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.