1339 A.D.-Paris

It was night, complete darkness except for a few oil lamps. Giselle laid on a mat on the dirty floor in the makeshift medical tent. She coughed. People all around her were sick too. Physicians ran all around the places, trying to tend to the lesser sick.

Suddenly a shadow fell over her. A man squatted down next to her. She looked up at him.

"Louis..." she said and then coughed again.

"I'm right here," he said. "Right here, mon amour."

Giselle looked up at the man she loved. He was perfection to her. This man was her everything.

"Louis, I'm dying."

"I know, mon amour. I know."

"I'm scared of dying. The plague, the Black Plague, it's taking me."

"Giselle, do you believe in fairytales?"

"What do you mean, Louis?"

"Faeries, werewolves, witches, mystical beings... vampires."

"They're children's stories, Louis."

He smiled at her sadly. "Are they though?"

"What?"

He looked around, making sure no one was paying attention to them. Then, he smiled at her, a wide, toothy smile. But Giselle could only gasp in shock. She coughed again.

When she was recovered, she asked quietly, "How? It's not possible."

"And yet, here I am. Haven't you ever wondered why I haven't gotten sick? It's because I don't get human diseases."

"What are you?"

He smiled lazily. "Mon amour, I think you know the answer to that."

She breathed low, "Vampire."

He nodded and shifted from squatting to kneeling beside her. "Giselle, I can make you live again. I can make you into what I am."

"No," she protested fervently. "No."

"I can get rid of this sickness, but I will only do so with your consent. It's entirely up to you."

Giselle began to think about it.

Could it really hurt, she thought. I'm going to die either way. At least Louis's way lets me 'live' again.

"Alright," she said at last. "I want to be like you."

"Be warned, mon amour. You know the myths. They all apply. The blood, the stakes, the speed and strength, it's all true."

"What about sunlight? And garlic?" she asked.

"Garlic really only annoys us. It bothers our heightened senses. And sunlight, it gives us headaches. We can go out in it, as long as we can tolerate it. Some of us wear clothes to protect ourselves from the sun's rays. It lessens the pain. And the older you get, the less pain you experience."

"Okay," she nodded. "Will, will it hurt?"

"What?"

"The... bite."

"A little, but I'll try to be gentle."

"Alright."

"Lean your head back and to the right, Giselle. Calm yourself, because being tense will only make the sensation worse."

She did as she was told.

Louis proceeded to lightly move her head for better attachment. He kissed her neck, where her jugular vein ran. Then, his fangs pierced her vein and her world suddenly went black.