Bloody Truth

Chapter One: Eric

I awoke from my peaceful black dreams to a world cloaked in darkness. But what startled me was not the near absence of light, but the slight shade of red almost kissing my nose with a sweet, feathering touch. As my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, it was revealed to me that I was surrounded in this light, red, silky cloth.

Underneath me, I could feel a layer of rich soil that, as I curled my fingers into it, was composed of many organics. Leaves crunched and crumbles. Bugs scattered across my fingertips and arms. Pine needles bit into the palms of my hands and backs of my legs as I shifted lower. A content sigh escaped my lips as I sank lower into the deep earth.

A part of me knew that this should be repulsive - to have critters crawling across my skin and dirt settling into my clothes - but instead all I felt was happy and full.

I inhaled deeply, only to realize that I hadn't been doing so before now. To my surprise, I was instantly bombarded with millions of smells. There was the almost overpowering, very homely scent of the loam under my back. Dust motes that filled my little world, and the smell of bird droppings coming from just outside my dark cocoon.

And there was another smell too, very faint and I couldn't quite put a name to it. It was a familiar smell, but also a frightening one. It brought chills down my back.

The feeling, however, did not last. I was soon pulled away by what I heard. 

But, what distracted me the most was not the soft pitter-patter of the residual water droplets falling from leaf to leaf; nor the creaks and moans of the walls adjusting to the slow pace of the Earth's dance. It wasn't the skitter-scatter of the bugs moving through the crunchy fall leaves either. 

Instead, I was distracted by the thick, quick thuds of a small heart beating rapidly. Once I focused on this sound, many more similar sounds began to accompany it in a harmonious tune of pure temptation. 

Just the mere thought of a fresh, tart but salty taste of a sweet, fat, juicy rabbit caused me to throw open the lid to my coffin and race to the door. 

My throat thick with pain and my stomach roaring with a hunger deeper than I'd ever felt before, I barely noticed the world around me in my frantic, famish-driven dash to the outside. 

I had to hunt.

In only moments, I was able to single out the slow, easy beat of a usually large house cat. Perfect, I thought to myself. 

I didn't even bother trying to stalk it and instead pounced quickly. My vision became hazy in my thirst and I didn't hesitate in sinking my teeth into the animal's soft, tender flesh.

As I lapped greedily at the cat's blood, the red haze cleared from my vision. I could think more clearly now. In horror, I dropped the cat carcass and watched as it fell limply onto the leaf covered trail with a heavy thud, autumn leaves crunching under its weight.

What had I done?

Memories swirled in my head, each one clamoring for my attention so that none of them made any sense. 

That's when two things became known to be certain about me. 

My name is Eric, and I am the monster that many fear at night. I am a vampire.

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Hey, y'all! Thanks for giving this book a chance! I've had this story idea for a bit, so I hope you enjoyed it.
I'm going to be completely honest with you in saying I don't know when or if I'll be posting the next chapter.
However, if you're willing to wait then I welcome you!
Anyways, feel free to shoot a comment or vote if you like this chapter. The more feedback I get, the more encouraged I feel to continue! :)