Round Three

Halloween Bash

Well this is great. Just flaming marvellous. They’re gonna kill me, I just know it, even if I didn’t mean for it to happen. As for facing Chris now, well, I just don’t know. All I want to do right now is hide, away from him, away from everyone. Locked away in the safety of my bedroom my mind races, despair and all sorts of other emotions bubbling up inside. One thing’s for sure though, I’m never throwing a Halloween party ever again.

Oh, it started off just fine. With Halloween approaching and the children getting older, I had a word with Chris about the idea of a party. His eyes lit up at the thought, and we were about to arrange things like babysitting until one of them had said their friends were having a kids’ do at another house. We had to make sure the adult hosts were vampires so they could keep Joey and Gina fed, but after that we were safe in the knowledge that, just for a change, we had the entire house to ourselves!

We drew up a list of people to invite, not too many as our house isn’t that big, but enough to make it a proper get-together. On looking at the list once we were finished, I started to idly wonder how many would need to dress up. Chris certainly wasn’t, but even with being green and having fangs, I thought, well, may as well look the part.

Chris stayed up way past his bedtime to help me get everything ready. I had to send him back to his coffin before he passed out, applying the finishing touches by myself. Then it was just a case of kick back in a chair while waiting for the guests to arrive – I was tempted to have a bath, but one glance at the nearby clock told me it would be taking too much of a chance. As it was, the light peeking into the room was changing in shade, and before I knew it the doorbell rang. One quick flick of the stereo remote before answering and we were all set.

Dancing wasn’t all we did of course. A classic game for Halloween is apple-bobbing, something I was a little nervous about at first, but caved in after a while. That went down a treat, although I decided to linger in the background while others played. I did feel a twinge of regret, wanting to play with them, but seeing the water slopping around was enough cause for me to keep my distance.

“Come on Andy, have a go!”
I broke into a cold sweat, my heart beginning to pound as I politely refused. Evan took my hand and pulled me over to the table while I continued to bury my worried thoughts, and started to flinch as the sillier guys started splashing each other with the water.
“Scared of getting wet Andy?” one of them teased. My eyes widened as a hand moved to the barrel…
“NO!!”
Splash!!

With my trousers in rags, my top soaked through, and the only thing keeping me upright being the vampire’s ability to fly, tears of frustration and fear began to well at my eyes as I angrily flicked surplus water from my hands, my breathing shallow as time seemed to come to a standstill. I dared not look at anyone, but in my confused state of mind I had to exercise extreme control to prevent my next request becoming an outburst.
“Will someone please get me a towel?”

Chris moved to aid me as I scrubbed at my scales while others just stood there, probably in shock. I could hear similar thoughts racing through his mind too, and once my legs returned to normal I hastily wrapped the towel about myself, ran to my room and crashed onto the bed, wondering whether or not to cry. I did eventually, in fits and starts.

I’ve been there ever since, exhausted from the tears and the emotions running high from that incident. I don’t know whether the party’s ended or not, and to be perfectly honest I don’t care. I can’t blame them of course, they didn’t know, but that doesn’t stop the resentment I feel right now. I don’t even want to see Chris, I couldn’t look him in the eye. He’ll have all sorts of questions waiting, and as much as he has the right to ask them, I’m dreading the time I’ll have to answer.

Round Two

Nightwish - Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean

A snowy owl above the haunted waters
poet of ancient gods
Cries to tell the neverending story
prophecy of becoming floods

An aura of mystery surrounds her
the lady in brightest white
Soon the incarnate shall be born
The Creator of the night



Deep dark is his Majesty's kingdom
A portent of tomorrow's world
There shall the liquid give Him power
The red-eyed unborn lord



Fatal embrace of the bloodred waters
The cradle of infinite gloom
The spell to master this Earth
Carven on an infant's tomb

"I will die for the love of the mermaid
Her seduction, beauty and scorn
Welcome to the end of your life
- Hail the Oceanborn!"



"Disgraced is my virginity
Death has woven my wedding dress
Oh, Great Blue, breathe the morning dew
For you are the cradle for the image of god"

"Brave now, long rest is sweet
With me here in the deep

"I Prayed for pleasure, wished for love
Prayed for your..."

"Never pray for me!"



"Who the hell are you for me
But a mortal dream to see"

"This apathetic life must drown
Forever just for me"

"Leave me be
Leave me be
Leave me be..ee eeee... e"



"From cradle to coffin
shall my wickedness be your passion

We shall come to set the dolphins free
We shall wash the darkened bloodred sea
Our songs will echo over the mountains and seas
The eternity will begin once again in peace

Round One

Past and Present Life

So, I suppose you want to know how I got into this mess… How long have you got?! Oh okay, I’ll try to keep it short, but no promises…

It all began when my f… erm, brother Chris tried to kill himself. We were fifteen at the time, so we were still living at home, which given the situation we were already in was very hard. It affected Chris badly, only because he wouldn’t tell anyone – not even me – we had no idea just how much he was suffering inside. It still brings tears to my eyes just thinking about that day; we were both feeling bad, but then we didn’t know why. Chris had gone into one bathroom but never came out, and I got so concerned I called on our parents to find out if he was okay. Dad had to break the door down, but as he opened it he screamed – as did I when I saw him.

I’d never been so glad our parents are both vampires – Mum had to bite him just to make sure he didn’t die. We were still mere children though; we have an Uncle who was bitten at fifteen, and it was a long time before he finally bought himself a cure so as to have a chance to reach adulthood. I didn’t want the same to happen to Chris, so I bought him a cure which thankfully he drunk.

Thankfully, but only at first – what we thought was a stomach bug turned out – amazingly enough – to be morning sickness! We were both quarter alien thanks to our Dad, or rather his Dad who impregnated our then-human Grandma. Men of our Grandfather’s race can get pregnant, and it got passed down the line – as we found out the hard way.

Further down the line, Chris was losing the colour in his cheeks. Dark circles appeared under his eyes, despite the amount of sleep he was now getting. At first he was diagnosed with anaemia, but as our due date drew nearer he found it harder to exert himself, and one day he just collapsed into Dad’s arms.

After extensive tests, the doctors found out that cure I bought him mutated his unborn babies, basically turning them into dhampirs. Genetic vampires, that don’t have a vampire’s weaknesses but still need to feed on blood. While they were still growing inside Chris it was his blood… and two years later, it was mine.

Given the idea of vampirism had never appealed to me, mainly because of the stories I’d hear from our parents and Uncles, I prayed her condition wasn’t catching, but of course it was. I last slept just after that incident yet still grew older, unlike my now vampiric brother – he missed it so much he asked Dad to sire him. Meanwhile it took me a good month or so before I could look my baby daughter in the eye, and longer to adjust to this new way of life.

A little note before I continue; Chris and I are exceptionally close. You may have noticed I nearly referred to him as not my brother but something else – my fiancé. Think of us now how you will, but if you want to know everything I have no choice but to throw that in first.

The age issue soon became a growing thorn in my side. Chris stayed eighteen, yet inside and out I continued to mature. A good few months after our twenty-first birthday it was really dragging me down; all I could think about was the vision of my body ravaged by time while Chris remained in his prime. I felt increasingly insecure, to the point where I feared losing him one day because I’d grown too old. I didn’t fear death – dhampirs return as vampires when they die, and that fact alone became the answer that slapped me in the face. I feared growing old? No point asking to be bitten – I doubt that would even have worked – so the only other option for me was “suicide”. With the regenerative properties of a vampire though, the range of methods were really narrowed down. Then while out with our children for a day by the sea, it came to me. I still needed to breathe air, therefore I could drown. Trying to lose the rest of my family at nightfall so I could make that happen was easier than I’d thought, and before long I was drifting out to sea, enjoying the buoyancy of the water while I allowed my mind to wander.

The waters claimed me sooner than I’d expected, but I welcomed their embrace. Darkness engulfed my being, but when I woke I learned very quickly that something didn’t fit. I never felt any inkling that I was changing, no darkness flowing through my veins as had been described by Chris. My legs felt strange when I came to on the bed of the ocean, and I was greeted with a collection of faces peering down at me, telling me through thought that “I was lucky they found me.” Why? I was a vampire wasn’t I?

Uh-uh. Ageless I may now be having lost my mortal life, but vampire I ain’t. I may have been if those people hadn’t found me, but according to them, if a merman or mermaid finds you drowning in the sea you become one yourself. I got the fright of my life when I realised this had happened to me, despite already being a dhampir.

Sadly it didn’t change my diet, although in a way I’m glad as it makes it easier to conceal this new part of me – the merfolk don’t want anyone knowing of them. I can’t even tell my family, which is very hard as I usually tell them everything. It was bad enough when I eventually returned home to find Chris waiting for me – trying to give a reason you were absent for so long, to a creature who can hear thoughts, is no easy task.

I often wonder if he or our dhampir children suspect anything, but I know better than to let my guard down. At least most vampires in our town are recognised as friendly, and people know which ones to trust and which to fear. Dhampirs are slowly becoming as accepted, although there is still some confusion over how best to treat us – to that I just say, treat me the same as you did before. I’m still the same Andy, the only differences now are I have a secret to guard, new friends that I can’t visit as often as I’d like and an unusual urge to swim, or even just to soak in the bath. The latter is the hardest to explain as I inherited Dad’s lease of energy, or lack thereof. Worse still, there’s the issue of my legs turning into a fish tail when they get wet, and our kids have the habit of having water pistol fights, to say nothing of when it rains. My only comfort is that I can still enjoy the sun on my skin, although I miss my sleep as well as pizza. Mind you, either way I’d never eat that lovely dish again. One thing I don’t regret about the whole sorry mess though; the fear of losing Chris is now finally in the trash where it belongs, and no matter what anyone thinks that’s the single most important thing.

Application Round

Hi guys! I'm Andy Turilli, I'm 21 and in the third year of a long-distance music degree. You may gather from my colour I was never 100% human to start with, but recently things have got a little more complicated. At birth I was quarter alien, now on top of that I'm a bloodsucking fish - or if you want to get technical, a Dhampir/merman cross. I never asked for this way of life; I miss my pizza like crazy sometimes, but especially when I have to go in search of the only food I can fully digest now - blood. The nastier the owner, the more I can live with myself.

Oh well, gotta laugh. Rarr!

This is how you'll usually find me:

Normally I can laugh off my predicament, but dinnertime always gets me down. Some like this way of life so they can help people, but how they can stomach the scenes we witness I still can't figure out...

Every cloud has a silver lining though. My secret double life is what keeps me going; the scenery is beautiful, the people are great and the overall lifestyle is so relaxed and free. It's a shame I don't have much time to visit.