Chapter 9: December 20th, 1610

Danek stirred in bed. Finally, his eyes opened as he was greeted by the morning light flooding from the windows. The bedroom of Lilith’s mansion had seen better days, but new life poured into it as each day progressed.

The man yawned as he finally turned his head to look at his beloved. Lilith was as naked as he was. She always rested on her stomach, her wings almost serving as secondary blankets. Her head pressed to her pillow as her horns had the threat of ripping into them by accident. However, it became a trend for him. His hand would caress her smooth back, feeling the membrane of her wings and then finally feeling her face. She was as gentle and beautiful in the slumber of her sleep.

However, the mundane of the morning was time well spent. Danek shifted from the bed and wormed his way out. It wouldn’t take long before his feet pressed against the cold floor.

“Ungh...,” Lilith groaned. Her eyes opened as she peered into him. “Going to read in the library again?”

“Good morning,” he replied. “Yes ... I can’t help it. You got plenty of reading material in there.”

“You should just grab a book and bring it back here.”

“You know that I read out loud. You would never sleep.”

She smiled. “Alright ... go read.”

Danek bent down on the bed and kissed her on the lips before he left the main bedroom. Upon stepping out onto the balcony, the man could see that the renovations to the mansion were gradual but effective. Today, the workers weren’t going to come in until the later afternoon. The interior seemed prettier, with the wallpaper being brand new. The floorboards and the door had already been replaced, with the ceiling and roof patched up against any leaks.

The man rubbed his shoulder, feeling the minor bruises and healing bite wounds that Lilith had inflicted in their nights of passionate lovemaking. At times, the woman had taken a fair share of blood, that Danek had to adapt to. Even this morning, his body was somewhat more tired than usual.

However, the last several months have become mundane for the man. He was somewhat trapped by the fate that befell him. While he could agree that he lived a life of luxury with a wife that most would agree with, the hints of boredom reigned.

He turned his gaze towards the central room past the bedroom. It didn’t take long before he reached it. Upon entering the study, he found the main chair and table where he would read as always. The room wasn’t enormous by any means, but the shelves still consisted of many books. This had become a source of entertainment for the man as he knew that information was the key to learning more about his environment.

He found the reading material in the library to be interesting. Some books included Hebrew texts on the bible and different iterations of biblical texts that he read. Some of these books were actually written by Lilith herself. She often had the material to help analyze what humans might have thought of herself or at least written about her. He knew better, though, and more in-depth than what was written, but he still checked it out. He was confident about one thing in his studies and that everything written about an individual, whether by a monster or ordinary human, is not always correct or entirely accurate.

Danek checked out books written about history in the last two thousand years, mostly on European history, where she generally lived. There were some texts on even Egyptian and the Middle East that he glanced at. Among the series of books that she had a significant source of information was the history of nearby Romania.

It didn’t take long before he found the book of interest. It was a book with blue leather binding on it but no title to it. He pulled it out of the bookshelf and opened its pages.

Danek flipped to the first page as he sat comfortably in his chair. He got cozy by grabbing the nearby folded blanket and wrapping it around himself to keep himself warm. He began to read the book to himself where time itself seemed to stop. It seemed to be written in a way that it was a self-proclaimed biography or journal of Lilith.

“I write this book not only for myself but for all future readers out there of who I am and what I am. I age the span of thousands and thousands of years. Give or take your belief, for I do not care. This is what I have written, and I will continue to write. I am what you call a blood drinker, a vampire that has chosen to write her life story and how to survive. I do not consider myself a monster for the most part, but my history is riddled with horrific actions on my part. My name is Lilith, the name that I have chosen to keep since I was ‘born’ into this world. I hide behind many other names to disguise myself amongst the humans and to discourage others from finding me and causing further problems. Why write about myself, then? Because I still need an outlet or way to reveal myself regardless.”

He flipped the page as he continued reading.

“I am and consider myself the first woman to walk the Earth, but there is little to no evidence that I can provide to verify that claim. As time progresses even, I am unsure if that story was true and was, in the end, just an experiment that went badly by one of the many deities out there.”

He decided to skip the pages as he already knew this part of her story. He knew everything that happened all the way prior to 1100 AD with her. He jumped to the passages as he continued to read.

“I am what many consider to be a vampire. I have hunger for blood and drink it to survive. I considered myself the ‘first vampire’ although as time passes, even when writing this, I have encountered many different varieties of other vampires out there that do the same thing that I do. I have categorized as many of my findings that I have seen out there as possible, but I think, in the end, exploring the world more and more is the only way to reveal creatures like myself. Some of the vampires I have been able to associate with have the ability to think for themselves, while others are mindless creatures that simply hunger for blood and flesh, nothing more. I will not hesitate to say that I killed men, women, and even children to satiate my desire for blood. While I grieve for my victims, I have tried to justify my actions with attempts on my life, but to no avail. After my second husband, despite everything that had happened, I went and tried to survive in the world. I was careful of where I hunted and who I hunted. I consider that vampires must reach a level of responsibility when hunting for blood.”

Danek thought about her written words as he flipped to the next page. She did not hesitate to admit her past actions.

“For example, at first, I did not care for what I killed, but in time, I learned that one can go after the blood of those that were near death, such as the elderly, instead of the youth. Some vampires claim that by doing such a thing, the blood is not fresh. I disagree. I also learned to use my abilities in time to hunt those that hunt others. Once, I decided to pursue bandits that preyed on men, women, and children on the roads. I essentially became a predator to other predators that would kill men and have their way with the women and children. This I encourage other vampires that I find along the way to use their powers to make the land a better place. I only discovered this sort of action by the early 1500s. It satiated my hunger, and the people lived better lives.”

Danek nodded as he flipped the page and continued reading.

“Does a creature like myself consider herself a monster? I am often left to think of that question too many times. In recent years I wrote this in 1550. To me, the desire for blood was needed more than anything, and it was kill or be killed. I usually hunted alone, but every once in a while, I would be in ‘packs’ with other vampires that I met in time. Do I regret my actions? Much like the monster question, I sometimes say yes to those answers. However, I have learned that there were ways to counter ‘the hunger,’ and it was in humans that I hunted.”

Danek was curious as to the other vampires she met during her life as he flipped to those pages that she cataloged. He would come back to those written pages in a few minutes.

“There are many types of vampires out there, both coherent and incoherent to a certain degree. I consider myself the coherent variety, obviously, even if my hunger and anger outweigh my judgment like it can. I consider myself the one-off variety vampire created by a deity and changed by another to make myself what I am. Other vampires were either created by various other deities, turned into one by other vampires like I can, or random events by nature itself to make them what they are. I consider myself to be the ‘European’ type of vampire that can fly, predate normally, have more freedoms in choice and actions, and share other qualities such as having the ability to walk in daylight with no major issue, although I usually prefer nighttime for many reasons. It’s not to say that I can get sunburned like any other human.”

The man flipped to the next page. He noted something that she wrote about the ‘turning others into vampires’ part.

“The Sampiro type of vampire I encountered twice in the Albanian regions. I became an associate with one where she often hunted in the graveyards. She never ate the corpses, obviously, or predated on the dead. She would instead wear a grave shawl for her body. She would then observe anybody that was grave robbing and attacking them, drawing their blood and letting them go to remember their ‘actions’ in hopes that they would not do it again. This vampire taught me that I could actually go after what some would consider ‘evil’ humans or humans that have committed bad actions to help make a better place for all. The biggest characteristic of the Sampiro type is that they are only seen at night and drink a small amount of blood only, like myself. I have seen one that even mocked and made fun of his prey by making kissing sounds as he approached his prey (I personally thought he was too unusual). They had the same glowing red eyes that I had.”

Danek flipped the page, reading the next vampire type.

“I have only encountered the Draugr once when I explored the northern cold regions of Scandinavia. He was not the pleasant kind of character coming from an area where the cold was heavy and harsh, even for a vampire like myself. The Draugr I tried to associate with smelled like shit. He was less coherent, but he still hunted like any other. I consider him to be more terrifying than the others that I encountered as his skin was solid black capable of altering its shape to fit into doors and then crushing a man at its full size. They were more like ghosts and spirits than anything else, but they still hungered for the flesh like anything else. The Draugr, whose name I never bothered to write, was invulnerable to almost anything thrown at it. I believe that I could have hurt it if I was pressed to it, but I did not want to take my chances. In his true form, he looked like a Viking covered in darkness. A human that he hunted actually tried to throw holy water and garlic, but it was, like most things, ineffective.”

She had drawn a Viking helmet that Danek noted as he flipped to the next page.

“Among the vampires, I genuinely enjoyed with were the Estries Vampires. Again where these other vampires originate from, I am still trying to figure out. I ended up finding a pack of three of these rather smart vampires in a forest near Istanbul sometime in 800 AD. This pack of vampires probably was the most successful and had the best idea for them. They would lure men to their cabin, where blood was traded for sex. The end result was not the death of the individual but a night of fun. It was the first time I saw true happiness in the human prey, as they would usually leave with a smile when they left. I admit that I spent a good hundred years with them because of their nice hospitality and ideas that they shared. I never found it true that they only predated on ‘the Hebrews’ only, as some humans have claimed. Their skin was paler than mine, and they shared a unique trait where they could shapeshift into cats. The whole blood for sex was all appealing to me, but my desire to settle down with a man instead of a one-night stand ultimately ended my desire to be with them.”

Danek’s eyes widened as he flipped the page.

“I encounter many different types of vampires out there. One type of vampire I have discovered was the Loogaroo found in the Caribbean Islands of the newly discovered Northern Continent, and I believe it to be other islands as well in the region. I encountered one that appeared to be an elderly woman. Her true form was that of one like myself and a werewolf put together. She might have been a one-of-a-kind, but I later found another similar to her. She could phase into smoke and go through windows. I ended up learning the possibility that she or they were possibly vampires and werewolves that were able to crossbreed to create a new variety like they are. It usually enjoyed her form as the old lady that she was. Strangely, I watched a case where she predated on a human that threw rice at her. The Loogaroo actually backed up in surprise, where I watched the human run away. I don’t think she hated rice, but I had to admit I considered it funny.”

Danek was enjoying her stories as he flipped to the next page, reading her next entry.

“Another set of vampires I encountered were the Vrykolakas vampires. These vampires that I associated with which were a pair of brothers in Greece that ate sheep meat that had been supposedly killed by a wolf or werewolf. Not wanting the meat to be wasted, they consumed it and accidentally turned into the forms that I knew them as. It was there that I learned that the ‘werewolf curse,’ much like the ‘vampire curse,’ was probable. They were essentially both werewolves and vampires exhibiting both characteristics. I felt sorry for these two men because they were coherent enough to know their actions, predated on human blood, and at the same time tried to find a ‘cure’ for their forms rather than trying to end their lives. They looked somewhat like me having gray skin with hair and partial fur and pointed ears. They were duly noted for their unusually long claws being massively large, capable of cleaving stone in one swipe. I wish I had a cure for them. I don’t know what is of their fates today.”

He flipped to the next page wanting to learn more about this “Vampire Curse.”

“The concept of the ‘Vampiric Curse’ is one that I am still putting together. I have reached an early conclusion that it is a curse inflicted by a vampire onto a human that will transform them into a vampire in turn. In all my travels and humans that I have personally attacked and bitten to even killed, I had seen no such transformations occur...”

Danek already knew about this, as he would already be one. He kept reading.

“However, it was during my time in Romania with the Vlad family that I was able to pass the ‘curse’ to others under unique circumstances. This was done under instruction and a test run that I was able to do before. I bit and drained a human woman of all her blood till she died. Then I went and buried her and performed a ceremony with the body waiting for one full day. The curse was successfully passed as she revived and clawed her way out of the dirt. She looked like me, having light gray skin; bat-like wings, but her eyes were yellow and black. She had no horns on her head, but her desire to drink human blood and was able to change back and forth to human, an ability that even I still lack. Those ‘converted’ vampires could, in turn, be able to pass the ‘curse’ to other humans when done correctly. I further refined this where I didn’t have to bite the victim in order to pass this trait.”

He flipped the page as he acknowledged her words.

“Most of the vampires that I have seen, in general, are those that look similar to me. They are what I refer to as the ‘Romanian vampire’ that generally have pale white skin with bat-like wings. They have yellow and black eyes and cast no reflection in the mirror, much like me. They hate sunlight being able to go freely outside at later times in the day when the sun is usually dawn or setting. They can do short-range teleportation jumps like I can but leave a magical footprint when they do. They have a set of fangs similar to what I have, and their desire for human blood is all but apparent. Their ears are pointy and can take up their original human form to hide amongst the humans. Their personalities can vary from being friendly to outright homicidal, just like any human can potentially be. I will be personally honest that I did play a role in helping create this ‘race’ of vampires.”

He turned the page and took a deep breath before he continued.

“There are a few ways that a vampire can be killed. It is inevitable that vampires may have to resort to killing one another when one gets too out of control. I will only reveal so many ways that it can be done for fear that my own written words can be used against my own demise or those that I consider friends. The main way for a vampire to be killed is by another vampire. I have personally seen this and even killed a vampire of my own once to serve as an example to others. Another way for a vampire to be killed is by a deity or some mythical creature. I have only heard these stories but have never seen them personally, but it is possible for a divine creature to kill a vampire. Other mythical or magical creatures can include anything from ghouls, werewolves, dragons, and anything else that can come to mind. Magic and magical weapons can also be just as effective.”

“Dragons...,” Danek remarked. “They really exist?” He flipped the pages back to the different vampires that she encountered and kept reading.

“It is my hope to continue to travel the Earth to find what other vampires are out there. I am afraid that most of my knowledge is constrained to the areas of Europe, but my recent encounter with the Loogaroo has taught me that there are more out there. I would like to see what other vampires exist in the newly discovered continent. I want to explore the legendary vampires of Africa that supposedly shoot lightning. I want to go further eastward to meet the Chinese vampires, such as the Jiangshi, that bounce around hunting their victims. Supposedly there are more of us, just in different shapes and sizes. Are they friendly? Are they incoherent like some of the others I have seen? Are they just beasts? This remains a mystery for me.”

“Lightning vampires...,” he commented as he turned the pages and continued to read.

“As for being a vampire, there is no ‘cure’ for my condition. I try to find ways to cope with it. In the beginning, I considered it survival and a necessity, but my exposure to other vampires has taught me that there are good people and bad people. My explorations and long life have taught me that the best solutions come from the people we are with and enjoy being with. My first and second husbands didn’t serve as the best examples in my life but influenced my personality greatly. I was essentially a monster that had no care for what I killed and ate. Only in time have I seen that there are alternatives to my actions that I have previously mentioned. I’ve learned that teas can greatly help my condition. I experimented with various blends to discover that peppermint or cinnamon mixed with a high amount of iron typically found in blood deadens my hunger. I have been trying to refine this mixture, but I often find the taste horrible and difficult for vampires to stomach. It also serves as a light repellant against other vampires in case humans want a way to keep them away.”

He turned the page. The reading was making him want to be with Lilith again.

“Another supposed ‘cure’ that I have discovered for myself is love. When it all comes down to it, love can actually make us what we are. I discovered this over time with the stories of deities that would take up a human for a mate. Finding another vampire allows us to cope together. Love does amazing wonders. My third husband was a tribute to me changing into what I am now, and I can never forget his sacrifices, both mentally and physically. When my hunger took over, he was there for me. I realized that something as simple as that was all I needed. I went through the process of researching ways to help him cope with the blood loss, including tonics and herbal medicines that would allow him to restore his blood quicker. Sex was a light form of cure that the Estries were onto, even if it was an extreme measure. I believe all these combinations are the best form of cure and coping strategies in a vampire’s life.”

Danek closed up the book as he stood up and returned to the shelf to put it away. He folded up the blanket and put it back near the table. The desire to be with Lilith again reigned in his thoughts. It was almost as if he had been splashed with a dose of cold water. He left the study and returned back to the main bedroom. Lilith was still there, sleeping peacefully. He pulled the blankets and climbed back onto the bed. It didn’t take long before she stirred awake and looked at him.

“Done so soon?” she asked.

“Let’s just say...,” he said as he embraced her. “That I love you.”

It didn’t take long before she followed suit, holding her arm out and hugging him. She wrapped one wing around him while they kissed each other passionately on the lips.

“Phew...,” Danek remarked. He stepped over a heavy brush as the mansion disappeared past the third layer of trees. Nighttime had grown so dark that only the full moon and starlight provided any natural light. Anything else had to be illuminated by Danek’s lantern.

The winter night was as cold as ever. The hint of snow seemed to press against the man’s boots. Lilith walked in her familiar black cloak, but this time, she didn’t bother to wear her mask and gloves. Meanwhile, the man was better dressed for the cold.