The Monster Inside: The First Vampire Chapter 55

Aegin had certainly never heard of a creature like the boy they had kidnapped, but it was certain he wouldn't forget any time soon . Aegin had managed to catch a snake after some work, and after tying its mouth closed, Aegin brought it back to where the boy sat still in the carriage . Upon seeing the snake, the boy titled his head .

"What?" asked Aegin, "Is this not good enough either?"

The boy gave a faint grin, "Just never tried snake blood before" .

The boy held out his hand, and Aegin handed the snake over . The snake was not impressed in the slightest, it had been struggling to get away since it was caught . It had tried to strike several times, but Aegin had been too fast for it, and now something was stopping it from opening its mouth . The snake briefly made eye contact with the boy he was being handed too, and immediately froze in place . That look . . . the snake didn't like that look .

As the snake struggled with a renewed strength, Aegin watched as the boy opened his mouth and two fangs extended from his upper jaw . Just as quickly, they pierced into the snake's body . The snake froze up .

Aegin watched as the boy seemed to drink the blood of the snake, after a moment, the boy paused, glancing up at Aegin as if contemplating something, then the boy continued to drink . He didn't stop until the four metre long snake was drained dry .

Rassa pushed the snake back through the bars, not regretting his decision in the least . Who knew when his next meal would be .

Rassa wiped the outside of his mouth, barely a drop of blood having escaped, then he retracted his fangs .

"That's . . . new" .

Rassa cracked a smile, "Not for me" .

Aegin was silent for a moment as he glanced at the dead snake, then he picked it up and hoisted it over his shoulders, "What's your name?"

"Rassa" .

"I'm Aegin" .

***

Thankfully, the next few days weren't spent in perpetual aching hunger . The snake had been rather large, and had at least alleviated the hunger to a degree, though it was not enough for Rassa to feel full . Not that he could with the chains but he had a rough idea of what the chains were causing him to feel and what he actually felt . Aegin didn't speak to him at all during the day, though there were frequent glances and smirks from beneath his black mask .

Rassa knew from the moment Aegin had gone to retrieve food that he'd found an ally of sorts . Perhaps not one that would set him free, but at the very least one that had an understanding . The following night, Victor returned for another lesson, another one to do with Vampire political structures . Rassa was only watching, but he felt exhausted doing so . Had it always been like this? Watching as they shifted and moved around their prey like rivalling wolf packs . Each just waiting to find their opponent's weak spot . The 'prey' in this case, varied . Sometimes it was land disputes, which coven had rights to which feeding grounds . Of course, those they were feeding on often had no idea that that was how they were referred to, but the Vampires didn't seem to care about that . They also fought over resources, after blood, the most prominent resource was crystals . It seemed that in this era, the great boost in technology was thanks to the use of crystal energies . The Sun Crystals were one example, but there were many more varieties that each had their own uses . Rassa took great interest in this, and made a note to ask to see more about it in future lessons .

The third most fought over topic in the council chambers, were the Coven lines of succession . Not only who the successors would be, but who they would marry, where their interests lay, and what moves they would make to solidify their power . Another interesting fact that Rassa learned in one of these arguments, Vampires could have more than one marriage partner . At least, those of a higher class could . This higher class seemed to consist of the Coven Heads and their immediate Subordinates, and their immediate Descendants . As such, a female Vampire could have more than one husband, and a male Vampire could have more than one wife . That was not to say this went both ways however . Only the Vampire with the highest standing was allowed this privelege, as his or her bloodline was considered the priority in being passed on . Those who married this individual did not have the same rites to go and marry another .

It was confusing, and led to quite a bit of scandal . A fact that seemed to amuse the bored Vampires quite a bit . Living for so long, it was almost like they sought to break the rules just to have something to do .

Fortunately, when Rassa woke up this time, he was still in the same spot . He knew it'd be a risk every time he ventured into the memories now, as he clearly had no awareness of the outside world when he did so . The fact that he'd been moved without his knowledge the first two times had left him uneasy, but he also knew the lessons were necessary . After all, the snake may have died, but it had died content . The lessons were worth something . If the changes were not immediate, surely Rassa could learn more for the future .

He had no intention of staying in these chains for the rest of his life .

As Rassa blinked awake, he became aware of Aegin's presence again . Clearly, they'd put Aegin on watch again tonight . Aegin glanced through the bars at Rassa .

"Hungry?"

Rassa shrugged . Wasn't like he would say no .

Aegin grinned, then indicated for Rassa to come to the bars so Aegin could take the mask off .

Rassa did so, and as the mask fell off his face, Rassa took a deep breath . It felt much better with it off .

Aegin passed a possum through the bars, "Sorry, it was the best I could come up with" .

Rassa shrugged . It hadn't been long since he last fed anyway . But, knowing his next meal was not guaranteed, Rassa drained the possum before passing it back through the bars .

"How long have you been like this?" asked Aegin as he sat on the side of the carriage, taking out a knife to skin the possum .

Rassa thought for a moment, "Almost 3 and a half years" .

Aegin was silent before he asked another question .

"Why did you let them catch you?"

Rassa frowned, "I thought you weren't supposed to ask questions" .

Aegin looked at Rassa through the bars, "That doesn't mean I won't" .

Rassa's eyes narrowed, then he turned to look up at the moon, "The first time, I did it partly to protect my parents, and partly because I believed they would come around . That they'd understand so long as I showed them I wasn't what they had been led to believe . When that backfired spectacularly, I only wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again . That I could be contained until I regained control . It was only when I was stuck in these chains that I worked out that control was a relative term" .

"So . . . why don't you try to break out?" asked Aegin .

Rassa turned to look at him, a small smile on his face, "Because if I was to do so now, even if I was capable, I would be hunted for the rest of my life . I would rather not spend the life I have killing needlessly because they can't take a hint" .

"They're never going to let you go . If you don't die in those chains, you'll spend the rest of your life in them," Aegin warned .

"I will wait until I am strong enough . Or until they take it a step too far . Whichever allows me to escape first," Rassa replied .

"Where you're going, I pretty sure it'll be the latter," Aegin stated .

Rassa frowned . It hadn't occured to him that Aegin knew where they were headed, he turned his questioning gaze to Aegin .

"Jerrica," Aegin replied, "They're going to lock you up in the depths of the Jerrica Mines" .

Chapter end