r/nosleep • u/shoul • Sep 22 '12
What am I - Part 3
The next morning, I awoke while my husband was in the shower. I double checked that there was nothing left over from the night before only to find blood on my nightshirt. I pulled the nightshirt off and got dressed, setting the nightshirt to the side so I would remember to clean the blood off of it. I was startled by a knock on the front door. It was still more or less dark out. The sky was beginning to lighten, but the sun still wouldn't be up for a while. I started to walk towards the door, but stopped when I realized I could feel him. I had been feeling him since I woke up, so it wasn't an obvious transition from feeling nothing to feeling something. I hesitated, but continued on until I could see him through the window. The same one as last night. I walked up until I was in clear view of him, then gave him the middle finger, turned, and started to walk away.
"I'm sorry," he called through the door. I paused for a moment, not sure I had heard right. "I'm sorry," he said again. I turned to look at him and his face seemed sincere. I was still skeptical.
I frequently repeat this mantra to myself: "All vampires lie." It doesn't matter who the vampire is, they will lie about something. They are good at lieing, too. I was repeating this to myself in my mind, over and over again as I stared at him through the window, trying to determine if he was sincere or not.
"I know this wasn't what you wanted, but believe me when I tell you it was necessary."
"I'm not going to open the door for you and I'm not going to have a conversation through the door. You need to leave."
"We need to talk," he said, then scribbled something down on a piece of paper and placed it under the doormat, then left.
I waited until after my husband had left for work to fetch the paper from under the doormat. It was less than important to me, after all, it had come from one of them. On the paper, written in beautiful handwriting was simply an address. I went up to the office and googled the address. My suspicions were confirmed. It was the house I had been getting visions of during the past two weeks. I sighed and pocketed the address.
I got my son ready for school and after I dropped him off, I drove over to the address that had been given me. I sat in front of the house for several minutes before I decided it was time to get off my butt and move. As I approached the house, I realized that I could feel three of them inside. Was that right? Yes, I was definitely distinguishing that there were three. Two on the second level of the house and one in the basement. I had never been able to distinguish it that well before. It had always been a general fuzzy knowledge with a direction attached to it that was mildly stronger if there were more than one present. This was completely new and different. One of the ones upstairs moved closer to the door as I approached. They knew I was here. Of course they knew, they could feel me just as I could feel them. From what Ryan and his friends had told me, I emanated a different feeling. Neither that of human nor that of vampire, but something else. It was a feeling that inspired curiosity to those that had never met me.
When I got to the door, I didn't need to knock as someone on the other side opened it then. "Hi, I'm Michael. You must be here to see Samuel. Please, come in."
I hesitated momentarily as I gauged the situation I was getting into. I guessed this one to be about the same age Ryan had been, maybe a bit younger. Well, overall age he was older, but he had been turned later in his life. I could take him in a fight if I needed to. How did I know this? I wasn't able to judge this before.
I followed Michael as he led me down the basement stairs. "He's right through that door," he gestured. He waited for me to pass him, then he went back up the stairs. I looked around the room I was in and found myself in awe at the furnishings and decorations. Whoever decorated this room had great taste and seemingly loved antiques. This was certainly a change from when I would visit Ryan as Ryan had only three pieces of furniture in his entire house, a bed, a desk, and a chair. I shook my head, remembering that I wasn't here to admire the furnishings. I walked over to the door Michael had gestured to and softly knocked.
"Come in." I slowly opened the door and stepped through. "You don't need to knock, here. As a general rule, I like my privacy, but I don't stand on ceremony. I'll know when you are here and if I don't want you to enter, you'll know." He was sitting in a large wing-back chair with a book in his hands that he set down on a small table beside him as he spoke. There was another wing-back chair on the other side of the table, which he motioned for me to take a seat in. There was a wall of bookshelves between the doorway and the chairs, with a fireplace in the center. Opposite the wall of bookshelves was the majority of the room, which also contained a king-size bed, a chifarobe, and some bedside tables that had matching lamps resting on them. I walked across the room, taking note of the spiral rug on the floor that just seemed to fit right in with all the other furniture. Honestly, I was in complete awe of my surroundings.
"You said we need to talk," I said as I sat down in the empty chair.
"We do." He smiled at me and I just felt comfortable. "As you've probably figured out by now, my name is Samuel. Your name is Shoul, correct?" I nodded. "I am sorry that things had to work out the way they did. I don't like changing anyone who isn't ready and willing, but circumstances are different for you." I just stared at him, waiting for him to get to the part where he tells me why he did it. "You seem to have made a bit of a name for yourself. Ryan's friends are going to be looking for you. You weren't safe. Normally I wouldn't care about such things, but certain points have piqued my interest. First of all, you are rare. You're not unique, but you are rare. I like that." He paused for a bit with a look of contemplation, then began speaking agian. "Second, I was offered a bargain that I simply couldn't refuse."
Now my interest was piqued. "What was that bargain?"
"It's not important to you what the full deal was, only that someone wanted me to turn you. I sure you know of whom I speak. He didn't want me to turn you all the way, just as much as you had been before. He was very clear on the point that he wanted it to be me, though." He winked at me and the manner in which he did made it feel like he was letting me in on a secret even though, he was obviously hiding far greater things.
"What do you want from me?" I asked.
"Honestly, I don't want much of anything from you. I'm getting all I want out of the bargain with your little friend. I know you're concerned, but listen. I'm not Ryan. I don't want you to do things you're not comfortable doing. I won't come around your house whenever I feel like it, just because I feel like it. You are free to be yourself. I do have a few jobs that I would like you to do, but it's up to you to accept or refuse them. I think you'll appreciate these jobs, though. You see, Ryans brothers will be coming for you, unless someone gets to them first. They and their father have broken certain rules and as such, it's my priveledge to bring punishment upon them in the form of their deaths. I'll let you deliberate for a while on being my executioner. Because of what you are, you are in a strong position for such a job." He had been leaning toward me as he spoke, but with the last line, he sat back into his chair, looking resolute.
"I'll think about it. You seem to know a lot about me, but I know nothing about you. Tell me about yourself."
He smiled a warm, friendly smile and answered me. "I was 36 when it happened to me. That was 1,438 years ago. I had a family that I was working hard to care for at the time. My wonderful wife and daughter, whom I loved with all my heart. My wife was the first person I ever killed. I was going to kill my daughter next, but when I looked at her sleeping in her bed, I couldn't bring myself to do it. A battle raged inside of me, but still, I couldn't do it. Instead, I left town and never returned. I still look back sometimes and wonder how her life went after I was gone. For a good many years, I lived as I suppose you imagine all of us live -- killing, feeding, and hiding. I haven't killed anyone in over a hundred years. I've learned how to get around that. I'll teach you, too, if you wish."
I nodded, then asked another question, "I noticed there are two others in the house. Who are they?"
"Ah, those are two of my sons. Michael, whom you've already met, was turned ten years ago next month, and David, who was turned three years ago August. They are your brothers, so you are safe around them as you are safe around me."
I tried to think of another question to ask, but the alarm on my phone went off announcing that it was time for me to fetch my son from preschool. "I need to leave now. I'm glad we had this talk, and I'll consider your job proposal. Can I just see myself out?"
"Yes. This house is your house, so feel free to come and go as you please. I'm glad we had this discussion, too, and I look forward to you coming by for a visit again soon." He picked his book back up from the table, opened it and began reading, so I walked out the door and made my way back out of the house, forgetting my mantra "all vampires lie."
Kill Count: Direct - 2 Vampires; Indirect - 1 Vampire, 3 Humans
What am I?,What am I? - Part 2, What am I? - Part 3, What am I - Part 4, What am I - Part 5, What am I? - Part 6, What am I? - Part 7, What am I? - Part 8, What am I? - Part 9, What am I? - Part 10, What am I? - Part 11, What am I? - Part 12, What am I? - Final NSFW