo..." she trailed off, her eyes going wide. With a blur of movement, she was suddenly next to Alex, inhaling deeply through her nose.
