Chapter 3: Embrace 1-3

I walked through the door into what looked like some kind of abandoned garage. Trash was scattered all over the floor, and on the other side of the room was a rusted old yellow car that had the tires taken off of their rusted frames. Behind the car were piles of boxes stacked as high up as the second floor, which was separated by a metal railing. I climbed up the boxes, which wasn't too hard due to them being packed full for some reason. It looked like whatever business had moved out was still packing. Once I got to the top, I saw a conveniently placed Swiss army tool. I figured if I was going to be a badass creature of the night, having a lockpick on my person wouldn't hurt.

I walked down the metal platform and turned left, seeing Jack looking out of the window. I wondered how he even got there without me seeing him, and even faster than I did. At some point, I would have to ask him how he did that and, more importantly, if I could do that.

"Come down here." He whispered. "Stay away from the window!"

I raised an eyebrow. "You're right in front of the window, though-"

"C'mon, kid." He said, waving me over.

I walked to him, standing in front of the window.

"Shit." Jack hissed. "It's a Sabbat raid."

"Sabbat? I asked.

"Yeah, the Sabbat. They're uh… Eh, Christ, I was hopin' to spare you this shit 'till later." He muttered.

I frowned. "Is it that complicated? What is a Sabbat?"

"Uh...the Sabbat… well, eh, they're mostly mindless bloodthirsty assholes - that's all you need to know for now, alright?"

I nodded. I had a feeling there was a lot more to the story than that, but Jack proved to be a pretty upstanding guy so far; well, if you ignore him encouraging me to drink blood. I trusted his word and would act accordingly. It wasn't like them shooting and howling outside did anything to disprove what he was saying.

"Got it. So, what's up with the World War 2 reenactment outside?" I asked.

"The Sabbat got wind of the gathering here, so they figured they'd raise a little hell and put a little heat on the new 'prince'." Jack explained.

"Right. About that…" I said. "What's the prince a prince of? Looked no different from any local politician to me. If not a lot younger."

"No time for political rundown." Jack replied. "Job one? Get outta here alive. Sabbat might be mindless, but they hit like a Mack truck, like raging savages - nothing a fledgeling like you wants to mess with."

Politics. Of course. It was always something I tried to stay away from in life, but it must've been some cruel joke that my death would include politics too.

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked.

Jack was going to answer, but then he put a hand over my chest and backed me away from the window, saying, "Shh. Heads up, back away."

I did as he said, but still kept looking through the window. I saw two thugs walk into the alley, each toting an honest-to-god AK-47, dressed in what pretty much amounted to rags. Someone else ran into the alley after them, and he looked...well, not human in the slightest. His skin was ash gray and his hair was stringy. I could see his glowing red eyes from here, and his arms were a yard long each, with both hands sporting long talons. He looked more like a beast than a vampire. He even howled as he entered.

LaCroix's bodyguard walked into the alleyway from the other side, his stride confident as if he'd done this a thousand times before. One of the thugs began shooting their AK into the air while howling, which was a stupid strategy as it didn't even make LaCroix's bodyguard flinch. I guess Jack called them "mindless" for a reason. Then they finally turned their guns on the bodyguard and began shooting, apparently relying on the "spray and pray" method. The bullets all either missed or the bodyguard just ate them. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. He didn't even flinch as he took the bullets.

Silently, he held out his hand, a blue light engulfing his palm. As the thugs shot, I saw two wolf-shaped beings come from absolutely nowhere, their visages engulfed in a ghostly blue light. Despite their ethereal appearance, they were apparently solid enough to tackle the thugs to the ground and bite their heads off, causing them to burst into dust on contact. The bestial-looking one looked back and saw his backup was gone. Instead of doing what any smart person would do - the smart thing being running away - he decided to charge straight at LaCroix's bodyguard, teeth bared and claws out.

The bodyguard didn't even flinch. He did a quick gesture with his hand, the blue light engulfing it yet again. A swarm of either hornets or locusts came out of nowhere, sweeping across the alley and stopping the bestial-looking vampire dead in his tracks. He tried to swat at the insects, but they literally ate at his skin. Eventually, the damage must've been too much, because he turned to dust too.

Holy fuck. I thought. The bodyguard took down those guys without even moving an inch! He didn't even unsheathe that huge ass sword he had. He just did a few gestures and summoned animals to kill them. The bodyguard had a neutral expression as he turned his head, gazing directly up at me before turning around and walking back where he came from.

"Holy fuck…" I mumbled, breathless. "That's...that was magic."

"Dumb frenzied Sabbat bastards." Jack growled, turning to me. "Alright. We gotta vamoose out the back, quick. I'll stay and keep a watch out; you get us into the office. The door's around the corner here."

I reached into my pocket and grabbed my brand new Swiss army tool. I popped out the lockpick.

"On it." I said.

The lock on the door was cheap and old, so it was stupidly easy to pick. After a few seconds of picking at the lock, I managed to crack it. I opened the door and, to my amazement, Jack was already there, standing by the window. My expression must've been quite something as I entered, because he laughed once he saw me.

"How did you-"

"Uh...shortcut." He said.

I frowned. "First summoning animals, then teleportation? When will I be able to do all that?"

"Maybe soon, maybe never." Jack said. "It depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Depends on a lotta things, kid. But we gotta fuckin' amscray, if you know what I mean. Nicely done with the lock, tough. Not exactly an angel in life, were you?"

I shrugged. "Are any of us, really? I had my moments."

Jack nodded firmly. "Cool. Now, if you want a lesson on how really not to act, take notes from those Sabbat assholes. You're a big bad vampire - yeah, great, congrats… now keep it to yourself. You go roar and beat your chest and...that's what you can expect."

"Wait! I still got that list of people from high school! Why not?"

"Same reason you don't let humans see you feeding. It's why the wolf doesn't want the sheep to know he's there." Jack explained. "It's also why you don't go jugglin' dumpsters or outrun the 8:15 from Sacramento, and it's...and it's why you didn't know any of this when you woke up this morning."

I nodded. I was beginning to understand. "Ah. I get it. Keep the herd ignorant."

Jack nodded knowingly. "Keep our secret secret and you make things easier on all of us. We're livin' in the age of cell phone cameras… fuck-ups ain't tolerated. Makes sense enough, right? Well, it ain't a casual thing for a fledgeling like you."

Tilting my head, I frowned. I was beginning to not like how everyone was calling me a fledgeling. "What do you mean? What could happen?"

"That party back there, with the guy in the suit and the Magilla Gorilla? The assholes that put Justine to death?"

I raised an eyebrow. He knew Justine?

"That's the Camarilla." Jack continued, making a hmph sound in distaste. "They make a tidy business out of enforcing 'vampire laws' like this one."

I nodded. "That's...nothing like the movies at all."

"Hell no it ain't." Jack said. "Do half the shit they do in the movies, you'll see your head removed from your body, pronto."

"So...the Camarilla? They're like the vampire 'good guys'?" I asked. If so, "Camarilla" was an awfully insidious name for them. I'd just chalk that up to PR issues.

"Mmph. Yeah, I'll tell you what I think some other time, maybe." Jack said. "I like to let people form their own opinions."

Not everyone likes the Camarilla. Noted. I thought.

"Alright, so what's next?" I asked.

"Alright, now don't worry, cuz I know the area a little - and you know what? I'm glad we're in this situation, you and I." Jack said, his jolly tone returning. "It illustrates a point...you gotta utilize your surroundings."

My lips pressed into a thin line. "Meaning…?"

"Meaning ya do what ya gotta do." Jack said simply. "Theft, destruction of property, breaking and entering. Heh, these'll be the least of your sins before the night's out."

I nodded. "Didn't think I'd exactly be an upstanding member of society, what with the arterie-sucking and all."

"Look around here." Jack told me. "We gotta get out the back through that magnetically sealed door. There must be a key someplace."

I looked around and saw a computer, which probably controlled the door. I smirked to myself, muttering, "Leet." Before walking to it.

The monitor was only asleep, which means I could at least save time by not having to boot the thing up. The first thing I did was check to see if the computer had internet access, which it thankfully did. I opened up a website that I'd learned about from one of my programmer friends and downloaded a hacking tool. It would take a few moments before it was installed.

"What are you doin', kid?" Jack asked.

"I'm going to try to see if I can bypass the passwords in this computer and open that safe. Guessing the key is in there." I said.

"You millennials and your computers." Jack muttered. "Can't get the damn things to work half the time."

I glanced at him, then I heard a 'beep' as the hacking tool downloaded. I went to the program that controlled the safe lock and began to run it, using the tool to change the code. "Whatever happened to utilizing your surroundings?"

Jack smirked. "Shove it up yer ass, kid. Besides…"

He walked to the safe, grabbing a notepad that hung above it. He bought it to my face, and it said, in clear letters: Password: ChopShop.

"Part of utilizing your surroundings is looking around." He said.

I felt incredibly stupid. Before I could come up with a retort to preserve my pride, I heard a beep from the hacking tool I'd downloaded. I was in.

"Yeah, well…" I muttered. "I'm in now."

I typed in a key command, unlock. I heard a sound come from the safe and I opened it, taking out the key card.

"There we go." Jack said. "Take that key card and head out back. I'll meet you out in the alley there. I'm gonna check out things from topside."

I nodded. "Got it."

Using the key card, I walked out of the door and down the metal staircase that led to the alleyway out back. As soon as I opened the metal door at the bottom, I heard gunshots pelting against it. Quickly, I took cover behind it, only peeking to see what was going on. The Sabbat thugs were firing like utter lunatics, seeming to care not for things like collateral damage. I was stuck. Then, Jack dropped down from the nearby rooftop, landing without a single issue. He landed behind one of the thugs and snapped his neck, then stabbing him with a knife and lifting him without a single issue, cracking his back on his knee then dropping him. The Sabbat vampire had no chance, turning into dust almost immediately.

The other thug turned around and pulled the trigger, but he seemed to be out of ammunition. What looked like an electrical aura engulfed Jack, and he dashed forward so fast that he was a blur. His fist collided with the vampire's face, and I cringed at what sounded like his jaw being crushed. Jack then punched the vampire in the chest, sending him flying towards me. The door kept him from knocking me over, but he hit it so hard that he bounced off, landing on his face, and turning into dust upon impact with the ground.

Damn. Note to self: do not fuck with Jack.

I noticed that there were a few holes in the door, no doubt from the bullets. I looked down and saw that I was riddled with a few holes as well. It hurt, but it didn't hurt nearly as much as I was expecting it to. It was more like getting a flesh wound or a really bad burn, not the debilitating, searing pain that one would probably get from being shot in the stomach, hip, and chest.

"Fuckin' waste o' unlife, these Sabbat vatos." Jack growled as I approached him. He looked at me, eyeing my gunshot wounds. "D'ya get winged?"

I nodded. Jack chuckled, something I was getting a sense that he did a lot.

"Hey hey! Look at them potholes!" He said, gesturing to my wounds. "Those'll close up soon enough - better feed though."

He sniffed the air and turned his gaze to my right. "There's someone down the stairs here. You smell that?"

I sniffed the air too. I did. It was an alluring aroma, one that I could just smell all day. But it as a little different from the guy I fed off of earlier. It was less...fresh? It was difficult to describe. It was like the guy before was fresh grapes, picked right off the vine. What I smelled now was the canned stuff you'd find at supermarkets; good, but not the same as the real deal.

"I do." I said.

"He's not the freshest catch but he'll do." Jack said.

"What's the difference? Blood's blood, right?" I asked.

"Well, when it comes to feeding, it's quality blood you're looking for, not the quantity." Jack explained. "Bums and lowlives don't pack the same punch that a healthy, well-bread human will. Juicebags with a pedigree: that's the good stuff. But you gotta take what you can get. You ever had a PH.D., kid? Oh, that's the good stuff."

I cringed. "Can't say I have but, uh...noted."

"Remember what I said, though, don't kill them - least not the innocent ones." Jack urged me, "You're a monster now, make no mistake - one of the damned and the fallen. You need to hold onto every last shred of Humanity you have."

That was a tough pill to swallow. Damned. I never really gave a second thought to that word until now. It was a life sentence - or an unlife sentence, in this case. There was a chance that I was going to stay like this. Forever. Everything I knew would be different now. What about my friends from college? My family? My dad? Oh god, he must be worried sick. I hadn't called him in a week. Can I even call him, now? I couldn't tell him what was going on or else I'd end up like one of those Sabbat. What if he called me? Do I answer? Do I tell him that I can't really go out at day anymore?

"Let's say...I get a little overzealous." I said, my voice small. "What happens then?"

Jack puffed his cheeks, pushing air through his lungs. I'd just noticed he wasn't even breathing until then.

"An innocent's an innocent." He said somberly. "You kill one, even a worthless bum, even by accident, and it's going to cost you a piece of your own Humanity. It'll bring you closer to that Beast you got wellin' up inside you."

He knew about it? That urge that crept in the back of my mind, even now? Especially when I focused on it? That voice within that urged me to tear Jack apart, beat my chest, howl into the night like a bloodthirsty savage?

"The 'Beast'? What exactly...what does it mean?" I asked.

"The Beast - it's always there, waitin' to take over." Jack explained. "When it does, it's like a wild animal wearin' your skin...desperate, scared, reckless."

The thought made me shudder. Suddenly, I felt disgusted. Not at him, but at myself. At the thing within me. What was it, and who gave it permission to ride shotgun in my mind? Was I feeding it every time I drank blood? I didn't know either way. What I did know is that I didn't want an inhuman monster walking around and pretending to be me.

"Shit…" I said.

"He'll do anything to survive and it's you that has to deal with the consequences." Jack said.

"So...I can't kill anyone?" I asked. "What if I, uh...have to?"

"Ah-ah-ah! I said innocent humans." Jack replied. "If some asshole levels a twelve-gauge your way, you drain him, skin him, and bash in his skull. Self-preservation is a vital part of Humanity, after all."

He smirked, then continued. "My favorite part, in fact. Savvy?"

I nodded. "Yeah...yeah, I think I follow."

"The only way to fight the Beast is to keep in touch with your Humanity, and don't go hungry. No starving it or ignoring it. It's a fine line."

I frowned. "Won't it get stronger if I feed it?"

"It'll get stronger as you get stronger, little by little, every fuckin' night kiddo." Jack said. "All you can do is manage it and - some say - tame it, though I'm a little iffy on that part, if ya got me."

"I got you." I said.

"Alright, now go feed." Jack instructed me. "Careful, though - his blood is a bit thinner, so he's gonna drain fast."

"Be back in a minute." I said.

I walked around the corner and down the stone stairs, seeing a homeless guy walking around alone down there, muttering to himself. He must've been strung out or off his meds or something. He smelled absolutely putrid, but the aroma of blood coming off of him overwhelmed the dirt and grime. I didn't even speak to him, instead I lunged and he was powerless to stop me.

The taste was...okay. It was good, but nothing to write home about. At first, I had to soldier through the taste of dirt and sweat, which unfortunately mixed into the blood I was tasting. Either way, Jack was right: this definitely wasn't as sweet as the first time. I pulled back before I drained him dry, which was relatively quickly. Struggling with my beast wasn't as much of a fight pulling back this time.

Once I was off of him, he looked as doped out as the other guy I fed on. I noticed that the stinging sensation from the gunshot wounds had completely disappeared. Looking down, I saw that the holes were closed. The miracle of feeding on blood, I supposed.

"Not quite as good, huh?" Jack asked me once I walked back to him. "Eh, you could do worse. There's some rats down the way."

I looked at him incredulously. "Rats? Now you're fuckin' with me."

"You think I'm kiddin'?" He asked. "You can survive feedin' on animals, if you can stomach that kind of thing. Blech."

"Worse than a bum's neck?" I asked, pointing my thumb behind myself. "That dude's neck tasted like old gym socks."

"Well, give it a try." Jack said.

"What? No way." I said.

Jack chuckled. "No balls."

"Fine, I'll bite the fuckin' rat." I growled.

I walked down the alleyway and saw one of the little rodents scurrying around. Quickly, I grabbed it and sunk my teeth into its matted, disgusting fur. The taste was, well… Okay, so if the guy I fed on earlier was fresh grapes, and the bum I fed on was canned and preserved grapes, this rat was curdled milk. I had to overcome the strong desire to spit it out as soon as I took it in. It died rather quickly, which surprised me.

Going back to Jack, I caught him laughing at me. I suddenly felt very embarrassed.

"Ya rat sucker!" He jeered. "Hey! I don't care what you do, but - just so you know - polite vampire society looks down at that kind of thing."

"I can't believe you tricked me into feeding on a rat." I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Hey! Wasn't too bad, was it?" Jack said through chortles. "Some vamps are into that kinda stuff, you know."

"After taking a bite of that? I'm wondering what's wrong with 'em."

Jack turned his gaze and put a finger over his lips.

"Keep it down." He said, his voice lowered. "Got someone around the way here."

"Just one guy?" I asked.

"Not too much of a threat by himself, but you never know if there's more in shoutin' range. You're gonna have to sneak past."

I turned my gaze to where Jack's was directed. "Sneak where?"

"The building across from us, with the garage door? There's some double doors on the far side. I'll meet you inside. Just stay low and stick to the shadows. And don't let him see you."

"I'll do my best."

I walked through the chain-link gate and into another empty lot that had an industrial lift, a parked car, and a stack of wooden boxes. As soon as I walked through the gate, I went into a low crouch. I could see the Sabbat thug standing at the far end of the lot, staring down at his flip phone. Slowly, I moved through the lot and took cover behind the car, then moved behind the stack of wooden crates. One thing I didn't anticipate is how easy it was to sneak now that I was, well, dead. I didn't have to worry about coughing or my breathing. I was just...silent.

I moved behind the wooden boxes, watching the member of the Sabbat carefully. He didn't look up from his phone. I walked up nearby concrete stairs and through glass double-doors that led into a run-down looking room. Unsurprisingly, Jack was waiting for me inside.

"Keep it quiet." He said lowly. "They're inside here. Seems that shovelhead outside just got separated from his pack. He's wounded too. Go take care of him. Don't worry...he's probably greener than you."

"What makes you think that?" I whispered.

"The Sabbat, you see...they don't have the most rigorous training program." He said. "In fact, that poor sod is lucky if he knows he's a vampire."

"What? How can that be?"

"Ah, he was probably just turned and beaten over the head." Jack mused. "They like to do that… make shock troops. Cannon fodder. Put him out of his misery."

I nodded. "Sounds good. I've got a little frustration I need to work out."

"He is a vampire, so be ready."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Go get 'im."

"Getting 'im."