Chapter 31

There were stacks of thick books in front of us, and we didn't have time to waste; I began looking through the first book that James handed me, skimming for keywords: Dhampirs, Sire, Death, Creation, anything that might help our dire situation. 

I looked at the book James was holding. It was bound with animal hide, and the pages were sewn in with sinew. Although the pages were handwritten in a language foreign to me, he seemed to have no problem deciphering the texts. 

I returned to my book, skimming through it, and found a section about siring a vampire. I read the text diligently. After reading the text once more, ensuring that I understood it correctly, I turned towards James, "How did Sylas become your Sire?". He paused, placing his thumb on the line in his book to hold his place. He sighed deeply, "I was not conscious for most of the process, but I drank from Sylas first. Sylas told me that after he drained my blood, he rested with me buried in the ground for three nights." 

James paused. "To my understanding, my human soul lingered in limbo during that time, searching for a demon worthy of inhabiting my body. Once the demon is found, a contract is made, and both my soul and the demon's spirit return to my body." 

He cleared his throat, "Sylas and I dug our way out of the grave, and the demon that now lives within me slowly feeds off my soul, taking a little more each day. Sylas said that this process takes three months to complete."

I interjected, "What happens when your demon fully takes control? Will you change?" James paused, "There is a possibility, but I would have to turn my humanity off; my mind and personality are the same; my soul will just be gone." 

I responded, "But Sylas still needed you to have a soul for the prophecy to work, right?" He answered, "Yes, my soul is still currently intact; you have to understand that newly turned vampires are volatile, and the prophecy wouldn't have worked if he had turned me closer to our meeting. Likely, I would not have the self-control not to drain you accidentally."

He paused, "Despite my preparation to become a vampire, I still accidentally killed two people early on in my transition. It's almost a given, as your bloodlust is insatiable in the beginning, and you can only feed from living humans; the blood bags aren't an option for the first month.

He sighed, "It takes time to have the ability to restrain yourself during a feed. I know more would have died if Sylas wasn't there to stop me." A worried expression left my face. The literature I read was confirmed through James' experience; the worry came because I knew I would also have to go through this transition if I wanted to live, stay with James, and raise our daughter. I didn't want to kill anyone, accidentally or otherwise.

James set the book he was holding on the table and reached out to me holding my hands in his, "What's wrong, Love?" "I wanted to confirm what I just read.", I said. My eyes started watering, "James, I don't want to kill anyone." He paused, "I can't promise that you won't, but I promise I will be with you at every feed, and I will try to keep you from doing anything you regret. It was never my intention to kill anyone that I fed from either, but it did happen, and their deaths still bother me." 

I pulled my hands from his and curled into a ball on the chair; picking my book back up, I buried my thoughts deep within and threw myself into the work. James followed suit, sensing my apprehension to discuss further. We both read in silence. I was almost at the halfway point of my book when I was jolted by the sound of James pounding his fist on the table.

Startled, I looked over at him, "What's wrong?" James sighed, kneading his eyebrows together between his fingers, "We can't kill Sylas." His red eyes darkened as he looked back up. He let out a long sigh and cracked his neck by adjusting his head. "What does the book say?", I asked. 

"It's written here that if the Sire dies, all those he sired will fall too.", he pounded his frustrated fist again. I thought for a moment, "Can you verify it?" I waited for his response, and when there wasn't one, I rephrased, "I assume that these were written by other vampires; they could have added things that were untrue in an attempt to protect themselves. That's why I asked you about your experience, to ascertain the truth behind the words." 

He paused, "That's a good point, but I can't test this theory." "You may not have to. We know the werewolves will come for me to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled from what Layla told me." I paused, "If a sire falls during the battle, his progenies should fall, too. Right?" James stroked his chin, "Yes, and we weren't going to attempt this until after the blood bond was completed."

James smiled, and his mood instantly changed, "We're a good team; how did I get so lucky to have such a beautiful and intelligent wife?" I blushed as he leaned over to kiss me. "Let's keep at it.", I said, not wanting to be distracted. We didn't have long, and there were so many books to go through. 

The rest of my first book was fruitless, and James didn't seem to be doing too well with his, either. I interrupted him, "We can put this one back." He smiled, handing me another from the stack. This book was appealing on the outside. The leather-bound book was stained a deep wine red and had a golden embellishment of a bat on the center of the cover; as I went to open the pages, I noticed their golden gilded edge and a gauffered lacey design pressed into them. 

I initially started searching for my keywords, but something else caught my eye: the header, a few chapters in "The Detailed History of Diablerie." Vlad Țepeș was the first recorded diablerist in this text. He grew his powers by draining other vampires to kill them. It didn't mention if the progenies of the vampires that he killed also died, so that could be promising. I pondered for a moment; it could mean the text that James read earlier was false. Or perhaps draining another vampire allowed you to become the sire of his progenies, thus increasing your own power. 

Either way, an ambush eventually stopped Vlad, and they beheaded him for his crimes. A vampire draining another vampire is akin to cannibalism and seems frowned upon in the community. I let out a short laugh; I guess they viewed us, humans, as cattle then. "What's so funny?", James asked after hearing my outburst. I responded with my own question, "Do all vampires view us as livestock?"

He chuckled, "When you say us, do you mean werewolves or humans?" Since I've never shifted, I didn't really think of myself as a werewolf, to be honest. I blurted out, "Humans." James responded, "In a way, yes. I can tell you we prefer certain humans over others just as humans prefer certain animals to eat." 

"What do you mean?", I asked. James chuckled, "Would you rather have a juicy steak or a hamburger? They are both from a cow, right? So, what's the difference?" I thought for a minute, "The steak is a different cut of meat, more expensive, and higher quality, right?"

James asked, "So when vampires are surrounded by cattle, which one do you think we'd choose: The younger athletic one, who eats a balanced diet and takes care of themselves, or the one that is sickly or diseased, or the one that uses drugs and whores themselves out, or the one that is morbidly obese because they sit around and eat junk all day, or the one that is malnourished and homeless."

My eyes widened at his question. "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but that's the reality. Sure, it's easier to prey on the last four I mentioned, but their blood tastes off. You'll understand one day when you are a vampire, but that's really the best way I can put it.", he finished. I nodded, understanding his harsh statement. 

He looked over at his watch, "Thirty minutes til sunrise. Let's pack these up and take them to our room; I must sleep soon." I marked my spot in the current book and placed it on top of a large stack to carry to the bedroom. James wasn't far behind me with his own sizable stack. He could hold them one-handed with his strength, and he raced ahead, opening the door for me. I set the books down on a nearby table and took the book I was currently working on, placing it on the nightstand on my side of the bed. 

James placed his books beside the stack and said, "I hope you're not planning on reading that right now." I looked at him, slightly confused, "Would the light bother you?" James chuckled, "Not exactly, but I would be hurt if you would rather hold some musty old book instead of me before falling asleep." 

I smiled at his remark and rolled my eyes playfully. I stripped down to my underwear before saying, "Alright, you better hurry up before I change my mind. I crawled into bed as James copied my actions and did the same. We snuggled up together, intertwining our limbs and settling in for sleep. James kissed my forehead before wishing me a good night. I would have done the same, but I fell asleep instantly as my head hit the pillow once we got settled, I was obviously more exhausted than I had initially thought.