First Meal

"You want to know why we're all pale?" Jessie clarified. "Well... it's because the sun is our weakness."

"Weakness? What do you mean?" Aurik asked with a frown on his face. As far as he knew human beings needed sunlight in order for their bodies to remain healthy, but for Vampires it was the opposite?

"Well, the sun affects all Vampires in a negative way but it doesn't effect us all in the exact same way. The higher you have evolved the more intensely it effects you, so for soldiers like us it just makes us feel like we're drained of energy while also making us physically weaker.

For knights the sun causes them mild amounts of pain across their skin, like they're burning, while also giving them the same effects that soldiers receive. I don't know how the effects worsen after that but I do know that it gets significantly more problematic, to the point where only knights and soldiers even consider stepping foot in the sun. I actually remember the first time I went out, I thought..."

As Aurik listened to Jessie ramble on, he thought back on what happened to him earlier in the day. He had woken up with tremendous amounts of energy but just before arriving at the restaurant his energy started to sap away, only to return once he went inside.

'So the reason I started to feel like that was because the sun had risen high enough to reach over the buildings and touch my skin... I don't understand why the sun affects us like this and by the sounds of it neither does Jessie, but I'll have to keep it in mind in the future. I'll have to make sure it stays a secret as well, for when the time comes to enact my plan.'

Aurik smiled slightly and nodded his head as he imagined what he had planned for the future. If Jessie wasn't looking at him expectantly then he would have taken some time to concretely decide what he needed to do going forward, but for now he pushed the thought aside.

"It's certainly inconvenient but there's no point complaining about it." He said with a sigh.

"It's not so bad, most of what we do is at night anyways." Jessie shrugged lightly before a smile spread across her face. "Oh, I just thought of something that might make you happy! Come with me!"

Jessie grabbed onto Aurik's arm and began leading him out of the room and through the various hallways in the building. He was typically not a person who liked to be touched without permission but he still needed her to answer his questions and couldn't afford to make her upset so he decided to let it go this time.

After a few minutes of walking around Jessie dragged Aurik into another large room, not too different in size compared to the previous. The main difference was that this room was filled with tables and had almost 60 people inside. Even though the number of people wasn't small the room didn't feel crowded and still had plenty of open seats scattered around, some of the tables were even empty. 

Aurik looked around and noticed that although this was clearly a cafeteria, there was no food in sight. The only thing that was being served were metal goblets with red liquid inside and he immediately identified what that liquid was. The moment he entered the room his nose was assaulted by a sweet smell and he knew right then and there that there was human blood nearby, seeing the goblets just confirmed it.

Jessie ran over to a counter on the left side of the room, grabbed two goblets and ran back over to Aurik before handing one to him and practically forcing him to sit at the nearest empty table.

"You must have already had some before since you aren't a fledgling anymore so you should know how great it tastes! I thought you seemed a bit down and this was the only thing I could think of that might cheer you up." Jessie took a sip from her goblet and smiled sweetly with a satisfied sigh as she placed it back down.

Aurik looked down at his own drink and couldn't help but think about how crazy it was that he needed to drink blood, or rather, that he wanted to. The sweet smell was far more intense now that he held a glass directly beneath his face and he couldn't hold back any longer.

With a large gulp the crimson liquid flowed down his throat and the most amazing taste assaulted his senses. He had only intended to take a sip but found himself chugging down every last drop that existed within the goblet in just a manner of seconds.

Jessie let out a small chuckle as she watched him behave like a starved animal. She remembered behaving similarly the first time she drank blood so it didn't surprise her in the least, as a matter of fact she was like that every time she drank blood during her first month.

Without realizing it she had gotten lost in her memories for a moment and by the time she focused on Aurik again she realized that something was wrong. A deep frown appeared on his face as he placed his goblet down after emptying it's contents and looked over towards Jessie hungrily. She could already tell what was about to happen and her worries were confirmed when a slight glow appeared behind Aurik's eyes.

She wanted to stand up and back away with her goblet but Aurik moved faster than she could think and lunged over the table with his right hand. She knew that Aurik couldn't be allowed to take her goblet and so Jessie reacted in a rather violent manner.

As soon as Aurik's hand was about to touch her goblet, Jessie's own hand reached out and grabbed onto his wrist while twisting as she stood to her feet and moved around the table.

In less than a second Aurik found himself pinned on the table with his arm being lifted behind his back and a great deal of pain spreading through his shoulder. That very same pain was what brought him back to his sense and allowed Aurik to realize what had just happened.