Chapter 2

We left that night leaving the city. Bethany would have objected to me making a succubus and that I had endangered her, but I could not refuse Desda. I cared for her far too much to deny her anything and would keep her safe.

Taking to the road we traveled the ancient world visiting cities and towns across Europe into Asia. Never had I dreamed of the different peoples and places I would see.

What I noted the most was strange legends speaking of evil spirits who drank the blood of their victims. Obviously they were not one of our kind if such creatures even existed, but could they be something like us?

Focusing my thoughts upon them I searched for something strange or out of place. For all the stories of blood drinkers disappearing into the night it is surprisingly easy to find them.

Unlike the minds of most humans they are extremely violent even in how they think.

Following those violent thoughts I located them in a grave yard. I know that part of the legend they definitely got right.

I should point a number of things that are also true about them. Killing a blood drinker with a stake while it hurts won't kill, unless that stake totally took out the heart.

Your best chance is to take out the head or chop them to pieces if you are going that route. Burning them with sunlight or fire is a lot more dependable given a choice.

I don't know why but blood drinkers for some reason are very flammable. You could light those suckers up with a match.

Naturally vampires hate fire. They are paranoid anytime an open flame is anywhere near them.

As far holy things go yes they do hurt and also burn them more like acid. Like fire they avoid them, basically a lot of things with blood drinkers involves avoidance.

Initially they are a boring bunch of shut-ins. That is until you learn to have a little fun with them.

As a small coven of blood drinkers gathered in the catacombs below I slipped in among them easily as a thick mist and before they knew I was beside their leader.

Solidifying I smiled as they all jumped back, and I took pleasure in their surprise. That is definitely not easy to do.

Despite all their weaknesses, blood drinkers are very aware of their immediate surroundings. I would compare their level of hearing to that of a dog, if not better. Why does it seem that I have no love for blood drinkers? The answer is simple: at this time they thought themselves our betters.

Standing there among them, I quickly became aware of this fact, as I sensed their feelings towards me. In each of their hearts was some bit of ugliness. All vampires who drink blood; blood drinker or psi vampire possess it. What is a psi vampire exactly? In me you see one type. My kind are but one of five, four if you lump us in with the Queen's people, but personally I prefer not to be attached to the Queen in any shape or matter. Sadly I have gotten ahead of myself in my explanation, but suffice to say that between the psi vampire and a blood drinker there is a major difference: we have the option of not drinking blood, and tend to be much more powerful. For now this explanation will have to be enough, as I get further into this story, you will be able to further distinguish us from the others.

With that let us return to the matter of my first meeting with a group of blood drinkers. Now keep in mind at this time, I had no knowledge of the information we just discussed concerning other psi vampires. My sire was something of a recluse, no doubt that is why she felt that it was possible to make in the first place, and the Queen not notice. While these blood drinkers were trying to figure out how I appeared out of nowhere, I was taking stock of a library of information that was being presented to me. Images and voices filled my mind and I immediately isolated them in the back of my mind so I could keep my conscious mind aware of what was happening around me. This proved a wise decision as I felt movement to my left, and I was forced to dance out of the way as a blood drinker lunged at me. Watching him wrap his arms around midair, I decided quite correctly that I had just worn out my welcome and decided to beat a hasty retreat.

Even some distance away I could hear the thoughts of the blood drinkers as they searched for me, to no avail. Now safely away from their grasping hands, I was able to sift through interesting first accounts of blood drinkers seeing other psi vampires. To the blood drinkers, meeting a psi vampire registered as a tingle of energy, as they are not as sensitive as we are to the presence of other supernaturals, but for me it was enough to catch my interest and I decided to meet these Vankari, and Revenant. The Queen for obvious reasons, I had no interest in seeing.

Once you are aware of what to look for, then it become that much easier to find whatever may lay hidden, ask anyone who has lost of a pair of keys or something like that. Granted this is a most basic analogy of what I was trying to do at the time, but it's the best thing I can come up with for the civilized human mind to understand. If I were to use another explanation I would say it was instinct, yet something more; you could direct it and focus it as well. I can't really describe it better than that at the moment.

"Listening" or "Looking" for that tell tale presence that would act as my guide to finding these individuals of interest, it didn't take me long to fine tune it. At first it was like they were all around me, but after focusing on key voices, I managed to find the ones that were not far from my hiding place in a forest, which was some distance from a city that lay to the north. Don't ask me to measure out the exact distance, because frankly I was never that great in dealing with math, and time really is relative. For you I would suppose it might have been a few hours away, but then again I'm just guessing because for me I was there in the blink of an eye. Focusing on one of the voices I wished myself their and my mind and body made it happen, and before you ask, I didn't run the whole distance.

Only blood drinkers are forced to run. With us psi vampires will, purpose, and energy create motion. If I want to go to a nearby fast food restaurant or to a bar, I don't have to run or drive across town, I think about where I want to go, getting there is my purpose, and if I have the potential energy stored within myself to do, then the mind transfers matter from one point to another. Ok, maybe I have a few science books over the years, but you can't really blame me: I did live through the Renaissance which was considered the Age of Enlightenment. If I didn't try to educate myself after going through all that, it would practically be a crime. My only is that my humble attempts at educating myself will help you understand my world a little better. Remember what I have just told you is a key element of a psi vampire's world. When you understand how quickly we can move you can better understand a reason for our, dare I say arrogant behavior.

Let's get on with the story before I lose a few of you. I spent time in a classroom once, and found I hated it when my teacher had a long lecture we were all forced to listen to. Now where was I? Ah yes, my first meeting with a Revenant. In this particular case I chose the best possible being to pop in on. The Revenant in question was equally surprised to see me as the blood drinkers had, but his reaction was quite different.

"Hello, who are you?" Revenant said dressed in the clothes of a young nobleman, and body of a young nobleman. Did I forget to mention a few key details about Revenant? Well, I'll give you a quick explanation so I won't wear the story down: all Revenant prey on the evildoer. This means your bad people, criminals, and otherwise are what they feed on, and far more interesting: they not only kill said bad people, but also "wear" them. Now please understand, this is not "wear" as in skinning like a human would do to an animal. No, this is quite different. Imagine a body that dies, and the soul has left. These bodies are essentially dormant, and the Revenant become their new occupants. Enter their body like as a spiritual entity, they possess and heal the host's flesh. What happens next is that they now have their very own human body with all its protections. You may have heard that vampires hate sunlight. Even for those of us that can stand in its rays without being burned, there is the annoyance of light sensitivity. Revenant don't suffer from either ailment. The spirit within controls the body as you would, but they use it as both a filter and as a tool to touch and interact with the outside world. As a result, Revenant have a tendency to "shop" for bodies as a human would for a nice suit or dress. It is all about vanity, as they cannot truly die by any normal means. Sure the body can be rendered to the point where a Revenant is forced to vacate their happy home, but if you think they won't be back, then you are making a very foolish assumption. For now I would say that is enough information for you to understand the basics of what is going on at this point in my tale.